Yu Sheng thought that his blood apparently couldn't work on Erin—perhaps the oil painting serving as a seal medium prevented the blood from permeating, or maybe because Erin, being a doll, was inherently unaffected by the blood, or more likely... Hu Li being affected was the special case.
Having waited for quite a while and nothing happened, Erin in the painting lost her patience. She looked up at the top of the frame and muttered, "Then just wipe the blood off, it's where I live after all, having so much blood isn't a good omen..."
Yu Sheng: "...You're a creepy doll sealed inside a painting and you still nitpick about this! Just you being here is unlucky enough okay!"
Hearing this made Erin displeased, "Who says I'm unlucky! I'm so pretty, how could I be unlucky? Some people even decorate their houses with walls of plastic figurines. You complain about a painting of a beautiful girl on the wall being unlucky?!"
Yu Sheng was dumbfounded listening to her, unable to figure out how she could combine all that into one speech.
But he still waved his hand dismissively muttering "That's not the same," as he stood up and took a wet wipe, preparing to clean the blood off the frame.
It wouldn't wipe off.
Yu Sheng froze for a moment, seeing that wiping it with the wet wipe was ineffective, and rubbed harder on the frame (he didn't dare to rub too hard on the canvas part, afraid of damaging it), yet the bloodstain remained unchanged.
But more than the bloodstain on the frame not coming off, Yu Sheng noticed something about the wet wipe—there wasn't even a bit of red stain.
Even if the bloodstain was difficult to remove, it shouldn't be like this!
Erin couldn't see the situation with the wet wipe; she just looked up at Yu Sheng suddenly freezing and immediately felt uneasy, "Uh, what happened?"
"The blood won't come off," Yu Sheng said blankly, looking at the bloodstain that seemed to have become part of the frame, "It's not that it seeped in, but... it's like it's the original color of the frame."
Erin didn't respond.
Yu Sheng, puzzled, lowered his head to see Erin, the doll in the painting, staring blankly at him, as if her brain had suddenly short-circuited. After a couple of seconds, Erin's expression slowly changed from blank to horrified, as if she abruptly remembered something, she suddenly pointed at Yu Sheng and screamed, "Ah ah ah Yu Sheng you you die die die..."
Yu Sheng startled for a second, then understood what was happening, seeing Erin still screaming, he rather calmly sat down on the chair opposite: "Don't shout 'die' so much, it's unlucky—although indeed it has happened quite a few times."
Erin suddenly stopped, glanced at Yu Sheng, and then continued screaming.
Yu Sheng had to stand up and try to soothe this frightened doll—she was much less calm than that fox.
However, verbal comfort seemed to have a limited effect, and perhaps because of the delayed impact of the blood becoming too intense, she seemed particularly agitated.
But fortunately, Yu Sheng suddenly had a brilliant (albeit dark) idea.
The next second, he picked up Erin's painting, vigorously shaking and spinning it in mid-air, then threw it spinning into the air, caught it and spun it two more rounds before putting it back on the table.
He watched Miss Doll struggle to climb back onto the chair covered with a red carpet.
Erin stopped screaming.
Erin's cursing was ugly, though.
This time, Yu Sheng, now experienced, managed to calm the doll down and amidst Erin's lingering swears, he clarified what exactly had happened.
At the same time, he finally confirmed that his blood was indeed effective on Erin in her sealed state, although it seemed like the blood only acted on the frame. Somehow, Erin was truly affected by it and recalled the "incident" she witnessed where Yu Sheng died.
So far, however, Yu Sheng hadn't sensed Erin's "thoughts" and "memories" as he had with Hu Li.
He looked up at the still angry doll, not daring to say he actually suspected Erin was quite lacking in those two aspects...
Erin was still furious, but regardless, the "Return of the Deceased" impact on her from Yu Sheng was greater than the recent "rollercoaster," her focus still remained on Yu Sheng's "Resurrection."
"You're saying... this isn't the first time?" she stared at Yu Sheng, her tone still laced with disbelief.
"Yeah, in fact, it started even before I met you," Yu Sheng thought back to the frog in the rain, "But don't ask me how it works, it's like that door just now, I only know it happens, but don't know why..."
"Are there any side effects or costs?" Erin immediately asked.
"Currently... none found," Yu Sheng hesitated a moment before cautiously replying, shedding his usual carefree attitude, "including physical and mental, no issues found."
Erin still stared intently into Yu Sheng's eyes: "Even so, we should try to avoid this kind of 'Resurrection' in the future."
Yu Sheng sighed helplessly: "Of course, I know."
"The side effects might appear in the distant future, the cost might manifest in ways you can't imagine," Erin seemed afraid that Yu Sheng had not truly understood the warning and explained tirelessly, "Everything in the world tends to balance. Anything that exceeds rationality and order will face the 'backlash' of rationality and order, and resurrection from death... is truly the most bizarre of all irrational events. Although you said you haven't found any problems, I'm not convinced."
She paused here, then continued with a serious tone: "It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust the 'appearance' of this matter."
"I understand, I understand," Yu Sheng nodded earnestly, but then spread his hands helplessly, "But then again, do you think any of my deaths were voluntary?"
Erin: "...True."
"I just keep a positive attitude because there's no other way, especially with the situation in the valley, I have to maintain a positive mindset," Yu Sheng sighed, "I understand your concerns, don't worry, I know my limits."
Erin stared at him for a long while, finally mumbling as she shifted her gaze: "Fine, as long as you remember... I'm still waiting for you to get me a body."
Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Admittedly, this doll's acceptance was quite strong, such an outrageous matter, and in the end, she still easily accepted…
Erin suddenly looked up again, her face unable to hide her astonishment: "Hey, I really wonder if you are even human! Are you sure you were born from parents and raised on human food? Can't you recall anything from your childhood..."
Yu Sheng: "..."
He withdrew his thoughts, this doll's acceptance might not be so strong after all.
He casually brushed off a few remarks and didn't pay attention to the doll's ongoing mumbling, after testing the "blood," he still remembered his original plans.
Continue to familiarize himself with the ability of "opening doors" and its characteristics, find a way to reproduce the channel accurately, and locate the "landing point."
Until he could open that door leading to the valley.
To deliver food to Hu Li.
Erin finally quieted down, she watched as Yu Sheng grasped the kitchen door handle, hesitated for a long time, and couldn't help but ask: "Even if you find the 'door' back to that valley, have you thought about how to deal with the 'Hunger'?"
Yu Sheng slowly turned the handle, sensing the subtle feelings coming from deep within what's called "Spiritual Intuition," and slowly said, "I'll take it one step at a time."
"That's not having thought it through at all!" Without turning around, he knew Erin must have widened her eyes, "Are you going to deliver food to Hu Li or to that monster!"
"I mean, if I can beat that monster, I will; it would be good to temporarily eliminate the physical embodiment of 'Hunger', this has a great chance of helping Hu Li out from the influence of Hunger; if I can't beat it, try to bring Hu Li out through the 'door', but this has side effects, Hu Li might still be targeted by 'Hunger'; if the second method doesn't work, then at least deliver some food inside to make Hu Li feel better, as long as there is a stable way to open the door, everything can be discussed in the long term.
"When I say I'll take it one step at a time, it means I'll choose one of these three plans depending on the situation, but as for how to deal with that 'entity'... I really have no idea right now."
"Okay, since you've already planned to this extent, it's still good," Erin seemed relieved, "As long as you don't blindly rush in to feed that monster."
Yu Sheng thought about it, but decided not to say "after eating me, the monster's mouth and stomach won't tally up" because once this was mentioned, who knew how much the doll would nag...
He turned these trivial thoughts in his mind and slowly pulled open the kitchen door.
A boundless darkness presented itself before his eyes, with dim stars twinkling in the distant darkness, and apart from this… it seemed like there was nothing outside the door.
Yu Sheng suspiciously examined the empty scene in front of the door, then suddenly realized, and slammed the door shut.
"Shocking, it's freaking outer space!"