Feast

Through a form of "perception" he could not yet fully comprehend, Yu Sheng felt himself establish a connection with the valley. His consciousness surged between the rocks and earth, wound through the creeping, undulating depths of the woods, submerged the water and wind here, and then, through countless pairs of grotesque, twisted eyes, gazed up at the sky above the valley. The colossal eye that seemed large enough to drape across the entire sky looked down calmly and indifferently at the earth, unchanging from beginning to end, like a mortal-transcending observer examining specimens in a petri dish. Yet Yu Sheng could sense that the eye had noticed him—the moment he forged a link with the valley, its gaze had fallen unerringly upon "him." The eye was puzzled, curious. Even though it betrayed no emotion or shift in its gaze, Yu Sheng could almost directly "read" these thoughts—some immense "mind" was trembling within this space. Every one of its thoughts stirred up raging tempests here, yet ordinary mortals could not perceive the roars reverberating through the foreign domain. Even Yu Sheng, borrowing the perception of the entire domain, could only vaguely sense that there was conscious thought stirring behind that eyeball. Strangely, however, Yu Sheng felt not the slightest malice from that eye—nor any goodwill. Then, after a while, he noticed the eye's focus shift away from him. Or rather, it was no longer watching the valley as a whole, but zeroing in on a specific spot within it. The eyeball slowly swept over the earth, as if tracking, searching for something. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng's consciousness gradually diffused, and over the next few minutes, he began to understand something... The entire valley was coming alive. Some bizarre, terrifying "vitality" was turning the whole foreign domain into a ravenous living creature. Li Lin watched helplessly as row upon row of razor-sharp teeth sprouted along the distant mountain ridges, flanked by horrifying, torn chasms. Those rows of fangs rolled and heaved like waves, rumbling with thunderous roars from their depths. He also saw an entire forest across another part of the valley come to life. Black tentacles had replaced the original trees, spreading along the stony flats of the valley floor, engulfing everything in their path like a swarming horde of predatory insects. And all of this unfolded under the cold gaze of the colossal eyeball in the sky—uncanny, horrifying, like a waking nightmare. Little Red Riding Hood's wolf pack howled around them, constantly snapping and driving back the tentacles, eyestalks, and tongues growing out of the soil. Yet no matter how hard the wolves fought, the group's foothold continued to shrink. The young Special Affairs Bureau operative couldn't help but feel a tinge of despair. He looked ahead to where the girl with the mass of tails was running at the front, cradling the doll. She was hunched over, yet even with her arms full, she bounded forward with extraordinary speed and agility, like a nimble beast of the mountains—and he, as an ordinary human, was on the verge of failing to keep up with that "beast." But right then, Hu Li finally slowed down. Carrying Irene (and Irene's kitchen cleaver), she arrived at a recess at the foot of the mountain. Stepping onto a large rock, she craned her neck to survey her surroundings. The pair of fluffy, oversized ears on the fox-demon girl's head twitched slightly in the wind, as if catching the faintest rustle. Then she twitched her nose vigorously and finally fixed her gaze in a certain direction. "Over here! The entrance is here!" Before her voice had even faded, she had jumped to the ground with Irene. Seeing this, the others scrambled to follow, running toward the rock wall behind her until they saw a cave opening that could only accommodate two people abreast. "It's really spacious inside!" Hu Li called out over her shoulder, already ducking into the cave ahead of them. A spectral blue foxfire ignited out of thin air, drifting up into midair from the tips of Hu Li's tails to illuminate the interior of the cave. It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary, primitive cavern that had formed as a natural part of the mountain. Portions of the walls showed marks of manual excavation and widening, and in a corner of the cave lay a few crude, simple utensils—evidence that someone had lived here for a time. Xu Jiali pulled a palm-sized black device from his waist, cautiously scanned the cavern, and spoke in a low voice: "Non-toxic, stable material structure, no signs of erosion." Little Red Riding Hood waved a hand, stationing several wolves near the cave mouth, while the rest of the shadow wolves returned to her side, gradually melting into the shadow beneath her feet. Hu Li carefully carried Irene over to a stone ledge near the cave entrance, set the little doll down, and looked at her with concern. "Are you... all right?" She pointed at Irene's broken arms and her compromised right leg. Judging by appearance alone, Irene's condition was downright tragic—second only to the benefactor who had just died with his eyes wide open. The fox-demon girl clearly didn't know much about "living dolls." "I'm fine. This body was only temporary anyway; some of the parts aren't very sturdy," Irene said with easy nonchalance, even reassuring Hu Li. "Don't worry, once we get back, Yu Sheng will fix me up. He made this body, after all... well, even if his craftsmanship is, uh... a bit sloppy." The fox-demon girl's eyes widened slightly. "Sounds like... Benefactor is amazing?" "...Maybe?" Irene sounded a bit hesitant. "Sometimes I don't even think he's human, with all those weird abilities and ideas of his..." Halfway through her sentence, the doll girl seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up toward the cave entrance. From this angle, it was almost impossible to see what was happening outside. "What is it?" Hu Li asked curiously. "Could you... hold me and take a look outside? Just right by the entrance," Irene said hesitantly. "I can't see what's happening out there at all, and it's making me uneasy." Hu Li was a bit puzzled, but without overthinking it, she scooped Irene up and carefully approached the cave entrance. Irene craned her neck from Hu Li's arms and boldly looked up at the sky. The colossal eye still hovered above the valley, its magnificent proportions making it seem as if the sky itself had developed a pupil—a breathtaking, soul-shaking sight. "I can't shake the feeling... that eye has been looking over here this entire time," Irene muttered nervously, quickly shrinking back. "Why isn't Yu Sheng back yet..." Hu Li paused and looked down at the little doll in her arms. "Benefactor... will be okay, right?" "He'll definitely be fine," Irene lowered her voice, glancing back at their three "temporary comrades" in the cavern before whispering to Hu Li, "Don't mention Yu Sheng's 'death' to them later. By now, they should have already forgotten about it." Hu Li tilted her head, her fluffy ears twitching twice, leaving it uncertain whether she had understood or not. Li Lin looked up curiously at the fox demon and the doll lingering near the cave entrance. He frowned slightly. Whether it was just an illusion or not, he couldn't shake the feeling that during their wild dash here behind the two of them, he had overlooked something—some vital piece of information had unwittingly vanished from his mind. He glanced at Xu Jiali and Little Red Riding Hood nearby, but saw nothing amiss on their faces. Xu Jiali was cautiously searching and inspecting the depths of the cave, while Little Red Riding Hood sat on a stone bench with her arms crossed, her eyes fixed on the few shadow wolves standing guard near the entrance. Her red coat had been torn during the earlier fight in the woods, one sleeve ripped to shreds, leaving her entire right arm exposed. That arm was now covered in fine crimson patterns, as if the flesh and blood had been shattered into pieces and only barely reassembled, glued back into its original shape. Spectral blue foxfire burned quietly near the ceiling of the cave, casting Little Red Riding Hood's shadow onto the ground. The shadow swayed gently, occasionally twisting and warping for an instant into the likeness of the wolves that emerged from the dark. The bizarre, howling noises from the valley drifted in from outside without pause, making the quiet inside the cavern feel all the more oppressive and heavy. Li Lin stood up and walked toward Hu Li and Irene by the entrance—he felt that, at the very least, he ought to introduce himself now. Yet halfway there, a bizarre sound brought him to an abrupt halt. It was an erratic grinding noise, like the clamor of sharp teeth gnashing and scraping against each other. Immediately following that, his spiritual intuition spiked violently. Xu Jiali, who had been inspecting the depths of the cave, and Little Red Riding Hood, who had been trying to steady her condition on the stone bench, both looked up instinctively. The "atmosphere" of the valley had changed. Two or three seconds later, the outside of the cave fell abruptly silent—so quiet it felt as though the entire world had plunged into dead stillness. Yet this silence lasted only a moment before the bizarre grinding returned, accompanied by a whimpering unlike the chaotic roars from before. These sounds reached everyone's ears, growing clearer and clearer, louder and... louder. The fox sitting on the ground near the cave mouth sprang to her feet at once, gazing outside in anxious dread. Irene also pushed against Hu Li's arm with her ruined limbs, trying to see what was happening outside the cave—and right then, the doll girl heard Yu Sheng's voice: "Irene." "Yu Sheng?!" Irene was startled and hurriedly responded in her mind, "You revived? Where are you right now? Can you sense where I am? Hurry up and open a door to come over! We found a safe hiding place, it's dangerous outside right now, the valley has gone completely crazy—" Before she could finish, however, the voice echoing in her mind cut her off: "Don't panic, Irene. It'll all be over soon." Irene froze. "...Huh?" The bizarre grinding sounds drifting from the valley grew more frenzied than before. Yu Sheng's voice continued to resonate in the depths of Irene's heart: "Irene, do you remember what happened when we contacted Hu Li through dreams earlier, trying to use her perception to find this valley's 'frequency'?" Of course Irene remembered. "You made direct contact with the true form of 'Hunger,' and it took root in your mind!" the doll girl said hurriedly. "W-What is it?! Did something go wrong?! Can you not revive?!" The bizarre grinding sounds in the valley grew denser and denser, seeming to fill the entire foreign domain. The disturbing noise echoed through the cavern, setting everyone's nerves on edge. Yet in Irene's heart, Yu Sheng's voice was calmer than ever. "Don't worry, Irene, I'm fine. I just realized something..." Irene's eyes slowly widened. She seemed to gradually discern what that grinding sound echoing across the valley actually was. "Hunger didn't take root in my mind." She heard Yu Sheng's voice from within her heart. She heard Yu Sheng's voice resonating from across the entire valley. "Rather, I took root deep within it." She finally heard it clearly—it was the sound of chewing, echoing across the entire valley. The sublime feast had begun. Entrenched within this foreign domain, Entity-Hunger had begun to devour itself.