Chapter 171

Chapter 171: Death and Response

The wolf’s aura faded for now. The heart full of wolf poison withered and shrank in Yu Sheng’s arms. The Black Forest fell quiet all at once. There were no more deep, muddled howls, and no more gaze cast from the Deep Forest.

Foxy and Irene ran out of the Little House. Together they dragged and carried Yu Sheng inside.

Foxy leaned close, tail fur puffed up, and asked: “Benefactor, how are you? Can you still hear me?”

He rasped for breath and said: “I hear you. Don’t get so close. I am about to die. This thing is poisonous. I touched it and got poisoned.”

Irene came near, climbed onto Yu Sheng’s chest, and stared at his face with red eyes as she said: “You do look like you are about to die. Your face is turning black. So is Wolf Granny dead too? Did we kill it?”

He coughed twice, then said with effort: “It is dead, but only for now. Like every Entity, it will come back. The Black Forest will reset in the next cycle to how it was before we entered. But it is fine. I have already stepped into its loop. We did it. At least a big step. Now climb down. You are really heavy.”

Irene muttered as she obeyed: “Of course I am heavy. This body is steel and stone. But you did not complain when I sat on your shoulders before.”

He answered: “I am almost dead and weak right now.” He paused to catch his breath and held a hand to Foxy as he said: “Help me up.”

Foxy hurried to support his arm and asked: “Benefactor, what do you want to do?”

He raised a hand toward the air as she helped him. A glowing Door slowly appeared. He said: “You two go back. Take my weapon. It worked well. We will improve it later and keep using it. Oh, and take this shrunken heart. Wolf Granny left almost nothing useful. This heart looks like meat. Now that the poison is drained, I will study it and see if I can make chili stir fried Wolf Heart.”

Irene stared, shocked, and blurted: “You plan to eat that too? That is a bit too scary.”

He caught his breath and said: “I will try it. We finally killed it, and it killed me once. If I do not fry it, I will feel cheated.”

Irene felt a strange mix of feelings, but Foxy only ever did what Yu Sheng said. She had already wrapped the dried Wolf Heart and the fallen Tetanus Staff with two tails. She stepped to the Door and asked: “Benefactor, are you not going back?”

Yu Sheng waved a hand and said: “I will stay.”

Irene tipped her head and asked, surprised: “You are not going to die at home?”

He said, swaying on his feet now: “I will wait here a while and see when the Hunter shows up. Maybe we can talk. I can die here afterward.”

Irene sighed and said: “All right, then we will go first.” She added, casual: “Do you want to eat something when you get back? Foxy and I can get it ready. Do not give me that look. We will not light the stove. We will just wash the vegetables.”

He said: “Wash two cucumbers and two tomatoes. When I get back it should be morning. After dying I want something light. Make cold noodles with tomato and egg topping and cucumber shreds.”

She said: “Got it.”

Irene and Foxy left, and the glowing Door faded away.

The Little House fell quiet. Yu Sheng looked around at the mess left by the fight. The Giant Wolf had never stepped inside, but the spreading Fox Fire and the piercing threads had ruined almost every piece of furniture. Big scorched marks covered the walls and floor.

He let out a long breath, forced himself to the collapsed little bed in the corner, and sat among the wreckage to wait for the Hunter, and for death.

Wolf poison flowed through his veins. His blood flowed through the Black Forest.

The faint crying grew far and soft, as if a curtain had dropped between it and him. It also felt like something was calming the source of that crying, making it quiet down.

A tiny rustle came from the broken bed. Yu Sheng looked over and saw a dark brown, furry little thing poke out its head. A red Torn Cloth Strip was tied around its head.

He greeted it and said: “Oh, Squirrel, I thought you would have run. You are brave.”

The Squirrel repeated the same words over and over, like it had lost its sense: “Squirrel Knight fears nothing. Fears nothing.” Then it stopped and stared at Yu Sheng as it said: “Wait, you are dying. The wolf bit you. The wolf’s heart bit you. You will die. You will really die. In the real world too. What do we do, what do we do…”

It had finally noticed something terrifying and started shouting in panic.

Yu Sheng smiled at it with the calm of a dying man and said: “I came here with my real body. Do not worry. I will come back. For me, ‘death’ is only a temporary symptom. You do not need to think about that complicated idea right now. Calm down, little Squirrel. If you still do not want to leave, then talk with me.”

The Squirrel stared with round eyes. It seemed to understand nothing and did not know what to do. Its brain looked frozen.

Yu Sheng tapped its head with a finger and said: “You wrapped that red strip again. Do you like it?”

The Squirrel jolted and spoke without thinking: “Red cloth is a good sign. Squirrel needs its own Red Cloak. The Red Cloak will drive off the Evil Wolf. The Red Cloak proves I did not turn into a wolf.”

He said slowly, forcing his eyelids to stay open: “So the Red Cloak proves you have not turned into a wolf. I see. Squirrel, are you also afraid of turning into a wolf of the Forest?”

The Squirrel fell silent, standing there blankly. Yu Sheng’s question pushed it into another freeze.

This little animal froze like this a lot, as if it tried to hold too many thoughts in a brain that was far too small.

Yu Sheng felt like he was in the same state now.

His mind grew numb. The wolf poison seemed to replace his blood and sprout cold, evil branches inside his veins. His vision dimmed. The little Squirrel doubled and tripled in his sight. He heard hollow wind in the Forest. The Wolf Pack started to howl again. They always howled like this, because that was the story. At least, that was what the storyteller thought.

In his darkening view, Yu Sheng saw things.

His gaze seemed to pierce the Black Forest, the shadowed barrier that covered it, and the thick soil beneath. He saw countless fine branches like tree limbs holding up the “other side” of the Forest. He saw many interwoven structures, like blood vessels and nerves, filling the chaos and the void. Each cluster of weaving held something up at its tips.

They held up the King’s Castle. They held up the wild land where a Knight fought a dragon. They held up the ball that never ended, the tower that trapped the princess, the bedchamber wrapped in thorns, the Giant Beanstalk rising to the sky, and the sea and palace full of songs.

But Yu Sheng did not want to see those.

He wanted to see the other end, the deep source of those woven lines.

He forced his sight to turn, trying to look into the depths of that chaos, trying to find the source.

An absolute darkness blocked him. There seemed to be nothing in that deep, chaotic place.

Footsteps sounded.

Yu Sheng woke for a short moment. His awareness fell back from that sight that pierced the Black Forest and landed in the Little House again.

The hearth was cold. The candle on the table had burned out long ago. Everything was covered in a chill hush. A tall figure pushed open the Door and walked in with stiff, mechanical steps.

Dim starlight drew a blurry outline around the figure.

Yu Sheng pulled his mouth into a smile and said to the one who had entered: “Hello, Hunter. I have been waiting for you a long time. I am almost dead from waiting.”

The Hunter came to stand before him. The empty hood hung low, as if studying the “dying” man closely.

He could not see the “face” under the hood, but Yu Sheng felt like the Hunter was confused.

Maybe it was because wolf poison flowed in his body. That made the Hunter unsure whether to pull the trigger.

Yu Sheng did not explain. He saved every bit of strength. He slowly took a paper from his coat and held it up for the Hunter to see.

Twelve men and women in heavy protective armor stood together, leaving a strict group photo behind.

He asked softly: “Do you remember this? Are you one of them?”

The Hunter stood still and gave no reply.

Yu Sheng waited, patient. He wondered which would arrive first, his death or the Hunter’s answer.

Then he saw the empty, hollow body slowly raise the shotgun.

Yu Sheng said: “…?”

He blinked and muttered: “Wait, for real?”

“Bang!”

The gun fired.

Death and response arrived at the same time.