Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood talked a lot about squirrels, as well as that unknown "descent" from eighty-six years ago.

And Little Red Riding Hood told Yu Sheng quite a few old stories about that orphanage, as well as some daily happenings within the "Fairy Tales" organization.

"See that silly boy with the slightly curly hair over there? The one chatting with the long-haired princess, he's the Red Dragon that just fell down. He's similar to the 'King,' representing a type of 'classic story character' without a specific reference. The 'subset' he represents isn't from any particular 'story.' His code name is 'Dragon Slayer'... of course, he isn't a real dragon, not that powerful.

"Why does the 'Dragon Slayer' himself take the form of a dragon? Because 'The Dragon Slayer turns into an Evil Dragon,' so sometimes when he enters a nightmare, he fast-forwards into becoming an Evil Dragon directly... actually, he can't fly, he just turns into a defeated Evil Dragon. In his Red Dragon form, his only ability is to fall from the sky in various poses, mainly crushing people with his fall. Sometimes, he also plays the Dragon Slayer before turning into an Evil Dragon, at that point, his ability is to summon a defeated Evil Dragon from the sky... still, crushing people with his fall.

"Sleeping Beauty doesn't talk much usually. Her favorite thing is to sleep, she sleeps during the day, and she sleeps at night. I've always envied her sleep quality, but she says she always feels awake when she's sleeping, so she's actually always tired and sleepy every day. Her biggest wish is to get the most comfortable pillow and then sleep to death on it.

"Dorothy can communicate with all kinds of machines. Even if those machines don't have a Mechanical Soul, they will respond as if they have one when she talks to them... yes, 'The Iron-skinned Man has a heart,' that's what it signifies. Dorothy can give steel a temporary will, she often uses this ability to trick vending machines into giving her an extra drink, or to continue making calls when her phone is out of credit— I also envy this ability quite a bit.

"But the one I envy most is the Mermaid—she didn't come today. She sings so beautifully, normally she doesn't need to go out on missions, she just uses a virtual persona to live stream, and singing for half a day earns her more than I make in a week... me? I can't carry a tune at all.

"But she has her troubles too... when she showers, she inexplicably sheds scales, often blocking the drain, even when she maintains her human form, scales will appear in the bathroom. Oh, and she can't swim... unexpected, right?

"Oh, and over there, that 'Match Girl,' she has the longest code name, a master of arson, a super expert. In winter, the orphanage's heating relies on her, but I heard the municipal heating pipes in our area will be replaced next year, so she won't need to burn the boiler in winter anymore... Don't anger her, though, she's very irritable when she starts a fire."

Little Red Riding Hood kept prattling on and on. She and Yu Sheng sat on a high dirt mound, watching their companions not far away, with a gentle smile on her face. She looked like the oldest sister of a big family, introducing the many embarrassing stories of her younger siblings to a friend with a mix of pride and affection.

After a while, the teenagers lit a grand bonfire in the wilderness.

The fuel they used was the thorny rose bushes summoned by Sleeping Beauty—the blooming rose bushes blazing fiercely in the flames. The soaring firelight illuminated the chaotic, gloomy wilderness. Just as Yu Sheng had anticipated, this deathly silent and monotonous wasteland had become lively for the first time.

The big children gathered in this sanctuary danced and shouted around the bonfire, singing and jumping, most of them screeching off-tune, with the King's meowing mixed in between.

Then, Hu Li and Erin also joined the fun. The little puppet floated in circles above the fire, as if the next moment it would set its own frame on fire. Hu Li shot Fox Fire into the sky, crackling like fireworks—Yu Sheng was dragged over to serve as a mascot in front of the bonfire.

He felt like he was participating in some bizarre and lively sacrifice ritual, surrounded by enthusiastic and chattering "believers," or like a "parent" dragged to some school event, amidst a horde of chaotic children—maintaining an awkward yet polite smile in the middle.

It wasn't too bad a feeling.

Then, the first gathering of the children in this Sanctuary Wilderness ended just like that.

Early the next morning, Yu Sheng arrived at the orphanage—according to the plan, today's task was to conduct "blood inoculations" for the younger kids.

He sat in the back kitchen of the orphanage cafeteria, watching Snow White seriously stirring a large pot of oddly colored "nutritional vegetable soup," feeling a bit doubtful: "…Is this stuff really viable? It doesn't look appetizing at all..."

"Trust my cooking skills—though it doesn't look great, the little ones love drinking this," Snow White said, stirring the soup spoon, looking up at Yu Sheng, "Just wait a bit, let the soup cool down a bit before you 'add the ingredient,' otherwise the blood will cook…"

Yu Sheng nodded: "Oh."

Beside him, another girl with long hair down her shoulders, looking about sixteen or seventeen, and with a gentle and graceful demeanor, muttered: "I still think it'd be better mixed into a strawberry smoothie—low temperature can mask the metallic taste, and the color wouldn't look weird."

"It's winter, sis, giving these kids a smoothie first thing in the morning in weather below minus ten degrees, they'd be happy, but will there be enough bathrooms?" Snow White rolled her eyes, "I think it's just you who wants to eat it."

The gentle and graceful long-haired girl laughed awkwardly. Yu Sheng couldn't help but glance at her a few more times—he felt she looked familiar, but couldn't place her. After a while, he couldn't help but ask: "Who are you again?"

"We met last night," the girl said with a shy smile, raising her hand to point at herself. "By the bonfire in the wilderness, I was standing behind the long-haired princess—earlier, I was standing on the beanstalk."

Yu Sheng thought hard, finally recalling a figure laughing wildly amidst the fiery sea on Jack's beanstalk.

He suddenly clapped his hands, "Oh oh oh! That one who makes everyone see the great-grandmother in the blaze of fire..."

Just as he was saying this, the girl in front of him blushed and waved her hands desperately, "I-I don't usually do that, it's just that I lose control when I ignite the fire..."

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched, "Your codename is Match Girl, right... Your abilities are arson and illusion."

"That codename is too long, they usually just call me 'Fire Stick,'" the girl in front of him smiled shyly, looking completely different from the figure laughing wildly amidst the sea of fire, "Little Red Riding Hood must have exaggerated a bunch when she introduced me to you."

"...She added quite a bit when she introduced each of you," Yu Sheng recalled the peculiar "traits" Little Red Riding Hood attributed to every member of the Fairy Tales organization the night before, a smile appearing on his face, "But you can tell, she really likes you all."

The long-haired girl in front of him smiled warmly and brightly.

Snow White finally put down the ladle, tested the temperature of the vegetable soup, and turned her head, smiling knowingly at Yu Sheng:

"Brother, it's time to shed some blood."

Yu Sheng was stunned, "Brother?"

"At first, Rapunzel and I wanted to call you uncle, but Little Red Riding Hood said you're not much older than us, so calling you brother is more appropriate," Snow White said with a cheerful smile, picking up a knife, "Do you want to cut yourself or should I do it for you?"

Yu Sheng saw the smile on her face and the knife gleaming coldly in her hand, cold sweat immediately forming on his back, "I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself..."

...

At the same time, in the underground structure of the West Building in the orphanage, Little Red Riding Hood was slightly frowning, looking at the old, dilapidated underground tunnel in front of her, then lowered her head to look at the old blueprints in her hand.

A heavily armored, dark-skinned, sturdy "mercenary" stood silently next to her. The mercenary's face was hidden under a heavy helmet, with a cat crest engraved on his breastplate, while the "King" sat proudly on the mercenary's shoulder, curiously looking around.

"Is this the spot?"

The King suddenly asked.

"Hard to say," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, "The clues the squirrel provided weren't very clear—she said the landing point was in the center of the backyard of the orphanage, but the layout of the orphanage eighty-six years ago was different from now. Back then, the 'yard' overlapped with part of the current West Building, but how much overlap there is and where the exact center and boundaries are, it's uncertain..."

As she spoke, she held up the old blueprints in her hand for the King to see.

"This is the layout map of the West Building when it was constructed. It's the most reliable information we could find in the archives—we are roughly in this position now. If my calculations are correct, this should also be the location of the 'yard' in Squirrel's memory... right above us."

"Additionally, this spot is where I previously saw the 'thorny shadow', a bit north by northeast. Above us is an outer wall of the West Building."

The King stretched his neck to carefully examine the blueprint Little Red Riding Hood handed over, then patted it with his paw, "Why are you showing this to me, I'm just a cat, I can't understand."

"...Stop pretending, I saw you writing Snow White's physics paper with my own eyes."

The King awkwardly turned his head away, "…She bribed me with cat treats."

Little Red Riding Hood gave the tabby cat a disdainful look, then waved her hand dismissively.

"Can you feel anything? Using your so-called 'cat intuition'."

"Feeling... not really anything special," the King grumbled, stretching lazily on the mercenary's shoulder as he spoke in a lazy tone, "But don't you think it's strange? There isn't even a mouse here..."

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