Chapter 165

Chapter 165: The Black Forest Slacker Club Takes Shape

Night settled over the orphanage.

The building grew quiet. The children had burned through all their energy during the day, and most of them were already asleep. A night guard walked the hallway with a flashlight, and every so often the beam slid past the small window in a door, paired with deliberately slow footsteps.

Little Red Riding Hood changed into her nightgown, leaned against the headboard, and listened.

She listened for sudden sobs in the dark, for a scream that didn’t belong. She let her wolves prowl through the shadows, sniffing for fear, for something wrong slipping into reality under cover of night.

Even on days when she wasn’t assigned night watch, she’d already made this a habit.

Only after a long while did she finally exhale and lie down.

The first hour after lights-out was when things were most likely to go wrong. Tonight, it seemed, would be peaceful.

The top bunk creaked. A head poked over the edge, curious. “Red Hood, going to bed this early? Have you really been sleeping more lately?”

“Yeah. I’m getting sleepy.” Little Red Riding Hood yawned, voice drowsy. “And I made plans for tonight.”

Princess Rapunzel blinked, blank for a moment. It took a few seconds for a name she’d only recently gotten used to to float up in her mind. “…That Uncle Yu Sheng?”

“He’s not that old. Call him ‘bro.’” Little Red Riding Hood rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’s him. He asked to meet me in the Black Forest.”

“Fine. Big bro.” Princess Rapunzel looked oddly conflicted. “Meeting you in the Black Forest… I get it, but it still sounds so strange. We’re always trapped in our own ‘subset,’ but your Black Forest has gotten kind of… lively lately.”

Little Red Riding Hood lowered her eyelids. “Jealous?”

The head at the edge of the top bunk tilted. A moment later, it withdrew. “Not really.”

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but in the end she swallowed it. She picked up the phone beside her and, as sleepiness crept in, typed a message—

Good night. See you in a bit.

Her eyes grew heavy. A few breaths later, she slid into sleep.

Darkness. Cold. Emptiness.

Then layers upon layers of shadows rose before her eyes. A forest at dusk seeped out of them, and distant wolf howls followed.

Little Red Riding Hood opened her eyes in the dream and saw the familiar scene.

“…So I really ended up here again.”

She sighed like she’d resigned herself to it, but her nerves had already tightened.

Fear and tension rooted since childhood had become instinct, fused into her bones. It wasn’t something she could talk herself out of with courage drills or mental prep. The calm on her face—and the teasing in her voice—could only fool herself. Deep down, she was still afraid, and no one knew that better than she did.

As her nerves drew tighter, she summoned her wolf pack and scanned her surroundings.

She watched for the Big Bad Wolf hiding in the dark. She also looked for the person who had promised to explore the Black Forest with her.

Almost the moment her wolves took shape, black silk threads appeared in the air nearby, weaving and spreading out of nowhere. A voice came from who-knew-where, breathless and excited:

“Hey, hey, she’s asleep, she’s asleep… don’t rush, don’t rush, we’re locking on—doesn’t it have to open right beside her? That’s delicate work… got it, hey, connected!”

The threads tightened.

“Set the door here. Open it, open it…”

In the next second, Little Red Riding Hood watched the silk condense into a thorny doorframe. A faintly glowing phantom door formed at the center of the brambles. It swung open, and three familiar figures stepped through.

Yu Sheng had Irene slung over his shoulder. A fox young lady walked at his side.

“Evening,” Yu Sheng said brightly the moment he entered. “We’re not late, right? Irene said you only fell asleep a few minutes ago.”

Foxy waved with a grin. Irene waved too, also grinning.

They looked less like people walking into the Black Forest and more like friends arriving for a picnic.

Little Red Riding Hood’s emotions lagged behind. She knew she should still be tense, but the mood got crushed instantly by how casual they were. She could only stare, then finally manage, “Uh… I just got here.”

Yu Sheng reached back into the still-open door, bent over, and dragged something through from the other side.

It was a length of rebar more than a meter long. The thumb-thick steel rod had its tip bent into several loops, and those loops were welded with rusty nails, broken blades, and jagged chunks of cut steel. In the dusk sinking toward night, it gave off a cold gleam. One look made you think of tetanus.

Little Red Riding Hood’s mind filled with question marks. She watched Yu Sheng swing the thing twice through empty air. That vicious, nearly two-meter spiked club moved like it weighed nothing in his hands.

She couldn’t help herself. “What… is that?”

“A weapon,” Yu Sheng said, grin a little sheepish. “Mostly because I don’t have anything handy, and I don’t have real combat experience or skills. Usually all I’ve got is brute strength and selling blood, nothing else. I’m not like Foxy with her fox carrot set, or Irene with a whole bunch of magic stuff… so I’ll make do with this.”

He spun it again—casually, like it wouldn’t turn an ordinary person into a bleeding tetanus case in one swipe—and sighed.

“I don’t think it’ll do much to the Big Bad Wolf, but having a stick is still better than going in barehanded like before. Or throwing rocks.”

Little Red Riding Hood listened in a daze. When she finally clawed her way out of the shock at that “weapon” aesthetic, a strange sort of awe rose on her face.

Not because the club was truly high-end.

She’d seen plenty of dangerous weapons as a spirit realm detective. The otherworld produced endless lethal weirdness. A piece of rebar welded with scrap blades wasn’t exactly impressive.

What made it frightening was the vibe.

Those barbed spikes glinting in the dusk screamed pure malice. The design radiated a kind of ruthless intent that almost exceeded whatever damage it could actually do.

And for some reason, the longer she looked, the more dread crawled up her spine—until she realized what was wrong.

She sniffed once. Then, in the flicker of cold light, she understood.

“…There’s blood on it?”

She lifted her eyes and stared at Yu Sheng as he turned to carefully close the door.

“Yeah,” Yu Sheng said cheerfully. “A lot.”

In the shadows of the Black Forest, his smile looked almost bright.

Little Red Riding Hood stood there, stunned. She felt like she should say something, but with her limited life experience and worldview, she couldn’t find the right words. After a long moment, she managed, “That… your blood? Isn’t that a bit…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Yu Sheng waved her off before she could finish, completely unconcerned. “The whole thing was leftovers from when I was making the doll. You can treat it as a byproduct.”

Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”

Yu Sheng didn’t explain further. He simply tossed the tetanus staff up onto his shoulder and looked into the depths of the Black Forest.

“Let’s not linger where the shadows are thick,” he said. “According to Squirrel, we should head toward the light. I think there’s a glow up ahead. Let’s move and see whether Squirrel shows up first, or the wolves…”

He strode off like he’d just stepped onto a familiar street. Little Red Riding Hood snapped out of it and hurried after him.

After a few steps, she noticed nail marks on Yu Sheng’s arm and tiny bite marks on his forehead—she had no idea how someone even got bitten on the forehead.

Curious, she asked, “And these… what happened? It looks like a cat scratched you.”

Yu Sheng slowed immediately. His face twitched. “Uh… also a byproduct of making the doll. Don’t worry. It’ll heal soon.”

Irene, perched on his other shoulder, snorted. She tried to look like she was still furious, but she had zero intimidation. In the end, she reached out and touched the bite mark on Yu Sheng’s forehead, expression torn and complicated.

Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”

A rustle came from a nearby bush.

Everyone froze.

In the next second, under several pairs of eyes, a small figure leapt out—

A Squirrel with a fluffy tail. Torn cloth was wrapped around its body, with a strand of red woven through it. It hugged an acorn it had no idea where it found, hopped proudly onto a thin branch at the top of the bush, and cried out in a sharp voice:

“Ah—dusk! The forest grew dark, and Little Red Riding Hood walked alone on a country path. The good child had to control her curiosity and never be lured by wildflowers and mushrooms by the roadside…”

It cut off mid-sentence, staring at the group.

Yu Sheng, grinning, a tetanus staff on his shoulder.

A doll only sixty-six centimeters tall, somehow giving off Outer God vibes.

A demon fox with a whole bunch of tails, fox fire floating around her.

Little Red Riding Hood, standing there awkwardly, not even sure why.

Squirrel stared blankly. A few seconds passed. Then the acorn slipped from its paws and hit the ground with a plop.

“…It’s getting weird—AAAAAAH!!”