Chapter 160: The Past

Wolf howl?

Yu Sheng's first reaction was a bit of confusion, but immediately he connected that wolf howl to the events he had recently experienced; he did not suspect he was suffering from auditory hallucinations—because less than a few seconds later, another unsettling howl came from the distance, sounding even clearer than the last time.

Moreover, he felt that "auditory hallucinations" did not exist within dreams.

Yu Sheng frowned and immediately headed toward the direction the howl came from—in this lucid dream, he had only taken a few steps before, with a mere thought, he crossed a vast distance, arriving in the blink of an eye at the place that felt "wrong" to him.

He saw the howling wolf.

It was a stiff and illusory shadow, floating above the grass, flickering every few seconds like a projection with poor contact; with each flicker, this stiff shadow would change posture, giving the impression of a severely lagging surveillance feed, refreshing the image of the surveillance target in cycles of several seconds.

Yu Sheng watched this projection appearing in his dream with shock and curiosity; seeing it flicker again, the wolf turned its head in the next "refreshed" posture; it seemed to notice the approach of an uninvited guest and cast a gaze in this direction.

But it was merely a "shadow"; aside from casting a gaze, this wolf seemed incapable of any further action.

The initial tension in Yu Sheng's heart gradually faded; he began to watch the "wolf" before him with curiosity; for some reason, he felt the wolf's eyes looked... somewhat familiar.

And immediately, a strange thought arose in his heart—that this wolf could not be eaten.

Because there was humanity in its eyes.

Humanity?

Yu Sheng suddenly shivered, recalling the source of that familiarity; afterwards, he hesitantly reached out his hand, wanting to touch the projection floating on the grass.

A slightly cool sensation came from his fingertips; he felt as if he had touched a layer of illusory mist; the wolf was still quietly watching him, but suddenly, it vanished in the next "flicker."

Yet in Yu Sheng's mind, many chaotic and fragmented memory fragments that did not belong to him suddenly sprang up.

He saw yellowed and faded scenes, saw a series of flashbacks; he saw a blurry shadow standing among a group of figures with equally indistinct faces; they were gathered around a small bed, as if silently bidding farewell.

The next second, he saw that shadow seemingly arguing with someone; the one arguing with it was a slightly taller figure; although its face was equally unclear, Yu Sheng felt a strange warmth and nostalgia from the "memory"; that seemed to be a very important person—however, now, the owner of the memory was arguing with her, the content of the argument intermittent:

"... Why go to school! You won't grow up anyway!"

"... You must be like an ordinary child... go to school, make friends, study, play, worry, be happy... even if it's short, you must experience it..."

In the brief memory fragment, Yu Sheng subconsciously took a few steps forward, but suddenly, a new image floated before his eyes.

He saw that figure standing with many other shadows; everyone formed a circle, as if clapping under someone's leadership; a voice came from the side: "... Welcome Teacher Su, she will teach the younger brothers and sisters from now on... Teacher Zhang is sick and won't be coming anymore..."

All the shadows vanished again; that figure stood alone in a patch of bushes; she looked even smaller; suddenly, an even blurrier wolf appeared before her; the wolf lowered its head, emitting a muffled whimper—the small figure bent down, reached out her hand, looking both afraid and nervous, but still plucked up the courage to touch the wolf's head: "From now on... you must be obedient..."

The wolf vanished; Yu Sheng saw that figure walking alone on a small path.

Now, she had become even smaller, so small she looked like a child of only five or six; she walked on the path, crying as she went; dim streetlights flickered on both sides of the road; beyond the light and shadow of the streetlights lay a dense forest filled with shadows; howls rose and fell, and malice was everywhere in the black forest, as if countless hungry predators were waiting for prey.

The small figure suddenly stopped on the small path, looking up at the darkness beyond the path, as if something had appeared in that darkness, attracting her gaze.

Don't go over there—

This thought suddenly popped into Yu Sheng's mind; however, the next second, he saw that figure leave the path almost without hesitation, heading straight for the depths of the malicious black forest.

Yu Sheng knew this was merely an illusion of the past, and one that did not belong to him, but he still subconsciously wanted to stop this scene—he arrived beside that small figure almost instantly, reaching out to block her path, yet that figure passed directly through Yu Sheng, continuing into the darkness.

Yu Sheng turned around in shock, seeing her run faster and faster, lunging at two illusions with indistinct faces.

"Mom and Dad!"

Yu Sheng stood frozen in place.

He finally knew what Little Red Riding Hood had seen on that path many years ago.

Perhaps no matter how many times it happened again, the six-year-old her would still lunge into that darkness without hesitation.

Every child would.

Chewing sounds came from the darkness; a patch of bright red spread through the shadows, resembling a glaring red cloak.

All the illusions vanished; whether it was that small figure or the boundless dark forest, they all disappeared in a hollow wind. Yu Sheng subconsciously stepped back two paces, seeing himself standing again on that gray, boundless wilderness; but this time, the illusory and flickering wolf projection was gone from the wilderness; only a girl wearing a red coat stood somewhat bewildered not far away.

Yu Sheng paused for a moment and stepped toward the other party; the latter also seemed to suddenly "wake up," hesitantly turning her head to look in this direction.

After a while, the girl in red suddenly spoke: "You saw it all?"

Yu Sheng was stunned; he thought what he saw was just another illusion, but he didn't expect the other party to actually be "here"; however, he quickly reacted, nodding lightly: "I didn't mean to look."

"Ah ah..." Little Red Riding Hood grabbed her hair hard, looking helpless and annoyed, "So you adults just like to snoop into other people's privacy! What's the point of being so curious!"

"I said it wasn't intentional..." Yu Sheng scratched his cheek, not knowing how to ease this awkwardness for a moment, "And it wasn't me who actively brought you here either."

Little Red Riding Hood suddenly stopped grabbing her hair, raised her head slightly, and cast a non-threatening gaze through the gap in her bangs: "I was just about to ask! Where is this?"

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment: "Uh, it's my dream."

The moment he said this, he felt his second half of the previous sentence lost all credibility.

Little Red Riding Hood indeed immediately widened her eyes: "Then why do you say it wasn't intentional!"

"This is instinct..." Yu Sheng explained without much confidence, "Hu Li came here before too; it seems anyone who has established a blood connection with me might fall in, but I don't know the principle behind it."

!.

Little Red Riding Hood looked at him suspiciously, sizing him up several times as if confirming whether he was lying, and finally confirmed once more: "Really?"

Yu Sheng nodded very sincerely, his expression so firm.

The girl in red finally withdrew her gaze with some doubt, as if she didn't intend to investigate further for the time being.

However, only a few seconds later, she suddenly turned her head again: "Hey, I'm just wondering, what normal person dreams like this! You have a fixed space that can pull people in, and the people pulled in can even chat!"

"I don't know either," Yu Sheng looked even more helpless than Little Red Riding Hood, "You know my situation; I can't even figure out my own matters..."

Little Red Riding Hood stared at him for a while, finally waved her hand, took a deep breath, turned around, and sat on the grass.

Yu Sheng also walked over; after hesitating for a moment, he sat beside the other party.

"It's broad daylight, why are you dreaming?" he asked curiously.

"Chemistry class, I fell asleep," the girl said in a muffled tone.

Then two seconds later, she suddenly added: "I don't usually sleep in class, and I haven't had much sleep recently, but I don't know why, I was just sleepier today; I zoned out and fell asleep."

"Sleeping in class is a normal part of student life," Yu Sheng made something up off the cuff, not even knowing what he was saying, "At an age when you're growing, it's good to sleep more."

"I'm almost eighteen, not eight," Little Red Riding Hood glanced up at this side, but the eyes under her bangs seemed to carry a smile, "... Hey, seriously, was I really quite silly when I was little? I actually never saw what my parents looked like, but back then I just felt like I saw Mom and Dad..."

Yu Sheng said nothing; after a while, he suddenly said calmly: "I'm preparing to kill the Black Forest, and the thing behind the Black Forest."

"... You suddenly have an idea?"

"I went to the Special Bureau today and found some clues," Yu Sheng said slowly. "The first step is to find the 'Hunter' in the Black Forest... they might know where the path leading behind the forest is."

"Why do you say that?"

"The 'Hunter' might be a member of the Deep Dive Squad that entered the depths of the Fairy Tale seventy years ago and failed to return, or it might be all of them."

Little Red Riding Hood suddenly froze. She kept staring blankly at Yu Sheng for a long time before suddenly blinking her eyes.

But just as she was about to say something, Yu Sheng spoke first to interrupt her: "Just know this; do not contact the 'Hunter' casually."

"Why?"

"... They have stayed in the Black Forest for too long."

(End of this chapter)