Chapter 191

Chapter 191: Blood Bestowal

Yu Sheng’s excuse was obviously a joke.

In the end, Little Red Riding Hood still gathered the orphanage’s “guardians” into the room, but she didn’t use anything like I ordered takeout. She simply told them there was something important to discuss. A moment later, a group filed in.

Yu Sheng stood and looked around. Naturally, he didn’t recognize most of them, so he leaned toward Little Red Riding Hood. “Is everyone here?”

“A few people have to stay in the dorm area to watch over the brothers and sisters,” she said. “They’ll rotate. It’s safer.”

“That works.” Yu Sheng nodded, then caught something out of the corner of his eye behind the crowd and raised an eyebrow. “…Why is there a cat here too?”

A tabby cat sat openly on a nearby windowsill like it was attending the meeting. It looked cocky as hell.

The moment Yu Sheng spoke, the cat lifted a paw, licked it, and drawled lazily in a deep, magnetic voice, “Why can’t I come?”

Yu Sheng went still.

So did Irene and Foxy.

All three of them stared, wide-eyed, at the tabby cat speaking fluent human words with the calm cadence of a documentary narrator.

After a long beat, the three of them blurted out in unison, “It talked!”

“It’s King,” Little Red Riding Hood said at last, stepping forward with a half-smile that made it clear she was enjoying Yu Sheng’s shock for once. “He’s also a member of Fairy Tale. An old hand.”

She nodded toward the cat. “And he’s very strong—second only to the best fighter of our generation, Princess Snow White.”

A small girl with a neat bob haircut raised her hand. “By the way, I’m Princess Snow White.”

Yu Sheng’s face went stiff, like he’d been hit by lightning and forced to stand there for two hours. It took him half a minute to recover enough to speak. His gaze bounced between the cocky tabby cat and Little Red Riding Hood, and then he managed, “…Why?”

He didn’t even know why he was asking. His mind had only one word left: why.

“Oh, that’s a very long story,” King began in the same narrator voice. “When I was a kitten, I wandered the streets. A passing child gave me a piece of steamed bun, so I followed him home. That night, he had a dream, and I fell into his dream. When I woke again, I had learned to think like a human…”

Yu Sheng listened with his mouth slightly open. Even though he’d already seen absurd things in the borderland, this was a new flavor of absurd.

As he struggled to decide whether any of that made sense, he caught Little Red Riding Hood winking at him.

“Don’t believe it,” she whispered. “It’s a different version every time.”

Yu Sheng hesitated. “Then…”

“No one knows,” she said with a small shrug. “He doesn’t know either. When he first wandered into the orphanage, we thought he was just a stray. Then he suddenly summoned an adventurer squad and beat up several people.”

King waved a paw at her. “I can hear you!”

Little Red Riding Hood spread her hands to Yu Sheng like this was simply the way the world worked. “Anyway, the theory’s unclear. But we confirmed he was influenced by Fairy Tale, so we recruited him as an official member. This time we also want to test him with you—to see whether your plan affects a special individual like King.”

Yu Sheng didn’t know what face to make. He could only feel, all over again, that his experience in this place was still painfully shallow.

He turned to Irene as if she might have an explanation. Irene immediately looked away. “Don’t look at me. I haven’t seen it either.”

Yu Sheng looked to Foxy.

Foxy stared at the tabby cat for a long time. Then her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands. “Oh! It’s a natural spirit beast that sensed the aura of heaven and earth!”

“…Damn, I really envy this silly fox,” Irene muttered, rubbing her forehead. “Life is so easy when you can explain anything with one sentence…”

“Sister Red Hood,” Princess Snow White said calmly, cutting through the chaos. “Let’s talk business. You suddenly called us over—what are we doing?”

Little Red Riding Hood turned to Yu Sheng.

“Ahem. I’ll explain.” Yu Sheng cleared his throat and stepped forward, sweeping his gaze over the room. He didn’t recognize more than half the faces, but he knew they’d all heard about him one way or another. “In short, I have a defense plan…”

He explained as simply as he could, along with the background—what had happened with Little Red Riding Hood and Xiao Xiao, and the basics of what made him “special.” He left out plenty of details, but when it came to the connection between his blood and the Wasteland, he was as clear as he could be.

The moment he finished, the room fell into a long, heavy silence.

The sixteen- and seventeen-year-old boys and girls exchanged looks. Doubt sat on almost every face.

The news was sudden. The plan was outrageous. If not for Little Red Riding Hood’s guarantee, Yu Sheng had no doubt he’d look suspicious as hell.

“It’s normal to have concerns,” Little Red Riding Hood said at last, breaking the silence. “That’s why we’re discussing it first. As for what Yu Sheng said, I can prove it’s true. Xiao Xiao and I have both been to that Wasteland, and there were no aftereffects from touching his blood.”

She exhaled. “The uncertain part is how effective this shelter mechanism really is. Up to now, Xiao Xiao and I have only triggered the ‘jump’ from the Black Forest to the Wasteland once. And… whether everyone is willing to form a connection with a third party that resembles a blood pact.”

That last phrase made several people’s expressions tighten.

In occult circles, “blood pact” was always a sensitive topic. Forming one with an unknown existence had always been dangerously risky. This wasn’t hostility toward Yu Sheng as a person—just the necessary caution of older children who’d already been guardians and spirit realm detectives for years.

Even Yu Sheng wasn’t completely sure whether his plan truly counted as a blood pact.

“Come on,” Irene snapped, losing patience. Seeing everyone still hesitating—even the cat—she stood from the couch, despite how she still somehow failed to draw the eye when she moved. “The angel cultists are already watching you. You’re living on a knife edge. If you have a chance, grab it…”

Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. “Exactly because we might die at any moment, we’re extra careful while we’re alive.”

Irene opened her mouth, then shut it. For once, she had nothing to say.

Little Red Riding Hood clapped her hands. “Go discuss it in the next room. No rush.”

She was like everyone’s sister here, and her authority carried weight—except with King, who remained cocky no matter what. The group filed out quickly.

King went last. As he left, he looked back at Yu Sheng, his gaze unusually serious.

“I’ll go keep an eye on things,” Little Red Riding Hood said, giving Yu Sheng a nod before following them out.

Yu Sheng didn’t speak. He just lifted a hand in farewell.

When she left, the room fell quiet.

Foxy rummaged in her tail, produced two chicken drumsticks, and offered one to Yu Sheng. “Benefactor, eat a drumstick.”

Yu Sheng brushed Foxy’s tail absently and shook his head. “You eat. I’m not hungry.”

So in the quiet room, the sound of Foxy gnawing two drumsticks at once filled the air.

Yu Sheng waited without showing any worry.

After a while, footsteps sounded at the door.

Little Red Riding Hood came in, and behind her was a small, thin figure—the girl called Princess Snow White.

Yu Sheng lifted his brows. “Looks like you picked the first test subject.”

Little Red Riding Hood nodded. “Yeah. We decided to send one person to try it first.”

“Why her?” Yu Sheng asked, then quickly added, “Uh—just curious. Nothing serious.”

“There’s nothing I can’t answer.” Little Red Riding Hood’s voice stayed calm. “Other than me, Snow White is the most unstable. She’s the most destructive among us, but her power releases too fast, so her erosion is high. She’s sixteen, and her state is already about the same as mine.”

She looked at Yu Sheng steadily. “Right now she gets dragged into nightmares basically every day. She’s perfect for verifying whether your shelter mechanism works.”

Princess Snow White stepped closer, staring at Yu Sheng without blinking. “What do I need to do?” she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice. “Do we need a ritual? A séance? Some kind of bonding ceremony?”

“No need to make it that complicated.” Yu Sheng smiled, pulled out a small knife, and nicked the back of his hand. “Sip.”

Princess Snow White froze. “…Huh?”

Seeing her reaction, Yu Sheng realized how cursed it sounded when you hadn’t lived with him for a while. He thought for a moment. “Want me to get you a straw?”

Princess Snow White stared at him again. “…Huh?”