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The aroma of real food filled the air.

Not stones, not dirt, not bricks and wood—not the illusions from her dreams that never filled her stomach, no matter how hard she imagined.

Foxy’s eyes widened slowly. Then, as if snapping out of a trance, she grabbed the can from Yu Sheng’s hand. Without bothering with a spoon, she tilted it and poured the contents into her mouth, making muffled sounds as she gulped it down.

She finished the entire can in mere seconds, then began licking the edges carefully. Soon, she grew frustrated because she couldn’t reach the food inside. Just as Yu Sheng was about to help, Foxy pinched the can with her fingers and tore it open with surprising strength. With a sharp screech of tearing metal, she ripped the sturdy can apart, then meticulously peeled it into narrow metal strips, licking every drop of food from them.

“There’s more here,” Yu Sheng said hurriedly, pulling out a piece of bread and a bottle of water from his bag. “Eat slowly.”

Before he could blink, the food was already in Foxy’s hands.

The fox girl devoured the food ravenously. For a while, eating was all she did. Yu Sheng and Irene remained silent; the only sounds in the ruins were Foxy’s eating and the occasional muffled noises from her throat as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t bear to stop.

Then, suddenly, Foxy began to cry.

Tears streamed down her face as she stuffed bread into her mouth. She didn’t sob or make a sound; the tears flowed quietly down her cheeks, dripped onto the bread, and were swallowed along with it.

Startled, Yu Sheng reached out to wipe her dirty face. “Don’t cry; you’ll get a stomachache if you swallow air. There’s plenty more, and there will always be more…”

Foxy seemed to finally come to her senses, having enough strength to think about other things. She stared blankly at Yu Sheng for a long moment, then held out the half-eaten piece of bread to him. “Benefactor, you eat too.”

Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands. “I ate before I came. I’m not hungry.”

But Foxy remained still, stubbornly holding out the bread. Even though all the food had been brought by Yu Sheng, she was determined to share her piece with him, as if it held some special meaning for her.

Finally, Yu Sheng extended his hand and accepted the half piece of bread she offered.

The fox girl smiled, then picked up a packet of compressed biscuits from the ground. This time, she didn’t wolf it down. After carefully unwrapping it, she took tiny bites as if trying to prolong the experience.

She seemed finally not so hungry, even if only for a moment.

“It’s delicious,” she whispered. “Benefactor, it’s so good…”

“Don’t call me ‘Benefactor’ before ‘it’s delicious’,” Yu Sheng said, shuddering as unpleasant memories surfaced. “As long as you can eat your fill…”

“Mm-hmm,” Foxy nodded gently.

“She’s finally coming around,” Irene said, breaking the silence. She looked relieved as she observed the fox girl, whose mental state had visibly stabilized. “It’s amazing you held on for so long…”

Foxy jumped slightly, only now noticing the doll on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, perhaps just realizing that this tiny figure could talk and move. She looked astonished. “This… it’s alive!?”

“Of course I’m alive!” Irene exclaimed, her eyes wide. “I just helped you open a sausage!”

“This is Irene, a living doll from Alice’s Little House,” Yu Sheng explained quickly. “She’s the helper I mentioned. Don’t be fooled by her size; she’s really capable. I was able to contact you in the dream world thanks to her.”

Irene stood proudly on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, one hand on her hip and the other holding a tiny kitchen knife.

Foxy pondered for a moment. She didn’t know what a living doll was or why such a small ‘person’ could talk and move, but she understood that this was her benefactor’s friend. After a few seconds of hesitation, she offered the compressed biscuit in her hand. “Irene, you eat too.”

Irene’s proud expression turned awkward. “Uh… I can’t eat that. Dolls can’t eat…”

Foxy immediately withdrew the biscuit and continued nibbling.

“Hey! You took it back just like that without even insisting a little?” Irene pouted. “When you shared bread with Yu Sheng, you weren’t like this!”

“Dolls can’t eat,” Foxy said softly. “Giving it to you would waste food.”

Irene puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, but no one paid her any attention.

By now, Yu Sheng’s focus had shifted to the dark, cold night surrounding them.

He could feel that with his arrival, the atmosphere in the valley was gradually changing. The entity lurking in this otherworldly place was becoming active. Bringing food and temporarily relieving Foxy’s hunger had provoked the monster.

He came today not only to save Foxy but also to find a way to deal with that Hunger that was residing here. Initially, it wasn’t something he had to do, but now that he had established a connection with the creature and knew it was learning to think, he had to eliminate this hidden threat.

But for some reason, the monster hadn’t appeared yet.

A hint of doubt surfaced in Yu Sheng’s mind. Just then, a faint sound carried by the night wind reached everyone’s ears—a distant wolf howl.

Yu Sheng and Irene exchanged glances. Irene hesitated for a moment. “Yu Sheng, did you hear that?”

“It sounded like wolves. I thought I was imagining things…” Yu Sheng frowned, then turned to Foxy, who was carefully nibbling her biscuit. “Are there wolves around here?”

“No, there’s only me and that monster,” Foxy replied, equally puzzled. “It’s the first time I’ve heard such a strange sound.”

Just then, the wolf howl echoed again, interrupting their conversation.

The sound seemed closer this time.

Wolves were approaching, either chasing something or being chased.

In the dark forest, a massive, flesh-and-blood beast moved like a terrifying nightmare among the trees, constantly shifting in the shadows. Sometimes it appeared in the thin mist; other times, it vanished abruptly from sight.

But no matter which way it ran, the monster bizarrely appeared nearby, launching attacks from tricky angles.

Wolves formed from shadows leaped through the forest, pouncing at the massive beast undulating in the darkness. More wolves swarmed from all directions, trying to block the monster’s path.

However, countless tentacles and barbed, bone-like limbs suddenly burst from the beast’s body. The wolves were forced back instantly, a huge gap tearing open in their circle.

The many eyes of the beast all focused simultaneously on a figure beyond the wolf pack—Little Red Riding Hood sat astride the largest wolf, her calm eyes meeting the monster’s dozens of cold gazes.

In the next second, the middle of the beast’s body split open, and a black, scaly tongue shot out like a malicious arrow, aiming straight for the girl’s throat.

But Little Red Riding Hood merely tilted her body slightly. Just as the tongue was about to reach her, she swiftly raised her right hand.

Her slender arm exploded and swelled instantly, flesh and blood emitting a hissing sound as smoke rose. Blood and mist intertwined in a blink, forming a gigantic black wolf head. The wolf head bit down fiercely, clamping onto the tongue that hadn’t time to change its course.

The beast reacted, jerking back sharply, but Little Red Riding Hood held on tightly. She and the wolf beneath her seemed rooted to the ground, locked in a stalemate with the monster. In that brief moment, another figure suddenly darted from the shadows of the forest.

Li Lin moved like an agile leopard toward the monster’s side, a short knife in his hand glinting coldly in the night—the spare weapon Xu Jiali had lent him. The monster immediately noticed this sudden attacker. Several eyes swiveled, and a raised claw swung down toward Li Lin.

But the real ambush was yet to come. Mid-stride, Li Lin suddenly lowered his body, dodging the monster’s claw with a movement impossible for ordinary people. Another tall figure sprang from the monster’s blind spot behind—a nearly two-meter-tall man raised the beam dagger, which could serve as a short sword for others, and stabbed fiercely into a bulging mass on the monster’s back.

With a sizzling sound, the searing blade pierced the mass effortlessly, slicing it off entirely.

But the monster only let out a chaotic, piercing roar. It twisted abruptly, shaking off Little Red Riding Hood, who had been barely holding on, and struck the tall man, sending him flying.

Xu Jiali tumbled into a nearby thicket, letting out a muffled groan.

Li Lin rushed over, pulling his colleague from the bushes. The two looked toward where the monster had been.

But the creature had vanished.

The mist in the dense forest grew thicker. Amid the swirling fog, countless twisted and bizarre shadows seemed to grow, emerging from the soil, swaying slightly in the cold wind.

Shadows upon shadows, endless and infinite.

The entire forest seemed to have become a giant maw, eagerly awaiting its meal.

Xu Jiali drew a sharp breath. “We can’t stay here. Keep moving toward the edge of the forest!”