Erin wasn't only foul-mouthed, her loud, piercing screams could make one's head buzz.
Yu Sheng even wondered how someone could make such a racket through just an oil painting—could the entire canvas act as a loudspeaker?
"Don't ask me about the principle; I don't even know myself," Yu Sheng said as he dug at his ears a bit helplessly and spread his hands towards Erin, "What I can confirm for now is that I can open 'doors,' and these doors can lead to all sorts of places, both to the Exotic Realm and to the... some distant place you just saw. Of course, it's still uncertain whether that's an Alternate Dimension, an Alien Planet, or some kind of parallel universe thing."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Perhaps I should ask someone on the other side of the door? But that Female Elf from earlier didn't seem to be in a very good mood..."
Erin was semi-dazed, only after a long spiel from Yu Sheng did she finally come to and after much thought finally spoke up, "What about... conditions for activation or something? Like, under what circumstances can a door be opened?"
"I'm not quite sure, I feel like I could open one anytime," Yu Sheng replied thoughtfully, describing his current feelings in detail, "As for how to open a door, there seem to be two ways. One is to directly open an existing, ordinary door—it's very easy, sometimes I don't even realize what I've done, the door opens and directly leads to 'somewhere else.' The second is like what you just saw—"
Yu Sheng said, gesticulating the action of opening a door in the air.
"A door created from thin air; it's more strenuous, requiring concentration to sense and imagine, and if my focus wavers during the process, the door might vanish abruptly. But the upside is that you won't accidentally stumble through a door into the Exotic Realm."
Erin, with her crimson eyes, followed Yu Sheng's arm movements back and forth several times, and, after holding her breath for quite a while to break the silence, blurted out, "...Are you even human?"
Yu Sheng immediately looked somewhat displeased. "What kind of question is that!"
"It's that time, and you still have the cheek to say that phrase? You told it to me not long ago," Erin muttered as she recalled and then mimicked Yu Sheng's original tone and demeanor, "—'If I'm not human, then are you?'"
She turned over and stared straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.
"Some humans can master some Supernatural Powers, but I've never encountered someone like you."
"Maybe you have but you've forgotten about it?" Yu Sheng stubbornly countered, "Your brain isn't all that reliable."
Erin was taken aback. "…Yes, is that so?"
This time it was Yu Sheng's turn to feel a bit embarrassed. He was just being headstrong, casually used to bickering with the figure in the painting, not expecting that Erin, with her clear self-awareness, would actually admit it... she really conceded...
However, he quickly adjusted his facial expression and cleared his throat to bring the conversation back on track, "So it seems now that when I fell into that valley, it wasn't related to the peculiarities of this house but was a passage I opened myself in the moment. Thus as long as I can replicate the actions from that time, I should be able to return to that Exotic Realm, theoretically speaking."
Talking about serious matters, Erin's expression also became solemn, "Is this ability controllable?"
"…Somewhat controllable," Yu Sheng said uncertainly, and then explained, "I can now basically control when to open a passageway to 'somewhere else' and when to open a regular door, but I can't determine exactly where it leads to. It could be anywhere, even a volcano mouth. But... there is one thing I just confirmed."
Erin eagerly asked, "What's that?"
"Indeed, passages can be replicated. Under certain conditions, opening a door twice can lead to the same place," Yu Sheng said, "Just like the elf you saw earlier, it's the second time I've met her."
Erin: "…Oh, no wonder she reacted like that earlier."
A bit of awkwardness appeared on Yu Sheng's face, "I'm not sure how it happened, but I vaguely remember that 'sensation.' I think with more attempts and training, I should be able to stably open those 'doors' that I've gone through once. But the problem now is... I was totally unprepared when I first entered that valley, and I've almost forgotten the feeling of opening that door, which makes replicating the passage quite difficult."
"At least you have an idea now, right?" Erin immediately offered reassurance, "I thought it was wishful thinking on your part wanting to rush back to save that Fox, but now it's become a feasible plan, right, right?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng gave the doll in the painting an astonished look, making the latter feel uncomfortable and shrink a bit on the chair, "What are you looking at me for? I've told you, there's no chance of anything happening between you and a paper person—"
Yu Sheng didn't wait for her to finish her nonsensical argument and interrupted, "This is the first time I've ever heard you say anything nice. I always thought you knew nothing but trash talk, I didn't expect you'd know how to comfort someone."
Erin: "..."
Erin could curse someone out pretty badly.
Yet at the moment, Yu Sheng was in high spirits, and even Erin's cacophony could serve as background music for life.
He looked at his hands, waved them through the air, stood up from the dining table, and began pacing round and round the dining room, full of gusto.
Erin stopped her chirping and flowering speech upon noticing the situation, her gaze following Yu Sheng's every move: "You're not going to start your... um, 'training' now, are you?"
"It's better to start early than late. Besides, I slept all day, so I'm quite refreshed," Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly, "and this practice doesn't take up much space."
"Then take it easy. If you open the door again and see that elf from earlier, who knows, a big fireball might just come crashing over—splashing me with blood again."
That trash talk hit just the right note.
Yu Sheng waved his hand indifferently, his eyes falling on the kitchen door.
Creating a door out of thin air required extra energy expenditure. As a practice, of course, it was more appropriate to use a "physical door," which doesn't consume much.
However, before that, Yu Sheng suddenly thought of something else.
"What did you say just now?" he turned back, looking at the doll sealed in the painting on the dining table.
Erin thought for a moment: "...to take it easy? To prevent that elf from blasting a big fireball over?"
"I meant the more annoying statement."
Erin's mouth twitched: "Don't splash me with blood!"
"Right, that's the one. I want to test that first," Yu Sheng grinned as he approached the dining table, reaching for a small fruit knife placed on the table, "my blood."
Erin visibly startled, jumping up from the chair with her teddy bear: "Hey, what are you doing! I was just saying that in passing, you don't need to go for a knife! I'm warning you, I'm particularly easy to provoke, there's no need for knives, just put that thing down, a scratch on the canvas might even make me crack..."
The startled doll rattled off a string of protests, causing Yu Sheng to frown: "Why so nervous, it's not like I said I was going to cut you."
Before he finished speaking, he pressed the knife against his fingertip—then hesitated and switched to the back of his hand, clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and cut. It barely hurt.
Erin watched this scene in shock as Yu Sheng approached with his bleeding hand, backing away and exclaiming: "What are you doing! Wait... you're not buying into that blood pact stuff in novels, are you? I've told you to spend less time reading those..."
"First of all, I'm an author, and though not very successful, I take issue with your opinion on me and novels," Yu Sheng glanced at the frightened doll in the painting, "Secondly, this has nothing to do with blood pacts, I'm just testing some hypotheses—back in that valley, Hu Li came into contact with my blood, and afterwards both she and I underwent some changes. I want to see if something similar would happen to you."
Yu Sheng was referring to the change in Hu Li after she contacted his blood, which allowed her to suddenly detect his "deaths," as well as his ability to sense some of Hu Li's thoughts and memories. He also suspected that the appearance of the Silver White Demon Fox's projection in his dream world had something to do with this "blood linkage."
Upon hearing Yu Sheng's words, Erin was slightly stunned, then realizing his serious demeanor. Even though she's unclear about the specifics, she still quieted down, reluctantly (mainly distrusting Yu Sheng's dubious procedures), yet still showing a cooperative attitude.
Of course, the main reason for cooperation was she couldn't run away; after all, being sealed in an oil painting meant she couldn't do anything but complain loudly, something Yu Sheng had grown accustomed to...
But honestly, Erin wasn't exactly a suitable "test partner."
Her "constitution" was a bit special.
Yu Sheng found it hard to determine whether his blood was being applied to Erin herself or the oil painting that served as a sealing medium—he smeared his blood on the frame, and while the cut hadn't healed, squeezed a few drops on the canvas. But regardless of the method, he couldn't let his blood come into direct contact with the doll's true body in the painting like he could with Hu Li.
Erin looked up, not sure how things appeared from her perspective inside the painting—but she clearly perceived the contact with blood.
That was all, though.
The painting didn't "absorb" Yu Sheng's blood like when Hu Li licked the fresh blood.
"Feel anything?" Yu Sheng asked somewhat uncertainly after a while.
Erin thought about it: "...it was warm? But now it's cooled off."
Yu Sheng: "...then it seems to be of no use."