The kitchen door handle turned slightly, and the door swung open without a sound. Yu Sheng stepped out, lugging severalrge shopping bags. He waved to Irene, who stood not far away, staring at him with her mouth agape.


    “I’m back,” he said cheerfully.


    Irene’s eyes were wide with shock. “Didn’t you go out to buy things? Howe you’reing out of the…?”


    She trailed off, realization dawning on her face.


    “No way! You even ‘opened the door’ just to go shopping?!”


    “I thought about it,” Yu Sheng replied with a satisfied grin. “Since this door doesn’t just lead to Otherworlds but can also reach distant ces in our world, there’s no reason it can’t go somewhere closer.”


    He added, “By the way, I also tested bringing objects and living creatures through the door. It seems that as long as the door remains stable, they can pass through smoothly…”


    Irene was dumbfounded, but her curiosity was piqued at the mention of “living creatures.” “Living creatures?! Where did you get living creatures? Where are they?”Yu Sheng extended his hand. “Beforeing back, I caught a mosquito…”


    Irene blinked. “What…?”


    Miss Doll now had a whole new understanding of Yu Sheng’s creativity. Her attention shifted to therge shopping bags he had brought back. Right away, she noticed a box of eight-treasure porridge among them.


    Yu Sheng began unpacking, first setting aside the box of porridge, then showing the rest to Irene. “I bought some lightweight y. Since I got a huge amount, the store gave me some tools as freebies. But these tools probably won’t be of much use—they’re meant for making small dolls. To make a body for you, I’ll need this—I bought a rolling pin…”


    “Here are the hair and paints, all good quality. Maybe not the most expensive, but pretty decent.


    “Oh, and I couldn’t find suitable clothes for you. Do you think—”


    “No need,” Irene waved her hand dismissively. Watching Yu Sheng unpack, her face was now full of anticipation and excitement. “I can ‘shape’ the clothes myself. As I said, this body is mainly a medium and a temporary container… Wow, you really bought a lot. Did you really put your heart into this, Yu Sheng?”


    “Well, of course. If we’re going to do this, we might as well do it properly,” Yu Sheng replied, but then he frowned and shook his head. “But to be honest, I think these things might still be iplete. I heard there are y drying boxes, various fillers, softening oils, primers, makeup tools, and so on. But when I checked, they were either only for small dolls or I wouldn’t be able to learn how to use them in a short time. Also, I have a problem: y needs time to dry. Without a drying box,rge pieces won’t dry and harden in just half a day…”


    “It’s fine. None of that is important. As long as we can make the framework,” Irene seemed to be in a great mood, her tone softer than ever when speaking to Yu Sheng. “What’s important is the ritual part—otherwise, I’d have just asked you to buy a ready-made doll. No need to go through all this trouble.”


    “Alright then,” Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and began sorting the pile of items into categories. “Let’s go to the attic. There’s plenty of space up there and a big table.”


    Irene nodded eagerly but suddenly noticed another bag nearby. It looked somewhat familiar.


    “What’s this bag of lotus roots for?” she asked, puzzled.


    Yu Sheng paused, looked at Irene, then at the bag of lotus roots. After a moment, he chuckled awkwardly. “Well, this is a backup n in case my crafting skills are too terrible. That’s how I see it…”


    Irene tilted her head, thinking for a long time before finally catching up with Yu Sheng’s train of thought. She jumped up from her red velvet chair. “Absolutely not!”


    “Really?” Yu Sheng looked a bit disappointed. “I thought the lotus roots had a perfect shape. I spent a long time picking them.”


    “Of course not!” Irene’s eyes were nearly bulging out. “Let me tell you, pre-made food is bad enough. If you use pre-made parts for my body, I have a big problem with that…”


    “Alright, alright,” Yu Sheng sighed, carrying the bag of lotus roots back to the kitchen. “Then I’ll use them to make fried lotus root slicester.”


    Irene suddenly had a bad feeling. She sensed that her journey to freedom today might not go as smoothly as she had imagined…


    But Yu Sheng seemed full of confidence now. He organized the tools and materials needed to sculpt the doll’s body, then picked up the materials with one hand, tucked Irene’s painting under his arm, and turned toward the stairs leading upstairs.


    This time, Irene reacted quickly. “Do you even need to ‘open the door’ just to go to the attic!?”


    Yu Sheng thought for a moment, realizing that might be a bit toozy. He smiled sheepishly. “Good point.” Carrying the materials and Irene, he headed for the staircase.


    The house had arge attic just above the second floor. Though called an attic, it was more like an extra floor created because the original ceiling was too high. It was about half the size of the second floor and had two windows facing the street and a skylight—that’s why, from the outside, the house appeared to have three floors.


    Yu Sheng rarely went to the attic except when cleaning. There was almost nothing there except arge table that seemed to have nowhere else to go and two old chairs that creaked. At night or on gloomy days, the empty attic always felt eerily spooky.


    But now, it was perfect to serve as a “workshop” for sculpting a body for Irene.


    Yu Sheng made two trips, also fetching some tools from the storage room on the second floor that mighte in handy, an old deskmp, and various strange items that Irene said were needed for the “ritual.” He brought them all up to the big table in the attic.


    Irene’s painting was ced in one corner of the table, leaning against a stack of old books serving as a makeshift stand. She quietly watched Yu Sheng running back and forth, seeming more silent than ever before. No one knew what she was thinking.


    Yu Sheng sat down in front of the big table, the old chair creaking under him. He clumsily fiddled with the y and sculpting tools, trying to get familiar with them.


    Irene suddenly broke the silence. “Yu Sheng.”


    “Yes?” he looked up.


    “I’m really going toe out of this painting,” she said softly.


    “Yeah, if everything goes well.”


    “I never thought there would actually be such a day,” Irene murmured. “Honestly, I gave up hope many years ago…”


    “Feeling sentimental all of a sudden?” Yu Sheng nced at her, noticing she seemed a bit mncholic.


    Irene hugged a teddy bear, gently rocking back and forth. “It’s nothing. I just wanted to thank you.”


    “Well, save your thanks until after we seed,” Yu Sheng said, exhaling lightly as if trying to ease some tension. “Now, tell me, what’s the first step?”


    “Candles,” Irene began, her expression turning serious. “ce them at the four corners of the table, then light one and ce it beside my painting—the basic torso must bepleted before the candle burns out.”


    She started guiding Yu Sheng on how to use everyday materials to create a container for a “living doll.”


    This was the first time she had ever shared knowledge from “Alice’s Little House” with a… human.


    “Draw three concentric circles on the table; they’ll define your workspace. Then extend a line from each of the four corner candles, intersecting at the center of the circles… Try to draw the circles as round as possible… Oh well, just don’t make them square.


    “Write my name at the center, Irene, in the Old World Common Tongue… Oh, you don’t know it. Find a piece of paper; I’ll teach you how to write it. Be sure not to spell it wrong.


    “We’ll also need a drop of your blood, just a little. Mix it into the y, then add the prepared tea powder and rose oil—but not too much, or it will affect the molding. ce the prepared y in front of me. I’ll guide the first ‘spirit infusion.''”


    Irene gave her instructions one by one, and Yu Sheng followed them meticulously. A quiet and focused atmosphere gradually enveloped the attic. There was none of their usual banter, only an increasingly smooth cooperation.


    Well, perhaps not entirely smooth; Irene was being patient, and Yu Sheng was confident.


    The process was even more tiring than Yu Sheng had imagined—not just physically exhausting, but mentally draining as well.


    He could feel that the “ritual” Irene mentioned was gradually taking effect. Those arrangements he didn’t understand were operating under rules and forces he couldn’tprehend. As someone performing this “ritual” for the first time, even though most of the spirit infusion was guided by Irene, Yu Sheng felt a kind of spiritual energy loss.


    But Irene had warned him about this before they began, so he didn’t panic. He focused onpleting each step as precisely as possible.


    A doll’s body gradually took shape in his hands.


    It was crude, simple, lopsided—even the two legs were different lengths. One arm had broken in the middle and was reattached with wire and water.


    Yu Sheng sighed, thinking he might not have much talent in this area.


    But finally, they were nearingpletion.


    “Now you can extinguish thest candle,” Irene said calmly, gazing at the body on the table. Her expression was more solemn than ever. “Then ce me directly in front of the body, where the head should be.”


    “Alright,” Yu Sheng stood up and did as she instructed. “And then?”


    “Then I need a minute tofort myself and gather my resolve…” she murmured.


    Yu Sheng was puzzled. “Why?”


    Irene looked like she was about to cry. “It’s so XXXX ugly… Even if I can reshape it, right now it’s just too XXXX ugly…”


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