Chapter 135: Found
To be honest, the moment Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood stepped toward the dark, lifeless Little House, Squirrel immediately let out a shrill “gah” and fainted, dropping stiffly off Little Red Riding Hood’s shoulder. Before it could hit the ground, Yu Sheng caught it by the tail with a swift, practiced motion.
Yu Sheng had honed such reflexes through constant battles of wits and reflexes with Irene—that little doll was fast enough to bite like lightning.
“You can’t drag me to die with you!” Squirrel’s eyes snapped open, and it thrashed wildly in Yu Sheng’s hand. “I’m just a Squirrel, damn it! This is too much—”
“Silence,” Little Red Riding Hood lowered her voice with such menace that Squirrel immediately fell quiet. “Unless you really do want to die.”
By now, Yu Sheng was only a few meters away from the Little House.
Though the forest was dim, he could see clearly that it was identical to the one in his memory—the Shelter Little House. The same weather-worn wooden walls, dark red roof, narrow wooden Door, tiny windows, and the two rotting, splintered steps leading to the entrance.
But this Little House was completely dark, and its details appeared more decayed, as if it had been abandoned for many years. The red tattered cloth and thread hanging from the Doorframe and under the eaves were more frayed, their color deepened into a disturbing hue.
That deep red looked like dried blood soaked into fabric.
“Have you ever seen a Little House like this?” Yu Sheng turned to look at Little Red Riding Hood.
“Never,” the red-cloaked girl shook her head, then added, “This is also my first time reaching this deep.”
“Does this kind of Little House have any significance?” Yu Sheng looked at the Squirrel in his hand.
But Squirrel didn’t answer. The neurotic little rodent was trembling, eyes filled with terror and aversion. As Yu Sheng got closer to the Little House, Squirrel’s anxiety intensified.
“Get away… Squirrel doesn’t like this place… Squirrel doesn’t like this place…”
Its voice was barely a whisper, claws wriggling in distress.
“Calm down, calm down, we’ll be fine,” Yu Sheng, noticing how off its reaction was, tried to soothe it. “I can shift us out of the Forest at any time, and I can send you to a safe zone. We’ll just do a quick investigation and leave—”
Then he paused, eyes locking onto Squirrel’s. “Do you know something?”
“Know? No! Squirrel knows nothing, Squirrel knows absolutely nothing!” Squirrel writhed wildly, sanity slipping fast. “Never seen this Little House! No one has! You shouldn’t have—”
Abruptly, it stopped, stretching its neck as if listening intently.
“Did you hear that? Did you hear it?”
Squirrel twisted and twitched, its voice erratic.
Yu Sheng frowned. “Hear what?”
In reply, pain shot through his fingers—Squirrel had suddenly bitten down hard. Instinctively, Yu Sheng let go, and the frenzied creature bolted, screaming all the way:
“Run! Run! The Wolf is here! They’re all here! Run with me!”
But Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood didn’t move. They stood in stunned silence as Squirrel vanished into the dark, its shrieks fading into the shadows.
“It actually ran off…” Little Red Riding Hood muttered in disbelief, clearly shocked.
“At least it remembered to tell us to run,” Yu Sheng murmured, still staring at the silent Little House. “It didn’t react that badly when we first saw it. It only freaked out as we got closer… Any ideas?”
“None. That Squirrel is mysterious and neurotic. I might not know it much better than you do,” Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, now watching the black void of the windows with wary eyes. She took a quiet breath. “Let’s go in.”
Despite everything, she showed no sign of retreat.
“I’ll go first,” Yu Sheng stepped ahead. “Given how that Squirrel reacted, this Little House might be more dangerous and twisted than the rest of the Black Forest. You’re still unstable—don’t rush.”
As he spoke, his hand reached for the Door handle.
Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth as if to argue, then closed it again and nodded.
Yu Sheng took a deep breath, calming himself, all the while tuning into the changes in the surrounding aura. Slowly, he pushed on the wooden Door that looked far from sturdy.
Creak—with barely a sound, the wooden Door swung open with ease.
But the stench of decay and the swirling dust Yu Sheng had imagined did not greet him.
He lingered at the threshold for a couple of seconds, confirming that the interior was still and the Forest showed no signs of abnormality, before cautiously peeking inside.
His vision, sharper and more powerful than that of ordinary people, allowed him to discern the contents of the Cozy Little House despite the gloom.
Little Red Riding Hood, seeing Yu Sheng merely glance inside then recoil, stood at the Door with a stunned and complicated expression.
She stepped forward instinctively. “Inside…”
Yu Sheng blinked, snapping out of his daze. He hesitated briefly at the sight of the red-clad girl before giving a slight nod after weighing his thoughts. “Come in with me. See for yourself.”
They entered the Cozy Little House.
In the darkness, Little Red Riding Hood finally understood what Yu Sheng had seen.
It was the Red Cloak.
Hung on the walls, scattered across the floor, draping from the ceiling—numerous Red Cloaks.
How many? A dozen? Several dozen? Perhaps even more?
In the dimness, the Red Cloaks appeared soaked in blood. Torn and ragged, some reduced to unrecognizable shreds of cloth, they lay strewn chaotically across the floor, making it impossible to count their number at a glance.
The creaking of the rotting floorboards underfoot shattered the eerie silence. Yu Sheng stepped forward and glanced back at Little Red Riding Hood, who still stood frozen at the Door.
“Come on. Stay close to me.”
Little Red Riding Hood nodded slowly, trailing after Yu Sheng. Unconsciously, she drew nearer to him, and after a moment, spoke softly: “This place…”
“Maybe this explains why that Squirrel had such a strong reaction,” Yu Sheng sighed and turned to the girl beside him. “Don’t be afraid.”
“I… Well, I am a little scared, but it’s manageable,” she replied, attempting a forced smile but failing. She stepped carefully, avoiding a cloak on the floor, her eyes drifting to the tattered fabrics hanging on the walls. Tugging her own coat instinctively, she murmured, “This… must be what it looks like after everything ends. No wonder it’s buried in the deepest part of the Black Forest.”
“I suddenly have a question,” Yu Sheng said, eyes on her coat. A long-standing curiosity surfaced in his mind. “You always pick your outfit in the real world, right? Why insist on a red coat? Just to match the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ image?”
“To stabilize myself,” she replied softly. “After receiving the Red Cloak in the Black Forest, I have to stay close to the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ persona.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “Just like the Fairy Tale doesn’t like adults, it also dislikes ‘disobedient children.'”
Yu Sheng frowned deeply.
“This thing really is strict to a maddening degree,” he muttered. His tone darkened, but he quickly restrained his displeasure and cast a concerned glance her way. “Are you okay? If this place is too much, you can leave.”
“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just a bit nerve-wracking. Honestly, it feels safer than the pitch-dark Forest outside.”
“Alright.”
Yu Sheng nodded gently and said no more.
Cautiously, they investigated the Cozy Little House draped in ruined Red Cloaks, but there was no sign of the girl named Xiao Xiao.
“Not here?” Yu Sheng muttered, frowning at the modestly sized room. A restless urgency was beginning to creep in. “This should’ve been the most likely place.”
“The Forest has deeper parts,” Little Red Riding Hood murmured. “The farther from the light, the deeper it goes.”
Yu Sheng didn’t answer. He scanned the surroundings again.
No… the child was here.
Because the Wolf Pack prowled in the surrounding darkness, still yearning for something “fresh.”
A faint “sense” born of a blood-forged link began to echo in Yu Sheng. He furrowed his brow and strained to grasp the foreign perception, attempting to see and think like the Wolves, like shadows, like the Black Forest itself.
And suddenly, he saw—or rather, knew.
Little Red Riding Hood watched in surprise as Yu Sheng strode decisively toward the lone bed in the house’s corner, his hands groping across the bedding.
“What are you doing?” she blurted.
Yu Sheng didn’t respond. Instead, he retrieved his small, ever-present knife.
The blade gleamed—sharp and precise.
With a calm, focused expression, he observed, sensed, then without hesitation, drew the knife across a specific spot.
Though it sliced only air, the resistance felt like flesh, and suddenly the scent of blood filled the room.
“Ah… found you,” Yu Sheng murmured, a faint smile curving his lips as he began a delicate and precise cut. His voice was almost gentle. “Hiding yourself quite well, weren’t you, Wolf Granny…”