A shimring door appeared out of thin air, and Yu Sheng stepped through it. He imdiately noticed Foxy in the living room, turning her head to look at him, while three identical Irenes sat neatly on the sofa across from her.
Yes, there were now three Irenes.
“Benefactor, you’re alive!” Foxy was the first to rush over, grabbing Yu Sheng’s hand and shaking it energetically. “Are you all healed? Does it still hurt?”
The demon fox girl’s strength was imnse, and Yu Sheng imdiately felt his shoulder creaking. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Stop shaking —my arm’s about to fall off!”
The three Irenes on the sofa finally spoke in unison. “Did you see the Hunter?”
Yu Sheng rubbed the soft fur behind Foxy’s ears, looking a bit weary as he sat on another couch. He sighed at Irene’s question. “Yes, I did.”
“Then why are you sighing?” one of the Irenes asked curiously. “What happened? Did the negotiation fail? What did you two talk about?”
Yu Sheng waved his hand in frustration. “Talk? I got shot. What else is there to say?”
The Irene frowned as realization dawned. “The Hunter shot you? That doesn’t make sense! Didn’t you show them the photo? They shot you even after seeing it? Did they think you were a scamr? Or maybe it brought up bad mories, and they lashed out?”
“Stop overthinking it,” Yu Sheng replied, poking the speaking Irene’s forehead. However, his finger hurt from the attempt—it seed he was dealing with the rebar-reinforced version. “I think they mistook for a wolf. You know, I was tainted by Wolf Granny’s blood back then, and maybe it was too much.”
Irene froze, her expression stiff. “…What? That’s possible?!”
“I can’t think of another explanation,” Yu Sheng said tiredly, leaning back into the sofa. Although his body had fully recovered after his ‘resurrection,’ the ntal exhaustion from his encounter with Wolf Granny and the Black Forest’s loop lingered. “I didn’t do anything unnecessary; I just showed them the photo. But there’s no way that photo could justify them pulling the trigger…”
As he spoke, Yu Sheng paused, frowning in thought. The image of the Hunter, raising their gun with their hollow, faceless hood, replayed in his mind. The empty gaze, as if seeing but unseen, and that rifle…
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the act of shooting wasn’t simple. It seed as though the Hunter was trying to communicate with him, and the shot itself was their ssage.
But Yu Sheng couldn’t understand it.
He furrowed his brows deeply, and at that mont, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Instinctively reaching for it, Yu Sheng suddenly rembered sothing he’d forgotten. Looking down at the screen, he saw a string of missed calls and ssages from Little Red Riding Hood—dozens of ssages and nearly ten missed calls.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Next to him, one of the Irenes peeked at the screen and imdiately exclaid, “Oh, you’re in trouble now! Kicked her out so decisively back then, and now she’s back to settle the score. Let tell you, human teens at sixteen or seventeen are the hardest to deal with, especially ones with a tough, prideful personality and a lifeti of hardship. When you kicked her out of the team, you should’ve known—”
Yu Sheng shoved the chattering Irene, causing all three to topple like dominoes. They burst into a string of curses, drowning him in tripled profanity.
Ignoring their tirade, Yu Sheng answered the call, his face full of regret. Before he could say anything, Little Red Riding Hood’s frantic yet concerned voice ca through. “Why are you only answering now?! Where have you been?!”
Awkwardly, Yu Sheng replied, “…Dead. At ho.”
Silence.
The young Spirit Realm Detective, clearly full of questions and complaints after being unable to reach him, was rendered speechless by his blunt reply.
After a few seconds, her hesitant voice ca through, much softer. “Really…dead again?”
She seed unaccustod to saying such words, speaking in a low tone as if worried soone around her might overhear.
“It’s nothing major. You’ll get used to it eventually,” Yu Sheng said, trying to reassure her. “What’s important is that we successfully killed Wolf Granny once after you left.”
Little Red Riding Hood fell silent for a long while. When she finally spoke, her tone was subdued. “It doesn’t matter. She’ll return.”
“Yes, she will,” Yu Sheng agreed. “But with each encounter, we weaken her. The next ti you face her, she might not be as dangerous. And more importantly, I’ve found so clues about the Black Forest’s ‘backside.’”
He recalled the visions he saw in his most corrupted state: an intricate, web-like structure of branches resembling veins and nerves on the other side of the Black Forest.
“I’ve managed to plant a ‘backdoor’ into the Black Forest’s loop. We’ve made significant progress today,” he added calmly.
A soft intake of breath ca from the other side of the call.
Yu Sheng continued, “But I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did the Hunter ever shoot at you?”
“The Hunter shot at you?!” Her shocked reply ca instantly.
“How else do you think I died?” Yu Sheng sighed. “They shot , of course.”
“The Hunter only shoots ‘wolves,’ usually referring to Wolf Granny,” Little Red Riding Hood said after a pause. “But if she was already dead, the Hunter would’ve been disard. Normally, their aggression is very low—”
“What if I was tainted by Wolf Granny’s blood at the ti? Would that confuse the Hunter into mistaking for a wolf?” Yu Sheng interrupted.
Unexpectedly, her answer was firm. “Of course not.”
“You’re certain?”
“The Hunter can accurately identify ‘wolves’ and won’t make mistakes over sothing as trivial as blood. I don’t know the exact chanism behind their judgnt, but their precision is undeniable,” Little Red Riding Hood asserted. “I’ve been targeted by the Hunter many tis. I’ve been devoured by Wolf Granny, by other wolves, and even tainted by their blood. In terms of ‘wolf’ components, I have more than you. Yet the Hunter’s bullets have never been wrong—”
Yu Sheng listened to her explanation in silence. After a long pause, he nodded slightly. “I understand. I’ll need to think about this carefully.”
After exchanging a few more words to confirm each other’s safety, along with enduring so light scolding, he hung up.
The three Irenes had already returned to the sofa. One leaned forward curiously. “So? What does the Hunter’s shot an?”
Yu Sheng shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, he felt an itch in his throat. He coughed, then coughed harder, until it turned into a violent fit. It felt like his lungs and heart were being wrenched out.
Foxy and Irene panicked. Foxy’s tail fluffed up as she patted his back. “Benefactor, are you okay? Are you allergic to my tail?!”
anwhile, Irene clumsily patted his back, exclaiming, “Oh no, you’re gonna die again! You just revived!”
Yu Sheng finally stopped after dry heaving several tis. Hoarsely, he waved them off. “Stop! You’ll kill with those steel-reinforced hands.”
Before Irene could retort, Yu Sheng opened his palm to reveal what he had coughed up.
Foxy stared at the small tallic object. “What is that?”
Irene’s gaze was equally blank. “…A bullet?”
Yu Sheng remained silent, his eyes fixed on the item in his palm—a short, thick bullet with spiraling grooves. It was neither a rifle round nor a shotgun pellet, and it was larger than a pistol bullet. Intricate patterns covered its surface, exuding an aura of mysterious, supernatural power.
“So…what is this?” Irene asked.
“It’s the Hunter’s ‘ssage,’” Yu Sheng murmured.
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