After hearing this, Siwei Jiejie smiled and shook her head. “I don’t want to become a ‘Rabbit.’ I can’t do it.”
“Can’t do it…? Why?” Guyu Gege asked.
“Because I’ve already become a ‘Swallow.'” Siwei Jiejie revealed her signature smile and reached out to pat my head.
Hearing these words, my tears finally couldn’t be held back anymore.
Nine years—I had spent nine years in this hell that was like an endless night. This was the first time I cried out loud.
Who could possibly come save me?
Who could come save Siwei Jiejie?
Who could come help this sick city?
The “Happy Prince” had already begun losing his things. This was just the beginning—he would only lose more in the future.
In the days that followed, I spent almost all my time in a daze. I only remember that the team who lost their “Jade” failed to find it within two days and was dragged outside by a group of people and executed. Later, Guyu Gege left as well.
Before Guyu Gege left, he looked at me with a face full of sadness and said, “Hero, you must remember—’Without destruction, there can be no construction.’ These four words are my final help to you.”
It took me about half a year to finally emerge from the pain of parting with Guyu Gege.
The days continued to move forward. Perhaps another year passed.
My position had become precarious, just as Guyu Gege had said back then.
That morning, after I finished “judging” a man and said somewhat wearily “no scent,” he suddenly flew into a rage.
No, it wasn’t that he had no scent—the scent on his body was “anger.”
“Does your nose really work?!”
“I…” I was a bit too exhausted and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
I remembered this man. He was one of Wan Cai’s enforcers from back then. Ever since Wan Cai died, he had been active here. The other subjects all knew he had a bad temper, so they rarely interacted with him.
“Smell again! Damn it! I’ve done everything I could—why is there no scent?!”
His scent carried a trace of fear mixed with the anger—he was afraid of losing his memories.
But he truly had no scent. What could I do about it?
“Let go first…” Siwei Jiejie said from the side. “What’s the point of making things difficult for Hero? He can only smell the scent on your body, but he can’t create a scent for you.”
“I absolutely cannot lose my memories!” the man shouted. “There’s only one day left… only one day left!!”
“That’s not how you should think about it.” Siwei Jiejie shook her head. “It’s not ‘only one day left,’ but rather ‘there’s still one day.’ Brother Zhou, calm down first. All of us can help you think of a solution.”
*Smack!*
“Think of shit!!”
The man slapped Siwei Jiejie across the face with great force. She instantly fell to the ground. This action shocked all the onlookers.
Seeing Siwei Jiejie get hit, I suddenly became incomparably furious.
I jumped forward trying to tackle the man down, but his build was too large—I couldn’t budge him at all. But I immediately opened my mouth and bit down on his arm.
In that moment, I clearly smelled “killing intent” coming from myself.
“Ahhh!!”
The man cried out in pain several times, then began vigorously shaking his arm. I felt like my teeth were about to fall out, but I didn’t let go, biting down fiercely and tearing off a large chunk of flesh from his arm.
“Ahhh! Son of a…!”
The man pushed me to the ground and grabbed my throat with his hands, strangling me tightly.
My crown once again fell to the ground.
“You damn kid…” he shouted. “You’re deliberately targeting me, aren’t you…? Everyone before me had a scent, but not me…?”
In this moment, I suddenly felt a bit dazed.
Because I felt this man had changed—the scent on his body had become vivid, animated. He had his own thoughts now.
Was this perhaps a good thing?
“Who do you think you are…” I spat out the blood and flesh in my mouth and said to him. “Do you think I would deliberately waste time on you? That I would deliberately target you?”
“What…?” The man was clearly stunned, seemingly unable to imagine I would say such a thing. “You damn kid have really gone crazy… I treated you as a ‘Hero’… but this is how you treat me?”
“Whoever wants to be a ‘Hero’ can be one…” I said viciously. “I will never smell the scent on your body again, even if you kill me right here.”
“You… you… I understand now…”
The man’s eyes kept moving. He quickly sorted through his thoughts, and a chilling idea transmitted into my mind.
“Oh no… Siwei Jiejie… run quickly…”
Before I could finish speaking, the man released his grip and immediately went forward to grab Siwei Jiejie.
He gripped Siwei Jiejie’s throat with several fingers, then turned back to look at me. “Damn kid, this girl is your weak spot, isn’t she?”
“Let her go!” I said.
“Damn kid, listen carefully.” The man sneered coldly. “If you’re not afraid of death, that’s fine. I want you to quickly figure out a way to make me emit a ‘fragrant scent,’ otherwise I’ll make this girl suffer unbearably. Do you understand?”
This was the first time in my life I felt so furious. I couldn’t beat him, I couldn’t kill him—what should I do?
“You all…” I turned to look at all the watching subjects. “Can’t you see what he’s doing right now?! Are you just going to stand there and watch like this?!”
Only then did rustling voices emerge. “Ah… Brother Zhou, don’t get physical. Let’s talk this through properly.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re all family here…”
Powerless—how powerless these voices were!
“I suspect we’ve all been played by this kid!!” the man continued to roar. “Why is it that when he says there is, there is, and when he says there isn’t, there isn’t?! I really don’t believe it anymore today. I want to see if he can actually smell the scent on my body or not!”
The situation was really bad. His killing intent was strong. Siwei Jiejie was in danger.
“Brother Zhou…” Siwei Jiejie, lying on the ground, spoke at this moment. “Hero’s abilities have been witnessed by everyone over all these years. Each person has received his help. What you’re saying is useless.”
“Yes!” the man agreed. “I admit he has abilities, but why have we never been able to escape while following him?! An eight-year-old child… what gives him the right to lead us adults?! Are we gathering here really just to live our lives?!”
After he finished speaking, he looked at everyone in front of him and loudly asked, “Don’t you all want to get out? In the decades to come, are you really prepared to just live here?!”
He was changing the scent on everyone’s bodies.
“This city needs a change in leadership.” He said angrily. “Since this child hasn’t been able to help us escape after all these years, it can only be my turn to try!”