Chapter 121 Hut
The squirrel's neurotic chattering made Yu Sheng subconsciously listen to the noise outside the cabin, but he only heard some distant and faint sounds of wind.
The flames in the fireplace crackled, and the sound of the wind outside the doors and windows was so faint that it was difficult to hear. These subtle sounds made everything seem exceptionally quiet, and a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere filled the candlelight in the cottage.
The layout of the room was clear at a glance. As you entered the door, you could see a simple square table covered with a blue checkered tablecloth and two chairs beside the table. On the opposite wall, you could see a wooden shelf with a lot of sundries on it, and a one-meter-high wooden wardrobe. In the corner was a single bed with a thick mattress, which looked very comfortable.
On the wall on the left side of the door, there is a window, reflecting the light from the fireplace and candlesticks, as well as the figure of the squirrel jumping around.
Yu Sheng walked towards the window and looked outside cautiously. The old wooden floor creaked under his feet. He saw only the dense and boundless forest night scene outside the window. The time at this moment should be the brief moment when night fell after dusk. There was actually still a little light left in the sky, but the dense tree canopy blocked the limited light, and under the tree canopy was all shadows like the night sky.
I don’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but Yu Sheng always feels that there are countless pairs of cold eyes hidden in those shadows. Countless predators seem to be hiding in the night, surrounding the cabin, waiting for an opportunity.
"Don't look, don't look. The more you look, the more scared you will be. The things you imagine will always come out of the darkness, and the only thing you can think of here is a wolf." The squirrel put his paws behind his back and walked back and forth on the wooden table. "Oh, nuts!"
It suddenly saw a plate of acorns on the table, and immediately jumped over happily, picked up one with its paw, and looked back at Yu Sheng: "Want one? Good stuff!"
"No, thank you." Yu Sheng waved his hand. He was now paying more attention to observing the hut - he found that there were also red rags and ropes in the house, like some kind of shelter decoration. The red ropes and cloth strips were tied to the doors and windows and hung under the roof. There were also some broken pieces of cloth and threads piled messily in the corners.
The squirrel suddenly jumped off the table and ran to the corner to search. It found a long red strip of cloth and then wrapped it around itself.
"A good omen, a good omen!" it cried in a shrill voice.
Yu Sheng was a little curious: "What are you doing?"
"Do something lucky," the squirrel was wrapped in red cloth, looking funny but proud, "Red is a lucky color, a squirrel needs its own lucky color - especially a squirrel as cute as me. Damn, why is there no wine in this room... I'm a little thirsty."
It ran back to the table, picked up an acorn, knocked it hard on the table, and lowered its head to chew it.
Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then walked to the table. He sat down on a chair and looked at the squirrel chewing an acorn. "Can you tell me about Little Red Riding Hood?"
"Which one? Which one are you talking about?" The squirrel raised his head, the candlelight reflected in his eyes, "Oh, I guess you mean the most recent one, the one who is still alive... But why should I tell you? You are an adult who broke in for no reason."
"...I'm her friend, and I want to know about her." Yu Sheng knew that this squirrel was a little neurotic and difficult to deal with, but he was also quite patient. "You helped me just now, and I think you should be a good squirrel. You might be willing to continue to help me and my friends."
"Good squirrel - you hit the nail on the head. I am a good squirrel." The squirrel looked very satisfied. It paced on the table. "But I don't know where to start to tell you... What is there to say? I don't know how she lives outside, and I don't quite understand what she is thinking. Anyway, I remember that when she first came, she probably only had..."
The squirrel looked around the room quickly, then raised his paw and pointed at the chair next to him. "It's about this high, a little higher than the back of the chair. She was crying in the dark forest, and she didn't know how to find the way or hide. I came out to talk to her, but she just kept saying that she would never run around again - and then? She was eaten by a wolf very quickly. Wolves are very fast, and the more afraid you are, the bigger they get."
The squirrel waved its paws, seeming very dissatisfied with what happened, but soon changed its tone.
"Her behavior was terrible at first, but she gradually got better. She was caught by wolves many times and cried even more often, but soon she was able to follow me towards the light while crying. Later, she learned not to make any sound when she cried, and then she learned not to cry. Then, she said she found the 'organization'. I don't remember what she said specifically, but anyway... she seemed to have learned a lot of things."
The squirrel slowly stopped, as if lost in thought.
Yu Sheng waited patiently for a while, and after several seconds he urged softly: "Then what?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm just a squirrel, I need to think carefully... The Little Red Riding Hood in the past seemed to be similar, all similar, ah, yes, she learned a lot of things, such as making traps when hiding, such as how to recover her humanity as soon as possible after being eaten by wolves, such as lurking and observing the patterns of wolf pack activities. Then one day, she successfully caught a wolf, followed by the second, and the third...
"The wolves caught her, and she caught the wolves. Sometimes she succeeded, and sometimes she was eaten. Gradually, she became a part of this forest. Later, she was able to spend most of the nights here peacefully, but she was also increasingly tied to this place. Sometimes, she would even become a bit like a wolf, growing claws and a tail, and running in the darkness outside. Now, hunters would occasionally appear on the path outside and wake her up with gunshots. As the number of hunters increased, she sometimes felt that she was also a hunter..."
The squirrel spoke slower and slower, and a gloomy atmosphere enveloped the little animal. Then it suddenly tugged at the red cloth strips wrapped around its body, raised its head and stared straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.
There was a human light flickering in those eyes that reflected the candlelight.
"You have to help her. She...her condition has actually started to get worse. The other Little Red Riding Hoods are the same. They gradually get used to this forest and gradually become like them. The more times she turns into a wolf, the harder it is for her to go back. The most ferocious and evil wolf is getting closer and closer to her. But for her, the most dangerous moment is never the moment when the wolf opens his mouth, but when she grows fangs... You are her friend, right? You are her friend - you have to help her!"
Yu Sheng quickly understood every word the squirrel said to him. He vaguely guessed many things and suddenly asked, "What should I do specifically? How can I help her?"
However, the squirrel suddenly became frustrated. It took two steps back and struggled to entangle its two paws together: "I don't know, I... I'm just a fucking squirrel..."
Yu Sheng did not give up: "Will killing that 'evil wolf' work?"
"It's useless, it's useless, it will always come back," the squirrel shook his head sadly, "When Little Red Riding Hood comes, the wolf will come too. Everything in this forest is like this. As long as there is Little Red Riding Hood, there will definitely be wolves, grandmothers, hunters, and a long path. At the end of the path is a small house that may be safe or unsafe. Everything is set like this. It's useless to kill them no matter how many times... Only when Little Red Riding Hood disappears will the forest be quiet for a short time...
"Be quiet for a while, until a new Little Red Riding Hood appears."
"There have been many Little Red Riding Hoods in the past, right?" Yu Sheng finally asked the question he wanted to ask just now, "When a Little Red Riding Hood dies, a new 'victim' will come in, right? Which one is this now? When was the first one?"
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"There are always new ones, there are always new ones, because the forest needs Little Red Riding Hood," said the squirrel, and suddenly shuddered, "I, I can't remember the exact number, don't ask me, don't ask, I'm just a squirrel... If I talk too much, it will attract the wolf."
Yu Sheng felt that the squirrel's reaction was a little strange. It seemed that it was not only afraid of the "wolf", but also afraid of something else. However, this neurotic little animal had begun to refuse to answer his other questions - it just kept turning around on the table, as if it was in some state of stress.
At this moment, Yu Sheng suddenly felt something moving in his heart.
Then he heard a faint call.
The voice was vague and far away, but when he focused his attention, it suddenly became clear - Irene was calling in his heart.
"Yusheng! Yusheng, where have you been sleeping? I heard your reply!"
"Erin?" Yu Sheng was startled, and immediately responded in his heart, "Oh my god, I finally heard your voice... I called you just now, but you didn't respond."
“Hey, hey, I heard it! I finally found it!” The little puppet’s voice was suddenly filled with surprise, crackling in a string, “I heard it just now, and then I looked for you immediately but couldn’t find you, and I couldn’t find you in your dream either. I clearly felt that you were dreaming but I just couldn’t connect with your consciousness, just like a dream that got lost… Hey, Hu Li, stop wandering, I’ve found your ‘benefactor’—Hu Li is right next to us, she’s been furious for a long time, and I’m dizzy from wandering around. She’s trying to summon your spirit for you… We’re right next to your bed, hey, don’t tell me, it looks like you’re paying homage to a corpse, you’re lying there so peacefully… Aoao, silly fox, bite me!”
The corners of Yu Sheng's mouth twitched twice, and he felt mixed emotions as he listened to the beeping of the little doll.
This feeling of asking for a beating is so intimate that it feels like being struck by lightning.
(End of this chapter)
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