Chapter 126: Nightfall and Childhood

The night was deep.

The glow of the streetlamp outside the courtyard filtered through the window on the side wall, spilling into the orphanage corridor; the dim corridor was utterly quiet, as if the daytime noise had never happened, and the night's darkness carried a reassuring calm.

Little Red Riding Hood slowly walked through this corridor, passing row after row of doors; she paused briefly before each door, peered through the observation window to check the room's condition, confirmed there was no anomaly, then relaxed and continued forward.

The early-night shift "parent" must patrol twice; the late-night shift "parent" must patrol three times, until sunrise and the night recedes.

Footsteps came from the opposite direction; Little Red Riding Hood looked up and saw a small figure approaching through the night—a petite girl with hair cut straight above her ears, appearing two years younger than her—that was the girl who had spoken to her at dinner.

"Bai Xue?" Little Red Riding Hood was surprised. "It's not your shift today—why aren't you sleeping?"

"Couldn't sleep, got up to walk," the thin, short-haired girl said casually. "Then I remembered you'd be patrolling the East Building, so I came over to check."

"Mm." Little Red Riding Hood nodded, said nothing more, and silently continued walking beside Bai Xue.

According to the organization's rules, after ten p. m. everyone must return to their rooms to sleep—but this rule applies only to children under fourteen or those who haven't yet "awakened." Bai Xue is already a "parent" in the "Fairy Tale" organization; she knows what she must do, and Little Red Riding Hood won't pry.

"You don't sleep much anymore, do you?" Bai Xue suddenly broke the silence.

Little Red Riding Hood merely gave a soft "Mm."

"As adulthood approaches, sleep decreases significantly—sometimes you only need two or three hours of rest per day, but correspondingly, those two or three hours of sleep become dangerously unstable… peaceful dreams vanish almost entirely; the chance of entering 'Fairy Tale' upon falling asleep reaches nearly one hundred percent… every night is a challenge," Bai Xue whispered. "I heard from the 'King' you didn't have this problem last month—it only started this month…"

Little Red Riding Hood's tone was calm: "I turn sixteen next month. It's normal."

Bai Xue pressed her lips together, then whispered after a pause: "Are you afraid?"

"A little, but it's fine—my wolf is with me," Little Red Riding Hood said, gazing into the eyes of the girl beside her in the night. "But you—why are you telling me this now? You never usually care about these things."

The corridor fell silent. Several seconds passed before Bai Xue slowly spoke: "Did you notice the new child who came today?"

"I noticed. She doesn't talk to anyone, looks nervous," Little Red Riding Hood nodded. "The transfer staff said she lived in a public orphanage in the North District. She kept having nightmares that triggered 'anomalous phenomena,' drawing the attention of the Special Operations Bureau, so they sent her here—what's wrong with her?"

"'Match' was assigned to stay with the new child today. She said… even though the girl can't yet clearly recall what she saw in her dreams, she visibly resists any images or text related to 'wolves' when reading storybooks."

Little Red Riding Hood suddenly stopped walking—but after one or two seconds, she resumed forward with her usual expression.

Walking beside her, Bai Xue remained silent for a long time before speaking again: "... The new child might be the next 'Little Red Riding Hood.'"

"Then you'll have to take good care of her, just like I took care of you," Little Red Riding Hood said seriously.

Bai Xue immediately frowned, looking indignant: "You're only two and a half years older than me!"

"I was your 'parent' for two and a half years," Little Red Riding Hood glanced at the thin girl beside her. "You should eat more. You're still as skinny as last year—if you keep this up, no child will listen to you."

"I do eat! I just can't gain weight—what can I do?"

They chatted as they normally did, yet suddenly fell silent together without warning.

Finally, Bai Xue broke the quiet: "... The organization has had multiple adulthood records before. Don't be afraid. Like the 'King'—if converted to human years, it's over forty. And the previous Cinderella? Supposedly even celebrated her twenty-sixth birthday—I think having two Little Red Riding Hoods at once isn't that unusual…"

Little Red Riding Hood listened quietly. These days, she'd often thought these same thoughts herself. Bai Xue's words echoed what Dr. Lin had told her, and what she'd told herself—but what else could she do?

Every "Fairy Tale" member nearing adulthood has heard similar words.

Yet for some reason, Little Red Riding Hood, who had believed herself fully prepared, now felt something… different stirring in her heart as she listened to Bai Xue's reassurance.

She suddenly remembered the phone call she'd made to Yu Sheng today, and the things he'd told her.

"Perhaps…" she suddenly whispered, breaking the silence.

Bai Xue, who had been straining to think of light topics, barely heard her. After mumbling several more sentences, she finally realized: "Huh? What did you just say?"

Little Red Riding Hood steadied herself, looking into Bai Xue's eyes: "Perhaps things won't be as bad as we think. I mean… maybe something good will happen."

Bai Xue looked slightly dazed, but she noticed a faint, unfamiliar glimmer deep within Little Red Riding Hood's usually calm eyes.

She didn't know why—but nodded instinctively: "Well… it's good you can think that way."

"A friend is coming tomorrow. I invited him to visit," Little Red Riding Hood said seriously.

"Ah, ah?" Bai Xue's eyes widened in surprise, then quickly recovered. "Oh, sure, that's fine—but it's so unusual! You've never invited friends over before. I thought only Long Hair ever did that—classmate? You'll just stay in the East Building, right?"

"It's an adult."

Bai Xue froze.

"He's coming at noon," Little Red Riding Hood continued. "To avoid the most unstable hours of morning and evening. He… knows some things about me. Tomorrow's a day off, so I'll probably show him around the orphanage."

"... You should've told everyone at dinner," Bai Xue stared blankly for a long moment before finally processing the news, sounding slightly reproachful. "Now we'll have to rearrange things tomorrow morning—move some unstable kids to the West Building…"

"No need. He's also a Spirit Realm detective. He's worked with me before, and he knows some things about 'Fairy Tale.' I mentioned him to you before—he's Yu Sheng."

"... The one who eats raw entities?!"

Little Red Riding Hood nodded: "Yes, the one who eats raw entities—but he mostly cooks them."

Bai Xue fell silent, as if stuck.

Little Red Riding Hood continued walking forward.

Bai Xue stood frozen for a few seconds, then hurried two steps to catch up with Little Red Riding Hood, who was already several meters ahead, and launched into a rapid-fire barrage of questions:

"How does he know about 'Fairy Tale'? Did you tell him? You never talk about this stuff with outsiders!"

"What's he here for? Just to tour the orphanage?"

"You're not thinking of dragging him into this, are you? That's dangerous…"

"Does Dr. Lin know? Should we consult him?"

Bai Xue asked all along the way; Little Red Riding Hood only gave vague, offhand replies. Soon, Bai Xue stopped asking. She simply watched the girl walking beside her, and after a long silence, murmured her final words: "We may have no rules, but remember—those who tried to help before… they all died."

This time, Little Red Riding Hood finally stopped, and replied seriously: "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Bai Xue pressed her lips together, said nothing more, and turned to look ahead with Little Red Riding Hood.

Unconsciously, they had passed the dormitory and dining areas. Ahead lay a large "classroom."

The classroom was lit.

"The activity room light's on again," Bai Xue frowned. "How much electricity is this wasting?"

Little Red Riding Hood pushed open the door to the activity room and peered inside.

This was the space for younger children to play and "attend class." The spacious classroom was divided into zones: in the northeast corner stood old desks and chairs; in the northwest corner stood a bookshelf filled with picture books and indoor toys; near the entrance stood a small blackboard, its chalk drawings still untouched, with many small paper slips stuck along its edges—each bearing the childish handwriting of the younger children.

These were the wish cards the teacher had had the children write during today's lesson.

The card had everything on it—wanting a cake, wanting new toys, wanting a new dress, wanting to go out and play, wanting to watch cartoons all day long.

The text was mixed with pinyin, and some were simply crude drawings.

Children's wishes and ways of expression were truly strange and varied.

Little Red Riding Hood couldn't help but smile, but just then, her peripheral vision caught sight of a piece of paper being taken down and stuffed into the corner of a nearby teaching aid box.

She reached out, pulled it out, and carefully smoothed it flat.

"I want to grow up."

That was what was written on it.

"Turning off the lights," Bai Xue's voice came from the side.

With a snap, the wish on the paper plunged into darkness.

(End of this chapter)