The doll girl in the oil painting greeted Yu Sheng happily and surprisingly. Her voice sounded a little unexpected—but there was no shock or panic at seeing a dead person come back to life.
Yu Sheng felt that this was definitely not because Irene was big-hearted.
Sure enough, the problem was with him—but considering that he had died and come back to life so many times in such a short period of time, it seemed that nothing strange happening to him was strange.
"It was a fluke, but I'm back anyway," Yu Sheng replied casually, turning back to close the half-closed door. Then he immediately looked down at himself, confirming that not only had his body fully recovered, but even his clothes were completely restored to their original state.
Yu Sheng frowned. Combined with Irene's current reaction, he felt that it was less like a "resurrection" and more like the entire "event" of his "death" had disappeared into thin air…
He stood at the door in a daze. Seeing this, Irene, the doll in the painting, asked with confusion, "Yu Sheng? Are you okay? You look a little dazed. By the way, tell me how you came back. My connection with you has been on and off, and your side is always full of messy noises. I don't even know what strange things you ran into in that Otherworld… Hey? What's that in your hand?"
Reminded by her, Yu Sheng only then noticed that he was still holding something tightly in his hand—it was a severed tail with black scales, bizarre and ugly in shape.
The corner of Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. "Damn it, I almost forgot about it… it's still here."
This thing was even slightly contracting and writhing in his hand now, but it was obviously not as "vibrant" as it was at the beginning. It seemed that although the monster's severed limb had amazing vitality, it would still gradually die after being cut off from the main body.
A strange feeling welled up in his heart. For a moment, Yu Sheng didn't even know how to explain the origin of this thing to Irene. After a little hesitation, he carried the severed tail and walked towards the kitchen, saying casually to Irene as he walked, "…A little local specialty."
The doll in the painting was stunned when she heard this. "…Huh?"
Yu Sheng had already casually thrown the severed tail into the kitchen sink. After confirming that this thing no longer had the strength to climb out of the sink, he stabbed it a few more times on the surface for good measure, and then pressed a pot lid on top of it (so that at least when it really climbed out, he could hear the sound of the pot lid falling to the ground). Only then did he return to the dining room with a hint of fatigue, dragging his heavy body and sitting down on a chair.
His mind was a mess. There were too many things to think about, and more importantly, he was really tired.
But he forced himself to stay awake. It wasn't time to sleep yet.
Irene, opposite the table, looked over here cautiously. "Yu Sheng, tell me about your experience in that Otherworld, and how did you…"
"I was just about to tell you about this," Yu Sheng waved his hand before she could finish, then adjusted his posture and looked at the doll in the painting with a serious face. "I have a lot of questions—let's first talk about the situation I encountered there. I met a girl who was also trapped in an Otherworld like me, but she might have been trapped for a very, very long time…"
Yu Sheng didn't hide anything. He told the doll opposite him everything he had experienced in that night-shrouded valley, including the information Hu Li had revealed to him, and the monster that looked like a mixture of flesh and blood and had a very free-form appearance.
Except for his "death and resurrection," he hadn't figured out how to tell her about that yet, so he didn't mention it for the time being.
Of course, he knew that he and Irene were still not very familiar with each other, nor did they have much trust, but he had no other choice—in this city, Irene was the only "abnormal individual" he had come into contact with and could communicate with so far, and she was also the only person he knew who knew something about "things beyond common sense." Except for Irene, he really didn't know who else he could discuss matters related to Otherworlds with.
He felt that he should have a little more trust in this doll in the painting. After all, her attitude had been friendly so far (except when she cursed foully).
Irene listened very seriously. Her expression had already become extremely serious when Yu Sheng mentioned the flesh-and-blood monster. She seemed to want to speak several times, but she held back and never interrupted Yu Sheng's narration.
It was only when Yu Sheng's narration came to an end that this doll girl finally adjusted her posture. She sat upright on the chair covered with a red velvet blanket and said with a serious face, "First of all, I still have to emphasize that I don't remember much. This painting has worn away too much of my memory, so the help I can give you is also very limited…"
Yu Sheng nodded. "I know that."
"Yes," Irene hummed, then her expression relaxed a little. "Then I'll do my best to supplement your knowledge about Otherworlds. First, you should already have some basic understanding of Otherworlds, and know that they are a general term for some kind of 'area' that deviates from order and defies common sense. Then do you know that Otherworlds also generate something called 'entities'?"
"…Entities?" Yu Sheng showed confusion.
"In short, they are the 'natives' or 'products' of an Otherworld. Entities don't necessarily have a specific appearance. Sometimes they may be strange-looking humanoids, sometimes they may be some kind of beast or monster, and sometimes they may even be a ball of fire, a gust of wind, a running stone. As long as it is something that is produced in an Otherworld and has obvious 'activity' and can react to outsiders, it can be regarded as an 'entity'."
Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully.
"Entities are broadly classified and numerous," Irene continued. "Generally speaking, entities have very obvious 'abnormal' characteristics. They are born in Otherworlds and naturally have characteristics that are inconsistent with common sense, strange, and dangerous. Most entities have no rationality, at least they don't show 'thinking behavior' that can be understood by humans, but it seems that a very small number of entities have intelligence… I don't remember the details of this part.
"Anyway, 90% of entities are dangerous, but they also have varying strengths. The harm of some entities may just make people's noses itch, but there are also some entities that are life-threatening to humans just by being seen—so there is a speculation that 'entities' are some kind of rejection reaction of an Otherworld, a antivirus program generated by the Otherworld to eliminate invaders. This view believes that for an Otherworld, the investigators and lost people from the world of order and common sense are the indescribable monsters…"
Yu Sheng listened silently, and at this moment, he suddenly reacted, "…So, the 'monster' I encountered was an 'entity' generated in the valley?"
"It should be," Irene nodded.
"Can entities be eliminated?" Yu Sheng asked immediately.
"Entities can be killed, but they cannot be completely eliminated," Irene said seriously. "Because strictly speaking, entities are just a kind of 'generated object.' If you kill one, a new 'copy' will be generated in the Otherworld. They are the manifestation of the operating rules of the Otherworld. As long as the Otherworld still exists, entities will always be generated—but generally speaking, the generation of entities also takes time, and it seems that there are some ways to suppress the operation of some Otherworlds, delaying or even blocking the generation of entities within them… I don't remember the specifics."
"They can be killed, but they cannot be completely eliminated…" Yu Sheng repeated this sentence, suddenly feeling that things were even more棘手 than he had imagined.
He was not afraid of death.
That monster seemed to be even less afraid…
Unconsciously, Yu Sheng had already assumed that he would return to that valley and encounter that monster again—he didn't know where this idea came from. When he noticed it, this thought, or rather, a kind of "intuition," had already taken root in his heart.
"…Never mind, it's a good thing to be able to kill it temporarily," he let out a light breath and looked up at Irene again. "Besides this, what else do you know about entities? Like their weaknesses."
"Entities don't have a unified weakness. Sometimes the weakness of an entity is not even on itself, but on the 'Otherworld,' or in the rules of the Otherworld itself. And some entities… even change their weaknesses," Irene shook her head. "So exploring Otherworlds and fighting entities is a professional and dangerous matter. I suggest you find a professional to help you—not someone trapped in a painting like me."
Hearing this, Yu Sheng couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It's easy for you to say. Where am I supposed to find a professional? They don't post small ads on telephone poles…"
Irene: "They do."
Yu Sheng: "…?"
"They have contact methods—of course, not necessarily small ads on telephone poles," Irene, seeing Yu Sheng's dumbfounded expression, nodded with extra emphasis. "Since there are Otherworlds everywhere in this world, and Otherworlds are very dangerous to ordinary people, there will of course be a large group of professionals who specialize in dealing with these matters. If nothing else, in such a large city, someone has to be responsible for maintaining order, both openly and secretly, right—the government has special departments, and there are also large and small organizations in the private sector. Although I don't remember the specifics, these people are definitely active everywhere…
"Of course, under normal circumstances, they will keep a distance from the lives of ordinary people and hide in the dark, because many Otherworlds have strange and bizarre characteristics, such as 'becoming active when known,' or 'actively approaching people who are afraid of them.' So it's necessary to avoid ordinary people from coming into contact with information related to Otherworlds as much as possible. But once a hapless person has already come into contact with an Otherworld, or an Otherworld reaction appears in the city, these professionals naturally have a way to quickly locate and approach them…"
Yu Sheng listened to Irene's narration in a daze. After a moment of hesitation, he looked up and out the window.
"So, since there has already been an 'Otherworld reaction' on my side, then all I have to do now is wait, and the 'professionals' you mentioned will come to me on their own, right?"
"…Probably… right?" For some reason, Irene's tone suddenly lost its confidence.
Yu Sheng also heard the lack of confidence in her voice. "…Then why haven't they come yet?"
"I don't know. They should have come by now."