“My wolf is myself.”
Yu Sheng sensed that when Little Red Riding Hood uttered this line, her expression seemed to hide a complex feeling, though he could not quite understand it.
He felt that the atmosphere around them was a bit heavy and stifling—clearly, “the wolf is myself” was no good thing.
If it weren’t for the current timing and mood, he would have pried deeper into her words.
But even now, Yu Sheng buried his curiosity about Little Red Riding Hood and her wolf pack in his heart.
He resolved to ask more when he got familiar with her or had another opportunity.
At that moment, his gaze turned once more to the white exhibition hall at the end of the corridor.
Even he could faintly catch a whiff of blood in the air now.
The “guards” would only react to intruders; they only had sight, lacking hearing and smell.
These sentinels acted rigidly, strictly following the rules, full of loopholes…
Yu Sheng’s expression deepened in thought.
Little Red Riding Hood lowered her voice and spoke again, “So, should we retreat for now? We can come back tomorrow…”
“No,” Erin suddenly interrupted. “Look at Yu Sheng’s expression.”
Little Red Riding Hood turned her head in confusion. “What’s wrong with his expression?”
“He’s come up with an idea.” Erin sighed.
Before Little Red Riding Hood could inquire, Yu Sheng ended his thoughts.
He glanced at the fox girl standing nearby. “What do you think? Is Hu Li’s tail… considered her ‘self’?”
Everyone present was momentarily stunned.
Little Red Riding Hood was momentarily lost for words, but before her mind could catch up, her mouth had already spoken. “Why wouldn’t it count? That’s part of her…”
“But her tail can be shot out,” Yu Sheng said seriously. “Strictly speaking, it’s one of her cultivated magical treasures—one that can be reloaded.”
Little Red Riding Hood stood there, mouth agape, finally catching on to his meaning.
The next moment, she looked shocked at Yu Sheng. “Wait! What are you planning to do?”
“Just trying it out. If those plastic people really do react, we can just walk away through the door,” Yu Sheng replied with an adventurous spirit. “Didn’t you say those ‘guards’ can only see? We just need to block their view…”
He ignored Little Red Riding Hood’s astonished look and turned to the still bewildered fox girl. “I need your tail for a plan…”
“Wait, wait,” Little Red Riding Hood interjected, unable to contain herself. “You said there are at least seven or eight ‘guards’ in that exhibition hall, right? Hu Li just shot out two tails. Is that enough?”
Her words sounded bizarre, like a normal person’s perspective trying to adapt awkwardly to something abnormal.
But as soon as she spoke, she realized—maybe she had been premature in her awkwardness.
Hu Li had understood Yu Sheng’s meaning by now.
She reached behind her and casually pulled out two tails, spreading them on the floor.
Then she pulled out another pair and laid them down as well.
By the time she finished pulling the tails out from behind, she glanced around, quiet for a few seconds, and suddenly, with a “hum,” nine more tails emerged from behind her.
Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”
“That’s what she usually gathers,” Erin explained, patting Little Red Riding Hood’s arm like someone who had been through it all, “She eats a lot to stock up on tails.”
Little Red Riding Hood continued to wear a puzzled expression. “…?”
She recognized every word, but they somehow formed such a specific sentence—was what she’d just heard even human speech?!
At that moment, Hu Li was actually trying to explain the tails to her. “This one needs twenty chicken legs; this one needs ten…”
Little Red Riding Hood’s expression went blank, unsure how her mind was coping (or maybe it wasn’t). “Is it half-price if it’s the second tail?”
“It can only accelerate to subsonic speeds—this is a subsonic cruising tail,” Hu Li gave her a strange look. “Do you have no common sense?”
Little Red Riding Hood pondered whether to give herself another shot of rationality.
Meanwhile, the “well-informed” fox girl arranged all the available tails neatly—fluffy fox tails floated a few centimeters above the ground as if suspended, each tail emanating tainted foxfire that flickered softly, vibrating slightly like rockets ready to launch after fueling.
With such an association in her mind, Little Red Riding Hood suddenly felt her life had come to an end.
She felt that she had likely been affected by the trio, her mind starting to go haywire.
Dealing with entities was truly dangerous—even someone who appeared harmless like Yu Sheng was no exception.
At the same time, Hu Li gently raised her hand.
The silvery-white fox tails, surrounded by eerie foxfire, slowly lifted off the ground.
These treasures, refined into being, could originally fly at subsonic or even supersonic speeds.
Yet now, they flew cautiously and deliberately in the museum corridor, controlled with precision by the fox spirit.
“If those ‘guards’ don’t react soon, we’ll block their line of sight and check the situation. If they suddenly move, we quickly seize whatever’s in the center of the exhibition and make a fast retreat through the door,” Yu Sheng said, his eyes on the precise control of the fox girl, while he reached into the air, forming a shimmering illusory portal in his hand. “I’ll prepare the door and wait for your feedback.”
“Okay.” Hu Li nodded nervously, carefully moving her fox tail closer to the white exhibition hall.
Only Little Red Riding Hood remained frozen, feeling she should be nervous, yet unable to muster any tension due to the bizarre mood surrounding them—her mind lagged behind her senses, creating a feeling of not quite connecting.
Even her wolf seemed dazed since earlier.
“They’re not moving…” At that moment, Hu Li broke the silence, a hint of joy on her face. “I’ll try to block their vision all at once… it should work.”
Only then did Yu Sheng sigh with slight relief.
The illusory door in his hands silently dissipated.
After receiving Hu Li’s confirmation, he waved at the others. “Let’s go check it out.”
The group, each with differing moods, stepped toward the quiet white exhibition hall.
Their nerves tightened to a peak upon seeing the deep blue security uniforms, but gradually relaxed upon realizing the plastic figures remained still.
Everyone's gaze fell first on the “guards.” Little Red Riding Hood immediately spotted the figure standing by the main entrance, seemingly guarding the passageway—she saw the plastic figure in deep blue standing still, its head completely wrapped by a silver-white fox tail.
It was a beautiful tail, looking like a light, airy piece of art on the fox spirit.
But now, wrapped around the plastic figure's head, it gave off a bizarre and ominous cocoon-like impression.
Then, she heard Yu Sheng’s low exclamation, “…Whoa.”
Little Red Riding Hood turned sharply, following his gaze to the center of the exhibition hall.
That was supposed to be the place for the “Weeping Figure” statue.
However, the platform was empty of the statue and instead had a terrifying sight—an odd and sinister corpse.
A man, bound tightly by iron thorns, was knelt on the platform in a pose of despair, hands over his face, resembling the manner of the “Weeping Figure” statue.
The victim had bled out, looking long dead.
There was no sign of the murderer, only the overpowering smell of blood filling the entire exhibition hall.
Yu Sheng felt his heart racing—the concept of “death” was not unfamiliar to him, after all, he had faced his end more than once.
Yet, this was the first time he confronted such a horrific scene from a third-person perspective.
Even more shocking was the overwhelming atmosphere of sacrifice that surrounded him…
The bound and bled-to-death sacrifice, intentionally recreated in the pose of the “Weeping Figure,” the blood streaming from the platform, the contaminated white exhibition hall, and the surrounding plastic figures standing silently around the offering.
This was an entirely different kind of terror compared to the entity-hunger he had previously known.
“Little Red Riding Hood, you know this…?”
Instinctively turning to ask the one present who had some experience if she understood the situation, Yu Sheng suddenly realized that something seemed off about the girl.
She was staring intently at the offering on the platform, her eyes having turned blood-red like her shadow wolves, a low growl emerging from her throat, while small tufts of fur began to sprout from her cheeks and the back of her hands.
In the next moment, Yu Sheng saw the shadow behind Little Red Riding Hood stretch and grow, a giant beast bursting forth from that shadow—a creature that stood upright, like a human wrapped in wolf fur, yet bore the bones and outlines of a human as if it had devoured one.
This hybrid of man and wolf charged from the shadow without a sound, without warning, with no meaningless intimidation, but rather, a sudden pounce forward.
But it did not leap toward Yu Sheng—rather, it lunged straight at the unresponsive Little Red Riding Hood.
It is hard for a person to dodge an attack from their own shadow.
(End of Chapter)