Chapter 119 – The Path

Chapter 119 – the path

The Wolf had come.

Yet Yu Sheng couldn’t make out the Wolf’s exact form—he could only hear the constant sounds from behind him of branches snapping and foliage being brushed aside, hear those occasional, suppressed low whimpers. For a few moments, he could even smell a rotting, bloody stench carried on the air, an icy aura spreading through the forest like an ever-encroaching winter, gradually stripping away warmth and vitality.

Wolf howls rose again, one after another, echoing from every tree, every thicket, every shadow around him. The pack was right beside him, encircling their prey, steadily tightening the net.

“Run! Don’t stop! Run!”

The squirrel had already climbed from Yu Sheng’s neck to the top of his head. The little rodent waved its paws frantically forward, letting out shrill cries.

“Run to the path! Run to where there’s light! Run to where the wolves don’t dare go!”

Yu Sheng couldn’t resist glancing back over his shoulder, but all he could see were layers upon layers of shadows in the dim, dense forest. Vaguely, something was indeed chasing him through the shadows between the trees, yet he still couldn’t make out the form of a single wolf.

But that presence was right behind him. He could even begin to feel the currents of air produced by those reeking, gaping maws breathing right beside him.

“Where are the wolves?” he couldn’t help shouting. “I can’t see them!”

“Not seeing them is a good thing—not seeing them means they still can’t catch you!” the squirrel shrieked. “Seeing them would be bad. They’ll keep chasing, keep chasing, keep chasing, until you can’t run anymore, until you become a tired adult… adult… wait! You ARE an adult!”

As if suddenly realizing something, the squirrel looked down in shock at the sprinting Yu Sheng. It gripped his Hair tightly and screamed: “So how the HELL did you get in here?!”

But Yu Sheng had no time to respond to the squirrel, because he suddenly noticed several bleeding wounds appearing on his Arms.

They were marks left by invisible claws grazing him.

He was beginning to see those hazy shadows now—between the dense trees, those gaunt, ravenous predators seemed endless.

Yu Sheng suddenly surged forward with all his strength, feet pounding through the thick layer of fallen leaves and decaying soil, charging onward in the direction the squirrel had indicated.

He wasn’t afraid of dying, nor was he worried about being trapped in this place. But he hadn’t yet figured out what exactly was going on here, hadn’t figured out what had happened to Little Red Riding Hood—he couldn’t just let himself be eaten by wolves for nothing.

And just then, a glimmer of light caught the corner of his eye.

Deep in the dense forest, amid that boundlessly spreading gloom, warm lights appeared abruptly, and beneath their glow, what was faintly visible was a path.

“Run run run! It’s right ahead! Aha! You run even faster than a child, you big adult!” the squirrel cried out excitedly. “Good, good! Adults always have heavy footsteps, but you run like the girls did when they first came in—they can’t catch you, they can’t catch you!”

Amid the squirrel’s frantic screaming, Yu Sheng burst out of the encircling shadows in the forest. He charged toward that warm light, and almost the instant it touched him, the icy presence that had been pursuing him seemed to melt into the light, dissipating in an instant.

The wolves were gone, vanished beside the path through the woods.

Yu Sheng panted heavily, bracing himself against a dead tree stump by the road. It was a long while before he lifted his head and looked at this trail cutting through the dense forest.

It appeared just like that, abruptly, in the middle of the great forest—a winding path paved with dirt and stones that seemed to have no end, stretching between the great trees into the depths of darkness. And on both sides of the road stood bright streetlamps, one after another. Yu Sheng couldn’t understand how those lamps were lit. They looked like nothing more than round orbs hanging from crooked tree branches—no wires, no visible flames inside—yet they cast a gentle glow that illuminated this forest path.

The squirrel hopped down from the top of his head and bounded in a few leaps onto the rough, curved wooden railing by the road. It sat down and let out a long sigh of relief: “Phew—almost became a fine meal.”

“Those were the ‘wolves’ that have been hunting Little Red Riding Hood?” Yu Sheng caught his breath and, after steadying himself, approached the squirrel. He looked seriously at this seemingly knowledgeable… ‘little animal.’ “Is the biggest, strongest ‘Big Bad Wolf’ among them?”

“The Big Bad Wolf? Don’t mention the Big Bad Wolf!” The squirrel seemed instantly terrified, leaping up in fright and extending its paws as if trying to cover Yu Sheng’s mouth. “The hunter hasn’t appeared yet—you absolutely must not attract the worst, biggest wolf! You don’t have a gun—it could swallow you in one bite! Swallow you whole!”

Yu Sheng listened, then continued staring at it: “Where exactly is this place—I know it’s a forest. What I’m asking is, is this Little Red Riding Hood’s Dream? Or some kind of… Otherworld?”

“Forest—this place is just a forest. I don’t understand what you mean. Dream? Little Red Riding Hood hasn’t started dreaming yet. Good children sleep at night, and she’s still outside doing her things right now… what was it called? Oh, she’s mentioned it—she has to go to school,” the squirrel shuffled along the wooden railing, chattering away. “If she’d started dreaming, she’d already be in here by now…”

The squirrel’s way of speaking was strange, giving the impression of talking to itself and conveying fragmented information, but Yu Sheng had no trouble understanding. He quickly grasped what it meant and deduced the connection between this place and Little Red Riding Hood.

This was indeed some kind of place similar to an Otherworld, not simply Little Red Riding Hood’s Dream. It had always existed, and only when Little Red Riding Hood fell asleep… would she fall into this forest.

To endure the wolves’ endless hunting here.

At this thought, Yu Sheng quickly furrowed his brow: “How can we escape the wolves’ hunting for good?”

“Escape? What are you thinking! The wolves will never give up, and the forest has no end,” the squirrel rubbed its face with its paws, looking at Yu Sheng like he was an idiot. “Run—just keep running, from one safe path to another safe path, run into a warm house, and then run to another house before the current one goes dark. As long as you can still run, there’s always somewhere in the forest to hide temporarily—that’s enough, that’s enough…”

What this squirrel described—were these the Rules for moving through this ‘forest’?

Yu Sheng’s mind raced, and then he composed himself: “This forest… is it the curse created by the Fairy Tale? Do you know anything about the curse?”

He didn’t know the origins of this squirrel, nor did he understand why a rational, communicative ‘entity’ would appear in the Dark Forest that was seemingly an Otherworld. But since it had just provided help, that at least meant it wasn’t on the same side as the ‘curse’ Little Red Riding Hood had mentioned.

However, upon hearing his words, the squirrel only blinked blankly, then paced two steps along the railing: “How would I know? I’m just a damn squirrel.”

Then it raised its paw and rapidly scratched at the fur on its face, lifting its head with an air of self-importance: “A damn adorable-beyond-words squirrel.”

Yu Sheng’s expression went somewhat blank.

The squirrel then suddenly rummaged around on its body with its paws, producing from who-knows-where a tiny stick-shaped object. It held the little stick in its mouth, rubbed its big tail against the railing nearby, and with a soft “whoosh,” a small flame ignited at the tip of its tail. It used this flame to light the little stick in its mouth, took a deep breath, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

“Want a puff?” The squirrel looked up, holding the little stick between its paws. “This stuff’ll make you feel better, though you’ll have to pinch it with just your fingertips.”

Yu Sheng’s expression went even blanker.

“Oh, you’re not interested—well, that’s good. Even though you’re an adult, it’s not exactly a good habit,” the squirrel said, clamping the stick back in its mouth. “Ah, this is so unfamiliar. First time I’ve ever met an adult—normally the first ones to come here are the little ones. They cry for a long time, and very few manage to survive the first hunt. They all get swallowed whole by the wolves. Honestly, I’m a little damn nervous here. You’re putting a level of pressure on a squirrel that a squirrel shouldn’t have to bear… *puff puff puff*—sss, hah—”

Yu Sheng didn’t know how to respond to this creature. Honestly, this squirrel’s vibe was a bit beyond his frame of reference.

True, he had a foul-mouthed Living Doll around him, a nine-tailed fox spirit who could launch her own tails, and a building at No. 66 Wutong Road that ordinary people couldn’t perceive. But he had always been a young man with a normal worldview and healthy psychology—a smoking, swearing squirrel was not within his range of expectations.

“Why aren’t you talking?” The squirrel sucked down the rest of the little stick in one drag, then casually tossed the still-smoldering butt into its mouth, chewing and swallowing it. It looked up at Yu Sheng. “Oh, scared stiff? That’s normal too. Adults can be scared stiff by the forest as well. Come a few more times and you’ll get used to it—get used to their hunting, get used to their predation.

“Then you’ll build a connection with some of the wolves here, you’ll build a connection with the entire forest. When you are simultaneously the lost wanderer, the hungry wolf, the forest itself, the hunter, and the grandmother—that’s when you’ll be fully adapted.

“By then you’ll have your own red cloak, and you’ll come in every night for a run. Aha, very fulfilling… Though I am curious—what kind of cloak would you get? After all, you’re not a child, and you’re even a boy…”

“I’m not a new Little Red Riding Hood,” Yu Sheng interrupted the squirrel’s rambling, emphasizing once more with a completely serious expression. “I’m her friend.”

The squirrel froze. It stared straight at Yu Sheng, as if trying to detect the slightest trace of a lie on his face. After a long while, it finally seemed to confirm something, its upper body straightening upright, its bushy tail sweeping anxiously across the wooden railing.

“You’re SERIOUS?! You can’t deceive an adorable-beyond-words squirrel like me!”

“I’m serious.”

(End of Chapter)