Chapter 160: Past Echoes
A Wolf’s howl?
Yu Sheng’s first reaction was confusion. But that solitary howl immediately connected with recent events in his memory. He didn’t suspect it was a hallucination—because mere seconds later, another chilling howl came from the distance, clearer than the last.
And besides, he knew that “hallucinations” didn’t really exist in dreams.
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow and moved toward the source of the howl. In this lucid dream, he crossed vast distances with a thought, and in the blink of an eye, arrived at the place that had set off his internal alarm.
There, he saw the howling Wolf.
It was a rigid, spectral shadow floating above the meadow, flickering every few seconds like a faulty projection. With every flicker, the shadow shifted postures—like a heavily lagging surveillance feed refreshing its footage every few seconds.
Yu Sheng stared in stunned curiosity at this phantom in his dream. As it flickered again, the Wolf turned its head in the newly rendered pose. It seemed to notice the intruder’s presence and cast its gaze in his direction.
But it was only a shadow. Other than casting that glance, it made no further move.
The initial tension in Yu Sheng’s heart slowly faded, replaced by growing curiosity. He studied the Wolf with increasing attention, struck by a strange familiarity in its eyes.
And then, a bizarre thought surfaced: [This Wolf… cannot be eaten.]
Because there was something human in its eyes.
Humanity?
Yu Sheng shuddered as the sense of familiarity clicked into place. Tentatively, he reached out a hand to touch the phantom hovering above the grass.
A faint chill kissed his fingertips, like touching a veil of mist. The Wolf still watched him quietly—but in the next flicker, it vanished.
And then Yu Sheng’s mind was suddenly flooded with a storm of broken, chaotic memory fragments—not his own.
He saw faded, yellowed scenes. A cascade of flashbacks. A vague silhouette standing among other blurred figures, all surrounding a tiny bed, like a solemn farewell without words.
Then the silhouette appeared again—arguing with a taller figure. Though their face was unclear, Yu Sheng felt an inexplicable warmth and longing from the memory. This person must have been important. The snippets of their argument echoed:
“…Why go to the Academy? She won’t grow up anyway!”
“…She should still live like any other child… go to the Academy, make friends, study, play, worry, be happy… even if it’s short, it still must be lived…”
Yu Sheng instinctively took a few steps forward, swept up in the memory. New scenes bloomed before him.
The silhouette stood among others again, this time in a circle, all clapping as if celebrating something. A voice rang out from nearby: “…Welcome, Teacher Su. She’ll be teaching the Younger Sisters from now on… Teacher Zhang is sick and won’t be coming back…”
Then, all the shadows vanished. The silhouette stood alone in a thicket, appearing smaller than before. Suddenly, an even blurrier Wolf appeared before her. It lowered its head and whimpered.
The small figure bent down, clearly nervous and afraid, but still gathered courage and patted the Wolf’s head: “You have to behave from now on…”
The Wolf disappeared. The girl walked down a lonely path.
Now, she seemed even smaller—like a child of merely five or six. She walked the path crying. Dim streetlamps flickered on either side, casting long shadows. Beyond the lights loomed the Black Forest, full of malicious howls and invisible eyes—Predators lurking in the dark, ravenous and waiting.
The small figure stopped on the path and looked up toward the darkness. Something in the abyss drew her gaze.
[Don’t go—]
Yu Sheng’s mind screamed. But in the next moment, he watched her step off the path, without hesitation, into the malice-infested depths of the Black Forest.
He knew this was but a vision from someone else’s past. And yet, instinctively, he tried to stop it. In an instant, he appeared beside the child and threw out a hand to block her path.
But she walked straight through him, unfazed, and vanished into the darkness beyond.
Yu Sheng turned in stunned confusion, only to see her sprinting ever faster toward two indistinct, blurry figures.
“Father! Mother!”
Yu Sheng stood frozen.
At last, he understood what that six-year-old Little Red Riding Hood had seen all those years ago on that woodland path.
Perhaps, no matter how many times she was given the chance to choose, the six-year-old would always, without hesitation, leap into the shadows.
Every child would.
A grotesque chewing echoed from the darkness. Crimson began to seep through the shade, as if a vivid Red Cloak had been unfurled within.
All the illusions vanished—the small figure, the boundless Black Forest—all erased by a void-sweeping wind.
Yu Sheng instinctively took two steps back. When he looked again, he was once more standing in that endless, grey Wilderness. But this time, the shimmering illusion of the Phantom Wolf was gone. In its place stood a girl in a red cloak, looking around, a little lost.
He blinked, hesitated, and then took a step forward. As if sensing his presence, the girl seemed to “wake up,” turning her head slowly toward him.
After a beat, she asked, “You saw everything?”
Yu Sheng was caught off guard. He had assumed what he’d seen was just another illusion. But she was truly “here.” Quickly, he nodded. “I didn’t mean to watch.”
“Ah, seriously…” Little Red Riding Hood yanked at her hair, both irritated and helpless. “Why do you grownups always stick your noses in other people’s private business! What are you even curious about?!”
“I said I didn’t do it on purpose…” Yu Sheng scratched his cheek awkwardly, unsure how to ease the tension. “And it’s not like I brought you here on purpose.”
The girl stopped tugging her hair and looked at him through the strands of her bangs, eyes lacking any real menace. “I was about to ask that! Where even is this?”
Yu Sheng hesitated. “Uh… it’s my dream.”
The moment he said it, he realized how little weight his earlier defense carried now.
Sure enough, Little Red Riding Hood glared. “And you still claim it wasn’t intentional!”
“It’s like… instinctual,” Yu Sheng muttered, unconvinced even by his own words. “Foxy came here before too. Seems like anyone who has a blood connection with me might fall in. I don’t know the logic behind it.”
She eyed him suspiciously, scanning him from head to toe as if seeking lies. At last, she confirmed again, “Really?”
Yu Sheng nodded with utmost sincerity, expression firm as stone.
Somewhat appeased, she shifted her gaze away, deciding, for now, not to pursue it further.
But only moments later, she spun back toward him. “Okay, but seriously, who dreams like this? A fixed space that pulls people in, and you can talk to each other inside it?!”
“Beats me,” Yu Sheng groaned, more bewildered than she was. “You know my situation… I barely understand myself.”
She stared at him for a while, then finally gave a big exhale, turned around, and flopped onto the grassy ground.
Yu Sheng followed, hesitated, then sat down beside her.
“Why are you dreaming in the middle of the day?” he asked.
“Chemistry class. Fell asleep,” she muttered.
Then, as an afterthought, she added, “I don’t usually sleep in class, and I haven’t been sleeping well lately. But today I just felt extra tired, spaced out, and conked out.”
“Sleeping during class is a vital part of the student experience,” Yu Sheng quipped, saying whatever nonsense came to mind. “Good for growing teens to get extra rest.”
“I’m nearly eighteen, not eight,” she said, glancing at him through her bangs, eyes glinting with amusement. “…Hey, seriously, was I that dumb as a kid? I didn’t even know what my parents looked like, but I just knew it was Father and Mother back then…”
Yu Sheng said nothing. Then, after a pause, he spoke calmly:
“I plan to destroy the Black Forest. And whatever’s behind it.”
“…You found a lead?”
“I visited the Special Affairs Bureau today. Got some clues,” Yu Sheng said slowly. “Step one is to find the ‘Hunter’ in the Black Forest. They might know the way to what’s behind the Forest.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because the ‘Hunter’ might be a member of the Deep Dive Squad who disappeared seventy years ago in the depths of the Fairy Tale. Or maybe they are the entire Squad.”
Little Red Riding Hood froze. She stared blankly at Yu Sheng for a long while, then blinked.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Yu Sheng interrupted:
“It’s enough that you know. Just don’t approach the ‘Hunter’.”
“Why not?”
“…Because they’ve been in the Black Forest far too long.”