Yu Sheng was completely bewildered.
The instant he saw Eileen suddenly "disconnect" and tumble out, he even thought the puppet had died from using an inferior shell—but fortunately, the voice that came from behind him in time interrupted that frightening train of thought.
Yu Sheng held Eileen's shell in one hand and stiffly raised his head, looking toward the large table he had just used to work the clay.
The classical oil painting in its ornate frame was quietly leaning against the edge of the table. Eileen was glaring out from inside it, staring over with a panicked expression.
"I—I don't know what happened either!" Eileen immediately waved her hands vigorously when she noticed Yu Sheng looking over. "One second I was still running forward, and the next, when I opened my eyes, I was back here. What happened? This..."
A slightly grating, low chuckle came from inside the frame, as though mocking her, yet also carrying a hint of sympathy.
It had come from the Plush Toy Bear. This time, Yu Sheng finally saw it laughing with his own eyes.
Eileen's personality could never tolerate that. She immediately stamped her feet and rushed to the red velvet chair. Picking up the Plush Toy Bear, she gripped it by the neck and shook it hard. "You're still laughing! You're still laughing! Was this your doing?! I'm back again!"
But how could a mindless Plush Toy Bear respond? It merely continued giggling in Eileen's hands, making the puppet angrier and angrier.
Seeing this, Yu Sheng hurried over, intending to persuade the puppet girl 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 puppet girl in the painting, who had been holding the Plush Toy Bear in a chokehold and attempting a shoulder throw and armbar, suddenly vanished. Immediately afterward, Yu Sheng felt the puppet body in his hand jerk violently. Before he could react, the 66.6-centimeter-tall little thing pounced onto his arm and instinctively unleashed a three-part combo: chokehold (failed), shoulder throw (failed), armbar (failed).
Her strength was surprisingly great, though, and the flesh on Yu Sheng's arm hurt terribly where she squeezed it.
Yu Sheng had no choice but to forcibly pry Eileen off his arm. He held her in front of his eyes and shook her hard. "Wake up, wake up! I'm Yu Sheng. You're out again."
Eileen gradually came to her senses. Hanging in midair, she looked around blankly, then finally focused her gaze on Yu Sheng's face. "...Huh?"
The two of them then looked up at the frame in the distance at the same time, falling into a daze and deep thought.
After a moment, Yu Sheng silently carried Eileen backward, retreating all the way to the spot where she had fallen earlier. As he took his final step, the puppet body in his hand instantly drooped as though its power had been cut, all signs of life vanishing.
Eileen's figure suddenly appeared inside the oil painting. She glanced around, then looked up at Yu Sheng blankly. "I'm back again, so sure enough..."
Yu Sheng casually raised the puppet body he was holding toward the painting, bringing the two a little closer together.
The body suddenly came alive, as though the "power outage" from earlier had never happened. Eileen's voice came from it, continuing the unfinished half-sentence from inside the painting. "...It's related to distance?"
"Seems like it." Yu Sheng frowned slightly as he watched the scene. He moved the puppet farther away again and watched the body in his hand "disconnect" once more. Eileen's voice came from nearby. "Then this is..."
Yu Sheng pushed the puppet forward again.
Eileen: "...A little troublesome... Can you stop playing around?! You've taken me apart several times in the time it takes me to say one sentence!"
Yu Sheng sheepishly carried Eileen to a spot closer to the painting and explained as he went, "I mainly wanted to confirm exactly how far your 'signal' reaches."
"Is there any difference between five and six meters? At most, it's only these two steps!" Eileen flailed wildly while being held by the collar, then suddenly sensed that something was wrong. She glared up at Yu Sheng. "Put me down! Why have you been carrying me this whole time?"
As soon as Yu Sheng heard that, he hurriedly set the increasingly miserable-looking Miss Puppet on the floor. Then the two of them stared at each other.
Only then did Eileen realize that she practically had to tilt her head ninety degrees upward just to speak with Yu Sheng.
But her dignity would not allow Yu Sheng to crouch down and talk with her. Besides, even if he crouched, she would still have to look up.
"Stand there and don't move," the puppet suddenly said.
Yu Sheng froze. "What are you doing?"
The next second, he knew what Eileen intended. The puppet hugged his leg and began climbing upward. Like a tree-climbing monkey, she scrambled up in just a few moves, nimble as could be, and sat directly on his shoulder.
Yu Sheng was a little stunned, but he did not dare move recklessly, afraid of knocking Eileen off. "I haven't even agreed yet..."
Eileen replied righteously, "You didn't ask for my consent when you carried me around to test the signal just now, either."
Yu Sheng was instantly rendered speechless.
The two of them returned to the large table and began studying the oil painting.
"I really did come out. I can feel that my 'soul' is in this body now." Eileen frowned, staring at the "prison" that had once held her with an extremely conflicted expression. "But..."
"But judging from what we've seen, this painting still seems to be your 'foundation.' Your current body is like something being controlled remotely. Once you move too far away, the connection cuts out." Yu Sheng calmly stated his opinion.
Eileen lowered her head, looking especially dejected.
But this time, she did not cry. Perhaps the successive blows had been too much, and she had rapidly developed a kind of mental resistance resembling brain death.
When Yu Sheng saw how calm the puppet was reacting, he panicked instead and hurriedly comforted her. "Don't be too pessimistic. Maybe this body just isn't working properly? I'll practice my craft, and next time I reshape your body..."
"Tell me," Eileen suddenly interrupted his rambling. The expression on the little puppet's face was complicated, making it impossible to tell what she was feeling. "If you carry your own prison around everywhere, have you escaped or not?"
Yu Sheng was stunned. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I once saw someone who carried his own prison around everywhere. He ended up in a pretty miserable state. But he was 'inside' his prison. At least you're outside yours..."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Eileen muttered. Then she jumped down from Yu Sheng's shoulder and onto the table. With a complicated expression, she approached the oil painting that had sealed her away. She grabbed the frame with both hands, lifted it slightly with some effort, then set it down and turned around to try carrying it on her back.
However, the painting was huge. Although it was light enough for Yu Sheng to carry with one hand, to Eileen, the thing was practically as tall as she was.
"...Do we have any rope at home?" the puppet asked, raising her head.
"Yes!" Yu Sheng immediately nodded. "Wait here. I'll go get some!"
A dozen minutes later, Eileen watched Yu Sheng carefully tying knots on the painting frame and adjusting the positions of the rope fasteners. Once the preparations were nearly complete, she stepped forward. "I think it's ready."
"Come on, give it a try." Yu Sheng nodded and stood the frame upright, watching Eileen somewhat awkwardly slip her arms through the back straps. "How is it? Is the fastener in the right place? Should I tighten it more?"
Eileen tugged at the fasteners on her shoulders, then carried the frame around the table twice. She nodded in satisfaction. "No need. It's just right!"
"Is it heavy?"
"Not heavy at all! I'm very strong!" Eileen said as she bounced in place on the table with the frame still on her back. She then began jogging laps around the edge of the table.
The tiny puppet (66.6 cm) ran back and forth across the table with an oil painting frame almost as tall as she was strapped to her back. The scene looked, to put it mildly... rather strange.
But as Yu Sheng watched, a smile gradually spread across his face.
Because he saw that Eileen had begun smiling too. The puppet seemed to have escaped her earlier misery and was gradually cheering up.
She was even more optimistic than Yu Sheng had imagined.
"It's pretty light!" Eileen stopped at the edge of the table and said to Yu Sheng with a smile. "Now I don't have to worry about the limit on 'distance.' 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 forward, you know—and puppets do too." Eileen happily jumped down from the table, then climbed along Yu Sheng's arm to his shoulder. This time, she was not as nimble as before, because she also had to watch the painting frame on her back and keep it from bumping into the chair or Yu Sheng's head. "Compared to before, at least I can move around freely now. So what if I have to carry it? Besides, it seems the one who stayed in the painting doesn't want me to go too far away either... Come on, come on, let's go downstairs. You haven't had dinner yet—and I want to watch TV!"
Yu Sheng stared blankly for a moment. He turned his face slightly and glanced from the corner of his eye at the puppet, who was beaming and seemed full of anticipation for the future.
"Okay, I'll make dinner." He raised a hand to support Eileen and stood up from the chair. "Then tonight, we'll start studying the passage back to the valley."
"Mm." Eileen also looked full of fighting spirit. With a brilliant smile on her face, she raised a hand and pointed forward grandly. "Giddy-up!"
Yu Sheng casually lifted the little puppet off his shoulder again. "I'm going to throw you down."
Eileen immediately curled up. "No, no! The mood just took me there..."
Yu Sheng shook his head helplessly, placed the puppet back on his shoulder, and set off.
Outside the window, night had already deepened. The streetlights of the old district lit up one after another, 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 a little excited. It has nothing to do with nightfall~"
"...I don't understand."
"Tch."
Before you continue