Back in the real world, I once again felt that overwhelming sense of helplessness.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape that earthquake, and I couldn’t save Xu Jiahua either.
My mom and dad still refused to speak to me.
Truth be told, I actually missed the days in “prison.” There, someone would pay attention to me all day long, and I had Sister Siwei by my side.
Maybe… that place was my real “family”?
But what kind of bad kid must I be to feel so accustomed to life in “prison”?
For a long time after that, I kept moving between the real world and “prison.”
And from that day onward, I never saw Brother Gu Yu again.
Only Sister Siwei stayed here with me. Our “family” was growing at a terrifyingly fast pace, gathering all kinds of members, and our base kept changing locations.
I’d lost count of how many people there were now—just a sea of faces everywhere I looked. Sister Siwei said the group had likely surpassed a thousand.
The good news was that a few members’ “fragrant abilities” combined could actually produce steamed buns for us.
From then on, we no longer had to scavenge for canned food. As long as we stayed in this family, there’d be an endless supply of food.
Uncle Wan now had a few fierce-looking men by his side. Sister Siwei said they were enforcers he’d chosen from the family to maintain order—they were skilled fighters, and Uncle Wan rewarded them generously with “jade.” They followed him everywhere.
Every morning, just like before, Uncle Wan led everyone in chanting slogans, distributed food, paid respects to the “Divine Dragon,” and then assigned tasks for the day.
As for our family, every member seemed to like me, and that made me happy.
Our living conditions had also improved. We now stayed in a very tall building—they said it used to be a place where people wrote. I was curious—how could a building write?
Below us was a plaza, and standing beside it was a female minotaur. The mask looked so real, almost as if it had grown onto her face.
Sister Siwei warned me never to talk to her. I didn’t understand why, but I knew to listen to the adults.
Sister Siwei, a few aunties, and I shared a room on the fifth floor. We didn’t have to go out every day—we just handled “logistics work,” though I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.
I thought we’d keep living like this—caring for each other, never worrying about food or clothes, playing together every day. And for a long time, that’s exactly how it was.
Until one day, five months later, everything changed.
Late that night, a brother sneaked into my room. Seeing that everyone else seemed to be asleep, he pulled me into a corner and handed me a dirty toy car, begging me to do him a favor.
He wanted me to claim the next morning that he had developed a “fragrant ability,” so he could earn “jade” to buy food. He said he’d been starving for days and couldn’t take it anymore—he’d already saved up some “jade” and just needed a little more to get a meal.
I felt sorry for him, and I really liked the toy car.
I wanted to help.
But before I could answer, one of the aunties sharing our room suddenly shouted, “Liu Fei! What are you doing?!”
I froze, but the brother in front of me nearly jumped out of his skin.
“You’re trying to bribe Little Hero?!” the auntie yelled. “Everyone, come quick!! Someone’s breaking the family rules!!”
Sister Siwei, startled awake, immediately stepped forward. “Auntie Zhao, don’t shout yet—let’s figure out what’s going on first.”
“Figure out what?!” Auntie Zhao shrieked. “Help!! Someone’s violating the rules!!”
“Auntie Zhao…” Sister Siwei’s scent was thick with worry. “Your shouting will get him killed…!”
“He betrayed the family rules!!” Auntie Zhao’s eyes bulged. “He’s not one of us anymore!! Someone, come quick!!”
Seeing that she couldn’t be reasoned with, Sister Siwei turned to the brother. “Liu Fei, run! Don’t come back for now!”
But before Liu Fei could take a single step, the whole building echoed with heavy footsteps as crowds rushed toward our floor. The sight made me nervous too.
Uncle Wan, draped in a coat and surrounded by people, blocked Liu Fei’s escape.
“What’s going on?!” he snarled.
After all these months, Uncle Wan’s scent had grown even more foul.
“Brother Wan!” Sister Siwei stepped forward. “It’s nothing! Liu Fei was just talking to Hero—Auntie Zhao misunderstood!”
“I didn’t misunderstand!!!” Auntie Zhao screamed. “I heard it with my own ears! Liu Fei tried to bribe Hero with a toy! I heard him!!”
Uncle Wan’s cold gaze locked onto Liu Fei. “Is that true?”
Liu Fei frantically shook his head. “Brother Wan! N-no! I was just chatting with Little Hero! I found this toy car outside… wanted to give it to him…”
Trembling, he pulled the toy car from his pocket. “Brother Wan, look… see… I was just giving it to him…”
“You think I’m stupid?” Uncle Wan scoffed. At his signal, the enforcers behind him stepped forward, pinning Liu Fei to the ground. The toy car clattered onto the floor. “You had all day to give him that car, but you waited until the middle of the night?!”
Liu Fei shook uncontrollably, unable to even speak. His scent made me sick—he was terrified.
Just as I stood there, unsure what to do, he lifted his head from the floor and looked straight at me.
He was begging me for help.
“Uncle Wan…” Sensing his desperation, I stepped forward. “Can you please not hit Brother Liu Fei…?”
A flash of malice flickered in Uncle Wan’s scent, but he quickly masked it with a smile. “Little Hero, this doesn’t concern you. Step aside.”
“But… but…”
“Are you lying to Uncle Wan?” he asked darkly.
I could feel the murderous intent radiating from him.
“I… I…”
Sister Siwei quickly pulled me behind her. “Brother Wan, Hero’s just confused. Don’t be angry—deal with Liu Fei first.”
Uncle Wan nodded, then walked over to Liu Fei with a twisted grin.
“Liu Fei… what should I do with you? We’ve had rule-breakers before, but none as bold as you.”
“B-Brother Wan, I’m sorry… I was wrong… Please don’t hit me…”
“No, no… ‘hitting you’ would be too kind.” Uncle Wan shook his head.
“What?” Liu Fei blinked. “If you’re not hitting me… are you going to kill me?”
Strangely, Liu Fei seemed almost relieved—as if death scared him less than a beating.
“Killing you would be even kinder.” Uncle Wan yanked Liu Fei’s head up by the hair and whispered, “I’ve thought of something much more interesting.”
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