Chapter 133: Deep in the Forest

The moment he entered the Black Forest, Yu Sheng did not rush to move about; instead, he stood cautiously in place, first taking a few seconds to carefully sense the surrounding... "aura."

The "wolf" had not yet appeared; the forest was very calm, with occasional faint sounds of wind rustling leaves or birds and beasts in the distance. Some afterglow still lingered in the sky; twilight had not yet ended, and no malice was coalescing in the shadows within the forest.

It seemed the Black Forest had not yet reacted to a sudden "intruder" like himself.

But what about that child already deep in the forest's depths? That girl named "Xiaoxiao"—what was her surroundings like now? Would the Black Forest present different stages to every "Little Red Riding Hood" entering this place? Or was it itself "zoned"?

A multitude of questions flashed through Yu Sheng's mind in an instant, and then he heard light footsteps beside him; a splash of red entered his view—it was a girl wearing a deep red coat.

Several pitch-black wolves emerged from the shadows around them, constantly patrolling and sniffing around the girl in red. Perhaps influenced by the Black Forest, these shadow wolves appeared more restless than in the real world; even the edges of their forms trembled rapidly, looking very unstable.

Even around the Little Red Riding Hood's own body, a layer of lingering shadow seemed to loom; her dark red coat appeared indistinct within the shadows, as if another body, or another "posture," was superimposed upon her.

Yu Sheng couldn't help but stare at her for a couple more seconds: "... Just one glance and I feel your state isn't good."

Then he saw the girl's body shudder instantly; she whipped her head around to look this way as if seeing a ghost.

Yu Sheng was startled by the other's reaction: "Uh, I spoke up a bit suddenly, but you didn't have to be this..."

"Ah, sorry," the Little Red Riding Hood finally reacted sluggishly, turning her face away with an awkward expression. "I usually hear no 'human' voices in the Black Forest except for squirrels; I suddenly forgot you had entered too."

Yu Sheng: "... Alright, reasonable."

"By the way, you really did come in?!" The Little Red Riding Hood couldn't help but look the "my lord" before her up and down again. Although she had reacted by now, disbelief actually appeared more prominently in her eyes. Immediately, she added, "This is the first time I've seen anyone other than myself here."

"Of course, I'm not lying to you," Yu Sheng wasn't too surprised by the girl's reaction. He simply waved his hand and called out Erin's name in his mind. "Erin, we successfully 'came in'—how is your situation over there? Can you follow us in?"

"I'd better stay 'outside' to guard," Erin's voice rang in Yu Sheng's mind this time, quite quickly. It seemed that after the previous experience, she had become familiar with the communication path of this eerie "spiritual cage" called the "Black Forest." "I need to observe the three of you in the real world simultaneously, and also convey the situation to others staying outside. Last time I directly drilled in to find you was a special circumstance; this time, we'd better be more cautious."

"Alright, having you stay outside will make Hu Li feel more at ease," Yu Sheng nodded, but immediately he remembered something else. "By the way, speaking of Hu Li... can you send her in too?"

"... What do you want to do?"

"Something like a Cyber Fox Immigrant sweeping through children's literature..."

"I knew it!" Erin's tone sounded as if she had expected it all along, but soon she sighed. "Don't even think about it. When I went to the Black Forest to find you last time, I tried once; she can't be brought in. That place is very special; entering requires special 'adaptation.' Either you and Little Red Riding Hood, who have already established a connection with the Black Forest, or someone like me who inherently possesses the ability to traverse dreams. Moreover, I still need you to perform a supporting 'summoning ritual' inside. Others cannot enter."

Speaking of this, she paused, then added: "Think about it. If that silly fox could really go in with me, would you have been eaten by wolves last time? She would have charged in immediately and saturated-bombed the entire Black Forest."

Erin's answer did not surprise Yu Sheng.

After initially understanding some rules of the Black Forest and the "Fairy Tale," he had guessed this result. This thing had a very strong screening mechanism, and this "screening" was even one of the underlying laws of the entire "Fairy Tale" otherworld.

He and Erin had entered this forest entirely by exploiting a bug or brute-forcing a miracle, despite neither of them being "Little Red Riding Hood."

However...

Yu Sheng temporarily suspended communication with Erin, while thoughtfully extending his hand into the air.

A phantom door slowly took shape before him; the door opened a crack, but opposite the crack was not any definite "location," but an impenetrable darkness.

Since the method of exploiting a bug or brute-forcing a miracle could also work on this Black Forest, it meant the "Fairy Tale's" "screening mechanism" was actually not so flawless. Plus, he could indeed open "gates" within the Black Forest, which meant... there was still a way to forcibly establish a channel between the Black Forest and the real world while ignoring the "screening mechanism."

Little Red Riding Hood watched Yu Sheng's series of actions—sometimes falling into a daze, sometimes looking thoughtful, sometimes opening a door to test—with confusion. Finally, she couldn't help but break the silence out of curiosity: "What are you doing?"

"Preparing to strike against poisonous children's literature in the future," Yu Sheng said casually, waving his hand to disperse the phantom door. "But this still requires some complex preparations; let's not do it yet. First, let's handle the real business: find that child named 'Xiaoxiao'."

While speaking, he glanced around, his brows furrowing slightly. "Completely unfamiliar paths. Where do you think that child might be now? Based on a 'veteran's' experience."

"'Veterans' don't have experience with this either," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "This is the first time two Little Red Riding Hoods might have entered the Black Forest simultaneously, and one of them is accompanied by a 'friend.' You should know how the story is written: 'She walked alone on the path'."

"Alone, huh... That squirrel has been emphasizing that phrase too," Yu Sheng muttered thoughtfully, his gaze turning toward the surrounding bushes. "Speaking of squirrels, where did that squirrel go?"

"I'm looking for it too," Little Red Riding Hood also scanned the surroundings; even the wolf pack beside her was looking around. "Under normal circumstances, it would appear very quickly."

"Could it be with 'Xiaoxiao'?" Yu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "She entered before us. Theoretically, the squirrel would contact her first; it should still be 'guiding' her now."

Little Red Riding Hood frowned slightly and nodded gently, seeming to think Yu Sheng made sense. But just as she opened her mouth to say something, a rustling sound suddenly coming from the bushes interrupted her action.

The next second, a fluffy small figure appeared in Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood's field of vision.

The squirrel climbed onto the bushes, staring straight at the two figures before it, as if it had crashed the moment it revealed itself.

Two seconds later, it let out a shrill "Ga-oh," and *plop*, it fell from the thin branch, landing in a pile of rotten leaves.

Yu Sheng was startled on the spot: "Whoa! It died just by revealing itself?!"

But the squirrel instantly jumped up from the leaf pile, screaming: "The squirrel is crazy! The squirrel is crazy! Saw something impossible! When did the Black Forest become so lively—one, two, and three! Little Red Riding Hood, and a friend! Appearing together! You scared the squirrel, you scared the squirrel!"

This small rodent screamed, darting frantically around the bushes, its figure moving as fast as lightning. After two minutes of chaotic and nervous shouting, it suddenly stopped, then rushed straight to Yu Sheng's front, staring for two seconds, before dashing to Little Red Riding Hood's feet and looking up: "Ah—"

Little Red Riding Hood kicked right at it: "Calm down!"

The squirrel let out a "Zhi" scream and vanished into the bushes opposite.

Yu Sheng was dumbfounded. He had been a bit stunned when the squirrel was shouting earlier, and seeing Little Red Riding Hood's kick now left him completely speechless. He turned his head to look at the girl in red beside him: "Isn't that a bit too rough?"

"This is the most effective. When it's stimulated, it goes hysterical, and it's usually very neurotic. Without giving it a big shock, it might cause trouble for a long time."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a few rustling sounds from the bushes opposite. The squirrel emerged from inside, looking completely unharmed, and holding a just-lit thin stick in its paw. It leaned against a small stone, holding the thin stick in its mouth, inhaled a third of it with a "hiss-hiss-hiss-zuozuo," and said: "Too stimulating..."

Little Red Riding Hood glanced at Yu Sheng: "See? I told you this was effective."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Regardless of whether the girl in red JK's operation was a bit rough, the squirrel had indeed calmed down. After finishing that "squirrel-special ultra-thin cigarette," it quickly accepted the reality of "Little Red Riding Hood and a friend appearing together in the Black Forest" and began communicating normally with Yu Sheng.

"We are looking for someone," Yu Sheng explained the situation. "A child who entered before us, about six years old, roughly this tall..."

"She might be the 'next one'," Little Red Riding Hood said directly. "But she has likely already gotten lost in the forest. We need your help."

The squirrel listened with wide, round little eyes, threw the cigarette butt that had burned down to just the end in its paw into its mouth, chewed and swallowed it with a *crunch-crunch*, and only after a long while sighed: "Then you might have arrived a step too late. She has already reached the deepest part of the Black Forest, a place where even the streetlamps on the path and the candlelight in the cottage cannot reach. She walked in there herself."

(End of Chapter)