Chapter 119: The Path
The Wolf had arrived.
Yet Yu Sheng could not lay eyes upon its true form—behind him, all he could hear were the constant snaps of twigs beneath heavy paws, the rustling of foliage brushed aside by something unseen. Muffled whimpers crept through the Dense Forest, and at times, he could even catch the stench of decay and blood in the air—a putrid, coppery rot. A chill aura swept through the woods, as if winter itself was on the prowl, stripping life and warmth from everything it touched.
The howls of the Wolf Pack rose again—waves of sound echoing from every tree, every bramble, every shadow. The pack had surrounded him, a noose of hunger and death, drawing ever tighter.
“Run! Don’t stop! Run!”
The Squirrel had scrambled up from Yu Sheng’s neck to perch on his head, its tiny claws flailing forward in urgent motion as it let out shrill cries.
“Head for the path! Get to the light! Get to the place the Wolves dare not go!”
Against instinct, Yu Sheng dared a glance behind him. But the Dense Forest was only a blur of shadows, layers upon layers of gloom. Something was definitely hunting him in the dim underbrush—many somethings—but not a single one could be clearly seen.
Still, their presence pressed close, and he began to feel it: the huff of fetid breath, as though gaping maws brushed past him, jaws slick with blood.
“Where are the Wolves?” he shouted into the night. “I can’t see them!”
“Not seeing them is a good thing!” screeched the Squirrel. “If you see them, that means they’ve caught up! And if they catch up, they never stop—not until you collapse from exhaustion, until you become a weary Adult… Wait—WAIT! You are an Adult!”
The Squirrel froze mid-scream, staring down at Yu Sheng in shock, then seized a handful of his hair in panic.
“Then how the hell did you even get in here?!”
Yu Sheng didn’t answer. His eyes had just caught the sight of slashes across his forearm—bleeding, claw-like wounds etched into his flesh.
Invisible talons had torn him.
Now, the shadows were beginning to take shape. Within the trees, lean figures moved—endless, emaciated Predators, hollow with hunger.
He lunged forward, feet hammering against the carpet of leaves and rotting soil, following the Squirrel’s frantic directions.
He wasn’t afraid to die, nor of being trapped here—but he still didn’t understand what this place truly was. He didn’t yet grasp what had happened to Little Red Riding Hood—he couldn’t just be devoured by Wolves without knowing why.
Then, a faint glimmer caught the edge of his vision.
Deep in the Dense Forest, where darkness reigned, a patch of warm light had suddenly appeared. Illuminated by that glow was a narrow, winding path.
“RUN RUN RUN! That’s it—it’s right there! Hah! You run faster than most of the kids!” the Squirrel squealed. “Good, good! Adults always stomp like elephants—but you! You run like the day they first entered! They can’t catch you now—they CAN’T!”
Amidst the Squirrel’s manic shrieking, Yu Sheng burst from the oppressive shadows of the Forest into the golden light. And the instant the glow touched his body, the icy presence behind him evaporated like mist in the sun.
The Wolves were gone—vanished beside the woodland path.
Panting, Yu Sheng leaned against a nearby stump. Only after a long moment did he raise his head to examine the path cutting through the Dense Forest.
It was suddenly just there—earthen, studded with stones, winding endlessly between the towering trees. Along its edges stood strange lights: glowing orbs hanging from bent branches, with no wires and no flames, but casting a soft radiance over the trail.
The Squirrel leapt from his head and bounced to the wooden rail at the path’s side. Perching, it exhaled with exaggerated relief.
“Whew—almost ended up someone’s dinner.”
“Those things chasing Little Red Riding Hood—were those the Wolves?” Yu Sheng, now catching his breath, stepped toward the Squirrel, his tone firm. “And was the biggest, strongest one—the Evil Wolf—among them?”
“Evil Wolf? Don’t mention the Evil Wolf!” The Squirrel flinched violently, as if the name itself were poison. It stretched its tiny limbs, trying to cover Yu Sheng’s mouth in terror.
“The Hunter hasn’t shown up yet—don’t draw the worst one here! You don’t even have a gun—it’ll gulp you down in one bite! One bite!”
Yu Sheng narrowed his eyes. “Where is this, really? I know it’s the Forest, but… is this Little Red Riding Hood’s dream? Or is this… some kind of Otherworld?”
“This is the Forest. Yes, the Forest. I don’t understand what you mean by ‘dream’—Little Red Riding Hood hasn’t even started dreaming yet. Good children sleep at night, and she’s still out there, doing her thing… What was it again? Oh, right, she said she was going to school,” muttered the Squirrel, shuffling along the wooden railing in a rambling monologue.
Its speech was fragmented, half like a monologue and half like a riddle, yet Yu Sheng had little trouble piecing together its meaning. He quickly deduced the connection between this place and Little Red Riding Hood.
This was no ordinary dream. This was something akin to the Otherworld—a realm with substance, preexisting and ever-present. It did not simply emerge when Little Red Riding Hood slept; rather, she fell into it once slumber claimed her.
And in this place, she was endlessly hunted by the Wolf Pack.
A frown creased Yu Sheng’s brow. “How do you completely escape the pursuit of the Wolves?”
“Escape? What are you thinking!” The Squirrel scratched its face with its tiny paw, casting a glance at Yu Sheng as though he were an utter fool. “The Wolves don’t give up, and the Forest has no end. You run—always run. From one safe path to another, into a warm Little House, and before that house turns dark, you run again. As long as your legs can move, the Forest will always have somewhere to hide—just barely. And that’s enough… enough to survive…”
So these were the rules of survival within this accursed Forest?
Yu Sheng processed it swiftly, then steadied his thoughts. “This Forest… is it the result of the Fairy Tale Organization’s curse? Do you know about the Fairytale Curse?”
He had no clue what this Squirrel truly was, nor why a sentient creature existed within a realm as hostile as this shadowed Forest, but the fact it had aided him at all suggested it wasn’t allied with the same malicious force as the one Little Red Riding Hood had described.
The Squirrel blinked, then paced two steps along the railing. “How would I know? I’m just a TMD Squirrel.”
Then it lifted its paw again, ruffling its own face fur with a flair of pride. “A TMD adorably bubbling Squirrel, thank you very much.”
Yu Sheng stared in mute disbelief.
The Squirrel suddenly reached into its own fur and pulled out a thin stick of some sort. Clamping it between its teeth, it rubbed its fluffy tail against the railing, sparking a flickering flame at the tip. The stick ignited, and it took a long, contented drag before exhaling a misty plume of smoke.
“Want a puff?” it asked, holding the stick up with its paw. “Takes the edge off. You gotta pinch it with your clawtips, though.”
Yu Sheng’s expression only deepened into blankness.
“Oh, not interested? Good—bad habit, that. Even if you’re an adult, it ain’t good,” the Squirrel said, sticking the cigarette back in its mouth. “Ugh, still can’t get used to this. You’re the first adult I’ve ever seen here—usually the first one to arrive is always a little girl. They cry a lot. Most don’t even survive their first hunt. The Wolves just swallow them whole.”
“To be honest, I’m TMD a little nervous now. You’ve got this Squirrel carrying a burden no Squirrel should ever carry… puff-puff—hiss, exhale—”
Yu Sheng had no idea how to respond. Honestly, the Squirrel was a bit much for him.
He had companions like a foul-mouthed Living Doll, a Nine Tailed Demon Fox who could launch her tail like a missile, and even resided in a building hidden from normal perception—Wutong Road No. 66. But a chain-smoking, cursing Squirrel? That was not something he’d ever mentally prepared for.
“Why’re you silent?” The Squirrel finished off the last stub of the cigarette, tossed the still-smoldering tip into its mouth, and chewed it up with audible crunches. Then it looked up at Yu Sheng. “Oh, shocked stiff? That’s normal. Even adults freeze up in the Forest. You’ll get used to it with time—the hunts, the feeding.”
“Eventually, you’ll bond with some of the Wolves. You’ll forge a link with the whole Forest. When you’re the lost traveler, the hungry Wolf, the Forest itself, the Hunter, and even the Grandmother… only then will you truly belong.
“And then, you’ll earn a Red Cloak of your own. You’ll run the Forest every night. Very fulfilling stuff. But I’m curious—what kind of Cloak will you get? You’re not a kid. And you’re a guy…”
“I’m not the new Little Red Riding Hood,” Yu Sheng interrupted firmly, his expression dead serious. “I’m her friend.”
The Squirrel froze. It stared at Yu Sheng like it was trying to detect even the slightest trace of a lie. A long silence followed, and then it slowly rose to stand on its hind legs. Its bushy tail swept restlessly across the railing behind it.
“You TMD serious? You better not be lying to a Squirrel as bubblingly cute as me!”
“I’m serious.”