Chapter 172: Information
The shimmering door opened out of nowhere, and Yu Sheng stepped out after pushing it open. At once, he saw Foxy standing in the living room, turning her head towards him. On the opposite sofa, three Irenes sat in perfect symmetry.
Yes, now there were three Irenes.
“Benefactor, you’re alive!” Foxy was the first to run up, grabbing Yu Sheng’s hand and shaking it vigorously. “All better now? Not hurting anymore?”
The Demon Fox Maiden had immense strength, and Yu Sheng felt his shoulder creaking under her grip. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Please stop shaking me, my arm’s going to get ripped off…”
Then, the three Irenes on the sofa spoke in unison: “Did you meet that Hunter?”
Yu Sheng rubbed the fur behind Foxy’s ears and tiredly made his way to another sofa to sit down. Hearing Irene’s question, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Sigh… I did.”
“Then why the sigh?” One of the Irenes looked puzzled. “What, negotiations didn’t go well? How did the conversation go?”
Yu Sheng shook his head gloomily. “One shot, dead. Nothing more to say.”
Irene stared blankly for a moment before realizing what Yu Sheng meant, her brow furrowing. “Wait, the Hunter shot you? That doesn’t make sense… Did you show them that photo? Did they shoot you after seeing it? Did they take you for a scammer? Or maybe they just became overwhelmed with grief and hatred?”
“Too many words,” Yu Sheng sighed again, reaching out to poke the Irene who spoke in the head. But his finger didn’t budge; instead, it just hurt his own finger. “I suspect they mistook me for Wolf. Remember when I got tainted by Wolf Granny’s blood? Maybe it got to me a little too much.”
Irene froze, her expression stiffening. “Huh? That’s possible?!”
“Otherwise, I don’t know how to explain it,” Yu Sheng sighed wearily, leaning back on the sofa. Despite his physical injuries fully healing after ‘resurrection,’ the mental exhaustion from the mutual contamination with Wolf Granny and his ‘involvement’ in the Black Forest cycle wasn’t so easily alleviated. “I didn’t do anything extra. I only showed them the photo. But that photo shouldn’t have been the reason for them shooting me…”
At this point, Yu Sheng paused, his brow furrowing as he thought deeply.
The image of the empty, shapeless body lifting the rifle repeatedly flashed in his mind. The empty hood, the invisible but palpable gaze, that rifle…
It felt like there was more to it. Yu Sheng couldn’t shake the sensation that the Hunter’s action of shooting him wasn’t as simple as it seemed. He felt like the Hunter had wanted to communicate with him, and that shot… it almost seemed like their way of doing so.
But Yu Sheng couldn’t understand it.
He furrowed his brow deeper, and at that moment, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Instinctively, he reached into his pocket, suddenly realizing he had forgotten something. He looked down at the screen and saw that Little Red Riding Hood had sent numerous messages and missed calls—over ten messages, and seven or eight missed calls.
Yu Sheng broke into a cold sweat. Irene beside him peeked at the screen and immediately exclaimed, “Uh-oh. You really kicked someone out cold back then, huh? Now they’re coming to collect the debt! Let me tell you, Humans at sixteen or seventeen are the hardest to deal with. Especially those who’ve suffered a lot, care about their face, and were raised to be strong-willed Young Ladies. The moment you kicked them out of the group, you should have known…”
Yu Sheng swiftly shoved the incessantly chatting Irene aside, causing all three Irenes to tumble down like a line of dominoes, erupting in a barrage of bird-like chatter and witty remarks—Grandpa Yu was quickly drowned in a sea of expletives.
Yu Sheng ignored the little doll’s barrage of curses, his face full of worry as he answered the call. Before he could speak, Little Red Riding Hood’s voice came through, full of panic yet unable to conceal her concern. “Why are you only answering now? Where have you been?!”
Yu Sheng awkwardly replied, “…Dead. In the house.”
Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”
Clearly, a certain young Spirit Realm Detective had prepared a mountain of questions and complaints during the time she couldn’t reach him. Yet, Yu Sheng’s simple response left her completely speechless.
After several seconds, her voice, much weaker than before, came through. She hesitated, as if unsure, “Really… dead again?”
Her words were clearly difficult for her to say, and she lowered her voice, almost as if afraid someone nearby might overhear.
“It’s nothing serious. You’ll get used to it,” Yu Sheng comforted her. “What matters is that we successfully killed ‘Wolf Granny’—after you left.”
Little Red Riding Hood suddenly fell silent, and for quite a long while, she didn’t speak.
After a while, a low voice came through the phone on the other end. “It’s useless; it will appear again.”
“Yes, it will appear again,” Yu Sheng replied calmly, his thoughts drifting back to the haunting “illusions” he had witnessed in the maddened state caused by the Wolf poison. He had seen twisted branches, intertwining like blood vessels and nerve networks, within the “other side” of the Black Forest. “But we are weakening it with each encounter. The next time you face it, it may not be as dangerous. More importantly, I’ve successfully found some clues behind the Black Forest,” he continued, his voice steady. “I’ve managed to implant a ‘backdoor’ into the ‘cycle’ system of the Black Forest. Today’s progress has been significant.”
A faint breath was heard from the other end of the line.
Yu Sheng continued, “Now, I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment. “When you dealt with that ‘Hunter’… did they ever shoot at you?”
“The Hunter shot at you?!” Little Red Riding Hood exclaimed.
“You think I died at the end because of nothing? I was shot by them,” Yu Sheng sighed. “One bullet straight through.”
“…The Hunter only shoots at the ‘Wolf,’ usually referring to the Wolf Granny,” Little Red Riding Hood pondered for a moment. “But theoretically, if the Wolf Granny had already been killed by you, the Hunter would disarm. In normal circumstances, their desire to attack isn’t that strong…”
“What if I had been contaminated by the Wolf Granny’s blood at that time?” Yu Sheng pressed on. “Would the Hunter have misjudged me as a Wolf?”
Surprisingly, Little Red Riding Hood’s response was firm and assured. “Of course not.”
“How are you so sure?”
“The Hunter can accurately identify a ‘Wolf.’ They won’t make a mistake just because of blood. I don’t know the specific method they use, but I can tell you with certainty that their accuracy is unmatched.” She spoke resolutely. “I’ve been aimed at by the Hunter countless times. I’ve been devoured by the Wolf Granny, by the Evil Wolf, and I’ve been tainted by their blood. I’m far more contaminated with the Wolf than you are. But the Hunter’s bullets never missed.”
Yu Sheng quietly listened to the information Little Red Riding Hood provided, nodding slowly after a long pause. “I understand. It seems I’ll need to think this over carefully.”
After a few more words were exchanged, they confirmed each other’s safety. Yu Sheng endured a few complaints from the girl before hanging up.
At that moment, the three Irene’s had casually returned to the sofa. One of them leaned forward. “So, what’s the deal? What did the Hunter’s shot mean?”
Yu Sheng shook his head, about to speak, but suddenly felt a tickle in his throat.
He coughed twice, but the itching in his throat didn’t subside—in fact, it grew more unbearable.
His coughing grew violent, as if he might cough up his heart, his lungs, his very windpipe. It was a fit so intense it seemed to tear him apart.
Irene and Foxy immediately leaped forward, startled by the violent coughing. They hurriedly patted his back to help him breathe. Foxy, panicked, even fluffed her tail: “Benefactor, are you alright? Are you allergic to my tail?”
Irene was equally alarmed, desperately trying to pat Yu Sheng’s back as she screamed, “Damn, I think you’re gonna choke to death! What happened… Are you dying again?!”
Yu Sheng coughed uncontrollably, dry heaving several times before he finally managed to stop, wiping his mouth and shaking his head. He raised his hand to gesture Foxy away and brushed Irene’s arm off. His voice was hoarse: “Stop hitting me, you’re gonna knock the life out of me… Don’t you ever use that body of yours to pat me again. You’re beating me with rebar.”
Irene blinked, about to protest, but then she saw Yu Sheng sit up, gasping for air, and slowly open his right hand.
It was what he had expelled from his mouth during the violent coughing fit.
Foxy looked at the small metallic lump with confusion. “What’s this?”
Irene stared, a little dazed. “…A bullet?”
Yu Sheng remained silent, slowly calming his breathing as his gaze fixed firmly on the object in his palm.
It was indeed a bullet—its surface still stained with fresh blood. However, it looked strange—a short, thick bullet with spiral grooves at the tip. It didn’t resemble any regular rifle round or shotgun pellet, nor was it the size of a handgun bullet. The base and waist showed layers of fine, intricate patterns, not just decorative but carrying a sense of mystery, as though they were imbued with some extraordinary power.
As the discomfort in his chest faded, his breathing gradually returned to normal.
Irene clung to Yu Sheng’s hand, raising her face. “So… what is this?”
“It’s the ‘message’ from the Hunter,” Yu Sheng muttered softly.
Irene frowned. “So, how should we deal with this…?”
Before Doll could finish, Yu Sheng had already picked up his phone.
Snap a photo, edit the information, and send it to Bai Li Qing—all in one fluid motion.