Chapter Five: Excessive Obsession with the Word "Abnormal"
A new scene emerged, with Lu Anru finding herself in a dense forest.
There appeared to be only one straight path leading into the unknown, but in reality, there were two options: the front and the back.
She looked back and forth, observing the basic environmental factors.
In the distance ahead of her, rays of sunlight penetrated through the branches.
On the contrary, the distant view behind her seemed desolate, with a few dry trees standing alone. Looking further, it was shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see clearly.
This scene reminded Lu Anru of a line from an ancient poem she had memorized while cramming for her humanities class.
"Old vines and old trees, crows at dusk."
As if in response to the scene, a few crows cawed loudly, and three crows flew away from the withered branches, shaking off the few remaining yellow leaves.
Lu Anru hugged herself, shivering, and turned her head back.
She felt a soft, fluffy sensation on her ankle and looked down to see a chubby white rabbit rubbing against her.
When it noticed her gaze, it kicked its legs and hopped away, stopping at the edge of the bushes nearby. It stared at her with its red eyes for a few seconds, then shook its long white ears and happily hopped into the depths of the forest ahead.
It hopped slowly, as if deliberately waiting for her to catch up.
After considering for a few seconds, Lu Anru didn't immediately follow. Instead, she found a clean flat rock to sit on, took a deep breath of the fresh earthy scent, and focused on pondering the information provided by the hints.
The three pieces of information appeared in descending order, and based on logical reasoning, if "p" appeared in the hints she found, then it must be the key element for the next step.
According to the rumors she heard about the punisher, the examiner for the Moon Soaring Punishment Room was quite eccentric and enjoyed tormenting people. He especially liked to stay in the monitoring room to watch the trapped participants struggle with his puzzles, eager to see them driven to madness.
Using this as a reference point, combined with Lu Anru's own experience, she decided to abandon the shortcut that seemed to be within reach.
Although the direction indicated by the rabbit seemed friendlier, she couldn't shake the feeling that it might be a lure, enticing her to make a mistake.
Raising her head to survey the surroundings again, she reconstructed her thought process based on her initial impressions of the forest environment. Considering the most likely point, did "plk" represent a food chain?
Three sets of words came to mind: pig, lion, kangaroo.
Did it mean finding a pig, then using the pig to find a lion and kangaroo, and finally having the lion kill the kangaroo?
The absurdity of it all made Lu Anru shake her head twice, not questioning the examiner's level of eccentricity but rather understanding his obsession with the word "abnormal."
She once encountered a more chaotic punishment, which required her to compete with dolphins in swimming speed. After exhausting herself to complete the task, she was told upon leaving the punishment room that she only needed to lie on top of the dolphin and stick her head out to win.
That night, Lu Anru didn't greet the examiner like the other eliminated participants did from a distance. It wasn't that she didn't want to; she simply didn't have the energy.
She had experienced enough to figure out the rules.
Such setups as helping a lion kill a kangaroo were ludicrous and simplistic, and could be declared invalid outright.
Lost in thought, she noticed a familiar little rabbit. However, this time it was a spotted rabbit, not as cute and clean as the previous one.
Appearing at her feet for the second time, she hesitated before tentatively reaching out to touch the rabbit.
Her fingers lightly touched the gray-white-black fur, and the soft sensation transmitted through her fingertips slightly relaxed her tense nerves.
Seeing no unusual reaction, Lu Anru gently touched the rabbit a few more times. Girls were not resistant to chubby, fluffy creatures.
But just as she stroked the rabbit's back for the fourth time, it suddenly shook violently as if electrified and turned to bite her hand.
"Go away, bad rabbit!"
Lu Anru withdrew her hand, scolding angrily, and kicked at the round, chubby buttocks.
Startled, the rabbit rolled on the ground, scrambled to its feet in a panic, and bounded away in the opposite direction of the first rabbit.
Lu Anru clicked her tongue at the rabbit, then used her hand to tidy up the sweat-drenched bangs on her forehead.
As her fingers brushed against her forehead, they paused when they felt a wet substance. She looked down at her hand and saw the same red color.
Without hesitation, she turned and walked toward the misty forest behind her.
Navigating through the environment where she couldn't see her own fingers, Lu Anru covered her mouth and nose, weaving her way through.
Despite her somewhat disheveled appearance, her pretty face showed no signs of confusion or fear. She walked rhythmically, stepping on all the red blood spots.
Without a watch, she couldn't keep track of time. Based on her feelings, she estimated she had walked for about half an hour before emerging from the forest into another realm.
A vast expanse of grassland stretched out before her, with the green of the grass blending perfectly with the azure sky. The grass seemed to strive to match the color of the sky, basking in the beautiful sunshine.
In the center of the grassland stood a low wooden house, naturally
nestled there.
It was evident that the owner of the house cherished life, as there was a small flower garden in front of the red-roofed, yellow-walled wooden house, filled with colorful flowers.
Upon closer inspection, Lu Anru noticed two wind chimes hanging on the door frame, emitting a crisp and pleasant sound in the breeze.
Lu Anru crouched down to inspect the perimeter of the garden, confirming that there were no fierce animals like guard dogs, then she grabbed the railing with one hand, propped herself up, and jumped into the courtyard.
As she landed, she immediately crouched down and stealthily approached the window, cautiously peeking inside.
It wasn't because she was being sneaky, but because her father had taught her since she was little: a rash man shows off his bravery, a reckless man vents his anger. A rash temperament rarely achieves great things. One should not fear being in a difficult situation but fear making it worse by acting recklessly.
It was necessary to determine the position and identity of the owner to facilitate the next steps based on the actual situation.
After looking around twice and not finding anyone inside the house, she noticed symbols of affection between the owners, such as portraits on the table and clean and beautiful matching tableware.
Through the portraits hanging on the wall, Lu Anru gained an understanding of the two owners.
The male owner had blond hair, blue eyes, and a high nose bridge, handsome and dashing.
The female owner had hair as black as ink, skin as white as snow, and a gentle and lovely appearance.
Aside from admiring them as a handsome couple, Lu Anru recalled a detail: both of them wore crowns.
Realizing this, Lu Anru looked at the pictures again, and a strong sense of familiarity overwhelmed her.
Her bedtime stories with Sheng Ming were quite unique. Her mother liked to tell stories about tomb-robbing adventures, claiming it was to toughen them up but actually because she enjoyed revisiting her favorite stories.
Their father, on the other hand, was a devoted husband who prioritized his wife's happiness above all else, completely unconcerned about whether their children would be traumatized by their childhood experiences.
Even though her upbringing was unconventional, she had still heard of the famous story of "Snow White" and even watched related cartoons at the Ayala's house.
The two people in the portraits were indeed Snow White and the prince! They looked exactly like the versions she had seen in the cartoons.
Could it be that she had entered the married life of "Snow White"? Did she need to stop the queen from hiring assassins?
Wait a minute! Wasn't the English word for assassin starting with "k"? Killer.
Following this line of thought, she increasingly felt that she was getting closer to the truth. Princess: prcess, prince: prce.
With the two "p"s and "k" found, but no "l" person in sight, her imagined scenario remained perplexing.
She believed that when the assassin appeared, the "l" person would be revealed.