Chapter 120 The Lure of the Forest
The squirrel looked a little shocked. The small rodent was fixed on the railing as if petrified, staring at Yu Sheng with its black little eyes for a long time without moving.
To be honest, it feels quite weird to be stared at by a talking squirrel.
Yu Sheng couldn't help but feel curious. What was the origin of this squirrel? If this black forest was the "fairytale land" that Little Red Riding Hood mentioned and brought her a curse, then was this squirrel an entity generated in this land? An entity with such rich emotions and reason? Are those wolves also entities in this land? In the same land, could such entities with completely different positions appear? Yu Sheng felt that his understanding of the land was still too superficial.
"Strange, strange," the squirrel stopped being stunned and paced on the railing, sweeping its thick tail back and forth anxiously, "This has never happened! This has never happened! Only Little Red Riding Hood can come here, and I have never heard of any 'friends'... It's so strange, there is an unprecedented situation in the forest! Something must be wrong, I always feel that something is going to happen... How did you get in? How did you get in?"
The squirrel suddenly jumped onto Yu Sheng's arm and grabbed his sleeve with its claws. It looked uneasy and a little crazy, and kept asking over and over again, "How did you get in?"
“…I don’t know either.” Yu Sheng shook his head.
He did not tell the squirrel the truth - after realizing that this seemingly rational and friendly squirrel might actually be just an "entity" generated by the Dark Forest, he had to remain wary of it.
After all, he didn't know all the "rules" of this forest. God knew whether the position shown by the squirrel now was truly rational or just a "simulation" of the Black Forest.
"You don't know... well, you don't know," the squirrel climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder, "Did you listen to bedtime stories? Did you have a dream with forests, flowers and candies? Did you?"
Yu Sheng's mind suddenly moved: "Little Red Riding Hood entered this forest after listening to the bedtime story and having this kind of dream?"
"It's always like this, it's always like this," the squirrel looked a little anxious, "but only children will do this, adults won't, it's reasonable that adults won't..."
Yu Sheng frowned: "Why do you say that?"
"How should I know? How should I know? I'm just a fucking squirrel!" The squirrel seemed to be getting more and more anxious. It spoke quickly while rubbing its face with its claws. "No more chatting. The lights are getting dim. This road is about to disappear. We have to go to the next safe place... Go, go quickly, before they catch up..."
As the squirrel finished speaking, Yu Sheng immediately noticed that the fantastic "street lights" on both sides of the path were indeed dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye. As each light dimmed, the forest paths that were originally clear in the lights also became blurred, as if the darkness of the forest itself was gradually swallowing them up - some kind of cold and sticky malice gradually invaded the path, and the dangerous atmosphere from the forest permeated from all directions.
Yu Sheng subconsciously took a step forward and asked quickly as he walked, "Which way? Where are we going?"
"Just follow the path, just follow the path," the squirrel said in a shrill and nervous voice. "As long as you keep following the path, you will see other paths with street lights, or the lights of cabins - cabins are sometimes dangerous, but sometimes they can also give you a rest. But be careful, be careful of those things on both sides of the path that tempt you. When the lights dim, those things will lure you off the road and into the depths of the forest. They are traps set by wolves..."
Yu Sheng instantly recalled the warnings the squirrel had given when it first appeared - don't be attracted by pretty flowers and mushrooms.
"Don't worry, I won't be attracted by the wild flowers and mushrooms on the roadside," he shook his head, "I'm not a child."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but think about what would happen if a child was really trapped in this endless dark forest? When did Little Red Riding Hood first fall into this forest? How old was she at that time? Did she ever leave the path, lured by wild flowers and mushrooms on the roadside? After all, according to the squirrel, being hunted by wolves can happen more than once - the "child" trapped in this forest gradually sank into depravity after being hunted by the wolves again and again.
Even an "adult" like him had a hard time avoiding those wolves. A panicked child trapped in the forest would have to be swallowed by wolves many times before he could gain the strength of Little Red Riding Hood...
"I hope you won't be tempted," the squirrel muttered. "There are always confusing things in the dark. The forest has a way, it always has a way..."
Yu Sheng smiled, quickened his pace, and hurriedly walked along the forest path where the street lights were getting dimmer and the road was getting more blurred, while at the same time he vigilantly kept an eye on the situation on the roadside out of the corner of his eye.
Then he was suddenly stunned.
In the dim shadows on the roadside, Yu Sheng caught a glimpse of a flash of light. Looking closely, he saw that it was a brand new *090 graphics card lying quietly in the grass.
Then he looked again and saw a brand new laptop lying quietly in the grass, as well as the **Elite VI Smart Feedback Game Controller** co-branded model with RGB light set modification parts and a storage bag.
Yu Sheng rubbed his eyes and saw a limited edition **Power Tool Expert Set with 18 pieces in a box, boxes of wild iced black tea, and a carbon fiber fishing rod set hanging on the tree next to him...
The sound of rushing water came from the other side of the path. Yu Sheng turned around and saw an open pond. Beside the pond was a stone nest that could just shelter him from the wind and rain. There were folding chairs, a fishing tackle box, half a box of beer, a parasol, and a fisherman who was packing up and seemed to be about to leave.
The squirrel standing on Yu Sheng's shoulder was stunned, his eyes almost popping out: "...What the hell is this?!"
"These are 'wild flowers and mushrooms' for adults," Yu Sheng was shocked and almost slapped himself before he retracted his gaze. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth as he hurried forward, "It's too dangerous, this forest is too damn dangerous..."
He walked for an unknown amount of time, and countless sinister and vicious temptations and traps appeared on both sides of the path. Finally, those illusions no longer appeared - and at the same time, the lights on the roadside had dimmed to the point of almost disappearing completely, leaving only a few vague, firefly-like bright spots floating in the air, barely illuminating the outline of the path.
Deep in the dense forest ahead, Yu Sheng saw a faint light.
"Got it! It's a place to rest!" The squirrel immediately jumped up on his shoulder and screamed excitedly, "Go over there quickly, go over there quickly, I hope there will be a warm fire and hot vegetable soup there."
Yu Sheng unconsciously quickened his pace.
The "street light" beside him had completely gone out, and darkness once again enveloped the surroundings. The malice of the forest whispered in the wind, and the distant and vague howling of wolves was heard.
The howling of wolves was getting closer. After the trail disappeared, the invisible wolves smelled the scent of prey again. A new encirclement gradually formed and moved closer to the uninvited guests in the forest.
But Yu Sheng had already come near the warm light - he saw a small house.
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A wooden hut that looks quite old stands quietly in the depths of the forest.
There was a warm light coming from the windows of the cabin, and in such a dark and cold forest, the light was incredibly warm.
Yu Sheng came to the door of the wooden house. He saw a piece of red rag hanging on the door, and many red ropes wrapped around the door frame, window frames and the wood under the eaves. He didn't know whether they had special meaning or were just decorations.
"Don't rush in yet," the squirrel reminded quickly, "Go to the door, there is a crack, do you see it? If you go closer, you can just see the bed inside and see if there is anyone on it - if there is no one, the cabin is safe and you can go in and rest. But if 'Grandma' is inside, then we have to continue walking deeper into the forest."
Yu Sheng frowned, followed the squirrel's instructions, went to the door, and looked inside the cabin through the gap in the door.
A warm fire burned in the fireplace, bread, flowers and candles were placed on the simple wooden table, and the bed was further into the room with no one on it.
"There's no one in the room." Yu Sheng said to the squirrel.
"That's great, we can go in," the squirrel suddenly became happy, "What a luck - we can rest in there for a long time, even until you wake up!"
Yu Sheng nodded, and as the wolf howls in the distance became clearer and closer, he reached out and pushed open the wooden door of the hut.
The wolf howl faded away almost instantly.
Yu Sheng and the squirrel walked into the cabin and closed the door casually.
The oncoming light and the heat from the fireplace dispelled the uneasiness and oppression brought by the forest with an incredible power. The crackling fire brought an almost unreal warmth, which made Yu Sheng's always tense heart relax a little unconsciously.
"Relax, relax a little. The hut without grandma is the only place in the forest where you can completely relax." The squirrel noticed the change in Yu Sheng's expression and jumped lightly onto the table beside him. "I hope there won't be any sudden footsteps or knocks on the door..."
(End of this chapter)
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