After a brief check of the TV, Yu Sheng found that the thing had simply crashed.
Cheap smart devices often exhibit this classic behavior after prolonged use - oh my, I've been working for two hours straight and now my CPU is smoking / there's a memory error / the power supply is overheating / or it just feels like dying for a bit...
Yu Sheng couldn't help but feel nostalgic for those sturdy old-fashioned TVs from his memories. The household appliances from back in the day were nothing like these delicate smart devices we have now. Although they had fewer functions, he found the multitude of smart features nowadays not to be that practical. Each artificial intelligence was like... artifically impaired.
"Just cut the power and wait for two minutes before restarting," Yu Sheng mused to himself, and turned off the TV. He turned to Erin and said, "This thing isn't made very well; it'll crash if it's on for too long."
"Then do you want to buy a new one?" Erin's eyes immediately lit up, "Go for one with voice control, so I can change channels by myself. I could watch TV even when you're not home..."
"You've got some nerve making demands," Yu Sheng laughed instead of getting angry at this freeloader who wasn't shy at all about making herself at home, "You're staying in my place and I haven't said a word, and now you want a new TV - are you paying for it or putting an effort in?"
"I..." Erin opened her mouth, her face actually reddened, and she stammered, "I... I don't have money, but I've been helping you fill in the knowledge about the Exotic Realm! That should count for something, like a consultant..."
"So this consultant has a sketchy memory, huh? Even you're not sure if what you're saying is reliable," Yu Sheng pursed his lips, "If I hire you as a consultant, I'll need to get another consultant just for you."
Erin blushed, but after struggling for a while, she couldn't find anything to counter with and just sulked with her head down. However, she quickly recovered after sulking for three seconds and looked up at Yu Sheng, "Once you get me out of here, however you do it, I'll work to pay off my debt. Besides, aren't you going to interact with the Exotic Realm from now on? I could be your assistant! Surely, I can handle the fights..."
Yu Sheng actually hadn't thought about that - in fact, he never really thought about what would happen once Erin got out of the painting. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You? Are you sure?"
"Hey, don't look down on me! I'm Alice's living doll!" Erin stood up from the chair, with her hands on her hips and brimming with confidence, "Living dolls are blessed, you know. In the Exotic Realm, I can take on more than those so-called investigators or Spirit Realm detectives..."
"And then you get sealed inside the painting, eh?"
Erin's eyes turned red - though her eyes were already red to begin with, "You... you you you... Just wait until I get out, then you'll see! Don't turn your back on me!"
"Alright, alright, I believe, I believe." Yu Sheng laughed, turned around and waved his hand in resignation.
Actually, he never took this doll seriously from the beginning; after all, she just stayed in the painting. Even though it seemed like she was freeloading at his home, she didn't consume any rice or take up much space; even if she was placed on the floor, she wouldn't cover half a square meter, and hanging on the wall didn't get in anyone's way. Besides watching TV, she spoiled virtually nothing and her banter was quite entertaining. What's more, she indeed supplemented some knowledge about "another world."
As for her claims about working off her debt or becoming a brawling sidekick once she gets out of the painting... he'd just take her words as serious for now.
The TV screen lit up again, and Yu Sheng pressed a few buttons on the remote, settling on some insubstantial urban drama.
Erin wasn't picky about the TV programs - after all, even Teletubbies were more interesting than wallpaper.
However, it was then that Yu Sheng, staring at the TV screen, suddenly recalled something he had previously overlooked.
"Erin." He turned back, looking at the living doll in the oil painting.
"Yeah?"
"I remember you said that you've been sealed in the oil painting for a very long time, right?"
"That's right. So many years, I've lost track of when I came in..."
"How do you know so much about all kinds of modern things?" Yu Sheng asked seriously, "And know about smart TVs that can be controlled by voice?"
He had spotted a discrepancy in Erin's words and actions.
In fact, this wasn't a big deal, as there were many explanations that could account for this, such as learning about the world's changes through observing the dreams of people nearby, or having been hung in the homes of other modern people before entering this house - Yu Sheng expected that Erin's response would largely be along these lines.
But what Erin responded with was a blank "Huh?".
It seemed that the doll was completely baffled by the question, even appearing as if she herself was confronting the issue for the first time. After being stunned and staring for a while, she slowly turned her head, "I... don't know why?"
"You don't know why?" Yu Sheng was taken aback.
"Um, yeah, I... I've really been locked in this painting for a very long time, truly, it could be decades, but... but I just know what the modern world is like, even though I don't know how I came to know about it, I..."
The living doll in the painting was hesitant and faltering, and toward the end, she seemed even to start doubting herself, unable to continue.
Yu Sheng stared intently at Erin's expression, trying to find a hint of deceit on her face.
"Do you still remember exactly how you got sealed into this painting? And the things that happened before you got sealed, do you remember?" he continued to ask.
"I... just remember it was a curse," Erin hesitated to speak, "This painting is also some kind of entity, I was supposed to solve it, but instead I got trapped inside. But I can't remember the specifics, and what happened before being trapped... before being trapped..."
The doll slowly came to a stop, as if her fragmented past memories were entangling her thoughts. She recalled in confusion for a long time before finally whispering softly like in a dream: "I am Erin from Alice's Cottage, one of Alice's dolls..."
She lifted her head, her expression filled with unease.
"Yu Sheng, that's all I remember."
Yu Sheng deeply furrowed his brow.
At that moment, the possibilities that sprang up in his mind were numerous.
From the eerie to the conspiratorial to the downright comedic—none were reliable.
After all, he had no evidence or clues to unravel the mysteries surrounding Erin.
Erin looked particularly anxious, clutching the teddy bear in her arms so tightly that the plush toy became misshapen: "Have I gone mad?"
Yu Sheng erased the conspiratorial scenarios from his mind.
Then he looked up at Erin and increased the probability of the comedic explanation by ten percent.
"Don't force yourself to remember if you can't recall. At least stop trying for now," he sighed lightly, shaking his head at Erin, "Maybe it's because you've been trapped for too long, which has caused your memory and logic to become a bit jumbled."
"Is that so?" Erin nodded hesitantly, seeming to find some relief.
Yu Sheng: "..."
No, how could she feel relieved after learning that her memory and logic might be flawed? Doesn't that prove that she really has gone mad?! What exactly did I say that comforted her?!
Yu Sheng was instantly filled with question marks, but he decided not to voice his thoughts. Erin's current reaction did indeed alleviate many of the doubts that had surfaced in his mind.
Honestly, if the doll from the painting had found a perfect reason to explain her "modern knowledge," Yu Sheng might have been more suspicious. But that genuine "Huh?" from earlier cleared the air around her persona...
With that in mind, he shook his head and while heading towards the stairs leading to the second floor, he casually said: "You watch TV downstairs; I'm going to catch up on some sleep."
Erin waved her hand: "Hey, go ahead."
Yu Sheng then left the dining room and went upstairs, carrying the fatigue accumulated from his time in Nightfall Valley, yawning as he walked towards his bedroom.
He was indeed tired and sleepy, and the sleepiness grew after a full meal. Now he really needed a good rest.
However, just as he arrived in front of the bedroom door, he couldn't help but stop and look towards the end of the hallway.
The door that was once sealed by an unnamed power stood quietly in his view.
The room at the end of the corridor was where he had found Erin.
Yu Sheng frowned slightly and felt compelled to walk towards it.
When he reached the door, he noticed that the position of the doorknob had changed. The direction of the door hinge and the knob had been switched to the "correct position" that he had finally discovered, the one that could successfully open the door.
After a moment of hesitation, he reached for the doorknob and gently turned it.
With a click, the door that was once unopenable was now easily opened, just like any other door in the house.
He pushed open the door, and the scene inside the room came into view—
Plain and ordinary furnishings; to the left of the door, against the wall, there was a single bed with a nightstand, and to the right, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair. The old flooring seemed a bit faded, and light blue wallpaper adorned the walls.
Above the desk was a window, through which bright sunlight streamed in, making the entire room bright and warm.
And on the wall opposite the door, where the portrait of Erin once hung, now there was a mirror.
Reflected in the mirror was Yu Sheng's increasingly astonished expression.