Chapter 169: Facing Fear

Delicious meat.

Yu Sheng held the dried meat out in front of Little Red Riding Hood, a smile on his face that seemed like a bewitchment; the strip of meat carried an alluring dark red hue and smelled... very fragrant.

However, Little Red Riding Hood instinctively felt that something was strange about this thing, and she sensed something from Yu Sheng's smile; the girl furrowed her brows slightly: "Wait, what exactly is this thing..."

"The previous 'Wolf Grandma'," Yu Sheng did not hide it; as soon as the other party asked, he nodded directly, "the one we killed in that lightless house last time—I brought it back, then tried processing it with various methods, and found the taste was actually okay."

Little Red Riding Hood's eyes instantly widened, and her breathing even suddenly stopped.

Yu Sheng was still introducing: "... the rib meat is suitable for pan-frying or clear stewing, the leg meat is very tough and needs to be boiled for a long time, the parts with more subcutaneous fat taste great when roasted and are very fragrant, some of the internal organs are suitable for hot pot, but if not processed well, they have a gamey smell. Also, this Wolf Grandma thing is too big, and eating it for several meals in a row easily gets cloying, so I turned most of the rest into this kind of dried meat, kneaded with spices and salt to let the flavor in, then smoked with Fox Fire; it's a bit tough to bite, but the edges have a great crispiness, and the overall taste is very good; you can eat it directly, or it's also good in soup."

While speaking, Yu Sheng pushed the dried meat forward again, smiling as he looked at the red-clothed girl before him: "Try it; as long as you accept its source, the taste is actually very good."

Little Red Riding Hood clearly shuddered, instinctively shuffling back a bit; her eyes mixed helplessness, nervousness, and even a touch of horror; she looked at Yu Sheng in shock, her mind muddled for a long time before she finally organized her words: "You... you ate the Wolf Grandma?!"

"We are eating it, haven't finished yet," Yu Sheng said casually, "need to be so surprised? Before, you even saw a plate of garlic scapes stir-fried with Hunger."

The corner of Little Red Riding Hood's eye twitched instantly; she obviously recalled that this man in front of her had done other horrific things, so she suddenly felt that the fact that he turned the Wolf Grandma into dried meat wasn't that surprising after all, but regardless of whether it was surprising or not, looking at the dark red strips of meat, the strangeness and even slight fear in her heart did not decrease in the slightest.

And the squirrel standing on Little Red Riding Hood's shoulder, after realizing what exactly this piece of dried meat was, simply rolled its eyes, didn't make a single sound, and fell straight down stiffly.

The Fox Girl, who was gnawing on dried meat at the dining table, looked up at this side, her pile of tails behind her swaying back and forth: "Taste it, it's very delicious."

Take a bite, it's very fragrant.

It's really very fragrant.

Little Red Riding Hood's breathing gradually became a bit rapid.

It seemed as if many voices suddenly sounded in her heart, not hurried nor anxious, yet constantly whispering: Yu Sheng's voice, her own voice, and even... the wolf's voice.

Try it, just one bite.

Urged by those voices in her heart, she finally hesitantly reached out her hand; accompanied by the contradictory feeling of expectation and resistance surging simultaneously, she took that strip of dark red meat.

She saw a brilliant smile appear on Yu Sheng's face; in that smile, the strange fragrance emitted by the dried meat drifted into her nostrils in waves.

"Fear is hard to eliminate, especially the fear rooted in your heart since childhood," she heard Yu Sheng say softly to herself, "but from today on, you will forever remember that this fear originating from the wolf... is Five-Spice Salt-and-Pepper flavored."

Little Red Riding Hood was stunned for a moment, looking at Yu Sheng with a strange expression: "What kind of evil way of speaking is this..."

"Compared to facing fear, a better way to fight fear is to give it texture and flavor," Yu Sheng's smile remained on his face, "don't you think this makes a lot of sense?"

Yes, it makes a lot of sense.

Little Red Riding Hood stuffed the dried meat into her mouth; as if completing a life-or-death task, she closed her eyes and bit down hard.

It was really hard, a bit tough to bite, but... it was indeed meat, just meat, that's all.

In the depths of the distant forest, a faint and blurred wolf howl suddenly sounded again.

Little Red Riding Hood couldn't tell whether that howling sound had truly appeared or merely floated in her heart like a hallucination.

She chewed the piece of meat in her mouth, applying force as if going all out; she swallowed it, feeling the rough texture slide down her throat.

Yu Sheng looked up at the window; he felt the gaze of that evil wolf; that gaze was staring fixedly here; it had been patrolling everywhere before, but at this moment, it suddenly stopped moving.

Although it only stopped for a few seconds.

The squirrel that had fallen on the bed slowly woke up; this unlucky small rodent that had already experienced severe fright several times today looked up, saw Little Red Riding Hood tearing and biting the Wolf Grandma's meat, and immediately fainted dead away with a "Gah!" sound.

But Yu Sheng casually picked it up, shook it in the air a few times, and forcibly woke it up: "Wake up, Squirrel, I have a question."

"Squirrel doesn't want to answer!" the little thing woke up and immediately struggled, screaming.

"What is the relationship between 'Evil Wolf' and 'Wolf Grandma'?" Yu Sheng didn't care about the squirrel's reaction at all, just asked on his own, "Are they the same thing?"

The squirrel stared at Yu Sheng with its small eyes; Yu Sheng also looked quietly at the squirrel.

Yu Sheng could even feel the heartbeat transmitted from the palm of his hand, rapid like drumbeats from this small animal.

"... Wolf Grandma is one aspect of the Evil Wolf," the squirrel finally spoke, not knowing whether it was fearing Yu Sheng or fearing the wolf staring here, "it enters the small house, it is Wolf Grandma; it eats you outside, it is the Evil Wolf; when it chases you, it is the wolf pack... all wolves are one aspect of the Evil Wolf, and the Evil Wolf is one aspect of the Black Forest..."

Its body trembled slightly, its neck shrinking again and again. "Everything here is tangled together like this, like a ball of yarn, like blood vessels, like nerves, and then everything will tangle around Little Red Riding Hood who fell into this nightmare," it chattered on, its voice high-pitched and trembling, "the Hunter is also part of this, has been since I can remember; Squirrel doesn't know what you are looking for the Hunter for, but they won't help you; they won't help anyone; they will only shoot at the wolf..."

Listening to the squirrel's answer, Yu Sheng was thoughtful.

He carefully perceived the information transmitted from the blood connection, perceiving the activity of the wolf pack outside the shelter range of the small house and the changes in that gaze originating from the Evil Wolf.

The wolf pack faded within his perception range; the Evil Wolf's gaze was concentrating on the doorway; something appeared there, gradually taking shape.

Wolf Grandma was generating.

The order of the Black Forest continued to operate; the stage was arranging for the next "actor" to appear according to the script; his big disturbance here seemed to have no effect on the operation of the entire stage.

Yu Sheng remained expressionless, as if he hadn't noticed the change in aura outside the door; he simply calmly tore a small strip from the dried meat and handed it to the squirrel: "Eat it."

The squirrel struggled frantically, jumped onto the bed, and looked at the thing in Yu Sheng's hand in terror.

"I... I am a squirrel! I am just a squirrel! No no no, Squirrel doesn't want this thing..."

"You should also fight the fear in your heart," Yu Sheng looked at the other party very seriously, "Little Red Riding Hood has already swallowed it; now it's your turn."

"Squirrel... Squirrel Knight is fearless!" the squirrel screamed, "Squirrel Knight... please, don't do this..."

>

Yu Sheng casually threw that small strip of meat aside: "Alright, I won't force you."

The squirrel was stunned; it seemed not to expect Yu Sheng would so simply "let it off"; for a moment, it couldn't quite believe it.

Yu Sheng didn't care about the squirrel's reaction; he just looked at Little Red Riding Hood: "Alright, you've rested enough; you should go back."

Little Red Riding Hood looked up in surprise, unable to react for a moment.

Yu Sheng raised his hand and pointed at the doorway.

The shadow was turning into a physical form outside the door; heavy breathing came from there.

"Wolf Grandma is coming," Yu Sheng said unhurriedly, "if you stay here any longer, it will be dangerous; I'll have Erin send you out first."

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth instinctively: "Wait, you didn't say before..."

"Bringing you here was mainly to trigger this key plot point," Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, "getting to this step is enough—when acting as a team, everyone has their own tasks."

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something else, but Erin, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder, had already opened her palm toward her.

A cold aura invisibly gripped Little Red Riding Hood's consciousness, then suddenly yanked it "outward."

The girl's figure vanished into the wooden hut in the blink of an eye.

Yu Sheng fell silent for a moment, then turned his head to look at his shoulder: "Honestly, couldn't you improve the comfort of this technique? Waking people up every time feels like dying of a sudden heart attack..."

"Nonsense, if it didn't feel like a sudden heart attack, could it wake people up unconditionally?" Erin rolled her eyes. "She's awake now and cursing up a storm. Should I broadcast it?"

"No need," Yu Sheng waved his hand casually, then stood up and stretched his limbs. He picked up the Tetanus Staff leaning against the door. "Get ready."

The next second, the sound of knocking entered everyone's ears.

Bang, bang, bang, the knocking outside the wooden door felt as if it were striking directly into the depths of people's hearts, carrying an unsettling urgency.

"The Wolf Grandmother is here!" the squirrel shrieked, jumping up and running in circles on the small bed. "The Squirrel Knight needs to prepare, needs to prepare!"

Bang, bang, bang, the knocking sounded again, more urgent than before.

The squirrel watched in horror as a brilliant smile spread across Yu Sheng's face. He grabbed that ferocious spiked club and yanked the door open: "Coming!"

The wooden hut's door swung open. A deformed creature stood in the doorway, blocking all exits. It wore a soft cap, was hunched over, had a thin and twisted body, and was covered entirely in short black fur.

A long, strange claw, barely resembling a wolf's paw, reached in and grabbed at Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng swung the club down—

"So you're the one called Wolf Grandmother?"

(End of this chapter)