"But before I help you, you have to do me a small favor."
"What favor?"
"My Little Red Riding Hood hasn't come to see me for a while, and I'm very worried about her. Can you go and check on her for me?"
[Side Quest Triggered: Visiting Relatives]
Difficulty Level: LV.3
Quest Description: Little Red Riding Hood hasn't visited her grandmother for a long time, and the old woman is worried something has happened to her, so she asks you to visit her.
Quest Information: Find Little Red Riding Hood according to the old woman's hints and bring her to her grandmother's treehouse.
Quest Deadline: Within 24 hours.
Quest Reward: The old woman's mysterious reward.
Failure Penalty: Old woman's favorability -20.
[Accept / Decline]
… … …
"Alright."
Mu Yang narrowed his eyes, sensing something was amiss, but he didn't show any abnormality.
"Here, take this. It will lead you to my Little Red Riding Hood."
Upon hearing the affirmative reply, the old woman grinned, a smile heavy with mechanical and stiff movements, lasting only a second—very perfunctory.
And in that brief second, Mu Yang keenly noticed a fang in her mouth. That was definitely not a human tooth!
[Seeker Trumpet Flower]
Origin: Fairy Tale Kingdom · Little Red Riding Hood
Quality: Green
Category: Consumable
Prerequisite for Use: Forest Affinity 7 points or higher.
Effect: Consume 10 mana points to activate the Trumpet Flower. Place an item containing the target's scent in front of the Trumpet Flower to attempt to track them.
The maximum tracking distance cannot exceed 2000 meters, and there must be a certain number of plants nearby.
Rating: 15
Description: You ask me how I find people? By asking the forest, of course!
… … … …
This Trumpet Flower had already been activated by the old woman, the target naturally being Little Red Riding Hood.
As its trumpet-shaped petals opened and closed, seemingly communicating with the forest, its extended vine pointed west. Mu Yang followed the direction indicated by the Trumpet Flower.
Only after moving away from the treehouse did he begin to analyze the various anomalies that had just occurred.
First, he could tell from the side quest that this was the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood.
This story is classic, and most people have heard it. The characters include: Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, the Big Bad Wolf, and the hunter who saves them.
The old woman claimed to be Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother and could communicate with the forest. Her hidden identity might be a witch, a common character in fairy tales.
Witches are divided into good and evil. He wasn't sure which type the old woman was, but that fang made him lean more towards an evil witch.
And if Little Red Riding Hood hadn't visited her for a long time, and she was so worried, why didn't she go visit Little Red Riding Hood herself?
The witch was quite nimble when she took the [Seeker Trumpet Flower], so she wasn't unable to move. Therefore, her true identity might not be Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.
This witch might be trapped near that treehouse, and Little Red Riding Hood might be the key to her escape.
The above information was just Mu Yang's speculation; he couldn't be sure if he was correct. The way to verify the truth was to find Little Red Riding Hood.
Following the Trumpet Flower all the way, the process was unexpectedly smooth. Mu Yang found the one wearing the Xiao Lang Mao in less than half an hour…
Big Bad Wolf?
"?"
"Big brother, who are you~?"
Mu Yang looked at the gray wolf in front of him, wearing a red hat, standing 1.7 meters tall, with unknown powder smeared on its face, and fell silent for a moment.
Especially since this gray wolf was shamelessly pouting, twisting its body, and using a cutesy voice to flirt with him. The stench from its mouth made the surrounding flowers and plants wilt.
He didn't know how to describe his current mood. It was like a big man with black fur all over his body putting on heavy makeup with cheap cosmetics and then wearing a white dress, posing suggestively in front of you, trying to seduce you. That's pretty much how it felt.
Mu Yang took a deep breath, hypnotizing himself that this was an altered fairy tale, and it was normal for the story not to conform to the original.
Now that Little Red Riding Hood had turned into a gray wolf, the fact that Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother also had wolf fangs seemed very reasonable.
"Xiao Lang Mao, your grandmother hasn't seen you for a long time, and she's worried you might be sick, so she sent me to visit you."
"Oh~ Is that so? I was just about to visit Grandma. I brought her bread and red wine. Big brother, do you want to come along~"
Listening to that strange cutesy voice, Mu Yang felt a chill down his spine. Suppressing the urge to punch Xiao Lang Mao, he nodded heavily.
The two "people" walked together. Xiao Lang Mao still wanted to hold Mu Yang's hand, but he sternly refused.
Mu Yang sternly lectured Xiao Lang Mao that as a "girl," she should be reserved! She shouldn't casually hold a stranger's hand! Only then did it give up.
Halfway there, Mu Yang remembered that in the original story, the Big Bad Wolf would jump out at this point to ask Little Red Riding Hood what she was going to do, and then go ahead and eat the grandmother.
Now that Little Red Riding Hood had become Xiao Lang Mao, had the Big Bad Wolf become the original Little Red Riding Hood?
With this thought, Mu Yang continued forward. Halfway, a burly figure blocked his and Xiao Lang Mao's path.
"Little Red Riding Hood, where are you going?"
Clearly, this tall figure was not the original Little Red Riding Hood, but a tall man.
What was even more horrifying was that this man was not wearing any clothes, which was extremely eye-searing.
"I'm going with big brother to…"
Xiao Lang Mao mechanically recited its lines with the man, not stopping no matter how Mu Yang tried to interfere.
He could only turn his gaze to the man playing the Big Bad Wolf, kicking the man's shin with his left foot. The immense force immediately made him lose his balance and fall forward.
Then Mu Yang lifted his right leg, using his knee to firmly catch the man's chin, which prevented him from falling to the ground.
A normal person would have a high probability of passing out after taking such a blow, and the man was no exception.
But even with his eyes tightly closed, he continued to recite his lines incessantly.
Xiao Lang Mao was eventually lured by the man's words and went to pick a few flowers to give to her grandmother.
Mu Yang's action was only to verify one thing: if he interfered with the script, would the event of the grandmother being eaten by the wolf still occur, meaning, did the story have a corrective nature?
But now it seemed highly probable, as the man was already unconscious but still reciting his lines.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. Mu Yang was very curious where the other Contractors had gone. Could they have really gotten lost?
"Grandma~ Xiao Lang Mao has come to see you, please open the door."
"Just pull the latch, Grandma is sick and can't get out of bed."
A muffled voice came from inside the treehouse. Mu Yang immediately recognized it as the voice of the naked man he had encountered earlier.
He remembered Little Red Riding Hood had two endings: the old version was Little Red Riding Hood being eaten by the Big Bad Wolf, and the wolf, too full, fell asleep in the room.
A passing hunter heard such loud snoring, felt something was wrong, found and killed the wolf, saving Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother who hadn't been digested yet.
The new version was Little Red Riding Hood seeing through the wolf's trick, escaping and finding the hunter, asking him to help kill the wolf and save her grandmother.
He wondered which script it would be now?
Upon hearing "Grandma's" reply, Xiao Lang Mao extended its paw, pulled open the door, and was then swallowed whole by the man standing behind the door.
The man didn't even glance at Mu Yang. After swallowing Xiao Lang Mao, he lay down and immediately fell asleep.
Mu Yang: ? (Question mark face)