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Holding Irene’s doll body in his hand, he stiffly raised his head and looked toward the large table where he’d been working with clay earlier.

The ornate oil painting leaned quietly against the edge of the table. From within the painting, Irene stared wide-eyed, her face full of panic as she looked over at him.

“I… I don’t know what’s happening either!” she exclaimed, frantically waving her hands upon catching Yu Sheng’s eye. “One moment I was running forward, and the next I opened my eyes and was back here. What’s going on? This is so…!”

A low, slightly harsh chuckle came from the painting’s frame, sounding both mocking and somewhat sympathetic.

It was the plush teddy bear making the sound; this time, Yu Sheng saw it laugh with his own eyes.

Irene couldn’t stand it. She stomped over to the red velvet chair, grabbed the teddy bear sitting on it, and began shaking it vigorously while choking its neck. “You’re still laughing! You’re still laughing! Did you do this? I’m back here again!”

But the teddy bear, being inanimate, couldn’t respond. It continued giggling incessantly in her hands, making Irene even more furious.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng hurried over to calm her down. “Hey, don’t get so worked up. Let’s think of a way…”

He had only managed half a sentence when the doll girl in the painting—who was executing a chokehold, an over-the-shoulder throw, and a cross-lock on the teddy bear—suddenly vanished. Immediately after, Yu Sheng felt the doll body in his hand give a sudden jolt. Before he could react, the tiny figure, less than ten centimeters tall, pounced onto his arm, instinctively attempting a chokehold (unsuccessful), an over-the-shoulder throw (unsuccessful), and a cross-lock (unsuccessful) combo.

But her strength was surprisingly considerable, making his arm ache from her grip.

Yu Sheng had to carefully pry Irene off his arm, holding her up in front of him and giving her a gentle shake. “Wake up, wake up. It’s me, Yu Sheng. You’ve come out again.”

Irene gradually came to her senses, dangling in the air and looking around in a daze. Her gaze finally settled on Yu Sheng’s face. “…Ah?”

Then both of them turned to look at the painting not far away, falling into a moment of stunned silence.

After a pause, Yu Sheng silently carried Irene and stepped backward, retreating all the way to the spot where she had fallen earlier. As he took the last step, the doll body in his hand instantly drooped as if it had powered off.

Irene’s figure abruptly reappeared in the oil painting. She glanced around and looked up at Yu Sheng blankly. “I’m back again, so it really is…”

Yu Sheng casually held up the doll body toward the oil painting, bringing them closer.

The body suddenly sprang to life as if the previous “power outage” had never happened. Irene’s voice came from within, continuing the half-finished sentence from the painting: “…a matter of distance?”

“Seems like it,” Yu Sheng said, frowning slightly as he observed. He moved the doll a bit farther away and saw it “power off” again. Irene’s voice came from the painting: “Then this is…”

He moved the doll forward once more.

“…a bit troublesome… Could you stop playing around! You’re cutting me off mid-sentence multiple times!” Irene’s voice protested.

Feeling sheepish, Yu Sheng brought her closer to the oil painting and explained, “I just wanted to confirm the exact distance of your connection.”

“What’s the difference between five meters and six meters? It’s only a couple of steps!” Irene flailed her arms while being held by the collar. Suddenly, she realized something was off and glared up at him. “Put me down! Why are you always carrying me?”

“Sorry,” Yu Sheng said quickly, setting the increasingly irritable doll on the ground. They stared at each other, his eyes meeting hers.

Only then did Irene realize she had to tilt her head back almost ninety degrees to talk to him.

But her pride wouldn’t allow Yu Sheng to squat down—even if he did, she’d still have to look up.

“Stand there, don’t move,” she commanded suddenly.

Puzzled, Yu Sheng asked, “What are you doing?”

Before he knew it, Irene hugged his leg and began climbing up like a tree. In a few swift moves, she agilely clambered up and sat directly on his shoulder.

He stood still, afraid to move and risk making her fall. “I didn’t agree to this…”

“You didn’t ask my permission when you were carrying me around to test the signal just now,” she retorted confidently.

Yu Sheng had no reply.

They returned to the large table and began examining the oil painting.

“I did come out. I can feel that my ‘soul’ is in this body,” Irene said, frowning as she looked at her former ‘prison.’ “But…”

“But it seems this painting is your ‘anchor,’ and your current body is like a remote-controlled one. If you go beyond a certain distance, you ‘disconnect,\'” Yu Sheng shared his thoughts.

Irene lowered her head, looking particularly dejected.

But this time she didn’t cry—perhaps the series of setbacks had numbed her.

Seeing her unusually calm reaction, Yu Sheng became concerned and hurried to comfort her. “Don’t be too pessimistic. Maybe it’s just that this body isn’t working well? I’ll practice my skills, and next time when I reshape your body…”

“Tell me,” she suddenly interrupted, her expression complex and hard to read. “Carrying your own prison around wherever you go—is that considered an escape or not?”

He was taken aback. After pondering for a moment, he said, “I once read about someone who carried his own prison and ended up quite miserable. But he was inside his prison; at least you’re outside…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered. She jumped down from his shoulder and walked over to the oil painting. With a complicated expression, she grabbed the frame, lifted it slightly with effort, then set it down. Turning around, she tried to hoist it onto her back.

However, the painting was large—for Yu Sheng, it was light enough to lift with one hand, but for Irene, it was almost as tall as she was.

“Do you have any rope at home?” she asked, looking up.

“Yes!” he replied immediately. “Wait a moment, I’ll get it!”

Ten minutes later, Irene watched as Yu Sheng carefully tied knots on the painting’s frame, adjusting the harness’s position. When he was nearly done, she stepped forward. “I think it’s ready.”

“Try it out,” he suggested, setting the frame upright and watching as she slipped her arms through the harness. “How is it? Is the position okay? Need it tighter?”

She adjusted the straps on her shoulders, walked around the table with the painting on her back, and nodded with satisfaction. “No need, it’s perfect!”

“Is it heavy?”

“Not at all! I’m very strong!” she declared. She bounced up and down on the table with the painting on her back and then began running laps around its edge.

The tiny doll, carrying an oil painting nearly as tall as herself, running around the table—it was a peculiar sight.

But as Yu Sheng watched, a smile spread across his face.

Because Irene was smiling too; she seemed to have shaken off her earlier gloom and was becoming cheerful.

She was more optimistic than he’d imagined.

“It’s light and nimble!” she said with a grin, stopping at the table’s edge. “Now I don’t have to worry about the distance limitation. I’m so smart!”

“You certainly are optimistic,” Yu Sheng remarked sincerely. “I thought you’d be depressed for a while.”

“A person must look forward—dolls too,” she said happily. She jumped off the table and climbed up his arm onto his shoulder again—this time more carefully, so as not to bump the painting on her back. “Compared to before, at least I can move freely now. Carrying it is carrying it. Besides, the one left in the painting doesn’t seem to want me to go too far… Let’s go downstairs; you haven’t had dinner yet—I want to watch TV!”

He paused, slightly turning his head to look at her cheerful face, brimming with anticipation.

“Alright, let’s go cook,” he agreed, lifting a hand to steady her as he stood up. “Then tonight we’ll start studying the passage back to the valley.”

“Mm!” She seemed full of energy, her smile radiant. She raised her hand and pointed forward enthusiastically. “Onward!”

Yu Sheng playfully lifted her from his shoulder. “I’ll toss you off.”

She immediately curled up. “No, don’t! I was just getting into the mood…”

He shook his head with a wry smile, placing her back securely on his shoulder, and stepped forward.

Outside, the night had deepened. Streetlights in the old town flickered to life one after another; their warm, hazy glow flowed through the ancient streets and alleys, casting a tranquil atmosphere through the window.

“Yu Sheng, it’s completely dark outside,” Irene observed.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Hehe, I’m a bit excited…” she admitted.

“Excited about what? The darkness?” he asked.

“No, just excited. It has nothing to do with the darkness,” she said teasingly.

“…I don’t understand,” he confessed.

“Hmph,” she huffed playfully.