Chapter 104: Yu Sheng’s Alchemical Experiment

Chapter 104: Yu Sheng’s Alchemical Experiment

Sleep was impossible, even without Irene causing trouble beside him.

Perhaps it was the excitement from having truly experienced an Other Domain exploration for the first time, or perhaps it was the accumulation of too much information recently. All of it surged up in his mind at once. Yu Sheng could not stop his chaotic thoughts. After tossing and turning for two or three hours, he finally got up, casually threw on a coat over his pajamas, and quietly prepared to leave the bedroom.

The moment he opened the door, the small doll on the bed suddenly sat upright again, eyes still closed: “Going out? Where to?”

Yu Sheng froze, about to answer, when Irene flopped back down with a thud, muttering: “Don’t forget to bring your helmet when spending money. You and that stupid fox are all stuffed up and still won’t take me to play games……”

It was incoherent sleep talk. Why would a doll not only need to sleep, but also talk in her sleep while sleeping?

A strange urge to complain rose in Yu Sheng’s mind. Confirming she was still asleep, he quietly left the room and stepped into the corridor outside.

The sun had not yet risen. Outside the house was still endless night, the quietest moment before dawn. Everything inside and outside the house was silent, so even the sound of slippers on the floor felt unusually loud and abrupt.

Yu Sheng looked around and first saw the door at the end of the corridor. He walked over, carefully pushed it open a crack, and checked inside. Everything was normal. Only then did he relax slightly and turn toward the stairs at the other end.

At the stairwell, he saw the coat hanging on the railing post. It was the coat he had worn when going out last night. Because he returned late, he had not tidied it and simply hung it there.

The coat was still stained with large patches of blood. The area torn by the giant wolf’s bite had a large rip, looking quite alarming.

Yu Sheng picked it up and examined it. He had not looked closely when he returned. Now he felt the coat was probably beyond saving. Repairing it would take a lot of work, the bloodstains might not wash out, and it was not an expensive piece of clothing anyway. He might as well throw it away later.

The only concern was whether tossing something that looked like evidence from a crime scene into the trash would scare someone. Neighbors might even call the police.

His mind drifted through random thoughts. At one moment he sighed at how much blood he had lost. At another, he regretted not smearing it all over the museum hall while it was still wet, maybe it could have increased his control over the “museum” or unlocked something new. At another, he wondered what exactly the giant wolf from Little Red Riding Hood’s shadow was, and worried about the girl being hunted by wolves.

His gaze stayed fixed on the bloodstains. Gradually, all those chaotic thoughts converged into a single curiosity.

Blood, his own blood… what exactly was it?

This question had lingered for a long time, but there had never been time or a clear direction to test or study it. Now, Yu Sheng suddenly had an idea. Since he could not sleep anyway, after a moment of hesitation he turned and went up the stairs to the attic.

Nightlight filtered through the window. The attic was filled with a deep blue, almost ink-like darkness. The large table that Irene had once used as an “alchemical workstation” stood quietly in the darkness. On it were the tools used for creating the doll body last time, a few old books stacked at the corner, and a worn desk lamp beside them.

Yu Sheng did not turn on the main light. Instead, he switched on the desk lamp. Within its limited but focused glow, he slowly sat down at the table and began thinking.

He had once used two lotus roots to reconstruct Irene’s arms. The little doll had turned into a “lotus doll” and protested fiercely. But leaving aside her complaints, there was something worth noting.

In Irene’s “professional doll” knowledge system, that kind of improvised operation should have been impossible. Clay, flour, even soil dug from the garden could be used as materials for dolls, but lotus root should not work.

After a brief hesitation, Yu Sheng took a disposable mixing cup from the drawer. He picked up a utility knife from the table and, gritting his teeth, made a cut on the back of his hand. He let his blood drip into the cup.

He had no real knowledge of mysticism. Aside from the mechanical “procedures” of doll-making, all Irene had taught him were only crude concepts about infusion, guidance, and activation, and even those had been explained casually.

But for Yu Sheng now, even that was enough to satisfy his curiosity.

After experiencing an Other Domain exploration with Little Red Riding Hood, he had developed a strong interest in mysticism and urgently wanted to expand his understanding.

Following the method he vaguely remembered from Irene’s teachings, he arranged candles for an infusion ritual on the table, placing his blood at the focal points of several concentric circles and connecting lines. He then tried to awaken his “spirituality” and channel it into the detached blood.

Irene had said that blood was an excellent natural alchemical catalyst. Blood flow symbolized life, one of the greatest miracles in the universe. It was one of the easiest substances to react in alchemical rituals, and even beginners could use it for many tests.

But Yu Sheng immediately encountered a problem.

He did not know how to awaken his “spirituality.” Although he had recently begun to sense the presence of “spiritual intuition” more clearly, he still could not perceive or control this so-called essence of the human soul as a concrete, manipulable “element.” He could not feel any supernatural “energy” within himself, and naturally could not infuse it into the blood outside his body.

All he could do was rely on imagination, and he nearly fell asleep while doing so.

After struggling for ten minutes, he noticed the blood in the cup had begun to coagulate and gave up on this approach.

Perhaps some “auxiliary materials” were needed?

Thinking this, Yu Sheng opened the drawer again and took out a bag of clay.

He had bought it again after the last batch was used up, considering that Irene might need emergency repairs to her body in the future. He needed to keep these “materials” stocked at home.

After all, he could not keep using lotus root every time, even though he was tempted to try it. Irene would probably go insane.

Clay shaping was the only alchemical experiment Yu Sheng had successfully performed so far.

He mixed the blood in the cup directly into the clay, kneaded it evenly, then carefully added tea powder and rose oil according to Irene’s instructions. After careful preparation, he began shaping it into the form of an arm.

At worst, this could double as practice for doll-making skills, so he would not have to endure Irene complaining about his ugly work every time she recalled being reconstructed.

With great patience and precision, he completed the arm. Using a blade and sculpting needle, he formed a small hand at the end. After much effort, he realized… it was still ugly.

But at least it was better than last time. At least it had five fingers.

He had never dared tell Irene that the first body he made for her had six fingers on each hand. In any case, after her self-reconstruction, her body had corrected itself, and she never noticed.

After finishing, he placed the arm back into the center of the alchemical array. While imagining a connection between his blood and the arm, he slowly moved his right hand, trying to make the arm mimic his movements.

But it did not move at all.

Yu Sheng frowned, poked it with the blade, and after confirming there was no response, gave up and set it aside for now.

Faint morning light had begun to filter through the slanted attic window. The surroundings were gradually brightening.

But Yu Sheng was already immersed in what he was doing and did not even notice the changing light.

He released more blood and prepared more clay.

Crafting was the kind of activity that easily became addictive.

Since he had already made an arm, he might as well build a full body. Whether or not alchemy worked was secondary. At least his sculpting skills could improve. It would also serve as preparation for Irene’s spare body. Even though she said she would only switch bodies in a few months, this time could be used for practice.

It could even be a small surprise for her later.

With that thought, Yu Sheng became increasingly enthusiastic. Continuous blood loss did not make him feel weak; instead, he felt more energized. He created a torso, arms, and two legs, then opened a new bag of clay to begin shaping a head.

He felt he was improving significantly. Compared to last time, this body was at least symmetrical, fully formed, with arms as arms and legs as legs.

The head was more demanding. It required precise facial features and even considerations for makeup. He was not sure he could manage it. The first time he made Irene’s body, he skipped facial detailing entirely, and the face had formed itself later. This time, he wanted to challenge himself.

He had even bought a set of miniature tools for doll and figure painting when purchasing the clay, so not using them would be wasteful.

He worked with full concentration.

In fact, he was too focused.

So focused that he failed to notice that the arm he had first created had begun to tremble slightly at the fingers.

And the torso placed at the edge of the table was beginning to rise and fall with faint, barely perceptible breathing.