Use cookie crumbs to guide the way.

Xiao Cheng had a vague sense of familiarity; if she wasn't mistaken, she must have heard this story before.

"So this really is a fairy tale mashup?" Xiao Cheng looked at the pebbly path in front of him. "You killed the wolf before... you weren't the hunter from Little Red Riding Hood, were you?"

“Clearly, the fairy tale plot here has deviated greatly, and we haven’t seen any other players yet.” After marking the area, Fang He casually snapped off two sturdy branches, broke off the forks, and handed one of them to Xiao Cheng.

Xiao Cheng tried swinging it a couple of times with force, and to his surprise, it was quite easy to handle. Judging from the whooshing sound it made, its destructive power should be considerable.

"What about these three gold coins?" Xiao Cheng pointed to her pocket. She hadn't expected any fairy tale to be related to gold coins. "Besides, the rules this time are unclear. We don't even know the final passing standard."

“The answer should be at our destination.” Fang He didn’t have many clues for the time being. “Keep the gold coins safe. Let’s get out of this forest first. There are many things related to the forest, so be careful on the road and stay close to me.”

“Now I believe you are Little Red Riding Hood’s grandma.” Xiao Cheng nodded thoughtfully, and then, under Fang He’s questioning gaze, slowly explained, “Grandma, you’re so long-winded.”

Fang He: "..."

Xiao Chengpi was overjoyed. He waved a wooden stick in one hand and scattered biscuit crumbs in the other, then strode ahead to clear the way.

Fang He quickly followed and took over scattering the cookies.

They walked for quite a while, and surprisingly, nothing happened. Xiao Cheng got bored and started making small talk with Fang He.

"So why did those three NPCs let us go so easily? That doesn't seem to make sense."

"You have to believe that this is the power of sincerity." Fang He's tone was very firm, but the words he said made Xiao Cheng feel inexplicably that they were not very serious.

"You actually speak sincerely to an NPC?" she asked incredulously.

“Talking about theory without considering the specific circumstances is just being irresponsible,” Fang He explained calmly. “You have to understand that whether it’s a fairy tale medley or a dark fairy tale, its essence is still a fairy tale, so the final conclusion must be the same.”

"Sincerity?" Xiao Cheng asked, seemingly understanding but not quite.

“It’s love and peace.” Fang He shook his head.

Xiao Cheng: "..." How is this any different from dreaming?

The forest was far more vast than they had imagined, and even when they had only one cookie the size of a finger in their hands, they still couldn't see the edge.

The cookie crumbs on the ground stretched out of sight, indicating that they had not turned back.

Xiao Cheng was a little tired. She looked up at the lush branches overhead, which were no different from before, and sighed wearily.

"The road is so long, so why bother doing rainforest hiking in a dungeon?"

"Let's stop for now." Fang He finished breaking off the last small piece of biscuit and brushed the crumbs off his hands. "If we run out of biscuits, we might get lost."

Xiao Cheng wasn't very focused to begin with, and since his voice had been a little soft, he hadn't heard what he said clearly.

"What?" she asked, turning her head.

Then a terrified voice suddenly rang out from beneath their feet: "Don't move! Keep your feet still!"

For a moment, Xiao Cheng thought she had suddenly seen a ghost.

Then a tiny red-hatted figure, no bigger than a thumb, popped out, laboriously scrambling over the piles of stones. Standing before her with his hands on his hips, he glared at her and demanded, "Don't you even watch where you're going?!"

Xiao Cheng: "..." To be honest, it would be strange if this were visible.

"Don't you dare gesture about my height!" The little man noticed her gesture and instantly became even angrier, jumping three feet high in anger. "This is a blatant insult! This is an insult to our dwarf race by you ugly creatures!"

"Ah, I understand the logic." Xiao Cheng bent down to look at him. "So, how are you going to make the clothes?"

dwarf:"……"

Seeing that the important NPC was about to leave in anger, Fang He patted Xiao Cheng on the shoulder helplessly and then asked, "Excuse me, how can we get out of this forest?"

"Good heavens! What are you talking about?!" The dwarf stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Leave?! We dwarves have been able to leave this place for thirty whole years!"

"Thirty years?!" Xiao Cheng was shocked. Then there was no need to bother with any dungeons. He might as well just retire here and die.

“You know absolutely nothing about this Cursed Forest!” The dwarf frowned, looking down on their intelligence. “Who gave you the courage to trespass here? Outside is the territory of the Vine Giants, and this place is covered in curses. You have no chance of survival.”

"What if I said we had the opportunity to take you out with us?" Fang He thought for a moment, then spoke again, emphasizing the word "together".

The dwarf's face showed a disdainful expression: "You?" He laughed dismissively, "What a pipe dream. This is something our dwarf race has been trying to achieve for thirty years and still hasn't succeeded."

"Just answer two questions for me, and you'll know the answers," Fang He said confidently, his self-assured demeanor inexplicably convincing.

Not only Xiao Cheng, but the dwarf was also clearly intimidated by him. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and said, "Go ahead and ask."

"First question, do you have seven brothers?"

The dwarf's expression immediately turned to shock: "How do you know this?! Everyone thinks that our dwarf race is huge!"

Xiao Cheng: "..." We actually know that.

"The second question," Fang He continued, ignoring the dwarves' shock, "was the one who cursed you a snake spirit?"

"It's a snake! It really is a snake! And a strange scorpion!" the dwarf shouted, gesturing excitedly, almost tumbling off the rock.

"How do you know all this?! How do you know secrets that even some dwarves don't know?! Who are you?! Did you send us down to save us?!"

Xiao Cheng: "..." Regardless of whether they saved the dwarves, I'm mainly curious as to why the seven dwarfs are involved with the snake spirit.

The DNA is way too messed up!

Where did you put Snow White and the Calabash Brothers?!

But Fang He had already gained the dwarf's complete trust by asking two questions.

It removed its hat and bowed to the two of them, saying, "Please forgive my previous rudeness. Next, I will lead you to the true lair of the dwarves."