Yu Sheng and Irene led Foxy down the stairs.
The most pressing matter now was finding a ce for the fox girl to sleep.
“There are two empty rooms—one on the second floor and one on the first,” Yu Sheng said, standing in the hallway upstairs. He pointed to the door opposite his own room. “This one here is right across from mine. It’s been unused for a while, so it’s got some clutter, but it’s still pretty clean. The room on the first floor doesn’t have any furniture and hasn’t been cleaned in ages. There’s also the basement, but it’s damp down there—not really suitable for living.”
“Wherever you arrange for me is fine,” Foxy nodded, casually pulling a biscuit from her fluffy tail and nibbling on it. “Anywhere is better than the valley.”
Yu Sheng couldn’t help but watch as the fox girl retrieved items from herrge, bushy tail. He still couldn’t figure out how she managed to hide things in there.
Just like he couldn’t understand how her tails seemed to emerge from her clothes. They looked like phantoms passing right through the fabric without needing holes in her pants. Yet, as they swayed around, asionally brushing against nearby objects, it was clear they were solid.
He could only conclude that fox spirits were truly magical.
“What’s that room for?” Foxy suddenly asked, pointing to the door at the end of the hallway.
“Oh, that one… Technically, it’s Irene’s room,” Yu Sheng nced in the direction she was pointing, his expression a bit awkward. “But there’s a slight problem with it right now…”“A slight problem?” Foxy pulled out half a pack of instant noodles from her tail, stuffing the dried noodles into her mouth as she curiously asked.
“After you open the door, the situation inside the room isn’t very stable. I need to observe it for a while,” Yu Sheng exined. Watching Foxy continuously pull items from her tail, he finally couldn’t help but twitch his eye. “Just how much stuff do you have in there?”
“I took a bath, then passed through the living room and put all the food you gave me into it,” Foxy said with a satisfied smile, hugging the instant noodles. “I didn’t touch anything else.”
Then she looked at the room at the end of the hallway and earnestly remarked, “Your abode is truly amazing.”
Yu Sheng stared nkly at her tails, thinking that she was far more amazing than his “abode.” How did she fit that whole bag of stuff in there? Was her tail like Doraemon’s pocket?
He marveled internally for a while but eventually set aside his questions. He pointed to the room opposite his. “You can stay here for now. Besides the clutter, there’s already furniture inside. We’ll move the misceneous things to the basementter… I’ll find some clean bedding for you.”
Foxy immediately nodded happily. “Mhmm!”
Irene chimed in excitedly, “Great! Let’s move things! I love tidying up!”
“You’d better not get involved,” Yu Sheng nced down at the tiny doll-like figure. “You’re not even as tall as a box. If you try carrying things, you’ll tumble down the stairs and break an arm or leg, and I’ll have to fix you.”
Irene instantly flew into a rage, jumping up to kick Yu Sheng’s knee. “Yu Sheng, you jerk!”
Yu Sheng yelped, jumping even higher than Irene had.
Foxy watched the scene, a bit puzzled, but soon realized this was just friendly banter between Yu Sheng and Irene. Her brief concern turned into a cheerful smile—then she pulled out a sausage from her tail.
…
Deep within the old city, inside a private clinic that appeared ordinary from the outside, Dr. Lin Yi, her long chestnut hair draping over her whiteb coat, was frowning as she examined the girl’s right arm before her.
Little Red Riding Hood sat across from Dr. Lin in a sleeveless T-shirt, her arm resting on the table. Her dark red jacket, missing one sleeve, hung on a coat rack near the door.
“Dr. Lin, is it serious?” Little Red Riding Hood finally couldn’t help but ask, seeing the doctor remain silent for so long.
“It’s not serious this time—but your situation is,” Lin Yi looked up, her eyes filled with a hint of irritation. “How many times has this happened? You’re constantly getting injured. If this continues, your post-transformation side effects will have almost no respite. Your body and mind won’t have time to recover. This time it’s okay, but in the future, there’s bound to be a major problem.”
“I know, but the situation was really urgent then. There was nothing else I could do,” Little Red Riding Hood’s gaze wavered. “We were being chased by a Level 3 or higher entity, one with mental pollution tendencies. It’s a miracle we got out in one piece…”
Lin Yi gave the girl a long, hard look but said nothing more. She reached over to pick up a sharp scalpel and, without hesitation, made a cut on her own arm.
In the next instant, an identical cut appeared on Little Red Riding Hood’s arm. ck-red blood oozed out but seemed to vanish almost immediately, as if absorbed by some unseen force.
The ck markings that covered the girl’s arm began to fade rapidly, disappearing altogether.
“Thank you, Dr. Lin…” Little Red Riding Hood lowered her head, expressing her gratitude earnestly. “I’ll pay the fee once the Special Affairs Bureau settles up.”
“Forget it, consider this me doing you a favor this time—no charge,” Lin Yi sighed, looking at the girl with some helplessness. After hesitating for a few seconds, she continued, “I know you’re their ‘guardian,’ but you should keep some money for yourself. Look how thin you are.”
“I know, I know,” Little Red Riding Hood pouted, feigning impatience.
“You say that every time,” Lin Yi shook her head, casually tossing the scalpel into a porcin tray. She adjusted her position in the chair. “Since you’re here today, let’s do an assessment ahead of schedule—when was thest time you ‘dreamed’?”
Little Red Riding Hood immediately straightened up, her expression turning serious. “Three days ago.”
“In the dream, was your perspective human or wolf?”
“Two-thirds human, one-third wolf—there was a moment when I was the ‘hunter.''”
“Did the hunter shoot at anyone?”
“At the wolf.”
“Good, seems rtively stable,” Lin Yi opened a cab beside her, pulling out a form. She grabbed a pen from the holder on the desk, but it wouldn’t write. She tried another, but it was also dry, and she frowned. “Those two new assistants must be pressing too hard when they write…”
She rummaged in herb coat pocket for a while before finally finding a working pen. As she filled out the form, she continued asking questions. “Did you see ‘Grandmother’ in the end? Was she human or wolf?”
“…She was a wolf.”
“Judging by your expression… you got caught?”
“I was caught, but that part of the memory is blurry. Thest scene I remember is escaping from the forest with the wolf pack.”
Lin Yi stopped writing, her brow furrowed deeply. She tapped the pen against the desk irritably. “That’s still risky. Take a No. 1 Intervention Agent with you when you leave. Inject it intravenously before bed tonight. I’ll put it on your tab.”
“Alright.”
Lin Yi proceeded to ask several more questions, which Little Red Riding Hood answered dutifully.
This was an “assessment” she had to undergo every month. Every member of “Fairy Tale” needed to undergo such evaluations regrly.
In the Bordends, there were many “doctors” capable of conducting these assessments and providing corresponding “treatments,” but Dr. Lin was the one she was most familiar with.
The lengthy “questionnaire” finally came to an end. Dr. Lin wrote “Temporarily Stable, Under Observation” at the bottom of the form and let out a long sigh.
Little Red Riding Hood saw the conclusion at the end of the form. Though she tried hard to keep a straight face, a relieved smile still appeared.
“You know how to worry, do you?” Lin Yi nced at her. “If you’re that scared, take better care of yourself. Don’t end up like thest Little Red Riding Hood…”
She suddenly stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.
Little Red Riding Hood fell silent as well. The clinic was enveloped in a stifling quiet.
After an unknown amount of time, Little Red Riding Hood suddenly felt warmth on her hand.
Dr. Lin had ced her hand over hers.
“Little Red Riding Hood, you’re different from the others—at least from the other ‘Fairy Tale’ members I’ve met,” the young “Mysterious Doctor” looked intently into the girl’s eyes, her tone serious and solemn. “Your wolves… the first few you tamed, they’re very close to you. I can’t sense them the way you do, but I can tell—they’re willing to protect you.
“So, your chances of smoothly reaching adulthood, even going through ‘Ascension,’ are higher than others. But precisely because of this, you can’t squander this gift just because your condition is more stable. You need to think about surviving, about living longer, understand?”
Little Red Riding Hood was silent for a long time before finally nodding gently. “…Okay.”
From the shadows beside the girl, several pairs of eerie green eyes slowly emerged. One pair moved closer, and from the darkness, a tongue extended, gently licking her fingers.
Lin Yi sensed the change in the shadows but didn’t look that way. Instead, she stood up from her chair and walked over to a refrigerator in the corner of the room. She retrieved a vial emitting a faint glow.
“Here you go, No. 1 Intervention Agent. This is thest one left. I’ll give it to you at half price—but make sure you settle your bill when you get paid. You owe me quite a bit already.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lin.”
<em></em>