Chapter 725: Ascension of the Entire City
I am free.
Sister Siwei also counted the remaining family members. Only one thousand five hundred were left.
The prolonged civil war had cost us nearly three-quarters of our family, and those who remained were undoubtedly the most insane batch.
Maybe this was what Sister meant... the plan she talked about.
But she broke her promise. She didn’t let me ride my bike freely, didn’t let me shout and scream to my heart’s content, didn’t let me do all the things an eight-year-old wanted to do. Instead, she kept me by her side, as the city’s “mascot”—a hero so useless that words couldn’t describe it.
My daily work was no different from before. I just judged all the subjects, but Sister Siwei forbade anyone from talking to me.
Every night, I was alone in my room. Though the room was more comfortable now than before, my heart ached more than ever.
No one had time for me. Everyone seemed busy every day. I didn’t know what they were busy with—only that they were planning something systematically and deliberately. I saw people coming and going every day, but I had no idea what they were up to.
Sister Siwei, meanwhile, began using her “Healing” ability heavily to consolidate her rule. She claimed she could heal all of everyone’s pains and injuries, both internal and external. She declared herself the true “Goddess” and said that when the time was right, she would show everyone a “miracle.” Everyone believed her. She became their sole hope.
One week later, at night, Sister Siwei came to my room. After she became the ruler here, I hadn’t spoken to her for nearly a month.
“Yingxiong.” She gave a bitter smile as she stepped through the door.
“Sister...” I said hoarsely.
“Yingxiong, it’s been a long time since we talked. How are you?” she asked. “Do they bring you your meals on time?”
Hearing her question, I just kept my head down and said nothing.
“Don’t you want to talk to me?” She walked into the room, pulled up a chair, and sat down. She had a strange smell about her.
It suddenly reminded me of the time when Wan Cai was still around. He used to come into our room like this too, insisting on chatting with us.
“Sister, is this the ‘plan’ you mentioned?” I asked.
“No, of course not.” She shook her head. “I told you, Yingxiong, I’m waiting for an opportunity.”
“That opportunity... hasn’t come yet?” I asked gloomily.
“Soon, just a little more,” she replied. “We’ll be free soon.”
“Is that so...” I slowly raised my eyes to look at her. “Sister... the smell on you now is very similar to Wan Cai’s. I finally know the name of this smell.”
“Oh? Is that so? What is it?” She smiled.
“It’s ‘lies’,” I said. “Sister, the smell on you tells me you’re lying... You have no plan at all, and you don’t actually want to set me free.”
“Oh...” She nodded silently. “So you can smell when I’m lying now?”
“Yes...”
“So you’ve grown up too, Yingxiong.” she said. “Since when did you stop calling him ‘Uncle Wan’ and start calling him ‘Wan Cai’?”
I didn’t know the answer to that question either. All I knew was that Brother Gu Yu was still my brother, Sister Siwei was still my sister, and the others weren’t even human.
“Yingxiong, I’ve said that I love everyone in this world. If it were possible, I would even sacrifice myself to cure this city’s sickness,” she said. “It’s a pity that now even that opportunity is gone. So I’m planning to do what I can.”
She told me about herself in a casual tone, but my thoughts were in chaos. Was the “what I can” she mentioned becoming a “Goddess” to rule here?
“Oh, by the way, did you know? For a long time among my friends, my nickname was ‘Li Guanyin’.” She chuckled lightly. “I’m just that kind of troublesome person. Whenever I see something, whether it concerns me or not, I have to help. Isn’t that interesting?”
She was laughing, while I remained silent.
Then she told me about some of her childhood memories, school days, and love life. But the smell on her had been heavy all along—she had been lying the whole time.
Why was this?
“...Later I broke up with that boy, hehe.” She sniffled. “That’s good too—staying away from a scumbag. I don’t have to be such a saint anymore, right?”
Lies.
“Yingxiong, if one day you truly become free, just fly far away,” she said, changing the subject. “No one in this world can restrain you. Go ride a bike in the wind, go shout and scream on the streets, go play and run to your heart’s content, do anything you want, and feel the freedom here.”
“Freedom...” I muttered the word expressionlessly, finding it especially ironic.
In this damned place, you can’t even escape through death... How could I be free?
“Oh, right.” Sister Siwei said again, “There’s another ending to ‘The Happy Prince’ that I forgot to tell you. Do you want to hear it?”
I silently shook my head. “No.”
“Hmm, I figured. Sleep well tonight...” Sister stood up, smiled at me, and said, “Remember, every day from now on is a new day.”
Watching her walk out of the room with a warm expression, I felt as if I had lost something.
But looking at the entire “Happy Prince,” what he could lose had already been lost.
Including the swallow.
The next day, the sun rose into the sky like a gun muzzle. I was awakened by the sound of many footsteps in the building. I opened my eyes, and before I could figure out what was happening, I was already leaning on the window, watching a large number of people walking out of the office buildings.
They formed an orderly single-file line. At the very front was Sister.
What was going on...?
I saw that they didn’t stop near the “Executioner”; instead, they walked further away. That direction was probably toward the “Divine Dragon.”
Were they going to worship the “Divine Dragon” together? But usually, people went to worship the Divine Dragon freely. Why were they in a single-file line this time?
Something felt off, but I couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
“Yingxiong, you’re awake?” An auntie came into the room, holding a steamed bun made from “Qingxiang.” “Come eat.”
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“Oh, speaking of which, we should congratulate them.” The auntie smiled. “The ‘Goddess’ has found a way to escape this place, so she’s leading them to the ascension grounds. They’re the first batch. A small group of us stayed behind, and we’ll be the second batch.”
“Asc...ension?” I slowly widened my eyes. “How are they going to ascend?”
“I don’t know the specifics either,” the auntie said. “But the ‘Goddess’ said that the real answer isn’t worshipping the ‘Divine Dragon,’ but entering the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ palace.”