Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

At the edge of the central forest, a figure dodged desperately amidst the tide of vegetation.

Knives of light, invisible to the naked eye, severed countless serpent-like branches. In the shadows, with a *snap*, a flame ignited from a lighter, transforming into a fiery screen as the hunter waved it!

Whirling leaves were incinerated into ashes!

The hunter tapped his toes, and accompanied by countless wood chips, his body shot backward!

Having escaped the central forest, the trees within the deep forest continued to animate, reaching out towards the hunter—

“The Forest Witch… truly formidable!”

The hunter gasped for breath, retrieved a bag of gray powder from his pack, and sprinkled it on himself, his aura quickly fading away.

The vegetation in the deep forest lost track of the hunter, gradually ceasing its abnormal growth.

“The heart of this forest is indeed difficult to enter!”

The hunter's expression was grim. His hunting gear was tattered, with numerous broken branches and leaves stuck to it, and minor wounds marked his limbs.

“It's about time. Did the wolf fail? Perhaps the target was too large.”

The hunter gazed at the extremely lush central forest in the distance, slowly retreating into the darkness. “But there’s no need to rush. With some patience, I need a… new trap, a more concealed one!”

The hunter returned to a forest clearing where a long stone slab lay flat.

He scattered gray powder in a ring around the stone slab, then approached it—

The stone slab was covered with knife marks and bloodstains. Scattered nearby were fragments of white bone, flesh, and animal fur.

The hunter took a cloth bag from his waist, removing rabbit skin and the still-wriggling, skinless flesh of a rabbit.

“Still alive, the cursed human—truly fascinating!”

The hunter grinned wickedly, placing the bloody, skinless rabbit in the center of the stone slab and dripping a vial of somewhat vibrant potion onto it.

Then, he placed his pack on the ground and carefully took out a roll of animal hide, unrolling it.

It was an extremely complete crimson wolf pelt!

On the inner side of the crimson wolf pelt were countless scarlet runes. More bizarrely, this wolf pelt, lacking any fleshly support, did not appear dry but was moist and supple, as if life still lingered!

It was as if… a wolf's soul was truly sealed within the skin!

“Even an ignorant fool can be made useful—recycled into my hunting hound.”

The mass of bloody flesh that was once a rabbit continued to writhe, emitting an indiscernible whimper.

The hunter narrowed his eyes and took out a set of delicate tools from his pack.

Tweezers, silver needles, a scalpel, and… a vial of flesh threads soaked in medicinal fluid!

“Cry all you want now. Soon… it's going to hurt. If you have anyone to blame, blame the witch who turned you into this!”

The scar on the hunter's face twisted into a wicked grin. He picked up a silver needle, threading a flesh thread through the eye. “I have some needlework to do, and—without anesthesia!”

…

Inside the central forest, dawn rose from the distant treetops, a blaze of glory.

Poro and the girl in the red cloak leaned against a wooden board marked with squares.

Poro extended his paw, placing a stone on one of the squares, forming a straight line of five stones.

“Ha, who's the little dummy now?”

Poro grinned, showing a row of sharp teeth. “Always calling me a big dumb wolf, but you haven't won a single game in these dozen or so rounds!”

“You, you big bad wolf! You created the game, you must have played it many times before!”

Little Red Riding Hood pouted, somewhat annoyed. “It's not fair, I'm not playing with you anymore!”

“Alright, alright, let's not play then. After these few days, I'll think of another game to teach you.”

Right, I wonder how many more days we have to hide…

Poro's teeth itched with hatred whenever he thought about the hunter lurking outside the central forest.

If we stay here for ten days or half a month, she'll be very sad if we eat all of Little Red Riding Hood's chickens, right?

“Can your grandma handle that hunter?”

Poro couldn't help but ask.

“That hunter… is indeed well-prepared.”

Hearing Poro's question, a hint of worry appeared in Little Red Riding Hood's eyes. “Grandma said the hunter is quite skilled and has many special witchcraft tools. He's using something to conceal his aura.”

Poro's heart sank.

“Doesn't that mean we can't go outside the forest as long as he's lurking in the dark?”

“But the situation might not be that bad. My grandma is very powerful.”

Little Red Riding Hood tapped her slender index finger against her chin, recalling, “The hunter seems to be using some kind of magic powder. Once his powder runs out—he'll be captured by the forest!”

The girl waved her fist fiercely. “When that happens, Grandma will turn him into a little mouse!”

Watching the girl's expression, Poro couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

He stretched his forearms, pressing his body against the soft grass, wanting to relax, but just then, his ears, close to the ground, seemed to hear an unusual sound!

“It sounds like something…”

Poro straightened up again, looking in the direction of the sound, only to see a plume of smoke rising from the central forest not far away!

“Damn it, why is this hunter back again? He was just here the night before last, is he treating this like a dungeon run?”

“What's a dungeon?” Little Red Riding Hood looked at Poro strangely.

“Uh, I mean… he's courting death.”

Poro and Little Red Riding Hood sat outside the wooden house, watching the forest outside the house gradually begin to rampage. There was no wind in the forest, but the sound of rustling came from afar!

Thump—thump—thump—

The door of the wooden house opened, and the silver-haired old woman slowly walked out with a cane. Little Red Riding Hood hurriedly stepped forward, helping her grandma to the rocking chair in front of the door.

“Grandma, can you catch him this time?” Little Red Riding Hood asked.

“The sun is bright, and the vegetation is very awake.”

Sunlight shone on the old woman's face, casting a sacred golden glow. “This time, he won't escape.”

The moment the old woman walked out of the house, the forest's rampage became even more frantic.

Even from a distance, Poro could see the branches rising in the green forest above, stirring up a dark green storm!

Occasionally, gunshots were drowned out by the sound of the forest's waves.

The rising alchemical flames were extinguished by the forest wind in an instant!

A supernatural power… Although Poro's common sense had become much more flexible, he was still speechless after seeing this scene!

The hunter could still persevere in such a situation!?

Poro felt his body trembling inexplicably again. If the Forest Witch wasn't standing behind him at this moment, let alone himself—even a pack of wolves probably couldn't hurt the hunter!

The central forest hadn't seen such a battle in a long time.

The overflowing power even affected many of the animals that originally lived in the forest!

Many birds were startled from the forest, while flightless beasts fled from the location where the battle broke out.

Several birds flew down from the sky, landing in front of the silver-haired old woman, looking up at her with bloodstains on their wings.

The Forest Witch's aging eyes shone with a gentle light.

She slowly raised her hand and pointed, a cyan light appearing, and the birds' wounds healed.

The birds chirped happily a few times, as if thanking her, then spread their wings and flew away.

Another elk walked over, slowly kneeling on the ground, bleating twice. The old woman stroked the long wound on the elk's back, healing it.

The elk licked the old woman's hand, then quietly walked away.

Poro felt an indescribable emotion in his heart as he watched this scene…

At this moment, a white rabbit was hopping from the grass towards the old woman, also covered in residual leaves and blood.

Poro frowned. He inexplicably felt that something was wrong with the rabbit…

What was it?

And as the old woman bent down, wanting to help the rabbit heal its wounds,

A terrifying thunderclap suddenly exploded in Poro's mind!

No! That's not right!

That rabbit… is a problem!

This rabbit was the very one—the talking rabbit that should have died from being skinned by the hunter!