Chapter 32: The Blood Test

Not only was Irene's cursing foul, but her loud screaming was enough to make one's head ring.

Yu Sheng even wondered how this fellow could produce such a massive racket through a single oil painting—could the entire canvas act as a loudspeaker?

"Don't ask me about the principle; I don't even know what it is myself," Yu Sheng said, spreading his hands helplessly while picking at his ear. "What can be confirmed for now is that I can open 'doors,' and these doors can lead to all sorts of places. They could be exotic realms, or what you just saw... some far-off place. Of course, it's not yet certain whether that's an otherworldly dimension, an alien planet, or something like a parallel universe."

He paused, then continued, "Maybe I should ask the person on the other side of the door about the situation? But that elf girl looked like she was in a bad mood..."

Irene was in a state of semi-daze. It took a long while of Yu Sheng's rambling for her to snap out of it. After thinking it over, she finally spoke: "Then... what about the activation conditions? Like, under what circumstances can a door be opened?"

"I'm not quite sure. I feel like I can open them whenever I want," Yu Sheng said, thinking for a moment and recounting his current sensations truthfully. "As for the method, there seem to be two types. One is directly opening ordinary doors that already exist in reality; this is very easy, sometimes I don't even realize I've done it, and the door opens directly to 'elsewhere.' The second type is what you just saw—"

As Yu Sheng spoke, he raised his hand in the air, mimicking the motion of pulling open a door.

"A door created out of thin air. It's more taxing and requires concentrated mental effort to perceive and imagine. Moreover, if you lose focus during the process, the door might suddenly vanish. The benefit, however, is that you won't accidentally stumble through a door into an exotic realm."

Irene stared at Yu Sheng's movements with bloodshot eyes, her gaze following his arm back and forth several times. After a long silence, she broke it: "...Are you even human?"

Yu Sheng immediately felt a bit dissatisfied. "What kind of talk is that!"

"Even at a time like this, you have the nerve to say that? That exact phrase you said to me not long ago," Irene muttered, recalling the moment, then imitated Yu Sheng's tone and expression from back then: "—'If I'm not human, then are you?'"

She straightened her body, looking Yu Sheng straight in the eye.

"Some humans can master supernatural powers, but I've never seen anything like yours."

"Maybe you have, but you just forgot?" Yu Sheng stubbornly countered. "Your brain isn't exactly reliable anyway."

Irene blanked for a moment. "...Is... is that so?"

This time, it was Yu Sheng who felt a bit awkward. He was just being stubborn and habitually bickering with this doll; he never expected that Irene had such a clear self-awareness that her first reaction was to actually accept it... she actually accepted it...

However, he quickly adjusted his expression, cleared his throat twice, and steered the conversation back. "So, from the looks of it, my falling into that valley had nothing to do with the strange properties of this house. It should have been a channel I opened myself at the moment I opened the door. Therefore, as long as I can replicate that operation, I can return to that exotic realm. Theoretically, that's how it works."

When discussing serious matters, Irene's expression turned solemn as well. "Is this ability controllable?"

"...Semi-controllable," Yu Sheng said uncertainly, then explained, "I can basically control when I open a passage to 'elsewhere' and when I push open a normal door, but I have absolutely no way of determining where exactly it leads. I can't even rule out the possibility of opening a door and falling straight into a volcanic crater. However... there is one thing I just confirmed."

Irene asked urgently, "What thing?"

"The passage can indeed be replicated. Under specific circumstances, two openings can lead to the same place," Yu Sheng said. "Just like that elf you saw earlier; this is my second time meeting her."

Irene: "...Oh, no wonder she reacted like that."

Yu Sheng looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I vaguely remember that 'feeling.' I think if I practice and train more, I should be able to stably open those 'great doors' that connect once. But the biggest problem right now is... when I entered that valley, I was completely unprepared, and I've almost forgotten the sensation of opening the door. This makes replicating that specific passage very difficult."

"But at least you finally have a lead, don't you?" Irene immediately offered comfort. "I used to think your idea of rushing back to save that fox was wishful thinking, but now it's become a feasible plan, right? Right?"

Hearing this, Yu Sheng looked the doll in the painting up and down with a surprised gaze. The look made the latter shrink back into her chair uncomfortably. "What are you looking at me for? I already told you, you and a paper person can't ever have a..."

This time, Yu Sheng interrupted before she could finish her nonsense. "This is the first time I've heard a few decent words come out of your mouth—I always thought you only had trash talk, I never thought you knew how to comfort someone."

Irene: "..."

Irene's cursing was indeed foul.

However, Yu Sheng was in a great mood. He could even treat Irene's cursing as background music for his life.

He looked at his hands, waved them in the air, stood up from the dining table, and began pacing around the dining room, looking full of vigor.

Seeing this, Irene stopped her stream of colorful language, her eyes following Yu Sheng as he moved. "You're not about to start... uh, 'training' right now, are you?"

"Better early than late. Anyway, I slept all day, so I'm very energetic now," Yu Sheng said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "This practice doesn't take up much space."

"Then take it easy. If you open a door and that elf from before shoots a massive fireball through, you might end up splashing blood all over me again."

That trash talk was right on cue.

Yu Sheng waved his hand dismissively, his gaze falling on the kitchen door nearby.

Opening a door out of thin air required extra energy consumption. For practice, it was naturally more appropriate to use "physical doors" which didn't consume much.

But before that, Yu Sheng suddenly thought of something else.

"What did you just say?" He turned back to look at the doll in the painting on the dining table.

Irene thought for a moment. "...To take it easy? To prevent that elf from shooting a fireball at you?"

"I meant the more punchable sentence."

Irene's lip twitched. "Don't splash blood on me!"

"Yes, that's the one. I want to test this first," Yu Sheng grinned, walked to the dining table, and picked up a small fruit knife. "My blood."

Irene was visibly startled. She practically jumped off her chair, clutching her teddy bear. "Hey, what are you doing! I was just talking nonsense, is it really necessary to bring out a knife! I'm warning you, I'm very easy to provoke! You don't even need the knife—if you scratch the canvas, I might just crack open..."

The doll started babbling in a frantic rush whenever she panicked. Yu Sheng couldn't help but frown. "What are you panicking for? I didn't say I was going to cut you."

Before his voice had even faded, he had already pressed the small knife against his finger—but after a moment of hesitation, he moved it to the back of his hand. Then, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, he made a quick cut. *Psh.*

It didn't even hurt that much.

Irene watched this scene in stunned silence. As Yu Sheng moved his bleeding hand toward her, she retreated repeatedly, crying out, "What are you doing! Wait... you didn't fall for that 'blood recognition' trope from novels, did you? I told you to stop reading so much..."

"First, I am a novelist. Even if I'm not doing well, I have a serious problem with your opinion of novels," Yu Sheng glanced at the terrified doll in the painting. "Second, this has nothing to do with blood recognition. I just want to test a certain hypothesis—back in that valley, Hu Li came into contact with my blood, and after that, both she and I underwent changes. I want to see if something similar happens to you."

Yu Sheng was referring to how Hu Li suddenly became able to sense his "death" after touching his blood, and how he could perceive parts of Hu Li's thoughts and memories. Additionally, he suspected that the appearance of the silver-white fox's projection in his dream world was also related to this "blood connection."

Irene froze slightly upon hearing Yu Sheng's words, then sensed his serious attitude. Although she didn't understand the specifics, she gradually quieted down. Even though she looked reluctant (mainly due to her distrust of Yu Sheng's suspicious methods), she still adopted a cooperative stance.

Of course, the main reason for her cooperation was that she couldn't run away. Being sealed in an oil painting, she couldn't do much besides loud babbling, and Yu Sheng had basically grown accustomed to her noise...

But to be honest, Irene was not a suitable "test partner."

After all, her "constitution" was a bit special.

It was difficult for Yu Sheng to determine whether his blood was being applied to Irene herself or to the oil painting that served as the sealing medium. He smeared his blood on the frame and, while the wound was still fresh, squeezed some drops onto the canvas. But regardless of the method, he couldn't make his blood come into direct contact with the doll's actual body within the painting, as happened with Hu Li.

Irene looked up. It was unclear what her perspective within the painting was like, but she clearly sensed the contact with the blood.

But that was all.

The oil painting did not "absorb" Yu Sheng's blood the way it had when Hu Li licked the fresh blood.

"Do you feel anything?" Yu Sheng asked uncertainly after waiting for a while.

Irene thought about it. "...Warm? But it's cold now."

Yu Sheng: "...Then it seems it was useless."

(End of Chapter)