Chapter 198: Prisoner of the Unintentional

Yu Sheng felt that precisely because he carried that "Angel Umbilical Cord," he had witnessed those strange phenomena upon entering the Black Forest this time—the vanished "path," the phantom of the original Little Red Riding Hood, and the initial ignition of the hearth fire and candlelight. These were like the Black Forest's "early memories," originally sealed deep within this subset, and the umbilical cord had "activated" them.

Of course, there was another possibility: that these memories were actually recorded within the Angel Umbilical Cord, and he had merely "released" them after entering the Black Forest.

Regardless, the reason he could see those things today was certainly inseparable from the influence of the Angel Umbilical Cord.

Then, if the squirrel's claim was true and this was merely a "fake"... what power and function did the true "Angel Umbilical Cord" possess? If he truly found it, what would happen?

Yu Sheng's expression grew grave, and he unconsciously fell into deep thought. He recalled every clue related to fairy tales he currently knew, attempting to find information possibly linked to the true "Angel Umbilical Cord," but ultimately found nothing.

After an unknown duration, he came to his senses and saw the squirrel still squatting on the windowsill, head bowed in dejection, seemingly murmuring something softly.

Leaning closer, he finally heard the content of its murmur—it was repeating over and over that it should have gone to sleep earlier that night, repeating that it should not have handed that fairy tale book to that voice, as if trapped in a recurring nightmare, jumping from one dead loop into another, gradually going mad again within this unceasing cycle.

Yu Sheng frowned slightly.

He naturally knew what the squirrel's guilt was about and understood very well why it thought so, but based on the intelligence he had gathered recently and his reflections on the "Fairy Tale" Otherworld, he held a somewhat different view.

"Do you think... it was because you handed that fairy tale book to 'that voice' that the 'Fairy Tale' Otherworld appeared, correct?" He looked seriously into the squirrel's eyes. "Do you think this is all your responsibility?"

"What else? Whose responsibility could it be?" The squirrel rubbed its paws sadly, scratching the fur on its cheeks. "Squirrels are not children people like; not smart, not obedient, and I lost the fairy tale book... The most unforgivable thing was this..."

Yu Sheng looked serious: "Then have you considered that perhaps it was precisely because of your fairy tale book that a Dark Angel in a weakened state was sealed—preventing it from fully entering the real dimension?"

The squirrel's paw-rubbing motion suddenly stopped, and it stared at Yu Sheng in shock.

"A group of madmen called 'Angel Cultists' have been very active recently. They claim to be servants of 'Ankara,' have caused many incidents, and their sole purpose is to rescue their 'Lord,'" Yu Sheng said calmly. "Their 'Lord' is imprisoned within the 'Fairy Tale'."

The squirrel stood motionless, staring blankly. After a long while, its tail finally drooped slightly: "Is... is this true?"

"Although I do not know if there is a necessary connection between the fairy tale book you handed over back then and the current situation—if you believe a single fairy tale book caused the creation of the 'Fairy Tale' Otherworld, then naturally, 'Ankara' being imprisoned within the fairy tale now can also be attributed to that book," Yu Sheng said calmly. "This world contains countless choices, but for facts that have already occurred, all branching paths have already become inevitable—we simply cannot help but look back from the result, imagining whether certain things could have been changed originally."

Speaking thus, he paused slightly before continuing: "I do not know if you have heard the term 'Dark Angel,' but I must tell you that what you witnessed that night was the instant the Angel pierced through the world and descended into reality—all coincidences converged at that moment: you, that fairy tale book, that time, the 'Angel,' the exchange... none were dispensable."

"According to your description, that window period might have been less than a minute, and within that minute, you were the only child in the Borderland who witnessed the Angel's descent and had the opportunity to make a choice, and you chose to hand over the only fairy tale book at hand to the other party... Do you know what the result might have been if you had not handed the book over at that time?"

The squirrel hesitantly shook its head: "I... I don't know. I don't even know what the 'Dark Angel' you speak of is. I, I am just a..."

"The worst-case scenario might be that there would be no Borderland at all," Yu Sheng interrupted. "Even if incredibly lucky, the order of Border City would be breached, and the number of people dying in that instant would exceed the total sum of names you might hear in your entire life."

The squirrel was completely stunned, mouth agape, unable to utter a single word, its tail trembling slightly, seemingly terrified by the scene Yu Sheng described.

After a long while, its body moved again, and it unconsciously muttered: "But... but Little Red Riding Hood..."

"Yes, Little Red Riding Hood, many Little Red Riding Hoods, and their friends, those children who do not live past eighteen, are all the price of all this, thanks to the 'Fairy Tale'," Yu Sheng said calmly. "Suffering is suffering; one cannot say that because they avoided the large-scale death potentially caused by the 'Descent Impact,' living only a dozen or so years now counts as 'lucky'—they themselves may think so, but at least neither you nor I have the right to say that for them."

"But this is no longer a problem you can solve, nor even a problem you should consider."

"This matter, I must handle."

The squirrel stared fixedly at Yu Sheng. Countless thoughts seemed to be turning in its not-very-capable brain, and its expression appeared somewhat blank again.

Erin suddenly patted Yu Sheng's head: "Hey, what about me and Hu Li?"

Yu Sheng quickly nodded, adding another sentence: "Oh, right, we must count them too."

"Little Red Riding Hood and the others must be counted too, right?" Hu Li also thought for a moment and reminded him. "Their orphanage has been trying to find a way on its own."

"Yes, the 'Fairy Tale' organization must be counted too." "The Special Bureau must be counted too," Erin counted on her fingers. "Li Lin, Xu Jiali, Song Cheng, that Bai Liqing... they have helped a lot. And the squad that had an incident seventy years ago, who might still be persisting now, and..."

Yu Sheng was starting to lose his composure: "That's enough, there are quite a lot of people."

He felt that if he didn't stop the puppet on his shoulder, after she finished counting her fingers, she could create over a hundred more support positions for him—he had only said that to match the atmosphere!

At this moment, the squirrel seemed to finally react. It did not know what it had thought during that moment of blankness, but now it suddenly grabbed its face hard and muttered: "... Thank you."

Then it quickly added in a low voice: "I have never dared to mention these secrets to anyone..."

"I understand," Yu Sheng nodded gently. "But after today, these secrets will be told to many people—to resolve the threat deep within the 'Fairy Tale,' we must first find a way to fight that 'Ankara,' which requires the help of many people."

The squirrel was silent for two or three seconds, then slowly nodded.

Yu Sheng raised his head and looked out the window.

The twilight over the Black Forest was about to end, and night was gradually falling. He had originally planned to wait here until the Hunter appeared, but now he had changed his mind.

He must first send out the new intelligence regarding "Ankara," and at the same time ask the Special Bureau to hurry up and investigate the earlier records of that orphanage. Perhaps, the all-powerful Director Bai Liqing could even excavate some lingering traces left when the Dark Angel descended.

Please... collect_(!)

Afterwards, the intelligence must also be shared with the "Fairy Tale" organization, so that Little Red Riding Hood and the others can thoroughly inspect the orphanage. Although many years have passed since that "incomplete descent" back then, and even the entire orphanage building has been repaired or renovated and rebuilt more than once, what if some clues can still be found?

Thinking of this, Yu Sheng turned his gaze back to the squirrel and asked thoughtfully: "What was your original name?"

Such a simple question, yet the squirrel froze instantly. After a long while, it spoke slowly and confusedly: "... Name?"

Its confused look was as if it had suddenly faced a completely unfamiliar concept.

After staring blankly for a long while, Yu Sheng finally heard the other's hesitant murmur: "I am... a squirrel."

Standing on the windowsill, it began wiping its face hard again, scratching the fur on its cheeks with its claws, over and over.

"I am a squirrel, I am a squirrel, I am..." It murmured, but suddenly stopped, looking up at Yu Sheng. "I'm sorry, I forgot. I have a name, but I forgot. Squirrels have bad memories. I, I am just a squirrel. I'm sorry... Waaah—"

This small animal, only the size of a palm, finally burst into tears.

It seemed only at the moment it realized it had once had a name and had now completely forgotten it did it finally, sluggishly, perceive that it was now "just a squirrel," perceive everything that had happened to it, and perceive exactly how long it had spent in this Black Forest.

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached out his hand, carefully scooping up the squirrel and letting it rest in his palm.

Crying like this, its body slowly curled into a small ball. Warmth came from all directions, slowly penetrating through its fur and seeping into this dream from which it could never wake.

It was so good; someone was hugging it again.

Since it lost that fairy tale book, the teacher had never hugged it again. Since it turned into a squirrel in the dream, no one had hugged it again.

It was so good; someone was hugging her again.

Although it was just a palm.

(End of Chapter)