Chapter 21 First time stranger, second time acquaintance

In fact, Yu Sheng had thought, ever since he learned about the commonly dangerous phenomenon known as the "Exotic Realm" and that the colossal "Boundary City" was a special place called "Boundary Land", there must be groups of people who deal with such phenomena specifically — not the type to act alone, like scattered and individual warriors (although such people certainly exist), but rather organizations on a scale, even professionalized and formalized.

There are official ones, and there might be private ones as well.

But just like Erin had said, under normal circumstances, these people do not interact with ordinary people.

The Exotic Realm is beyond common knowledge, at the edge of reason, like numerous tiny yet hazardous holes on the mountain of seemingly stable reality. Ordinary people might never deal with the scenes hidden within these holes in their entire lives, but those who are unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the fleeting lights that escape from these holes can never turn back.

This is the "knowledge" that Erin conveyed to him from the beginning. Just from these descriptions, Yu Sheng could judge that those who deal specifically with the Exotic Realm would certainly want to prevent ordinary people from accessing any information related to it, including their own existence.

But if something really did happen, they should also have their own mechanism of response...

Yu Sheng looked up again, staring at the desolate street outside the window.

"Seriously though, how long does it usually take for those 'professionals' you mentioned to react?" he asked, not reassured.

"I don't know, I can't remember... But I have an impression that it's very quick," Erin, hugging her teddy bear, rocked back and forth in her chair, looking rather punchable, "They have lots of methods to sense anomalies, and the entire Boundary Land should be under their surveillance. It was like this before I was sealed, and it must be even more formidable now."

Yu Sheng remained silent, just looking at the doll in the oil painting.

"Of course, professionals are human too, and all humans have their less competent moments, so occasionally they might also have a slow response?" Erin suddenly started to sound a bit guilty, "They also might not have noticed the irregularities here... Although things have already gotten quite serious over here..."

"That doesn't sound very reliable," Yu Sheng frowned and then sighed, "According to what you said, this entire house of mine is an 'Exotic Realm', but up to now, no one has come knocking. I'm seriously doubting the professionalism of those 'professionals' you mentioned... Sigh, I feel like in the end, I'll have to rely on myself."

Erin blinked, "Really, is that so?"

Then, out of curiosity, she asked, "What do you plan on doing? From what you're saying... you're still planning on dealing with that valley, and the entity within?"

"It's not that I want to deal with it, but rather that it will inevitably seek me out again, I feel it," Yu Sheng said, pulling at the corner of his mouth. He thought of the eerie sleet, and the frogs within, "And didn't you say? Once you've dealt with the Exotic Realm, there's no turning back — My contact with the 'Exotic Realm' probably started earlier than you think."

"Well... okay, you're right, indeed many people who deal with the Exotic Realm were just ordinary people who unluckily got swept into incidents," Erin mumbled to herself, "From what I remember, it seems like about one-tenth of ordinary people become 'Exotic Realm' experts after their encounter, whether willingly or not, since they're basically haunted by the mess..."

Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows at Erin's words: "Only one-tenth? What about the remaining nine-tenths? Did they successfully return to their normal lives?"

Erin looked up, "They died."

Yu Sheng: "…"

"There are also... people who survive. Every year quite a number of people are rescued," Erin noticed Yu Sheng's expression, hurriedly explained in a fluster, and added after explaining, "Of course, it seems like there are more who die."

"...Erin." Yu Sheng looked at the doll in the oil painting.

"Eh, eh?"

"You don't have to speak if you don't have anything useful to say."

"Really, is that so?"

Yu Sheng sighed and slowly stood up from beside the dining table.

"Whether I die doesn't matter much to me, but I do need to figure out how to learn more about the Exotic Realm. Those 'professionals' you talked about... if they're not coming, then I'll have to reach out to them," he mused as he spoke, "After all, your memory and experience are indeed unreliable."

"Proactively reach out to them?" Erin seemed unfazed by Yu Sheng's latter statement, still looking quite cheerful, "Then... then why don't you really go check the utility poles nearby and see if there's any small ads posted by some Exotic Realm security company?"

Yu Sheng was helpless: "...I'm being serious."

"So am I," Erin blinked, "They really do leave behind ways of contact like that, so that ordinary people who have had an encounter with the Exotic Realm and are lucky to return can seek help. However, these methods of contact are generally invisible to normal people; they are processed using 'technical means' — but those who have been in contact with the Exotic Realm will be different. They may go through some 'spiritual awakening' and have a good chance of noticing those 'secret seal symbols' that are normally kept hidden."

At this point, Erin suddenly paused and looked at Yu Sheng quite seriously, scrutinizing him up and down: "Haven't you felt any... changes happening to you?"

Changes after encountering the Exotic Realm?!

Hearing the doll's words, Yu Sheng's heart stirred, and he quickly spoke: "By changes, do you mean becoming strong enough to crush stones, healing from a cut by just breathing a few times, sensing other people's memories and thoughts, and potentially coming back to life after dying or the like..."

Erin was dumbstruck, looking at Yu Sheng as if he were an alien: "What?"

"...Not possible?"

"At most, you'll be able to see things that you normally can't," she retorted, "What are you talking about? Are you even human anymore? You've switched species — You should really watch fewer novels and anime."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Seeing the doll's reaction, Yu Sheng decisively chose not to continue the conversation further.

His situation was indeed abnormal. Even within the realm of "supernatural," it seemed a bit too supernatural.

Fortunately, Erin didn't seem to think too much of it—probably because she had been locked up for too long, and her doll brain seemed not to be quite right.

Yu Sheng let out a sigh and looked towards the kitchen direction.

A hesitant and conflicted expression flashed across his face before he pulled a wry smile and walked towards the kitchen.

Erin in the oil painting suddenly jumped down from the chair: "Hey, is it breakfast time?"

He didn't know why this creature, who absolutely couldn't eat anything, got so excited at every mealtime.

"I'm going to process the 'local specialty' I brought back just now," Yu Sheng said without looking back.

Erin, holding a teddy bear in one hand and gesturing with the other, said, "Oh, go ahead then…"

The doll suddenly stopped.

Her brain, dulled from being sealed for too long, finally realized something.

...What 'local specialty' could there be from the Exotic Realm?!

"Wait a minute!" Erin suddenly let out a shriek, nearly startling Yu Sheng who had reached the kitchen doorway, "What exactly is that 'local specialty' of yours?!"

Yu Sheng walked into the kitchen, stopped in his tracks, turned his head and smiled slightly: "Guess?"

Erin's eyes widened, looking at Yu Sheng who had started to tie on an apron, with a hint of shock in her crimson eyes and an expression that said, "Is this guy's brain starting to malfunction?": "Wait, hold on, what are you doing? You're not planning to... No, is that really something you took off that physical thing?! How did you, an ordinary person, manage that?! Hey, you're not really going to…"

Yu Sheng decisively closed the kitchen door, keeping Beeper's noise outside.

Moments later, Erin's faint shouting could be heard from the dining area: "Hey, don't close the door! At least help me reboot the TV first! I can't watch the TV!"

But Yu Sheng paid her no more attention.

He approached the sink, removed the pot lid covering that piece of "meat," and saw that the severed tail in the sink had finally calmed down, with the muscle stub only twitching slightly on occasion.

He silently gazed at the tail that had once burrowed into his belly and felt that hunger oozing from his bones again...

But this time, the hunger was not as violent as it was initially; it merely flickered softly, accompanied by a pleasant anticipation and a rightly agitated sensation.

Is this really okay? Is this normal? Am I still normal?

Yu Sheng pondered over these questions, but his deliberations didn't slow down his actions.

He prepared green onions, ginger, and cooking wine, then took out a cutting board and a kitchen knife. Yu Sheng carefully washed the section of the tail with clean water, scraped off the scales, and then placed it on the cutting board, cutting it with one stroke.

Easier to cut than expected—even though it was as hard as stone on the monster's body, the sensation of the knife right now felt just like firm beef.

And there were no bones inside.

Yu Sheng remembered that the first time he felt his body being "enhanced" was after biting that monster.

And after that, he bit into the monster's flesh during their second encounter and felt his power increase further—although the magnitude was clearly smaller, there indeed was a change.

This led him to brew a bold and... tasty idea.

What would happen if it was cooked?

Yu Sheng skillfully sliced the meat, his mood gradually becoming very good.

The noisy Erin outside the door became less bothersome.

He didn't know if what he was doing was normal... probably not quite right, since even a doll sealed in an oil painting thought it was extremely odd.

But compared to being brought back to life, a piece of questionable meat really wasn't that big of a deal.

"I've already eaten it raw," Yu Sheng muttered to himself while cutting the meat, "once uncooked, twice familiar..."