Yu Sheng felt that it was precisely because he carried the “Angel Umbilical Cord” that he saw those strange occurrences upon entering the Black Forest this time—the disappearing “path,” the phantom of the First Little Red Riding Hood, and the initial ignition of the hearth and candlelight. These were like the “early memories” of the Black Forest, which should have been sealed deep within this subset, but the Umbilical Cord had “activated” them.
Of course, another possibility was that these memories had actually been recorded within the Angel Umbilical Cord, and it was only after he entered the Black Forest that he “released” them.
Regardless, the fact that he could see these things today was certainly tied to the influence of the Angel Umbilical Cord.
If Squirrel’s words were true, and this was only a “counterfeit”… what then would the true “Angel Umbilical Cord” be like? What power and effect would it have? What would happen if he truly found it?
Yu Sheng’s expression grew serious, and before he realized it, he had fallen into deep thought. He recalled everything he had learned so far about the Fairy Tale and tried to find any clues related to the true “Angel Umbilical Cord,” but in the end, he found nothing.
After what felt like an eternity, he snapped out of his thoughts and saw Squirrel still crouched on the windowsill, looking dejected, mumbling something under its breath.
Getting closer, Yu Sheng finally made out the words. Squirrel was repeating over and over that it should have gone to bed earlier that night, and that it shouldn’t have handed the Fairy Tale Book to that voice. It was as if it were trapped in a nightmare, jumping from one vicious cycle to another, slowly driving itself mad once again.
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow.
He understood exactly what was troubling Squirrel and why it was thinking this way, but based on the information he had recently gathered and his thoughts about the “Fairy Tale” Otherworld, he had a slightly different perspective.
“Who else could it be?” Squirrel rubbed its paws together in distress, scratching at the fur on its cheeks. “I’m not a child that anyone would like. I’m not smart, I don’t listen, and I lost the Fairy Tale Book… That’s the worst part…”
Yu Sheng replied solemnly, “But have you considered that it might have been the Fairy Tale Book itself that sealed away a weakened Dark Angel—keeping it from fully entering the real world?”
Squirrel’s pawing stopped abruptly, and it stared at Yu Sheng in shock.
“There are a group of lunatics, calling themselves the ‘Angel Cultists,’ who have been very active lately. They claim to be servants of ‘Anka Aila,’ doing all sorts of things, all with the sole purpose of rescuing their ‘master,'” Yu Sheng said calmly. “Their ‘master’ is imprisoned within the Fairy Tale.”
Squirrel stood frozen, its tail slowly drooping. After a long pause, it finally spoke, “Is… Is that true?”
“Although I don’t know for sure whether the Fairy Tale Book you handed out that night is directly connected to the current situation, if you think the Fairy Tale Book created the ‘Fairy Tale’ Otherworld, then Anka Aila being imprisoned within it can certainly be attributed to that book,” Yu Sheng explained. “This world has countless possibilities, but when it comes to what has already happened, all the paths taken are inevitable. We always tend to look back from the end result and wonder if certain things could have been different.”
He paused slightly before continuing. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of ‘Dark Angels,’ but what you saw that night was when the angels pierced the world, descending into reality—everything aligned at that moment. You, the Fairy Tale Book, that instant, the ‘angels,’ the communication… they were all necessary.”
“According to your description, that window of time may have lasted less than a minute. In that minute, you were the only one in the Borderland who witnessed the angel’s descent and had the chance to choose. You chose to hand over the only Fairy Tale Book you had at the time… Do you know what might have happened if you hadn’t given it away?”
Squirrel hesitated, shaking its head. “I… I don’t know. I don’t even know what you’re talking about with ‘Dark Angels.’ I’m just a…”
“The worst case scenario is that there might not be a Borderland anymore,” Yu Sheng interrupted. “Even in the best case, the order in Boundary City would have been shattered. In that moment, the number of people who would have died would surpass the total number of names you could ever hear in your lifetime.”
Squirrel stood frozen, mouth agape, unable to speak a word. Its tail twitched nervously as it seemed to be deeply frightened by Yu Sheng’s description.
After a long while, its body moved again, and it muttered instinctively, “But… but Little Red Riding Hood…”
“Yes, Little Red Riding Hood, many Little Red Riding Hoods, and their friends—those children who wouldn’t live past eighteen—are all the price of this, courtesy of the Fairy Tale,” Yu Sheng replied calmly. “Suffering is suffering. Just because they avoided the massive death that could have been caused by the ‘Descent Impact’ doesn’t mean that living only a few more years counts as ‘lucky.’ They may think so, but at least you and I don’t have the right to say that.”
“But this isn’t something you can solve, nor is it something you should be concerned with.”
“This is my responsibility.”
Squirrel stared intently at Yu Sheng, its small head appearing to churn with countless thoughts, though its expression seemed somewhat blank.
Irene, however, suddenly patted Yu Sheng on the head. “Hey, don’t forget about me and Foxy!”
Yu Sheng quickly nodded and added, “Oh, right. I should count them too.”
“Little Red Riding Hood and her group should be included as well, right?” Foxy thought for a moment and reminded, “They at the Orphanage have been coming up with ideas too.”
“Right, and the ‘Fairy Tale’ organization should be counted,” Yu Sheng responded.
“The Special Affairs Bureau should also be counted,” Irene continued, counting on her fingers. “Li Lin, Xu Jiali, Song Cheng, that Bai Li Qing… they’ve all helped a lot. And there’s that squad that went missing seventy years ago. They might still be going strong… plus…
Yu Sheng couldn’t hold back anymore. “That’s enough, right? That’s quite a lot of people already.”
He felt like if he didn’t stop this Doll from listing off more names, it would start counting up to a hundred more—he had just mentioned a few names for the sake of the atmosphere!
At that moment, it seemed like Squirrel finally came to its senses. It wasn’t clear what it had been thinking during that brief moment of confusion, but now it suddenly scratched its face hard and muttered, “…Thank you.”
Then, in a quick and quiet voice, it added, “I’ve never dared to tell anyone these secrets before…”
“I understand,” Yu Sheng nodded gently. “But after today, these secrets will be shared with many people. To solve the threat hidden deep within ‘Fairy Tale,’ we must first figure out how to deal with ‘Anka Aila.’ That will require a lot of help from everyone.”
Squirrel fell silent for two or three seconds, slowly nodding.
Yu Sheng lifted his gaze and looked out the window.
The dusk above the Black Forest was nearly over, and the night was slowly descending. Originally, he had planned to wait here for Hunter’s arrival, but now he had changed his mind.
He needed to send out the new intel on “Anka Aila” and also ask the Special Affairs Bureau to speed up their investigation into the earlier records of that Orphanage. Perhaps, with Bai Li Qing’s powerful Divine Powers, the Director might even be able to uncover remnants of the Dark Angels’ descent.
After that, the information needed to be shared with the ‘Fairy Tale’ organization so Little Red Riding Hood and her group could conduct a thorough inspection of the Orphanage. Even though many years had passed since the “imperfect descent” and the entire Orphanage had been repaired or even rebuilt multiple times, who knew? They might still uncover something.
With this in mind, Yu Sheng turned his gaze back to Squirrel and thoughtfully asked, “What was your original name?”
Such a simple question made Squirrel freeze, and after a long while, it hesitantly spoke, “…Name?”
It looked confused, as though it had suddenly encountered a completely unfamiliar concept.
After a long pause, Yu Sheng finally heard Squirrel muttering in hesitation, “I am… Squirrel.”
It stood on the windowsill, vigorously rubbing its face, scratching at the fur on its cheeks, over and over again.
“I’m Squirrel, I’m Squirrel, I’m…” It muttered, but suddenly stopped, looking up at Yu Sheng. “Sorry, I forgot. I do have a name, but I’ve forgotten it. Squirrel’s memory isn’t good… I… I’m just a Squirrel. Sorry… Wah—”
The little creature, no bigger than the size of a palm, finally burst into tears.
It was as though the moment it realized it once had a name but had now completely forgotten it, it finally, clumsily, became aware of the fact that it had become “just a Squirrel.” It realized everything that had happened to it—how long it had been in this Black Forest.
Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then gently extended his hand, carefully cradling Squirrel, letting it stay in his palm.
Squirrel continued to cry, its small body curling into a tight ball. Warmth emanated from all sides, seeping through its fur, gradually infiltrating this dream from which it couldn’t wake.
It felt so good. Someone was holding it again.
Ever since it lost that Fairy Tale Book, Teacher had never held it again. Ever since it turned into a Squirrel in the dream, no one had held it anymore.
It felt so good. Someone was holding her again.
Even if it was just a hand.
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation