Chapter 196: The Secret of the Stage

Seeing the unfamiliar red-clad girl rush into the hut, Yu Sheng paused only briefly before following her inside.

As he crossed the wooden threshold, he felt as if he had passed through something thin and icy, like mist, and immediately, the surrounding sounds vanished—the constant howls of wolves, which had seemed to circle him and even draw near, abruptly ceased; the wind faded away too, leaving only the infant's cry, audible only to him, that had persisted since entering the Black Forest, now muffled as if behind thick barriers.

Yu Sheng gripped his weapon carefully and scanned the surroundings, then unconsciously frowned.

He saw none of the hanging red cloaks.

Not a single red cloak hung on the walls or lay on the floor.

The only splash of red in the room was the red-clad girl sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.

Yu Sheng and Hu Li walked over and stood before the girl, then tried waving a hand in front of her face—but she remained utterly unresponsive.

At that moment, Hu Li also seemed to notice something; she frowned, sniffed sharply, and whispered softly: "Savior, there's no scent."

Yu Sheng didn't understand at first: "What?"

"She has no scent," Hu Li explained.

Yu Sheng frowned, his expression thoughtful, then suddenly felt something—he immediately opened the wooden box containing the angel's umbilical cord.

The cord still lay quietly at the bottom of the box, but somehow, a portion of its withered length had swelled, as if refilled with blood and vitality—though the "revived" section accounted for less than one-fifth of the entire cord, it stood out strikingly.

Ai Lin spotted the change at once and gasped sharply; she grabbed Yu Sheng's hair and swiftly turned to Hu Li: "Quick, quick… bring out whatever sauce you've got hidden in your tail…"

"Stop it," Yu Sheng cut her off instantly. "It hasn't reached that point yet."

Then he saw the chili powder and grilled meat dip Hu Li had already pulled from her tail; his eyebrow twitched: "Put it away."

The red-clad girl on the ground remained oblivious to the events beside her; she seemed like a projection from another time, merely replaying events that had once occurred before Yu Sheng and the others.

After Yu Sheng confirmed the angel's umbilical cord showed no further signs of revival, she too seemed to have rested long enough—she began struggling to rise, as if wanting to inspect every corner of the hut.

From her eyes, Yu Sheng judged her to be both unfamiliar with and wary of the hut.

The next second, Yu Sheng noticed something odd about the girl's condition.

She struggled to her feet, but her legs and arms bent at unnatural, twisted angles; she muttered something, yet only a hoarse, grotesque growl emerged from her throat. She staggered forward two steps, then involuntarily slumped down—fine fur began sprouting from her cheeks and wrists, her ears lengthened and sharpened, her eyes turned wolflike, then sharp fangs and claws started growing.

As if a long accumulation had finally crossed some threshold, she was transforming into a wolf at an astonishing rate.

Even her thoughts seemed affected; only now did she notice the changes in her body. She looked down in terror, seeing her form already twisting and warping. She opened her mouth—but instead of a human scream of fear, only a mournful whimper escaped.

"Fuck…" Yu Sheng finally couldn't hold back. Though he'd guessed the girl was likely just a phantom, existing in a different time from himself, he still instinctively tossed his wolf-tooth club aside and rushed forward, wanting to pull her back.

But his arm passed straight through her body.

The red-clad girl collapsed, and before Yu Sheng's eyes, she fully transformed into a twisted, half-human, half-wolf monster.

Yet she hadn't entirely lost her reason; after long, heavy breathing, she struggled to rise again, crawling on all fours toward one corner of the hut.

The sound of nails scraping the floor shattered the hut's silence.

She was carving words with her sharp claws.

"This forest is alive.

"The chaotic noises became clear whispers.

"A vast thing dreams—it hides within the shared dreams of all the children of Fuli Academy. I can't see what it is, but it has already burrowed into my mind.

"I can't go back. I'm so tired, so cold, so hungry, and I can't remember how long I've been here…

"I found a hut, but it's cold here too. If only there were a fire…

"Wolves are outside—they're waiting for me…

"I am… 'Little Red Riding Hood,' the first—but probably not the last. I've already seen 'it' selecting new targets. To those who come after me, good luck…"

She began convulsing. The carved letters grew fainter, thinner, until they could no longer be continued.

She stopped panting, rolled onto her side, her deformed body lying on the floor, her gaze passing over Yu Sheng and fixed steadily on a corner of the hut.

"So cold… if only there were a fire…"

Yu Sheng sat down beside her, placing his hand on her twisted, malformed arm—but could not transfer any warmth. Hu Li walked over and piled several of her tails beside the wolf-transformed girl, yet this too gave her no warmth.

But suddenly, the girl's eyes brightened for an instant; she truly seemed to feel the warmth transmitted to her—a smile appeared on her face, and she let out her final sigh: "It's warmed up…"

Then she dissolved into a flowing shadow, gradually fading away.

A faint "crackle" suddenly echoed in the hut, breaking its deathly silence.

Yu Sheng looked up in shock toward the sound's source—and saw a spark leap from the dark fireplace in the corner.

Then came a second crackle—the spark became a flame.

The warm fireplace blazed to life, its hearth dancing with bright, hot flames; on the table in the center of the hut, a candlestick had appeared out of nowhere, its wick ignited silently without a sound. The cold receded from the room, and warmth—like a sudden miracle—filled the small space.

Looking them over one by one.

Yu Sheng stared in disbelief at this scene, then suddenly understood something.

And almost the instant he grasped the answer, he heard a faint sound from the windowsill—then the familiar voice of the squirrel entered his ears—

"The first Little Red Riding Hood died, bringing the first fire and candlelight to the Black Forest."

Yu Sheng snapped his head up and saw the squirrel perched on the windowsill—he didn't know when it had slipped in—or perhaps it had been there all along.

"So it's true… the original Black Forest had no such 'protection,' right?" Yu Sheng regarded the squirrel thoughtfully. "What I'm seeing now is an 'archive' from long ago?"

The squirrel wiped its face with its paw, but unlike its usual hyperactive, jittery self, today it was unusually quiet—as if burdened with its own heavy thoughts.

"Yes. Originally, the Black Forest had nothing. At first, there was only forest and wolves… and the pitch-black little hut…"

Yu Sheng slowly frowned: "Then, when the 'protagonist' of the story—Little Red Riding Hood—appeared, did the stage of 'Little Red Riding Hood' finally become complete?"

The squirrel sat upright, but its gaze wasn't on Yu Sheng—it seemed fixed on some distant place.

It spoke slowly—

"The second Little Red Riding Hood died, and thus came the red threads and fabric strips entwined around many places—they slow the process of wolf transformation.

"After the third Little Red Riding Hood died, food and water to replenish strength began appearing in the hut.

"After the fourth Little Red Riding Hood died, paths finally appeared in the forest; walking on them greatly reduces the chance of encountering wolves, and the shelter hut always appears at the path's end.

"The fifth Little Red Riding Hood lit the lanterns along the path—now, as long as the lanterns burn, the wolf packs will not approach the path."

"The sixth Little Red Riding Hood's death did not bring any new changes, but after that, all 'Wolf Grandmas' had to first 'knock on the door'—although this might only buy a moment's delay, before that, the Wolf Grandma would actually be generated directly inside the cabin.

"Now, all Little Red Riding Hoods have about a one-in-ten increased chance of escape after the Wolf Grandma 'knocks on the door.'

"The seventh Little Red Riding Hood… her time here was short, but she was formidable. After she left, the 'Big Bad Wolf' would no longer appear during the dusk phase; all the dangerous periods are now compressed into the night…"

The squirrel spoke slowly, as if saying it for Yu Sheng's benefit, yet also as if merely talking to itself in memory. At last it tugged at the strips of red tattered cloth wrapped around its body, looked up at the three people before it, and said: "So I've always been curious—which Little Red Riding Hood was it that brought 'you'? You… don't belong to this forest."

"Apologies, we are uninvited guests, my lord," Yu Sheng stepped forward, calmly meeting the squirrel's eyes, "just like that 'Hunter' who was also uninvited—you deliberately omitted ta just now, didn't you?"

The squirrel tugged again at the strips of cloth on its body, but did not speak.

Yu Sheng, however, did not press the question either. He simply fell silent for a few seconds, then asked quite abruptly: "What about you, then?"

"…What do you mean?"

Yu Sheng looked into the squirrel's eyes, each word measured: "You—which Little Red Riding Hood are you?"

(End of chapter)