My sister told me that the “family” we were in had changed.

She had thought we were safe here, but now it seemed this place was no different from the outside.

But where could we run to?

Had my sister also overlooked one problem…?

Uncle Wan, my sister, and I had all come out of the same interview room—even if we wanted to escape, how could we?

Sister Siwei had told me her plan, which was to try to slip away when leaving the interview room, but we had both underestimated Uncle Wan.

He seemed to have prepared for this in advance. As soon as we stepped into the corridor, those fierce-looking uncles came up to greet him one after another. After he whispered a few instructions to them, we were surrounded in the middle, then directly taken to the “family.”

We had no chance to escape at all.

The second time, Sister Siwei prepared to make her move right in the room, but we still had no hope of escape.

All the aunties obeyed Uncle Wan’s orders without question. They would restrain us from the very start, leaving us with no way to run away.

After experiencing two escape attempts, Uncle Wan specifically arranged people to watch over us. We were monitored twenty-four hours a day—we even had to report when using the bathroom.

At that moment, I finally understood what Brother Guyu had meant when he left.

If we didn’t leave then, we would never be able to leave again.

But… if we had left then, would Uncle Wan have let us go?

Would he have allowed us to leave?

I went back and forth countless times between the powerless real world and the powerless “prison,” unable to find a way to escape from either side.

The two worlds echoed each other, forming an even more massive prison.

Over the years, Sister Siwei and I had tried countless times to escape this “family,” but we couldn’t accomplish anything.

Throughout the entire city, there were “family members” everywhere. We had no place to hide. After all, I was too famous—I was the “hero,” and everyone recognized my face. I would be caught immediately.

Fortunately, Sister Siwei had “healing” abilities. No matter if we were beaten or injured, she could always treat us right away.

Sister Siwei always smiled and told me that she could not only heal a person’s exterior, but also heal a person’s interior.

To the very end, I never understood what that meant.

That night, we failed to escape once again, and Uncle Wan came to our room. This room now only had Sister Siwei and me.

“Little Li…” Uncle Wan walked in carrying a bottle of alcohol, then sat down cross-legged on the floor. “Tell me… haven’t I been so good to you all? Why do you want to run away?”

The air was filled with the foul smell emanating from Uncle Wan’s body.

“Brother Wan… if it were just ‘pyramid schemes,’ that would be one thing. After all, to gather people together in this place, ‘pyramid schemes’ are indeed a method. But now you’ve started killing people,” Sister Siwei said with some urgency in her voice. “Don’t you think you’ve already gone astray? If this continues… what will this place become?”

“Killing people? Ah…” Uncle Wan shook his head, picked up the bottle, stood up, and said to us, “You two, come with me.”

He led us to the corridor. This was a circular corridor with an empty center, allowing us to see the people on the opposite side.

“Everyone, family members!! Sorry to disturb you so late at night, but could I trouble you all to come out for a moment?!”

Uncle Wan called out in a booming voice.

I saw people emerging from various rooms, looking toward Uncle Wan’s direction with puzzled expressions.

We were on the fifth floor, and could now see people on several floors of corridors above and below. Everyone stood there looking toward us.

“Little Li, after people are brainwashed, how absurd do you think they can become?” Uncle Wan asked in a low voice.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll conduct an experiment for you.”

After saying this, Uncle Wan took a deep breath and said loudly: “Everyone, family members! Our family has added a new family rule. Starting tomorrow, no one is allowed to wear socks! Anyone who wears socks will be punished!”

After hearing this, Sister Siwei furrowed her brow and looked at Uncle Wan with a confused expression.

Uncle Wan, however, kept smiling the whole time.

“Little Li, do you think they’ll agree to this new family rule?” he asked quietly.

“This is too absurd…” Sister Siwei said. “This is a family rule without any meaning at all.”

“Just watch.”

After hearing this, the crowd thought for a moment, then someone began shouting: “Brother Wan, do we need to take them off now?”

“Okay, Brother Wan, understood!”

“No problem!”

Uncle Wan revealed a slight smile, then turned to Sister Siwei and said: “Little Li, now you try to stop them.”

“What?”

“You can try every possible way to persuade them,” Uncle Wan said. “Right here, I’ll allow you to say anything. See if, with your own abilities, you can actually cancel this ‘new family rule.'”

Sister Siwei looked like she had wanted to do this all along. She took a step forward and said: “I can really say whatever I want? You won’t hurt me and Hero because of it?”

“Of course.”

Seeing Uncle Wan’s approval, my sister thought quickly for a moment, then shouted to everyone: “Everyone! Don’t you think this new ‘family rule’ is absurd?!”

After those words, an eerie silence spread throughout the entire building.

“‘Starting tomorrow, no one can wear socks’—don’t you all think this ‘family rule’ is strange? Not only won’t it help us get out, it won’t help us unite either!” Sister Siwei shouted loudly. “What’s the meaning of you all following this ‘family rule’?! Everyone is equal—why should you unconditionally execute every order?”

I thought my sister made a lot of sense, but for some reason, no one answered her.

Why did everyone listen to Uncle Wan so much?

What exactly had Uncle Wan done?

Before long, an uncle on the opposite side spoke up.

“Little Li, what are you doing? It’s just a pair of socks, there’s no need for this.”

Once one person started speaking, the rest began discussing among themselves in a cacophony of voices.

“That’s right, Little Li. Everyone likes you so much—don’t ruin everyone’s trust in you over a pair of socks.”

“I’ve wanted to stop wearing these socks for a long time anyway.”

“Our ‘big family’ has gotten this far by relying on ‘family rules.’ What’s wrong with that?”

“Exactly, exactly!”

The crowd exploded.

Countless voices came from all directions, and the entire building seemed to explode.

Seeing the noisy crowd, Sister Siwei revealed cold eyes.

“Alright! Quiet!”

Uncle Wan shouted once, suppressing everyone’s voices.

Standing beside him, Sister Siwei and I felt like our ears were about to go deaf.

“Everyone, stop talking nonsense. Just now I arranged for Little Li to play a joke with everyone. Remember this new family rule, and go to sleep early! We still need to greet the next day full of fighting spirit!”

“Okay, Brother Wan!”

Uncle Wan was about to let everyone go back, but an auntie stretched her voice and shouted: “This is a rare opportunity! Everyone is here! Let’s shout our slogan one more time!!”

I recognized that auntie. She was one of several “team leaders” Uncle Wan had arranged. She was going to lead everyone in shouting slogans. I was actually a bit afraid of this scene. Every time they shouted slogans, even their necks strained with effort.

“If we don’t work hard today!” the auntie shouted.

“Tomorrow we’ll pick through garbage!!” they shouted.

“If we don’t suffer hardship today!!”

“Tomorrow we’ll eat dirt!!”

“After we get out, our goal is—”

“Go to East Africa to buy oil mines! Go to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to buy big houses!!”

“Good night!”

“Good night, Team Leader!!”

Everyone returned to their rooms in unison, and Uncle Wan also turned back to Sister Siwei and me, saying: “Let’s go, Little Li. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Uncle Wan walked into the room and closed the door, then pulled paper cups from his pocket, poured himself and Sister Siwei each a cup of alcohol, and said: “Little Li, did you notice? What people call ‘pyramid schemes’ is exactly like this. I’m an utterly wicked pyramid scheme leader, but any pyramid scheme organization, when it reaches its later stages, begins to grow on its own, completely beyond my control.”