The days that followed were no different from hell.

No, I had been in hell all along and had become the most laughable existence in this hell. I was a hero whose neck was grabbed and whose swallow was taken away.

Zhou Zhenglong, this man, ascended to the throne. He was even crazier than Wan Cai. Perhaps his time had not yet come—when he ascended to the throne, I smelled that foul-smelling fragrance on him.

In the days that followed, whenever I didn’t do as he said, he would punch and kick Siwei Jiejie, yet he never touched a single hair on my head. The family members believed he hadn’t violated the “house rules,” so they began to obey his every command.

He refused to give us any food for long periods of time and locked the two of us in a dark little room—a storage room converted into a prison cell that belonged to Siwei Jiejie and me.

This place never saw sunlight, and even the smells were unpleasant.

Zhou Zhenglong’s rule added an element of “force” that Wan Cai lacked. He was too confident in his own strength. He even threw a dagger into mine and Siwei Jiejie’s prison cell, telling us we could commit suicide if we couldn’t endure anymore.

Every morning, all the family members would line up and walk past me. I would just numbly nod or shake my head.

I really wanted to give up on these people, but they had captured the swallow, so I could only numbly cooperate.

But this half-hearted attitude quickly aroused Zhou Zhenglong’s dissatisfaction. He threatened me with Jiejie, forcing me to only say “I smell so-and-so’s ‘fragrant scent'” from then on. If I missed even one word, he would punch Siwei Jiejie.

During that long, dark time, I would always hear Siwei Jiejie in the dead of night, holding her own body, choking back tears and softly saying “it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt, it’ll be fine in a moment.” She was trying to find a way to heal the wounds on her body, but every time she finished healing, what awaited her would be brand new suffering.

The scent on her body began to become very strange, as if she had become a different person.

Was there any good news in these hellish days?

Yes, the only good news was that Siwei Jiejie had always been by my side.

I could feel that during this prolonged torture, even Siwei Jiejie, who loved me the most, was going crazy. The scent on her body would sometimes become like Wan Cai’s, sometimes like Zhou Zhenglong’s, and at certain moments like Guyu Gege’s—in any case, it didn’t smell like herself.

My bewilderment and helplessness lingered in my heart. No one could point out a clear path for me. Jiejie would often sit quietly in place, lost in thought. Sometimes I would call her several times and she wouldn’t respond.

I might have been too selfish. Why had I never thought… that it wasn’t just me who needed to be taken care of, but Jiejie also needed someone to take care of her?

Was her situation much better than mine?

After Guyu Gege left, in the entire gloomy and terrifying household, only she and I remained. We were surrounded by numerous family members with vacant stares. The “Happy Prince” no longer held a sword in his hands—only a crown that would fall off as soon as he walked, and a swallow covered in wounds.

The swallow and I walked upon towering buildings from which we could fall into eternal damnation at any moment. Once we said one wrong thing or failed to do one thing right, we would immediately be executed.

Even in this dark prison cell, Jiejie would always comfort and guide me, but who was there to guide her…?

When she came here, she was only about twenty years old. Now even my age was approaching hers. Why hadn’t I realized… that she was also someone who needed protection?

She had once said she loved everyone in this world. She had also tried to guide those family members in her own way, but it never had any effect.

It was as if there was a sharp knife above our heads. This knife was slowly approaching me, but I was a statue—I couldn’t move a single step. I couldn’t even intervene in what was happening outside the prison cell.

Every day my mind was filled with numerous questions. For instance, were the other teams collecting “Jade” about to finish collecting?

For instance, now that these people no longer looked like human beings, would Jiejie still love them?

For instance, as our numbers grew, food was becoming increasingly scarce. Could those few “fragrant ones” supply food for so many people?

Only now did I realize that fairy tales were all lies. The hero had thousands of subjects under him, but the hero couldn’t possibly feed them all.

“Hero…”

Siwei Jiejie, who had been staring blankly, suddenly turned her head and called out to me, startling me.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” I answered with a smile. “Jiejie, how are you feeling today? Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?”

“No.” Siwei Jiejie shook her head. “I suddenly realized… you haven’t eaten anything in a long time, right…? Are you hungry?”

“I’m fine…” I smiled. “Jiejie, don’t worry about me. I’m used to going hungry.”

“That won’t do…” She froze for a moment, then forced out a smile. “How can you not eat… You’re at the age where you’re growing. If you don’t eat, you’ll starve…”

I felt that Siwei Jiejie must be hungry. Even if I didn’t eat, I needed to ask Zhou Zhenglong for something to eat.

But just as I turned around, I heard a strange sound from behind me, followed by a muffled groan.

I was somewhat dazed and slowly turned back, only to discover that Siwei Jiejie was holding the knife Zhou Zhenglong had given us. Her arm and palm were both mangled and bloody. For a moment, I couldn’t figure out what had happened.

“Ugh…” Siwei Jiejie groaned and dropped the knife, then touched her own arm, saying almost tearfully, “It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt… it’ll be fine in a moment…”

“Ji-Jiejie?” I blinked, feeling like my brain had gone blank.

She muttered for quite a while before letting go of her hand. I saw that there was no longer a wound on her arm, but it was covered in blood.

What had happened?

Jiejie tremblingly clasped her hands together, then cupped them in front of me. I thought it was a pool of blood, but there was clearly a piece of flesh inside.

“Hero… Hero…” Jiejie said to me with a smile. “I found something to eat…”

“Eat… your… flesh?”

As I said these words, my voice was trembling.

“Yes… Hero… I am ‘Healing’…” Jiejie said to me with a smile. “I can even provide food for everyone… They just need to eat me… As long as I keep ‘healing’ myself…”

Looking at that piece of flesh in her hands, I suddenly felt somewhat dazed.

Was there something wrong with my memory?

In “The Happy Prince,” it said that the swallow plucked the gold leaf from the prince’s body, piece by piece, and distributed it to the poor people in the city, until all his skin was stripped away.

But why now was the swallow cutting off her own flesh?

This was wrong… Everything now was wrong…

I didn’t know what to do. I could only walk forward and gently embrace Jiejie.

“It’s okay… Jiejie, leave it to me. I am the ‘Hero’… I will protect you…”

I think I understood what Guyu Gege meant by “without destruction, there can be no construction.”

To protect Jiejie, I could only kill her with my own hands.