Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

"Damn, what kind of animal did this?!"

The scarred old hunter stood up with a grim expression. He looked at the dead body on the ground. Next to the body was a familiar map.

It was one of them!
"These wounds, do they seem to have been intentionally destroyed? But how is that possible? These beasts are still destroying the scars on his body after they die?"

They carefully observed the wounds on the body. As excellent hunters, tracing the identity of the animal by looking at the wounds is a basic skill.

"Judging from the tooth marks, it must be a wolf."

A hunter made a judgment.

"But there aren't any wolf corpses around. This shouldn't be the case—if there were only two or three wolves, he wouldn't be able to do much to fight back."

The scarred old hunter glanced around, his eyes sliding across the messy grass stems on the ground. "It should be a wolf pack consisting of at least five wolves, maybe even more."

"Sure enough, this forest is very dangerous. The wolves weren't driven away by the campfire. It's worthy of being called the Forbidden Forest..."

The scarred old hunter collected all the tools from his dead companion, but frowned again, "But why didn't the wolves drag the body away?"

He observed the corpse's face for a while. It was covered in blood and flesh, and his original appearance could not be seen.

The beast's sharp teeth tore off most of his face.

"Never mind. Maybe they were frightened by our smell, or maybe by the campfire that was still burning at the time?"

The hunter breathed a sigh of relief. Every year, countless hunters died while hunting.

Therefore, this scene would not frighten them at all.

A pack of wolves can kill a lone hunter, but when there are three such hunters, none of them are afraid of the so-called pack.

After all, when there is no blind spot on the back, these hunters who can fight tigers alone will no longer have weaknesses in front of wild beasts.

"Boss, so now, what should we do?"

"Let's camp somewhere else. The second gathering point is no longer usable. The smell of blood will attract more wild beasts."

The scarred old hunter looked at the corpse on the ground with a trace of pity in his eyes, but he still turned and left. "Mark it on the map. If that guy arrives at the end, you'll know to regroup at another place."

"Ah."

The other two hunters listened, nodded, and no longer cared about the bodies of their companions on the ground. They marked a map, pressed it on the ground with stones, and walked in one direction.

"Where should we choose as our new campsite?"

"Get closer to your goal, but not too far from where you are now."

The old hunter looked at the map and walked to another large open space. He raised his head and looked around. The grass and trees were relatively sparse. "Let's go here and find some firewood. Don't stray too far. If you encounter a wild animal, call out first so everyone can hear you. Do you understand?"

"Of course, that's easy."

As they spoke, several hunters went to collect firewood separately. Skilled camping techniques were considered basic hunting skills for them.

The death of their companions they had just witnessed also made them much more cautious.

"Hey, let's light a bonfire and camp. Tomorrow, we'll find the treasure and go out. Then we won't have to live on the edge of a knife like this anymore."

The young hunter swung his hunting knife and cut off a bunch of dry branches.

The thoughts in his mind made him eager to move. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but pull out the map from his waist and looked at the red circle - the area where the treasure was located.

That area was right next to where he was camping now.

Although the map legend looks small, it still covers a large area in the forest.

In other words, the so-called "treasure" should be in this area, or even... nearby!

"Let's go find it tomorrow. Hopefully it will be quicker, right?"

The young hunter shook his head and put away the map. The firewood was almost gone, so he was about to return to the campsite. But at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to see a reflective object in the grass not far away.

"Huh? What?"

He was stunned for a moment, then walked forward and looked over—

A gold coin?
One was more than half embedded in the soil, but the exposed part still reflected the faint sunlight.

"Is it really treasure? Treasure from the Lost Kingdom?!"

The young hunter picked up the gold coin on the ground, put it between his teeth and bit it gently, and the ecstasy on his face became increasingly difficult to suppress.

Although the evidence presented by the old hunter when he came for cooperation made him greatly believe in the authenticity of the treasure.

But at this moment, holding the gold in his hand made him feel even more ecstatic.

"There's one like this, and maybe there are others around..."

Holding a gold coin in his hand, although he planned to go with his companions tomorrow, who would complain about having too much treasure?
Just as the young hunter was thinking about returning to the camp if there was no more treasure, another light attracted his attention.

A crow was standing on a dead tree not far away.

In its gray beak, it was holding a piece of light red agate!
"Hmm? Agate?!"

The young hunter suddenly thought of a common sense for hunters - crows like to collect shiny things and bring them back to their nests, and the crow in front of him was holding a piece of agate in its mouth.

Does this mean that it may have collected a lot of treasures in its nest? !

"Come on, little angel who leads the way."

The sky was dim, and the young hunter guessed that the crow would definitely take the agate in its beak back to its nest.

His leather boots stepped on the sap of ferns, and his eyes were looking up at the sky, chasing the crow, and in the process, he was getting farther and farther away from the previous campsite.

closer, closer...

The crow finally landed.

But it did not stop at a nest on a tree, but at a stone statue that was half buried in the soil!

Seeing this scene, the young hunter's face became even happier.

According to legend, there is a palace hidden in this forest, which contains countless gold, silver and treasures. However, as the prince and everyone in the palace were cursed and died, these treasures became ownerless!
"Treasure, treasure, this must be the remains of the old country!"

He put the bow and hunting knife back into his waist, raised his legs, stepped on the edges of the stone statue and climbed up. Sure enough, there was a hole as big as a bowl above the statue.

"I found it!"

The young hunter looked into the hole and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Golden bowls and plates were piled up in a chaotic manner, and piles of ancient gold coins shone with a simple yet dazzling brilliance. There were also more gems and jewelry, still covered by mud...

"Get rich, get rich..."

The young hunter murmured, stretched out his right hand tremblingly, and reached for the treasure in the cave.

The gold was cold but heavy, bringing the young man an incomparable sense of security and truth. He grasped the edge of a golden plate and was about to pull it away.

But at this moment, an accident happened.

In the shadow behind the golden plate, a black line popped out like lightning. In an instant, the young man screamed. The pain spread from the base of his palm to his shoulder blade in just one heartbeat!

It is a black scorpion with an emerald green glow.

It hid behind the treasure, as patient as an assassin, as if it was just waiting to carry out this sudden ambush!

"Why is there—"

The young man felt pain, his arms went limp, and he fell from the statue. As he fell, he saw the crow standing on the statue again.

The crow stared silently at the young hunter's fall.

For some reason, the hunter seemed to see a malicious, almost human-like mockery in the crow's eyes! "Asshole!"

The young hunter gritted his teeth, tore off his sleeve and wrapped it around his arm to prevent the venom from spreading.

He took out a medicine bag from his pocket. As a skilled hunter, he would prepare some secret detoxifying medicine before every hunt.

But when he was about to apply the ointment on the wound, he suddenly trembled and the secret medicine spilled on the ground.

"Why...why..."

His uninjured left hand trembled as he lifted the hunting knife. He wanted to stand up, but the black scorpion's poison had drained away most of his strength, and his strong legs even felt a little weak.

Just because, in front of him——

A lion, a yellow jackal, and a wild boar.

However, these three beasts, which should have been incompatible, showed no signs of attacking each other. Instead, they formed a semicircular formation and approached the young hunter step by step.

It's like three hunters working together to hunt.

And the prey was none other than the young hunter slumped in front of the stone statue!
"Drink!"

The young hunter began to roar in anger, and with his last bit of strength, he swung and struck the hunting knife in his hand, making a clanging sound. He then took out a flint and tried to ignite his torn sleeve.

This is the hunter's last resort when facing wild beasts!

But at this moment, the roaring young man's eyes became more and more desperate, simply because... his actions had no effect at all.

Not only did the three beasts not stop, but there was even a hint of mockery in their eyes!

"Get out of here, everyone, get out of here! If you want to die, come here!"

The young hunter tried his best to appear powerful, but as he moved, the black scorpion's poison began to spread through his blood, causing his vision to go black.

He wanted to apply medicine, but when he put down his hunting knife, the three beasts stopped pacing and made gestures to come forward.

Without a doubt, this forced the young man to raise his hunting knife again.

The three beasts were even more patient than the human hunters, waiting for the young hunter's consciousness to fade over time.

"Bastard, bastard, damn forbidden forest..."

Finally, the young hunter's consciousness began to fade, and he felt extremely regretful. He shouldn't have chased the crow alone. If he had teammates with him, how could he have ended up in such a situation?
And in this position, even if he shouted loudly, no one could hear him.

"Damn..."

Finally, his eyes went dark and he fell to the ground.

In his confused vision, the gold coin rolled out of his waist pocket and fell to the ground. He watched helplessly as a crow picked up the gold coin again. Its narrow crow eyes were filled with mockery!

The crow spread its wings and flew up, landing on the head of the lion that was strolling over.

The jackal leaned down, its sharp teeth clamped around the youth's neck. A slight pain lingered, and then, life was vented away...

On his deathbed, in the darkness, he seemed to hear the lion speak again:
"A hunter killed by a trap? How ironic."

"Heh, these guys still want to get their hands on the treasure that I couldn't even get back then?"

"Don't brag. You were lucky back then, you were able to transform into an animal. But these guys who came this time... they're in big trouble now that they ran into us!"

"Stop talking nonsense. We have two more campers in the woods to deal with. Don't let anyone get ahead of us."

"Hurry up and cut off the ears of this prey. As for the other two, find another opportunity."

"So cautious?"

"That's why, back when we were still humans, I was the captain, the champion hunter, and you were just a small-time retail investor."

"What's more, the guy who came in this time is really powerful."

"Huh? How awesome is that?"

"The crows brought news that several guys have been killed, and one of them was the only bear in the forest!"

The twilight began to cover the forest, making it dark and shadowy.

Next to the campfire that had just been built, the scarred old hunter frowned and glanced at the sky - a bird shrouded in twilight was standing on a branch, staring at him silently.

For some reason, he felt very uncomfortable under the gaze of birds.

"Has he not come back yet?"

"No, is he lost? Or..."

Having said this, the young hunter paused and did not say the rest of the sentence. However, the image of his companion's body, which had been bitten beyond recognition, appeared in his mind.

"Wait a minute, what's that over there in the forest?!"

Suddenly, the young hunter's pupils shrank, and he raised his hand and pointed to the bushes not far away. A swaying shadow seemed to emerge from the abnormal shaking of the bushes!

"Ok?"

The old hunter also held down his longbow and squinted his eyes.

"Don't be startled, it's a roe deer."

"Roe deer?"

The young hunter breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the dark shadow clearly.

It was indeed a roe deer, with petal-shaped ears and dull obsidian eyes, staring blankly at the campfire.

"But now it seems that we can have more for dinner."

The vigilance on the young hunter's face was immediately replaced by a hint of greed. As he spoke, he bent his bow and shot an arrow at the roe deer.

The roe deer not far away did not dodge, and fell to the ground immediately after the arrow sank into the darkness.

"Ha, I'm lucky, I hit it in one shot!"

The young hunter said, throwing down his bow and arrow and heading towards where the roe deer fell. "I'll go and drag the prey back!"

The roe deer fell in the grass, motionless, but just as the young hunter bent down, a biting cold instantly penetrated his whole body!
The roe deer lying on the ground had its eyes open, but there were no wounds on its body.

But the arrow it shot was stuck diagonally in the ground farther away - this arrow did not hit the target at all!

"what?!"

The young hunter's eyes widened, but it was too late for him to react.

Because at this moment, a jackal that had been lurking in the grass nearby had already bitten his fragile neck!
Click——

"Wolf?!"

In the camp, the scarred old hunter's expression changed, and he raised his hand to touch the longbow beside him.

But the next moment, his reaction after experiencing life and death for a long time made him roll on the ground immediately -

A wild boar suddenly brushed past him!

"Wild boar?! How could a creature like that get so close without making any noise?!"

The scarred old hunter was horrified and reached for the dagger at his waist, but it was too late. A lion had already jumped out from his blind spot and pounced on the old hunter's neck with a strong fishy smell!

A scream and a whimper.

The hunting knife, which hadn't been raised yet, fell to the ground, covered in blood. (End of this chapter)