Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 106: Extra — Moonlight Forest (Part 1)

The Moonlight Forest never saw daylight.

The plants thrived on moonlight, dew, and gentle breezes, growing lush branches and broad leaves that crowded together to provide cover, making the place even more secluded and tranquil.

Deep in the forest lay a massive stone maze.

Within the intricate maze, on a seemingly unremarkable straight path, a young man in yellow rode a skateboard back and forth. He was fast, but the path was short, so he never fully picked up speed before reaching the end and turning the corner. Thus, he had to volley, turn in mid-air, and land gracefully before skating back the way he came.

Why insist on this particular path, unable to take a turn and continue forward? Such a question never crossed Xiao Huang’s mind.

Tired from skating, Xiao Huang sat down to rest by the maze wall, breathing heavily. His chest rose and fell with each breath, but his heart was calm.

He could hear the dewdrops and smell the grass, which comforted him.

“O wanderer, why haven’t you appeared yet…” He sighed, gazing at the moon. If there was one imperfection in this perfect moment, it was this.

His task was to test those who lost their way. He would guide those who passed and send away those who didn’t.

This was his favorite thing to do, even more than skateboarding.

But when would the wanderers come? He didn’t know.

He only knew that they would eventually arrive.

At this moment, it was Beijing time, but Xiao Huang was unaware.

There was no concept of time in the Moonlight Maze.

Unintentionally, he noticed something on the ground in the distance.

Xiao Huang naturally got up, walked over, and bent down to pick it up.

A small card, covered in densely packed words.

Frowning, Xiao Huang murmured, “One, why are you here… Two, is being here your job… or your mission? Three, have you ever thought about what the outside world is like…”

Xiao Huang had no desire to explore these questions. Instead, he was more curious about the card’s origin.

The area he guarded shouldn’t contain such an object.

But ultimately, he couldn’t figure out why it was there.

“What the hell?” Xiao Huang quickly gave up and casually put the card in his pocket.

The next second, he froze. His hand, still in his pocket, frantically felt around before pulling the card out again.

There were two cards.

He actually had a card in his pocket too!

Xiao Huang held the two cards side by side, comparing them in the moonlight—front, back, and sides. After much scrutiny, he confirmed they were identical.

“Damn, really…”

Chills ran down his spine as he vaguely recalled scenes from horror movies. He couldn’t remember where he had seen them, but he knew one thing for sure—he was afraid of ghosts!

A card appeared out of nowhere, and there was an identical one in his pocket with strange questions on both. This was like the beginning of a horror movie!

Rustle.

Rustle.

Weird noises reached his ears, like insects scurrying or… ghosts floating.

Great, now the sound effects were in place.

Xiao Huang felt like crying. Summoning all his courage, he finally turned his head slightly to the side.

Several thick vines were crawling along the maze wall.

They seemed to have grown wildly from around the corner, invading the path, and now they had reached his location.

Xiao Huang wasn’t scared of plants, even ones that looked monstrous, so his fear lessened, replaced by a hint of excitement.

Cards, vines—was this a wanderer using stationery to scout ahead for a “pre-battle probe”?

As he thought this, the vines, as if sensing something, suddenly lifted their ends from the maze wall and struck at Xiao Huang with ferocity!

Xiao Huang was startled and instinctively backed away!

The vine missed its target but didn’t retract. Instead, it swayed from side to side as if searching for something. The next moment, it locked onto Xiao Huang again and lunged at him at high speed!

“Think I’m scared of you?!” Xiao Huang, now annoyed, stuffed the card back into his pocket and grabbed the vine, pulling it forcefully. Once he had the vine tightly wrapped around his arm, he yanked it back!

If the vine was rooted in the ground, he would uproot it; if it was connected to a wanderer, he wanted to drag them into view!

This thought made him pull even harder.

The vine fought back just as fiercely.

In the midst of the struggle, Xiao Huang didn’t notice another vine creeping quietly along the bottom of the opposite wall.

It was only when the vine at his feet suddenly leaped up and wrapped tightly around his waist that Xiao Huang realized what was happening.

He felt a lightness in his body as the vine lifted him off the ground!

As the world spun around him, the vine began retracting rapidly, snapping back like a released elastic band and whisking Xiao Huang around the corner, down the next path, then another corner, and another path!

“Let go—cough, cough, cough—of me—” Xiao Huang roared in anger, but the speed of the vine’s retraction was so fast that he inhaled a mouthful of wind as soon as he opened his mouth. Soon, his throat was filled with wind, rendering him voiceless.

But he couldn’t leave his path!

Everything happened so quickly and strangely that it wasn’t until this moment that he thought of using stationery. Just as he chose a weapon that could turn the wind into a blade, but before he could use it, the vines suddenly stopped. They loosened, and he fell to the ground with a thud, landing solidly.

In the midst of confusion, he heard a lively and crisp voice. “Why are you on my vines?”

Lively as it was, crisp as it was, it was full of disdain.

Xiao Huang looked up in the direction of the voice and saw a girl in a white princess dress sitting on the leaf of a tall plant. Her face was delicately beautiful, with rosy cheeks and bright teeth, especially her pair of black eyes, which were bright and spirited.

Xiao Huang’s heart skipped a beat. He forgot to stand up and, still sitting on the ground, asked blankly, “Miss, what is your name?”

“I asked you first.” The girl frowned unhappily.

“Xiao Huang,” the young man sitting on the ground, reported his name almost at the speed of light.

“Who asked for your name?” The girl was baffled. “I asked why you were on my vines!”

“Oh.” Xiao Huang finally came to his senses and stuttered, “It was the vines that pulled me here.”

The anger he had been brewing along the way had vanished. Now Xiao Huang was completely defenseless, his heart filled only with love and peace.

“How could that be!” The girl flatly denied it. “I sent the vines to chase something blown away by the wind. How could they have pulled you here?”

Xiao Huang was stunned. After a while, he took out two cards from his pocket. “Are you chasing these?”

The leaf holding the girl suddenly drooped down, and the girl slid lightly, landing in front of Xiao Huang. She snatched the two cards, looked at them left and right, and said in confusion, “Why are there two now?”

“One of them is mine,” Xiao Huang explained.

The girl looked at him suspiciously. “Why do you have one?”

Xiao Huang sighed. “I want to know too.”

The girl was surprised. “You don’t know either?”

“……” Xiao Huang always felt that their conversation was strange. Who knows? Who doesn’t know? Or does nobody know? Why is it so confusing…

“Let’s not worry about this for now.” The girl kept one card and handed the other back to Xiao Huang. She jumped back, sat on the leaf, and rose into the air. “Let’s start.”

Xiao Huang hesitated, not moving. For the first time, he had the thought of not wanting to confront a wanderer.

He hadn’t even asked her name yet!

In a whirl of thoughts, he subconsciously looked around and suddenly realized that this wasn’t the place he was supposed to guard!

Finally, he had a legitimate reason not to fight, which made Xiao Huang overjoyed. He immediately looked up, wanting to make peace, but suddenly noticed that the girl had an umbrella in her hand.

The umbrella was cute and retro, making the girl look even more like a doll.

Xiao Huang couldn’t help but say, “You are so cute.”

The girl blinked her eyes, her cheeks becoming even more rosy. She wasn’t shy, but looked at him openly and asked, “Really?”

Xiao Huang nodded vigorously and very sincerely. “Really.”

The girl smiled happily, her eyes curving like crescents. “My name is Xiao Bai.”

Xiao Huang was lost in her smile. “Well, actually, I have a skateboard,” he said awkwardly, organizing his words. “It’s in my path, and it’s really fun to ride. You can use your vines to send me back, and I’ll bring it to teach you…”

“No need to fight.” The girl on the leaf apparently didn’t listen to him at all. After being happy, she issued an invitation. “Xiao Bai is in a good mood. Let’s play a game!”

Xiao Huang was stunned. “Huh?”

Just as he voiced his question, a bright light flashed in his vision. Xiao Huang instinctively closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was in a strange bedroom filled with dolls.

A doll, just like Xiao Bai, was pleasing to the eye.

Surrounded by dolls, Xiao Huang felt like he was suffocating.

No, that’s not right. Xiao Huang touched his throat, feeling it getting tighter… He was really suffocating!

His vision gradually blurred, and Xiao Huang crouched down in pain, his head starting to throb, and sweat beads formed on his forehead.

He had a strong feeling that this was not where he was supposed to be! Just like a fish can’t live on land, and a bird can’t sink in water!

“Welcome… to… Xiao Bai’s… room…”

Vaguely, he heard Xiao Bai’s voice, but it was distant and unclear, almost shattered to his ears.

Xiao Huang gasped for breath, but it was not enough to ease the suffocation in his chest…

“Xiao… Huang…?”

Xiao Bai seemed to notice something was wrong; her distant voice became puzzled.

“Let me… out…” Xiao Huang used all his strength to squeeze out these words, but his voice was pitifully weak.

His chest felt like it was going to explode, and his head ached unbearably. Xiao Huang hugged his head and screamed, “Ahhh—”

The dollhouse shook violently, and the dolls started falling down!

Xiao Bai was startled. Not only did she see Xiao Huang’s abnormality and the shaking of the dollhouse, but she also felt a strong, unprecedented power assaulting her body, her heart, her brain!

When she communicated with her plants, she felt similar vibrations.

But those were very weak, like a low conversation between two people, while now, she clearly felt Xiao Huang’s chaos and pain. She even heard him shouting in her brain—let me out!

Xiao Bai closed her eyes briefly, and the dollhouse disappeared in an instant!

Xiao Huang crouched on the ground, gasping for breath. The pain had gone, but the damage done needed time to heal.

Xiao Bai felt a little guilty. She chose to play a game with him because she didn’t want to hurt him, but how did it turn out like this?

“You are so strange.” Xiao Bai felt a bit guilty and puzzled. She slid down the green leaf, silently came beside him, and crouched down, murmuring softly, “Others were fine.”

Xiao Huang turned to look at her with difficulty, saying aggrievedly, “You are the strange one. Other wanderers use stationery, but you use dolls…”

Xiao Bai tilted her head in confusion, correcting, “I’m not a wanderer.”

Xiao Huang was taken aback. “Huh?”

Xiao Bai pouted unhappily. The game wasn’t played, and she couldn’t use her dollhouse. It was a bad day.

She stood up, retreated two steps angrily, and without getting on the leaf, she declared war on Xiao Huang face to face. “You’ve lost the right to play games. If you want me to show you the way, come at me!”

Xiao Huang was confused. “Why do I need you to show me the way?”

Xiao Bai glared at him. This was the first time she met someone so hard to talk to. “You are a wanderer. Aren’t you supposed to find your way?”

Xiao Huang shook his head. “I’m not a wanderer either.”

Xiao Bai’s mind went blank. After a long while, she asked, “Then who are you?”

Xiao Huang stood up. “A Pathkeeper.”

Xiao Bai said blankly, “I am too.”

They looked at each other in silence, with surprise, shock, and a little bit of happiness.

They had always thought they were the only guardians of this place, never knowing there was another.

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