Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

"So, why did you go hunting in the forest? After all, you have so many gold coins, and you are not a hunter yourself."

On the way back to the palace, Lake looked at the bear-skin man beside her.

He walked along the side of the street, silently, hiding his figure in the shadows of the houses, but even so, many passers-by felt a little frightened when they saw his appearance.

Maybe he has been accustomed to this appearance for a long time.

"Just like in the fairy tale you told me, the devil asked me for courage, which was another requirement besides my bear skin."

The bearskin man said, "At first, he asked me to kill a bear, and then, every once in a while, he asked me to hunt wild beasts."

"So this time, it also asked you to do that?"

"Yes, the devil always appears without any regularity. He requested that I participate in this hunt, and he also said... this is the last time."

"The last time the devil said that?"

"Although I can't tell what the devil is thinking, I think he might want me dead."

The bearskin man narrowed his eyes and looked at his body covered with bear skin. "I can't take off this bear skin, and I can't take a bath - it will make me sick and weak.

And it tests my courage. If my physical strength ever fails, I will die!"

"So, there is indeed some kind of danger in that forbidden forest."

The Poro pondered, "So dangerous that the devil doesn't think anyone can survive it?"

Back in his residence, Poro was still thinking carefully, then he raised his paw and a page emerged. On it was a picture of a man wearing bear skin, holding a handful of gold coins in his hand.

[Circular Return: Bearskin Man and Greedy Wealth]

【Fairy Tale Power: Unknown】

[Unsealing Ceremony: Terminating the Contract between the Bearskin Man and the Devil]

[Description: In order to obtain endless wealth, you need to pay something to the devil as a price. This price may be your soul, but it may also be the soul of someone else.]

"This is a bit difficult. After all, in the fairy tale, the bearskin man's contract lasted seven years, but now, it's obviously still a long way off..."

"But maybe there's another way."

"Like, killing that devil?"

"Anyway, it seems like I have to go on this strange hunt. I just don't know if this hunt launched by King Hunt has anything to do with the devil."

Poro looked at some documents placed on the table not far away.

Also from the Public Security Station of the Hunt Kingdom, in the Hunt Kingdom, many people have been swallowed by this place called the "Cursed Forest", and of course, there are also many survivors.

Some people have seen tall ancient castles deep in the forest, and some have seen talking lions.

Of course, what more people saw was that their companions were dragged away by unknown monsters and died inexplicably in the shadows.

"If the devil really has something planned in Hangte, the most likely place is this forest - there is no doubt about it!"

……

The Beast Roaring Forbidden Forest is located deep in the hellish green, at the center of a maze formed by nature or man.

A tall and mottled castle from a lost kingdom.

In front of the castle, on a winding path covered with thorny vines, a gentleman-like figure in a suit and a top hat walked slowly towards the castle gate.

He was elegant in posture and neatly dressed, but beneath his feet were feet that were not human.

But a pair of horseshoes.

"Squeak-"

He did not knock, but the castle door opened of its own accord.

The light and shadow inside the castle were dim. Hundreds of bird cages of different heights were hung from the ceiling. Inside the cages were many rare birds of various shapes.

But their voices sound dull, weak and lifeless.

They hid in the shadows, only their eyes looked down quietly.

There are also many bird cages with only dirty bird feathers and rotten corpses left.

"The envoys from the Kingdom of Sri have come all the way here, truly bringing glory to this old woman's castle."

A somewhat hoarse voice came from deep within the castle.

A flash of red appeared in the eyes of the horseshoe man, or rather the horseshoe devil. He looked at the castle owner and bowed.

"I am honored to meet you, Your Excellency the Beast Witch."

"You should have brought enough souls this time, right?"

The figure of the beast-shaped witch appeared in the dim light and shadow. She was a hunched old woman with wrinkles and age spots all over her face.

She was leaning on a cane, the surface of which was engraved with dazzling carvings.

"Of course, in the Hunt Kingdom, there are many people who would sell their souls for a gold coin."

The horseshoe devil smiled and took out an object in the size of a coin from his pocket.

In other words, it was a blood-red Sri Lankan gold coin.

The horseshoe devil gently pinched the gold coin, and countless phantoms with distorted faces struggled out of the gold coin, shaking and wailing.

"Well, it looks pretty good."

The beast-shaped witch grabbed the blood-red gold coin thrown by the horseshoe devil in the air and held it in her hand. She sniffed the gold coin and showed a strange expression.

The devil looked at the beast-shaped witch and gave another fake smile:
"So, regarding the Rose Kingdom, I still hope for your assistance."

"You're only asking me for help now. Weren't you, the Sri Kingdom, arrogant before? Or has your 'great cause of world destruction' suddenly become difficult?"

The beast-shaped witch let out a strange laugh.

"Yes, it's not just bad."

But the Horseshoe Devil didn't get angry at all. Instead, he nodded calmly and admitted, "The new king is dead, and the Tujun Sword is broken along with it. To be honest, this is quite surprising, but it doesn't matter. Our old king is still here."

A flash of red flashed in the Horseshoe Devil's eyes. "It's just that the difficulty has gone from being effortless to requiring some effort—that's all."

"Running into trouble in Xingluo City? He's the son of an astrologist? That's understandable, after all..."

"Besides him, there are others."

The Horseshoe Devil shook his head and interrupted, "There are more remnants of Heaven than we expected!"

"Heaven? That's your problem."

The beast-shaped witch sneered, "Be it heaven, you devils, or ordinary humans—they all disgust me!"

She waved her hand, and a birdcage with a nightingale inside it descended from the top of the hall.

The nightingale trembled, its beak opening and closing, making a shrill but still pleasant sound.

"Listen, this is the most beautiful sound, the roar or cry of an animal, the purest note, without any impurities or meaning."

The beast-shaped witch narrowed her eyes and listened to the nightingale's cry for a while. Her expression became a little colder and she looked at the devil again:

"I'm cooperating with you because my current goal is the same as yours—to destroy all of humanity, including you demons. I don't want to hear anyone else's condescending words or actions anymore."

"Of course, that's what we devils do."

The devil nodded again, "Please lead the way, ma'am."

"Oh, you fools who think you are human, yet act so high and mighty, without any respect—you'd be worse off than foolish beasts!"

As the beast-shaped witch spoke, she led the devil to the deepest part of the castle.

The castle's walls were covered in faded paintings and murals, covered in dust. Doors that hadn't been opened in who knows how long were left, as well as broken vessels and toppled statues. A room at the deepest end.

Many beast corpses were nailed in the house like specimens. The beast-shaped witch looked at a table near the inside - in the center of a dusty crown, there was a dried frog corpse.

"This is a proud prince who looks down on everyone. So I turned him into a frog. He needs a woman's true love's kiss to turn back into his original form."

"Hmm? So it seems he failed now?"

The devil narrowed his eyes and looked at the frog. He could even feel a trace of residual "despair" from the frog's corpse.

"Yeah, he still thinks he's a prince and has a handsome human appearance. He still thinks only a princess is worthy of him!"

The beast witch sneered, "But he doesn't understand that the so-called 'princess' has the same arrogance as him—just for the favor of picking up a ball, he wants the princess to fall in love with a frog?"

"Oh, that's unfortunate."

The devil said, but there was no trace of pity in his words, instead there was a hint of joy.

"He turned into a frog, but he was more stupid than a real frog. Apart from his birth, he had nothing."

The beast witch continued walking forward as she spoke. "So, he was easily thrown to death by the princess's guards."

At the deepest part of the room, there was a tall throne, but on the throne, there was also a specimen.

It was a huge beast.

The beast, on the other hand, was dressed in a magnificent gown, all over his hairy head, and he also had a golden crown on his head.

"What about this one?"

"He was once a prince, the former owner of this castle. As a human, he was equally selfish and arrogant. I didn't want to have anything to do with him. I just wanted to take shelter from the rain."

The beast-shaped witch looked at the dead beast sitting on the throne and sneered, "But he let the knight whip me just because he saw my appearance?"

"So, you turned him into a wild beast?"

"Yes, too. He needs true love's kiss—but how can he ever get it when he's selfish, arrogant, sensitive, and easily angered?"

The beast-shaped witch suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down the wrinkles on her face and onto the ground. "When there is no God in this world, then no one will come to save these arrogant guys!"

The beast-shaped witch walked to the beast's corpse. Next to the beast prince, there was a table with a withered rose branch covered by a transparent glass cover.

Under the rose branches, the withered petals have long since turned into black and yellow residue over time.

"A selfish prince, he will not change himself, he still imprisons every passerby who sees his true face, every girl who passes through the forest -

But no one, in this cold reality, would fall in love with a beast!
If he doesn't change his heart, then his inner self will be as ugly as his outer self, and he will have to live the rest of his life as a wild beast."

"Interesting story, beast witch."

The devil still had a fake smile on his face, but his eyes were fixed on the withered rose branch.

"Devil, you can't wait any longer, can you?"

The beast-shaped witch smiled inexplicably again. She looked at the remaining rose branches covered in a glass cover on the table next to her. Her gaze extended to the edge of the table, where a dusty envelope was half exposed among a pile of books.

On the surface of the envelope, there are twelve colored threads that look like suns.

"Well, devil, you'll get what you want."

The beast-shaped witch withdrew her gaze, reached out to take off the glass cover covering the rose stump, then raised her hand and gently picked up one of the withered stumps.

Then, the dry rose branches suddenly began to turn green.

It seemed to be revitalized, gradually becoming fuller, sprouting, growing leaves, and a bud bulging from the tip of the rose and blooming...

Scarlet petals bloomed from the buds, and a rich fragrance emanated from them.

The beast-shaped witch stared at the rose in her hand with wrinkled eyes. Finally, she exhaled and handed the rose to the devil:
"This dark world needs a dark ending, devil."

"Thank you."

The devil carefully took the rose and bowed gracefully again, "We will live up to your trust and bring back a mad god of destruction."

After getting the rose, the Horseshoe Devil turned back and walked along the corridor to the outside of the castle.

He looked at the birds trapped in cages above his head, seeming to be lost in thought.

The castle was empty, with no human voices to be heard. Only the sounds of wild beasts or birds echoed between the walls, gradually transforming into a distorted noise.

Suddenly, the horseshoe devil stopped and looked into a dark room.

In the shadows, curled up a girl in a golden dress, her face pretty yet miserable, wearing a crown... But when observed, the next moment, she transformed into a strange beast -

It has a lion's head, but its eye sockets are filled with pupils of different colors.

Its torso resembled a bear's, but between its ribs were coiled the grayish-white tendons of a python. Its forelimbs were the sharp claws of a tiger, covered in crocodile scales. Its hind limbs were twisted like the hind legs of an antelope, and even its back had protruding insect-like limbs...

The physical characteristics of countless animals are mixed into one body.

A horrible, blasphemous, stitched-together monster!

The girl's crying turned into a hazy and mixed sound as it changed its body, like the wailing of countless animals.

"You really don't want to consider joining us and becoming a devil?"

The horseshoe devil turned around and looked at the beast-shaped witch.

"Do you want to experience that too? The same filthy devil?"

The beast-shaped witch didn't say anything, but just narrowed her eyes and sneered.

"No thanks."

The devil smiled and waved his hand, suddenly saying, "I just suddenly remembered something. Soon, King Hunt will drive a lot of hunters in, and they may threaten you..."

"Hunters? Countless people like them have come before. They think they are superior to the beasts—but in the end, they only become their own prey."

Said the beast witch.

"But this time, there might be a few hunters who are not so easy to deal with."

"That's none of your business, devil."

The beast-shaped witch responded, her voice becoming somewhat colder. "My forest does not welcome humans, nor do it welcome devils like you. Leave, or... die here!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry ma'am."

After hearing this, the devil said nothing more and walked out of the castle quickly.

But he did not leave directly, but wandered around in the forest and finally stopped on a meadow.
"One last thing. I want to see how my foster pet is doing lately..."

In the middle of the lawn, eight goats were grazing quietly.

After the devil stepped onto the grass, the oldest goat among them suddenly stopped, raised its head and looked at the devil.

The devil's pupils began to twist and change, and finally turned into horizontal lines like a goat's.

"Soon, the prey will arrive, little lamb."

The devil whispered as he gently separated his wrists. A handful of blood gushed out and dripped onto the lawn, forming a small pool of red.

The blood pool quickly became deeper, with no reflection in it, but it looked like a bottomless cave.

The devil took the rose given by the beast-shaped witch in his hand, looked at it for a moment, and then gently threw it into the pool of blood.

The rose was quickly submerged in blood and disappeared without a trace.

After that, the blood began to evaporate and dry up rapidly, leaving only an inconspicuous bloodstain, and the rose that was thrown into it disappeared without a trace.

"Now, the last urgent matter is done."

The horseshoe devil cast his gaze in the direction of King Hunt's capital, blood gleaming in his horizontal pupils. "It's time to begin the hunt, hunters—but without God's blessing today, your courage will be useless!" (End of this chapter)