Chapter 708: Uncle Wan on Trial
“Then what about the final stage?” Sister Siwei asked.
“The final stage is the 'Era of Collapse.' Extremely strong order will bring about an extremely strong backlash.” Uncle Wan said. “I can already foresee the future of collapse.”
Sister Siwei sighed after hearing this. “Even if this place really does 'collapse,' it will be a situation of your own making.”
“Is that so?” Uncle Wan stood up and looked at us coldly. “All of you could have stopped me, but instead, you tacitly allowed me to develop this family to where it is today, isn't that right? Besides, you've always been by my side all along. We're even.”
“Did Hero and I have a choice...?” Sister Siwei said through gritted teeth. “We were assigned to the same room as you... Everyone in that room was brainwashed by you. How did you expect the two of us to leave?”
“If you want to blame someone, blame Zheng Yingxiong himself.” Uncle Wan said. “Who told him to be the 'Spiritual Sniffer'? And you, Little Li, you are 'A commoner is no sinner, but possessing a jade is a crime.' As long as you stayed with Zheng Yingxiong, you were destined for today's outcome. So no one is to blame.”
The scent emanating from Sister Siwei was filled with rage, but I knew there was nothing she could do.
From the moment Uncle Wan set foot on this land, she had already lost the ability to stop him.
“Brother Wan...” Sister Siwei's voice softened. “Since you're about to leave soon, could you please tell them something? Just say that Hero no longer has his ability, and let the two of us go?”
“Ha...” Uncle Wan leaned down and said softly, “Little Li, I suggest you don't even try that. Once those crazy 'family members' know that Zheng Yingxiong is no longer useful, his attitude will be more dangerous than anyone else's.”
The next moment, a cold scent emanated from Sister Siwei's body. That scent was called 'despair.'
“You've already figured it out, haven't you?” Uncle Wan said. “They respect Zheng Yingxiong like a 'god.' Having him sniff their scent every morning has become their only hope. Now you want me to personally tell them that this 'god' has become a 'mortal'? I've always lived life on the edge of a knife, but I wouldn't touch a blade this dangerous. They would tear me apart.”
Sister Siwei swallowed and said, “In other words, whether you escape from here or not... little brother Hero is already unable to leave.”
“Do you think that's something I should care about? Little Li, I'm leaving.” Uncle Wan reached out and patted Sister Siwei on the shoulder. “Welcome the collapse.”
“Wan Cai...” Sister Siwei stopped him, her tone icy cold.
“What is it?”
“Did you come here in the middle of the night just to threaten us?”
Uncle Wan reached up and scratched his head before replying, “How did I give you that impression? I just felt that since I'm about to leave soon, I should do my best to tell you how to survive here. Consider it a little life advice.”
With that, he walked out of the room and disappeared into the night.
That night, I leaned against Sister Siwei and sat curled up in the corner. Even though the room wasn't cold, Sister Siwei's body was freezing.
I didn't know how to make her warm again.
The clean scent on her body kept changing, sometimes becoming murky, sometimes turning sinister and vicious.
She would generate one 'thought' after another, only for them to vanish like smoke.
I was very afraid of this feeling. I always felt that she would become a different person by the next morning.
When dawn came and Sister Siwei and I had just opened our eyes, we heard that chaos had already erupted outside.
She grabbed my hand and hurried downstairs, only to find that many people had gathered in the safe room on the basement level.
I smelled a very uneasy scent. Sister Siwei pulled me through the crowd to the front of the line.
Uncle Wan was kneeling on the ground, staring at the huge safe in front of him.
I remembered that this safe was always used by him to store the 'Jade,' but now the safe was empty.
“Th-this… this…” Uncle Wan knelt in front of the safe, his whole body trembling.
“Stop with the 'this'!” one of the 'Captains' demanded. “Brother Wan! Where is everyone's 'Jade'?! Didn't you say we should all store it with you, and you would distribute it?”
Uncle Wan turned his head. His eyes were wide and bloodshot. I could clearly smell the scent of 'panic' on him.
“I know... someone must have stolen the 'Jade'! Who? Who has the guts? Do they not respect the 'Family Rules'?!” His voice was extremely strained, on the verge of cracking. “Aren't you all afraid of the 'Family Rules'?!”
But everyone was very quiet. No one said a word.
I could smell the scents on him were already filled with 'nervousness,' 'fear,' 'unease,' and finally mixed with some 'despair.' He was about to stop thinking.
“Brother Wan, the 'Jade' has always been in your custody.” An auntie who was a captain said coldly. A scent of 'killing intent' emanated from her.
As soon as she spoke, the same 'killing intent' emanated from everyone else.
“That's right, weren't you keeping it safe for everyone?”
“We trusted you so much, that's why we let you keep all the 'Jade'!” another captain asked.
“Did you embezzle the 'Jade' for yourself?”
“H-How... how is that possible?!” Uncle Wan suddenly stood up and shouted at the crowd. “Do you think I'm an idiot? If I really wanted to embezzle the 'Jade,' why would I have brought you all here this morning when it was time to distribute it?!”
“Then where is the 'Jade'?” The captains pressed him relentlessly, giving him no chance to explain.
Facing the completely empty safe, it seemed that anything he said would be superfluous.
“How should I know?!” Uncle Wan said. “Don't you believe me? If I wanted to embezzle the 'Jade,' why would I wait until now? I could have done it long ago!”
Just as the crowd began to hesitate, Sister Siwei, standing beside me, spoke up. “That's because now there's almost enough 'Jade' for one person to escape.”
“Little Li...!” Uncle Wan glared at her, his eyes wide. “You... I see. 'When a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push,' right? Damn it...”
Uncle Wan couldn't stay calm. He immediately lunged forward to grab Sister Siwei, but the uncles who usually protected him day and night blocked his way.
“Brother Wan, did you really take the 'Jade'?” those uncles asked.
“Have you all lost your minds too?!” Uncle Wan roared. “Even if I wanted to embezzle it, I wouldn't let you all know!”
“But you're the only one who knows the password to that safe,” the uncle said.
“I... I...”
The 'killing intent' of the crowd surged out, flooding the entire floor.
The people who once trusted Uncle Wan the most tied him up and dragged him out to the plaza in front of the office building. What awaited him was the judgment rules he had established himself.
Was Uncle Wan going to disappear too?
When this thought came to me, I didn't feel the slightest bit of sadness. But I noticed that the scent from Sister Siwei beside me grew even stronger.
She didn't take me to watch Uncle Wan's execution. Instead, she pulled me back toward the room.
“Hero, I will protect you,” Sister Siwei said.
“Protect me...?”
“Mm.” Sister Siwei turned her head to look at me, her eyes filled with determination. “I won't let the 'Era of Chaos' happen. Since we can't change the current situation, we'll just have to keep using these people.”