I was liberated.

Siwei Jiejie also took inventory of the remaining family members. Only fifteen hundred remained.

The prolonged civil war had cost us about three-quarters of our family members, and what remained were undoubtedly the most frenzied batch.

Perhaps this was what Jiejie had mentioned… the method she had thought of.

But she had broken her promise. She didn’t let me ride my bicycle freely and run, didn’t let me shout and yell to my heart’s content. She didn’t let me do all the things an eight-year-old child wanted to do, but instead kept me by her side as a “mascot” in this city—a hero so useless it was beyond words.

My daily work was no different from before. I just judged all the subjects, but Siwei Jiejie forbade anyone from talking to me.

Every night I was also alone in my room. Although the room now was more comfortable than before, my heart felt even more uncomfortable than before.

Everyone was too busy to pay attention to me. They seemed very busy every day. I didn’t know what they were busy with, only that they were planning and organizing something systematically. Every day I could see everyone going in and out, but I didn’t know what exactly they were busy with.

Siwei Jiejie then began extensively using her “Healing” to consolidate her ruling position. She claimed she could heal everyone’s pain, whether internal or external. She declared herself to be the true “Divine Maiden” and that when the opportunity was right, she would definitely show everyone a “divine miracle.” Everyone believed her one after another, and thus she became everyone’s only hope.

One week later in the evening, Siwei Jiejie came to my room. Since she became the ruler here, I hadn’t spoken to her for nearly a month.

“Yingxiong.” She smiled bitterly and walked through the door.

“Jiejie…” I called out hoarsely.

“Yingxiong, I haven’t talked to you in a long time. How are you?” she asked. “Have they been bringing you three meals on time?”

Hearing her question, I just kept my head down and didn’t say a word.

“Don’t want to talk to me?” She walked into the room, took a chair and sat down. The scent on her body was very strange.

“Jiejie, is this the ‘method’ you mentioned?” I asked.

“No, of course not.” She shook her head. “I told you, Yingxiong, I need to wait for an opportunity.”

“That opportunity… hasn’t come yet?” I asked gloomily.

“Soon, just a little more.” She answered. “We’ll be liberated very soon.”

“Is that so…” I slowly raised my eyes to look at her. “Jiejie… the scent on your body now is very similar to Wan Cai’s. I finally know the name of this scent.”

“Oh? Really?” She smiled. “What is it?”

“It’s ‘lies.'” I said. “Jiejie, the scent on your body tells me you’re lying… You have no method at all, and you don’t want to liberate me at all.”

“Oh…” She nodded silently. “So you can smell when I’m lying now?”

“Yes…”

“So you’ve grown up too, Yingxiong.” She said. “Since when did you stop calling him ‘Uncle Wan’ and start calling him ‘Wan Cai’?”

I didn’t know the answer to this question either. I only knew that Guyu Gege was still my gege, Siwei Jiejie was still my jiejie, and the other people weren’t even human.

“Yingxiong, I said I love everyone in this world. If possible, I would even want to actively sacrifice myself to cure this city’s sickness.” She said. “It’s just a pity that now even such an opportunity is gone, so I’m preparing to do something within my power.”

She spoke to me about herself in an understated manner, while my thoughts remained chaotic. Was what she called “within my power” becoming the “Divine Maiden” and ruling here?

“By the way, do you know? Among my friends for quite a long time, my nickname was ‘Li Guanyin.'” She chuckled lightly. “I’m this kind of troublesome person—as long as I can see something, whether it’s related to me or not, I have to help. Isn’t that interesting?”

She was smiling, while I remained silent.

Next, she told me some things about her childhood, school days, and romantic experiences, but the scent on her body remained very heavy. She was lying the whole time.

Why was this?

“…Later I broke up with that boy, hehe.” She sniffed. “That’s good too. Staying away from a scumbag, I don’t have to be such a saint anymore, right?”

Lies.

“Yingxiong, if one day you truly become free, just fly far away.” She changed the subject. “There will be no one in heaven and earth who can restrain you anymore. Go ride your bicycle in the wind, go shout loudly in the streets, go play and run to your heart’s content, go do anything you want to do, go experience the freedom here.”

“Freedom…” I muttered these two words expressionlessly, feeling exceptionally ironic.

In this damn place, even death couldn’t escape… How could I be free?

“Oh right.” Siwei Jiejie said again. “‘The Happy Prince’ has another ending. I forgot to tell you. Do you want to hear it?”

I shook my head silently. “No.”

“Mm, I guessed as much. Sleep well tonight…” Jiejie stood up and said to me with a smile. “Remember that every day from now on is a new day.”

Watching her walk out of the room with a warm expression, I felt like I had lost something.

But looking at the “Happy Prince’s” entire body, everything he could lose had already been lost.

Including the swallow.

The next day, that gun-barrel-like sun rose into the sky. I was awakened by a large number of footsteps in the building. I opened my eyes, and before I could figure out what was happening, I was already lying by the window watching a large number of people walk out of the office building.

They lined up in orderly fashion into a column, with Jiejie walking at the very front.

What was going on…?

I saw that they didn’t stop by the “Punishment Official” but instead walked toward a more distant place—that direction was most likely the “Divine Dragon’s” direction.

Were they going to worship the “Divine Dragon” together? But usually, worship of the Divine Dragon was done individually. Why were they lined up in a column this time?

My heart felt somewhat strange, but I couldn’t pinpoint the problem.

“The Hero is awake?” A middle-aged woman came to the room, holding a steamed bun made from “fragrant scent” in her hand. “Come eat quickly.”

“Where are they going?” I asked.

“Oh, speaking of which, we should congratulate them.” The woman smiled. “The ‘Divine Maiden’ found a way to escape from here, so she’s taking them to the ascension site together. They’re the first batch. We’ve kept a small portion of people behind who will be the second batch.”

“As-ascension?” I slowly widened my eyes. “How are they going to ascend…?”

“I don’t really know the specifics either.” The woman said. “But the ‘Divine Maiden’ said that the true answer isn’t to worship the ‘Divine Dragon,’ but to enter the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ palace.”