Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 166: Gunshots

It turned out that creatures with smaller brains really did have trouble processing things. The Squirrel, already a bit neurotic, completely freaked out the moment it saw Yu Sheng and the others. It tossed its acorn aside, darting and leaping frantically across the bushes while loudly shouting phrases like, “What’s happening?!” and “Where the heck did they come from?!” and even, “Is this still Little Red Riding Hood’s story?!”

Finally, Little Red Riding Hood had had enough. She took a step forward, grabbed the squirrel mid-leap off a twig, and held it in front of her face. Her tone was anything but kind. “Quiet! Or I’ll throw you into the thorn bush!”

The squirrel froze, wide-eyed and trembling, glancing nervously between Little Red Riding Hood and Yu Sheng’s group. Then, with a dramatic stretch of its neck and a faint tilt of its head, it let out a faint “Gah” and passed out.

Yu Sheng: “…”

Even Irene was stunned by the scene. “What kind of weakling is this? It fainted just like that?”

But before Irene could finish her sentence, the squirrel came to, groggily regaining consciousness. It wriggled in Little Red Riding Hood’s grip, looked around cautiously, and, seemingly calmer now, muttered under its breath, “Is something bad about to happen…? Is this even the Black Forest anymore? And how did so many of you show up here at once? None of you even look like a new Little Red Riding Hood!”

“Um… hello,” Foxy mustered her courage to approach the squirrel politely. “I’m Foxy.”

“And this is Irene on my shoulder,” Yu Sheng added as he walked over, casually flashing a cheerful smile. “Long time no see, squirrel.”

“Yeah, long time no see. Of course, the squirrel remembers you, the ‘grown-up’ who somehow stumbled in here. And now you’ve brought even more oddballs. I’m confused; I’m completely confused,” the squirrel said, wriggling out of Little Red Riding Hood’s hand. It scrambled onto her shoulder, chattering nervously. “The Black Forest won’t be happy about this. The Black Forest doesn’t like troublemakers… You don’t follow the rules! I can tell! You’re all going to be in big trouble. You need to leave, and fast!”

“Well, isn’t that convenient,” Yu Sheng said with an unexpectedly cheerful grin. “We came here specifically to make the Black Forest ‘unhappy.’”

The squirrel stared blankly at him, unable to comprehend his words.

Yu Sheng didn’t elaborate. His smile faded slightly, and without another word, he began walking toward the faint lights deeper in the forest. “Do you know where I can find the Hunter?” he asked calmly.

The squirrel let out a sharp, confused squeak. “The Hunter? Why are you looking for the Hunter?”

“I need to ask them a few things,” Yu Sheng replied casually before quickly adding, “Don’t ask anything else. Just tell me where I can find them.”

“It’s not safe… It’s really not safe to go looking for the Hunter like this,” the squirrel said, visibly agitated. “The Hunter has a gun. They shoot anything that even remotely resembles a wolf. Little Red Riding Hood already looks a lot like a wolf… If you’re not careful, you’ll get mistaken for prey. Especially tonight. Tonight…”

Yu Sheng paused for a moment, his expression shifting slightly. “Tonight? What’s so special about tonight?”

The squirrel gripped the edge of Little Red Riding Hood’s hood nervously. It seemed hesitant, but under Yu Sheng’s unwavering gaze, it finally relented, shrinking back in fear. “The Black Forest has been unstable since yesterday. Wolves have been going mad, some areas are disappearing, and there was even a huge explosion… Things might get worse tonight. When the Black Forest is unstable, the Hunter becomes unstable too. They roam around, full of anger, and they’re very dangerous—sometimes even more dangerous than the wolves…”

Yu Sheng didn’t respond immediately.

Irene poked the back of his head. “Why do I feel like this has something to do with you?”

Yu Sheng stiffened, keeping a straight face. “…It’s all part of the plan.”

“What are you two talking about?” the squirrel asked, standing upright and looking curiously at Yu Sheng and Irene.

“Nothing,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head firmly. Then, quickly changing the subject, he said, “Don’t worry about anything else. Just take me to the Hunter. Whether we can deal with them or not is my problem—if it goes wrong, you can always just run off, like last time.” ŗâƝỗΒЕ𝐬

“You never listen to advice!” The squirrel waved its little paws in frustration but quickly gave up. Drooping its tail, it burrowed halfway into Little Red Riding Hood’s hood. “Fine, fine, have it your way… Go find the Hunter. Where there’s Wolf Granny, there’s the Hunter. No matter where they’re roaming, they’ll show up wherever Wolf Granny is.”

“Good. That’s all I needed to know. Just as I expected.”

Yu Sheng nodded and resumed his pace, heading toward the distant lights.

Irene was confused. She wasn’t familiar with the rules of the Black Forest, so she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Do you know where to find this ‘Wolf Granny’?”

“The little house,” answered Little Red Riding Hood, walking beside her. “The Black Forest has paths lit by streetlamps. At the end of such paths, you’ll usually find a little house. Inside, there are typically two situations: either a safe, empty room, or one hiding Wolf Granny. By the way, I’m usually supposed to avoid houses with Wolf Granny.”

Irene listened carefully but noticed something peculiar in her choice of words. “‘Typically’? What about the unusual cases?”

“…There’s another situation,” Little Red Riding Hood paused, her tone calm but her eyes revealing a faint fear. “Sometimes the house has no Wolf Granny, but if you enter it for shelter, she’ll come knocking at the door. That’s the most dangerous scenario. You only have a split second to escape. A few times… I was caught when she knocked.”

She stopped speaking briefly, exhaling softly before continuing. “And recently, Yu Sheng and I encountered a ‘fourth situation’: a house deep in the forest, unconnected to any path and without any light. Inside, it was covered with red cloaks.”

Irene immediately caught on. “Ah, I know that one—you mean the one you ran into last time.”

Yu Sheng, meanwhile, noticed the Squirrel hiding in Little Red Riding Hood’s hood. At the mention of the “unlit house” and “covered in red cloaks,” the squirrel instantly shrank further into the hood. When it finally peeked out, its beady black eyes were filled with terror.

He approached, staring directly at the squirrel. “Why are you so scared of that unlit house?”

The squirrel’s body visibly trembled, and it let out a shrill, pleading squeak. “I don’t know! The squirrel doesn’t know anything!”

Yu Sheng frowned deeply.

“Stop pushing it,” Little Red Riding Hood sighed, cutting off Yu Sheng’s questioning. “If it’s reacting like this, we won’t get anything useful—it’ll just pass out again if we stress it too much.”

“Yes, yes!” the squirrel quickly chimed in. “Little Red Riding Hood and the squirrel are friends! Best friends!”

“Yeah, though not a very reliable one,” Yu Sheng muttered, furrowing his brow. He didn’t press further, but he kept an eye on the squirrel’s movements as they continued forward.

Soon, the path appeared in their view.

It was a winding trail through the forest, illuminated by streetlamps that cast an almost fantastical glow. The path led into the deeper woods, its end shrouded in shadow. The streetlamps’ light created a clear boundary, forcing the malice of the Black Forest to retreat. Within the lit path, a sense of calm prevailed.

The moment they stepped onto the path, the ever-present malice and the feeling of being watched seemed to fade. Even the occasional wolf howls from the surrounding forest sounded distant.

“Wow… this is something,” Irene remarked, immediately noticing the change in the atmosphere. She gazed wide-eyed at the floating lamp balls, clearly impressed. “But this doesn’t feel like a typical ‘designated safe zone’ in other otherworldly realms… It seems the calmness of this path is maintained by these lights?”

“What’s the difference?” Yu Sheng asked, confused. “Isn’t it still a safe zone?”

“It’s not the same,” Irene shook her head. “In most otherworldly realms, a ‘designated safe zone’ is inherently stable. Even if it moves or disappears over time, it remains unaffected by entities or dangers during its active period. But here, it seems more like the lamps are forming a temporary safety barrier. As long as the lights are on, the path is safe. If they go out, this place would likely become dangerous again. In other words, the safety lies in the streetlamps, not the path itself. This isn’t a safe zone; it’s a safe object.”

Yu Sheng listened intently and quickly followed her line of thought. He realized that when exploring otherworldly realms, it was indeed crucial to bring Irene along. Although she wasn’t always reliable, her unique perspective in the field of mysticism—and her occasionally accurate intuition—could sometimes be genuinely helpful.

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However, his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sound from beyond the path.

“Bang!”

It was the sudden, heavy crack of a gunshot—sharp and unmistakable, the sound of a hunter’s shotgun.

The group froze mid-step, exchanging startled glances as the echo of the gunshot reverberated through the forest.

The squirrel poked its head out of Little Red Riding Hood’s hood, nervously wringing its tiny paws. “The Hunter fired… the Hunter fired…”

“Benefactor, the sound came from over there,” Foxy tugged on Yu Sheng’s sleeve, pointing toward a direction off the path. Her ears twitched slightly, adjusting their angle as she pinpointed the source. “About one or two hundred meters away.”

Before her words had fully settled, another gunshot echoed through the air.

“Bang!”

The second shot came from the same direction.