Chapter 197: The Squirrel's Story

"You, which Little Red Riding Hood are you?"

Yu Sheng stared tightly at the squirrel's eyes, his tone more serious than at any other time.

The squirrel began to shake its body uneasily, alternately supporting its weight on its hind legs, then quickly scratching the fluff on its face: "I... I am a squirrel..."

Yu Sheng remained unmoved: "Good, then which Little Red Riding Hood is the squirrel?"

Squirrel: "..."

"Answer my question," Yu Sheng remained calm and firm, "You should have noticed that I am bringing 'change' to this Black Forest—if you really want to help Little Red Riding Hood, this may be your closest chance to success."

That palm-sized "small animal" finally stopped shaking its body; it stared straight at Yu Sheng. After a long while, it seemed to finally make some kind of decision, or perhaps had finally reached a point of no retreat, and lowered its head as if resigning itself to fate: "The zeroth one."

Yu Sheng immediately frowned: "... What does this mean?"

"You have already seen it; the first Little Red Riding Hood brought the initial hearth fire and candlelight to the Black Forest—this Black Forest gradually evolved and filled out into its current form," the squirrel struggled hard with its claws, always keeping its head down, "Have you ever thought about earlier? About before the 'Black Forest' even appeared? Perhaps... all of this had a starting point."

Yu Sheng did not speak, only using his gaze to let the squirrel continue.

"I... am the initial mistake; everything started... with me," the squirrel spoke slowly, its attitude still resistant, as if speaking every single word brought immense entanglement and pain, "I am the squirrel in the Black Forest, the first living creature on the stage, the... bad child who handed out the fairy tale book back then... I, I didn't know it would turn out like this later..."

Yu Sheng suddenly widened his eyes, as if a thunderbolt had struck his heart; after realizing what kind of intelligence this squirrel had revealed, he immediately spoke: "Handed out the fairy tale book? Handed it to whom?"

"I don't know what ta was, nor where ta came from; I... I can no longer clearly remember the situation back then," the squirrel was startled by Yu Sheng's suddenly raised volume, but this time, it finally did not flee; instead, as if making some kind of decision, it said, "I only remember seeing something fall from the sky; that was after the lights went out at Fuli Academy. At that time, everyone was sleeping, and I should have been sleeping too, but I wasn't asleep. Ta... ta fell into the courtyard without making a sound, as if melting into the ground..."

"I was very afraid and didn't dare make a sound, so I hid on the bed. Then a glowing thing floated over from the windowsill, swaying before my eyes. Ta said ta came seeking help; ta's child was in very bad condition and needed soothing. Ta came to this place with many children, wanting to find someone to help... I was terrified back then, didn't know what to do, so I gave ta the fairy tale book on my bedside table..."

"I told ta, 'Read stories; when the children in the academy can't sleep, the teachers read stories to us'..."

"I should have been sleeping back then; I shouldn't have looked out the window; I..."

"If only I had fallen asleep back then; I should have obediently slept..."

The squirrel mumbled, its voice becoming increasingly indistinct, until finally it seemed to become unclear again; the content of its mumbling turned into constant repetition, endlessly saying that it should have obediently slept back then—just like a child trapped in childhood shadows, still not grown up after decades, still firmly believing that if only the self of back then had eaten on time, slept obediently, and learned to dress, one could have lived a "original" happy life.

Yu Sheng could finally be certain.

This squirrel before him was also a child from that "orphanage"—very, very long ago, even earlier than the deep dive operation seventy years ago, even before the first outbreak of "Fairy Tales," a child who once lived in that orphanage.

And from the words the squirrel had just spoken, there were still many, many pieces of information that could be deduced.

Yu Sheng steadied himself, temporarily putting aside those unverified conjectures, reached out and gently touched the squirrel's body, waking this "small animal" which had once again fallen into a trance.

"I still have a question," he spoke with a serious face, "that thing that 'fell from the sky,' what was it like?"

The squirrel's body jolted, finally breaking free from the previous "dead loop"; after hearing Yu Sheng's question, it fell into difficult recollection, and only spoke again after a long while: "... It was very hard to see clearly; that thing was glowing; I... I only remember an oval outline within the light sphere, like an 'egg' with strange patterns; it was very, very big at first, and when it fell, it seemed like it could flatten half of Fuli Academy, but immediately after it shrank, and when it landed in the courtyard, it was only as big as the small iron shed for tools."

"It immediately drilled into the ground, not even raising a speck of dust, nor making a sound; at first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."

Yu Sheng listened carefully, his expression thoughtful.

Glowing surroundings, carrying strange patterns, looking like an "egg"...

The "growing bigger and smaller" phenomenon mentioned by the squirrel was temporarily unknown in cause, but regarding this shape described by the other party, he had an impression.

"Did the voice that spoke with you tell you what ta was called?"

The squirrel vigorously scratched the fluff on its cheeks.

"I, I don't remember, but ta did seem to say it; it was too long ago, too long ago; a squirrel's memory isn't very good; it can't even remember what the teachers taught... but, but there was a syllable, starting with an... it seemed like an something..."

"Ankaira," Yu Sheng said slowly, but as soon as the words left his lips, he tensed up; but a moment later, he found that there seemed to be no movement in the forest, and the small box in his hand was still quiet, so he finally relaxed and continued, "Is that the name?"

The squirrel froze, then instantly jumped up in shock: "... Yes! Yes! That is the pronunciation! But you, how do you know?"

"I have recently investigated up to this point," Yu Sheng reached out and gently pressed down on the squirrel's body, feeling the latter trembling all over; he felt that if he didn't step in to soothe it now, this "small animal" might tense itself into a stress reaction, "Relax, relax first; I still have questions."

The squirrel instinctively shrank its body, but seemed not to dare to really retreat: "But, the squirrel doesn't want to answer anymore; the squirrel is tired."

"One last question." "... Th, then okay."

"The voice that spoke with you, what was ta's 'child' like? Did you see it? Or did ta describe it to you?"

"No," this time, the squirrel answered very quickly, "The squirrel can confirm: I have not seen it, nor heard ta describe it."

Yu Sheng stared tightly at the squirrel's eyes; a few seconds later, he gently nodded.

"Alright, I understand."

The squirrel finally seemed to relax.

It let out a long breath, paced slowly on the windowsill, then sat down in place; it reached out from somewhere to pull out a thin little stick, used the tip of its tail to rub out a flame and ignite it, then put it to its mouth and sucked hard.

This was not the first time it had "smoked" in front of Yu Sheng; the latter was already long accustomed to it.

It was no longer the child living in the orphanage from many years ago; it was now the squirrel in the Black Forest, a squirrel so cute it was tm bubbling over.

So Yu Sheng only sighed, then ignored the other party, instead opening the wooden box containing the "Angel's Umbilical Cord" and checking the state of the cord again.

After looking one by one...

That thing was still just lying quietly on the red velvet lining, showing no signs of further "revival."

Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, and just as he was preparing to close the lid, he suddenly felt a shocked gaze coming from the side.

Looking up, he saw that the squirrel was staring with wide eyes, looking at the wooden box in his hand in astonishment.

It didn't even notice that the cigarette butt in its claw had fallen to the ground.

"You... how do you have this?!" the squirrel shrieked in a lost voice.

"You know this thing?" Yu Sheng was also instantly startled, "Do you know what it is?"

"Umbilical cord!" the squirrel shouted loudly, but immediately after, as if afraid of disturbing something, instantly lowered its volume, "I have seen this, but, but I don't remember exactly when I saw it; it should have been very long ago, when the Black Forest had just appeared; later... later Ankaira lost it; ta has been looking for it, but couldn't find it... after that, ta stopped appearing; ta hid in a very deep place..."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng couldn't help but frown; he did not doubt the squirrel's words, but a question arose in his heart—Ankaira lost the umbilical cord? Then why did Old Zheng obtain this thing during the ritual to worship Ankaira?

Just then, the squirrel also boldly walked forward two steps, poking its head out to seriously examine the umbilical cord in the wooden box a few times.

After a moment of hesitation, it emitted a puzzled sound: "Hmm? No, that's not quite right... this looks different from what I've seen."

"Different?"

"Hmm, it just looks very similar, but it looks more like a forgery," the squirrel said hesitantly, "The real umbilical cord is longer, not withered, and although it is soft, its texture is like metal; the one in your hand... is a fake."

"A fake?" Yu Sheng was somewhat surprised, "Are you sure?"

"A feeling, it feels like that," the squirrel quickly switched to a more rigorous phrasing, "I am just a squirrel... I can't remember many things clearly..."

Yu Sheng frowned and fell silent, merely looking up at Irene and Hu Li beside him.

The two of them had not spoken since earlier—fearing that interrupting might trigger the already somewhat neurotic squirrel.

"Old Zheng prayed to the 'Dark Angel,' and the other party gave him a 'fake' umbilical cord..." Irene frowned, her expression looking somewhat subtle. "Why does this feel so eerie? What's the point?"

Hu Li also frowned and thought seriously for a while, then said uncertainly, "Maybe they made a fake sample to ask Old Zheng for help finding it?"

Irene was stunned: "... Are you serious about that answer?"

"Yes," Hu Li nodded with righteous confidence. "If I lost something, I would definitely ask for help this way too."

Then she turned her head to look at Yu Sheng: "Right, Benefactor?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and nodded as well: "I think it makes sense."

Irene: "...?"

"Regardless, the fake obviously possesses the power of a fake," Yu Sheng did not dwell on this topic. He merely gazed thoughtfully at the "fake" Angel Umbilical Cord in the wooden box, then looked up at the small room illuminated by the first hearth fire and candlelight. "Perhaps it is precisely because we carry it that we can see the phantom left by the original Little Red Riding Hood in the Black Forest."

(End of this chapter)