Chapter 31: Passing By

Chapter 31: Passing By

Open the convenience store door, then walk into the convenience store.

It was obviously such a simple and ordinary process, yet at this moment Yu Sheng found it hard to believe. The shock from opening those doors several times earlier had been too great. Even now he felt lingering aftereffects from opening doors. Looking at the shelves and the owner in front of him, outrageous thoughts still surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

Could this actually be an extradimensional nest disguised as the exact same convenience store from his memories? Those shelves looked normal enough, but perhaps every bottle and jar on them contained eyeballs soaked in formaldehyde. Maybe after greeting him, the owner would suddenly pull a chainsword from his pocket and charge across the room, cutting him down beside the register...

Fortunately, those absurd thoughts only lingered briefly.

Yu Sheng quickly calmed down. First, he confirmed that he had genuinely entered a normal convenience store. At the same time, he more or less figured out under what circumstances he could “open a door normally and correctly.” Then he nodded to the young owner across from him.

“I’m here to buy some things. Do you have instant noodles and compressed biscuits by the carton?”

“We’ve got instant noodles. The unopened boxes are stacked under the staircase leading to the second floor. Go see what kind you want,” the young owner said. Though he found Yu Sheng’s dazed expression upon entering a little strange, he quickly dismissed it and pointed toward a metal staircase nearby. “We’re out of boxed compressed biscuits. Middle shelf on the left, see them? That’s all we’ve got. Not many people buy those, so I don’t stock much.”

“Alright, pack up all the biscuits for me. I’ll go grab a box of noodles... and throw in two packs of sausages too, the large ones.”

“Sure.”

The young owner responded and turned around with a large shopping bag, heading toward the shelves to pack the items. As he worked, he casually asked, “Buying so many instant noodles and compressed biscuits all of a sudden? Living on that stuff isn’t good for you. My wife nags me about it every day.”

“Just keeping them at home as emergency supplies,” Yu Sheng replied casually.

The owner said nothing more. He packed a large bag according to Yu Sheng’s request and started walking toward the register.

Just then, the glass door of the store was pushed open again.

Both door panels were shoved open together, and one of them emitted an ear-grating Creak. from its damaged hinge.

The owner, who was counting compressed biscuits for the bill, immediately looked up.

“Hey, that door’s broken. There’s a notice posted on it.”

“Uh, I didn’t notice,” said the newcomer, a young man with black hair, casual clothes, and an otherwise unremarkable appearance. He glanced awkwardly back at the half of the glass door that no longer seemed capable of closing automatically, then turned around. “Do you have boxed instant noodles?”

At that moment, Yu Sheng was carrying a carton of noodles between two rows of shelves. Hearing the conversation at the register, he glanced up briefly before looking away again.

“Oh, that kind is fine,” the black-haired young man said, pointing at the box in Yu Sheng’s arms. “I’ll take one of those too.”

Without even looking up, the owner replied, “Under the stairs on your right at the front. Go grab one yourself. I’m settling a bill right now.”

Yu Sheng passed by the young man.

After paying at the register, he left the store carrying a large shopping bag in one hand and a box of noodles on his shoulder, disappearing into the gradually darkening night outside.

Li Lin found the instant noodles he wanted beneath the staircase mentioned by the owner.

Just as he bent down to pick them up, he felt a vibration in his pocket.

Pulling out his phone, he discovered a message from his captain.

Glancing toward the register, he lowered his head to the screen and casually replied:

“I’ve settled in already. Just came out to buy some supplies.”

The phone buzzed twice.

A new message appeared:

“Notice anything unusual?”

Li Lin typed back:

“No. I’ll walk around the neighborhood tomorrow and get in contact with some of the local residents.”

After sending the message, the young Special Operations Bureau agent hesitated for a moment before typing another one:

“When is the team’s Deep Diver arriving? Who’s being assigned?”

This time, it took a while before the phone vibrated again.

“Xu Jiali. Reports for duty tomorrow.”

Li Lin stared blankly at the message.

Just as he was about to ask something, another message arrived from his superior:

“He just returned from Aimein-IX. Something happened over there, and his mission ended early. He’s currently giving his report and undergoing a full examination at headquarters. He’ll be sent to your location tomorrow.”

After reading the message, Li Lin’s mouth twitched.

He quickly typed:

“Sending him straight here for duty right after field deployment? Not even giving him half a day off?”

“Xu Jiali requested it himself. The situation he encountered was somewhat unusual. He’s experiencing some post-dive effects right now and needs to wear a stabilizer continuously for the next few days. So he postponed his leave until next week. There probably won’t be anything happening at your location in the short term. Staying with you will practically count as rest. You can discuss the details when you meet tomorrow.”

Li Lin curled his lips, replied with an “Okay,” then picked up the noodle carton and walked toward the register.

The convenience store owner glanced up from behind the counter. While pulling out a scanner, he repeated himself yet again:

“Living on this stuff isn’t good for you. My wife nags me about it every day...”

Li Lin laughed.

“Then I won’t buy it.”

“That’ll be 62.8 yuan.”

Irene heard movement from the front door.

Someone had opened it from outside.

She poked her head out from the edge of the painting frame and looked toward the entrance hall, but for a long time she saw no sign of Yu Sheng.

Only after quite a while did she finally see him cautiously poke his head through the doorway. He first looked around in every direction before sneaking into the house like a thief. After setting down the large pile of supplies he had bought, he turned around and closed the door.

Irene quietly watched the entire performance.

Only after he finished closing the door did she finally speak.

“Yu Sheng, what are you doing? Why does coming home look like a burglary operation?”

Yu Sheng sighed.

“Don’t even mention it. I’ve developed serious psychological trauma regarding opening doors. If I don’t verify things three times, I don’t even dare take a step forward.”

Listening to him, Irene’s gaze shifted toward the pile of supplies by the entrance.

“That’s quite a lot,” the doll lady said in amazement. “You should’ve taken one of those little pull carts. The camping kind. They’re incredibly useful.”

Yu Sheng said nothing for a moment.

He lowered his head and looked at the instant noodles, sausages, and compressed biscuits piled by the door.

Then he suddenly seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead.

“I should’ve bought liquid food! She’s been starving for too long. She can’t eat this stuff directly... No, tomorrow morning I’ll go buy a case of eight-treasure porridge. Or should I go right now?”

Irene listened silently.

Only when Yu Sheng genuinely looked ready to leave again did she suddenly speak.

“Tomorrow is fine.”

By then, Yu Sheng had already put his shoes back on. One hand rested on the doorknob as he turned his head.

“She’s still hungry...”

“Even if you buy it now, do you have any way to deliver it to that fox immediately?” Irene stared directly at him. “And honestly, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while. Even if you manage to send the food over, it’ll only relieve her condition temporarily. The biggest problem over there isn’t the lack of food. It’s the entity called Hunger.”

Yu Sheng stopped moving.

After thinking for a moment, he changed back into his indoor shoes, walked to the dining table, and sat down opposite Irene.

“You’re right. The biggest problem is Hunger. Though filling her stomach temporarily would still help... but tomorrow is fine. There’s no need to rush this very moment. Besides, we still need to figure out a reliable way to enter that Valley first.”

Irene noticed the serious expression on Yu Sheng’s face when he spoke the latter half of that sentence.

Combined with the fragments he had revealed earlier during their conversation, she immediately sensed something.

“...What exactly happened?” she asked cautiously. “Don’t tell me... you’ve figured out a way to enter the Valley?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not a way to enter the Valley. Rather...”

As he spoke, Yu Sheng suddenly reached into empty air in front of Irene.

He grabbed a doorknob.

A door abruptly materialized in the air.

The door itself looked entirely ordinary, yet its edges trembled and flickered like a phantom.

Then, under Irene’s shocked gaze, Yu Sheng yanked it open.

The illusory door flew open.

Beyond it stood an elf-like woman with a lower body of wheels, a back covered in mechanical limbs like some kind of machine-oil mechanic, and a silver-white robe covering her upper body.

She stood before a massive industrial machine.

Shock covered her face as she turned toward the doorway.

The mechanical limbs behind the cyborg elf princess continued rapidly and precisely adjusting the enormous light-emitting machine on the platform, while her eyes widened as though ready to pop out.

She stared at Yu Sheng for two seconds before shouting:

“So who the hell are you really?!”

Yu Sheng slammed the door shut with a Bang!

“...I didn’t expect I could connect to the same place twice in a row,” Yu Sheng said, sounding both surprised and thoughtful. “Wait, maybe this is exactly... Hold on, I should try reproducing it...”

He had barely muttered half of that sentence when Irene finally snapped.

The doll lady looked ready to fly straight out of the painting and bite someone.

“What was that just now?! What was that?! Huh?!”

“As you can see,” Yu Sheng exhaled, “it was a door.”

“I know it was a door, but that’s not the point!” Irene took a deep breath and practically jumped out of her chair. “What. Exactly. Was. That?!”