The little girl’s brief description of her dream made both Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood go quiet. They had just returned from the depths of the Black Forest, and the images she recalled caused a shared sense of unease. Neither spoke for a few moments, both lost in thought.
At last, Yu Sheng broke the silence. “Could you see their faces clearly?” he asked gently. “Besides telling you to run, did those people in red cloaks say anything else?”
Xiao Xiao shook her head, looking worried.
“That’s fine,” Yu Sheng said at once, raising a reassuring hand. “Don’t push yourself. If you remember anything later, just let us know.”
Xiao Xiao blinked, then gave a shy nod, though it wasn’t obvious how much she truly understood.
Turning to the Long-Haired Princess, Little Red Riding Hood said, “Take her to the classroom in the East Building and let Teacher Su know what happened. Let her rest this afternoon instead of attending classes.”
With that, the Long-Haired Princess took Xiao Xiao’s hand, and the two—one tall, one small—left the room.
Once they were gone, the silence settled again. Little Red Riding Hood stared at the closed door for a while, her lips pressed in a tight line. Then she spoke softly. “That child is the first one to leave this place alive.”
“Thank you. Fairy Tale owes you a debt. From now on, I’ll stand by you, no matter what.”
“This is only the start,” Yu Sheng replied seriously. “My goal is to dismantle the Fairy Tale Subset entirely. The first step is tackling the Black Forest.”
“Is that really possible?” she asked, sounding uncertain. Her eyes flickered with a hint of doubt, as though a lifetime of belief had just been shaken. After all, Yu Sheng had saved someone who was “already dead,” and that alone challenged everything she’d assumed about the Black Forest.
Yu Sheng didn’t give a direct answer. Instead, he held her gaze for a moment before saying, “Explaining with words won’t help much. You’ll see soon enough. Once we’re sure that girl is recovering well, I want to show you something.”
She looked puzzled but nodded.
Reaching into his pocket, Yu Sheng pulled out a grimy scrap of paper. “This fell from the Hunter. Recognize it?”
Her face grew thoughtful as she took the worn fragment. After studying it closely, she shook her head. “I’m not an expert on artifacts. I’ve never come across anything in the Black Forest.”
Yu Sheng didn’t seem surprised. He carefully put the paper away again. “How much contact do you have with the Hunter?”
“Very little,” she explained. “The Black Forest is usually about wolves, hidden cabins, and long winding paths. The Hunter only appears alongside the Wolf Granny, and even then, it’s never for long.” ř𝘈𐌽𝘖₿Ёs
She paused, sighing. “Honestly, calling it ‘contact’ is too generous. Most of the time, when I’m in the forest, I’m not as aware as I am now.”
“Not aware?” Yu Sheng repeated curiously. “What do you mean?”
“It’s like… pieces of separate dreams,” she said, her voice tinged with exhaustion. “I can’t always control what I’m doing, and I’m not always ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Sometimes, I’m a wolf sprinting among the trees. Other times, I see the forest through the Hunter’s eyes, watching wolves. It’s like I keep jumping between these different roles—human, wolf, Granny, Hunter. And lately, I’m the wolf more and more often. The Hunter shows up more, too.”
It was the first time she’d described her experience so clearly.
Yu Sheng frowned. It reminded him of a single word—entrapment.
By scattering her dreams and juggling her perspective, the forest was eroding her sense of self, bit by bit. It wasn’t just giving her wolf-like traits—it was swallowing her whole.
“That sounds like a total nightmare,” Irene blurted.
“It is,” Little Red Riding Hood agreed with a wry laugh. “But that sort of chaos is normal when you’re stuck in the Black Forest. Being this lucid while crossing the forest and returning is rare. Honestly, I haven’t felt this human since I was a child—before the curse took hold.”
She shook her head and turned back to Yu Sheng. “Sorry I can’t be of more help. I know next to nothing about the Hunter. Most encounters with him end the moment his gun fires. I do have a suggestion, though.”
“Let’s hear it,” Yu Sheng said.
“You might try asking the Special Affairs Bureau to examine that paper,” she said. “They don’t really understand the Hunter either, but their equipment might find details we can’t. Didn’t you also say you had a metal piece from Wutong Road No. 66? You could have them study that, too.”
“Good thinking,” Yu Sheng agreed. “I’ll call Bai Li Qing and have her set it up.”
At that, Little Red Riding Hood paused. “Wait, Bai Li Qing is the bureau’s director, right? There’s no need to go straight to the top. You could call Xu Jiali or someone else—”
Yu Sheng’s phone abruptly buzzed. He glanced down, saw Bai Li Qing’s name, and grimaced.
Little Red Riding Hood blinked at the display, looking torn between shock and resignation.
Yu Sheng gave her a sheepish smile and picked up. “Good afternoon, Director Bai.”
“Please, just call me Bai Li Qing,” came a familiar, calm voice. “We detected some odd spatiotemporal fluctuations earlier but couldn’t pinpoint the cause, so I’m checking in. Was that you?”
Yu Sheng cringed. “Yeah. I opened a door while I was in a subset. Didn’t get a chance to notify you.”
A pause. “A new test of your… ‘improvements’?”
“Not really. I was just returning from the Black Forest—part of the Fairy Tale anomaly.”
The silence on the other end seemed to sharpen. “Why were you in a Fairy Tale subset?”
Yu Sheng hesitated, then said, “I was… visiting.”
Her tone went cool. “Visiting? Who would you—”
“I was looking for a missing child,” Yu Sheng cut in. “And I found them.”
Another silence. When Bai Li Qing spoke, her voice sounded measured but firm. “Did you rescue the child?”
“Yes, they got taken by a wolf, but they’re safe now.”
“I see. What do you need from me?”
“I found a fragment of paper. It might be tied to the Hunter in the Black Forest. Also, there’s a metal piece from that situation at Wutong Road No. 66. I’d like a thorough analysis of both.”
She paused again. “Alright. I’ll handle it. A complete report will take until tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Yu Sheng said.
When the call ended, he gave Little Red Riding Hood a rueful shrug. “Looks like the director’s handling things, after all.”
She studied him for a long moment before murmuring, “I guess those of us ‘regular folks’ don’t have much to offer you.”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation