Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin walked toward “Heaven’s Mouth” against the gradually darkening sky.

“Liar boy… didn’t you say you knew who Heavenly Sheep was? Why didn’t you tell that tiger-headed guy?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“Compared to that Earth Tiger… I trust Chen Junnan more. I have some things I want to ask him.”

“Junnan boy?” After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin nodded slightly.

The two walked around a street corner and immediately saw an old woman leading a child.

The old woman kept showing a kind smile, staring stiffly at Qi Xia.

Qiao Jiajin felt it was a bit strange… There were elderly people in this place?

Just as he was about to say something, Qi Xia spoke first. “Fist, let’s go.”

Qiao Jiajin was startled after hearing this, then silently nodded.

The two passed by the old woman and child as if they hadn’t seen anything.

Only after the two had gradually walked far away did the child speak. “Granny Ma, aren’t you going to ask them?”

“There’s no need.” The old woman shook her head. “Neither of them has ‘Echo’ or ‘Dao’ on them. Let’s go ask the ‘Zodiacs’ stationed here instead.”

“But wasn’t that huge sound last time at night?” the child asked. “Would the ‘Zodiacs’ know?”

“It does seem so…” The old woman shook her head helplessly. “Can we only go find participants… Indeed, no one on this train is reliable…”

“Then which participant should we find?” the child asked with an innocent face.

“There is a good place…”

The old woman pondered for a moment, then reached out to grasp the child’s wrist. In the blink of an eye, the two disappeared on the spot.

……

Qi Xia kept using his peripheral vision to look behind them. Only after confirming that no one was chasing them did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“Liar boy… what’s going on?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “There are elderly people and children here?”

“I don’t know, but there’s definitely something wrong.” Qi Xia said in a low voice. “The ages of those two people… no matter how you think about it, it’s too strange…”

“Yeah… they should have a hard time getting out of the interview room…” Qiao Jiajin said quietly.

“It’s not just that…” Qi Xia said. “I can’t think of what crime a naked little kid would have committed… Perhaps… they didn’t originally look like this?”

“You… you mean they disguised themselves?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“It shouldn’t be that simple.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Right now the urgent matter is to go ask Chen Junnan exactly how much he understands about ‘Heavenly’…”

The two quickened their pace and headed toward “Heaven’s Mouth.”

……

In the blink of an eye, the old woman appeared with the child at the entrance of a prison on the edge of the city.

Although this prison looked dilapidated, there was a kerosene lamp lit at the sentry post. At this moment, a long-haired man wearing leather clothing was standing inside on duty.

He slightly raised his head to look at the old woman and child before him, and his expression quickly became puzzled.

The old woman didn’t care at all and walked forward a few steps to stand before the long-haired man.

“Hello, you two. I’m ‘Mogi’ Liu Ershiyi. You are…?” the long-haired man asked tentatively.

“Oh my…” The old woman waved her hand. “Don’t be nervous. We’re here on business.”

“Business?” The long-haired man sized up the two people before him and still felt very confused. “Old customers?”

“Of course, of course. I did business with you a long time ago… Is there anyone in charge?” The old woman had a kind smile all over her face, which made the long-haired man’s back run cold. “I have business I’d like to discuss with whoever’s in charge.”

“The person in charge…?” The long-haired man nodded. “You two, please follow me.”

He turned around and opened the large iron gate, bringing the two into the prison.

The three crossed the prison courtyard and entered the building.

The long-haired man opened the security doors inside the prison one by one, leading the old woman and child directly toward the cells.

The security doors here had lost their power supply and were mostly just for show. Rusty iron doors were opened one after another, leading toward the depths of the prison.

Walking in the corridor full of cells, the old woman nonchalantly glanced to both sides and discovered many people wearing black leather clothing sitting on cell beds. They all stared at her with vigilant eyes.

These people were both men and women, numbering several dozen—a scale far larger than what the old woman remembered.

A leather-clad man who was idling in the corridor saw the long-haired man and quickly approached.

“Ershiyi, what’s the matter?” the man asked.

“Brother Shiyi, someone’s looking for the person in charge,” the long-haired man said.

The man called Brother Shiyi nodded and said to the two, “Are you two guests? I’m ‘Wangyou’ Luo Shiyi. If you have any business, you can discuss it with me. May I ask what year you’re from?”

“Shiyi?” The old woman frowned. “You’re not qualified enough. Get someone within the top ten.”

“Not qualified enough…?” Luo Shiyi’s expression suddenly darkened. “Saying that I, Luo Shiyi, am not qualified enough—then what are you?”

As soon as the words fell, the old woman had already appeared beside Luo Shiyi. Her extremely fast speed prevented everyone present from seeing clearly.

She raised a face full of smiles and asked in a hoarse voice, “Child, look at me—what am I?”

Luo Shiyi’s eyes widened, then he immediately stepped back two paces.

“You… you are…” Luo Shiyi felt his entire body go cold. “Are you a ‘Heavenly’?”

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Just then, a strange voice rang out not far away.

“Shiyi, show some respect.”

After hearing this, Luo Shiyi and Liu Ershiyi both moved to the sides. They saw an unusually short figure slowly walking over—it was actually a young dwarf man. His body proportions were very symmetrical, and his left cheek had a strange scar that looked like it had been left by an animal bite.

“Brother Wu.” Luo Shiyi and Liu Ershiyi both lowered their heads in respect.

Seeing this dwarf man, the old woman showed a smile again. “Oh… Qian Wu…”

“Heavenly Horse.” The dwarf man called Qian Wu nodded expressionlessly. “‘Zodiacs’ rarely do business with us.”

With the single phrase “Heavenly Horse,” the expressions of several nearby people changed.

“Well, we’re here now, aren’t we?” Heavenly Horse said with a smile, raising her head. “Little Tiger and I happen to be here to do business with you.”

“But I still have some doubts.” Qian Wu replied. “Can our ‘business’ work out?”

“Little Qian, what kind of attitude is that… You don’t understand respecting the elderly and cherishing the young at all.” Heavenly Horse reached out to pound her waist. “Can’t you be a bit more enthusiastic toward us?”

“We only look at compensation.” Qian Wu said. “I don’t quite understand how ‘Zodiacs’ would pay us.”

“Do we need to pay?” Heavenly Horse said with a smile. “Little Qian, we can threaten you, you know.”

“Oh?” The dwarf man showed a hint of a smile. “I may have heard wrong just now. Did you say you want to ‘threaten me’?”

As soon as the words fell, all the people in the cells stood up. They opened their cell doors and slowly stood in the corridor.