The squirrel's neurotic chatter immediately made Yu Sheng think of many things, including the possible "loopholes" in the forest, and the possibility of helping Little Red Riding Hood break the curse. However, before that, he became even more curious about the squirrel itself.

"Why... do you seem to always want to help Little Red Riding Hood escape from the forest?" he couldn't help staring into the squirrel's eyes, a mix of curiosity and seriousness in his tone, "Why?"

"What do you mean by why?" The squirrel was taken aback, "Does this need a reason?"

"Aren't you also an 'entity' born in this forest?" Yu Sheng furrowed his brows and asked directly, "You were helping me before—why would you think of actively helping a human who 'invaded' here?"

The squirrel just stood there blankly, rubbing its face with its paws, and muttered hesitantly, "Yeah... why indeed... why would I help..."

It suddenly froze, as if its brain had completely crashed.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng thought to himself that this was bad, the brain capacity of these rodents was clearly not enough, even if it was an entity, his question might have triggered all its bugs.

But just when he was worried that the squirrel would be completely stuck on this question, the little creature suddenly jerked, as if it had successfully rebooted, and it raised its paws high, emitting a shrill cry: "I am a squirrel!"

Yu Sheng suspected it was still stuck in a bug: "Uh, I know you're a squirrel..."

"I'm the TM adorable, bubbly squirrel! The little creature of the forest!" The squirrel continued shrieking, "There has to be such a little creature in the story, a carefree little creature of the forest, who will help those children about to be eaten. Yes, there must be such a little creature! It would be even better if it could sing. Although I can't, I still have to help the children who are lost in the forest, because—I am a squirrel!"

It raised its paws high, shouting excitedly, as if it suddenly found—or rather, refound—its reason for existence, looking exceptionally happy.

Erin couldn't help but lean towards Yu Sheng's ear and whisper, "Is it really sick? It looks mentally unstable."

"The entities created by Black Forest, what do you think?" Yu Sheng had a thoughtful expression, "This is probably one of the rules of the forest, or rather, the rules of 'Fairy Tales'."

"Why do you say that?"

"The 'threat' that tries to kill the protagonist, and the 'friends' who try to help the protagonist, fairy tales always need these two elements, and in the forest, the image of this 'friend' is usually a small creature, at least that's how I understand it."

"Is that so?"

And just at that moment, the squirrel that was shrieking on the table suddenly stopped, stood up, and seemed to listen carefully to something. Then it leaped onto Yu Sheng and quickly climbed onto his shoulder.

Erin looked at the squirrel's actions and paused for a moment, then realized, "Hey! That's my spot!"

"Shush!" The squirrel suddenly raised its paw, its body tensed up, and Yu Sheng could even feel it trembling slightly, "Listen outside, listen to the noises outside."

Yu Sheng immediately realized what was happening and gestured to Erin to be quiet. He then carefully approached the window and listened closely to the sounds coming from the forest.

It was quiet, as silent as death, where even the distant and vague sound of the wind and the faint, constant howl of wolves that always surrounded the cabin had disappeared without notice.

The deadly silence enveloped the cabin, and then abruptly, the knocking came, piercingly sharp, tearing through the quiet night.

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang.

The knocking was neither hurried nor slow, as if it was directly tapping into one's soul.

"The wolf is here, the wolf is here, the cabin's fire is running out!" The squirrel, trembling all over, said in a low voice quickly, "How can it consume so fast, it's over, it's over, it's over..."

Yu Sheng glanced out of the corner of his eye towards the fireplace in the corner of the cabin and saw that the flames were indeed rapidly shrinking—notwithstanding the ample fuel piled in the hearth, the fire seemed to be vanishing into thin air.

Yu Sheng turned to Erin: "Are you in a state to fight right now?"

"Probably not so good—I'm just a loophole-invoking projection, remember? You summoned me here with a simple sketch, how much power could I have?" Erin's frame swayed from side to side, "At most, I could cheer you on... Try not to die too horribly, yeah? I'll have nightmares."

Yu Sheng almost choked: This doll was perfect in every way, why did it have to have a mouth!

Bang bang bang——

The knocking sounded again, growing gradually like thunderclaps booming, making the entire cottage shake. The walls creaked, and the roof swayed.

The squirrel let out a terrified shriek before pulling out a stiff pine needle as one would wield a single-handed sword, grabbing an acorn with the other paw, using it as a shield: "Squirrel is ready! The squirrel knight is ready!"

The third knock rocked the cottage, causing shelves and wooden wardrobes to collapse amidst the quake-like shaking with a loud bang, quickly disappearing into the air. Only a weak glow remained in the fireplace, and the whole cottage shook, with cracks forming one after another on the walls—then, abruptly, there was a huge hole in the roof.

Yu Sheng saw an eye, a glowing wolf's eye, pressed against the hole in the roof, and behind it, a narrow face covered in black fur.

The deafening bangs started again, the wolves outside the cottage pounding on the entire structure, as if beating on a drum that's about to fall apart.

The flames in the fireplace went out completely; the wooden cottage shattered instantly under the terrifying pounding, red strings and tattered cloth wrapped around the doors and windows making a piercing tearing sound—a sound so sharp it was almost like a scream—and then the huge figure of the Evil Wolf appeared before Yu Sheng and Erin.

It was even bigger than the "Evil Wolf" that crept out from Little Red Riding Hood's shadow that Yu Sheng had seen in the "Museum," bigger than a house. It stood so close its body almost blocked out the entire sky in Yu Sheng's field of vision. The large, twisted creature slowly lowered its head, its wild and furious eyes coldly watching the prey that fell out of the cottage as if enjoying the final step of this hunt.

"It's gotten bigger! Bigger again!" The squirrel gripped its "pine needle sword" and "acorn shield" tightly, looking up and shrieking, "Little Red Riding Hood must be getting more and more scared! The more she's afraid, the bigger this wolf gets!"

Yu Sheng suddenly turned his head: "You say…"

But he didn't have time to finish his question, as the hysterical squirrel seemed to have lost its reason amidst the huge fear and tension. It shrieked, raised the pine needle high, and suddenly leapt into mid-air, rushing towards the giant wolf as if stepping on an invisible path: "Squirrel knight is ready! The squirrel knight will protect you!"

Yu Sheng was dumbfounded: "F*ck, wait a second—"

However, the squirrel didn't respond; it struck like lightning toward the vast shadow, the small pine needle thrusting straight forward—

"Squirrel knight~ appears on the forest trail," the squirrel's raspy and off-pitch song echoed through the air. Its lyrics were strange, and its melody was unpleasant. As it had said, there had to be a small animal in the story to help the children, and it had to sing—but it couldn't, its voice was so terrible it was like another nightmare, "Oh oh oh~ It wants to help~ the lonely Little Red Riding Hood~~"

It screamed and sang frantically, and in the blink of an eye, the little figure disappeared into the wolf's mouth.

The wolf didn't even turn its head, simply opening its mouth so that the squirrel seemed to have jumped into it voluntarily.

The harsh and unpleasant song faded away, and a few chews could be heard between the wolf's teeth gaps, then it lowered its head, its gaze on Yu Sheng seemed a bit puzzled.

For the whole forest, Yu Sheng and Erin were "intruders who should not have been there."

"That squirrel is dead!" Erin finally reacted with a cry, "I thought it would erupt with something at the critical moment… How could it die just like that?!"

A gust of Astral Wind swept in, the giant wolf's paw slamming down on the spot where Yu Sheng had been standing.

But Yu Sheng had already reacted, stepping and shattering the ground beneath him, darting suddenly to the side and then leaping beneath the huge wolf trying to find a blind spot in its assault: "Stop lamenting! I'll be dead soon too!"

Erin's frame flew toward Yu Sheng: "Got any last words you want me to pass on?"

Yu Sheng dodged yet another pounce from the giant wolf and shouted, "Tell Hu Li! We're having buns for dinner! Tell her to take out the meat from the fridge first!"

"Got it, remembered," Erin's frame wobbled through the gusts generated by the wolf's tail, becoming gradually transparent, "Then I'm out—this place is starting to reject me!"

"Goodbye, I'll be back soon!"

Yu Sheng waved his hand, and Erin's frame disappeared from his sight almost at the same moment.

A blast of wind erupted, and the giant wolf seemed to have finally gotten angry with Yu Sheng, this annoying prey scurrying beneath it. It leapt aside sharply, eyes fixated on the tiny human figure below, and then lunged out with its paw again.

Yu Sheng didn't dodge, instead suddenly grinning, revealing a hint of a smile.

"Bring it on! Taste something good! Get a lick of this, and you're set for life, you SOB!"

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