My eyes slowly widened.

Even if others didn’t know, Siwei-jiejie definitely knew.

Guyu-gege had told us that as long as you said “gamble with lives” to any “Zodiac,” if you failed, you would become a “Wanderer” here.

“Leading over a thousand people… to gamble with lives with the ‘Divine Dragon’…” I murmured, “Why…?”

“Because of ‘faith.'” The long-haired woman answered, “People in this world can die for their ‘faith,’ even if it’s a false ‘faith.’ She is like this, and those who follow her are also like this. It’s just that the ‘faith’ they pursue is different.”

“Faith…?”

“Little brother, the most powerful force in this place is ‘faith.'” She reached out and gripped my shoulder, as if comforting me, “As long as you have sufficient ‘faith,’ it can help you achieve everything.”

But I didn’t want everything. I wanted elder sister to come back.

“Your elder sister is willing to do all this for you precisely because she has sufficiently strong ‘faith.'” She said softly, “In her heart, you are a true hero, worthy of her doing this. It’s just that she deceived over a thousand people into vanishing in one go, so she herself also wants to stay there to atone.”

“‘Cause and Effect,’ let me go.” I said, “I don’t want to be arranged by others… I want to choose an outcome myself… I’ve been arranged by others for over a decade… Only this once do I want to decide my own outcome.”

“I can’t.” She shook her head, her expression sorrowful, “I promised that girl. I agreed to keep you here for one hour. If you leave, it will be very difficult for me to explain.”

“But…” I bit my teeth, my whole body trembling, “Do you know what elder sister means to me…?”

“I can probably imagine, but this really isn’t possible.” The long-haired woman shook her head, the scent on her body somewhat sad, “Child, close your eyes. It will pass in a moment. I came all the way from another place. If I don’t accomplish this task well, there would be no meaning to my coming.”

“‘Cause and Effect’… you have no idea that I’ve spent more time with her than with my own family… She is the flesh and blood grown on my body, the light in my heart, the swallow by my side… You can’t do this to me…”

“Flesh and blood will dissipate, light will dim, but what about the swallow?” The long-haired woman asked, “Whether you want to admit it or not, this is the best ending between her and you. The ’cause and effect’ between you two was destined from the moment you met.”

She left the other people in the room so that I could escape from that room. She left those who could produce food so that I could survive.

From beginning to end, she had been thinking of me… No wonder she always had that heavy scent.

The lie she told was too big… She became the “Divine Maiden” to kill all the people in the city. She ascended to this throne for me.

“‘Cause and Effect’…” I choked as I called out, “Fifty minutes then.”

“What?”

“Let me go after fifty minutes…” I turned my head, tears spilling across my face, “Leave me ten minutes to say goodbye to elder sister… okay?”

“This…”

“Please, just ten minutes…”

“Child, not everything in this world can go as you wish.” The long-haired woman said, “You should understand this principle.”

“I’m begging you… I’m really begging you…” My heart truly hurt so much that I could barely speak clearly anymore, “I didn’t talk with elder sister last night… I didn’t think that was my last chance!! I don’t want to say goodbye to her like this! Let me properly say goodbye to her… I’m begging you… just ten minutes…”

I felt like I had never been this willful in my entire life, but if I wasn’t willful at this moment, I would have nothing left.

The adults all said that as long as I was obedient I could have everything, but all this time I had been obedient, yet I was stripped of everything.

The long-haired woman’s expression moved slightly, then she let out a deep sigh: “Child, if you go to say goodbye… you’ll only exchange it for heart wounds that can never be smoothed over. She’s the same… She couldn’t possibly want you to see her miserable death.”

“Just a few words…” I cried out, “I have too many things I want to say to elder sister… Let me see her once…”

After hearing this, she pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded: “Alright, I agree. I’ll give you ten minutes. But perhaps by the time you get there… it will already be too late.”

“It doesn’t matter!!” I shouted, “It doesn’t matter, I will definitely see her!”

“Then… think carefully about what you’ll say when you part.”

After nodding my head vigorously, I began rapidly thinking through what I wanted to say in my mind… Ten minutes… what could I say in ten minutes?

Ten minutes should be very long… I could say so many, many things.

The bits and pieces from before kept flashing before me.

I remembered when she first met me and asked, “You’re such a small baby, how did you become a hero?”

I remembered her stroking my head and saying, “Wherever there’s the Happy Prince, there’s a swallow. They’ve always been together.”

I remembered elder sister lying on the cold floor telling me, “I’ve thought of a way to liberate both of us.”

Elder sister had been caring for me from the very beginning… but what exactly had I brought her? If she had never met me, she absolutely wouldn’t be facing this fate now.

I must tell her so many, many things… I must tell her everything I can think of. I want to tell her “I’m sorry,” and I also want to tell her “thank you.”

I will remember her forever. I want to tell everyone that I once met a particularly wonderful elder sister, that I loved her like I loved my parents.

But my mind was truly too chaotic. In the time that followed, I couldn’t think of anything, only wailed and cried bitterly.

Clearly there had been twelve years of time to spend together, yet what I was waiting for were the final ten minutes.

I had never stood on the street in this “prison” and cried out loud before. I was so deeply sad. My wails echoed continuously nearby. The entire city seemed to be sprinkled with bitter, salty water.

Whether in the real world or in this “prison,” all farewells could lead to reunions… but this time was different. I was going to thoroughly lose my elder sister.

I don’t know how much time passed before the long-haired woman said to me: “Let’s go, child.”

My legs instantly regained sensation. I immediately rushed forward as if my life depended on it. Every second I ran faster, the time I could talk with elder sister would extend by one second.

The wild wind along the way shattered the tear tracks on my face into pieces in the air, but I had no time to care. I was chasing time.

I was chasing time with the wind, chasing time with a life, and also chasing time with my past twelve years of life.