Chapter 44: Engulfed

The ancient black oil painting frame floated in the dim dream world, the doll-like girl sealed within it filled with confusion about the current situation.

“This shouldn’t be happening! I’ve already broken free from its control, and I even have a body in the real world!” Irene paced in circles inside the painting. “When I’m ‘outside,’ I have to carry this painting around like extra luggage, which I accepted. But why is it worse in the dream world? Theoretically, shouldn’t I be freer after entering the dream?”

She looked up, staring intently at Yu Sheng.

“You ask me? I think you should be freer after entering the dream too,” Yu Sheng shrugged. “I wanted to see what you’d look like at 1.67 meters tall, but you’re still just a flat paper doll.”

Irene, clearly irritated, had lost the will to banter with Yu Sheng. After circling the chair in the painting countless times, she finally gave in and sat down, grabbing the plush teddy bear nearby and furiously squeezing it in her arms.

“Now I’m stuck with this guy again… Well, it’s fine. At least I have some freedom of movement in the real world. The dream world isn’t that important, no, not that important.”

“Sometimes I really envy your optimism,” Yu Sheng said sincerely.

Irene bared her teeth at him, but whether in reality or in dreams, her snarls never carried any real threat.

Yu Sheng then stepped around the floating painting and approached the sleeping silver fox.

“What now? Same as last time? I lie on her tail, and then we ‘sink’ together?”

“Same as last time, but this time the connection will be more ‘direct.’ I’ll try to keep Huli’s consciousness close to waking, so you can communicate with her and sense her surroundings,” Irene said as she floated beside Yu Sheng. “But at the same time, the ‘Hunger’ will notice you—it will come looking for you. After that, I can’t help you anymore. The battle and contact at the consciousness level will be up to you.”

She paused, then added to reassure him, “But I’ll be your last line of defense. If I sense your mind destabilizing sharply, I’ll forcibly ‘pull’ you out. It’ll be as rough as waking up suddenly last time, so be mentally prepared.”

“Honestly, I really don’t want to go through that again,” Yu Sheng sighed, but nodded firmly. His resolve hadn’t wavered. “Alright, let’s begin.”

He settled into a comfortable hollow between Huli’s massive tails, catching Irene as she jumped down from midair. Together, leaning against the fox’s tail, they sank again into the hazy dream.

Perhaps because of the prior connection, this second descent was faster and smoother than Yu Sheng expected. He barely felt a moment of dizziness before his vision stabilized, revealing the figure of the fox girl.

She was quietly crouching among scattered stones, staring blankly ahead.

Yu Sheng’s viewpoint shifted behind Huli, following her gaze forward—

He saw a massive wreckage, like a large flying vessel that had crashed. The twisted metal frame and broken decks still hinted at its former grandeur, faintly glowing like lingering spiritual breath drifting slowly among the shattered ruins.

The wreck lay at the foot of the mountain, partially swallowed and fused into the rock by the collapsing, molten mountainside—just one glance conveyed how tremendous the impact must have been.

If ordinary humans had been aboard, there might have been no survivors.

Yu Sheng stared in shock at the crash site but didn’t forget why he was here. He approached the fox girl and whispered softly, careful not to startle her, “Huli.”

---

Huli’s ears perked up sharply, and she suddenly stood, scanning her surroundings as if trying to locate the source of the voice. After a hesitant pause, she replied, “...Master?”

“It’s me. Stop searching. I’m directly connecting with your consciousness.”

“Master! You’re really here! I thought I misheard last time… Master? What’s happening?” Huli’s face lit with surprise, still instinctively scanning around. “I was daydreaming in the valley, and suddenly I’m here. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”

“Yes. I... used some methods to forcibly guide your dream. Only then could I contact you. But now’s not the time for details,” Yu Sheng said quickly. “Listen, Huli, I’m coming to save you. To do that, I need to open a special door, and I’ll need your cooperation. Do you trust me?”

“Coming to save me?” Huli paused, then suddenly shook her head. “No, don’t come. You barely got out. This valley is strange, and once you enter, it’s hard to escape! Don’t come! Please don’t…”

Yu Sheng interrupted the panicked girl, “I have a way! Huli, listen, I’ve found a stable method to enter and exit the valley. I just need you to help open the door. Don’t worry about that monster—I can handle it. Understand? I’m very capable, and this time I even found some help. Very... capable.”

He tried to reassure Huli, making her relax. Yet confusion clouded her face; her thoughts were slow, struggling to keep up with Yu Sheng’s words. After a long pause, she finally asked with uncertainty, “So, Master, are you also an immortal?”

Yu Sheng had no idea how her thoughts had jumped to this conclusion.

But he could be.

“A very powerful immortal,” he said, making his voice sound as reliable as possible.

The fox girl smiled.

“Master, what should I do?”

“You don’t have to do much—just focus on sensing your surroundings. You’ll feel someone peering into your heart, even watching through your eyes—don’t resist, that’s me.”

“Okay.”

Yu Sheng exhaled slightly. Negotiating with Huli was easier than he’d thought. Now, the only thing left was to face the second problem.

“Irene,” he whispered in his mind, “begin.”

In the next moment, accompanied by a slight dizziness, Yu Sheng felt an indescribable... pull.

A new kind of “connection” formed between him and Huli. Unlike the subtle link previously established through blood, this new connection felt stronger and... rougher.

Part of his consciousness broke free and merged into a whole new set of perceptions, like nerves suddenly connecting to an entire extra set of limbs. Though the sensations were blurry and delayed, he began to sense Huli’s surroundings.

Cold, decay, a stench of rot signaling the decline of all things. The wind stirred through the valley, rustling the dark forest.

The eternal night, the everlasting Hunger.

---

The fox girl stood among the trees, eyes wide as she tried to observe her surroundings.

She didn’t really understand what her master was doing or even whether staring like this was the right thing to do. She simply followed her understanding, trying to fulfill Yu Sheng’s instructions.

Then, she sensed the “connection” he mentioned.

Startled, she felt no hostility.

Huli was always sensitive to even the slightest malice, but this time, none came.

Instead, she felt a faint comfort, even... her hunger seemed to ease.

...

The moment the overwhelming hunger and the maddening tide buried deep within surged toward him, Yu Sheng felt as if a massive wave crashed over him—a mountain collapsing in the pitch-black night. The Hunger and madness took on form, shadow, frozen darkness, swiftly drowning every inch of his senses.

He didn’t even have time to call Irene’s name. At the crucial moment, he strained to remember the “features” of the valley Huli had transmitted, then was completely swallowed by the chaotic black tide.

Yet deep within the darkness, he found himself still conscious.

The Hunger gnawed at his soul, causing it to wither and die, as Yu Sheng watched his “self” swallowed in an instant from the perspective of a detached observer.

The Hunger receded, and the withered soul awoke again. Yu Sheng opened his eyes in the darkness, uncertain if he had truly “died” once more or merely experienced a momentary illusion of being consumed.

He drifted in the depths of darkness, oblivious to time or space, unsure if he was even moving.

All he could sense was... a gaze fixed upon him.

Not just a gaze, but the entire chaotic darkness was part of that gaze.

He was like a tiny speck of dust, barely the size of a needle’s tip, watched and engulfed by an endless, hungry eye.

After an indeterminate time, he finally glimpsed a vast, shifting form—or shadow—deep within the darkness.