Chapter 22: A Feast for the Senses

There was too much meat to stew all at once, so Yu Sheng decided to process it into several different dishes.

There is a saying: the first time you do something it is unfamiliar, the second time it is manageable, and by the third time, you are adding scallions, ginger, and cooking wine. In the early days of civilization, ancient humans likely explored and experimented with nature's bounty through a similar process.

Humming a little tune, Yu Sheng cut the largest portion of meat into chunks, blanched them in boiling water to remove the scum, and then placed them in a clay pot with star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, and other stewing spices. After adding enough water, salt, soy sauce, and cooking wine to neutralize any gamey odors, he set the pot on the stove to simmer slowly.

While the meat stewed, he used the remaining portions to stir-fry two dishes—one with chili peppers and the other with garlic sprouts. He tasted a small piece; it was fresh, savory, and perfectly cooked—tender and smooth, though he couldn't quite place the flavor. In terms of texture, it was closest to very tender beef.

As for what remained, he planned to see if he felt fine after eating this batch before processing the rest into cured meat for storage... or perhaps he could try dehydrating it in an air fryer to make jerky? He had never done that before and wasn't sure if it would work.

Various ideas swirled in Yu Sheng's mind. He felt like an adventurous scientist, exploring possibilities in a realm where no one had ventured before.

He spent nearly two hours exploring his kitchen this way. After a flurry of activity, he finally opened the door and made several trips to carry the plates, bowls, and the clay pot of stew to the dining table.

Irene, trapped within her oil painting, watched his busy movements with a look of horror. Her face displayed two contradictory expressions simultaneously: a resigned "fine, whatever, let him be," and an incredulous "you can't, you absolutely cannot do this!" After a long moment, she could no longer hold back. "You aren't actually planning to eat that, are you? That stuff was brought back from the Other Realm! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Yu Sheng looked up at Irene. "What if I told you I've already eaten it twice 'over there'?"

The conflicted expression on Irene’s face vanished, replaced entirely by shock. "...What?!"

"Look at me, still hopping around, so I should be fine. It would be a waste to throw away such hard-won spoils," Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. "Do you know what hunting is? This is my catch. Someday, I'm going to bring the whole thing back and show it who sits at the top of the food chain!"

Irene didn't respond. Observing the puppet girl’s stunned expression, Yu Sheng asked out of curiosity, "By the way, has no one ever 'tasted' the entities in the Other Realm? You said they come in all shapes and sizes, right? There must be things in there that look edible."

"Who would ever try that!" Irene cried out in frustration. "They say those things carry all sorts of bizarre properties; it's bad enough if they're just poisonous, but you're actually putting them in your mouth! And you've eaten them twice... you really ate them twice?"

"Yeah. Though the first two times it was sashimi. The situation was quite urgent, and there wasn't time to cook them; it was the kind of emergency where if you didn't eat it immediately, you wouldn't survive." As he spoke, Yu Sheng sat down across from Irene and casually picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks, tossing it into his mouth and eating with relish.

Irene was dumbfounded. "Then... what was your reaction after eating them?"

"I died," Yu Sheng said with complete sincerity.

"Then why are you still—" Irene instinctively shouted, then realized something was off. However, she didn't know about Yu Sheng's "resurrection," so she assumed he was teasing her and glared in annoyance. "I'm being serious with you!"

Yu Sheng grinned, laughing at the exasperated puppet in the painting. He found he was starting to enjoy bickering with her. Besides, there was no way she could jump out of the frame and headbutt him.

He still didn't explain his "resurrection." On one hand, Irene couldn't perceive his death process at this stage, so explaining it would sound like nonsense. On the other hand, he had too many theories about the changes happening to him that still needed verification; he wanted to wait until he understood more before discussing them with her.

Irene, unaware of the chaotic thoughts behind his mischievous smile, couldn't help but glance at the sumptuous meal on the table, then watched his chewing motions with a dazed look.

It actually looked... quite appetizing. After being processed, the color was no different from ordinary meat, completely devoid of its original, eerie appearance.

"...Is it good?" the puppet in the painting finally asked, pretending to be indifferent.

Yu Sheng laughed immediately, as if he had expected this moment. He picked up an empty bowl and plate from the table, served a portion of rice and meat soup for Irene, and placed it in front of the painting.

"I didn't say I wanted..." Irene muttered.

Yu Sheng replied casually, "You can't actually eat it anyway, so you don't need to worry about the ingredients, right?"

Irene thought about it and decided that made sense. "That... that's true, isn't it?"

With that, she relaxed and settled into a state of serene observation before the bowl and chopsticks Yu Sheng had set out.

Halfway through the meal, their conversation drifted back to the topic of "professionals."

"Actually, there's another possibility as to why no one has come to find you yet," Irene said, hugging her toy bear and sitting near the edge of the frame. "It's that some organization or official agency has already noticed something is wrong here, but their professional judgment dictates they shouldn't act immediately. Or perhaps they haven't precisely located the connection point to the Other Realm or gathered enough intel, so they can only arrange surveillance for now."

"Surveillance?"

"Yes. For all you know, there might be a bunch of plainclothes agents watching your house right now. After all, you ran back from the Other Realm on your own before anyone could rescue you. Regardless of whether it was skill or luck, the people who specialize in this didn't have time to intervene, and they likely haven't pinpointed the location yet, so they can only set up surveillance in the vicinity. You should watch out for any unfamiliar faces over the next two days—they could be undercover agents, detectives, or investigators. Just keep an eye out; it won't stop you from looking for those small advertisements on the telephone poles..."

Yu Sheng ignored her remark about the advertisements and looked out the window.

Irene made it sound so simple—just notice any unfamiliar faces. How was he supposed to know who was unfamiliar? He had only been here for two months, and he’d spent the first month almost entirely holed up at home. Plus, he was naturally bad with faces; to him, half the people around here looked like strangers!

"Do you think the guy selling pancakes at the corner looks like an undercover agent?" After peering suspiciously out the window for a long time, Yu Sheng muttered to Irene.

"I don't know. I can't see."

"Oh, right, I forgot." Yu Sheng realized, quickly getting up to pick up Irene's frame and placing it by the window to face the street. "Just that one over there..."

"Doesn't look like it."

"So sure?"

"Obviously. Fifty seconds for a pancake with a sausage and an egg—if he were an undercover agent, he wouldn't even be able to spread the oil in fifty seconds."

"...Fair point. What about the guy repairing phone screens next to him?"

"Doesn't look like it either—his hands are too nimble."

"Oh... what about..."

"Stop looking. Your suspicion is useless, and if they were really professional, you wouldn't be able to tell anyway," Irene interrupted. "Instead of guessing, you should go out more these next two days. You carry the scent of the Other Realm; those professionals will definitely spot you the moment you get close to them."

"...Yeah, that's true."

Yu Sheng sighed, unable to refute her, and turned to clean up the table.

Just as he turned, he heard Irene shouting behind him: "Put me back first! I'm still stuck on the window!"

Yu Sheng sighed helplessly, turned around, and moved Irene from the windowsill while grumbling, "Geez, what a pain."

"Then you should hurry up and build me a body so I can leave on my own," the puppet in the painting lifted her eyelids, looking at Yu Sheng as he placed her on the dining table. She added, "I feel like I'm a bit more familiar with you today, so I'm asking again..."

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched. When Irene had discussed the "escape plan" earlier, she had indeed said they weren't familiar enough for such cooperation, but he hadn't expected her criteria for "familiarity" to be so flexible.

"We'll see, we'll see. I've got a million things to do right now. At least let me finish this current mess..."

"Yeah, alright," Irene was surprisingly easy to persuade. She looked a bit disappointed but nodded. "Don't forget, though!"

She was quiet for only a moment before she started chattering again as she watched Yu Sheng clear the dishes: "What are you doing next? Are you going out to look for those telephone poles?"

"Are you ever going to let the telephone poles go?" Yu Sheng glared at her. "I'm going upstairs to sleep! After everything that's happened, I'm exhausted!"

Irene went "Oh," and pointed at the television opposite the frame. "Then can you fix the TV first? The signal just cut out, and I can't watch anything..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

A moment later, he let out an especially heavy sigh.

After such a brief time with this "chatterbox," he was already beginning to miss the carefree joy of his life living alone.