Chapter 136: Traces of the Past

The wolf-grandmother lay on the bed in the small cottage, hiding her claws, ears, and tail; she swallowed Little Red Riding Hood whole, and then...

The hunter did not appear.

What came instead was a cook.

Yu Sheng felt something instantly begin to struggle; in the air, the invisible wolf-grandmother suddenly let out a piercing howl, blood spurting from nowhere where the small knife had sliced, cut fur, fat, and muscle curling and tearing open, floating in midair along the blade's path, while a wave of wind pressure and a sense of threat suddenly emerged from the side—that was the wolf raising its foreclaws and head—

Pity it was not the evil wolf from the deepest fears of Little Red Riding Hood, already larger than a house.

It was merely the form of the big bad wolf imagined by a six-year-old girl—its strength was great, but not greater than Yu Sheng's; its speed was fast, but not faster than an adult's; it was fierce... but Yu Sheng had dealt with uglier meat.

Yu Sheng suddenly reached out, pressing down the head of that invisible wolf, then using his arm to pin its neck firmly against the small bed, while the small knife in his other hand continued to slice open the beast's flesh and skin; amidst the spreading blood and increasingly piercing howls, the wolf's form manifested—much larger than an ordinary wolf, large enough to swallow a child, with a lean and elongated body, wearing a ridiculous apron and soft-brimmed hat, possessing a ferocious and twisted head, and a swollen belly.

Now it was dying; its fierce eyes were slowly losing their light, its throat emitting hoarse, rattling sounds, its limbs twitching, its final struggles nearing their end.

"Quiet, quiet, it will be over soon..." Yu Sheng leaned down, gazing into the evil wolf's eyes, his look filled with joy, his words gentle and expectant, "I must cut slowly—after all, I must be careful not to hurt the child, but you cannot struggle too violently; if your muscles tense up excessively, it greatly affects your usefulness afterward... Good, it's cut open."

The big gray wolf's belly was completely slit open; as a layer of strange membranous structure was neatly sliced by the blade passing over it a second time, a thin, small girl rolled out from its stomach.

The girl's eyes were tightly closed, her body unstained by a single drop of blood, as if she were merely sleeping on this small bed, trapped in a dream from which she could not wake.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately stepped forward, catching the girl with both hands just before she nearly rolled onto the floor, while unconsciously widening her eyes as she looked at the big gray wolf lying on the bed with its belly split open, its limbs still twitching slightly, and at Yu Sheng, who was putting away his small knife: "You... how did you see it? Why couldn't I see it before?"

"Hard to explain—I currently have some extra 'perspectives' that allow me to observe things only the wolf packs in the forest would know," Yu Sheng wiped the blood from his small knife on the wolf's fur, turned his head, and said to Little Red Riding Hood, "As for why you couldn't see it... perhaps because this isn't your wolf-grandmother?"

Little Red Riding Hood paused for a moment, a trace of contemplation appearing on her face.

Just as she was about to say something more, however, howls rising and falling suddenly came from outside the small cottage, interrupting her train of thought.

Seven or eight wolves composed of shadows instantly materialized around her, confronting the wolf howls from outside the cottage, emitting equally hoarse and terrifying howls, protecting their "master."

"The wolf pack has been alerted; they don't sound very happy," Yu Sheng immediately lifted his head, while glancing sideways at Little Red Riding Hood, whose entire body was tensing up, "You'd better take her and leave this place quickly—we've already cut her out of the wolf-grandmother's belly; next, we just need to return her to the real world, and this child will wake up."

"But the time hasn't arrived yet!" Little Red Riding Hood said somewhat anxiously, her words rapid, "One must stay in the Black Forest for a certain amount of time before being able to leave..."

Yu Sheng frowned and immediately summoned the puppet in his mind: "Irene, forcibly pull them out—use the method you're best at."

"Alright," Irene responded immediately, "But what about you? Aren't you leaving?"

"I'll observe a bit longer to see if there are any changes here; don't worry about me."

"Oh... if you're going to die getting out, tell me in advance, okay."

"Can't you say something nicer!"

Little Red Riding Hood did not know what Yu Sheng was doing, but she instinctively felt that some kind of... interference had abruptly appeared in her connection with the Black Forest, an external force rapidly peeling her away from this place; the unknown change made her unconsciously speak up: "What did you do..."

"Irene will send you out," Yu Sheng nodded to her, "However, this process might be quite stimulating—try not to vomit on me when you do."

Little Red Riding Hood: "Huh?"

Then, both she and the girl, Xiaoxiao, vanished simultaneously from within the small cottage.

Disappearing along with Little Red Riding Hood were those seven or eight wolves condensed from shadows.

The wolf howls outside the cottage, however, did not cease with Little Red Riding Hood's departure; instead, they instantly became denser, closer, and more... filled with hostility.

"As expected, they're coming for me," Yu Sheng frowned, showing no surprise whatsoever; he knew that here he was a "story disruptor," and according to the "rules" manifested by the fairy tale, those who disrupt stories are certainly unwelcome here.

Moreover, he was an adult disrupting a story; fairy tales dislike adults the most.

But after remaining alert for a few seconds, Yu Sheng noticed that although the wolf howls outside the cottage had grown much closer, they ultimately stopped at a certain distance outside; the invisible wolf pack merely patrolled there, yet for some reason did not directly "attack" the small cottage.

Yu Sheng frowned slightly, once again scanning the small cottage, which was hung with red cloaks, its hearth fire and candlelight seeming to have been extinguished many years ago.

He still remembered what the squirrel had said earlier, and recalled the condition of the small cottage where he had hidden last time—after the candlelight and hearth fire were extinguished, the cottage would be swallowed by the forest, just like those small paths that could be swallowed by the forest at any moment; the essence of such a "sanctuary" seemed to be merely an "illusion" temporarily illuminated by firelight.

But what was the matter with this cottage?

Was it truly, as Little Red Riding Hood had said, the "final place of the story"? Thus, it would not be swallowed, but would forever remain trapped in the deepest part of the forest, becoming the burial ground for all Little Red Riding Hoods?

The wolf howls outside the house were somewhat irritating, but Yu Sheng forcibly ignored their interference; having saved the person, his heart was now much calmer, and now he decided to study this place thoroughly.

He carefully searched every corner of the small cottage, even lifting every red cloak to confirm whether anything was hidden beneath them.

He then found a stick and poked at the icy cold fireplace, carefully examining its ashes.

Finally, he simply pushed the already dead big gray wolf off the bed and turned the entire bed over.

Yu Sheng suddenly narrowed his eyes.

After lifting that small bed, he discovered something.

On the floor beneath the bed were many fine, winding markings resembling carved scratches.

Yu Sheng lay down, his eyes almost touching the floor, carefully examining those carved marks.

The light in the cottage was very dim, but his eyes glowed with a wolf-like phosphorescence; he saw that those marks were crooked, twisted handwriting, yet extremely chaotic and distorted, almost impossible to decipher.

He strained to look for a long while, managing to discern only a few fragments of disordered, broken information from them—

"... is alive... it is dreaming... hidden within all... shared..."

Yu Sheng frowned tightly; the information within the text was too fragmented to discern anything meaningful, so he did not engage in much meaningless speculation; he merely extended his finger, slowly tracing over the surface of those carved marks, deducing how these characters had been "carved."

It seemed they had been "dug out" bit by bit using very sharp fingernails.

They were human fingers, but those nails must have been very hard, very sharp, just like a wolf's.

He continued feeling downward, noticing that the carvings further along became increasingly tiny and faint.

"Very tired, very cold, very hungry...

"Can't remember... how long...

"Wolves outside.

"I am..."

Chaotic, broken words mixed among those nearly illegible carved marks; the final traces were so faint they consisted of only extremely fine lines, as if the person carving them had finally exhausted their strength and, after writing the last two characters "I am," moved no more.

Yu Sheng's brows were tightly locked as he slowly raised his body.

He thought this must have been left by some past Little Red Riding Hood—on this matter, he had few alternative answers.

But which one? Why would she leave these? Why leave them here?

If this place truly was where all Little Red Riding Hoods finally "ended," then how did the Little Red Riding Hood who originally left this information here manage to maintain her sanity and write these things at the very end? What exactly had she discovered?

Yu Sheng's gaze fell once more upon the beginning of those words.

"... It is alive..."

This should mean that "something" is alive, but what exactly? What thing is alive? What thing is dreaming?

Yu Sheng lifted his head.

The corpse of that great gray wolf had completely ceased twitching; the blood in its belly had nearly drained away. Next, it should become very good meat.

And not far away, a layer of faint starlight had, at some unknown time, spilled through the window of the small hut.

The wolf howls surrounding the hut had vanished at some unknown time; now, outside was a silence as dead as a grave.

(End of Chapter)