After arranging the tasks assigned by the Director, Song Cheng returned to his office, lit a cigarette, and watched the window somewhat absent-mindedly.

Layer upon layer, endlessly repeating and piling up like the walls of a maze, extended outside the window towards an infinitely distant place, and a torrential downpour was splashing out from between those labyrinthine walls, flying into the sky, washing over another piece of land above the heavens.

Song Cheng zoned out for a moment, then remembered that today was Friday, and after twelve o'clock, his office floor would move to the observation deck of the "labyrinth" area.

Friday, how nice, something to look forward to—a blissfully pleasant weekend... full of overtime.

Song Cheng smiled wryly at the thought, casually pulled down the Venetian blinds of his office, turned around to the desk, and looked at the several dossiers his subordinates had just delivered here.

These were all related to the "Fairy Tales" of the Exotic Realm, as well as some intelligence on current members of the "Fairy Tale Organization."

Thanks to the recent activity of a "newly emerging Spirit Realm detective organization," several departments of the Special Service Bureau had shifted their focus to the "Fairy Tales."

Putting out his cigarette in the ashtray beside him, Song Cheng calmed his mind and flipped through the paper documents in front of him.

After an indeterminable period, a series of somewhat hurried footsteps came from the corridor outside the door, causing Song Cheng to stop flipping through the documents.

At the instant the knocking sounded, he already spoke: "Come in."

The office door was pushed open, and Ren Wenwen, with her short black hair, appeared at the doorstep: "Captain Song, the capture team sent to South City has returned, having successfully completed the mission."

"Did they catch those two Angel Sect believers?" Song Cheng raised his eyebrows at the news, a smile appearing on his face, "Any bigger fish?"

"It seems... not," Ren Wenwen shook her head, "The capture team had been squatting out there for a few days, and it seemed the two believers were acting alone, or they were standard 'Disconnected Members'. Their superiors distributed the missions and then temporarily cut off that line. Do you want to go over and look at the situation?"

"...Alright, I'll go there now."

...

In the bedroom, Yu Sheng slept in a deep slumber.

An adventure in the Black Forest and a tough battle with Wolf Grandmother had drained too much of his energy. Although a certain inexplicable excitement sustained him, making him feel not so sleepy, as soon as he returned to the bedroom and lay on the bed for not even two minutes, he fell asleep amidst a sudden and irresistible wave of drowsiness.

In a daze, he could sense rustling noises beside him, probably a puppet also planning to take a nap, and he also heard footsteps of someone walking barefoot in the corridor, which must have been Hu Li returning to his room.

Then, he heard the hollow sound of the wind. The wind blew through the forest, swirling the lush foliage, passing through tall ancient trees and dry, fallen trunks, howling emptily, with faint sounds of a baby's cry seemingly mingled within.

Yu Sheng's eyes suddenly opened.

He found himself lying in darkness, with the surroundings vague as if shrouded by an extremely thick curtain. Beyond the curtain, there seemed to be something, but it was impossible to see clearly. In the dark before his eyes, he discerned a large, blurred figure.

The figure wore old Hunter's clothes, with a color-dimmed hood, and beneath the hood was emptiness, no body to be seen.

But Yu Sheng felt clearly that within that void under the hood, a gaze was resting quietly upon him.

He jolted awake, sprang up from the dark, and stared intently at the figure in Hunter's attire.

At the same time, Yu Sheng quickly surveyed his surroundings with the corner of his eye, trying to assess the situation before him.

Had he returned to the Black Forest? It didn't seem like it... There were no such scenes in the Black Forest, the heavy curtains felt more like his own Dream Realm... But he seemed to have heard the hollow wind blowing through the forest just a moment ago, which was very similar to the sensations in the Black Forest... What about the other sound in the wind, was that a baby's cry?

Was this his own Dream Realm? The Black Forest? Or did his "dream" connect to some strange oddity again?

Yu Sheng quickly gathered his wits, and after realizing he couldn't determine exactly what was going on, he focused his attention on the ethereal figure in front of him.

The other party remained still, and it didn't seem intent on suddenly lifting a hunting rifle and firing at him.

"Hello," Yu Sheng ventured, giving a greeting, "Should I call you 'Hunter'?"

The figure remained unresponsive.

"You must be," Yu Sheng felt somewhat awkward, but could only continue to talk to the other party on his own, "We have met in the Black Forest, twice—the second time you even shot at me, of course, I didn't take it to heart, you must have your reasons for doing so, right... Hey bro, can you respond? You're making me feel quite embarrassed."

The "Hunter" showed no reaction, as if he were merely a phantom projection, inexplicably appearing in this dark space like a Dream Realm.

Yu Sheng furrowed his brows tightly, cautiously stepping forward while observing the other's reactions, then carefully circled around the figure.

"Can you not speak?" Yu Sheng asked curiously.

He still received no response.

After a stalemate, Yu Sheng finally gritted his teeth and reached out toward the Hunter's clothes floating in mid-air.

He just wanted to touch the Hunter to see if there would be any reaction, but the next second he found his fingers easily penetrating through the clothing.

Yu Sheng jumped with fright, then seeing that the "Hunter" still just stood there blankly, he relaxed a bit and ventured further by stretching out his hand.

He felt a slight resistance, the illusory yet apparent barrier felt when fingers moved through the "fabric," then he felt a slight chill, like touching a breeze that was three or four degrees cooler than the surrounding environment. Other than that, he experienced no other peculiar sensations.

Yu Sheng stood beside the "Hunter," fully extending his arm into the Hunter's clothes, then suddenly frowned.

Unintentionally, a part of his arm that had reached into the Hunter's clothes overlapped with the sleeve—this scene appeared as if he was "putting on" the sleeve.

The next second, he saw the original still sleeve, which had been floating like an apparition, suddenly move. It moved in accordance with the movements of his own arm, even though the movement was minor, it did not escape his eyes.

He was "putting on" the clothes!

The associative thoughts and insight that emerged instantaneously seemed to impact this Dark Chaos "Dream Realm." Yu Sheng suddenly felt violent shaking from all directions, and amidst this shaking, he discovered that his arm had already been withdrawn unknowingly—he saw the heavy "curtains" around him collapsing, the dark space beginning to disintegrate, and the hollow and formless "Hunter" also started moving, stepping backward with stiff and eerie steps, almost in the blink of an eye diminishing into a spectral shadow.

Yu Sheng instinctively reached out, wanting to stop the eerie "Hunter," but as he barely raised his arm, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice beside his ear—

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

Everything in front of him abruptly dissipated, Yu Sheng was only bewildered for a moment, and then saw he was standing on a boundless, gray wilderness. The murky gray sky shrouded the wasteland, nameless wild grasses carpeted the earth, a familiar hillock stood quietly in the distance, and a gentle breeze passed over the land, rippling through the grass.

A little girl who looked to be about five or six years old stood beside him, curiously looking up with wide eyes.

Yu Sheng was still immersed in the recent interaction with the "Hunter" and his near experience of "putting on" the Hunter's garments. It took a couple of seconds before he abruptly came to his senses: "Xiao Xiao?!"

"Hi Uncle!" Xiao Xiao suddenly smiled and cheerfully greeted Yu Sheng.

"Uh, hi... wait a minute, what are you doing here?!" Yu Sheng looked at the little girl in front of him with a bewildered face, and as soon as his words fell, he immediately looked around, but did not see Little Red Riding Hood. "Just you by yourself?"

"I don't know," Xiao Xiao tilted her head in confusion, "I was taking a nap."

"A nap?"

"Yeah, Teacher Su had us take a nap, we need to sleep at noon, or else we'll be sleepy in the afternoon," Xiao Xiao said, "I fell asleep, then I dreamt of a big grey wolf chasing me, so I ran and ran, until I couldn't run any longer and fell... then I found myself here, and after a while, I saw you come too, but you seemed to be in a daze."

The little girl's words were a bit jumbled but the underlying logic and details were still coherent; Yu Sheng immediately understood what she was talking about, yet his expression became even more confused than before.

Xiao Xiao had dreamed about a "big grey wolf," which, no doubt, was the influence of "Fairy Tales" on her. She must have ended up in the Black Forest during her sleep again, and was discovered by the wolf, but she said as she kept running, she stumbled... and fell into this wilderness? What was that about?

Yu Sheng looked around, knowing full well where this was—this was still his strange "Dream Realm"—but after these several odd experiences, he had already begun to realize something vaguely.

Is this place really a "Dream Realm"?

Yu Sheng recalled the last time he was here and saw Little Red Riding Hood; he remembered that after waking up from here, Little Red Riding Hood was still left on the wasteland. If it hadn't been for waking up in class when the teacher threw a piece of chalk at her, Little Red Riding Hood could have stayed here longer, and this time, Xiao Xiao had arrived on this wasteland even before he entered...

These clues indicated that this wasteland wasn't just some "Dream Realm."

This is a "place," a Consciousness Space, or some other entity—it has always existed, it's just that when one dreams... there's a high chance one can arrive here.

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