Chapter 165 – The Dark Forest Slacker Society Takes Shape

Chapter 165 – The Dark Forest Slacker Society Takes Shape

The night was deep and heavy.

Darkness blanketed the orphanage. The corridor outside had gradually fallen silent—the children had exhausted their energy playing during the day, and most were already asleep by now. The night-watch “parent” walked down the corridor with a flashlight, its beam occasionally flashing past the observation windows in the doors, accompanied by deliberately softened footsteps.

Little Red Riding Hood had changed into her nightgown and sat leaning against the headboard, listening intently to the sounds outside.

She was paying attention to whether there were any sharp, brief cries in the night, any unusual screams. Her wolves prowled through the shadows, sniffing for the scent of fear and unease, sniffing for anything that shouldn’t exist—anything that might have leaked into reality under cover of darkness.

Even on nights when it wasn’t her turn for the patrol shift, she had already developed this habit.

After quite a while, she finally let out a soft breath of relief and lay down on the bed.

The first hour after lights-out was when problems were most likely to arise. It seemed tonight would be a peaceful night.

Creaking sounds came from the upper bunk, and a head poked out over the edge of the bed, its face full of curiosity. “Red, going to bed this early? You’ve really been sleeping more lately, haven’t you?”

“Mm, getting sleepy,” Little Red Riding Hood said with a yawn, a hint of drowsiness in her voice. “Besides, I’ve got plans to meet someone tonight.”

Rapunzel, sleeping on the upper bunk, was momentarily confused and didn’t quite understand what that meant. But within a few seconds she caught on, and a recently familiar name surfaced in her mind. “…That uncle called Yu Sheng?”

“He’s not that old—you should call him ‘big brother,'” Little Red Riding Hood rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’s him. He asked me to meet in the Dark Forest.”

“Fine, big brother then,” Rapunzel’s expression was a bit odd. “Asked you to meet in the Dark Forest… um, I know what’s going on, but that really does sound strange no matter how you put it. We’ve always been trapped in our own ‘subsets,’ but your Dark Forest has been getting quite ‘lively’ lately…”

Little Red Riding Hood glanced up. “Jealous?”

The head at the edge of the upper bunk tilted to one side, then after a moment retreated back. “Not particularly.”

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end swallowed the words. Then she picked up the phone beside her, and as drowsiness gradually crept in, she typed out a message—

“Good night. See you soon.”

In a haze of drowsiness, she didn’t know how much time passed before the girl finally sank into sleep.

Darkness, cold, emptiness—and then layers upon layers of shadows materialized before her eyes. A forest at dusk emerged from those shadows, and along with them came the distant sound of wolves howling.

Little Red Riding Hood opened her eyes within the dream and saw the familiar “scenery.”

“…Here again, as expected.”

She sighed softly with resignation, though deep down her nerves were already beginning to tighten.

The fear and tension rooted in her since childhood had become an instinct inseparable from her very bones. This wasn’t something you could fight with mental preparation or courage training—the composure on her face and the casual tone in her voice could only fool herself. Deep down, she was still afraid—and she knew this better than anyone.

As her nerves gradually tightened, she summoned her wolf pack, then surveyed her surroundings.

She watched for the evil wolves that might appear from the darkness, while also searching for the figure who had promised to explore the Dark Forest with her.

And almost the instant the wolf pack was summoned, Little Red Riding Hood saw black threads suddenly materialize from thin air nearby, weaving and spreading through the air. Then she heard a voice coming from somewhere unknown:

“Hey hey, she’s asleep, she’s asleep… don’t rush, don’t rush, I’m locking onto the coordinates. I need to open the door right next to her—this is delicate work… got it, hey, connected! Just anchor the door here, open it, open it…”

The next second, Little Red Riding Hood watched in astonishment as those threads floating in the air suddenly converged into a thorn-like “door frame,” and a shimmering, ethereal door rapidly took shape at the center of the thorns. The door swung open, and three familiar figures stepped through.

Yu Sheng was carrying Eileen on his shoulder, with the fox girl walking beside him.

“Good evening,” Yu Sheng greeted the girl before him cheerfully the moment he stepped through. “Hope we’re not late? Eileen says you only fell asleep a few minutes ago.”

Then Hu Li and Eileen waved hello too, both looking equally cheerful.

As if they hadn’t entered the dangerous Dark Forest, but had come to a park for an outing.

Little Red Riding Hood suddenly felt like her emotions couldn’t quite keep up. Deep down she felt she should still be tense, but the atmosphere had been completely demolished by the cheerful attitude of these three. She could only open her mouth and, after a long pause, manage: “Um… I just got here.”

Then she watched as Yu Sheng reached back through the still-open door, bent down, and dragged something through from the other side—and when she looked closely, it turned out to be a piece of rebar over a meter long, as thick as a thumb, with the front end bent into several loops. Welded haphazardly onto those loops was a mess of rusty nails, blade fragments, and jagged ends of cut rebar. In the Dark Forest at the edge of nightfall, the thing gleamed with a cold, sinister light—just looking at it made you feel like you’d get tetanus…

Little Red Riding Hood’s head was full of question marks. She watched Yu Sheng pull this Tetanus Staff through the door and swing it a couple of times in the air. The rebar mace, nearly two meters long, moved in his hands as lightly as a plastic stick. She finally couldn’t help but ask: “What… is that?”

“A weapon,” Yu Sheng explained cheerfully, though also looking a bit sheepish. “Mainly because I don’t have any handy equipment, and I don’t have any combat experience or technique either. Normally, aside from brute strength and bleeding on things, I don’t really have any other advantages—unlike Hu Li with her Foxtail gear set or Eileen with her pile of magical gadgets… I can only make do with this.”

As he spoke, he swung the vicious club—the kind that would cause massive bleeding plus tetanus from a single graze on an ordinary person—in two more circles, and sighed. “I know this thing probably won’t do much against the ‘evil wolves,’ but having a stick is still better than going in bare-handed or charging in with a rock like before.”

Little Red Riding Hood listened in stunned silence. It took her a while to recover from the sheer visual impact of this “weapon” and catch up with Yu Sheng’s train of thought, and then her expression couldn’t help but turn to something like awe—though not because this stick was actually all that powerful.

To be fair, in her years as a Spirit Detective she’d seen plenty of dangerous weapons, and the Otherworld was filled with countless bizarre lethal objects. A piece of rebar welded with a bunch of blade fragments and jagged ends really couldn’t be considered anything sophisticated. But what made this thing impressive was its aesthetic—that cluster of gleaming spikes, barbed hooks, and sharp edges was clearly the product of a designer who had fully channeled their malicious intent and ruthlessness. The killing intent radiating from the weapon’s design had already surpassed the weapon’s actual lethality.

And for some reason she couldn’t explain, looking at this thing filled her with waves of… visceral dread. This feeling of unease grew increasingly obvious, until Little Red Riding Hood finally sensed something was off.

She suddenly sniffed the air and, amid the cold glint of those blades, identified the source of her unease.

“…Is this thing soaked in blood?” The girl’s eyes gradually widened as she stared in astonishment at Yu Sheng, who was carefully turning around to close the door.

“Yes,” Yu Sheng smiled. “Quite a lot of it.”

In the shadows of the Dark Forest, that smile seemed to radiate a pure and cheerful glow.

Little Red Riding Hood stood frozen in place, feeling like she should say something, but unable to find the right words within her limited life experience and worldview. After a long while, all she managed was: “This… your blood? Isn’t that a bit…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yu Sheng waved his hand dismissively before the girl could finish, completely unbothered. “This whole stick was made from leftover scraps from when I was making the doll. Think of it as a byproduct of doll manufacturing.”

Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”

But Yu Sheng didn’t continue explaining. Instead, he hoisted the Tetanus Staff onto his shoulder and looked up toward the depths of the Dark Forest.

“Let’s not hang around in this shadow-heavy area. According to what that squirrel said, let’s head toward the light first. I think I can see something bright up ahead—let’s get moving and see whether the squirrel or the wolves show up first…”

As he spoke, he was already walking off on his own. Little Red Riding Hood snapped out of it and hurried to catch up. After following him for just a few steps, she noticed the fingernail scratches on Yu Sheng’s arm and the tiny teeth marks on his forehead (she couldn’t figure out how someone could even bite a forehead), and couldn’t help asking curiously: “So what’s the deal with these wounds? They look like cat scratches…”

Yu Sheng’s pace immediately slowed, and his face twitched with embarrassment. “Uh… those are also byproducts of doll manufacturing. Don’t worry, they’ll heal soon.”

Eileen, sitting on his other shoulder, let out a huff, trying hard to maintain an angry expression, but without any intimidating effect whatsoever. In the end, she even reached out and touched the teeth marks on Yu Sheng’s forehead, looking thoroughly conflicted.

Little Red Riding Hood continued: “…?”

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes nearby, making everyone stop in their tracks instantly.

The next second, under several watchful gazes, a small figure suddenly leaped out of the bushes—

A squirrel with a big fluffy tail, wrapped in a strip of red cloth, clutching an acorn it had picked up from who-knows-where. It landed with great flair on the tip of a thin branch atop the bushes and called out in a shrill voice: “Ah—dusk! The forest grows dark, and Little Red Riding Hood walks alone on the path through the countryside. A good child must control her curiosity and must never be tempted by the wildflowers and mushrooms along the road…”

The little squirrel stopped mid-sentence, staring wide-eyed at the group of people before it.

Yu Sheng, grinning from ear to ear with the Tetanus Staff on his shoulder.

A doll only sixty-six centimeters tall, yet somehow looking incredibly smug.

A fox spirit with a cluster of tails behind her and Fox Fire floating at her side.

Little Red Riding Hood, looking awkward for reasons even she couldn’t quite pin down.

The squirrel stared blankly at this scene. After a few seconds, the acorn slipped from its paws and hit the ground with a soft thud.

“…Things have gotten weird aaaaah!!!”

(End of Chapter)