Chapter 6: The First Step Toward Friendly Exchange

The girl in the painting, who called herself "Irene," stared down Yu Sheng from within her frame. The two had not established even the slightest shred of trust.

Yu Sheng had no way to verify whether this "person in a painting"—who resembled some sort of cursed object—was telling the truth. Everything she mentioned, from the "Alice Cabin" to the claim that she had been sealed into the artwork, was news to him. Consequently, when Irene said she had no idea why she had appeared in this house, he did not dare believe a single word.

On the other hand, Irene was convinced that this human named Yu Sheng was still plotting to use his lighter to set her ablaze. Her gaze remained fixed on his movements, tracking the lighter with suspicion.

"I’m sure you bought the painting and hung it up yourself, then immediately forgot about it," Irene repeated. "Isn't that how it usually goes? You humans see something exotic and want to collect it, only to bring it home and let it gather dust..."

Yu Sheng felt a pang of uncertainty at her words. He could not be sure of the origins of anything in this house; after all, he had only arrived here two months ago. He was not just unfamiliar with the world, but even with himself. Who knew what state this house—or its owner—had been in prior to those two months?

Could there have been another "Yu Sheng"?

These thoughts flickered through his mind, but faced with the gaze of her crimson eyes, he instinctively shook his head. "That's impossible. This frame looks expensive; it’s not something I could afford."

"Hey, what if it was cheap?" Irene leaned forward, clutching her toy bear. "These days, there are tons of fake bottles, fans, and paintings. Maybe the last seller bought me in a wholesale batch from some shady antique dealer for pennies on the pound, or maybe the middleman just didn't know what he had..."

Yu Sheng looked at her with a strange expression. "The frame is made of solid, old wood, and there’s gold inlay along the ridges."

Irene thought for a moment. "It’s mahogany veneer over resin! And copper-plated wire!"

Yu Sheng: "...That already costs more than pennies on the pound."

"Well, maybe a few pennies more, but no more than that. Any higher and no one would buy it."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Irene glared with her crimson eyes. "Hey, why did you stop talking?"

Yu Sheng crouched before the frame, suddenly finding the situation absurd. He let out a laugh, sat back on the floor, and leaned his head against the ceiling, laughing until his body tipped backward. He never imagined he would experience a moment like this: squatting in an empty room, arguing with a doll sealed in an oil painting about whether her frame was wholesale junk or not.

And just a short while ago, he had had his heart plucked out by a frog that spawned in a freezing rainstorm.

These things were just too damn interesting.

Irene, however, was unsettled by his sudden outburst. Since he had taken her off the wall, she could see the bare ceiling and hear his laughter, which finally made her shout, "Stop laughing! What is so funny?"

Yu Sheng slowly reined in his laughter. He shifted forward, looked at Irene in the frame, and turned serious. "That strange dream I had earlier—was that your doing?"

He was referring to his dream of hacking at a locked door with an axe, only to hear mocking laughter from the other side. Now, it seemed clear that this eerie dream was connected to the girl in the painting.

Oh, and he had also thrown his back out in the dream—it still hurt.

"No!" Irene immediately shook her head, then paused, her expression hesitant. "Well... not entirely..."

"What does that mean?" Yu Sheng frowned. "Stop talking in circles."

"You had the dream yourself, but I did manage to slip inside," Irene explained patiently. "I just sensed someone dreaming and wanted to find help, I didn't mean to cause trouble! I didn't know you couldn't open the door, or that you had such a temper—hacking at the door with an axe just because you forgot your keys..."

Listening to her prattle on, Yu Sheng gradually processed the information. "So, you didn't lock the door? You didn't trigger the dream? You just have the ability to enter other people's dreams?"

"Right! Actually, I can do a lot more than that!" Irene nodded, her face glowing with pride, though it quickly dimmed. "But now that I'm sealed in this painting, that's pretty much all I can do..."

Yu Sheng was half-skeptical of her claims, while his mind raced with questions about his dream. Then, he thought of a second question: "You said you were looking for help. Help with what?"

"To get me out of here, obviously!" Irene said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Getting out of this painting would be best, but if not, at least get me out of this room. It’s so empty. If there were just a TV on the opposite wall, that would be something... voice-controlled would be better, since using a remote is inconvenient. A brand-name one would be nice..."

Yu Sheng realized that this girl was a classic free-associative personality. If left unchecked, her train of thought would drift into the most unexpected—and usually self-serving—directions.

He interrupted her without hesitation. "Then why were you laughing? What was that mocking sound when I was trying to open the door?"

"That wasn't me!" Irene waved her hands frantically, then held up the brown plush bear. "It was him laughing!"

Yu Sheng didn't speak, just stared at her with a look that clearly said, *Do you take me for a fool?*

"It's true!" Irene sounded desperate, shaking the toy bear. "He was sealed in this painting with me, but it's been so long that his brain isn't working right anymore. Now he only knows how to laugh. If I poke him, he laughs, but sometimes he just starts laughing on his own. He scares me all the time..."

Yu Sheng kept a straight face, listening to her earnest explanation. Seeing the sincerity on her face, he began to waver. He turned his gaze to the plush bear, hesitated for a moment, and nodded. "Let him laugh then. Let me hear it."

Irene immediately reached out and poked the bear's head.

The bear remained motionless.

Irene blinked, then poked it hard again. Still nothing. She looked as if she were about to cry.

"O... occasionally, he does this," the girl in the painting said, her face crestfallen. "He doesn't laugh even when I poke him..."

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched.

"So, sometimes he laughs without you poking him, and sometimes he doesn't laugh even when you do. In short, his laughing has nothing to do with whether you poke him or not—" He analyzed the situation like a tongue twister and reached a conclusion. "So, is there any correlation at all between your poking and his laughter?"

Irene froze, then nodded slowly. "Oh... that's right."

Yu Sheng didn't want to deal with this seemingly brain-damaged "cursed oil painting" anymore. Besides, he no longer cared about the mocking laughter from his dream.

His stomach gave a loud growl. The dinner he had missed by falling asleep the moment he got home was now demanding attention. He smiled, shook his head, and slowly stood up.

"Hey, are you leaving?" Irene’s voice turned anxious. "You aren't just going to leave me on the floor, are you? At least hang me back on the wall. There’s wallpaper to look at on the other side; there’s nothing on the ceiling..."

Yu Sheng reached down and lifted Irene’s frame from the floor, wincing as his back protested.

"I'm taking you to the living room, so stop yapping," he said casually.

Irene brightened up immediately, sitting back in her chair and clutching her bear as she watched Yu Sheng drag her frame toward the door. "That’s better. You’re actually quite nice. Oh, by the way, is it dinner time? What are we having tonight?"

Yu Sheng glanced down. "Can you even eat?"

"I can watch!"

Yu Sheng felt he must be insane to keep talking to this thing.

Supporting his lower back, he struggled to carry the frame as he walked toward the stairs. The trash talk from the painting never ceased.

"Hey, your house is pretty big. There’s this much space outside that room?"

"What’s in the room across the hall? Your bedroom? Are there other people here?"

"Should I say hello to them? Will they be scared? Ordinary people haven't really seen talking dolls or oil paintings, have they..."

"Oh, I haven't asked your name! What’s your name? Yu Sheng? Such a strange name... it's not like the raw fish dish, is it?"

"What’s wrong with your back? You're so young and your back is already ruined? Let me tell you, you have to protect your back. Human joints are such a hassle, and you can't just take them apart to fix them... Huh? Why are you glaring at me? That look is quite scary..."

Yu Sheng finally reached the top of the stairs, clutching his back as he looked down at the steps. Usually, he wouldn't have thought twice about them, but with a strained back and an unusually heavy oil painting in his arms, the stairs looked incredibly steep.

He had intended to carry the frame down with both hands, but his current physical state wouldn't allow it.

Yu Sheng looked down, lost in thought.

The noisy girl in the painting seemed to sense something; her voice faded, and her expression grew tense.

Yu Sheng lowered his gaze to the girl who had been chattering incessantly, her topics becoming increasingly irritating. "Irene."

The girl jumped. "Y-yes?"

"I feel like this frame of yours is quite sturdy."

"Is... is that so?"

Yu Sheng silently placed the frame at the top of the stairs.

"It might be a bit bumpy, so hold on tight."

Irene finally realized what was happening, her eyes widening in an instant. "Hey, wait—"

"Off you go!"

The oil painting frame began its chaotic, clattering adventure down the stairs.

It was accompanied by Irene’s passionate expression of gratitude: "Yu Sheng, you bastard, I... ahhh! Wahhh! Ahhh! *&%￥#*—"