Yu Sheng suddenly regretted creating so many Erins.

Especially when the three Erins pounced on him, squealing, shrieking, and scratching—When there were two or fewer dolls, he could easily push them back with a lift of his hand, but with three he found himself overwhelmed, especially since one was made of rebar and rock, hitting him like a bag of cement on the head. Luckily, his diet had been balanced lately, and his body was still relatively robust. Otherwise, with the physical condition of ordinary people, letting Erin pounce on them would mean being silenced by a smack...

Moments later, Yu Sheng's forehead bore several bite marks, and he was draped with three incessantly chirping dolls, utterly dejected.

"Get off me," he sighed, looking at the three dolls hanging from his leg, sitting on his shoulder, and clinging to his collar, "Especially you wrapped in a towel, it's about to fall off."

Erin finally let out a cry, and along with Erin and Erin, they hopped off Yu Sheng. Then the little doll still wrapped in a towel stood on the bed and looked up: "Right, where are my clothes!?"

Yu Sheng casually took out a mended skirt from the bedside table and tossed it over: "Here, I fixed it up for you when I had time. I cut off the burnt part and patched up the obvious spots with decorative ruffles from the hem. My craftsmanship is so-so; just wear it for now, I'll buy you a new one in the next couple of days."

"Oh, okay," the towel-wrapped doll happily caught the skirt and hopped off the bed heading for the bathroom, "I'm going to change! Don't you peek!"

"… Why would I peek at you? I sculpted all three of your bodies!" Yu Sheng's eyes twitched as he shouted toward the bathroom, then turned his gaze back to the two remaining Erins, facing each other in a stare-off.

Just then, Yu Sheng suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead: "Ah, I forgot to tell Little Red Riding Hood about Xiao Xiao. I was wondering why I felt like I was forgetting something."

"Xiao Xiao's matter? The kid from the orphanage?" Erin was taken aback but soon remembered the name, "What happened to her?"

"She also entered my 'weird dream,' the one like a wilderness," Yu Sheng explained, "and it seems she accidentally fell into it while trying to escape from wolves after being dragged into the Black Forest by a nightmare…"

Thereupon, he recounted his recent experiences in the Dream Realm to the dolls in front of him, also mentioning the Hunter apparition he had seen—just not mentioning the detail about nearly "putting on" the Hunter's clothes. Erin listened to Yu Sheng's story, her face showing an increasingly astonished expression, and after holding back for a while, she couldn't resist commenting: "How can your dreams always be so outrageous?"

"I don't know," Yu Sheng spread his hands candidly, "It's not like I can control it."

The two Erins looked up at him skeptically, and after a moment, one of the dolls withdrew her gaze and theatrically placed a hand under her chin as if in deep thought: "But to be fair, your speculation about that 'weird dream' does have some merit… According to the occurrences so far, it does seem very likely to be an independent Consciousness Space, not a construct of your dream, but rather you just happen to 'connect' with it while dreaming...

"As for Little Red Riding Hood, Xiao Xiao, and that silly fox, it's probably because of your blood that they were affected, 'borrowing' some sort of permission from you, and thus they could also connect to that place."

"So what exactly is that wilderness?" Yu Sheng frowned, "Could it really be an Exotic Realm?"

The two Erins replied in unison, "You ask us? Who do we ask? You don't even know yourself!"

Immediately after, one of the dolls with a painting frame waved a hand at Yu Sheng: "Forget it, no point in just thinking about it and not getting anywhere. Next time you sleep, I'll 'guide' you, and we can go back in there and take a closer look at that place, maybe find some clues."

"That works," Yu Sheng spoke, looking up at the sky outside the window, noticing that the daylight was beginning to dim, "Little Red Riding Hood will be here soon, so let's focus on that suspicious 'Museum Commission' for now."

Erin's expression visibly turned serious.

"I was just about to say, this matter has a strong whiff of conspiracy behind it."

Yu Sheng did not speak, just raised an eyebrow.

"You must have felt it too," Erin noticed the change in Yu Sheng's expression and nodded slowly, "If there hadn't been any fatalities, just a simple 'Fake Commission' case, it could easily be chalked up to members of the association tampering with the process for personal gain and attempting to hoard museum treasures. But now the person who posted the commission is gone—and this isn't even the biggest doubt. What really doesn't sit right with me is the 'sacrifice' in the museum."

Yu Sheng's brow furrowed deeper, still vividly remembering the scene he had witnessed at the Museum.

The victim bound in iron thorns into a "Wailer" pose, the blood-stained white exhibit hall, the ominous "Security Guard" entity, and… Little Red Riding Hood's loss of control.

It just happened when Little Red Riding Hood was about to "come of age," facing the engulfment of the Black Forest, and her state was most unstable.

...

The Wolf Pack's silhouettes leaped and weaved through the shadows of buildings, from the bustling main road to the quiet old city district, and finally reached a secluded clearing at the end of No. 66 Wutong Road, where the figure of Little Red Riding Hood abruptly emerged between the wolves, looking forward.

Upon seeing the large house standing silently in her view, the girl's expression became slightly blank.

Despite being mentally prepared and knowing she had been influenced by Yu Sheng's "blood," the sight of this "fortified Exotic Realm" undetectable even by the Special Service Bureau standing right before her eyes still seemed incredible.

In her memory, this place used to be just an empty clearing, with merely a low wall covered in graffiti at the far end.

The Wolf Pack silently dissolved into the shadows, and Little Red Riding Hood took a deep breath before walking towards the old house.

Before she could knock, the door, which looked quite plain, was opened by someone.

Yu Sheng stood smiling at the doorway: "I saw you from the second-floor window. Come in."

Little Red Riding Hood responded with an oh, slightly delayed, and followed Yu Sheng into the house.

This was her third time stepping into this place. She went from being clueless the first time to slightly nervous the second, and now, she felt a bit familiar with this seemingly ordinary house.

Then she saw three Erins lining up to descend the stairs, taking turns to greet her as they walked.

Little Red Riding Hood was stunned on the spot and rubbed her eyes vigorously. When she lowered her hand, she still saw three dolls—with two having already run off to watch TV, and the third approaching, looking up at them.

"You're daydreaming!" said the little doll.

"How did... another one pop up?!" Little Red Riding Hood turned to Yu Sheng, her voice filled with astonishment.

"Yeah, there's another one. The one who went with you to the Black Forest is the new addition. But it seems like you didn't notice," Yu Sheng nodded as if it was a matter of course, "She's a battle-specialized model, created to deal with malevolent entities like Hunger and Evil Wolf. I call her Erin MK-II..."

Little Red Riding Hood listened in bursts while the Erin by her side immediately protested: "Don't just start assigning model numbers! If you must, think of a more impressive code name, like Valkyrie type or something..."

Yu Sheng kept a straight face, thinking to himself that a 66.6 cm tall doll calling herself a Valkyrie was quite the statement, considering the shield of a Valkyrie would probably be taller than her—but he dared not voice these thoughts, not because the little doll's cursing was too harsh, but because he was essentially outnumbered with three Erins at home, who, when they formed an attack formation and pounced on him, were indeed a handful to handle...

And so, Little Red Riding Hood, still somewhat dazed, was guided by Yu Sheng to the living room.

Hu Li came with a plate of freshly washed fruit and placed it on the coffee table.

Yu Sheng immediately checked the fruits for bite marks; hosting guests with fruit that Hu Li might have nibbled on was unacceptable. However, he soon realized that if Hu Li had truly snacked on them, there would never be any leftovers brought out—in fact, it was more probable that she had washed a whole basin and then served a plate...

Little Red Riding Hood, oblivious to Yu Sheng's thoughts, simply thanked Hu Li, then suddenly caught a glimpse of something odd in the bunch of tails—while all other tails were perked up, one was dangling on the ground as if broken.

Yu Sheng also noticed Hu Li's tail dragging on the floor, frowning: "What's with your tail? Are you hurt?"

When Hu Li heard this, a pleased expression crossed her face. She walked over and placed her cluster of tails on Yu Sheng's lap: "Savior, look! Isn't it free from static electricity?"

Yu Sheng was momentarily puzzled, then touched Hu Li's tail, turning to Little Red Riding Hood with a nod of comprehension: "It's fine, it's a ground wire."

Little Red Riding Hood was utterly baffled: "…?"

She suddenly realized her slight familiarity with No. 66 Wutong Road was premature. Everything here had a strange vibe. But upon reflection, it seemed to fit her impression of this place—a place so peculiarly blessed by the earth and its inhabitants that every single event exhibited a rather eccentric spirit. For example, a new Erin would appear from time to time, and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would drag one tail on the ground as a ground wire to solve static issues in winter...

Just then, a sudden question from Yu Sheng interrupted the girl's scattered thoughts.

"Little Red Riding Hood, have you ever offended anyone before?"

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