CH 115

(You look delicious)

When the little girl saw that the plot had failed and was now exposed, she no longer covered it and pushed Shen Dongqing into the empty trunk with her puny strength. But the size gap between the two was so significant that no matter how hard the little girl tried, she couldn’t move him an inch. 

Shen Dongqing: “?”

Instead, Shen Dongqing took the opportunity to reach out a hand and directly lifted the small girl.

“Tell me.” Shen Dongqing shook the little girl, “What do you want to do?”

The little girl wiped away her feeble appearance and glared at Shen Dongqing with rancor without saying anything. 

Shen Dongqing peered at the large trunk, turned his arm, and placed the small girl on the truck as if she were a baby chick.

The little girl appeared to be terrified of the large trunk. Her legs pulled up subconsciously, not wanting to touch the trunk below.

“If you don’t explain, you’ll be locked in.” Shen Dongqing threatened.

“Don’t lock me in, I’ll explain, I’ll explain!” the small girl pleaded urgently.

“My name is Coranti, and my older brother’s name is Bangier. We shared a home with our father. My father later married a new mother, and we were thrown into the forest.”

“We threw stones along the road the first time to mark the way home. We used bread crumbs the second time, which were eaten by birds, and we couldn’t find our way back.”

“We were starving. We discovered the candy house in the forest and were caught by the witch. My brother was confined in the trunk because the witch claimed she wanted to devour the fattest one.”

“Where’s your brother?” Shen Dongqing asked, looking at the empty trunk. 

“Brother, brother is in the pot,” the little girl hemmed and hawed, her face turning pale.

The huge cauldron in the center of the room bubbled and smoked, accompanied by her voice. The broth inside was milky white, and bones the size of an arm swirled around. A pile of garments and bits and pieces of hair lay on the ground.

The little girl’s tears streamed down her cheeks, and she cried out in despair, “The witch stated that she would eat the fattest one. My brother refused to eat, thus he was on the verge of being thinner than me.”

“So… it’s best if I cook my brother first. It won’t be my turn this way.” 

After listening, Shen Dongqing remarked, “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with this logic.”

“Then let me go, I’m so scared,” the little girl begged.

Shen Dongqing, instead, turned to face this scrawny little girl and asked, “Then why did you wish to push me into the trunk?”

The little girl shuddered. She didn’t want to say it, but she was frightened of being trapped in the trunk if she didn’t. So all she could do was admit softly, “I don’t want to be eaten. You’re taller and fatter than me, so the witch will definitely be able to eat for a long time…” 

Before she could finish, there was a loud “bang” outside the door, followed by the witch’s cackle: “Disobedient little bastard, are you ready? Don’t you goof off!”

The little girl shrank her neck as if seeking Shen Dongqing’s opinion.

“Do you want me to save you?” Shen Dongqing asked.

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Little Girl: ?

The sound of the doorknob being twisted came from the door at this time. The witch appeared to be on her way in.

The little girl realized this man was teasing her. When she was certain he would not save her, she seized Shen Dongqing’s hand to prevent him from escaping, and shrieked loudly, “Someone broke in! Miss Witch, he wants to steal your stuff!” 

Across the door, the witch roared angrily: “Who, who is so bold—”

Shen Dongqing let go of the girl and grabbed the axe that had fallen to the ground.

The witch slammed the door open, enraged. She wanted to rip the man who had broken into her candy house to shreds.

As soon as the door opened, she looked up and was confronted by Shen Dongqing, who was holding an axe. 

The witch’s gaze froze as it fell on Shen Dongqing’s hand. He had a sharp axe with dried blood on the edge of the blade, as though he had just chopped up someone. He was far scarier than the bare-handed witch, no matter how you looked at it.

After all, the witch was only capable of bullying children. This individual with a murder weapon was not within her bullying range.

“Haha… that’s all right, you continue, continue,” the witch laughed dryly as her movements came to a halt midway.

She then maintained that movement and expression as she slowly exited the room and shut the door behind her. 

Shen Dongqing blinked.

How come the villains here are so disappointing?

He put the axe away and returned his attention to the little girl.

Unexpectedly, the little girl took advantage of the opportunity to flee. She was so small that she jumped like a mouse out of the door crack. 

Shen Dongqing strode forward and pushed open the door.

But there was no sign of a little girl outside the door, only a witch.

When she saw Shen Dongqing abruptly run out, the witch was startled. She moved stiffly, trying to keep a safe distance.

Shen Dongqing was walking by. He abruptly stopped and asked, “How big is this Black Forest?” just as she was attempting to avoid him. 

The witch was stunned for a moment: “Don’t know, I’ve never gone out…”

The tale that unfolded in the Black Forest should have something to do with the secret mentioned by the game, but Shen Dongqing still had no idea what these two things had to do with him.

“Are there any other residents in the Black Forest?” he inquired of the witch once more.

The witch was at a loss: “I don’t know.” 

Shen Dongqing left the candy house as soon as he realized he couldn’t acquire any information from the witch. He did, however, remember to grab a lollipop before leaving.

He strolled onto the black forest paths, biting at the colorful lollipop.

They vanished as soon as they entered Black Forest, whether it was Lizzie previously or Coranti now.

Shen Dongqing was halfway through when he got an idea and turned around, only to find that the candy house had disappeared, leaving only the dense branches that barred the path. 

Crunch! He chewed down and broke the lollipop into pieces before walking straight ahead instead of returning to hunt for the candy house.

Not long after walking, an inexplicable drowsiness surged up.

Shen Dongqing yawned lazily, realizing in retrospect that the witch had probably drugged the food. But, since she couldn’t possibly have poisoned her “meal,” it was most likely sleeping pills or something similar.

His eyelids were becoming heavier, and just as he was ready to fall asleep, he noticed an out-of-place juniper tree growing in the scorched black woods, with a beautiful small bird fluttering above it. When the bird noticed that someone was approaching, it flapped its wings and flew to the top of Shen Dongqing’s head, tweeting and creating a crisp melody. 

“My mother severed my head,

my father devoured my flesh,

my sister buried my remains

under the tall juniper tree.” 

Shen Dongqing raised his head and listened for a few moments. Suddenly, his drowsiness fled. He met the round eyes of the bird and commented: “…There’s nothing great about your song, so don’t sing.” He grumbled to the game again, saying, “Didn’t I say last time that you needed to retrain the staff before letting them out? Why is the progress zero?”

Tsk! This ugly singing voice woke him right up.

Birdie: …

Nobody ever said it sang poorly! 

The blow was so powerful that the birdie nearly crashed out of the sky. It landed on a juniper branch after furiously beating its wings to preserve its equilibrium.

Its claws moved, and when it peered down, it saw that the uninvited visitor had walked to the yard’s door.

Shen Dongqing expressed: Why stand outside when there is a place to sleep.

Knock, knock, knock— 

He lifted his hand and knocked on the door.

Soon after, a little boy poked his head out of the house. He looked quiet and cute. He smiled at Shen Dongqing and trotted out to open the door for him.

“Are you a guest from afar?” The little boy had just exited the kitchen, and his entire body smelled of smoke and fire. He invited Shen Dongqing to come in with unusual enthusiasm.

Shen Dongqing walked in without hesitation. 

He deliberately stopped for a while as he passed the juniper tree and discovered that the soil beneath the tree was loose and moist, with indications of being turned over, and he could smell a faint fishy odor.

However, as soon as he entered the house, the fishy odor was overpowered by the smell emanating from the kitchen.

Shen Dongqing sniffed it and thought it was strange. It didn’t smell like regular food, but rather like… He took a deep breath; it smelled like the stuff simmering in the witch’s cauldron.

When the little boy noticed that Shen Dongqing had been gazing at the kitchen the entire time, he took the initiative to explain: “We are making supper and waiting for my father to return in the evening because my mother has gone to a relative’s house. If you don’t mind, you can rest for a while.” 

The sleepiness that the birdie had just sang away returned with a vengeance. Shen Dongqing yawned heavily, tears coming out of the corners of his eyes.

He looked down at the small boy who barely reached his waist, sat his buttocks on the sofa, and calmly set the axe aside. His head drooped gradually over a short period of time.

Secret…

What exactly was his secret? 

Lizzie, who used an axe to butcher her father and stepmother; Coranti, who fell into the hands of a witch after being driven out of the house by her stepmother and eventually killed her blood brother; and this…

Shen Dongqing felt a headache, but luckily it didn’t take long for his consciousness to be obscured by drowsiness.

He seemed to hear a rustling sound in his daze, but he couldn’t lift his eyelids since they were so heavy. He could only hear two children softly conversing near him.

“This meat is so old.” 

“Yeah, not as good as the last time.”

“Apparently it doesn’t taste good as you get older. But I think the one on the sofa must be delicious; he’s white and tender.”

The two children sucked in their saliva before gulping down the soup.

After they finished drinking, the two put down the bowl with a thud and finally fell into a dead silence. 

Who knows how long it took for the effect of the witch’s potion to pass. Shen Dongqing, who was relaxed from head to toe, opened his eyes and saw the little boy crouched in front of him. The little boy was staring at him with a greedy expression on his face, saliva almost dripping from the corners of his mouth.

When he noticed Shen Dongqing was awake, he hurriedly wiped the drool from his mouth and glossed over it: “Oh, you’re awake. We left you some meat soup. Would you like to try it?”

Shen Dongqing: “Sure.”

The little boy was pleased and hurriedly summoned his sister: “Mary, bring the broth quickly!” 

Lil sis Mary was a few years younger than the little boy. “Here you are,” she said sweetly as she approached with a large bowl in her hands.

The large bowl was placed in front of Shen Dongqing on the coffee table, and when he looked down, the soup in the bowl was milky white. There was a layer of fat floating on the surface, maybe because it had been left for a long period.

Shen Dongqing swirled the spoon, causing bright red meat chunks to float to the surface. A thick and long fragment that looked like a human finger was among the chunks. There was even a coating of hair at the bottom, and all this stirring had caused it to float to the surface.

Shen Dongqing stopped and saw the two children staring at him with eager and greedy eyes. 

Translator:

The Juniper Tree, a new fairy tale in my collection!