Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

Chapter 165: Sleeping Change
In the clouds, behind the Giant Castle, in front of the orphanage's wooden house covered with lush green plants.

Jack sat on a chair and looked at the numerous tables and chairs in the room. Although they had been there for a long time, they were miraculously not damaged under the influence of magic.

"Mr. Giant, did many children live here before?"

Jack took down a wooden doll from the cabinet beside him.

After arriving here, this terrifying-looking giant not only did not behave as bloodthirsty as described in the legend, but instead placed Jack in this house.

Also at Jack's request, no one was told where the child was.

The Giant King is not human, but his words of comfort to Jack are filled with genuine emotion.

This made Jack, who had just experienced the death of his mother, feel much more relieved.

"Yeah, that was a long time ago, but when they grew up, I sent them away."

The Giant King replied.

"Mr. Giant, will there come a day when you will chase me away too? But I don't want to go back to the surface. Those people... they... I'm scared."

Jack listened and whispered.

"It's okay, you can stay as long as you want."

The Giant King leaned over and said in a tone that didn't match his image, "You can stay here as long as you want, but I need to rest for the next few days—"

If you are bored, you can go play in the woods. The plants in the garden love children and will not hurt you."

After saying this, the Giant King stood up.

Walking towards the castle gate not far away, Jack looked at the figure of the Giant King, picked up a wild fruit, put it in his mouth and bit it.

Very sweet, like a dream.

"Mom must want to eat it too. If I bring it back..."

Thinking of this, the boy finally realized something, his eyes became a little dazed, and a tear fell.

"Don't be sad. Separation is always the norm for you humans throughout your lives. You can treat this place as your home.

There haven’t been any children here for a long time.”

But at this moment, Jack heard a voice, like a cold female voice.

He looked back and saw a beautiful golden bird standing on the window sill. Its feathers were shining with golden color and light.

"Hello, Miss Bird."

Jack was stunned for a moment and asked, "Mr. Giant said he was tired these past few days and wanted to rest. What's the matter?"

The golden bird looked at the boy's innocent face in front of it, was silent for a moment, and then answered:

"Mr. Giant is sleeping longer and longer, but he will wake up soon, don't worry."

"Mr. Giant and I have different bedtimes?"

"It's different. Mr. Giant doesn't need to sleep. But a hole appeared in the sky, and there are a lot of bad guys inside. If the hole is not blocked, those bad guys will run out and destroy the world."

"Bad guys... destroy the world?!"

Jack was stunned for a moment, but with his childish mind and imagination, he quickly accepted it all. "So, Mr. Giant is saving the world?"

"Mr. Giant is plugging those holes, so to speak."

After hearing the golden bird's answer, Jack's eyes lit up with envy and admiration.

"So, Mr. Giant is different from the stories Mom told me—he's a big hero? He doesn't kill people, but protects them instead?"

The golden bird did not immediately confirm what he had said. Instead, it remained silent for a while before saying:
"That's not entirely true. Now, he's a hero, but that can't hide the bloody past."

"What does it mean?"

Jack was a little confused, but the big golden bird spread one wing, patted Jack's head, and then took off and flew into the clouds:

"Live well here. He loves children very much. If you want to know... he will probably tell you later."

……

Two days have passed since the floating island in the clouds.

In a tavern in the Kingdom of Biwei, Lei and Poro sat at a table in the corner. It was not a restaurant, and there were not many people in the tavern.

Lake placed the map she had recorded flat on the table.

The symbol marking the location of the vines had been lightly marked.

Next to it, a finger-sized magic vine seed was carefully placed on a handkerchief.

"I thought we were going to have to fight that giant. I was on guard the whole time I left the magic vines, but we didn't."

The Poro stared at the magical vine.

Through the second-level [Spiral Beacon: Witch] Poro can see the magical structure inside.

There is indeed a lot of magic contained in it. In this world, all magical items have special magical structures.

This seed is no exception, and in addition to magic, it also contains a kind of extremely strong vitality.

It's like... the heart of the forest.

"Puro, the Giant King, is he really a good person now? He needs these gems, could they really be used for something important?"

Lake suddenly said.

She took out the two gems from the bag again. They were still in the shadows, flickering with a faint light like colorful fireflies.

"Should we give him this gem?"

"Don't overthink it. If it's really an important reason, he'll tell us why. Besides, there's still the next thing to do."

As the Poro spoke, he raised his hand, and a golden light appeared. "But seeing the harp and the golden bird is not a complete loss."

A page of a book emerged.

[Return of the Loop: Jack and the Beanstalk: Vines into the Clouds]

[A golden bird stands above the shadows, dancing in the ethereal melody, and clouds and mists cover the abyss hanging high in the sky]

[Fairy Tale Power: You can cause a vine to grow explosively out of thin air, but their power is limited and they will wither within three days. Only one vine can exist at a time.]

[Unsealing Ceremony: Go through the vines, reach the clouds, enter the giant's castle, find the chicken that lays golden eggs, and the harp that can play by itself]

[Description: Emerald green vines pierce through the clouds. Looking through the snow-white mist, towards the shadow beneath the sun, there is a towering castle, majestically standing, and the sound of a piano is ethereal.]

"With this page, can you make ordinary vines... become ones that reach straight into the clouds?"

"I can sense that this power can only be used on vines. It should have a different effect from the seeds given by the Giant King."

Poro thought for a moment, put away the page he had no use for, and smiled at Lake. "Compared to this, I have another fairy tale about the giant on the top of the cloud. Do you want to listen to it?"

"A story? A second fairy tale about the Giant King?"

Lake's eyes lit up, and she put the gems and seeds back into the bag and hung it around her waist. "What is it?"

"The name of this story is - The Giant's Garden."

"Its content begins with a giant's garden..."

// Oscar Wilde's fairy tale, The Giant's Garden, is similar to the one in the Chinese textbook. There is a limit on the number of images reviewed each day, so they may not be complete.
“The child smiled at the Giant and said to him, ‘You let me play in your garden. Today I will take you to my garden – which is Paradise.’

That afternoon, when the children ran into the garden, they saw the Giant lying dead under a tree, and covered with white flowers.

Lake listened to the entire story carefully, with a hint of realization in her eyes:
"So this is the whole story."

"Yes, but the twist in this story is even greater."

Poro thought of the simple cross-shaped tombstone in the garden, the child mentioned by the Giant King, and the void in heaven. "But now it seems that this is indeed the story."

The Poro said as a new page appeared.

Above is a garden in which a giant bends down and touches a child with his thick fingers.

[Circular Return: Giant's Garden · Pure Spring]

【Fairy Tale Power: Unknown】

[Unsealing Ceremony: Protect that beautiful, vibrant garden and drive away desire] [Description: Bright spring light returns to this beautiful garden. The ice and snow melt, and the withered plants thrive under the spring breeze. They sprout and bloom—]

[Only the purest heart can make this beautiful scenery last forever]

"This circular return seems to be related to the Giant's Garden..."

The Poro stared at the description of the unsealing ceremony, speculating on what it might entail.

This time, the entries seemed a bit abstract and difficult to understand.

But Lake and Poro had already left the forest formed by the giant garden.

not to mention……

What does desire refer to?
Protection, and how to protect?
Who would destroy it?

If someone wants to destroy the garden, the Giant King will definitely take action first, right?
"Forget it, let's finish the more important things first, and then think about whether to make this circular return."

Poro sighed, closed the book, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the direction of the tavern door. "The one we're waiting for has arrived."

"Squeak-"

The wooden door opens.

A man who looked like a hunter walked through the crowd in the tavern and went straight to Lake and Poro's table and sat down.

"Miss, are you my client?"

The man looked at Lake and said.

"Yes, sir, are you the best guide here?"

At the same time, Lake was looking at the person in front of her. Judging from his attire, he was indeed an experienced man.

"If you're going to a forest somewhere, I'm definitely the best, miss."

As the old hunter spoke, he took the coin that Lake pushed to him, then put his other hand on the map under Lake's coin, unfolded it, and looked at an area marked on it.

It was a forest.

"You guys, are going here?"

A hint of surprise crossed the old hunter's face. "Why? There's nothing there?"

"Yes, we are going there. There is a forest at this location, right?"

Lake asked.

She remembered very clearly what the magic mirror showed her that day.

In the center of a withered and dilapidated forest, there was a girl burying flowers and plants - that was the person they were looking for.

"We want to go to the forest and look for a little girl...she looks about twelve or thirteen years old?"

Lake hesitated for a moment and added.

Unexpectedly, the old hunter fell into deep thought after hearing this. After a while, he pushed back the coins he had already received and sighed helplessly.

"Sorry miss, I'm afraid I can't do this order."

The old hunter gave a bitter laugh. "It's not about money. That forest withered away about ten years ago. There's magic there. I've been to all the surrounding forests, but that's the only one I can't enter."

The old hunter stood up apologetically and prepared to leave the tavern. Before leaving, he thought for a moment, then turned around and whispered to Lake:

“You’d better not even think about getting there—ordinary people can’t do it.

There is magic in that forest.

Many old hunters and some arrogant treasure seekers got lost there, and the few who managed to return were mostly starving to death.

After saying that, without waiting for Lake to ask further questions, he pushed open the door of the tavern and left.

"Magic? Lost?"

When Lake and Poro heard the old hunter's words, they both thought of something.

"Is it a forest maze?"

"It seems that we probably won't be able to find any guide, but we have solved so many mazes, so this time should be no problem, right?"

Lake looked at the Poro.

"Well, it's just that it will take some time—"

Poro put a piece of food on the table that he had conjured up using the circular return technique into his mouth and looked at Lake.

After finishing the leftovers on the table, the two packed up their not-so-large bags and walked towards the wooden door of the tavern at the same time.

But at this moment, a boy with some scratches on his face walked up to Lake and Poro.

He stared at the red cloak on Lake, then moved his gaze to the bag of gems and seeds at Lake's waist.

"What's wrong, kid?"

Lake also noticed the boy in front of him. The boy was pale and looked extremely tired. As his expression changed, he seemed to have made a decision and spoke through gritted teeth:
"Sister, Mr. Giant said... you are a kind and good person, a hero of mankind..."

The boy whispered.

After hearing what the boy said, Lake and Poro were stunned. They didn't realize what was going on.

"You mean... Mr. Giant?"

"Yes, that's the giant who lives in the castle in the sky."

The boy pointed to the sky and said to Lake and Poro, with a pleading look in his eyes, "There are bad guys in the garden, and they are hurting Mr. Giant.

They also released the bad guys from the cave. Miss Bird and I can’t beat them…”

The boy whispered.

Although the boy's words seemed a bit incoherent, Lake and Poro roughly understood what the boy wanted to express.

Their expressions became somewhat horrified.

"Those angels in heaven...are out again!?"

"Yes, Miss Bird gave me a leaf so that I could find you."

As the boy spoke, he took out a leaf with complex magical patterns engraved on it, and the tip of the leaf pointed at the pouch on Lake's waist.

Poro saw that these were leaves of magical vines.

"Kid, what's your name?"

"I'm Jack."

……

A day ago, not long after Lake and Poro left, a team of dozens of people walked under the vines.

They were wearing various armors and weapons, and they looked up at the vines that were rising into the clouds in front of them.

"It's right here, the Giant King's lair, in the sky. There are many magical plants there."

As the axe-wielding burly man in the lead spoke, the other mercenaries also revealed their desire and greed. Most of them thought most about the garden of treasures described by the burly man.

There was only one young hunter with some pure passion in his eyes.

He adjusted the shotgun behind his back without saying a word.

"Follow me to the clouds, kill the Giant King, and avenge the Kingdom of Boren!"

The axe-wielding man shouted.

"Kill the giant!"

"Revenge for the dead!"

Then, everyone started to use their hands and feet to step on the leaves of the vines and climb up.

Like a line of black ants on the surface of a tree trunk.

(End of this chapter)