"Seriously, the moment Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood stepped towards that dark, dead-silent cottage, the squirrel just went "Squeak" and darted away, straight off Little Red Riding Hood's shoulder—though it had only fallen halfway before Yu Sheng swiftly caught it by the tail.

Yu Sheng's reflexes were mainly honed through his regular exchanges of wits with Erin—little puppets jumping up to bite you were as fast as lightning.

"You can go get yourselves killed, but not with me!" the squirrel exclaimed, eyes wide open, struggling violently in Yu Sheng's hand. "I'm just a freaking squirrel! You're making this too... hard..."

"Quiet," Little Red Riding Hood said in a low voice with an intimidating tone, "if you really don't want to die."

The squirrel instantly quieted down.

And at that moment, Yu Sheng had already approached to within a few meters of the cottage.

Despite the dimness of the forest, he could clearly see the state of the cottage—it was indeed identical to the "shelter cabin" he remembered and had seen last time, with dark-colored wooden exterior walls and dark red roof, a narrow wooden door, small windows, and two layers of mottled, rotten steps at the entrance.

But the cabin had no light inside, and its exterior details looked even more ancient; it seemed as if it had been abandoned for many years, maintaining a status of being about to decay, yet not collapsing. The doors, windows, and eaves were also entwined with those red, torn cloth strips and ropes—but the strips and threads were even more tattered, and their color was so deep it was unsettling to a certain extent.

That deep red was like bloodstains soaked and then dried.

"Have you seen a cabin like this before?" Yu Sheng turned his head and looked towards Little Red Riding Hood.

"No," the girl in the red cloak shook her head, and then added, "This is also the first time I've come this 'deep' into the woods."

"What is said about this kind of cabin?" Yu Sheng turned to look at the squirrel in his hand.

But the squirrel didn't answer. This neurotic rodent trembled, its eyes full of panic and aversion, and it seemed that as Yu Sheng approached the cottage, its nervousness and stress reaction intensified.

"Stay away from here... the squirrel doesn't like this place... the squirrel doesn't like this place..."

It emitted a faint voice, its paws starting to struggle forcefully.

"Calm down, calm down, we're not in any danger," Yu Sheng felt the other's reaction was a bit off, and quickly spoke to pacify, "I have a way to move us out of the forest anytime, and can get you to a safe area—we'll just take a quick look and then leave..."

Having said this, he suddenly sensed something else and stared into the squirrel's eyes: "Do you know something?"

"Know? No, the squirrel knows nothing, the squirrel knows nothing at all!" The squirrel struggled violently, as if its consciousness was rapidly fading from its brain, "I've never seen this cottage before! No one has ever seen this cottage! You too..."

It suddenly stopped, stretching its neck forcefully in Yu Sheng's grip, as if straining to listen to something.

"Do you hear that? What sounds do you hear?"

The squirrel nervously spoke, twisting its body.

Yu Sheng frowned: "Hear what?"

But what responded to him was a sharp pain in his fingertips.

The squirrel suddenly lowered its head and bit him hard. The moment Yu Sheng subconsciously loosened his grip, the delirious animal bolted out, emitting a string of shrieks in the air: "Run! Run fast! The Wolf is here! They're all here! Run with me!"

However, Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood did not move. They watched with wide eyes as the squirrel went mad, witnessing it scream and dash into the distant darkness, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"It actually ran away..." Little Red Riding Hood was dumbfounded watching the scene, clearly even she had never seen such behaviour before.

"While it was running, it still remembered to tell us to run too," Yu Sheng was also a bit stunned, then he turned to look at the quiet cottage, "It didn't react this much when we first saw this house, it went nuts only as we came closer... Do you have any clue?"

"None. That squirrel is mysterious and very neurotic. My understanding of it may not be much more than yours," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, her eyes becoming more cautious. She looked at the darkness of the small house's window and took a light breath, "Let's go in and take a look."

Even in this situation, she showed no intention of retreating.

"I'll go in first," Yu Sheng walked ahead, "Judging by the squirrel's reaction, this cabin might be more dangerous and odd than other parts of the Black Forest. Your condition is unstable, don't rush."

While talking, his hand was already on the doorknob.

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but eventually swallowed her words and just nodded calmly.

Yu Sheng took a deep breath, calming his emotions, while keeping an eye on the changes in the surrounding atmosphere. Then he gently pushed the seemingly unsteady wooden door.

Creak. The door casually opened.

But the stale odor and floating dust that Yu Sheng expected did not appear.

He waited for two seconds in the doorway, making sure there was no movement inside and that the forest itself showed no changes, before cautiously peeking inside.

His vision, sharper and stronger than ordinary people's, allowed him to see clearly in the dimness the situation inside the cottage.

Little Red Riding Hood saw that Yu Sheng just glanced inside, then quickly retreated her body, standing at the door with a certain shocked and complex expression on her face.

She couldn't help but step forward: "Inside..."

Yu Sheng blinked, snapping out of his brief stupor. He looked at the girl in the red dress in front of him, a hint of hesitation fleeting across his face, but after a brief moment of weighing his options, he nodded gently: "Come in with me, see for yourself."

They walked into the cabin.

In the darkness, Little Red Riding Hood finally saw what Yu Sheng had seen.

It was red cloaks.

Hanging on the walls, scattered on the floor, dangling from the roof, many... red cloaks.

How many were there? A dozen? Dozens? Or even more?

In the dim light, the red cloaks of various kinds, torn and tattered, some even reduced to indiscernible shreds of fabric, were messily strewn across the ground, making it hard to discern just how many there were at a glance.

The sound of footsteps on the musty floorboards broke the silence in the cabin, as Yu Sheng took a few steps forward before turning back to look at Little Red Riding Hood, still standing dumbfounded at the door.

"Come, don't stray too far from me."

Little Red Riding Hood nodded a little sluggishly, finally catching up to Yu Sheng's pace. Unwittingly, she moved a bit closer to him, and only after a while did she speak in a soft voice: "This place..."

"Perhaps this explains why that squirrel reacted so strongly to this place," Yu Sheng sighed softly, turning to look at the girl beside him, "Don't be afraid."

"I... okay, I am a bit scared, but I'm alright," Little Red Riding Hood hesitated, trying to force a smile but failing. She carefully stepped over a cluster of red cloaks on the ground, eyeing the tattered red cloth strips on the nearby wall, subconsciously tugging at her jacket, "This is probably what it looks like after everything has ended, no wonder it's in the deepest part of the forest."

"I suddenly have a question," Yu Sheng, however, was looking at the coat on Little Red Riding Hood, a logical and practical doubt surfacing in his mind—a question that had been on his mind for quite a while, "You always choose your own clothes in reality, right? Why must it be a red coat? Just to match the 'Little Red Riding Hood' image?"

"To stabilize my own state," Little Red Riding Hood said softly, "After obtaining the red cloak in the Black Forest, it's necessary to ensure not to deviate too far from the 'Little Red Riding Hood' identity."

"Why?"

Little Red Riding Hood sighed: "Just as Fairy Tales don't like adults, they don't like 'disobedient children' either."

Yu Sheng frowned deeply.

"This thing is indeed so strict it's unpleasant," his mood was clearly not good, but he quickly concealed the gloomy expression on his face and glanced worriedly at Little Red Riding Hood, "Are you okay? If this place is too much for you, you can go out first."

"I'm fine," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, "This place just makes me a bit nervous, but to be honest, it's actually better than the pitch-black forest outside."

"Hmm."

Yu Sheng nodded lightly and didn't say anything more.

They inspected the small house, filled with old red cloaks carefully but didn't find the figure of the child named Xiao Xiao.

"Not here?" Yu Sheng frowned and looked at the not-so-large house, becoming increasingly anxious, "Logically, this should have been the most likely place."

"The forest goes deeper," Little Red Riding Hood whispered, "The farther from the light, the darker it is, the deeper it becomes."

Yu Sheng was silent, just looking around once more.

No, he felt the child was here.

Because wolves were prowling in the darkness around, they were still coveting some "fresh food."

A faint "feeling" transmitted through the connection of blood, Yu Sheng furrowed his brow, trying hard to grasp that "perception" not his own, attempting to observe and think as a wolf, as a shadow, and even in the way of the Black Forest.

All of a sudden, it seemed he saw... or knew something.

Little Red Riding Hood was surprised to see Yu Sheng suddenly stride over to a single bed in the corner of the cabin, reaching out to fumble with something on the bed out of thin air.

"What are you doing?" she asked instinctively.

Yu Sheng didn't answer but took out the small knife he carried with him from his pocket.

The knife was very sharp.

With a serious and calm look on his face, he observed and felt something closely, and then without hesitation, slashed the knife at a certain spot.

The blade cut through the air, but the sensation of cutting through flesh and blood came, and the smell of blood suddenly filled the air.

"Aha, found you..." At this moment, Yu Sheng finally revealed a hint of a smile on his face. He was cutting skillfully and precisely, his tone gentle, "You hid yourself well, Wolf Grandmother..."

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