Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess both thought Yu Sheng had gone insane.

"She's already been dead for an hour!" the long-haired princess said with wide eyes, "Her organs—including her heart and brain—have long since ceased to show any signs of life! We've checked, she's certainly dead..."

"No, she 'hasn't' died, at least not right now," Yu Sheng shook his head, the confusion fading from his face, and he began to look resolute, "I don't know how to explain it to you, but I can feel it... she's still on the side of the living, she hasn't crossed over yet."

As he spoke, he touched the bloodstain on the girl's neck again.

In a fleeting vision of black, white, and gray, he felt as though he "understood" something, but the sensation was ephemeral, slipping through his fingers when he tried to grasp it.

Little Red Riding Hood seemed to think of something: "You... Can't communicate with the dead like you did in the Museum? So, that's why you think she's still alive?"

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Little Red Riding Hood's eyes widened, subconsciously doubting Yu Sheng's judgment, yet a part of her harbored an unrealistic fantasy, "But... "

Yu Sheng waved his hand decisively, silencing her and the long-haired princess who was about to speak.

"You don't understand, it's not just because I can't communicate with the dead, I... can feel that she's still here," he said, examining the wounds on the girl's body and then suddenly pulling a small knife from his pocket. Under the astonished gaze of Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess, he slashed his palm and smeared his blood on the fine cracks on the girl's arm, "Do you understand what I mean? In my view, she's alive and well, just sleeping, sleeping in a dream that's on the brink of death..."

Erin seemed to finally realize something. She jumped out of Hu Li's arms and ran to Yu Sheng's side: "Did you 'see' something again?!"

"See... Yes, you could say that, I suddenly understood some things," Yu Sheng mumbled as he smeared his blood like an act of self-harm. He suddenly looked up at Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess, who instinctively felt uncomfortable with his actions and wanted to intervene but were simultaneously halted by his gaze, "Stay back, yes, just stand there, the balance is very fragile, she's about to fall to the other side..."

Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess stepped back half a step, but their eyes were filled with questions for Yu Sheng.

"Do you know how bees determine a companion's 'death'?" Yu Sheng suddenly asked them.

Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess looked at each other, not understanding why he would suddenly bring up such a question.

"Pheromones," Yu Sheng said without waiting for their answer, "The most direct way bees determine a companion's death is through pheromones—a dying bee releases volatile substances, which are then picked up by living bees, prompting them to 'bury' their dead companions by removing the corpses from the hive, effectively preventing the spread of disease... But there's a problem with this method of recognition, which is that in our view, 'pheromones' and 'death' are not always synonymous.

"If we artificially smear certain volatile substances on a living bee, even if it is hopping around or desperately struggling inside the hive, its companions will still treat it as a dead bee, forcibly processing it like a corpse—because in bees' limited nervous systems, a comrade emitting the 'scent of death' is a corpse, no matter how hard it struggles, it is still a corpse—they do not understand other characteristics of death beyond pheromones.

"But for the survival environment that bees face, this judgment is actually adequate—intrusion from humans' boredom is extrinsic to natural conditions, and within their limited evolutionary scope, bees originally need not consider these."

Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess listened blankly as Yu Sheng spoke, watching the blood silently seeping into the little "corpse" on the bed, a reasonless... shudder suddenly and faintly arose from the bottom of their hearts,

"You..." Little Red Riding Hood finally couldn't help breaking the silence, she swallowed, looking at Yu Sheng with a somewhat unfamiliar gaze, "You mean we are..."

"Bees." Yu Sheng lifted his head, his gaze calmly met with the red-dressed young girl.

He bent his head again, his palm stained with fresh blood gently brushed across the forehead of the child named "Xiao Xiao," leaving a fleeting crimson mark.

"Faced with an 'interference' beyond your understanding, the feigned 'death' confuses you—heart stops beating, brain halts, nervous system collapses, blood stops flowing and gradually cools, then cells decay extensively, enzymes deactivate, the body begins to digest itself... People regard these as the signs of death, if a person shows these characteristics, then they are dead..."

Yu Sheng thought, he was the same—if he met these "characteristics," then he was dead.

Dead in the eyes of ordinary people.

But he continued to live in a manner beyond ordinary people's observation and comprehension and waited for the short-term "symptom" named "death" to recede from him.

"...Maybe I've never come back to life from death."

He murmured quietly.

The tiny corpse lay silently on the bed, and amidst the permeation of fresh blood, Yu Sheng gradually understood her "death," as well as his own "death."

The surroundings felt unusually quiet, prompting him to lift his head, only to see both Little Red Riding Hood and the long-haired princess standing to one side with an almost cringing demeanor, their eyes filled with unease when looking at him. Erin stood by his side, tilting her head upwards, her gaze not reflecting unease but rather a fair amount of confusion.

Only Hu Li did not look confused or uneasy; although she also didn't understand, she nodded as if she did, speaking with a hint of sentimentality, "Savior seems to be comprehending the profound path."

Erin was dumbfounded, "…You can just accept anything, huh?!"

"We have three hours left, maybe even less," Yu Sheng suddenly said.

Little Red Riding Hood blinked in surprise, "Three hours? What?"

"Pull her back," Yu Sheng raised his hand, pointing to the slight and frail figure on the bed, "The connection established by my blood isn't strong enough; she doesn't know where to go. What follows requires some 'manual intervention'—Erin, I need your help."

The little puppet was momentarily at a loss, "Ah... huh? How can I help?"

"She's still dreaming, a dream realm not reliant on the brain's operation," Yu Sheng remarked offhandedly, "Do you remember how you found me in the Black Forest? A similar process—you find her and then send me over too."

Erin finally came to a realization, "Oh! Sure thing, just find somewhere to lie down—or sitting is fine too. I've guided this thing once already, you don't need to do anything specific, just stay calm and composed."

It was then that Little Red Riding Hood also caught on—though her mind was still brimming with questions, at least she now knew what Yu Sheng intended to do, "Wait, you're going to voluntarily enter the 'Black Forest'? To look for her?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going with you!" Little Red Riding Hood immediately declared, and then she quickly added, "I'm more familiar with that place than you!"

Yu Sheng frowned slightly and looked towards Erin, "Can we take another person?"

"It should be fine," Erin thought for a moment and nodded with some confidence, "She's already deeply connected with the 'Black Forest.' I don't need to put in any effort to maintain a link; theoretically, I just need to guide to ensure that you both can enter together."

"Let's give it a try," Yu Sheng nodded without hesitation, sitting down beside the small bed. He then patted the ground next to him and looked up at Little Red Riding Hood, "Sit here."

Little Red Riding Hood uttered a yes and silently walked over, sitting beside Yu Sheng.

The long-haired princess looked somewhat uneasy, "Is this really okay? We've never done this before..."

Little Red Riding Hood was silent for a few seconds, then turned her head to glance at Yu Sheng beside her, "We'll try."

Inky black threads emerged from Erin's hands out of thin air, growing wildly throughout the space, quickly weaving into a vast and complex web—The puppet carefully controlled this "net," gently draping it over the space above the small bed.

The thread's ends dangled from the air; numerous tendrils that resembled those of some strange jellyfish began silently burrowing into the body of the Dream Walker.

The long-haired princess subconsciously took half a step back and turned to look at Hu Li, who remained unperturbed. She couldn't help but speak up, "Are all the people from your 'travel agency'... this bizarre?"

Hu Li didn't grasp what the other meant at all; she simply looked on at Erin's wondrous operation with admiration and nodded approvingly, "Erin, you might just qualify as a Weaving Immortal."

This was the last sentence Yu Sheng heard before he plunged into the dream realm.

And the last thought in his mind was—Erin seemed to have grown stronger.

The next second, he felt both a sense of unreality and a falling sensation, as if he and another consciousness were plummeting rapidly through darkness. When a substantial touch came from beneath him, he slowly opened his eyes.

An endless vista of the Black Forest came into view.

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