Chapter 120: Forest’s Temptation
The Squirrel appeared visibly shaken, petrified atop the railing as though struck by some unseen force. Its beady, inky-black eyes stared unblinking at Yu Sheng, unmoving for several moments.
Honestly, being stared at so intently by a talking Squirrel was… unsettling.
Yu Sheng couldn’t help but feel curious. What exactly was this Squirrel?
If this Black Forest truly was the “Fairy Tale Otherworld” that Little Red Riding Hood had spoken of—the place where she was cursed—then was this Squirrel an Entity spawned within this Otherworld? Could an Entity truly possess such rich emotion and rational thought? Were the Wolves also Entities from this realm? And within the same Otherworld, could Entities emerge with such wildly opposing roles?
Yu Sheng realized his understanding of the Otherworld was still far too shallow.
“Strange, strange,” the Squirrel finally snapped out of its trance, pacing nervously along the railing, its bushy tail swishing with agitation. “This has never happened! Nothing like this has ever happened! Only Little Red Riding Hood can come here. I’ve never heard of any ‘friend’ coming here… This is too strange. Something unprecedented is happening in the Forest! Something is about to go wrong… I can feel it… How did you get here? How exactly did you get here?”
The Squirrel suddenly leapt onto Yu Sheng’s arm, clutching his sleeve with trembling paws, frantically repeating the same question: “How exactly did you get here?”
“…I don’t know either,” Yu Sheng shook his head.
He withheld the full truth from the Squirrel—now that he suspected even this seemingly intelligent and friendly creature might merely be an Entity generated by the Black Forest, he had to remain cautiously skeptical.
After all, he was still unclear on all the “rules” of this Forest. Who could say whether the Squirrel’s current demeanor was a result of rational thought… or simply the Forest’s simulation.
“You don’t know… Fine, you don’t know,” the Squirrel scurried up onto his shoulder. “Have you ever heard a bedtime story? Dreamed a dream filled with Forests, flowers, and candy? Anything like that?”
Yu Sheng’s heart stirred at once. “Little Red Riding Hood entered this Forest after hearing a bedtime story and dreaming of such things?”
“Always the same, always the same,” the Squirrel fretted, twitchy and restless. “But only children, never adults. Adults aren’t supposed to come here… not supposed to…”
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow. “Why do you say that?”
“How should I know? How should I know? I’m just a TMDSquirrel!” the Squirrel was growing more erratic, its paws rubbing frantically at its face. “No time for chit-chat, the lights are dimming, this path is about to vanish. We need to get to the next safe place… move, hurry, before they catch up…”
As the Squirrel spoke, Yu Sheng noticed that the fantastical “street lamps” lining the forest path were indeed dimming at a pace visible to the naked eye. And as each light faded, the once-clear path grew hazier in its wake, as if the Forest itself were reasserting its dark dominion. Some cold, viscous malice seemed to seep into the trail, and danger from the Black Forest crept in from all sides.
Instinctively, Yu Sheng began to move, speaking swiftly, “Which way? Where are we going?”
“Just follow the path! Keep to the path!” the Squirrel chirped in high-pitched panic. “As long as you follow the trail, you’ll find other lit paths or maybe the glow of a Little House. The Little House can be dangerous sometimes, but it can also let you rest a bit. Just be careful—very careful of things that try to lure you off the path when the lights go dim. That’s the Wolves’ trap…”
Yu Sheng immediately recalled the Squirrel’s earlier warnings—not to be distracted by the pretty flowers and mushrooms.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be tempted by wildflowers or mushrooms by the roadside,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I’m not a child.”
Yet as he spoke, a troubling thought surfaced. What if a real child were trapped in this endless Black Forest? What would happen then? When had Little Red Riding Hood first become ensnared by this place? How old had she been? Had she once strayed from the path, drawn by wildflowers and mushrooms?
After all, according to the Squirrel, being hunted by the Evil Wolf wasn’t a one-time event—children who fall into this Forest are slowly consumed, hunted repeatedly by the Wolf Pack until they fall entirely.
Even an “adult” like him struggled to evade the Wolves. How many times must a frightened child be devoured before they gain the strength Little Red Riding Hood now wields…?
“Hope you don’t get tempted,” the Squirrel muttered. “Things from the dark always find ways to confuse. The Forest… it always finds a way…”
Yu Sheng offered a faint smile, quickening his pace. He hurried down the forest path, where the light was dying and the road growing ever fainter, keeping his peripheral vision sharp for any roadside oddities.
Then, suddenly, he froze.
In the dim shadows by the roadside, Yu Sheng caught a flicker of light. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a brand-new 090 graphics card lying quietly in the grass.
Then, with another glance, he noticed a pristine laptop nestled beside it, along with an Elite Sixth Generation Smart Feedback Game Controller co-branded RGB mod kit complete with a carrying pouch.
Yu Sheng rubbed his eyes and looked again. Hanging from a nearby tree were items like the Expert Power Tool Set Limited Edition Eighteen-Piece Boxed Kit, crates of wild iced red tea, and a Carbon Fiber Fishing Rod Kit…
Across the path, the sound of running water emerged. Yu Sheng turned his head and spotted an open pond. Beside it, a modest stone shelter barely fit to block wind and rain stood with a folding chair, a fishing tackle box, half a crate of beer, a parasol, and a fisherman seemingly packing up to leave.
Squirrel stood dumbfounded on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, its beady black eyes nearly bulging out: “…What the hell is all this?!”
“These are the ‘wildflowers and mushrooms’ of adulthood,” Yu Sheng muttered, shaken to his core. He nearly slapped himself to avert his gaze, then gritted his teeth and pressed on, head down. “Too dangerous. This Forest is way too damn dangerous…”
He walked for who knew how long, assailed by countless cunning, malicious temptation traps flanking the path. Eventually, the illusions ceased—but by then, the roadside lights had faded nearly to nothing, leaving only a few faint, firefly-like glimmers floating in midair, barely outlining the trail.
From deep within the Dense Forest ahead, Yu Sheng saw a faint glow.
“There it is! A resting spot!” Squirrel leapt excitedly on his shoulder, shrieking, “Quick, quick! Hopefully there’s a warm hearth and steaming vegetable soup!”
Yu Sheng unconsciously quickened his pace.
The “street lamps” beside him had gone completely dark, and darkness reclaimed the surroundings. The Forest whispered with malice in the wind, and the distant, indistinct howls of Wolves echoed faintly.
The howls grew nearer. With the path fading behind, the unseen Evil Wolves once more caught the scent of prey. A new snare was silently tightening, encircling the Forest’s unwelcome guest.
But Yu Sheng had arrived at the source of the warm light—he beheld a Little House.
A wooden, timeworn Little House stood quietly in the Forest’s depths.
Warm golden light poured from its windows. In such a bleak and frigid Forest, it radiated an almost unreal sense of comfort.
Yu Sheng reached the Little House’s Door. Upon it hung a torn red cloth, and red strings were wound around the Door frame, window lattices, and under the eaves. Their purpose—protective or decorative—was unclear.
“Hold up, don’t rush in,” Squirrel warned rapidly. “There’s a crack in the Door, see? Peek through it. You should be able to see the bed inside. If there’s no one on it, the Little House is safe to enter. But if ‘Grandmother’ is in there, we keep moving deeper into the Forest.”
Yu Sheng frowned and followed Squirrel’s instructions, peering through the slit in the Door.
Inside, a fire crackled warmly in the hearth. A simple wooden table bore bread, a bouquet, and candles. Deeper in, an empty bed.
“No one’s inside,” Yu Sheng said to Squirrel.
“Fantastic! We can go in,” Squirrel chirped happily. “So lucky—we can rest here for a long time, maybe even until you wake up!”
Yu Sheng nodded. As the Wolves’ howls grew clearer and closer, he pushed open the wooden Door to the Little House.
Instantly, the howls faded away.
Yu Sheng and Squirrel stepped into the Little House and shut the Door behind them.
The light and warmth from the hearth dispersed the Forest’s oppressive dread with astonishing ease. The crackling fire brought an almost surreal sense of peace, easing even Yu Sheng’s long-held tension.
“Relax, take it easy. A Little House without Grandmother is the only place in the Forest where you can truly unwind,” Squirrel observed Yu Sheng’s shifting expression and hopped onto the nearby table. “Just… let’s hope we don’t suddenly hear footsteps or a knock at the Door…”