The fox spirit girl stared wide-eyed at the large pile of food that Yu Sheng had placed on the ground.
For several seconds, she stood there in a daze, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation, until Yu Sheng opened a can of eight-treasure porridge and brought it to her mouth.
"Eat up, it's all for you—if it's not enough, I have more."
The aroma of the food wafted through the air, real food, with actual taste.
It was not stone, nor dirt, nor bricks and wood—nothing like the shadows in her dreams that could never satisfy her hunger.
Hu Li's eyes slowly widened, and then it was as if she suddenly came to life from her frozen state.
She reached out and snatched the can from Yu Sheng's hands, not bothering with a spoon, and began to gulp everything down, making muffled sounds as she ate.
With a full can of food, she finished in just ten seconds, then started licking the edges of the can.
But soon, impatience showed on her face because she couldn't clean it out completely.
Just when Yu Sheng was about to help, Hu Li forcefully tore at the can with her fingers.
There was a sharp sound as a piece of the sturdy metal opened up, and she meticulously ripped it into narrow strips, licking every last drop of food off.
"There's more here," Yu Sheng hurriedly rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a piece of bread and a bottle of water.
"Take your time eating."
In the blink of an eye, the food was in Hu Li's hands.
The fox spirit girl was wolfing down the food, eating became the only thing she was doing for a while.
Neither Yu Sheng nor Ai Lin spoke; the only sounds in the ruins were Hu Li munching away and the occasional indistinct noises from her throat, as if she wanted to say something yet couldn't bear to stop eating.
Suddenly, Hu Li began to cry.
Out of nowhere, tears streamed down her face as she stuffed bread into her mouth.
She didn’t sob or make any loud cries, just tears flowing calmly down her cheeks onto the bread, which she then pushed into her mouth.
Yu Sheng was taken aback by this scene and hurriedly reached out to wipe Hu Li's dirty face.
"Don't cry, or you'll choke, and your stomach will hurt. Don't cry; there's more food... and there will be in the future..."
Only then did Hu Li seem to awaken, her mind finally finding the room to think of something else.
She stared blankly at Yu Sheng for a while before suddenly handing him half of the bread.
"Benefactor, you eat too."
Yu Sheng quickly shook his head.
"I ate before I came, I'm not hungry."
But Hu Li didn’t budge, stubbornly maintaining her gesture.
Even though all the food was just brought by him, she insisted on sharing the bread with him, as if it held significant meaning for her.
Finally, Yu Sheng reached out and accepted the half piece of bread Hu Li offered.
The fox spirit girl smiled and picked up a pack of compressed biscuits from the ground.
This time, she didn’t gulp them down but opened the package carefully, nibbling little by little, as if trying to prolong the moment of eating.
She seemed a little less hungry now, even if just temporarily.
"It's delicious," she said softly.
"Benefactor, it’s delicious..."
"Don’t add 'benefactor' in front of 'delicious,'" Yu Sheng shivered, recalling some unsettling matters.
"As long as you can fill your stomach, that's fine."
"Mm-hmm."
Hu Li quickly nodded.
"You’ve finally calmed down," Ai Lin finally spoke up, looking at the visibly revitalized fox spirit with some relief.
"It’s really fortunate that you could hold on for this long..."
Hu Li jumped slightly, as if just noticing Ai Lin, the puppet on Yu Sheng's shoulder—or perhaps realizing only now that this 66.6-centimeter tall being could speak and move.
She appeared astonished, exclaiming, "This... is alive!?"
Ai Lin widened her eyes.
"What do you mean ‘of course’? I’m alive! I even helped you open a sausage earlier!"
"She is Ai Lin, a living puppet from Alice's cabin," Yu Sheng hurriedly explained.
"This is the helper I mentioned. Don’t be fooled by her size; she’s quite capable. I was able to contact you from the dream thanks to her help."
Ai Lin leaned on her knife with one hand and placed the other on her hip, looking quite proud on Yu Sheng's shoulder.
Hu Li thought for a moment, unsure of what a living puppet was, and confused about why such a petite “human form” could also speak and move, but she realized that Ai Lin was her benefactor's friend.
After a few seconds of hesitation, she offered her pack of biscuits to Ai Lin.
"Ai Lin, you eat too."
Ai Lin's proud demeanor suddenly turned awkward.
"Uh... I can't eat; puppets don’t eat..."
In an instant, Hu Li withdrew the biscuits and continued nibbling on them.
Ai Lin exclaimed, "Wait! You just took them back without even letting me have a bite?! When you shared the bread with Yu Sheng, you didn’t act like this!"
"Puppets can’t eat," Hu Li said softly.
"I’ll give it to you if it’s wasting food."
Ai Lin puffed up her cheeks, getting annoyed, but no one paid her any mind.
Meanwhile, Yu Sheng's thoughts had shifted to the darkness and chill of the night surrounding them.
He could sense that with his arrival, the atmosphere in the valley was gradually changing; the entity lurking in this foreign realm had begun to stir.
His act of bringing food to Hu Li, providing her a temporary relief from hunger, had already caught the attention of that creature.
His purpose today was twofold: to rescue Hu Li and to figure out how to deal with the hungry entity that occupied the area.
Although this was not initially a necessary task, he had now formed a “connection” with the creature and learned it was beginning to think; thus, it necessitated a resolution to this potential threat.
Yet, for some reason, the creature had yet to reveal itself.
Doubt began to creep into Yu Sheng's mind.
Just then, a faint sound drifted on the night wind, reaching everyone's ears—
It was a distant wolf howl.
Yu Sheng and Ai Lin exchanged glances, and after a moment of hesitation, Ai Lin asked, "Yu Sheng, did you just hear that?"
"It’s a wolf’s howl; I thought I misheard..."
Yu Sheng frowned, then turned to Hu Li, who was focused on her biscuit.
"Are there wolves around here?"
"No, there’s only me and that monster," Hu Li looked just as baffled.
"It’s the first time I’ve ever heard such a strange sound."
At that moment, the wolf howl echoed again, interrupting their conversation.
The sound seemed to grow closer.
A pack of wolves was drawing near, chasing something, or possibly being chased.
In the dark forest, a massive, fleshly beast prowled like a terrifying nightmare, shifting its position in the shadows of the trees, sometimes revealing itself in the mist, only to abruptly vanish from sight.
But no matter which direction it ran, the creature would inexplicably appear near them, attacking from the most cunning angles.
Wolves formed from shadows leaped into the air, pouncing at the fleshly giant moving swiftly in the darkness, while more wolves surged from all sides, attempting to contain the creature's movements.
However, countless appendages, spiked and bony, suddenly burst forth from the beast's body, forcing the encircling wolves back, creating a huge gap in their formation.
The many eyes of the creature simultaneously locked onto a figure outside the wolf pack—a girl in a red hood seated atop the largest wolf, her calm gaze meeting the freezing stares of the monster.
In the next moment, the middle of the giant beast's body split open, a long, black, scale-covered "tongue" shot out with a whistle, like a malicious arrow aimed directly at the girl’s throat.
Yet, the girl in the red hood slightly tilted her body, and just as the tongue was about to touch her, she suddenly raised her right hand.
Her slender arm exploded, expanding as flesh made crackling sounds, smoke billowing out, blood and mist weaving together in the blink of an eye, forming a massive black wolf head—then it bit down fiercely, clamping onto the "tongue" that could not alter its path in time.
The beast reacted, stumbling back, but the girl stayed locked on, as if both she and the wolf beneath her were pinned to the ground, holding their ground against the creature.
In that brief moment, another figure leaped from the shadows of the forest—
Li Lin darted towards the side of the monster like a quick leopard, a short knife shining faintly in the moonlight—an extra weapon lent to him by Xu Jiali.
The creature immediately noticed this unexpected attacker, its eyes swiveling in his direction, and a raised claw came crashing down toward Li Lin.
But the real ambush remained hidden; Li Lin, halfway through his dash, suddenly lowered his body in a movement impossible for ordinary folks to copy, dodging the creature's claw.
Meanwhile, a tall figure vaulted out from the blind spot behind the monster—Xu Jiali, nearly two meters tall, raised that beam dagger, which could be used as a short knife in normal hands, and thrust it downwards at the meat lump on the creature’s back.
With a sizzling sound, the fiery blade pierced the lump without impediment, even cutting off the entire section.
Yet, the creature only let out a chaotic, piercing roar, then abruptly turned, shaking off the grappling girl in red and sending the unprepared Xu Jiali flying.
Xu Jiali rolled into some nearby bushes, groaning softly.
Li Lin rushed to the bushes, dragging Xu Jiali out, and then both looked towards the direction of the creature.
But the silhouette of the monster had vanished without a trace.
The mist in the forest thickened, and amid the rising and falling fog, countless twisted, bizarre apparitions could be seen growing, wriggling out from the soil, swaying gently in the cold wind.
Shadowy forms emerged endlessly.
The entire forest seemed to transform into a vast gaping mouth, anticipating a feast.
Xu Jiali took a sharp breath, "We can’t stay here; we must keep running towards the woods!"
(End of Chapter)