Chapter 125: Dinner
After sending the message, Yu Sheng descended the stairs, occupying himself with dinner preparations while patiently awaiting a response—Little Red Riding Hood was always online. Even if she were attending class, her Wolf would carry her phone, ever ready to receive messages.
Yet, there was no reply for quite some time.
Yu Sheng wasn’t concerned. That Young Lady would reply eventually.
His hands moved with practiced ease—he finished frying the meat sauce and, while waiting for the water to boil, sliced a large plate of cucumber strips. Fried Sauce Noodles were quick and simple to make, and Miss Foxy adored them.
The kitchen Door creaked open gently. A pair of fluffy, snowy-white ears peeked in first, twitching keenly in the air. Yu Sheng turned and saw the Fox Girl, nose raised, sniffing intently, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
“Almost done. Fried Sauce Noodles tonight,” Yu Sheng said casually, casting a glance at the Nine Tailed Fox behind her—her tails were flaring about so wildly they nearly blurred into afterimages. “Hungry?”
Even as he asked, he couldn’t help his curiosity—how in the world did this Young Lady manage to fling nine tails in all directions without them tangling into a knot?
Foxy nodded with eager vigor, her tails transforming into a silver-white backdrop that shimmered like a curtain.
From the dining hall, Irene’s voice cried out faintly, “What the hell? Is it windy in here?!”
Yu Sheng scooped a small bowl of the fried meat sauce, grabbed a cucumber stick, and handed it to the glittering-eyed Demon Fox Maiden. “Take this and eat—don’t bother returning the bowl later. Just use it for your rice.”
Foxy beamed and trotted out, content with her little feast.
At nearly the same moment, Yu Sheng felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The sweet chime of a call rang out.
As expected, the screen flashed the name: Little Red Riding Hood. She hadn’t texted—she’d gone straight to calling.
Yu Sheng answered. The moment the phone touched his ear, the girl’s voice burst through—urgent and tight with anxiety.
“I wrote out a long message, but calling is faster. What the hell’s going on?! Were you serious about what you said?!”
“You know I couldn’t make that stuff up,” Yu Sheng interrupted calmly, already anticipating her reaction. “Relax and listen. Remember what happened back in the Museum? A Shadow Wolf emerged from your shadow and bit me. You remember that, right?”
There was a brief pause from the other end before she replied, “Yes. Of course I remember.”
“Well, it got a taste of my blood—actually swallowed some,” Yu Sheng said, tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear while tossing noodles into the boiling water. As he cleaned the cutting board and blade, he added, “It probably wasn’t much, and the absorption was indirect. So you haven’t felt any effects yet. But from experience… it’s only a matter of time before it kicks in. For now, though, it looks like I’ve established a connection to your ‘curse’—or more accurately…”
He paused briefly in thought. “More accurately, I’ve connected with the part of you that belongs to the Wolf.”
Heavy breathing echoed from the phone. Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t speaking, but Yu Sheng could tell she was processing everything—her experience as a Spirit Realm Detective would help, but clearly, the truth was overwhelming.
“You see,” Yu Sheng stirred the noodles, waiting by the stove, “you did ‘take a bite’ in the end—just not the way anyone expected. Don’t panic. There won’t be any harm. Before anything else, though… I’d like to talk to you about that Black Forest.”
She went quiet for a while before replying, voice laced with resigned helplessness. “What do you want to know?”
“That Squirrel—do you know what it really is?”
“I… don’t know. It was already there when I first fell into the Forest, but I was disoriented back then. I don’t remember how it appeared,” she said slowly. “It told me a lot about the Black Forest. From what I can tell, it’s probably a unique Entity created within the forest—a different manifestation of the ‘Fairy Tale’ rules.”
She paused again, organizing her thoughts before continuing. “There must be villains who hurt children… but also friends who help them. That’s what a Fairy Tale is, you understand?”
“Yeah, makes sense. I didn’t stay in the Black Forest for long, but I could sense its patterns,” Yu Sheng replied, though hesitation crept into his voice. “By the way… the Squirrel got eaten by the Wolf. Things were chaotic, I couldn’t stop it. If it’s a generated Entity, is that… okay?”
“No need to worry. It’s been eaten by the Wolf many times,” Little Red Riding Hood said, confirming his guess. “I’ve been caught by the Wolf several times myself—the Squirrel always comes back near the path.”
Yu Sheng grunted in acknowledgment. Then, after a brief moment of contemplation, he asked bluntly, “Tell me the truth—are you about to have a major ‘incident’?”
“…The Squirrel even told you that?”
“Its words were a mess, but the meaning was clear enough,” Yu Sheng turned off the stove, rinsed the noodles with cold water, then leaned against the counter. “The Black Forest is slowly consuming you. And you’re not the first Little Red Riding Hood… is this the Fairytale Curse you mentioned? What happens next? Are the others from the Fairy Tale Organization facing the same thing?”
Little Red Riding Hood didn’t respond at once.
But Yu Sheng didn’t mind. After waiting calmly for a few seconds, he asked, “How much time do you have left?”
She remained silent, but this time, she finally replied in a quiet voice, “…Next month is my eighteenth birthday.”
Yu Sheng inhaled lightly.
The answer stunned him a little—he had considered that her condition might not be good, but he hadn’t expected it to be this dire.
“I might not die. Dr. Lin said mine is the best case scenario,” Little Red Riding Hood quickly added. “The odds of me surviving adulthood are very high. And I’ve been hiding well—the number of times I’ve been caught by the Wolf…”
“The Squirrel said the real danger isn’t being caught by a Wolf,” Yu Sheng interrupted, his expression and tone suddenly sharpening, “It’s becoming one of the Wolf Pack. We need to meet. I need to know everything about that Black Forest—and not just the Forest, but the whole ‘Fairy Tale.’ If I’m right, ‘Fairy Tale’ includes more than just that one cursed Forest, doesn’t it?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. After a few moments, the girl’s voice came through again, soft and curious: “Why do you care so much? This didn’t have anything to do with you at the start… I don’t mean that in a bad way, I’m just curious.”
Yu Sheng thought for a moment. “We’re kind of friends, aren’t we?”
“We’ve only known each other a few days. If you don’t count that time in the Valley, we’ve only acted together once,” she said seriously. “That’s hardly what you’d call a connection—certainly not one worth all this concern.”
“…Don’t be so stiff and proper for someone your age. I’m a grown man and I live more freely than you,” Yu Sheng replied casually. “I’ve always done what I felt like doing—no need for a hundred reasons. And besides, you’ve helped me a lot. Not to mention, the Wolf from your shadow jumped out and bit me—so now I’m tangled up with that Black Forest too. What choice do I have? It’s not like I can run.”
That last sentence, clearly, was persuasive.
The girl on the other end of the line sighed after a pause. “You’ve got a point. Fine then—let’s meet tomorrow. I’ll send you an address. It’s our home… you can come meet us.”
“Alright.”
The call ended.
Yu Sheng stood by the stove, lost in thought for a few seconds, then sighed and picked up a stainless steel basin filled with noodles.
“Dinner’s ready—Foxy, come help carry stuff.”
“Coming!”
Dinner time had arrived.
Little Red Riding Hood set her phone down and stood dazed for a moment, until someone tapped her shoulder from behind.
“What are you spacing out for?” said a short girl with ear-length hair. “Dinner’s on—come help.”
Snapping out of it, Little Red Riding Hood raised her head and looked toward the long dining table.
The youngest of the Cursed Children were already lined up and seated across one side. The older ones were busy helping to serve food. At the end of the long table, beside the steaming soup pot, Cinderella and Dorothy were ladling broth with gentle smiles, keeping an eye out for any overly mischievous younger brothers or sisters trying to crawl under the table.
Night had already fallen, and as per protocol, the Council’s hired workers had left before sundown—this was the peak activity time for “Fairy Tale.” Though trained, the “employees” sent here weren’t required to risk staying inside the Orphanage after dark unless absolutely necessary.
Little Red Riding Hood let out a breath, stepped forward to correct how the youngest children were holding their chopsticks, all while keeping a sharp eye on a particularly tense, silent girl seated at the far end of the table.
She looked about six or seven, with delicate features and slightly wavy black hair. Dressed in a worn-out old dress, she sat stiffly among a group of similarly aged children, lips pressed tight, wary and guarded.
Little Red Riding Hood hadn’t gone to the Academy that afternoon—she had taken half a day off.
After all, today a new child had arrived at their home, and as their Guardian, it was her duty to oversee the welcoming ceremony.