Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

The Wizard of Oz, with his small mustache, ducked to avoid the pounce of a magical black wolf.

Then, clutching the briefcase containing the golden crown tightly to his side, he plunged straight into a narrow alley. Behind him, the rising and falling howls of wolves sounded sharp and terrifying; a half-step slower would mean death.

But his fleeing steps did not seem panicked.

Lake's guiding voice sounded from within his shadow: "Right, through the alley, the abandoned villa to the east has a back door."

Before arriving in this town, Lake, Polo, and Princess Marlene had already used shadow magic to outline the entire temporary shadow realm map.

This gave the Wizard of Oz an excellent opportunity to shake off the wolf pack.

Emerging from the alley, the Wizard of Oz unhesitatingly plunged into the villa. The wolves hesitated slightly behind him, their speed delayed by the chosen route for a few seconds, before several wolves followed closely into the villa.

But by this time, the Wizard of Oz had already left through the back door following the instructions.

"North, the building has a ladder on the roof that can be used to escape and can be blocked by the intact doors inside..."

The Wizard of Oz rushed up the small building. None of the doors in the building were locked, and after he entered, he immediately slammed the door shut.

The magical black wolves following behind were blocked by the door, crashing against it with dull thuds. The sturdy wooden doors buckled under the continuous impacts, splintering and sprouting splinters.

The Wizard of Oz climbed onto the roof, preparing to jump to the top of another building.

But at this moment, he suddenly stopped.

"Mr. Messenger, why aren't you moving?"

Lake asked, looking at the map outlined by the shadow realm. The entire map was composed of pure shadows.

"It's Poison Peak, one of the Western Witch's spells."

The Wizard of Oz took a deep breath. In front of him, in the air unreachable by the wolf pack, a small black cloud emerged from the street and gathered around.

The black cloud writhed, emitting tiny buzzing sounds.

It was a large swarm of black poison bees!

"The idea of easily shaking off the wolf pack with height on the roof may not last," said the Wizard of Oz. He recalled briefly and added, "Within the Western Witch's line of sight, these poison bees will chase me. It's best to find a more hidden place."

"A more hidden place?"

Lake narrowed her eyes, looking at the shadow realm town.

On the ground in front of the Wizard of Oz, there was a slight layer of gray—the shadows of the bee swarm, which were inconspicuous in the shadow realm. Only after the Wizard of Oz reminded them could they be noticed!

"Jump down from the west side. There's a pile of hay below. From the third floor, if you're lucky..."

Seeing the bee swarm approaching rapidly, Princess Marlene said.

The Wizard of Oz listened without hesitation. He rushed to the east side of the roof, looked down for a few seconds, and then jumped down.

"West, there is a church, and there is a secret passage under the church."

The Wizard of Oz crawled out of the haystack, not caring about the blood marks scratched on his body by the hay, and ran towards the half-collapsed church not far away.

Behind him, the wolf pack rushed out of the alleys and streets. The magically constructed wolf pack would not feel tired.

And during the day, the strength and speed of these wolf packs were even stronger than at night.

In the sky, poison bees pressed down like dark clouds.

The Wizard of Oz raised his sleeve and pushed aside a crow that flew over—

But the crow's sharp beak still scratched a long mark on his clothes.

"Left, you can enter under the collapsed cross."

The Wizard of Oz swung his briefcase, like hitting a baseball, and slammed two crows flying head-on aside, then bent down and plunged into the abandoned church.

Entering it, with the voices coming from within his shadow, he quickly pushed away a few pieces of debris.

Below it, a wooden trapdoor was exposed.

The messenger did not hesitate, lifted the wooden board and entered it, but after that, dense swarms of poison bees had arrived. In the instant the Wizard of Oz paused, they drilled in through the cracks and gathered around again.

"Quick, close the secret passage door to block the poison bees..."

"The secret passage door has cracks and can't be blocked."

The Wizard of Oz entered the dusty tunnel. The secret passage trapdoor behind him was only half left.

In the exposed cracks, black swarms of poison bees instantly poured in.

"This is a bit troublesome. If you go out from the other side of the tunnel, you may be rediscovered by the Western Witch."

"It doesn't matter, I have preparations to deal with these poison bees."

The Wizard of Oz stood in the center of the tunnel. The entire tunnel fell into darkness. He could only hear the buzzing of the poison bees getting closer and closer—

"In an absolutely dark environment, the Western Witch's observation cannot be achieved through these killer bees. Darkness has a great impact on her magic!

In this tunnel, the killer bees can only move stiffly on their own."

As the Wizard of Oz spoke, listening to the approaching buzzing, he reached into his arms and took out a small glass bottle. If there was light in the tunnel, one could see that the glass bottle contained some flower petals.

"I hope these flowers are useful."

As the Wizard of Oz spoke, he opened the bottle cap, held his breath, sprinkled the flower petals on the ground, and then quickly retreated.

The buzzing of the killer bees became agitated the moment the flower petals appeared!

From the sound, one could tell that they were flying towards the flower petals following the scent, and then landing on the ground...

After that, the buzzing sound quickly disappeared.

"Phew, when those wolves chase down again, I'll leave from the other side of the tunnel."

The Wizard of Oz gasped for breath, listening to the sound of black wolves coming from the direction he came from, and slowly sat down to rest.

"No need, Mr. Messenger, we have found the Western Witch's location."

In the shadow realm, Polo outlined many horizontal lines on the three-dimensional map formed by shadows. At the intersection of the horizontal lines, his gaze locked onto a cracked tower in the center of the town.

"The Western Witch's eyesight can see extremely far. She can use this vision to control her magical creations..."

"And where the vision is blocked, the creations will still move on their own, but will become much stiffer..."

"So, the speed of these wolves and crows chasing can reflect the distance from the Western Witch..."

As Polo thought, he put his hand on Lake's shoulder, and their bodies began to turn grayish-white rapidly.

Then, they went towards the shadow of the tower.

There were very few shadows at the top of that tower. After roughly confirming the location of the Western Witch, Lake and the others noticed this.

And the greatest possibility of the shadow tree was that there was a special light source there.

In the abandoned town, the light source was obviously the biggest anomaly!

"People who use magic have very special shadows. We can attack from the shadows of the walls..."

"However, judging from the Western Witch's style, her close combat ability may not be very strong."

At the tower in the center of the town, raging flames burned in the half-damaged room at the top of the tower.

The flames evaporated the water in the air, making it very dry here.

"Hmph, hide? Where can you hide under my nose?"

A skinny witch with a dark green skin stood high up, overlooking the town below, locking her gaze on the location of the church.

Several crows swirled around her, the cold light in the crows' eyes was exactly the same as her own!

"The magic light in her pupils is like the lines of a puppet, intersecting in the air, controlling those black summons."

She wanted to laugh, but soon, the muscles on her bark-like greenish face contracted again, stopping her laughter:

"No, Oz... that cunning guy, will he really come alone? Can't be too happy too soon, maybe he will escape?"

Speaking of this, she thought about it carefully again, and the bark-like greenish face twitched.

Finally, she let out a strange laugh:

"No, no, no, he is dead, wrapped up layer by layer in this town—he can't escape!"

She waved her arm again, muttering some gray words.

But at this moment, she seemed to hear some wind, her body lunged forward, and at the same time, she looked behind her in shock, and quickly pointed with the other palm, pouring out a piece of magical black smoke!

Lake's figure leaped out of the shadows.

The black smoke summoned by the Western Witch came head-on, forming a huge wolf head.

But the next moment, Lake's Star Killer Sword rippled with starlight, a slight flash, and the magical black wolf was divided into two.

Lake continued to step forward, the sword light flew, cutting off the Western Witch's hands that still wanted to do something!

"Ah!"

The Western Witch let out a scream. Not a drop of blood flowed from her severed hands.

Like two pieces of heavy rotten wood, they fell to the ground.

"Who are you?! How dare you, how dare you hurt me like this—you are finished!"

The Western Witch said angrily, her body began to turn into a piece of gray black smoke like her summons, wanting to escape from here with magic.

But the next moment, Lake raised her other hand.

The water sac in her hand splashed out a piece of water, splashing on the Western Witch's body—

The witch couldn't dodge, and most of her body was splashed with water.

Those black smoke that wanted to fly away were instantly absorbed back into her body, but where the water was splashed, the body began to shrink and melt—like a clump of melted caramel.

"Wait, Lake, didn't find the location of that girl, Dorothy, that the Wizard of Oz said."

Just as Lake raised the water sac and the Star Killer Sword, preparing to kill the witch in front of her, Princess Marlene and Lake leaped out from the shadows of the broken wall on the other side.

"Didn't? She's not here?"

Lake glared at the Western Witch on the ground, whose body had melted in half but was still howling, with anger.

Under the detection ability of the Star Killer Sword, Lake knew that the witch in front of her had killed countless innocent people.

There was no doubt that, like in the fairy tale, this Western Witch was indeed a heinous guy!

"It seems that this guy didn't intend to agree to the Wizard of Oz's exchange in the first place!"

After a while, the Wizard of Oz, panting, climbed up from the broken stairs of the tower. As soon as he entered the room, he put his gaze on the center, on the Western Witch whose body was melting in half:

"Where is Dorothy?"

The Wizard of Oz asked with a gloomy face.

"Don't hurt me, let me go, and I'll release that girl. I've hidden her in a place where no one can find her."

In the gaps of howling, the Western Witch spat out a few words from the cracks of her mouth, and laughed again.

But the next moment, Princess Marlene next to her tilted the water sac again, pouring a stream of water on a part of the Western Witch's remaining body.

"Zzzzzz..."

The cool water splashed on the Western Witch's body, like it was splashed on lime, making a boiling sound.

And the Western Witch let out another howl.

"Ah—stop, stop it!"

"Answer the question, you have killed many innocent people, you should pay the corresponding price for your actions."

Lake squatted down, looking at the screaming witch on the ground.

"This time, you must die, but you can still do some trivial atonement for your actions before you die."

"Don't even think about surviving, you have deceived us once, don't try to repeat the same trick!"

"Answer the question, and you can suffer less pain and torture."

When the witch heard this, the face that was just grinning instantly twisted in pain and resentment, staring at Lake.

But then, it changed into a pleading meaning:

"I really didn't lie to you this time, as long as you let me go, I won't hurt that girl, and won't imprison her anymore—this time, I can sign a contract with you..."

"No, I will definitely kill you."

Lake's blue eyes stared at the Western Witch, the sharp stardust on the Star Killer Sword in her hand still hadn't dissipated.

The Western Witch looked at Lake's eyes, the expression on her face gradually faded, becoming like a piece of stiff bark.

She could see that there was not a trace of turning back in Lake's words.

"Okay, it seems that another girl is killing me for the second time... Heh, girl, but this time, I don't have a castle or anything to leave to you."

Under the effect of the water, the features of the Western Witch's face also became blurred, and it was impossible to see any expression.

"Quick, say, where did you take Dorothy?! And—you should have been dead, why are you... alive?!"

The Wizard of Oz stepped forward, frowning, and asked anxiously.

"Oz, don't be so anxious, that girl is very smart and won't let me catch her a second time!"

"Then why are you..."

"But she is left alone after leaving Oz, isn't she? I still got something."

The Western Witch suddenly pointed to her lower body and chuckled.

Her lower body, along with her clothes and flesh, melted in the water. When she no longer tried to resist, her legs quickly turned into a pool of brownish-green liquid.

The only thing that didn't melt was a silver shoe.

"It's a pity, like the first time, I only snatched half of her magic power, otherwise, even if you brought such a powerful helper, you wouldn't be able to hurt me in the slightest!"

Hearing these words, the Wizard of Oz obviously breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then why did you survive? You were obviously dead..."

"Die? Haha, water is my weakness, but you must understand that a clay sculpture washed away by the current can be reshaped, requiring only a pair of malicious hands—and the devil is clearly the embodiment of malice!"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you understand yet?"

The Western Witch's voice became blurred, her laughter beginning to carry a chaotic gurgling sound, "Oz, how long have you been away from the Land of Oz?

What I mean is—the devils have already arrived there, their malice reshaping me from death!"

Listening to the Western Witch's words, the Oz Envoy's face turned pale.

And the Western Witch's laughter grew increasingly frantic, the speed at which her body melted suddenly accelerating:

"Haha, it's that expression of yours, the girl had the exact same look!"

You're lucky, and that girl was lucky, otherwise, you would have been destroyed under the devils' bites—like that lion, you don't know how terribly that girl cried after I told her what happened to that lion!

It's truly pitiful—hahahaha!"

As she spoke, the Western Witch's wild laughter and voice finally began to diminish rapidly, her last remaining body turning into a palm-colored mud-like thing.

Lake poured the remaining water from her water skin onto it, dissolving the mixture in the water, like a puddle of dirty thin soup.

"She's dead."

Poro stared at the puddle of thin soup, finally speaking, and Lake breathed a sigh of relief.

The Oz Envoy's face still looked somewhat pale, but his expression had been well contained.

He stepped forward, took the silver shoe from the thin soup, wiped it dry with his own clothes, opened the briefcase, and carefully placed the silver shoe inside.

"Thank you for your help."

The Oz Envoy stood up again, bowing slightly to Lake and the others.

"You're welcome."

Lake waved her hand, blinked at the envoy, and suddenly asked, "However, Mr. Envoy, do we need to change your title?"

"Title?"

The Oz Envoy was taken aback, "I represent the great sorcerer Oz and am the Envoy of the Emerald City, you can just call me that, no need to change..."

"Really? Just an envoy?"

Lake smiled, looking at the Oz Envoy's mustache, and continued, "And I seem to recall seeing you in the Shardi Kingdom."

The Oz Envoy looked into Lake's clear blue eyes, as if he saw something, and finally sighed in relief:

"Alright, although I don't know how much you know, but... I apologize."

As he spoke, he stood up, straightened his somewhat dirty clothes, looked up again, and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, I lied to you earlier, actually, I am Oz himself."

"You're really Oz?"

Lake widened her eyes in surprise, while Princess Marlene, on the side, was even more stunned, she looked at the man in green clothes in disbelief.

During the recent chase, Oz's clothes had been torn open in one place after another by crows, wolves, or ruins.

His image was completely different from the rumored mysterious and powerful magician.

"Yes, I am Oz—if there is only one Land of Oz in the world."

Oz spread his hands, "And, I'm just an ordinary person, can you help me keep this a secret?

After all, if others knew this, they might once again lose confidence in resisting the devils."

(End of this chapter)