Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

Inside the bedroom, Gretel leaned against the bed, tearing off a piece of the comforter.

The comforter was made of a special kind of cotton candy, with different colors and flavors of sugar strands, carrying a hint of sweetness. Before being torn off, they wouldn't melt, break, or stick to the body.

"Why hasn't brother... come back yet?"

Gretel stared at the door, but outside, it was silent, with no sound of returning footsteps.

She got off the bed, walked to the door, and, standing on tiptoe, reached for the doorknob.

But then she remembered what Hansel had said before leaving:

"Be a good girl and wait here, okay? I'll be right back!"

The little girl bit her lip, looked at the door, and finally let go of the handle.

She returned to the bed and said to herself:

"Brother always comes back, so he definitely... will be okay!"

Just then, from the distant, silent corridor, there seemed to be a faint, unusual sound. Because it was so far away, it seemed hazy, like the sound of the wind.

But at that moment, Gretel's pupils constricted.

She felt her heart clench suddenly—

"It's brother!?"

For no reason, such a thought suddenly appeared in Gretel's mind, like... some kind of telepathic transmission!

This time, without any hesitation, Gretel pushed open the door and rushed alone into the somewhat dim and unclear corridor.

After taking a few steps, the girl saw the door to another room next to her.

She thought for a moment, walked over, and gently knocked on the door.

"Tap, tap, tap—"

...

"Hansel hasn't been back for a long time. He might be in danger, right?"

Poro and Leake looked at the little girl.

The little girl's eyes were a little red, and she nodded.

"If he encountered danger here, then I'm afraid... something really happened."

Poro didn't treat it as a child's game.

Hansel and Gretel didn't seem like the kind of children who would lie. Or rather, the impoverished life and special family had made these siblings more mature than their age.

"Do you know where your brother went?"

The group walked out of the corridor. It was midnight, and the already empty castle was even more terrifyingly deep.

Walking out of the corridor of the newly promoted Saint's living room, all around were only empty, rooms made of food-assembled furniture.

Leake and Poro's footsteps were very light.

The little girl's body wasn't heavy either, but even so, the slight friction sound the group made on the ground still rustled.

"He said he was going to the front hall to get me a waffle cone lamp post..."

Gretel said in a low voice.

Waffle cone lamp post...

Poro thought for a moment. In these few days, in order to complete the circular return ceremony, he had a deep memory of the distribution of various foods in this castle.

So soon, he thought of the location of the front hall.

"It's not too far."

After passing through another corridor, Poro suddenly twitched his nose and his expression froze.

"That's not right!"

"What's wrong, Poro? Did you find something?"

Leake also looked around, but the walls and floors that could automatically restore themselves showed no trace.

"There's a smell of blood, very faint. If we had come later, it might have dissipated."

Poro said with a frown.

Hearing this, Leake and Gretel's pupils constricted.

Poro's sense of smell was extremely sensitive and would not make any mistakes!

But in such a dreamlike castle, what happened still made one feel a chilling sense of separation.

"Over there, the scent of two people, one of whom is Hansel."

The group followed Poro's direction and walked forward.

But when they reached an unremarkable corridor, Poro suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong? Poro?"

Leake asked.

"The smell of blood has disappeared, as if it has been cut off by something special."

Poro said.

"Cut off?"

Leake looked around. This was a very ordinary corridor.

Every so often, there were candy-block wall lamps, shining with colorful magical light.

But these colors, in the darkness, seemed a little dim.

"Did they go into that room?"

Leake noticed several closed chocolate doors on one wall. She went forward and gently pushed them a few times. Like most of the doors in the castle, they were not locked, nor was there anything unusual behind them.

Some unused food furniture, murals, and sculptures were placed inside.

Leake pushed open several doors around, but there was nothing.

"Why is there nothing?"

She was a little puzzled, and Poro also carefully sniffed around.

But this unremarkable corridor was like the throat of a monster, silently swallowing two humans who might have passed through, without even leaving a trace.

In the air, the bloody scent began to disappear rapidly.

It had almost reached the point where Poro could hardly smell it.

But just then, Gretel spoke up:

"Brother should have gone there."

The little girl raised a finger and pointed to one side of the corridor.

Leake and Poro looked in that direction, but only saw a dense shadow and a part of a wall painting carved with colored candies, which didn't look like there was a door.

"There?"

Leake was a little surprised, "But that's just a wall..."

"If brother gets lost, he will definitely leave some signs."

Gretel added again. She walked forward and picked up a piece of bread crumb that was about to disappear from the ground.

"This must have been dropped by brother... bread crumbs!"

It was still slowly disappearing, falling into the gaps of the raised gummy pectin carpet.

Even Leake and Poro hadn't noticed this insignificant bread crumb!

At the moment of seeing this bread crumb.

Leake and Poro reflexively raised their heads and looked at the unremarkable wall in front of them.

In Poro's eyes, the candies and chocolates began to twist and change like a vortex, as if they had become a three-dimensional swamp of dirty colors.

At the same time, a certain vague filter in cognition began to dissipate...

Space, staggered before their eyes, revealing a door that could not be detected at all before!

"A door? Hidden on this wall that has no effect!?"

Poro widened his eyes and turned to look at Leake, "Did you see it too?"

"I seem... to see it too, Poro. Can you describe to me what the door looks like?"

But at this time, Leake's blue eyes seemed to have a strange struggle.

She held the silver dagger at her waist tightly and said word by word:

"I seemed to be able to see it just now, but then I felt like it was a wall. It seems to be... deceiving me."

"This door is the same as the other chocolate doors, but it is engraved with a mural of wheat ears... The upper left corner is inlaid with a green candy..."

Poro took a deep breath and began to describe the appearance of the door in front of him.

Leake listened while staring at the door in front of her.

Some dilated pupils began to focus, and in her eyes, those chaotic, illusory and mixed color blocks that seemed to be disappearing, re-condensed.

It became the original appearance of the door in front of her.

"Huff..."

The girl's chest rose and fell, and she breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Poro.

That feeling of clearly seeing it, but then being forcibly covered eyes, was really uncomfortable."

"What about the Star Killing Sword? Can't it resist this influence?"

"Star Killing Sword... it seems to only show its power when my determination to protect reaches a certain level."

Leake shook her head and took out a silver star-shaped object from her pocket.

She flicked it slightly, and the star turned into a smooth, mirror-like long sword.

It's just... this long sword doesn't seem to have anything special about it.

"At least for now, it can only be used as an ordinary sword, but it's easy to hide."

Leake said, putting the sword away.

She thought for a while and handed the dagger to Gretel on the side.

The dagger's enhancement of the spirit is of great help in seeing through the magic on the door.

After Poro described the specific appearance of this hidden door, the magic on it weakened its effect on the group.

The doorway was also a corridor that was no different from the others.

And in careful observation, Poro and Leake quickly saw a few bread crumbs that were about to disappear in the darkness.

They extended... into the depths of this hidden corridor.

"Let's go."

Poro took a deep breath and walked into it.

At the same time, he once again felt the feeling of breaking through the maze that he had felt when he went to the Holy Meal Kitchen during the day.

The bread crumbs extended forward, and the walls of the corridors on both sides also had some closed doors.

This time, Leake and the others did not easily push them open, but continued to walk forward.

Following the bread crumbs, they entered a half-open room.

It was empty, but the bread crumbs disappeared.

"Why is this? It should be... not enough bread crumbs, right?"

A boy, in some kind of dangerous situation.

Poro wanted to sniff around.

But this space was completely different from the ordinary corridor outside. The special maze had also disturbed the aura within, allowing Poro to only smell the sweet腻 that did not dissipate day and night.

"Wait, there seems to be... something here."

Just then, Leake, next to her, narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she had discovered something.

She walked to the center of the room, where there was a decorative sculpture made of colored rock candy.

"Did you see anything?"

After entering the room, Poro also saw the sculpture, but did not find anything special. There were similar colored rock candy sculptures in many ordinary rooms outside.

Leake didn't answer, she just took out the silver dagger and gently shaved one side of the sculpture.

She cut off a small piece of it.

At this time, Poro noticed that inside the piece of candy that Leake had cut open, there was a... somewhat wrinkled small piece of paper wrapped inside.

The sculpture quickly closed, without any gaps.

This piece of paper was stuffed into the gap in the sculpture in a moment of desperation and covered by the restored candy.

If it weren't for Leake's extraordinary observation, it would be extremely difficult for ordinary people to find such a thing!

"What's inside the note?"

"It seems... to have some words written on it."

Leake slowly unfolded the note, which read:

【She is not an angel, but a devil】

After showing it to Poro, Leake thought for a while and then showed the note to Gretel:

"Did your brother write this?"

"No."

Gretel shook her head and then said, "We haven't learned to write. Sister, can you tell me - what's written on it? Is it the place my brother went to?"

"This above..."

Poro and Leake looked at each other, but in the end, Poro still gave Gretel a deep look:

"Your brother is in a very dangerous situation right now. We will go and bring him back - but don't tell anyone else about this.

Do you understand?"

Gretel's eyes were a little red, but she didn't make any more excessive moves.

"Yeah."

She just nodded and then buried her face in the shadows. This little girl was also very smart.

Or rather, she might have already sensed the crisis her brother was in through some channel:

"Thank you..."

The dim magical light in the room shone on the note.

The words on it were crooked, obviously written in an extremely hasty situation.

Whoever wrote this line must have been in extreme danger!

Who could it be?

Poro thought of the two scents he had smelled in the corridor outside earlier.

Did that person take Hansel away?

Why didn't they flee towards the outside of the castle?

If that person wrote the note, then who is really chasing the two of them?

Just then, a sudden footstep outside interrupted Poro's thoughts. He suddenly gave Leake a wink and put away the note.

"Creak--"

The chocolate door was pushed open, making a faint tremor.

Under the influence of the special magical maze here, Poro only discovered such a sound when the footsteps were almost on his face.

It was too late to hide.

There wasn't much hidden space in the room.

The next moment, the door opened.

The shadows were dispelled by the light in the room, and it was a person.

An awakened Saint in a gold and white robe, with an orange badge on his chest, glowing with the magical light of the number "seven", walked in.

He looked at the three people in the room, and a trace of astonishment also flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly hidden. He asked with a normal expression:

"Why are you here at night instead of sleeping? I should have told you before that working at sunrise and resting at sunset is the right way to cultivate."

Poro and Leake bowed slightly, with apologetic expressions.

But Gretel, after all, was still young and couldn't hide the panic and sadness on her face.

"Sorry, sir, one of the two children we brought is quite naughty. He secretly came out in the middle of the night, but he hasn't returned to the room for a long time. We were afraid he would get lost, so we came out to look for him."

The Seventh Awakened Saint carefully looked at Leake and Poro, and then put his eyes on Gretel, who was crying with red eyes.

Then, he showed a... seemingly kind smile on his face.

"I see. Our place is quite large, and children get distracted easily... It's certainly possible to get lost at night."

As he spoke, he took out a lollipop from his pocket and offered it to Gretel, who was standing to the side. "Little girl, have you found any clues?"

Gretel raised her hand slightly but didn't take the lollipop.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, her eyes flickered, but she still said:

"I... don't know..."

"I saw you come here. Did you find something?"

The Awakened Saint didn't press further but turned his gaze to Raik and Polo, adding, "Like the child's information, or any markings left behind?

After all, ordinary people don't usually come to this corridor.

I've been here for a long time and can help you find him quickly."

Polo looked into the Awakened Saint's eyes, as if measuring something, and after a few seconds, he spoke:

"One of the two children we brought is named Hansel."

We just... heard some sounds here earlier, so we turned from the outside corridor. It's our first time here too—

Uh, sir, is this place off-limits?"

"I see, you wandered in by mistake..."

A flash of understanding crossed the Awakened Saint's eyes, and then he gave a friendly smile, saying to them, "It's very late now, and walking in the dark can be harmful to your cultivation.

Why don't you come back with me first? We'll bring you news tomorrow—

Don't worry, this is the holy domain of the Bountiful Angel, nothing will happen!"

"Oh, I understand, thank you, sir!"

"Yes, we're really troubling you, sir. If the child has disturbed the holy domain, we... really wouldn't know what to do!"

Hearing this, Polo and Raik also looked grateful. They nodded repeatedly, taking Gretel, and followed the Awakened Saint in the direction they came from.

After watching Raik, Polo, and Gretel return to their rooms, the Seventh Awakened Saint slowly walked in the other direction of the corridor.

He walked back to the hidden corridor and disappeared into the shadows.

"The newly promoted Saints, Polo... Raik... and those two children.

This is really troublesome.

Did they really stumble into the 'Locked Domain' by accident?

But if it was intentional, it's unlikely. After all, this is the miracle of the Angel, the veil that isolates it..."

The Awakened Saint muttered to himself, walking deeper into the room, "But tomorrow, after they eat, they'll forget all about this.

To dedicate themselves to the Bountiful Angel—that's what all humans should do!"

"Dedicate themselves to the Angel? So, you know something?"

Just then, the Awakened Saint heard a voice behind him—it was Polo's voice!

"How did you..."

The Awakened Saint was shocked and wanted to shout, but a cold edge had already touched his neck.

"Also, what do you mean by 'forget' after eating—what does that mean?"

Raik's sword gleamed coldly.

Even without starlight, the extremely smooth blade reflected the surrounding dim light, carrying an extremely strong deterrent force.

"A... sword?!"

At that moment, the Awakened Saint was even more horrified.

This sword was definitely not a kitchen utensil, but a thorough weapon. He couldn't imagine why anyone could bring such a thing in!?

"The Bountiful Angel has saved the people of the entire plain from starvation. You shouldn't be doing such demonic things. No matter what you want...

Endless delicious food, isn't that enough? Can't it satisfy your greed?"

"Of course not. If your goal really is to ensure everyone has enough to eat, then that is the act of a saint."

Polo said, "I just want to know why you are hiding rooms in the castle, where Hansel is, and about the 'forgetting' of food, where the Saints who disappeared in the past went... You should have the answers to these, right?"

Silence continued in the darkness.

After a long while, the Awakened Saint finally spoke:

"You've actually found out this much? This is unprecedented..."

"So? Just consider it me using your life as a threat."

Polo said, using a masculine tone that sounded somewhat oppressive.

Raik, next to him, also moved the longsword closer, the sharp tip piercing the skin, drawing a trace of blood.

But who knew that this Saint, who looked like an ordinary person with no resistance, suddenly smiled:

"That's a pity. The moment you walked into this plain and ate the first bite of food—

Everyone's soul, body, and life have already belonged to the boundless loving, great being, the Bountiful Angel. Your threats are meaningless!

I won't tell you anything, but soon, you'll understand yourselves.

When you... return to the Bountiful Paradise.

You two, newly promoted Saints.

I'll be waiting for you there!"

In the next moment, in Polo and Raik's surprised eyes.

Blood suddenly seeped out of the Awakened Saint's seven orifices, and his vitality began to rapidly drain away.

"He killed himself?!"

At that moment, Polo sensed a fleeting trace of magic from the Awakened Saint's seven orifices.

It had no power, its only purpose was to allow him to easily end his own life!

In the next moment, he saw the badge with the number on the Awakened Saint's chest also glow with magic.

The number "Seven" floating on the outside seemed to tremble and became increasingly blurred.

"That's not right!"

A warning sounded in Polo's heart.

He quickly grabbed the badge, and then, watching the dead Saint in front of him, his figure began to change rapidly. At the same time, an aura identical to that of the dead Saint emanated from him.

These Saints are ordinary people. If their badges have some kind of identity judgment—

On a magical level, the most likely basis is aura!

After Polo transformed into the appearance of the Seventh Awakened Saint, the speed of the badge's transformation began to slow down. After Polo put on the Seventh Awakened Saint's robe, the number on the badge became clear again.

It was still the number "Seven."

"Phew..."

Polo breathed a sigh of relief.

In the Queen's magic notes, there was a conclusion recorded like this.

Fortunately, Polo remembered this knowledge through the enhancement of [Spiral Beacon: Sage] and diligent memorization.

"Fortunately, the magic on this badge... although I haven't used it, it's good that it's not soul-bound."

After Polo put the Seventh Badge on his chest, he suddenly froze.

The map of the castle flashed through his mind like some kind of phantom in that instant.

He looked to the side of the hidden corridor. At another unremarkable corner, a hidden door appeared in his eyes.

At the same time, he also sensed the location of nearly a hundred badges within this castle.

"Those Saints are abnormally fanatical. I was a bit reckless this time."

He walked towards the hidden door, saying to the girl beside him, "I'll go ahead and take a look. If there are any other Awakened Saints, you take care of the body. This time... I'll go take a look alone first.

After all, if another Saint dies, it won't be so easy to deal with."