From Little Red Riding Hood's reaction and the expression on the face of the girl who just came in, Yu Sheng quickly guessed what had happened.

He frowned in an instant, but before he could speak, Little Red Riding Hood had already hurriedly waved her hand: "Wait here for a while, I... I'll be right back."

"No, I'll go with you." Yu Sheng stood up without discussion, and Hu Li next to him also reached out to hold Erin in his arms and stood up.

"This is an internal matter of 'Fairy Tales,' and we have... gone through many similar processes," said Little Red Riding Hood with a dark and heavy expression on her face, "Thank you for your concern, but..."

"There's no but, I know what you mean - but your wolf bit me," Yu Sheng directly interrupted her, knowing how to make this somewhat stubborn girl concede, so he didn't hesitate to bring up the past event, "I'm already entangled in 'Fairy Tales,' and I might end up in that Black Forest in my next dream, so I need to understand more about the situation."

Faced with such a statement, Little Red Riding Hood indeed lost the will to persist and could only look at Yu Sheng with a complex expression, then softly nodded her head.

"Long Hair" looked puzzledly at Yu Sheng and his party, seemingly with many questions in mind, but after noticing Little Red Riding Hood's gaze, she swallowed back her words and turned to open the door.

As soon as they left the Reception Room, Yu Sheng saw many children gathered in the corridor.

There were those who looked only six or seven years old, and even younger, as well as those who appeared to be twelve or thirteen-year-old teenagers; they were huddled in small groups in the hallway, an age usually filled with chirping and noisy chatter, but now they seemed exceptionally quiet.

A little girl in a blue dress, seeing Little Red Riding Hood come out, hesitantly approached and carefully tugged at her clothes: "Teacher Su said... Xiao Xiao graduated today, is it true?"

Little Red Riding Hood pursed her lips and bent down to pat the little girl's head: "Yes, she has left today, transferred to another place."

"Will she still come to the classroom in the afternoon? I made her a gift..."

"Give the gift to Teacher Su, and she will pass it on for you - the children who graduate will leave quickly, probably with no time to say goodbye to you, but... I'll go see her off on your behalf."

"Oh..."

Little Red Riding Hood stood up, leading Yu Sheng and his group hurriedly through the corridor.

After leaving the group of children out of sight, Yu Sheng frowned and asked in a low voice: "You just said, things like this have happened many times?"

"Many times," Little Red Riding Hood gently nodded her head, "Some children are already very unstable when they arrive here, and some... suffer from mental illnesses. 'Fairy Tales' can exacerbate their conditions. We are not only faced with a death crisis at 'adulthood'; during the entire childhood, there are pitfalls everywhere."

Erin lifted her head from Hu Li's embrace: "They don't know the truth?"

"The youngest group of children doesn't know because the extra stress and fear and confusion about the unknown will intensify the impact of 'Fairy Tales' on them. But around the age of thirteen or fourteen, they will gradually come to understand what is going to happen through their 'Dream Realm' and start to harness the power given to them by 'Fairy Tales' - we call this stage 'awakening,' and after that, they become 'parents'... We have a mature guidance process for this."

Erin buried her head back into Hu Li's embrace, her voice sounding muffled: "... This is the first time I feel that the term 'mature XX process' sounds so uncomfortable."

Yu Sheng, however, did not speak; he just pursed his lips tightly, his expression becoming particularly ominous, as if carrying anger and some brewing, intense and persistent thoughts.

Erin seemed to notice something and quickly looked up at Yu Sheng, but said nothing.

They quickly passed through the East Building like this, then walked across the corridor between the two buildings under Little Red Riding Hood's guidance, entering the structure known as the "West Building."

As soon as Yu Sheng stepped into the building, he quickly felt a change in the environment, or rather, the atmosphere.

A vague sense of "suppression" seemed to permeate the entire building; the corridor was so quiet that it was tense, and although the lighting was very bright, he always felt there were dark corners everywhere - it was a psychological kind of "darkness," as if there were many things lurking in the West Building that could not be dispelled by the light, slicing the whole building into countless fragmented parts.

"There are many seals and isolation measures in this building," Little Red Riding Hood seemed to note the change in Yu Sheng's expression and explained softly, "This place is, for now, our containment and research facility - children who have had incidents need to undergo certain 'safety treatments' here before they can be sent out."

Yu Sheng did not speak; he just silently nodded his head.

He followed Little Red Riding Hood and Long Hair through that uncomfortably corridor, where intermittent and speckled shadows from the sunlight coming through the windows danced on the walls, until they finally arrived in front of a heavy-looking iron door. A young woman in a light gray coat, who looked to be in her twenties with a weary look, was standing at the door, seemingly lost in thought against the wall.

An adult.

Yu Sheng was startled to see her, but soon, he recalled the situation Little Red Riding Hood had told him.

Was she an employee sent by the Council?

"This is 'Teacher Su'; she is responsible for taking care of children under seven years old," indeed, "Long Hair" introduced in a quiet voice, "Sent by the Council, the children all like her very much."

The woman called "Teacher Su" finally snapped out of her daze and noticed the newcomers. She seemed not to care about Yu Sheng but instead fixed her gaze on Little Red Riding Hood.

"It... it happened during class..." she said softly, clearly an adult but looking like a child who had made a mistake in front of Little Red Riding Hood, "I... should have noticed earlier..."

"Noticing earlier wouldn't have helped. It might have been too late before she was even brought here," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, "We need to go in and see the situation."

"...Okay," the young woman bit her lip and nodded, but at that moment, she seemed to finally notice the presence of Yu Sheng, Erin, and Hu Li, "Wait, who are they?"

"Travel companions," Little Red Riding Hood had already pushed open that heavy iron door, "and my friends."

The woman was taken aback as Yu Sheng briskly passed by her, nodding at her before entering the door, "Hello, my name is Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng from the travel agency."

Hu Li imitated him, "I'm Hu Li, Hu Li from the travel agency."

"And I'm Erin, Erin from the travel agency!"

Before the woman could respond, the figures had already entered through the door, the iron door closed, leaving her standing somewhat blankly in the corridor.

The room was brightly lit.

But that sense of "darkness" that seemed to spread from a psychological level was even more severe than in the corridor.

Yu Sheng saw that the large room was devoid of furnishings, with only a small single bed placed in the center.

A small figure covered with a thin blanket was lying on the bed, seemingly deeply asleep.

A nameless resistance stirred within him, but Yu Sheng still stepped forward.

The child lay there, her sleeping face peaceful.

Yet there was no breath, no rise and fall of the chest.

Some fine, unsettling red patterns covered her neck, arms, and calves, with bloodstains between them, as if those places had once been shattered and then barely stitched back together.

Yu Sheng instantly recalled the transformation of Little Red Riding Hood's arm that he had seen in the valley.

"The timely intervention meant no other children saw," the long-haired princess whispered from the side, "She briefly turned into a wolf during a nightmare, just a moment, and it was already too late."

"...Fortunately, in the end, she reverted to her human form," Little Red Riding Hood sighed softly, "At least we can send her off in a 'human' way."

"Wait, a wolf?" Yu Sheng finally grasped something, staring at Little Red Riding Hood with astonishment, "Her 'symptom' was turning into a wolf? So..."

"Didn't you know?" It was the long-haired princess who spoke up from the other side, pointing at the child lying on the bed, "She could have been the next Little Red Riding Hood."

With that, she shook her head solemnly, "But now, talking about this is meaningless."

"You've seen it," Little Red Riding Hood then took a long breath and said to Yu Sheng, "This is how the story ends—her childhood is over."

"Will it be the same with you eventually?"

"Yes, I too will end up like this—in the best case, still in human form, otherwise... it will be a different sight."

Yu Sheng didn't say anything, he stared at the red-clad girl in front of him for a long time, then at the child lying on the bed, motionless, his thoughts unknown.

Minutes passed in silence, and just when Little Red Riding Hood was about to speak, Yu Sheng suddenly moved.

He reached out his hand, touching the bloodstains near the child's neck.

The long-haired princess widened her eyes and stepped forward, "What are you doing?"

Without raising his head, Yu Sheng replied, "I want to know what she saw in her last moments, and perhaps, if possible, have a few more words with her."

The long-haired princess was stunned, but before she could speak, Little Red Riding Hood reached out to stop her.

Almost at the same time, Yu Sheng also let out a puzzled "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Erin asked instinctively.

Yu Sheng didn't answer; he just kept his hand on the bloodstains, standing still for dozens of seconds, as if he had observed or felt some unusual information, and after a while, he suddenly blinked and took a deep breath.

"...She's not dead."

He said quietly, his tone tentative and confused, then as if to emphasize, he looked around at everyone present, nodding vigorously.

"I think she's not dead."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.