Chapter 221: The Hunter's Invitation

Upon waking and seeing the Black Forest, Yu Sheng was not particularly surprised.

After all, the "Fairy Tale" Otherworld had never vanished, nor had Ankaela's activity ceased; the orphanage children had merely survived that dangerous night safely, and at any moment thereafter, subsets of the Fairy Tale could reopen—whether the Sheltered Wasteland or that valley, both were essentially fallback measures, designed only to prevent children falling into nightmares from suffering mental trauma or being directly parasitized by Ankaela.

In other words, the nightmare would come regardless.

But this did not stop Yu Sheng from finding the situation absurdly ridiculous, while simultaneously feeling a vague sense that the Black Forest was specifically targeting him.

He took a light breath, calmed himself, and felt even more certain that his intuition was correct.

The Black Forest was targeting him—or rather, something within the forest was targeting him.

Faint howls of wolves rose in the distance, the continuous wailing of an infant was somewhat disquieting, wind blew through nearby bushes, and an odd, buzzing, muffled sound occasionally drifted through the air.

That buzzing strange noise made Yu Sheng even suspect he was suffering from tinnitus; he slapped his forehead hard and dug into his ears, yet the static did not weaken in the slightest, instead mixing with the infant's crying to become even more disquieting.

"Are the strange noises in this ghost place getting louder..." Yu Sheng couldn't help but mutter, as if trying to cancel out the annoying static with his own voice, "It sounds like an alarm going off."

A rustling sound suddenly came from a nearby pile of grass; the next second, a small, reddish-brown, furry figure emerged from the dry, decaying underbrush and hopped and skipped toward Yu Sheng.

"You're fine! You're fine! Little Red Riding Hood is fine! The squirrel is fine!"

The squirrel hopped joyfully at Yu Sheng's feet, emitting tiny, sharp cries, looking exceptionally excited.

Yu Sheng bent down, picked up the little one, stroked her head with his finger, and smiled: "Yes, we're all fine; it was a narrow escape, and we've safely passed the night."

The squirrel happily hugged Yu Sheng's finger, then immediately glanced warily around, cautiously lowered her body, and spoke in a low voice: "Shh, we still can't speak too loudly... Ankaela is still wandering in the forest; its gaze just swept over this area again... The squirrel feels it is very unhappy; it will cause trouble again..."

"I know," Yu Sheng also unconsciously lowered his voice, "but I came to find it, this time..."

However, the squirrel seemed not to hear; she merely shook her head down, then abruptly interrupted Yu Sheng without warning: "The Hunter!"

Yu Sheng was instantly stunned: "The Hunter? What about the Hunter?"

"The Hunter!" the squirrel repeated nervously; that neurotic and somewhat confused state seemed to have returned to her, but soon she sobered up again, began wiping her face rapidly while muttering, "The squirrel is thinking, the squirrel is thinking... The Hunter, the Hunter?"

She suddenly stopped, straightened up, and looked toward the depths of the forest; two seconds later, she slapped her tail hard: "The Hunter is over by the house! Yes, the Hunter is at the house—ta is waiting for you!"

"The Hunter is waiting for me?" Yu Sheng was truly stunned this time; he suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed while evacuating from the orphanage, the phantom that had suddenly appeared in the hall but vanished in the blink of an eye; a premonition that something was about to happen surged in his heart, and for a moment he couldn't bother asking for details before speaking immediately, "Take me there!"

The squirrel raised her paw and pointed toward the distance: "This way, this way."

Yu Sheng looked in the direction the squirrel's paw pointed, seeing it was the dark area of the forest, with neither streetlights nor paths, and no candlelight from the Shelter Hut visible.

However, he decided to trust the squirrel—because he could feel the connection in his palm between this little one and himself in their blood; this was not a trap created by the Black Forest.

Yu Sheng ran quickly toward the depths of the forest; only on the way did he have time to ask the situation: "How do you know the Hunter is waiting for me at the hut? Did ta appear voluntarily? Did ta communicate with you?"

"Mm," the squirrel nodded hard, "The Hunter suddenly appeared; there was no Wolf Grandma; the Hunter simply walked out of the forest alone, ta hid from Ankaela's gaze and made no sound—but the squirrel heard ta speak directly..."

"Ta said, send the person who touched the umbilical cord and the bullet to the first hut; ta also said time is running out, the Angel is about to wake, but because someone interfered with the Angel's connection to the 'outside', a brief... has now appeared..."

The squirrel suddenly stopped, seeming to encounter some complex vocabulary that was extremely difficult for her to understand and recall; after struggling for a long time, she still couldn't figure out how to say it, so she could only brush it off: "The squirrel can't remember what it was; anyway... the Hunter said ta finally has a chance to speak; the Angel's control over ta is weakening; ta told the person who touched the umbilical cord and the bullet to hurry over—the squirrel has seen you holding the umbilical cord, but doesn't know what the bullet is... The squirrel didn't pass the message wrong, right?"

"That's right, it's me." Yu Sheng nodded; he responded to the squirrel while simultaneously trying to understand this little creature's somewhat jumbled and incomplete account, thinking rapidly.

The Hunter, as an "entity", had always acted strictly according to the Black Forest's "rules"; only when the Wolf Grandma appeared would ta appear as well, and the only action ta could perform was to shoot and kill the Wolf Grandma, or shoot and kill other Little Red Riding Hoods who had fully "wolfed out"; in all cases up to now, there had been no record of the Hunter speaking—including in the memories of the squirrel and all previous Little Red Riding Hoods.

But now, the Hunter had actively communicated with the squirrel, even taken independent action in the forest without the Wolf Grandma being generated, and had once run into the real world.

—Because someone interfered with the Angel's connection to the "outside".

Yu Sheng lowered his head and glanced at his own hands; to bring all the children under protection, he had shed quite a bit of blood during this period.

"... This really is an unexpected effect." Yu Sheng slowly grinned, revealing a pleased smile.

Even without understanding the specific process, he could now almost confirm that it was his operation of performing the "Blood Bestowal Ritual" for all the children of the "Fairy Tale" that successfully interfered with the connection between Ankaela and the real world; and now it seemed this interference not only produced the protective effect on the members of the "Fairy Tale" as scheduled, but also inadvertently created an opportunity for that "Hunter".

So ta had always been searching for an opportunity to act freely—beneath that hunter's outfit, there truly remained a glimmer of humanity and reason.

In the shadows of the distant forest, the outline of the hut finally emerged faintly.

Yu Sheng took a light breath, slowed his pace near the hut, and continued moving forward while cautiously monitoring every rustle and movement around him.

The Hunter might have no ill intent, but the Black Forest itself is "alive"; he must be careful to prevent the forest from producing any extreme reactions during his contact with the Hunter—after all, he entered this trip through a dream, bringing neither Erin nor Hu Li, and not even his own "Reason"; if he encountered a situation, he could easily die on the spot.

Of course, dying on the spot itself was not the problem—delaying matters was the most troublesome.

All around was quiet; even the wolf howls had faintly weakened; only the muffled infant crying and the buzzing strange noise continued, but Yu Sheng had more or less grown accustomed to these strange noises.

He felt the squirrel in his palm trembling slightly.

She was afraid of this place, afraid of this location symbolizing the "end" for all Little Red Riding Hoods.

No error, one sentence, one release, one content, one look!

"If you are afraid of this house, then don't follow," Yu Sheng gently stroked the squirrel's head, wanting to place her on a nearby tree stump, "Wait outside."

"No!" Surprisingly, the squirrel flipped over and grabbed his finger, dangling half in the air while swaying and stubbornly saying, "The squirrel... the Squirrel Knight fears nothing!"

Her body was still shaking, but that fear had obviously begun to dissolve—the shadow that once caused the squirrel to collapse and react defensively had become something she could try to confront.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then gradually smiled.

"Fine, then come in with me—but if you are still very afraid after entering, then wait outside for me. A Squirrel Knight who knows how to retreat is still a brave Squirrel Knight."

"Okay... okay!"

Yu Sheng placed the squirrel on his shoulder, took a few steps forward, and pushed open that old, dark wooden door.

A slight creak broke the silence; Yu Sheng peered into the room.

Faint ambient light spilled into the interior through the windows; he saw those red cloaks of various sizes hanging everywhere, and amidst the countless red cloaks, that figure clad in hunter's attire was indeed standing quietly in the center of the room.

Ta lowered the head slightly; inside the hollow hood there was still only a patch of shadow; when Yu Sheng walked in, the hood clearly moved slightly.

An invisible gaze seemed to emanate from beneath the hollow hood.

"Uh, I'm here," Yu Sheng walked toward the Hunter and greeted the other somewhat stiffly, "I heard from the squirrel that you were looking for me."

The Hunter nodded.

Such a simple action made Yu Sheng's breath unconsciously pause for half a beat—ta really responded!

"What do you want from me? Do you have something you want to say to me?" Yu Sheng asked again.

The Hunter fell silent for a moment, then abruptly took two steps forward.

Ta came before Yu Sheng; in the latter's instantly wary gaze, this empty hunter's outfit raised a "hand" and pointed at itself.

"Put it on."

A hollow, indistinct voice rang directly in Yu Sheng's mind.

(End of this chapter)