A wolf's howl?

Yu Sheng's first reaction was one of confusion, but immediately after, he associated that howl with the events he had recently experienced. He had no doubts about whether he was hallucinating—because in less than a few seconds, another unsettling howl reached him from afar, even clearer than the last one.

Moreover, he felt that in a dream, there could be no such thing as "hallucination."

Yu Sheng furrowed his brow and promptly headed in the direction of the howl—in this lucid Dream Realm, he took only a few steps, and with a thought, he crossed vast distances in the blink of an eye, arriving at the place he sensed something amiss.

He saw the howling wolf.

It was stiff and ghostly, floating above the grass, flickering every few seconds like a malfunctioning projected image. With each flicker, the stiff shadow shifted position, forming a sense of a badly lagging surveillance feed that refreshed the target's image in a matter of seconds.

Yu Sheng watched the projection that appeared in his dream, curiously and astonished. It flickered again, and in the next "refresh," the wolf turned its head. It seemed to have noticed the approach of an uninvited guest, casting its gaze.

But it was just a "shadow," and other than casting its gaze, the wolf didn't seem capable of much else.

The initial tension in Yu Sheng's heart gradually subsided, and he started to watch the "wolf", curiously. For some reason, he felt that its eyes looked... familiar.

Then suddenly, a bizarre thought arose—this wolf could not be eaten.

Because there was humanity in its eyes.

Humanity?

Yu Sheng abruptly shuddered, recalling the source of that familiar feeling, and then hesitantly reached out to touch the projection floating above the grass.

He felt a faint coldness on his fingertips, as if he had touched a layer of ethereal mist. The wolf continued to gaze quietly at him, but then in the next flicker, it disappeared.

At that moment, Yu Sheng's mind was flooded with many disordered, fragmented memories that weren't his own.

He saw yellowed, fading scenes and a string of flashback scenes. He saw a blurred shadow standing among a group of similarly blurred figures; they were quietly surrounding a small bed as if conducting a silent farewell.

The next second, he saw the shadow arguing with someone taller, a figure whose features he couldn't make out. But Yu Sheng could feel a strange warmth and nostalgia from the "memory." It seemed to be a very important person—but now, the owner of the memory was arguing with her, the argument came in fits and starts:

"...Why go to school! You won't grow up anyway!"

"...Like an ordinary child...go to school, make friends, study, play, worry, be happy...even if it's short, you have to experience it..."

In the brief memory fragment, Yu Sheng subconsciously took a few steps forward, but suddenly, new images emerged before him.

He saw the figure standing together with many others in a circle, as if they were clapping under someone's lead, with voices coming from the side: "…Welcome Teacher Su, she will teach your younger brothers and sisters… Mr. Zhang is sick, he won't come anymore..."

All the figures vanished, and the figure stood alone amidst a thicket, looking even smaller. Suddenly, an even blurrier wolf appeared before her; the wolf bowed its head and let out a muffled whimper—the small figure bent down, reaching out her hand, looking scared and nervous but still mustering the courage to pat the wolf's head: "You must... listen from now on..."

The wolf disappeared, and Yu Sheng saw the figure walking alone on the Path.

Now she appeared even smaller, as tiny as a five or six-year-old child. She walked down the Path, crying as she walked, with dim street lights flickering on both sides. Beyond the light of the street lamps lay the dark, shadow-filled thickets, intermittent howls and pervasive malice filled in the Black Forest as if countless famished predators were awaiting their prey.

The small figure suddenly stopped on the Path, looking up beyond the darkness at something that seemed to seize her attention.

Don't go over there—

The thought suddenly arose in Yu Sheng's mind, but the next second, he watched the figure leave the Path without hesitation, heading straight into the depths of the malicious Black Forest.

Yu Sheng knew this was just a past phantom, and one that didn't belong to him, but he still instinctively tried to stop it—he nearly instantly came beside the small figure, reaching out to block her path, yet the figure passed right through Yu Sheng, continuing towards the darkness.

Yu Sheng turned his head in astonishment, watching her run faster and faster, throwing herself towards the two blurred phantoms.

"Mommy, Daddy!"

Yu Sheng stood rooted to the spot.

He finally knew what Little Red Riding Hood had seen on the Path years ago.

Perhaps no matter how many times it happened, the six-year-old would throw herself into that patch of darkness without any hesitation.

Every child would.

Chewing sounds emanated from the darkness, and a vivid red spread among the shadows as if it were a blinding red cloak.

All the illusions faded away, whether it was the small figure or the boundless dark forest, all disappeared into a hollow wind.

Yu Sheng instinctively took two steps back and saw himself standing on that gray and endless wasteland again, but this time, the wasteland was without the silhouette of the ethereal, flickering wolf, only a girl wearing a red coat, standing there somewhat bewildered not far away.

Yu Sheng paused for a moment, took a step towards her, and the other party seemed to "wake up" suddenly, hesitantly turning her head to look this way.

After a while, the girl in red suddenly spoke: "Did you see everything?"

Yu Sheng was stunned for a second. He thought what he saw was just another illusion, not expecting that she was actually "here." He quickly responded, nodding slightly: "I didn't mean to."

"Ah..." Little Red Riding Hood vigorously scratched her hair, looking both helpless and annoyed, "This is why you adults love to pry into others' privacy! What are you so curious about anyway!"

"I said it wasn't on purpose..." Yu Sheng scratched his cheek, at a loss for how to alleviate this embarrassment, "And I wasn't the one who brought you here either."

Little Red Riding Hood abruptly stopped scratching her hair and lifted her head slightly, peeking through her bangs with a gaze not particularly intimidating: "I was about to ask! Where is this?"

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment: "Erm, it's my Dream Realm."

The moment he said this, he felt the persuasiveness of his latter statement dissipate.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately widened her eyes: "Then you still say it wasn't on purpose!"

"It's more of an instinct..." Yu Sheng explained, lacking confidence, "Hu Li has been here before too, it seems that anyone who establishes a blood connection with me might fall in here, but I don't know the principle behind it."

Little Red Riding Hood looked at him skeptically, scrutinizing Yu Sheng several times as if to confirm whether he was lying or not, before finally double-checking: "Really?"

Yu Sheng gave a particularly sincere nod, his expression unwavering.

Finally, the girl in red seemed to reluctantly take him at his word, temporarily appearing not to pursue the matter further.

But just a few seconds later, she suddenly turned her head: "Hey, I'm curious, who normally dreams like this! You have a fixed space that can pull people in, and once inside, they can talk!"

"I don't know either," Yu Sheng appeared even more helpless than Little Red Riding Hood, "You're not unaware of my situation, I can't even figure out my own matters..."

Little Red Riding Hood stared at him for a good while, then finally waved her hand, sighing and turning away to sit on the grass.

Yu Sheng also walked over and, after a moment's hesitation, sat down beside her.

"Why are you dreaming in broad daylight?" he asked curiously.

"Chemistry class, fell asleep," the girl said in a muffled voice.

Then, after two seconds, she suddenly added, "I don't usually sleep in class, and I've been getting little sleep lately, but for some reason, I felt especially tired today. I zoned out and fell asleep."

"Sleeping during class is a normal part of student life," Yu Sheng babbled, not even sure what he was saying, "At your age, growing bodies need more sleep."

"I'm almost eighteen, not eight," Little Red Riding Hood looked up and glanced at him, her eyes beneath her bangs seemingly carrying a smile, "...Hey, seriously, was I really dumb when I was younger? I've never actually seen what my parents look like, but back then, I felt like I had met them..."

Yu Sheng remained quiet, and after a while, he suddenly said calmly, "I'm planning to kill the Black Forest and whatever's behind the Black Forest."

"...You're suddenly on to something?"

"I went to the Special Service Bureau today and found some clues," Yu Sheng said slowly, "The first step is to find the 'Hunter' within the Black Forest... they might know the way to the back of the forest."

"Why do you say that?"

"The 'Hunter' could be one of the Deep Dive Team members from seventy years ago who entered the depths of the Fairy Tales and never returned, or it could be all of them."

Little Red Riding Hood suddenly became stunned, keeping her gaze fixed on Yu Sheng for a long time before finally blinking.

But just as she was about to say something, Yu Sheng spoke up first, interrupting her: "It's enough that you know. Don't make contact with the 'Hunter' frivolously."

"Why?"

"...They have been in the Black Forest for too long."

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