The squirrel seemed somewhat impacted, sitting petrified on the handrail with its gleaming little eyes fixated on Yu Sheng, silent for a good while.

Honestly, being stared at by a talking squirrel feels rather eerie.

Yu Sheng couldn't help but grow curious, what exactly is the origin of this squirrel?

If this Black Forest truly is the Fairyland that Little Red Riding Hood spoke of, the bearer of her curse, then could this squirrel be an entity formed within this realm? An entity possessing such rich emotions and intelligence? Could the wolves also be entities from this realm? In the same realm, could there exist entities with such opposing stances?

Yu Sheng felt his understanding of the Exotic Realm was still too superficial.

"Strange, strange," the squirrel snapped out of its daze, pacing along the railing, its bushy tail sweeping restlessly, "This has never happened! Never before! Only Little Red Riding Hood could come here, I have never heard of anything about 'friends'... Too strange, something unprecedented is happening in the forest! Trouble is brewing, I always feel that trouble is brewing... How did you get in? How exactly did you get in?"

The squirrel suddenly jumped onto Yu Sheng's arm, gripping his sleeve with its claws, looking so agitated it seemed almost frantic, repeatedly asking "How exactly did you get in?"

"...I don't know either," Yu Sheng shook his head.

He didn't tell the squirrel the truth - upon realizing that this seemingly rational and friendly squirrel might essentially just be an "entity" created by the Black Forest, he couldn't help but remain cautious towards it.

After all, he was still unclear about all the "rules" within this forest, who knows if the stance this squirrel is showing is truly rational, or merely an "imitation" by the Black Forest.

"You don't know... Okay, you don't know," the squirrel climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder, "Have you listened to bedtime stories? Have you ever had a dream featuring a forest, little flowers, and candies? Have you?"

A flicker of insight crossed Yu Sheng's mind: "Did Little Red Riding Hood enter this forest after listening to bedtime stories and having such dreams?"

"That's how it is, that's how it is," the squirrel seemed slightly agitated, "But only children do that, adults shouldn't, logically speaking adults wouldn't..."

Yu Sheng frowned, "Why do you say that?"

"How would I know, how would I know, I'm just a damn squirrel!" The squirrel appeared more agitated as it spoke rapidly while rubbing its face with its paws, "Can't chat anymore, the lights are dimming, this path is about to disappear, we need to head towards a safer place... Let's go, hurry, before they catch up..."

As the squirrel finished speaking, Yu Sheng also noticed that the fantastically styled "street lamps" lining the path were indeed dimming at a visible rate, and as each lamp grew dim, the path clearly lit by the light also began to blur, as if the forest's own darkness was gradually devouring them—a cold and viscous malice slowly invaded this path, a dangerous atmosphere from the forest closing in from all directions.

Yu Sheng instinctively quickened his pace, quickly asking, "Which way? Where are we going?"

"Just follow the path, just follow the path," the squirrel's voice was shrill and tense, "As long as you keep following the path, you'll see other paths with street lamps, or possibly the lights of a cottage—cottages can be dangerous sometimes, but sometimes they also offer a place to rest. But be very careful, beware of the things on the side of the path that tempt you, when the lights dim, those things will lure you off the path, deep into the forest, they are traps set by wolves..."

Yu Sheng instantly recalled the warnings the squirrel made when it first appeared—not to be captivated by the pretty flowers and mushrooms.

"Don't worry, I won't be attracted by the roadside wildflowers and mushrooms," he shook his head, "I'm not a child."

While saying this, he couldn't help but wonder, what would happen if a child were truly trapped in this endless Black Forest? When had Little Red Riding Hood first fallen into this forest? How old was she then? Had she ever been lured by the roadside flowers and mushrooms, straying from the path?

After all, according to the squirrel, being hunted by the Wolf Pack could happen more than once—children trapped in the forest gradually degenerating through the repeated hunts by the Evil Wolf.

"I hope you won't be tempted," the squirrel mumbled, "The darkness always harbors deceiving things, the forest has its ways, always has its ways..."

Yu Sheng smiled faintly, quickening his steps, hurriedly passing the dimming street lamps and the increasingly blurry path in the forest, while vigilantly keeping an eye on the surroundings from the corner of his eyes.

Then, he suddenly paused.

In the dim shadows by the roadside, Yu Sheng caught a glimpse of a flash of light. On closer inspection, he saw it was a brand-new *090 graphics card, lying quietly in the grass.

Then he looked again and saw a brand-new laptop also quietly lying in the undergrowth, along with an **Elite Sixth Generation Smart Feedback Game Controller** co-branded with RGB lighting modifications and a storage bag.

Yu Sheng rubbed his eyes, and saw hanging on the tree next to him a **Power Tool Professional Kit limited edition with an eighteen-piece set in a box, a box of Wild Ice Tea, and a Carbon Fiber Fishing Rod Set...

On the other side of the path, the sound of rushing water came, and Yu Sheng turned his head to see a spacious pond, beside which was a stone hollow just big enough to shield from wind and rain, equipped with folding chairs, fishing gear, half a box of beer, a sun umbrella, and a fisherman who seemed to be packing up and about to leave.

The squirrel standing on Yu Sheng's shoulder was dumbfounded, its eyes nearly popping out, "… what the hell is all this?!"

"It's the 'wildflowers and mushrooms' of adults," Yu Sheng's mind was greatly shocked, he almost had to slap himself to take his gaze away and then he kept his head down and gritted his teeth as he hurried along, "Too dangerous, this forest is too damn dangerous..."

He walked for who knows how long, with countless sinister and venomous temptations popping up on both sides of the path, and finally, those illusions stopped appearing—meanwhile, the roadside lights had dimmed down to almost completely disappearing, only a few blurry, firefly-like lights still floated in mid-air, barely outlining the path.

Deep in the forest ahead, Yu Sheng saw a faint light.

"There it is! A place to rest!" The squirrel immediately jumped up on his shoulder, letting out an excited shriek, "Hurry over, hurry over, hopefully there's a warm fire there, and steaming hot vegetable soup."

Yu Sheng unconsciously quickened his steps.

The "street lights" by his side had completely gone out, with darkness once again enveloping the surroundings. The malice of the forest whispered in the wind, carrying distant and vague howls of wolves.

The howling of wolves was gradually coming closer, and after the path disappeared, the invisible Evil Wolves once again smelled the scent of prey, a new encirclement slowly forming and closing in on the unwelcome visitors in the forest.

But Yu Sheng had already reached the area near that warm light—he saw a cabin.

A wooden cabin that looked somewhat old, standing quietly deep in the forest.

Warm, cozy light spilled from the cabin's windows, incomprehensibly comforting in the dark, cold forest.

Yu Sheng reached the cabin door, where he saw a red rag hanging, and many similarly red strings wrapped around the doorframe, window sills, and under the eaves of the wood, not knowing if they held any special meaning, or if they were merely decorations.

"Don't rush in yet," the squirrel quickly warned, "Go to the doorway, there's a crack, see it? Get close, just right to see inside the bed—no one on it means the cabin is safe, we can go in and rest, but if 'grandmother' is inside, then we have to keep heading deeper into the forest."

Yu Sheng frowned, followed the squirrel's guidance to the door, and peered through the gap into the cabin.

The warm fire burned in the fireplace, a simple wooden table held bread, bouquets, and candles, and the bed in a deeper part of the room was empty.

"There's no one inside," Yu Sheng told the squirrel.

"That's great, we can go inside," the squirrel suddenly became happy, "We're lucky—we can rest in there for a long time, even until you wake up!"

Yu Sheng nodded his head, and with the increasingly clear and approaching wolf howls in the distance, he pushed open the wooden door of the cabin.

The howling of wolves almost instantly faded away.

Yu Sheng and the squirrel entered the cabin, and casually closed the door behind them.

The oncoming light and the heat released from the fireplace dispelled the unease and oppression brought by the forest with an incredible force, and the crackling fire brought a nearly surreal coziness, allowing Yu Sheng's continuously tense heart to unconsciously relax a bit.

"Relax, relax some more, the cabin without the grandmother is the only place in the forest where you can completely unwind," the squirrel noted the change in Yu Sheng's demeanor, nimbly jumping onto the table nearby, "Hopefully no sudden footsteps or knocking sounds will come…"

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