Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Deep Forest

The moment he entered the Black Forest, Yu Sheng did not rush to move. He stood still and spent a few seconds feeling carefully for the “breath” of the place.

The Wolf had not shown up yet. The forest was very quiet. Far away, he heard only wind in the leaves and small sounds of birds and animals. Some light still stained the sky; dusk was not over. No malice gathered in the shadows under the trees.

It seemed the Black Forest had not yet reacted to an intruder like him.

But what about the child already deep in the Deep Forest, the girl named Xiao Xiao? What did her surroundings look like now? Would the Black Forest show different stages to each Little Red Riding Hood who entered? Or was it actually divided into zones?

Light footsteps sounded beside him, and a red figure appeared. It was the girl in the dark red coat.

Several black wolves rose out of the shadows around them and circled the red-clad girl, sniffing. Maybe the Black Forest made them worse, because these Shadow Wolves were more restless than in the real world. Even the edges of their shapes shook fast, like they could barely hold together.

A dim layer of shadow even coiled around Little Red Riding Hood herself. Her dark red coat looked misty inside the shadow, as if another body, or another “stance,” was layered over her.

Yu Sheng stared at her a moment and said: “Just one look and I feel like you’re not in great shape.”

The girl’s body jolted, and she whipped her head around like she had seen a ghost.

Yu Sheng jumped at her reaction and said: “Uh, I know I spoke suddenly, but that was a bit much.”

Little Red Riding Hood blinked, then turned her face away in embarrassment and said: “Sorry. In the Black Forest I don’t hear any ‘human’ voices except the Squirrel’s. I forgot you came in too.”

Yu Sheng nodded and said: “Fair enough.”

She gave him an up-and-down look and asked, still amazed: “You really made it in? This is the first time I’ve seen anyone here other than myself.”

Yu Sheng waved it off and, in his mind, called Irene: “Irene, we got in. How is it on your side? Can you come in too?”

Irene’s voice sounded quickly in his head: “I’d better stay outside to keep watch. I need to track you two and the girl in the real world and update the others. Last time was a special case when I dove in to find you. This time we should be careful.”

Yu Sheng nodded and said: “Good. Staying outside will also make Foxy feel better.” Then he thought of something else and added: “Right, speaking of Foxy, can you bring her in?”

Irene paused, then asked dryly: “What are you planning?”

Yu Sheng said in a mock-thoughtful tone: “Cyber Fox Immortal takes down harmful children’s literature…”

Irene sighed and said: “I knew it. Forget it. I tried when I came to get you last time. She can’t come in. This place is special. You need a certain ‘fit’ to enter. Either you already have a link to the Black Forest, like you and Little Red Riding Hood, or you’re like me and can walk dreams, and even then I need you to perform a matching Summoning ritual from inside. Other people can’t get in.”

She paused and added: “Think about it. If Silly Fox could enter with me, would the wolves have eaten you last time? She would have raced in and blasted the whole Black Forest at once.”

Her answer didn’t surprise Yu Sheng.

After learning some of the rules of the Black Forest and the Fairy Tale Otherworld, he had guessed this result. The place had a strong filter. In fact, that “filter” felt like one of the base rules of the whole Otherworld.

He and Irene had gotten in only by exploiting a bug or by brute force.

Yu Sheng ended the link with Irene and reached into the air, lost in thought.

A phantom doorframe formed slowly in front of him. The Door opened a crack, but beyond the slit was no clear “place,” only darkness he could not see through.

Since bugs and brute force worked here, that meant the Fairy Tale “filter” wasn’t perfect. And since he really could open The Door inside the Black Forest, that meant there might be a way to build a passage between this forest and the real world that ignored the filter.

Little Red Riding Hood watched his odd stops and starts, then saw him test a phantom door, and finally asked in puzzlement: “What are you doing?”

Yu Sheng waved away the phantom door and said lightly: “Making prep for beating back poisonous children’s books in the future. But that needs complex setup, so not now. First the real job, finding the child named Xiao Xiao.”

He looked around and frowned slightly: “I don’t recognize this path at all. Where do you think she might be, speaking as an expert?”

Little Red Riding Hood shook her head and said: “Even an ‘expert’ has no experience with this. It’s the first time two Little Red Riding Hoods might be in the Black Forest at the same time, and one of them brought a friend. You know how the story is written, ‘She walks alone on the narrow path.’”

Yu Sheng murmured as he glanced at the bushes: “Alone, right. The Squirrel kept repeating that line too. Speaking of which, where is the Squirrel?”

“I’m looking for it too,” Little Red Riding Hood said, scanning the trees. Even the Wolf Pack glanced about. “Normally, it shows up fast.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and said: “Maybe it’s with Xiao Xiao. She came in before us. In theory the Squirrel would contact her first, and now it’s guiding her.”

Little Red Riding Hood frowned and nodded slightly, as if his idea made sense. She started to answer, but a rustling from the bushes cut her off.

A small, furry figure popped into view.

The Squirrel climbed a shrub and stared at the two of them, freezing the instant it showed its face.

Two seconds later, it squeaked a sharp “Gao!” and tumbled off the twig into a pile of dead leaves.

Yu Sheng jumped and blurted out: “Whoa! It died just by showing up?!”

The Squirrel sprang from the leaves and shrieked while it raced in circles around the brush: “Squirrel is going crazy! Squirrel saw the impossible! Since when is the Black Forest this lively, one, two, even three! Little Red Riding Hood, and a friend! Showing up together! You scared Squirrel, you scared Squirrel!”

It rushed about, wild and jittery, for two whole minutes before it suddenly stopped, dashed right up to Yu Sheng and stared for two seconds, then scurried to Little Red Riding Hood’s feet and craned its neck to cry: “Ah-”

Little Red Riding Hood gave it a quick kick and said firmly: “Calm down.”

The Squirrel squealed and vanished into the bushes across from them.

Yu Sheng was stunned. He’d been dazed since the Squirrel’s loud entrance and now stared at Little Red Riding Hood’s kick, then asked: “Isn’t that a little rough?”

“This is the most effective way,” she said evenly. “If it gets shocked, it goes hysterical, and it’s already nervous by nature. Without a strong jolt, it will fuss for a long time.”

Before her words even faded, the bushes rustled again. The Squirrel crawled out unharmed, a thin lit stick clutched in its paws. Leaning on a small rock, it held the stick in its mouth, drew in a third of it with a hiss, and said: “Too exciting…”

Little Red Riding Hood glanced at Yu Sheng and said: “See, I told you it works.”

Yu Sheng fell silent.

Rough or not, it worked. After finishing its “Squirrel-custom ultra-thin cigarette,” the Squirrel calmed down and accepted the fact that Little Red Riding Hood and her friend had both appeared in the Black Forest. It started to talk normally.

Yu Sheng explained the situation, saying: “We’re looking for someone, a child who came in before us, about six years old, about this tall.”

Little Red Riding Hood added plainly: “She might be the next Little Red Riding Hood, but she has likely gotten lost in the forest. We need your help.”

The Squirrel listened, its black eyes shiny. It tossed the burned-down stub into its mouth, chewed it up with little crunches, swallowed, and sighed: “Then you may be a step late. She’s already reached the deepest part of the Black Forest, where the path lamps and the Little House’s candle can’t shine. She walked there on her own.”