Chapter 196

Chapter 196: The Secret of the Stage

Seeing the unfamiliar girl in red dash into Little House, Yu Sheng paused for only a heartbeat, then rushed in after her.

As he stepped through The Door, he felt himself pass through something thin and cold, like mist. At once, many sounds vanished. The wolf howls that had circled them and seemed to close in were gone, and the wind faded too. Only the baby’s crying that only he could hear whenever he entered Black Forest still lingered, but now it sounded muffled, as if sealed behind a thick wall.

He raised his weapon with care and looked around, then frowned.

The Red Cloaks were gone.

There was not a single Red Cloak on the walls or the floor.

The only red in the room was the girl’s clothes as she sat on the floor, panting hard.

Yu Sheng and Foxy walked over and stopped in front of her. Yu Sheng waved a hand before her eyes, but she gave no response.

Just then, Foxy seemed to notice something. She frowned, sniffed the air, and whispered: “Benefactor, there is no smell.”

Yu Sheng did not get it at first, so he asked, confused: “What?”

Foxy explained: “She has no smell.”

Yu Sheng’s brows drew together. He fell into thought, then suddenly seemed to sense something. He quickly opened the Wooden Box that held the Angel’s Umbilical Cord.

The Umbilical Cord was still lying quietly at the bottom, but at some point part of the shriveled cord had filled out, as if it had gained blood and life again. The revived part was less than a fifth of the whole, yet it was very noticeable.

Irene saw the change at once and sucked in a sharp breath. She grabbed Yu Sheng’s hair, then snapped her head toward Foxy and blurted in a rush: “Quick, quick, take out the dips you hide in your tail or whatever-”

Yu Sheng cut the little Doll off at once: “Quit messing around, we are not at that point.”

Then he noticed Foxy had already pulled out chili powder and a barbecue dip. His eyebrow twitched as he said: “Put them back.”

The girl in red had no idea what was happening “beside” her. She was like a projection from another time and space, replaying events that had once happened, right in front of them.

After Yu Sheng confirmed that the Angel’s Umbilical Cord was not reviving any further, the girl seemed to have rested enough. She began to push herself up, as if she wanted to check Little House.

From her eyes, Yu Sheng judged that she was unfamiliar with this Little House and very wary.

A second later, he noticed something was wrong with her.

She struggled to stand, but her legs and arms stayed bent at strange angles, as if she could not straighten them. She seemed to mutter, yet only hoarse, strange growls came from her throat. She staggered forward two steps, then could not help but lower herself. Fine fur began to push out along her cheeks and wrists. Her ears were lengthening and sharpening. Her eyes turned lupine. Fangs and claws began to grow.

It was as if a long buildup had finally crossed a line. She was changing into a wolf at a shocking speed.

Even her mind seemed to be affected. Only now did she notice what was happening to her. She looked down in fear and saw her body twisting out of shape. She opened her mouth, but what came out was not a human scream, only a mournful whine.

Yu Sheng finally could not hold back. Though he had already guessed the girl might be only a phantom, not truly in the same time as them, he still set his Spiked Mace to the side and lunged forward to pull her up.

His arm passed straight through her body.

The girl in red fell. Right before Yu Sheng’s eyes, she completed her change into a warped, half human half wolf monster.

She still had not lost all reason. After breathing low and heavy for a long moment, she struggled up again. On all fours, she slowly crawled toward a corner of Little House.

The scrape of her nails against the floor broke the silence inside Little House.

She was carving words with her sharp nails.

He watched the letters appear, one line after another, as if the floor itself were a page. The lines read: “This Forest is alive.

“The chaotic noise has turned into clear whispers.

“There is something huge, and it is dreaming. It hides inside the shared dream of all the children at the Orphanage. I cannot see what it is, but it has crawled into my head.

“I cannot go back. I am tired, cold, and hungry, and I cannot remember how long I have been here…

“I found a house, but it is cold too. If only there were a fire…

“The wolves are outside. They are waiting for me…

“I am ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, the first, but likely not the last. I have already seen ‘it’ picking a new target. To those who come after me, good luck…”

She began to convulse. The carved strokes grew thinner and lighter, until they failed.

She stopped, gasping. Rolling onto her side, her warped body lay on the floor. Her gaze went past Yu Sheng and fixed on a corner of Little House.

She murmured in a low voice, as if talking to herself: “So cold… if only there were a fire…”

Yu Sheng sat down beside her. He set his hand on her bent, twisted arm, but could not pass her any warmth. Foxy came over too. She piled several of her tails beside the wolfed girl, but this gave no warmth either.

Suddenly, the girl’s eyes brightened for a heartbeat. As if she truly felt warmth pass to her, a faint smile rose to her face. She let out a final sigh: “It is warm now…”

Then she turned into a flowing shadow and slowly faded away.

A faint crackle sounded inside Little House, sharp against the dead stillness.

Startled, Yu Sheng looked toward the sound. In the dark fireplace in the corner, a spark had leapt.

A second crackle followed, and the spark became a flame.

The fireplace came alive. Hot, bright fire leaped in the hearth. At some point a candleholder had appeared on the table in the middle of the room, and the candle’s light kindled by itself, silent and sudden. The cold retreated from the room. Warmth spread through the small house like a swift Descent of a miracle.

Yu Sheng stared in shock. All at once, he felt he understood. [So that is what this place is showing us.]

Almost as the answer formed, a soft sound came from the windowsill. Then a familiar voice, the Squirrel’s, reached his ear: “The first Little Red Riding Hood died and brought the very first hearth fire and candlelight to Black Forest.”

Yu Sheng snapped his head up and saw the Squirrel standing on the sill. He had no idea when it had slipped in, or maybe it had been here all along.

He studied the Squirrel and said, thoughtful: “So that is how it is. At the very start, Black Forest had none of these shelters, right? What I am seeing is a record from long ago?”

The Squirrel wiped its face with its forepaws. It was not jittery today. Instead of its usual nervous hopping, it seemed strangely quiet, as if even it were weighed down by thoughts.

It answered in a small voice: “Yes. At first Black Forest had nothing. In the beginning there was only the Forest and the wolves, and a little wooden house that was pitch black…”

Yu Sheng frowned slowly and asked: “Then, only after the story’s ‘protagonist’, Little Red Riding Hood, appeared did the stage of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ finally become complete?”

The Squirrel lifted its upper body, but its gaze went past Yu Sheng, as if looking toward something far away.

It began to speak, slow and steady: “The second Little Red Riding Hood died, and red threads and strips of cloth began to appear in many places. They can slow the change into a wolf.

“The third Little Red Riding Hood died, and food and water started showing up in Little House to restore strength.

“The fourth Little Red Riding Hood died, and paths finally appeared in the Forest. When you walk on a path, the chance of meeting wolves is much lower, and a sheltering Little House always appears at The End Web of the path.

“The fifth Little Red Riding Hood lit the lamps along the paths. Now, unless the lamps go out, the Wolf Pack will not come near the paths.

“The sixth Little Red Riding Hood did not bring anything new, but after that, every ‘Wolf Granny’ must first knock on The Door. Before that, a Wolf Granny used to be created directly inside Little House.

“Now, once Wolf Granny ‘knocks on The Door’, all Little Red Riding Hoods gain about one tenth more chance to escape.

“The seventh Little Red Riding Hood… she was here only a short time, but she was very strong. After she left, the ‘Evil Wolf’ stopped showing up at dusk. All the dangerous hours are now squeezed into the night.”

The Squirrel spoke on and on, as if talking to Yu Sheng, yet also like it was lost in its own memories. At last, it pulled at the red Torn Cloth Strip wrapped around its body, then looked up at the three of them and said: “So I have always wondered, which Little Red Riding Hood brought ‘you’? You do not belong to this Forest.”

Yu Sheng stepped forward and met the Squirrel’s eyes, calm and honest as he said: “Sorry. We are uninvited guests, just like the other uninvited guest, the ‘Hunter’. You left that one out on purpose, did you not?”

The Squirrel tugged at the cloth again and said nothing.

Yu Sheng did not press. He was quiet for a few seconds, then suddenly asked: “Then what about you?”

The Squirrel blinked: “What do you mean?”

Yu Sheng looked straight into its eyes and said, clear and slow: “You. Which number Little Red Riding Hood are you?”