Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Overflowing Nightmare

Yu Sheng almost did not catch what the little Doll rattled off; he stood there blankly for two or three seconds before he reacted, but he had no time to tease Irene.

Because another strange sound came from the depths of the underground passage.

It sounded like a light, happy flute, now far and now near, as if the player stood right there in the corridor.

Then the flute faded and dense footsteps took its place. Wet footprints appeared ahead on the floor, as if a band of children had just run past. The footsteps turned into a carriage rolling over stone. The lights ahead dimmed. The air filled with the smell of smoke and gunpowder.

It lasted only a few seconds. Then thick fog billowed up layer after layer. Faint shapes moved inside it. In an instant, the underground corridor became a strange street: crooked, tall houses on both sides, people hurrying through the night. A cold winter night settled in, the temperature dropping fast. Yu Sheng saw his breath turn at once into tiny ice crystals. The passersby along the road froze almost in a blink into lifeless ice statues.

Out of the corner of his eye, a bright flame kindled at the street corner. It grew larger, higher, brighter, and warmer.

Yu Sheng shook his head hard, trying to find the corridor’s outline through the layers of fog. Head down, he pushed through the cold wind, past the people who were now ice and the crooked street. He hurried across this nightmare that had leaked into reality. The winter wind stabbed into his bones, and then warm firelight spread near him. In the glow, a figure with a shawl over her shoulders walked over, looking at him with confusion and wonder: “…Bro, why are you here?”

He said: “Your nightmare is leaking into reality.” Seeing her fade fast, he skipped the details and spoke quickly: “Push tonight’s stage forward as fast as you can, or go straight to the Sanctuary Wasteland and find Irene…”

Before he could finish, the winter night Illusion Arts shook and peeled away. Yu Sheng did not know if the Little Match Girl had heard him. The last thing he saw was the deep, freezing sky flaring bright while the girl raised her right hand in the flames, as if she were Summoning a White Phosphorus Bomb.

The corridor returned to normal, for the moment. Yu Sheng sprinted for the exit. Little Red Riding Hood would still need a bit of time to gather the Cursed Children. The real world had the King’s Knight Order standing guard, so nothing should go wrong. Irene was watching from the Sanctuary Wasteland, so even the Fairy Tale members who had lost inside their subsets should be fine. Even so, unease crept through him, spreading from his chest. [I missed something without realizing it, or something is happening right under my eyes and I cannot see it.]

As that uneasy feeling sharpened, a small sting pricked the back of his hand, and Yu Sheng turned by reflex.

Thorny brush had cut his skin. Low branches caught his clothes. The tangled trees of the Black Forest filled his view. The corridor he had come from had, at some point, been replaced by thick trees and shrubs.

He spun toward the way he had meant to go. The corridor was gone. Ahead lay a boundless Black Forest. Lines of trees stretched on into shadow. Dense crowns blocked the last glow of dusk. Hollow wind sounds drifted by his ears, and in the wind came the howls of a Wolf Pack.

The ceiling, floor, walls… all gone. Unlike before, this did not seem like Illusion Arts leaking into reality. He had truly stepped into the Black Forest.

Realizing this, Yu Sheng stopped short, watching every stir of grass and leaf with care.

He heard the faint cry of a baby, as if from the Deep Forest, broken and blurry but never stopping.

Then a tiny voice came from behind a nearby bush, careful and small: “Over here, over here, hey, I’m here.”

Yu Sheng looked toward the sound at once and spotted a little patch of brown red behind a low shrub: a Squirrel’s tail.

He hurried over and squatted by the bush. The Squirrel hid behind a heap of twigs and leaves, holding two fallen leaves in a silly pose to cover herself while she peeked out.

He began: “Squirrel, you-” She raised a finger fast to hush him, then inched to Yu Sheng’s side and whispered: “Anka Aila is here.”

Yu Sheng’s nerves went taut. He drew a light breath and glanced around: “Where?!”

“You cannot see it, and it probably has not seen you. What came here is only its gaze. I do not know how to explain it, but I remember that gaze. I remember what it feels like to be watched by it,” the Squirrel said in a small voice, a little tremor in her tone: “It seems to be looking for something. Just now its gaze swept past here… the whole Black Forest went quiet for a moment, but now the Wolf Pack is restless again.”

Not only the Black Forest.

Anka Aila’s gaze was sweeping across every subset of the Fairy Tale, sweeping across every stage. [It is scanning all of them.]

“What is it looking for? The missing Umbilical Cord?” Yu Sheng asked.

“I do not know, but… maybe not,” the Squirrel said, shrinking back under the leaves again. “It has been looking for that Umbilical Cord for many years. There is no reason to be this impatient now… Ah, why did you suddenly come here? And without your other friends?” She sent him a curious look.

“Part of the Black Forest ‘overflowed’ into the real world. I walked straight in from where they overlapped,” Yu Sheng said, face solemn. He was not sure the Squirrel could follow him. After a beat of doubt, he gently lifted her into his palm and patted her head: “Things may change next. You need to find a place to hide. Do you have a hideout?”

The Squirrel stared at Yu Sheng. Without noticing it, she dropped the two leaves. She dazed out for a long moment, then nodded hard: “Yes! Squirrel can hide! There are many tree holes in the Black Forest. Every tree hole is Squirrel’s hideout…”

“Good. Then hide in a tree hole. No matter what happens, protect yourself first. Also…”

Yu Sheng paused, then, without hesitation, cut open his own finger.

The Squirrel froze, startled by his sudden self injury, eyes fixed on the bead of blood welling up.

“You are bleeding!”

“Give it a lick,” Yu Sheng said.

“Huh?!”

“Every child gets this,” Yu Sheng said, looking straight into the Squirrel’s eyes. “It is the Orphanage’s new rule.”

The Squirrel was plainly stunned. Her walnut sized head was not made for heavy thinking. After a few seconds of not figuring it out, she simply stopped trying and, muddled and obedient, gave his fingertip a lick.

Only then did she seem to faintly grasp what “every child gets this” meant. Tension and jitters showed on her face-and, beyond disbelief, a little flicker of… joy.

Yu Sheng honestly did not know if this would help. He did not know whether a Squirrel who had already become part of the Black Forest could gain the same “shelter” in the nightmare that other children did after touching his blood. He only thought that help was help, however small. Time was tight. Every child in the Orphanage had a place to hide. But this Squirrel… if he did nothing, then in this endless Black Forest she truly would be alone, hiding from place to place.

Then the Squirrel’s figure began to fade in Yu Sheng’s palm.

The Black Forest around him also began to fade, sinking into darkness.

The dream started to ebb again. Yu Sheng stood up and saw the corridor’s walls and floor slowly swim back into view among the shadowy trees.

He strode toward the wavering exit, found the stairs up, and ran from the second basement to the first floor in one breath.

Brief, bizarre Illusion Arts and strange sounds rose and fell around him like stage sets and passing actors: fuzzy Fairy Tale scenes, warped story roles, short sharp bugles, lively whistles, a lion’s roar, a princess and a prince singing. It was like countless hands trying their hardest to stop him at the last few steps. In a few seconds, everything jumped out, then fell behind.

As a bored lord, Yu Sheng snapped every bit of Illusion Arts crawling out of a story without hesitation, and then he saw many figures already gathered in the first floor hall of the east wing.

A few big kids were directing. Early teens kept order and helped their younger siblings check what they carried and put on their clothes. Little Cursed Children stood in neat lines. Some were still sleepy. Some clutched water bottles grabbed in a hurry. Some looked tense and a little scared. But not one made a needless sound. In the huge room, dozens of Dollheads crowded together without a single cry or shout.

The loudest voices were Little Red Riding Hood and a few other “parents,” trading quick plans and orders: “Put on your clothes. Does everyone have a water bottle? There is clean water over there. Take your own bottle, and if you are checked, wait here.” “Bring food and blankets. There may be no beds or cooking for now. We are moving too fast…” “Do a headcount, then count again… Rapunzel, watch the line. The smallest ones are about to fall asleep. Do not leave anyone behind.” “Big bro is here! Door Opening bro!”