As the door slammed shut, the dim starlight from the distant reaches of space vanished from Yu Sheng's sight. A full half-minute passed before he snapped out of his momentary shock. Then he let out a long breath, cold sweat belatedly prickling his skin.
Opening a door didn't necessarily lead to some "location" within a foreign domain or on another planet—there was even a chance of opening straight into outer space?
The randomness and range of these "doors" far exceeded Yu Sheng's imagination!
At this moment, Yu Sheng even felt a wave of relief. He was fortunate that when he had accidentally opened the door for the very first time, he had stepped into a foreign domain rather than straight into deep space. Had he truly been so unlucky back then, he couldn't begin to fathom what would have happened.
In the worst-case scenario, he might have been caught in a rapid, continuous cycle of dying and resurrecting in the brutal conditions of the void. He might never have had the chance to maintain a clear train of thought, let alone grope around and master his door-opening ability amid such relentless, swift deaths. Even if he miraculously endured it, or got lucky and managed by some fluke to open a door back to solid ground, it would have been a profoundly terrifying ordeal.
Once his pounding heart finally settled down, Yu Sheng immediately began analyzing the new information he had gleaned from this door-opening attempt.
When the door swung open, he hadn't felt the terrifying suction of the vacuum on the other side, nor did he seem to feel the biting cold that ought to exist in outer space.
Yet during the previous few times he had opened doors, he had been able to hear sounds from the other side and even feel some environmental effects—such as the scorching air currents on that desolate planet.
Why was that? Did the "door" possess some inherent filtering capability? When the environmental disparity between both sides was too drastic, did it actively screen out those effects? Or was outer space itself peculiar, acting as a "coordinate" that could only be observed rather than physically reached? Or perhaps... that hadn't been genuine outer space just now, but another kind of foreign domain that merely resembled a starry sky...
Lost in thought, Yu Sheng glanced back at Irene in the oil painting.
Irene looked back at him with hesitation. "Do you still want to continue? You looked pretty spooked just now..."
Yu Sheng closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, only resolve remained.
"Continue."
He gripped the doorknob once more, but far more cautiously than before. He attuned his senses to that delicate, subtle "spiritual guidance," while trying to recall the sensations from the previous times he had successfully opened doors, attempting to... replicate a specific passage.
He slowly opened the door. On the other side was merely an ordinary scene, resembling a desolate beach.
It was not any door he had ever opened before.
Afterward, he tried again and again, opening doors repeatedly, searching for the path that could lead him back to Hu Li.
Or any other passage that could be replicated—so long as it allowed him to grasp the rules of opening doors.
Amid these endless attempts, a fleeting thought crossed Yu Sheng's mind at one point: could there be a door that opened to the familiar "hometown" in his memories?
He still remembered that he had arrived in this Jiecheng after pushing open his front door one morning. Though there was no concrete proof, he grew increasingly convinced that that morning had been the true first time he had ever "opened a door."
Only, back then, he had been completely oblivious.
Would there come a time in some future attempt when he pushed open a door and saw the home from his memories?
Yu Sheng forcefully suppressed the sudden thought. He knew he had more pressing matters at hand; going home... would have to remain a hope buried deep in his heart for now.
The door opened time after time, revealing scenes bizarre and fantastical, mundane and plain, absurd and eerie, and even... bustling and lively.
Countless distant worlds rushed toward him in the brief moments each door swung open and slammed shut. Throughout this ceaseless repetition, Yu Sheng suddenly felt a curious realization.
This world... truly did not consist of just Jiecheng.
Beyond this massive, peculiar "Boundary City"... the expanse outside was so boundless.
So many sights, so many mysteries, so many strange and varied far-off lands—all waiting whenever he opened a door, right at the simple push and pull of his hand.
He was not trapped in this city.
Irene seemed to grow gradually excited as well. Though Yu Sheng had no idea what the doll in the painting was so thrilled about, watching the scenery beyond the door with him had clearly lifted her spirits.
Unable to move, she took to offering a running commentary on each scene outside—
"That mountain is so tall! There's something glowing on top of it. Will we have a chance to go see it someday?"
"An ocean! What a huge fish!"
"Whoa! It's all snow, but why is it pale blue... It doesn't look like there's any life out there..."
"...That's a toilet. Hurry, close it, close it!"
"...That scared me to death! There's a ghost!"
The doll never quieted down for a single moment, chattering endlessly at whatever appeared beyond the door. At first, Yu Sheng found it somewhat noisy, but gradually, Irene's ever-changing exclamations became a touch of amusement in the monotonous testing process.
Then, just before one particular opening, something stirred in his heart. It felt as if he had been searching for an extremely narrow frequency on an old-fashioned dial radio and finally hit upon the right band. He sensed a passage he had opened once before—not the valley brimming with hunger, but a door he had undeniably opened.
Yu Sheng seized upon that sensation instantly. For the first time, he actively guided his "spiritual guidance." Lacking any formal technique, he relied purely on instinct to steer toward that familiar passage—
He cautiously pushed the door open and looked through.
He saw flames blazing around the doorframe.
Farther off, he saw a solemn, ancient hall, with ethereal radiance drifting between the flying eaves and corridor pillars. There stood a handsome young man dressed in lavish robes, alongside an elderly man with the air of a transcendent immortal, sporting white hair and a youthful complexion.
The young man was currently strung up from a roof beam, being thoroughly whipped by the old man.
The old man's voice was full of vigor, ringing loud and clear across the threshold:
"To think you've followed this master for so many years! To secretly dabble in demonic arts behind my back! Speak! What is this about refining living beings in the alchemy furnace?! What is with that severed head?! Did you... did you truly harm an innocent?!"
The handsome young man in the lavish robes writhed on the beam, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Master, I've been wronged! I was just refining an ordinary spirit-nourishing pill! How could I know why Little Junior Brother saw a person poke out of the furnace door... Ow, ow! Don't hit me, stop hitting me, Master! I'm innocent!"
Hearing this, the old immortal nearly leaped into the air. "Cease your quibbling! When I inspected the alchemy furnace earlier, I even caught a glimpse of living spiritual nature! There was indeed a living person in that furnace of yours!"
Yu Sheng stood dumbfounded on his side. Right then, another small figure darted in near the doorframe—it was none other than the Daoist child who had been holding a fan earlier. The kid's eyes widened as he glanced toward the door, then he ran screaming toward the main hall: "Master! Master! Another head popped out of Eldest Senior Brother's furnace! It's the same one from before!"
The old man with transcendent grace promptly whipped out a brass-buckled leather belt...
Of course, it might not have been a brass-buckled belt—it was too far to see clearly—but judging from the young man's instant shrieks, the thing packed no less intimidation than one.
Yu Sheng slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Astonishment, agitation, excitement, and a flurry of emotions tangled together. Only after a good while did he spin around toward Irene, shouting in delighted surprise, "Irene! I did it! I did it!"
Irene jumped in fright. "Calm down! What did you do?"
"That passage just now was one I opened before! I just controlled it myself and opened it again—the process is controllable! It can be replicated!"
He was flushed with excitement. Confirming that he could truly control that subtle "spiritual guidance" meant he could similarly control and replicate any other "door" he had previously opened, including the one leading to the valley where Hu Li was!
All he needed to do next was find a way to recall the "frequency" his heart had perceived when he had fallen into that valley. Even if he could only find an approximation, he could exhaust every variation until he found it!
Irene was visibly swept up in Yu Sheng's excitement as well, though the young doll unexpectedly regained her composure rather quickly. She spoke up to remind him, "Um, shouldn't you explain the situation to the people on the other side of that door first... The guy hanging from the beam is about to be beaten to death..."
Yu Sheng froze, only now belatedly recalling the matter. His door-opening had always been completely random before, so he wasn't accustomed to the idea that the process was controllable and that there were things he could actually do about it.
He reached out and took hold of the doorknob, but a trace of hesitation flickered in his mind.
Would the people on the other side be reasonable? That transcendent old man... could he be an "immortal" like the ones Hu Li had mentioned? Yet it didn't seem quite right; the vibe didn't feel like the sort of immortal who would run a travel agency, so perhaps they belonged to a different system altogether... If his explanation went poorly and the other party attacked through the door, what then? A mere mortal like him certainly couldn't fight back... Should he just speak across the threshold? The other side shouldn't be able to attack through the door, right... After all, when he had closed the door earlier, the transcendent old man had only sensed a "living spiritual nature" and hadn't tracked him down across the threshold...
With all sorts of chaotic thoughts flashing through his mind, Yu Sheng finally gritted his teeth. He focused his mind once more, attempting to lock onto the frequency from before. After confirming it several times, he cautiously pulled the door open.
The joy of success welled up from within—he had successfully replicated the passage yet again.
The transcendent old man was currently escorting the lavishly robed young man, who had been thoroughly thrashed, flying over from afar upon a swath of rosy clouds.
Yu Sheng stayed behind his door, not daring to step close, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's all a misunderstanding!"
The young man in lavish robes promptly fell off the rosy clouds, wailing almost in tears, "You can't do this to me! Whichever Senior Immortal you are on the other side, if this junior has offended you, please just say so outright!"
"I haven't a clue! I was just passing through!" Yu Sheng spoke the honest truth. "I didn't know this was your alchemy furnace either—it's a misunderstanding, really, a total misunderstanding!"
With that, he shut the door immediately.
Truth be told, he was genuinely afraid the immortal on the other side might strike at him.
Yu Sheng then turned around and stared blankly at Irene in the oil painting.
"...Do you think I explained it clearly?"
Irene nodded vigorously. "I think you made it crystal clear."
"...I kind of feel bad for the guy."
"...We probably won't run into them again. The world's a big place, right?"
"Yeah, fair point."
Chapter 34