Yu Sheng almost didn't catch what the little puppet was rambling about, standing there in a daze for two or three seconds before he reacted. But at this moment, he had no time to mock Erin.

Because strange sounds suddenly came from deep within the underground passage.

The sound resembled a series of light flute notes, sometimes near and sometimes far, as if the flute player were in the corridor.

Soon after, the flute sounds disappeared, replaced by the sound of numerous footsteps. Yu Sheng saw that many wet footprints abruptly appeared on the ground ahead, as if a group of children were joyfully running through here—then, the sound of footsteps transformed into the sound of a carriage rolling over cobblestones, the light ahead dimmed in a blink, and the scent of gunpowder scattered in the air.

But it only lasted for a few seconds, followed by layers of dense fog rising around, with numerous shadowy figures emerging within the fog. The underground corridor suddenly seemed to transform into a strange street. Tall, crooked houses lined the street, with people hurrying by in the night. The cold winter night arrived, and the temperature plummeted. Yu Sheng noticed that his breath instantly turned into icy crystals in the air, and the passersby on both sides of the road became ice sculptures, losing all signs of life in a flash.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flame lighting up at the street corner, growing larger, higher, brighter, and warmer.

Yu Sheng shook his head vigorously, trying to discern the original outline of the underground passage from the layers of fog before him. He dropped his head and walked through the cold wind, passing the frozen passersby and the crooked, eerie street, hurriedly making through this nightmare leaking into reality. The winter night wind almost pierced through his bones, but soon, the warm glow of the fire spread nearby. In the firelight, a figure with long hair draping over her shoulders walked over, looking at him with confusion and curiosity: "…Brother, why are you here?"

"Your nightmares are leaking into reality," Yu Sheng saw the figure quickly fading and hurried to speak without elaborate explanation, "Push tonight's 'stage' progress quickly, or just head directly to the Sanctuary Wilderness, find Erin…"

Before he finished speaking, the 'winter night' illusion in the underground passage began to wobble and fade rapidly. Yu Sheng wasn't sure if the 'Fire Stick' heard what he was saying. The last scene he saw was the wintry night's sky suddenly lit up by something, and the girl raising her right hand high in the flames as if summoning a white phosphorus bomb…

The underground passage temporarily returned to its original state. Yu Sheng quickly ran towards the exit—Little Red Riding Hood might still need some time to gather the children, but the real world was guarded by the King's Knight Order, so there shouldn't be any issues. Erin was overseeing the Sanctuary Wilderness, and the fairy tale members who lost in the 'subset' shouldn't worry too much. But for some reason, an unease spread within Yu Sheng, like he unconsciously overlooked something, or… something was happening right under his nose that he couldn't see.

As the feeling of unease became more apparent, a sharp pain suddenly sprang from the back of his hand, causing Yu Sheng to look back instinctively.

Thorny bushes scratched the back of his hand, low branches caught his clothes, and the tangled trees of the Black Forest came into view. He realized his corridor route had been replaced by dense trees and bushes.

He turned around suddenly, looking in the direction he intended to go, only to find the entire corridor had disappeared. Before him was an endless Black Forest. The dense trees stretched infinitely in the shadows, and the thick canopy blocked the dusk glow from the sky. Hollow wind sounds echoed around, filled with the howls of a wolf pack.

The corridor's ceiling, floor, walls… all vanished. Unlike before, this seemed not an illusion leaking into reality but actually stepping into the Black Forest.

Upon realizing he had truly 'stepped' into the Black Forest, Yu Sheng abruptly halted, vigilantly watching all movements around him.

He heard faint infant crying, as if coming from deep within the forest, intermittent and murky but continuous.

Then, he heard a tiny voice from behind a nearby bush, cautiously, "Over here, here, hey, I'm here—"

Yu Sheng immediately looked where the voice came from and saw a brown-red tail sticking out from behind a low bush—that was a squirrel's tail.

He quickly walked over and squatted beside the bush, seeing the squirrel hiding behind a heap of leaves, comically using two fallen leaves to cover itself while cautiously peeking out.

"Squirrel, you…"

"Shh!" The squirrel immediately made a hush gesture, then carefully moved in front of Yu Sheng, lowering its voice, "Anka Aela is here."

Yu Sheng's nerves instantly tightened. He took a light breath and looked around consciously, "Where?!"

"You can't see it, and it probably hasn't spotted you either. Only its gaze came here—I don't know how to explain, but I remember this gaze. I remember… what it feels like being watched by it," the squirrel whispered, trembling, "It seems to be searching for something. Its gaze swept past here just now… The entire Black Forest fell silent for a moment, but now the wolf pack is agitated again."

Not just the Black Forest.

Anka Aela's gaze swept through all subsets of the Fairy Tales, through all stages.

These thoughts instantly crossed Yu Sheng's mind, and his expression turned serious.

"What's it looking for? Still searching for that lost umbilical cord?"

"I don't know, but... maybe not," the squirrel huddled further under the leaves, "It's been looking for that umbilical cord for many years, there's no reason for it to suddenly become so anxious now... ah, why did you suddenly come here? And without bringing your other friends along?"

The squirrel gave him a curious look.

"...Part of the Black Forest 'overflowed' into the real world, I walked in directly from their 'overlapping' section," Yu Sheng said seriously, unsure if the squirrel could understand him. After hesitating for a moment, he gently reached out, cupped the squirrel in his hand, and stroked her head, "Next... things might change a bit, you need to find a place to hide—do you have a hiding spot?"

The squirrel stared blankly at Yu Sheng, unconsciously dropping the two leaves she was holding. She was stunned for a while before she nodded vigorously: "Yes! Squirrels can hide! There are many tree holes in the Black Forest, and every tree hole is a hiding place for squirrels..."

"Good, then hide in a tree hole, and no matter what happens, prioritize protecting yourself. Also..."

Yu Sheng paused, then without hesitation, he cut his own finger.

The squirrel seemed frightened, looking bewilderedly at the "suddenly self-harming" Yu Sheng, and the blood oozing from his finger.

"You're bleeding!"

"Lick it," Yu Sheng said.

"...Ah?!"

"Every child has to," Yu Sheng looked seriously into the squirrel's eyes, "It's the new 'rule' at the orphanage."

The squirrel's expression was visibly dazed, but her walnut-sized head was clearly not suited to think about complicated issues. After a few seconds of bewilderment, she simply gave up and clumsily licked Yu Sheng's finger.

Then she seemed to vaguely realize what "every child has to" meant and showed a nervous, uneasy expression—along with a hint of... joy.

Yu Sheng himself didn't know if this would be of any use, whether a squirrel who had become part of the Black Forest would get the same "protection" in the nightmare after coming into contact with his blood as the other children. He was just trying to help in any way he could, as the situation was urgent. All the children at the orphanage had places to hide, but this squirrel… without his help, she would be all alone, hiding in the vast Black Forest.

Then, the squirrel's figure gradually faded from Yu Sheng's palm.

The surroundings of the Black Forest also began to fade, sinking into darkness.

The dream realm began to recede temporarily. Yu Sheng stood up, seeing the blurred walls and floors of the corridor starting to emerge among the shadowy trees.

He swiftly moved towards the unsteady exit, finding the stairs leading to the upper floors. He ran from the second basement floor to the ground floor in one go.

Various brief bizarre illusions and strange sounds appeared around him like scenes and actors on a stage, emerging and fading—seemingly fairy tale scenes, twisted fairy tale characters, sharp trumpet sounds, light whistles, lion roars, songs of princesses and princes—as if countless hands were trying their best to stop him before the last few steps. All these emerged in a split second, but he left them all behind.

As a boring adult, Yu Sheng decisively broke through these illusions torn from stories. Then, he saw many figures already gathered in the hall on the first floor of the East Building.

Several older children were directing and managing, while the medium-aged children helped maintain order and assisted the younger ones in checking their belongings and putting on clothes. The younger children lined up obediently, some still drowsy, some holding hastily grabbed water bottles, some looked nervous and a bit frightened, but none made any unnecessary noise. In the large space filled with dozens of children, there was no crying or shouting.

The loudest sounds in the hall came from Little Red Riding Hood and other "caretakers" quickly communicating and organizing—

"Put your clothes on properly, does everyone have their water bottles? There's purified water over there, just bring your own bottle—good, wait here once you're done checking."

"Bring food, and blankets too. There might not be beds or cooking facilities over there, it's too rushed..."

"Count the people, count again—Long Hair, watch the line! The youngest ones are almost falling asleep again, don't leave them behind."

"Big Brother is here! Open the door, Big Brother!"

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