The gale did not cease, and the surrounding trees swayed precariously as if trying to extinguish the spark.
"Is it a bit late to realize it now?"
Eva yawned and sat directly on the ground. Bored, she tossed her knife, waiting for the wind to blow it back so she could catch it steadily.
"The moment a foreshadowing is revealed, it also signifies a reversal. It's wonderful and thrilling... isn't it?"
The storm twisted into a mass, sweeping across the ground with the force of a tornado!
"Ah... I admire your courage, and I admit that your importance in my heart has gone up a level~"
Eva reached out her hand, slightly raising the space between her thumb and index finger by one notch.
"Look! This much! If you surrender obediently, I'll forgive you~"
The only response she received was the mingling of thunder and lightning in the sky.
"I see..."
Seeing this, Eva did not get angry. Instead, she pressed the knife against her own neck, the corners of her mouth curling upward into a despicable smile.
The blade slid, blood splashed into the air, and all of it vanished into the hole.
Black flames overflowed from the hole, burning everything around until only a patch of ash remained.
Eva clutched her neck, gave a sorrowful smile, fell forward, and her entire body vanished into the hole.
With this, the anchor point was fixed, and the passage was clear and unobstructed.
His existence descended upon this place.
"Hee hee hee..."
...Warm, soft... Is it a cloud?
Mmm, feeling a bit lazy.
After all, with neither work nor school, this rare peaceful sleep was truly wonderful.
Consciousness unconsciously sank into the depths, drifting away.
"Dalang, it's time for your medicine~"
"You... you enchantress, do you have designs on me?!"
Ah~ No... With a start, that tiger-slaying hero leapt up and restrained the woman.
"Spare you? Not so easy! Give me back my brother's life!"
However, upon taking a closer look, she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair, delicate skin—was she a Western girl?
Moreover, she showed no fear and even wore an expression as if looking at trash, which... didn't seem to fit the image of that traditional poisonous woman. "Little... Leike?"
Linge woke up with a start and rolled over.
"This is..."
He looked back and found himself in a bed.
"Are you awake?"
Looking toward the sound, he saw the blonde girl, Leike, now wearing indigo clothes. She was sitting at a nearby table, reading a book by the light of an oil lamp.
"..."
Linge breathed a sigh of relief for some reason. He looked back at the bed, then turned back again, his expression a bit strange.
"Did I... say something in my sleep?"
"..."
Little Red Riding Hood closed the book. She didn't speak, only slightly closing her eyes.
Linge felt inexplicably nervous and hurriedly said, "Let me explain!"
"Explain then, I don't mind." Little Red Riding Hood stood up, closed the book, and put it back on the shelf.
"Eh?"
Now, Linge truly didn't understand what was happening here.
"How do you feel?"
Little Red Riding Hood put on her red cloak, donned her hood, and turned to ask Linge.
Hearing this, Linge touched his neck; it was smooth without any marks. He looked over his body, and it seemed he wasn't stained with blood either. This was quite strange, wasn't it?
"How long was I unconscious?"
He suddenly became very concerned about the answer to this question because he realized he had likely been washed all over, yet he hadn't managed to wake up... Leike walked to the bed and opened the window. The sound of rain outside was pitter-pattering, still falling incessantly, and it was still deep in the night... "I don't know." The girl shook her head.
Linge followed her gaze and realized the forest outside the window was extremely similar to the forest where the black bonfire was located... Perhaps the house the girl was in was situated right inside that Evernight Forest!
And this unending rain was the barrier separating the two places?
If so, did this mean Little Red Riding Hood was being protected by some existence?
And looking at all the existences he knew, the only one with this possibility was... Eva?
Whether it was for Little Red Riding Hood or himself, the items for the return journey were all provided by Eva. Furthermore, her multiple appearances indicated she possessed such capability... "..."
Linge suddenly stared at Leike's face, wondering if the girl realized any of this.
"Is there something on my face?"
Under his burning gaze, Leike showed a hint of confusion.
"No, it's very clean."
Ultimately, Linge shook his head and gave up on asking.
Between Eva and Little Red Riding Hood, they had seemed like sisters on the surface from the start, but in reality, things were tense. They were only together out of necessity due to shared interests and hardships.
If there was a world of difference in their strength, such friction naturally shouldn't exist... So what was the catalyst that changed everything?
Linge recalled the moment he first met Eva, when she had held his hand.
Thinking about it carefully, that happened very abruptly, didn't it?
So could it be that that 'contact' was of vital importance to Eva?
Since he was closely associated with the existence of the 'Hole,' did this mean Eva was using him to communicate with the 'Hole'?
Suddenly, Linge's head throbbed with a pain as if it were about to explode. He quickly grabbed his hair and held on tight.
The more he thought, the more his head felt like a pot of thickening soup with a spoon constantly stirring inside.
At that moment, he heard the girl speaking and felt warmth on his forehead.
"Do you have a fever?"
Leike withdrew her hand and placed it on her own head. She compared the two, then shook her head, a trace of regret flashing in her eyes.
"I almost forgot."
The girl's momentary disappointment caught Linge's attention.
"What..."
Linge tried to muster the courage but couldn't find the resolve to ask.
He realized this was likely her privacy, and it wouldn't be proper to ask rashly.
"Nothing..."
Little Red Riding Hood closed the window, turned, and walked toward the door. She said slowly:
"You said earlier that I am very clean... However, I am not certain of such a thing, so the truth may not be as you wish..."
She walked to the doorway and looked back.
"Even so, do you still want to follow?"
"Heh..."
Linge gave a short laugh. He immediately sat on the edge of the bed, peering at the floor for shoes he could wear.
Having no other choice, he stepped onto the floor barefoot.
"What of it... I thought you were going to say something serious. In this world, who is truly clean?"
Linge continued forward to the girl's side. Then, he took off Little Red Riding Hood's hood, reached out, and patted her head~ patted it... Oh!
It wasn't until he met Little Red Riding Hood's icy, cellar-like gaze that Linge realized he seemed to have gotten a bit too carried away.
"See, I don't mind at all... right?"
Linge tried to defend his crime.
In the end, Leike did not pass judgment. Instead, she turned back and grabbed Linge's hand.
"Then let's go..." she said.
"..."
Linge voiced an objection to this.
"Let me put on shoes first..."
Afterward, Linge found his clothes, especially that grey robe, and changed into them one by one.
For some reason, all his clothes had been washed. She seemed a bit too diligent; she claimed she wasn't clean yet acted like this... And given Linge's style, he could endure even the harshest environments.
As an existence born in response to the calls of thousands of the dead, those obsessions and hatreds still swirled within his soul... Therefore, a clean Linge never existed in this world.
That being the case, what right did he have to be picky about this or that?
Finally finished packing, Linge saw Leike waiting for him nearby. She was slowly wiping the blade of her knife with a cotton cloth, then sheathed it and tucked it at her waist.
Linge stood up, ran over quickly, and with a smile, patted her shoulder.
"Let's go."
He took the lead, jogging all the way to the basement, passing through darkness, darkness, and more darkness... The three mirrors seemed to have had their light stolen. Although the third mirror looked unchanged, one could faintly feel a storm brewing within it.
"Something... seems wrong...?"
Linge's heart trembled. He reflexively looked back... only to see Leike appearing before his eyes, dragging a very long and wide object.
That was... Bad Luck!!
The moment she noticed Linge turning back, that heavy Heizhan was tossed upward by Leike. He didn't know how much strength she used, but the blade struck Linge's chest with a dull thud... He almost... died... Was this her revenge?
Linge felt bitter, then he noticed that the sword now had a scabbard made of hard leather... How did she do it? Was it magic?
Magic... Linge shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
He knew there was no point in obsessing over what methods the girl used.
Although he personally felt he didn't need a scabbard, gifts were mostly like this... However, being hit by this sword really hurt... Linge's slightly resentful gaze fell on the girl, but Leike ignored it completely, merely stepping forward to take her place at Linge's side.
Beside her, Linge gripped the sword hilt and felt that it was still warm, which seemed to be a stark contrast to the expression on the girl's face.
Sure enough, everything looked normal, yet there was always a sense of awkward abruptness... If before the girl's coldness was as unreachable as the deep sea and naturally felt distant, her current expression clearly revealed a bit of feigned composure. The more he looked, the more something felt off... If she's not just still angry, could it be she likes me...?
Great, my delusions are acting up... But regardless, I'm an adult; it's time to make a breakthrough!
Linge put the sword behind him. He bolstered his courage and directly clasped the girl's hand, but she didn't react at all.
Succeeding this time gave him a huge boost in confidence. He took a step forward to stand in front of the girl, looked at her, and said slowly: "Let's go. No matter where you are going, I will go with you."
And then... damn it! My mind went blank!
Cheesy pickup lines! Save me, cheesy pickup lines!
He once sneered at them, but now he regrets it... Linge looked up, gazing at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle; at this moment, his heart was full of despair.
He finally understood why those great writers were so good at writing sweet talk... Perhaps it's because they can't say it face-to-face, so they bury their heads in their writing to make up for it... "If I were trapped for a lifetime by the thing I pursue, never to be free... would you still be there?"
Leike lowered her head slightly, hiding her eyes, as she spoke those words.
Linge was silent for a moment. He stared at the girl's face, dispelling the bit of tender sentiment in his heart, and spoke carefully:
"If you need me, I will naturally be there... Besides, a journey isn't just about the destination; the scenery along the way is also a precious treasure."
"Is that so..."
At this moment, Leike saw her own hand, and at the same time, she saw Linge's hand.
She didn't show any anger; she just calmly pulled his hand in front of her, wrapping it with both of hers. She looked up, gazing into Linge's eyes with an aggressive look, and said slowly:
"Then it's a promise. Don't lie to me."
"Of course... my lady."
He handled it with poise, but in reality, it wasn't so. This series of ambiguous developments had Linge sweating profusely. He only held his ground because he felt a bit of resonance with the girl's words... Feeling the emotions contained in her speech, he realized that Leike might be just like him—lacking a sense of security, confused about her direction, and lost in the darkness.
For Linge, in his world, light and warmth appeared because of her presence, but was her world still pitch black?
So, were her expectations of him the same as his meaning to her?
Linge didn't want to guess anymore. He just gripped her hand tightly and turned to look at the Magic Mirror before him... Move forward... as a struggler, end all of this!
"Let's go."
Finally, Linge spoke first, and Leike nodded.
The moment their hands touched the mirror's surface, ripples appeared in that darkness. The cold sensation was like thick glue.
The mirror surface shattered, passing through Leike and Linge.
Turning back, the scenery behind them receded... Before them, intricate scenes constantly shifted, the world cycling in total chaos. This defied scientific logic, and limited by his own weakness, he couldn't explain it from a magical perspective... Because it was irrational, the surrounding scenery appeared as a colorful black... This adjective seemed contradictory, but the space they were in was inherently contradictory... This time, the place they appeared was not a forest. Linge noticed that the surrounding trees were either burned down or uprooted.
As ordinary beings, they were too small in such an environment.
"I remember this place."
Linge found a blade on the ground. It was originally taken by Eva, but for some reason, it had fallen here, and it was stained with dark blood.
He looked around again and found that although the place had changed a lot, he could still feel a sense of familiarity from the details... After all, he had woken up here every time after his ninety-nine deaths.
And the bonfire... that hole, had disappeared.
With a clang, the blade fell to the ground unnoticed.
This was truly strange. Linge thought he always held his blade steadily, but when he picked it up again, he found... the blade fell to the ground again.
"..."
"Is something wrong?"
The girl behind him was asking him.
Linge bent down to pick up the blade again, gripping it tightly with both hands. He turned back, a trace of melancholy on his face.
"The blade you gave me before was snatched by Eva before I went back. She said it was payment for helping me along the way..."
"Oh...?"
Leike looked up slightly at Linge.
"Did she really only want the blade?"
Under pressure, Linge responded hesitantly, "Yes, in terms of actual property loss, only this..."
"Hmm, she helped you quite a bit, yet she only took a piece of scrap metal?"
Leike's gaze clearly became suspicious.
"If that's the case, she really is generous. I've known her for quite some time, but I wasn't aware of this at all. Why is that?"
In Little Red Riding Hood's calm words, there was a distinct sense of sarcasm.
Linge smiled bitterly in his heart. He couldn't explain the reasons to the girl, but her seriousness now didn't seem like something he could just brush off.
Immediately, Linge held the blade across his chest so the girl could see clearly. There were still bloodstains on the blade. He spoke slowly.
"Perhaps it's because she's already dead."
"..."
Hearing this, Leike was speechless, a complex expression flashing in her eyes.
"Thinking about it, perhaps this is the final battle..."
Linge scanned the surroundings, looking at the ruined forest, and then shook his head.
"Maybe we're just here to clean up the mess."
"...But this certainly won't be an easy journey. After all, our purpose here isn't to clean."
After saying that, Little Red Riding Hood walked ahead of Linge and turned back to urge him.
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Linge followed the girl forward, but as they walked, he looked at his hand several times.
"..."
Walking under the night sky, there were no stars, and the surrounding forest was in ruins.
The path was still there, and a few obstacles couldn't stop them.
Until they reached the signpost, they stopped.
[North leads to the abandoned village full of spores; West leads to Andoru City]
"I always felt there were people in that Mushroom Village because it's full of traps, and traps need someone to maintain them..."
Looking at the wooden sign, Linge was filled with emotion. He pointed ahead toward the Mushroom Village.
"There were before, but they're dead now," Little Red Riding Hood said flatly.
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Linge scratched his hair. "Actually, I've been there many times..."
"Mm."
Leike nodded slightly, as if not surprised by this.
And looking at it this way, perhaps their paths had crossed long, long ago... The girl turned left, straight past that rotten log for seeking kin, and continued forward to the broken bridge. It was very quiet, with no monsters to disturb them.
Looking down, the river had actually dried up, revealing the pebbles on the riverbed.
"The changes are quite significant..."
Linge murmured softly, but the night was too quiet, so Little Red Riding Hood heard him clearly.
"Let's go. It seems there isn't a single living thing left here besides you and me."
The girl wasn't interested in her surroundings. She looked up, gazing at the high walls outside the city.
But Linge saw... in the distance, far away at the upper reaches of the riverbed, the forests on both banks were burning.
No, not burning... "Go..." Linge subconsciously spoke.
Little Red Riding Hood was a bit confused at first, but when she turned her head, she understood.
Darkness enveloped a red light—it was lava or something else. In any case, it was taller than the trees, with a faint white flow within. It didn't take long to approach, and it became clear: it was flesh and blood, forming a torrent... "Go!"
Linge didn't hesitate anymore. He grabbed Little Red Riding Hood's hand and ran wildly toward a certain place.
To high ground, the highest ground!
Even if it was the most dangerous place, there was no choice now.
Linge led Little Red Riding Hood on a run, not even having time to catch his breath, until they saw the city wall and rushed into that tower, spotting a ladder deep inside.
No, too slow!
The crimson river water had already spread over, devouring all life.
"Up!"
Linge looked behind him and urged Little Red Riding Hood.
Leike hesitated for a moment. She knew Linge had arrived here first, and clearly, he was in such a rush, yet he insisted on giving the chance to go first to someone else.
To tell the truth, this was really inefficient.
Little Red Riding Hood was a decisive person. She grabbed the ladder and climbed up using both hands and feet. Her speed was very fast.
Just as the river of blood was about to reach his feet, Linge had space and followed closely behind Little Red Riding Hood.
He subconsciously looked up.
Uh... a strange sound immediately came from beneath his feet. Linge hurriedly climbed up in a scramble. As he climbed, he sighed... If he had known they were safety pants, he wouldn't have had to ruin that fantasy... What a bad civilization!
Finally, the two of them reached the top of the tower with great effort. Linge sat to one side, panting.
The blood water ahead seemed to have stopped rising, and he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.
"You seem to be in a bad mood."
Seeing Linge sitting there sighing, Little Red Riding Hood asked.
"Mm..."
Linge replied with a smile.
"Not really. A puzzle is most interesting when the answer is hidden. Even if the revealed answer isn't to one's liking, it still brings a different state of mind."
"..."
Although Little Red Riding Hood saw through Linge's insincerity, she didn't press him, as she wasn't a fool... "Do you know anything about this river water?"
Linge sat by the ladder, looking at the churning, digesting, boiling pool of blood, a look of worry appearing on his face.
"No."
Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "But this must be related to someone."
"The Queen?"
Although Linge was asking, he was already certain in his heart.
"..."
Little Red Riding Hood closed her eyes as if in silent admission.
"I see..."
Linge realized that Leike had countless ties to the master of this calamity, the so-called 'Queen'.