Chapter 138

Chapter 138: After Waking Up

The Phantom Door opened slowly, and darkness waited on the other side; it was unlike opening The Door in the real world or in a normal Otherworld, where a clear scene usually appears.

Yu Sheng did not rush through. He watched carefully and felt for the Door’s “connection.”

He had only confirmed earlier that a Door could open inside the Black Forest. He had never actually crossed it. Now that the wolf pack had pulled back, the Hunter had gone, the area was quiet, and even the squirrel was gone, he finally had a quiet chance to study it.

Just as he had expected, the Door opened inside the Black Forest was special.

“Fairy Tale” was an abnormal type of Otherworld built on a bundle of stories. As a subset of Fairy Tale, the Black Forest clearly had a twisted space and time. Here, the power of consciousness rose very high, while the visitor’s body still stayed in the real world. Because of that, a Door opened here could not be tuned or customized as precisely as usual.

Yu Sheng could feel that this Door led to a fixed place: his body, which was still asleep in the west wing of the orphanage. [So that answers it.]

This seemed to settle a question he had asked himself before:

If he entered the Black Forest as pure consciousness and then opened a Door there that pointed to some faraway place in reality, what would happen when his consciousness “escaped” by going through The Door? Would his consciousness snap back to his body, or would it arrive at that faraway place as a wandering soul?

Now the answer looked clear: in an abnormal Otherworld-at least in the Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood subset-a Door opened while you were only a consciousness could lead only to your body in the real world. [At least for now, this was all he could do.]

He lowered his head and looked at the wolf leg in his hand. Only one problem remained.

Could something gained in the Black Forest while in a state of consciousness be carried out into reality?

He took a slow breath, held The Door at its most stable point, then dragged the Big Bad Wolf’s corpse forward and stepped through.

Dizziness hit for a blink, followed by the drop of waking hard from a deep dream. Yu Sheng felt his body again, along with the soft cushion under him.

He snapped his eyes open and saw… a tail.

And Foxy’s ears.

He realized he was lying in the middle of a big pile of fluffy tails, with two even pulled over him like blankets. Foxy turned her head out from the pile with a bright smile: “Benefactor! You’re awake! I was afraid you’d catch a chill.”

He blinked twice, fully woke, and started scrambling out of the fluffy heap, mumbling as he climbed: “I won’t catch a chill, but it’s kind of hot. Now I get why you hug your own tail to sleep every night, this thing is super warm.”

Foxy looked instantly proud.

Irene hopped over, talking the whole way as she headed for Yu Sheng: “She was about to pull off all her tails and stack them on you, and I had to tell her even if it didn’t scare you it would suffocate you. You should have seen it, looked like a grave. You were lying inside so peaceful, lifelike. I was going to find a little sign to stick by you but couldn’t. Anyway, Little Red Riding Hood and the others are waiting outside, I’ll just… ah!”

Her words stopped short. A huge black shape fell from above and hit the floor with a bang, flattening the little doll and covering her completely.

It was a huge wolf.

Yu Sheng sprang up, rushed over in two steps, and checked.

It was the very same Big Bad Wolf that had died on the dissection table.

He frowned in thought and spoke first: “So it really can be brought out.” He patted his pockets and, sure enough, found the grimy scrap of paper that had fallen from the Hunter; he felt relieved, but also puzzled: [What’s the principle here?]

A small hand reached out from under the wolf, twitched twice in the air, and firmly gave a middle finger.

The doll’s muffled voice came out from under the weight: “Yu Sheng, you jerk! Is now the time to study principles? I’m still stuck down here!”

He grinned and hauled Miss Doll out from under the Big Bad Wolf-mainly to get back at her “lifelike” comment.

Irene jumped up to kick his knee; she tried three times and got pressed back down three times. She pouted: “You’re so petty.”

She forgot that annoyance at once and turned to the broad-chested Big Bad Wolf.

She stared and asked in surprise: “So this is ‘Wolf Granny’? It’s huge. No wonder it could swallow a six year old whole. The limb proportions are weird. It’s kind of creepy.”

Foxy came over, squatted by the corpse, and stared off.

After two seconds, the Fox Maiden turned to Yu Sheng: “Benefactor, I haven’t eaten this before.”

Yu Sheng answered without thinking: “Me neither. We should try a few methods. The tender meat on the ribs could be stir fried or deep fried. The legs could be stir fried or cured. Worst case, the pressure cooker can do wonders. I just don’t know how to handle the organs.”

By the time he got halfway, Foxy was already drooling.

Irene stood off to the side, stunned silent for a long time. When Yu Sheng was about to plan with Foxy how to eat Wolf Granny’s brain, she finally jumped up: “You two just started chatting like that? And about this?”

Yu Sheng snapped out of it, pulled his mind away from recipes, and used Foxy’s tail to wipe her mouth: “Right, we have business to do. Go call Little Red Riding Hood and the others in.”

Irene shot one last worried look at Yu Sheng and Foxy, then headed for the doorway. Halfway there she stopped, turned, and stared at the scary “wolf” on the floor, hesitating: “Won’t this be too much for Little Red Riding Hood and the kid named Xiao Xiao? If they see it, will they, um, have a stress reaction?”

Yu Sheng’s brows drew together. He knew exactly what Irene was worried about, and to be honest, while this doll was unreliable most of the time, this worry made sense. [She has a point.]

Little Red Riding Hood might be all right. She had fought the wolf from her nightmares for a long time; at least her reason could hold down her growing fear. But the child called Xiao Xiao… it might be too soon.

He also didn’t know what shape the girl’s mind was in now.

He exhaled and nodded at Foxy: “You’re right. Put this away first. And don’t sneak a bite. It’s still raw.” [She might really eat it raw, bones and all.]

Foxy said “oh,” walked to the huge wolf, pulled off the tail she used for storage, gave it a casual shake, and the corpse was gone. Yu Sheng never even saw how.

Irene then went to the doorway and brought in Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.

A shy, tense girl followed carefully behind Little Red Riding Hood.

It was Xiao Xiao.

The signs of death had faded from her. Flesh that had been torn apart was fully knit. The ripped heart and brain looked as if they had never been hurt. Life flowed around her. Through a faint link made by blood, Yu Sheng could even feel each strong beat of her heart.

As if sensing that, Xiao Xiao stopped and lifted her head to look at Yu Sheng. In less than a second, her attention jumped to the fox with many tails.

The little miss looked amazed and let out a small gasp.

Yu Sheng smiled and walked to Little Red Riding Hood at the front: “It’s all taken care of. How are you two feeling?”

Little Red Riding Hood’s expression went complicated as she answered: “If you mean the moment I woke up… it felt worse than dying. You warned me it would be intense, but I didn’t think it would be that intense.”

Yu Sheng nodded: “You’re already complaining, so you look fine,” then he looked at the small girl with her: “Xiao Xiao, right? Anywhere still hurting?”

The girl was shy. Even with the faint blood link, she flinched a little at his voice, but soon she walked up, lifted her head, and opened her eyes wide: “It doesn’t hurt.”

Yu Sheng smiled and patted her hair: “Good. No pain is good.” [She’s fine enough to answer.]

Rapunzel finally spoke, breaking the silence: “It still feels unreal. Her wounds just vanished, like nothing ever happened, and then she opened her eyes and said she had a dream.”

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow and looked down at Xiao Xiao: “What did you dream about?”

The little miss lowered her head and spoke in a soft hum: “Many people. Many people around me, all wearing red cloaks, telling me to run, but I couldn’t. Then I don’t remember.”