Chapter 53: Feast

Chapter 53: Feast

Through a form of perception he still could not fully understand, Yu Sheng sensed that he had established a connection with the valley. His consciousness flowed through the rocks and soil, traveled through the depths of the writhing forest, immersed itself in the water and wind here, and then observed the sky above the valley through countless deformed and twisted eyes.

The gigantic eye that covered the entire sky gazed calmly and indifferently at the earth. From beginning to end, it hardly changed at all, like an observer transcending mortal existence, watching the contents of a petri dish.

Yet Yu Sheng could feel that the eye had noticed him.

The moment he established a connection with the valley, its gaze landed precisely upon him.

The eye was confused. It was curious. Although it displayed no emotion and no change in expression, Yu Sheng seemed to directly read those thoughts. A vast mind trembled throughout this space. Every one of its thoughts stirred up raging storms here. Yet ordinary people could not perceive the thunderous echoes reverberating through the Other Domain. Even Yu Sheng, borrowing the perception of the entire Other Domain, could only vaguely sense mental activity behind that eyeball.

Strangely, however, Yu Sheng sensed no hostility from the eye.

Nor any goodwill.

After some time passed, he discovered that the eye’s focus had shifted away from him.

Or rather, it was no longer observing the entire valley. Instead, it had focused its attention on a particular place within it.

The eye slowly swept across the land, as though tracking and searching for something.

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng’s consciousness gradually spread outward, and over the next several minutes, he came to understand something.

The entire valley had come alive.

Some strange and terrifying vitality had transformed this entire Other Domain into a living thing consumed by hunger.

Li Lin watched helplessly as rows of sharp teeth emerged along a distant ridgeline.

Between the teeth were horrifying tearing trenches. The rows of fangs rolled and surged like waves, while thunderous roars echoed from their depths.

He also saw an entire forest on the other side of the valley come alive.

Black tentacles replaced the trees that had once stood there. They spread across the rocky riverbed at the valley floor, engulfing everything in their path like swarming predatory insects.

And all of it unfolded beneath the cold gaze of the giant eye in the sky.

Strange.

Terrifying.

Like a nightmare.

Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf pack howled all around them, constantly biting through and driving back the tentacles, eyestalks, and tongues growing from the soil.

Yet no matter how hard the wolves fought, the area the group could safely occupy continued shrinking.

The young Special Operations Bureau agent could not help feeling despair.

He turned his head and looked ahead, seeing the girl with the multitude of tails carrying the doll and running at the front of the group.

Bent forward, burdened though she was, she still moved with astonishing speed and agility, like a nimble wild beast of the mountains.

As a human being, he was already struggling to keep up with that beast.

But at that moment, Hu Li finally slowed down.

Carrying Irene, and Irene’s kitchen knife, she arrived at a depression at the foot of a mountain.

Standing atop a large rock, she stretched her neck and looked around.

The pair of fluffy ears atop the demon fox girl’s head twitched lightly in the wind, as though listening to every movement around her.

Then she vigorously twitched her nose.

At last, her gaze settled in a particular direction.

“Over here! The entrance is here!”

Before she even finished speaking, she had already jumped down with Irene in her arms.

The others hurried after her.

Following her to the mountain wall, they discovered a cave entrance just wide enough for two people to pass through side by side.

“It’s very spacious inside!”

Calling back over her shoulder, Hu Li was already the first to enter the cave.

Ghostly blue spiritual flames suddenly ignited out of nowhere.

The flames drifted upward from the tips of Hu Li’s tails, illuminating the cave interior.

This appeared to be an ordinary primitive cavern.

It seemed originally to have been part of the mountain itself.

Some sections of the walls bore traces of artificial excavation and widening.

In the corners of the cave, crude and simple tools could still be seen, evidence that someone had once lived here for a period of time.

Xu Jiali removed a palm-sized black device from his waist and carefully scanned the cave.

“There are no toxins. The material structure is stable. No signs of corruption.”

Little Red Riding Hood waved a hand and stationed several wolves near the entrance.

The remaining wolf shadows returned to her side and gradually merged into the shadow beneath her feet.

Hu Li carefully carried Irene to a stone platform near the entrance and set her down.

Concern showed on her face.

“Are... are you alright?”

She pointed toward Irene’s missing arm and her damaged right leg.

Judging by appearances alone, Irene’s condition was horrific.

Only slightly better than their benefactor, who had died with his eyes still open.

The demon fox girl clearly knew little about living dolls.

“I’m fine. This body was temporary anyway, and some of the parts weren’t very sturdy,” Irene said cheerfully, even comforting Hu Li at a time like this. “Don’t worry. Once we’re back, Yu Sheng will fix me up. He built this body himself. Though his craftsmanship is... fairly average.”

The demon fox girl’s eyes widened slightly.

“Benefactor sounds very impressive.”

“...Maybe?” Irene sounded uncertain. “Sometimes I don’t even think he’s human. He has all sorts of strange abilities and bizarre ideas...”

She had only gotten halfway through the sentence when she seemed to sense something.

Suddenly she looked toward the cave entrance.

From this position, almost nothing outside could be seen.

“What is it?” Hu Li asked curiously.

“Could you... carry me over so I can look outside? Just to the entrance,” Irene said hesitantly. “I can’t see what’s happening out there from here, and it’s making me uneasy.”

Though puzzled, Hu Li did not think much of it.

She immediately picked Irene up and carefully carried her to the cave entrance.

Stretching her neck from Hu Li’s arms, Irene cautiously looked toward the sky.

The giant eye still floated above the valley.

Its magnificent scale made it resemble the pupil of the sky itself.

The sight was deeply unsettling.

“I keep feeling like... this eye has been staring this way ever since earlier,” Irene muttered nervously as she quickly pulled her head back. “Why hasn’t Yu Sheng come back yet...”

Hu Li froze for a moment and looked down at the little doll in her arms.

“Benefactor... he’ll be alright, won’t he?”

“He’ll definitely be fine,” Irene whispered.

Glancing back at the three temporary comrades inside the cave, she quietly spoke to Hu Li.

“Don’t mention Yu Sheng’s death to them later. They should’ve already forgotten everything related to that event by now.”

Hu Li tilted her head.

Her fluffy ears twitched twice.

It was impossible to tell whether she had understood.

Li Lin looked curiously toward the demon fox and doll near the entrance.

Frowning slightly, he was not sure whether it was merely his imagination.

During the frantic dash here behind those two, he felt as though he had overlooked something.

Something important had unconsciously vanished from his mind.

He looked toward Xu Jiali and Little Red Riding Hood nearby, yet saw no unusual reactions on either of their faces.

At that moment, Xu Jiali was cautiously searching and investigating deeper within the cave.

Little Red Riding Hood sat on a stone stool with her arms folded, staring at the Shadow Wolves standing guard near the entrance.

Her red coat had been damaged during the battle in the forest.

One sleeve had been torn completely apart.

Her entire right arm was now exposed.

Dense crimson patterns covered the arm, as though the flesh had once been shattered into countless pieces and only barely reassembled into its original shape.

The blue foxfire burned quietly near the cave ceiling.

It cast Little Red Riding Hood’s shadow onto the ground.

The shadow swayed constantly.

Occasionally, it would suddenly twist and deform for an instant, becoming identical to the wolves emerging from it.

The howling sounds from the valley outside never ceased.

The contrast made the silence within the cave feel increasingly oppressive and heavy.

Li Lin stood up and walked toward Hu Li and Irene at the entrance.

At the very least, he felt they ought to properly introduce themselves.

Yet halfway there, an unusual sound abruptly stopped him in his tracks.

It was an irregular scraping noise.

Like the sound of sharp teeth colliding and grinding together.

Immediately afterward, his sense of spiritual nature gave a sudden warning.

Xu Jiali, who was inspecting the depths of the cave, and Little Red Riding Hood, who was seated on the stone stool trying to recover, both instinctively looked up.

The atmosphere of the valley had changed.

Two or three seconds later, the outside world suddenly fell silent.

The silence was so complete it felt as though the entire world had died.

Yet it lasted only a moment.

Soon the strange scraping sounds returned, accompanied by mournful noises unlike the chaotic roars from before.

The sounds entered everyone’s ears.

Growing clearer.

Growing louder.

The fox sitting near the entrance instantly sprang to her feet and looked outside in alarm.

Irene also braced herself against Hu Li’s arm with her damaged limb, trying to determine what was happening beyond the cave.

Then, at that moment, the doll girl heard Yu Sheng’s voice.

“Irene.”

“Yu Sheng?!” Irene was startled and immediately responded. “You’ve come back to life? Where are you now? Can you sense my location? Hurry and open a door and come over! We found a safe hiding place, but it’s dangerous outside. Something has gone seriously wrong with the valley...”

Before she could finish, the voice in her mind interrupted her.

“Irene, don’t panic. It’ll be over soon.”

Irene froze.

“...Huh?”

The strange scraping sounds from the valley grew even denser than before.

Yu Sheng’s voice continued to echo within her heart.

“Irene, do you remember what happened when we contacted Hu Li through the dream and tried to use her perception to find this valley’s frequency?”

Of course Irene remembered.

“You directly came into contact with Hunger itself, and it took root in your mind!” the doll girl replied rapidly. “W-what happened?! Did something go wrong?! Are you unable to come back to life?”

The strange scraping sounds became increasingly dense.

It almost seemed as though they now filled the entire Other Domain.

The unsettling noise echoed through the cave, causing everyone’s nerves to tighten.

Yet within Irene’s heart, Yu Sheng’s voice was calmer than ever.

“Don’t worry, Irene. I’m fine. I just discovered something.”

Irene’s eyes slowly widened.

She felt as though she was beginning to recognize what those scraping sounds reverberating through the valley actually were.

“Hunger never took root in my mind.”

She heard Yu Sheng’s voice within her heart.

She heard Yu Sheng’s voice throughout the entire valley.

“I took root in its depths.”

At last, she understood.

The sounds were chewing.

Chewing that echoed throughout the entire valley.

The sacred feast had begun.

The Hunger entities occupying this Other Domain had begun devouring themselves.