Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Hunter

Only then did Yu Sheng realize just how quiet it had become.

The unseen wolf pack was gone, slipping back into the shadows. Silence blanketed everything. The giant wolf that belonged to this generation of Little Red Riding Hood still hadn’t appeared—but Yu Sheng could feel its gaze.

That wolf, the one that had swallowed him once, was watching the little house from far away. It had sensed prey, yet for some reason it didn’t act.

What was it waiting for?

Or… was it wary of something?

Yu Sheng stretched his perception outward, trying to read its logic through that distant stare. And then—through that stare—he suddenly saw a shadowspawn.

Near the little house, in the open ground between shrubs, a human-shaped figure appeared as if it had been dropped into place.

Yu Sheng’s nerves snapped tight. Almost at the same time, he heard footsteps outside.

Human footsteps. Crunching leaves and damp soil. Unhurried—already nearly at the door.

His heart clenched. Something clicked. Yu Sheng looked around once, then slipped into a corner and hid.

The instant he settled, the door creaked open.

A tall figure stood in the doorway. Under the cold starlight, Yu Sheng caught a glimpse of hunter’s garb in green and brown, and a thick hood that hid the face. A long hunting rifle hung in its hands. It walked into the room with an odd, almost comical gait, bent slightly at the waist.

Hunter had arrived.

But the Big Bad Wolf was already dead—dead before Hunter ever got here.

The figure took two steps inside, then froze, staring at the opened belly and spilled blood.

The script it was supposed to carry out had been rewritten. And the entity the Black Forest generated in response stalled, like a process that had crashed.

Hunter didn’t move.

Yu Sheng didn’t dare move either.

The little house sank into a heavy, awkward silence.

And then Irene’s voice suddenly rang in his mind. “Hey! Yu Sheng! You alive? What’s going on over there? Why aren’t you back yet?”

“I’m fine, but something happened,” Yu Sheng answered silently, eyes locked on the frozen Hunter. “How’s it going outside? Did Little Red Riding Hood and the child go back?”

“Smooth on my end. Little Red Riding Hood is throwing up in the washroom next door. The kid woke up and went to throw up with her. Looks like ‘violent awakening’ hit them both hard,” Irene rattled on. “Honestly, it scared me! That child actually ‘lived’ again. No heartbeat, no breathing for ages—and she really got resurrected. How the hell did you do that… hey, what exactly went wrong over there?”

“I killed Wolf Granny, so Hunter got stuck,” Yu Sheng sighed, cutting her off. “You know Hunter—the one who shows up at the end and saves Little Red Riding Hood. I stole its job.”

Irene went quiet.

Two seconds later: “Huh?! It got stuck?! That can happen?!”

“That’s the only explanation, isn’t it?” Yu Sheng said, just as helpless. “It’s still standing there. I’m hiding behind a cabinet. It’d be awkward to just walk out—mainly because I don’t know how it’ll react. It’s probably an entity made by the Black Forest too. Taboos. Rules.”

“So you’re just going to have a staring contest? If it doesn’t work, pull out. I can yank you—”

“Don’t.” The moment he heard the word yank, Yu Sheng shut it down. He remembered what violent awakening felt like and decided he’d rather risk death. “I’m going to test it first. At least I want to see what Hunter looks like.”

He stepped out from the corner and approached the tall figure.

Hunter didn’t seem to hear him. It stood beside the dead wolf like a statue.

Yu Sheng got bolder. He let his footsteps fall normally. In a few quick steps, he reached Hunter’s side and leaned in.

Irene buzzed in his head. “Well? What’s it like? You didn’t get shot to death, right? What does Hunter look like?”

Yu Sheng went quiet for two seconds. “There’s nothing under the clothes.”

Under the hood—no face. Only a hollow patch of shadow.

The entire Hunter was an empty set of hunting clothes, floating around something that wasn’t there.

And yet… Yu Sheng could still feel a gaze beneath that hood. As if invisible eyes were watching him.

He shifted half a step. The unseen stare shifted with him.

“Hello,” Yu Sheng said, hesitant. “My name is Yu Sheng. Uh… I’m new here.”

Irene immediately muttered, “Wow. That sounded so dumb.”

Yu Sheng kept his face blank. “Shut up.”

Hunter gave no reaction.

Yu Sheng cleared his throat and pointed at the corpse on the floor. “This—I did it. Sorry I stole your job.”

The edge of Hunter’s hood creased, ever so slightly. Its gaze followed Yu Sheng’s finger. For a heartbeat, it almost looked like it nodded.

It could respond.

Yu Sheng’s pulse jumped. He kept his expression steady and continued. “The child Wolf Granny ate has already been rescued.”

The hood moved again. This time it was clear: a nod.

“So you’re not hostile,” Yu Sheng said, trying to sound friendly. He extended his right hand a little. “If it comes to fighting the Big Bad Wolf, we’re on the same side.”

Hunter stepped back.

Yu Sheng froze, thrown off. Then he watched Hunter keep retreating—like its entrance was playing in reverse. With that slightly silly yet deeply unsettling gait, it backed out through the doorway.

And then it vanished into the endless night.

“Hey—” Yu Sheng reached out on instinct, but there was nothing to grab.

Irene asked, “What happened?”

“Hunter ran off when I tried to shake its hand,” Yu Sheng said, still baffled. “I don’t think I did anything that should’ve set it off.”

He sighed—and then something caught his eye.

A small scrap of paper lay on the floor. It must have fallen when Hunter left.

Yu Sheng crouched and picked it up. Yellowed. Fragile. About the size of his palm. Something might have been written there once, but grime and stains—ink, oil, maybe even blood—had soaked the surface until nothing was readable.

“I picked something up…” he murmured after staring at it for a long moment.

“Huh? What’d you pick up?” Irene asked.

“A piece of paper. It fell off that Hunter, but it’s filthy and torn. I can’t make anything out.”

“Uh… do you think you can bring it out?” Irene sounded uncertain. “I think I can only yank your consciousness out. Unless I go in and look myself? But I’m terrible at weird artifact studies and relic appraisal. You really shouldn’t count on me.”

Yu Sheng didn’t even register what was wrong with that until a beat later. He froze—then laughed, sharp with irritation. “At least you’re honest!”

He carefully tucked the paper away like it might crumble at a touch, then walked back to the corpse.

“I’m going to try opening a door from here and see if I can bring things out. But this is my first time opening a door from an awareness world like the Black Forest into reality. I don’t know what’ll happen.”

He paused. “Tell Little Red Riding Hood and the others to stay back. Best if they wait outside the room. Just you and Foxy stay nearby.”

“Oh, okay!”

After Irene confirmed, Yu Sheng pulled out his phone and checked it.

He didn’t even know if this phone counted as a real object in the Black Forest or something his awareness imagined. Either way, there was no signal.

Looks like he couldn’t report it. The Special Operations Bureau had probably gotten used to that… right?

With the thought flashing through his mind, Yu Sheng put the phone away. He bent down, grabbed the wolf by one leg, and with his other hand reached through empty air.

A faintly glowing, illusory door appeared beside him.