Chapter 171

The wolf's presence temporarily receded; the heart infused with wolf poison shriveled and withered in Yu Sheng's arms. The black forest fell suddenly silent, no longer filled with those low, chaotic howls, nor with that gaze piercing from its depths.

Hu Li and Ai Lin rushed out of the cabin and together dragged and pulled Yu Sheng inside.

"Savior, Savior, how are you?" Hu Li stared anxiously at Yu Sheng's bluish face, his tail fur standing on end. "Can you still hear me?"

"I can hear you, I can hear you… don't get so close," Yu Sheng gasped, feeling his strength drain and a cold numbness spreading through his veins. "I'm about to die—this thing is poisonous. I got poisoned the moment I touched it…"

"I also think you look like you're about to die—your face is turning black," Ai Lin leaned in, climbing onto Yu Sheng's chest, her crimson eyes fixed on his face. "How about it? Did the wolf grandma die too? Did we kill it?"

"Dead—but only temporarily. Like all entities, it will return. The black forest will revert to how it was before we entered, in the next cycle," Yu Sheng struggled to speak, coughed twice, then continued. "But it doesn't matter—I've already intervened in its cycle… we succeeded. At least, we succeeded in a major step. Get off me—you're dead weight."

"Obviously—I'm made of steel and stone," Ai Lin grumbled but obediently slid off Yu Sheng's chest. "But when I sat on your shoulders before, you never complained about the weight."

"I'm about to die right now—I'm weak, depleted," Yu Sheng said, paused to catch his breath, then extended his hand to Hu Li. "Help me up."

Hu Li immediately nodded, gripping Yu Sheng's arm. "Savior, what are you doing?"

"You two go back," Yu Sheng said, under Hu Li's support, reaching his hand toward the air—a shimmering door gradually materialized. "Take my weapon—it still works well. Go back, improve it, and use it again… oh, and bring this shrunken heart too. The wolf grandma left nothing usable except this heart—it looks like real flesh. Now that its poison blood has drained, I'll study it later—maybe make stir-fried wolf heart with chili peppers…"

"You're planning to eat this?!" Ai Lin stared, dumbfounded. "Isn't that just a little too horrifying?"

"Taste it, taste it—we went through all this to kill it, and it killed me once," Yu Sheng gasped. "If I don't cook it, I'll feel cheated."

Ai Lin felt an odd unease, but Hu Li—who always obeyed Yu Sheng—had already curled two tails around the withered wolf heart and the fallen wound-staff, stepping toward the door. He turned back and asked, "Savior, aren't you coming back?"

Yu Sheng waved his hand. "I'm staying here."

"Huh?" Ai Lin tilted her head, utterly astonished. "Aren't you going to die at home?"

"I'm waiting here to see when the hunter appears," Yu Sheng was barely standing now. "If we can communicate… I'll just die here when the time comes."

"Alright then, we'll go back first," Ai Lin sighed, then added casually, "When you get back, want something to eat? Hu Li and I will prepare it for you… don't give me that look—we won't light the stove, just wash vegetables for you."

"Wash two cucumbers and two tomatoes. I'll probably get back around morning—I just died, so I want something light. Make cold noodles with tomato-egg sauce and cucumber strips."

"Oh."

Ai Lin and Hu Li left. The shimmering door slowly faded away.

The cabin fell silent. Yu Sheng looked around and saw the chaos left by the battle. Though the giant wolf never entered, the spreading foxfire and piercing threads had destroyed nearly all furnishings, leaving vast charred marks on walls and floor.

He exhaled, struggled to the corner where the bed had collapsed into ashes, sat among the debris, and waited—for the hunter, for death.

The wolf poison flowed through his veins. His blood flowed through the black forest.

Faint, distant sobbing echoed, blurred as if behind a curtain, as if something were soothing the source of the cries, gradually quieting them.

A faint rustling came from the debris of the bed. Yu Sheng turned toward the sound and saw a small, dark brown, furry creature poking its head out of the charred fragments—a strip of red cloth wrapped around its head.

"Oh, squirrel. I thought you'd definitely run off," Yu Sheng greeted it. "Pretty brave."

"Squirrel… knight… fearless… fearless…" The squirrel repeated the words over and over, as if its sanity had broken. Then it suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Yu Sheng. "Wait—you're about to die… you were bitten by the wolf, the wolf's heart bit you! You… you'll die! You'll die in the real world too! What do we do what do we do what do we do…"

It seemed to have realized something horrifying and began screaming, frantic and terrified.

"I came here using my real-world body," Yu Sheng smiled faintly at it. "Don't be so tense—I'll come back. To me, 'death' is just a temporary symptom. Of course, you don't need to think about this complicated thing now. Calm down, little squirrel. If you don't want to leave, stay and chat with me."

The squirrel stared with its round little eyes, seemingly unable to understand Yu Sheng or decide what to do, trapped in a state of mental overload.

"You've wrapped that red cloth around yourself again," Yu Sheng reached out a finger and pressed gently against the squirrel's head. "You like it?"

"Red cloth… red cloth is a good omen," the squirrel suddenly perked up, speaking instinctively. "Squirrels need their own red cloaks… red cloaks scare off wolves… red cloaks prove you haven't turned into a wolf…"

"So the red cloak proves you haven't turned into a wolf? I see," Yu Sheng said slowly, forcing his eyelids open. "Do squirrels worry they might become wolves in the forest?"

The squirrel fell silent, standing frozen, as if Yu Sheng's question had triggered a new system crash.

This little creature always crashed like this—like a mind too small for thoughts far beyond its capacity.

His mind was gradually going numb, as if wolf poison had replaced his blood, slowly sprouting many cold and vicious branches within his veins; he felt dizzy before his eyes, the tiny squirrel in his vision multiplying into many overlapping images; he heard an empty wind sound coming from the forest, and the wolf pack began to howl again, rising and falling; they always howled ceaselessly like this, because that is how the story told it, or at least... that is how the storyteller believed.

His mind was growing numb. The wolf poison had replaced his blood, slowly sprouting cold, malicious branches through his veins. His vision blurred. The tiny squirrel multiplied into multiple afterimages in his sight. He heard hollow wind howling through the forest—the wolves began howling again, rising and falling endlessly, as stories always said. At least… the storyteller believed so.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the Black Forest, through the barrier shrouded in shadow, and through the thick earth beneath it; he saw countless fine branches, those branches like tree limbs, supporting this place on the "other side" of the forest; he also saw myriad interwoven structures, tangled and clustered like blood vessels and nerves, filling the chaos and void, with the end of every cluster of interwoven structures supporting upward like tree limbs.

His gaze pierced through the black forest, through the shadowed barrier, through the thick soil beneath it. He saw countless fine branches—like tree limbs—supporting this place from its "other side." He saw intricate, tangled structures—like blood vessels and nerves—twisting and coiling through chaos and void, each cluster ending in branching supports.

They held up the king's castle. They held up the wild battlefield where knight battled dragon. They held up the endless ball. They held up the tower imprisoning the princess. They held up the thorn-encircled bedroom. They held up the beanstalk piercing the clouds. They held up the sea and court echoing with song…

But Yu Sheng did not want to see these.

He wanted to see the "other end"—the depths of those tangled structures.

He struggled to control his gaze, trying to turn his sight toward the heart of the chaos, toward the source of those structures.

But an extreme darkness blocked him, and in the depths of that chaos, there seemed to be nothing at all.

But absolute darkness blocked him. The depths of the chaos seemed to hold nothing.

Yu Sheng briefly regained consciousness once more; his awareness returned from that perspective piercing through the Black Forest, settling back into the small wooden cabin.

Yu Sheng briefly regained clarity. His awareness returned from that piercing view through the black forest, settling again inside the wooden cabin.

The hearth fire had gone out. The candlelight on the table had vanished. A cold stillness enveloped everything. A tall figure pushed open the cabin door and stepped inside with stiff, mechanical steps.

Dim starlight fell upon the figure, outlining a faint, indistinct silhouette.

"Hello, 'Hunter,'" Yu Sheng croaked, leaning against the debris of the bed, feeling the hollow, formless shell's gaze upon him. "I've been waiting for you a long time. Almost waited until death."

The Hunter approached slowly, his empty hood hanging low, as if carefully observing this "dying" human.

Though no expression could be seen beneath the hood, Yu Sheng felt the Hunter was confused.

This might be because Yu Sheng's body now carried a trace of wolf poison—poison that made the Hunter unable to determine whether to shoot.

Yu Sheng offered no explanation. He conserved every ounce of strength, slowly pulling a sheet of paper from his chest and unfolding it before the Hunter.

Twelve men and women in heavy protective armor stood in a perfectly aligned photograph.

"Do you remember this?" Yu Sheng lifted his head, whispering. "Are you… one of them?"

The Hunter stood motionless, offering no response.

Yu Sheng waited patiently, wondering whether his death or the Hunter's reply would come first.

Then he saw the hollow, formless shell slowly raise its hunting rifle.

Yu Sheng: "...?"

No, bro?

"Bang!"

The gun fired.

Death and the response arrived at the same time.

(End of this chapter)