Chapter 41 The Free Marionette

Page (1/3)

Yu Sheng was completely dumbfounded.

The instant he saw Eileen suddenly “lose connection” and tumble away, he had even feared that the doll had died on the spot from using an inferior shell. Fortunately, a voice from behind interrupted that alarming line of thought.

Still holding Eileen’s body in one hand, Yu Sheng stiffly raised his head and looked toward the large table where he had just been working the clay.

The classical oil painting in its ornate frame was resting quietly against the edge of the table. Eileen was staring out from within it, eyes wide and face flustered as she looked this way.

“I—I don’t know what happened either!” The moment she noticed Yu Sheng looking over, Eileen began waving her hands frantically. “One second I was still running forward, and the next, when I opened my eyes, I was back here. What happened? How—”

A low, slightly grating chuckle drifted out of the frame, sounding mocking yet carrying the faintest hint of sympathy.

It had come from the plush teddy bear. This time, Yu Sheng finally saw it laughing with his own eyes.

Eileen’s temperament could never endure such provocation. She immediately stamped her feet and charged toward the chair covered in red velvet. Snatching up the teddy bear, she gripped it by the neck and shook it violently.

“You think this is funny? You think this is funny? Was this your doing? I’m back here again!”

But a teddy bear without a mind was incapable of responding. It merely continued snickering in Eileen’s hands, making the doll angrier by the second.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng hurried forward to try to calm the doll in the painting. “Hey, don’t get so worked up. Let’s think of another wa—”

He had only gotten halfway through the sentence when the doll girl in the painting, who was in the middle of choking the teddy bear and attempting to execute a shoulder throw followed by a cross armlock, suddenly vanished.

At the same moment, the doll body in Yu Sheng’s hand gave a violent jerk. Before he could react, the little thing, sixty-six point six centimeters tall, launched itself at his arm and instinctively unleashed a three-part combination: attempted chokehold, attempted shoulder throw, and attempted cross armlock.

Her strength, however, was considerable. The flesh of Yu Sheng’s arm was squeezed painfully tight.

He had no choice but to forcibly pry Eileen off his arm and hold her up in front of his face, shaking her hard.

“Wake up. Wake up. It’s Yu Sheng. You’re out again.”

Eileen gradually came to her senses. Hanging in midair, she looked around in bewilderment before finally focusing on Yu Sheng’s face.

“...Huh?”

The two of them then raised their heads together and looked toward the nearby frame, falling simultaneously into a daze of confusion and thought.

After a moment, Yu Sheng said nothing. He simply carried Eileen backward, retreating until he reached the spot where she had fallen earlier. As he took his final step, the doll body in his hand instantly sagged, as though its power had been cut. All signs of life vanished from it.

Eileen’s figure abruptly appeared within the oil painting. She glanced around, then stared blankly up at Yu Sheng.

“I’m back again, so that means...”

Yu Sheng casually lifted the doll body he was holding toward the painting, bringing the two of them a little closer together.

The body suddenly came alive, as though the “power failure” from moments ago had never happened. Eileen’s voice emerged from it, continuing the unfinished sentence from the painting.

“...it’s a matter of distance?”

“Looks like it.” Yu Sheng frowned slightly as he watched, then moved the doll farther away again.

The body in his hand “lost power” once more, while Eileen’s voice came from nearby.

“Then this is going to be—”

Yu Sheng pushed the doll forward again.

Eileen continued, “...a little troublesome... Could you stop playing around? You’re breaking me into pieces every time I get halfway through a sentence!”

Feeling rather sheepish, Yu Sheng carried Eileen to a place closer to the painting and explained as he went, “I mainly wanted to determine exactly how far your ‘signal’ reaches.”

“Does five meters or six meters make any difference? At most, it’s only two steps!” Eileen flailed furiously while being held by the collar, then suddenly sensed that something else was wrong. She glared up at Yu Sheng. “Put me down! Why have you been carrying me around this whole time?”

Yu Sheng hurriedly set the increasingly miserable doll girl on the floor. Then the two of them stared at each other.

Page (2/3)

Only then did Eileen realize that she practically had to tilt her head back ninety degrees just to speak with Yu Sheng.

Her dignity, however, would not permit her to make Yu Sheng crouch down to talk to her. Besides, even if he did crouch, she would still have to look up.

“Stand there. Don’t move,” the doll suddenly said.

Yu Sheng blinked. “What are you doing?”

The next second, he understood.

The doll wrapped both arms around his leg and began climbing upward. Like someone scaling a tree, she scrambled up in just a few quick movements, agile as a monkey, and then settled directly onto his shoulder.

Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned, but he did not dare move, afraid of knocking Eileen to the floor.

“I haven’t agreed to this yet...”

Eileen replied with perfect righteousness, “You didn’t ask my permission when you carried me around to test the signal just now either.”

Yu Sheng was immediately rendered speechless.

The two of them returned to the large table and began examining the oil painting.

“I really did come out. I can feel it. My ‘soul’ is inside this body now.” Eileen frowned, staring at the “prison” that had once confined her. “But...”

“But judging by what’s happening, the painting still seems to be your ‘foundation.’ Your current body is like something being controlled remotely. Once you move beyond a certain distance, the connection is severed.” Yu Sheng calmly stated his opinion.

Eileen lowered her head, looking especially dejected.

This time, however, she did not cry. Perhaps the successive blows had been so severe that she had developed, for the moment, a kind of mental resistance resembling brain death.

When Yu Sheng saw how calm she was, he became anxious instead and hurried to comfort her.

“Don’t be too pessimistic. Maybe this body simply isn’t working properly. I can practice my craft and, next time I reshape your body—”

“Tell me,” Eileen interrupted suddenly.

The little doll’s expression was exceedingly complicated, making it impossible to tell what she was feeling.

“If someone carries their own prison everywhere they go, have they escaped or not?”

Yu Sheng stared at her in astonishment. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I once saw someone carrying his own prison everywhere. Things ended rather badly for him. But he was inside his prison, whereas you’re at least outside yours...”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eileen muttered.

She jumped down from Yu Sheng’s shoulder onto the table. Wearing an expression of mixed emotions, she approached the oil painting that had sealed her away. She reached out with both hands, grasped the frame, and lifted it slightly before setting it down again. Then she turned around and tried to hoist it onto her back.

The painting, however, was enormous. Although Yu Sheng could carry it effortlessly in one hand, to Eileen it was almost as tall as she was.

“...Do we have any rope at home?” the doll asked, looking up.

“We do!” Yu Sheng immediately nodded. “Wait here. I’ll go get some!”

More than ten minutes later, Eileen watched as Yu Sheng carefully tied knots around the frame and adjusted the position of the fastenings. Once the preparations were nearly complete, she stepped forward.

“I think it’s ready.”

“Go ahead and try it.” Yu Sheng nodded and stood the frame upright, watching as Eileen awkwardly slipped her arms through the straps.

“How is it? Is the fastening in the right place? Should I tighten it more?”

Eileen tugged at the straps on her shoulders, then walked two laps around the table with the frame on her back. She nodded with great satisfaction.

“No need. It fits perfectly!”

“Is it heavy?”

“Not at all. I’m very strong!”

As she spoke, Eileen even hopped in place twice with the frame on her back. Then she began jogging in circles around the edge of the table.

Page (3/3)

The tiny doll, sixty-six point six centimeters tall, running back and forth across the table with an oil-painting frame nearly as tall as she was strapped to her back—it was, in its own way, a rather... peculiar sight.

Yet as Yu Sheng watched, he gradually began to smile.

He had seen Eileen smile as well. The doll seemed to have shaken off her earlier gloom and was steadily growing cheerful again.

She was even more optimistic than Yu Sheng had imagined.

“It’s actually pretty light!” Eileen stopped at the edge of the table and said to Yu Sheng with a grin. “Now I don’t have to worry about the distance limit anymore. I’m so clever!”

“You really are optimistic,” Yu Sheng said sincerely. “I thought you’d be depressed for quite a while.”

“People have to look ahead. Dolls do too.” Eileen happily jumped down from the table, then climbed up Yu Sheng’s arm to his shoulder once more.

This time, she was not quite as agile as before, since she also had to keep an eye on the frame strapped to her back, making sure it did not bump into the chair, knock against anything, or strike Yu Sheng’s head.

“Compared to before, at least I can move around freely now. If I have to carry it, then I’ll carry it. Besides, the person left inside the painting doesn’t seem to want me going too far away anyway... Come on, let’s go downstairs. You haven’t had dinner yet—and I want to watch television!”

Yu Sheng froze for a moment, then turned his face slightly and glanced at the doll on his shoulder from the corner of his eye. Her face was filled with smiles, and she seemed full of anticipation for the future.

“All right. I’ll make dinner,” he said, supporting Eileen with one hand as he rose from the chair. “Then tonight, we’ll start investigating the passage back to the valley.”

“Mm!” Eileen was brimming with fighting spirit. Beaming brightly, she raised one hand and pointed forward with great authority.

“Giddy-up!”

Yu Sheng casually lifted the little doll off his shoulder again.

“I’m going to drop you.”

Eileen immediately curled up.

“No, no! The mood just carried me away...”

Yu Sheng shook his head, half amused and half exasperated. He placed the doll back on his shoulder, adjusted her securely, and started walking.

Outside the window, night had deepened. One after another, the streetlamps of the old district flickered on, their hazy, warm glow flowing through the old streets and narrow alleys. Through the window came an enveloping sense of peace.

“Yu Sheng, it’s completely dark outside now.”

“Yeah.”

“Hehe. I’m kind of looking forward to it...”

“Looking forward to what? Nightfall?”

“No. I’m just looking forward to something. It has nothing to do with nightfall.”

“...I don’t understand.”

“Hmph.”