They had just started walking toward the dark, silent cottage when the squirrel let out a sudden "gah" and fainted dead away, toppling stiffly from Little Red Riding Hood's shoulder—but before it could hit the ground, Yu Sheng swiftly caught it by the tail and lifted it up.
Yu Sheng's reflexes had mainly been honed through his constant battles of wits with Eileen. That little doll's speed when it leaped up to bite people was practically lightning-fast.
"You can't go get yourselves killed and take me with you!" The squirrel opened its eyes and began thrashing violently in Yu Sheng's grip. "I'm just a damn squirrel! You're asking too mu—"
"Quiet," Little Red Riding Hood said in a low, intimidating voice. "If you really don't want to get yourselves killed."
The squirrel fell silent at once.
By then, Yu Sheng had already reached a spot only a few meters from the cottage.
Though the forest was dim, he could still clearly see the cottage's condition. It really was identical to the "shelter cottage" he remembered seeing last time, with the same dark wooden exterior and dark-red roof, a narrow wooden door, tiny windows, and two mottled, rotten steps at the entrance.
But there was not a trace of light inside the cottage, and the details of its exterior looked even more aged. It seemed to have been abandoned for many years, remaining in a state where it was on the verge of rotting away yet had not collapsed. The same tangled red rags and threads could be seen around the doors, windows, and beneath the eaves—but those strips of cloth and loose threads were even more tattered, and their color was darker, dark enough to make one uneasy.
That dark red was like bloodstains that had soaked in and then