Devouring

An antique black oil-painting frame floated through the dim dream world, while the sealed doll maiden inside the painting was utterly baffled by the situation.

"This shouldn't be happening! I already broke free from this thing's control, and I even have a body in the real world!" Eileen paced in circles inside the painting. "I accepted having to carry this painting around when I was 'outside'—I treated it as just having an extra piece of luggage. But how did things get even worse in the dream world...? In theory, shouldn't I be freer after entering a dream?"

She raised her head and stared straight at Yu Sheng.

"If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask? I also thought you'd be freer after entering the dream," Yu Sheng said, spreading his hands. "I wanted to see what you looked like at one hundred sixty-seven centimeters, but you're still just a paper person."

Eileen looked extremely irritated. She had lost all interest in arguing with Yu Sheng. After circling the chair in the painting who knew how many times, she finally resigned herself to sitting back down. She casually grabbed the fluffy teddy bear and vigorously kneaded it in her arms.

"I'm trapped with this guy again... But I suppose it's fine. At least I really can move around freely in the real world now. The dream world isn't that important anyway. Yes, it's not that important."

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

Eileen immediately bared her teeth at him, but whether in reality or in the dream, her threats had never possessed much intimidation.

Yu Sheng, meanwhile, walked around the oil painting floating in midair and came to the sleeping fox.

"What now? Same as last time—I lie on her tail, and then the two of us 'sink' down together?"

"Same as last time, but the connection will be more 'direct' this time. I'll find a way to keep Huli's consciousness close to wakefulness, which will make it easier for you to communicate with her and sense her surroundings afterward," Eileen said as she floated to Yu Sheng's side. "At the same time, 'Hunger' will notice you. It'll come looking for you... I won't be able to help you with what happens after that. Contact and conflict on the level of consciousness will be up to you."

At that, she paused. Perhaps to reassure Yu Sheng, she added, "However, I can serve as the final safety net. Once I sense your mind becoming severely unstable, I'll forcibly 'drag' you out. It'll be just as agonizing as waking up abruptly last time, so you'd better prepare yourself."

"...Honestly, I really don't want to go through that again." Yu Sheng sighed, but he quickly nodded all the same, his earlier resolve completely unmoved. "All right. Let's begin."

He once again found a stable hollow between Huli's enormous tails. Then he caught Eileen as she jumped straight down from midair. Relying on the fox tails, one man and one painting sank down into the dazed dream once more.

Perhaps because they had established a foundation for their connection last time, this second descent was even faster and smoother than Yu Sheng had imagined. He barely felt his vision blur before it stabilized, and he saw the figure of the fox girl.

She was quietly crouching amid a stretch of rubble, staring blankly at something in front of her.

Yu Sheng's viewpoint arrived behind Huli. Following her gaze, he looked ahead—

He saw a massive wreck, resembling the remains of some large aircraft after a crash. The twisted metal framework and broken decks still faintly revealed its former grandeur, while a faint radiance slowly drifted through the shattered wreckage like an undispersed spiritual aura.

The entire wreck had fallen at the foot of a mountain. The collapsed and remelted rock had nearly swallowed it, fusing it into part of the mountain. One glance was enough to tell what an astonishing impact it must have been.

If all those aboard it had been ordinary humans, perhaps not a single one would have survived.

Yu Sheng stared at the crash site in shock, but he did not forget the purpose of his visit. He approached the fox girl and spoke softly so as not to startle her. "Huli."

The ears atop Huli's head instantly sprang upright. She abruptly stood and looked around, seemingly trying to find the source of the voice. Only after finding nothing did she reply hesitantly, "...Benefactor?"

"It's me. You don't need to look. I'm communicating directly with your consciousness."

"Benefactor! You're really here! I thought I must have misheard you last time... Benefactor? What is this?" Delight appeared on Huli's face, though she continued instinctively searching her surroundings with her eyes. "I, I was spacing out in the valley, but suddenly I was, here. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?"

"Yes. I... used some methods on this side to forcibly guide your dream. This is the only way I can contact you—but now isn't the time to explain the details," Yu Sheng said quickly. "Listen, Huli. I'm going to save you. To do that, we need to open a special door, and I need your cooperation. Do you believe me?"

"Come, save me?" Huli froze for a moment. Then she suddenly understood and immediately shook her head. "Don't, don't come, Benefactor. You only just managed to get out. This valley is extremely strange, and once you enter, it's very difficult to escape! You, don't come! Absolutely don't—"

Yu Sheng interrupted the flustered girl. "I have a way! Huli, listen to me. I have a way. I've already found a stable method of entering and leaving that valley. Now I only need you to help open that door. Don't worry about the monster. I can deal with it—understand? I'm very powerful. And this time I've also found an ally who's very... well, powerful too."

Yu Sheng tried to calm Huli, doing his best to put her at ease. Yet a trace of confusion appeared on her face. Her thoughts were sluggish, and she seemed to have great difficulty following his words. After a long while, without knowing how much she had understood, she asked in puzzlement, "So, Benefactor, are you also an immortal?"

Yu Sheng had no idea how Huli's thoughts had leaped to that conclusion.

But he could be one.

"A very powerful immortal." He tried to make his voice sound a little more reliable.

The fox girl smiled.

"Benefactor, what should I do?"

"You don't need to do anything. Just focus on sensing your surroundings. You'll feel someone peeking into the depths of your heart, and you may even feel someone looking at the surroundings through your eyes—don't resist. That's me."

"Mm, okay."

Yu Sheng felt slightly relieved. Negotiating with Huli had gone even more smoothly than he had imagined. Next... he only needed to face the second problem.

"Eileen," he called softly in his heart. "Begin."

The next moment, accompanied by a slight daze, Yu Sheng felt an indescribable... tug.

A completely new "connection" appeared, forming between him and Huli. Unlike the obscure link previously established through blood, he could clearly feel that this newly formed connection was stronger and also... more brutal.

Part of his consciousness directly broke free of his control and merged into a series of entirely new sensations. It was as if his nerves had suddenly connected to an entire additional set of limbs. Although the sensations transmitted through it were somewhat blurred and sluggish, he still... began to sense the aura around Huli.

Cold. Decayed. Carrying the stench of all things in decline. Wind churned through the valley, blowing across the dark forest.

Night was eternal. Hunger endured forever.

The fox girl stood in the forest, eyes wide as she strained to look around.

She actually had no idea what Benefactor was doing, nor did she know whether staring around like this was the right thing to do. She was merely trying to complete Yu Sheng's instructions according to her own understanding.

Then she sensed the "connection" Benefactor had mentioned.

She was startled, but she felt no malice.

Huli had always been able to keenly sense even the slightest trace of malice, but this time, no malice came through at all.

She only felt a little reassured. Even... her stomach seemed not to be quite so hungry anymore.

The instant that overwhelming hunger and the tide of madness suppressed deep within Hunger surged toward him, Yu Sheng seemed to sense a colossal wave crashing down on his head—a mountain collapsing in the pitch-black night. Hunger and frenzy were almost tangible, like a vast shadow, like solidified darkness. In an instant, they nearly drowned every inch of his perception.

Yu Sheng did not even have time to call Eileen's name. At the critical moment, he merely struggled to remember the "characteristics" of the valley transmitted from Huli before being completely submerged by the frenzied black tide.

Yet deep within the black tide, he discovered that he remained conscious.

Hunger gnawed at his soul, and his soul withered and died. In the dark frenzy, Yu Sheng watched "himself" be devoured in the blink of an eye, while his viewpoint was that of a detached bystander.

Hunger receded, and the withered, dead soul awakened once more. Yu Sheng opened his eyes in the darkness, uncertain for a moment whether he had just experienced another "death" or merely a fleeting illusion of being devoured.

He wandered through The Depths, unable to feel the passage of time or the end of space. He was not even sure whether he was truly moving.

He could only feel... a gaze that had remained fixed upon him.

It was not a single gaze. This entire dark chaos was part of that gaze.

He was like a grain of sand so tiny that it was no larger than a needlepoint, watched and drowned by the boundless gaze of Hunger.

Then, after who knew how long, he finally glimpsed something deep within The Depths... enormous limbs—or perhaps shadows—floating there.