Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Squirrel’s Story

“You. Which number Little Red Riding Hood are you?”

Yu Sheng stared hard at the Squirrel, more serious than ever.

The Squirrel began to sway uneasily, rocking on one hind leg and then the other, then hurriedly scratching the fur on its cheeks: “I… I am Squirrel.”

Yu Sheng did not budge an inch: “Good. Then which number Little Red Riding Hood is Squirrel?”

The Squirrel fell silent.

Yu Sheng kept his voice even but firm as he said: “Answer me. You must have noticed that I am bringing ‘changes’ to this Black Forest. If you truly want to help Little Red Riding Hood, this may be your closest chance.”

The palm sized “little animal” finally stopped swaying. It stared straight at Yu Sheng. After a long while, as if it had made up its mind or had nowhere left to retreat, it lowered its head and said like it was admitting defeat: “Number zero.”

Yu Sheng frowned at once: “What does that mean?”

The Squirrel twisted its paws together, still keeping its head down as it said: “You have seen it. The first Little Red Riding Hood brought the earliest hearth fire and candlelight to Black Forest. This Black Forest grew and filled out step by step into what it is now. Have you ever thought about an even earlier time? Before ‘Black Forest’ even existed? Maybe… everything has a starting point.”

Yu Sheng said nothing. His eyes told the Squirrel to go on.

“I… I am the first mistake. It all started… with me,” the Squirrel said slowly. Each word seemed to cost it effort, as if the telling itself pained it. “I am the Squirrel in Black Forest, the first living thing on the stage. I am the bad child who handed the Fairy Tale book to someone. I… I did not know it would turn out like this.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes flew wide. It was like a bolt of lightning in his chest. Realizing what the Squirrel had just revealed, he asked at once: “You handed out the Fairy Tale book? To whom?”

“I do not know what they were or where they came from. I… I cannot remember the full scene anymore,” the Squirrel said. Yu Sheng’s sudden rise in volume had startled it, but this time it did not run. It sounded like it had made a choice. “I only remember seeing something fall from the sky. It was after lights out at the Orphanage. Everyone was supposed to be sleeping. I should have been asleep too, but I was not. It… it fell into the yard without a sound, like it melted into the ground.

“I was scared and kept quiet, hiding in my bed. Then a glowing thing drifted in from the windowsill and hovered in front of my eyes. It said it had come for help. Its child was in bad shape and needed to be soothed. It had come to this place with many children to find help. I was terrified and did not know what to do, so I gave it the Fairy Tale book on my headboard.

“I told it to read a story. When Cursed Children in the yard cannot sleep, the teacher reads us stories.

“I should have been asleep. I should not have looked out the window. I…

“If only I had fallen asleep. I should have gone to sleep, like a good child…”

The Squirrel’s voice dropped to a mutter, then turned foggy, as if it were drifting back into a trance. It kept repeating itself, trapped in the same loop, saying again and again that it should have gone to sleep back then, like a child still caught in the shadow of its early years and still believing that if it had eaten on time, slept on time, and learned to dress itself, it would have lived the “original” happy life it was meant to have.

Yu Sheng could finally be sure.

This Squirrel was also one of the children from that Orphanage. It was from a very long time ago, even earlier than the Deep Dive operation seventy years before, earlier even than the first Fairy Tale outbreak. [So it started before anyone realized.]

There was much more that could be reasoned out from what the Squirrel said.

Yu Sheng steadied himself and set those unconfirmed guesses aside. He reached out and tapped the Squirrel lightly, waking the “little animal” from its daze again.

“I have more questions,” he said, face serious. “What did the thing that ‘fell from the sky’ look like?”

The Squirrel shivered, breaking free of its loop. It dug into its memories and, after a long pause, said: “It was hard to see. It was glowing. I… I only remember an oval shape inside the light, like an ‘egg’ with strange patterns. At first it was very big, big enough that if it fell it could flatten half the Orphanage. But then it got smaller. When it landed in the yard, it was only as big as the small tin shed for tools.

“It went straight into the ground. It did not even kick up dust. There was no sound. At first I thought I was seeing things.”

Yu Sheng listened closely, thoughtful.

A glowing halo. Strange patterns. An oval like an egg. The change in size was hard to explain, but the shape was familiar. [I have seen something like that before.]

“Did the voice that spoke to you tell you its name?” he asked.

The Squirrel scratched hard at the fur on its cheeks. “I… I do not remember, but I think it did say it. It has been too long. The Squirrel’s memory is not good. I cannot remember what the teacher taught us. But there was a sound. It started with An… like An something…”

“Anka Aila,” Yu Sheng said slowly. The words left his mouth and he tensed, waiting. The Forest stayed quiet. The little box in his hand stayed quiet too. He exhaled and asked, gentler: “Is that the name?”

The Squirrel froze, then jumped up in shock: “Yes. Yes. That is the sound. But how do you know it?”

“I have already tracked things this far,” Yu Sheng said. He set a calming hand on the Squirrel, feeling it tremble. If he did not soothe it now, this “little animal” might stress itself into a panic. “Relax. Just relax. I have one last question.”

The Squirrel shrank a little, but did not dare pull away: “But the Squirrel does not want to answer anymore. The Squirrel is tired.”

“Only one last question.”

“Fine… then okay.”

“The voice that spoke to you, its ‘child’-what was it like? Did you ever see it, or did it ever describe it to you?”

“No,” the Squirrel answered very quickly. “I am sure. I did not see it, and it did not describe it.”

Yu Sheng held the Squirrel’s eyes. After a few seconds, he nodded: “Alright. I understand.”

The Squirrel finally relaxed. It let out a long breath, paced along the sill, then sat again. From who knows where, it took out a thin little stick, sparked a flame at the tip of its tail, and lit the stick to puff on it.

This was not the first time it had “smoked” in front of Yu Sheng, so he was used to it.

It was no longer the child who had lived in the Orphanage long ago. Now it was the Squirrel of Black Forest, cute enough to make your heart ache.

Yu Sheng only sighed. He let it be and opened the Wooden Box that held the “Angel’s Umbilical Cord”, then checked the Umbilical Cord again.

It still lay on the red velvet lining, quiet, with no further sign of “revival.”

Yu Sheng breathed out in relief, and was just about to close the lid when he felt a startled stare from the side.

He looked up to see the Squirrel gaping at the Wooden Box in his hands.

The smoking tip slipped from its paw to the floor, and it did not even notice.

“How do you have that?” the Squirrel cried, voice cracking.

“You know this thing?” Yu Sheng was startled too, and asked quickly: “You know what it is?”

“Umbilical Cord,” the Squirrel blurted, then lowered its voice at once, as if afraid to wake something. “I have seen this. But I do not remember exactly when. It should have been very early, when Black Forest had just appeared. Later, Anka Aila lost it. They kept looking for it, but could not find it. After that, they stopped showing themselves and hid very deep.”

Yu Sheng frowned. He did not doubt the Squirrel, but a question rose in his heart. If Anka Aila lost the Umbilical Cord, then why did Old Zheng receive this thing while offering rites to Anka Aila?

Just then the Squirrel dared to take two steps closer and peer into the Wooden Box at the Umbilical Cord.

After a short hesitation, it made a puzzled sound and said: “Hmm? No, not quite right. This looks different from the one I saw.”

“Different how?” Yu Sheng asked.

“It looks similar, but more like a copy,” the Squirrel said, uncertain. “The real Umbilical Cord is longer and not shriveled. It is soft, but it feels like metal. The one in your hand… is a fake.”

“A fake?” Yu Sheng was surprised. “Are you sure?”

“It is just a feeling,” the Squirrel corrected itself quickly. “I am only a Squirrel. I do not remember many things clearly.”

Yu Sheng frowned and stayed quiet, glancing at Irene and Foxy.

They had held their tongues for a while now, worried that if they cut in, they might trigger the already touchy Squirrel.

Irene frowned and said, her expression odd: “Old Zheng prayed to the Dark Angels, and they gave him a ‘fake’ Umbilical Cord. That is so strange. What would be the point?”

Foxy thought hard, then said, unsure: “Make a fake as a sample and have Old Zheng help look for the real one?”

Irene stared, stunned: “Are you serious?”

“Sure,” Foxy said, confident as she nodded. “If I lost something, I would do the same.”

Then she turned to Yu Sheng and asked: “Right, Benefactor?”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then nodded: “Makes sense.”

Irene was speechless.

“In any case, a fake clearly still has power,” Yu Sheng said, not getting stuck on that point. He studied the ‘fake’ Angel’s Umbilical Cord in the Wooden Box, then looked around this Little House now lit by the first hearth fire and candlelight. “Maybe it is because we brought it that we could see the phantom the very first Little Red Riding Hood left behind in Black Forest.”