A sudden sense of foreboding surged through my mind.
“I… I need to go check,” I said, rushing toward the door, but the auntie stopped me with a firm grip.
“Hero! You can’t go!” she insisted. “The ‘Divine Maiden’ made it very clear—she and you cannot ascend together. Only one can go today. Be a good boy and wait until tomorrow, alright? Tomorrow, we’ll all ascend together, how about that?”
“She and I… can’t leave together?” I frowned, confusion etching my face as I stared at the auntie. “What’s going on? What exactly did my sister tell you?!”
“The ‘Divine Maiden’ only told us about Zhou Zhenglong’s scheme.”
“Zhou Zhenglong’s… scheme?”
“That’s right,” the auntie said, breaking the steamed bun in her hand in half and handing me one piece. “If she hadn’t secretly told us while ‘healing’ us, we’d still be in the dark! Turns out she had already figured out a way to escape this place, but Zhou Zhenglong threatened her to hand it over. She refused, no matter what, and that’s why she was thrown into prison.”
She then gave me a suspicious look. “Wait… you didn’t know about this?”
I swallowed hard. “I knew… I just didn’t expect her to tell you.”
“Ah.” The auntie shook her head. “No one’s to blame except Zhou Zhenglong himself. If the ‘Divine Maiden’ hadn’t secretly reached out to us, he would’ve kept us in the dark for ages.”
I hesitated before asking, “But why are you all so convinced she’s the ‘Divine Maiden’? Just because she healed your injuries?”
“If it were just healing, how would she be any different from an ordinary ‘Fragrant One’?” The auntie chuckled. “Hero, you’ve been busy these past two days, so you didn’t see—just yesterday, the ‘Divine Maiden’ performed a ‘miracle’ for us! With a wave of her hand, she restored a collapsed building right before our eyes!”
“Wh… what?” I froze. I’d seen countless types of ‘fragrance’ here, but never anything like this.
“It was truly a ‘miracle’!” The auntie flailed her arms excitedly. “You didn’t see it—that collapsed house just… *boom*! It fixed itself right in front of us! Turns out the ‘Divine Maiden’ had already found the method of ascension from the ‘Divine Dragon.’ She’s already obtained divine power!”
Now I finally understood where that strange feeling had come from. Those people were supposed to die… yet they kept throwing themselves at Zhou Zhenglong, fearless.
Even knowing that rebellion meant execution, they still weren’t afraid. Was this what my sister had meant when she said… only faith could make it possible?
“I have to go find her… Something’s not right…”
I pushed past the auntie and bolted for the door. There were just too many unanswered questions!
How had that destroyed building been restored?
Why did my sister have such divine power?
The office building was nearly empty now. What had once housed thousands was now barely occupied by a scattered few.
“Hey, Hero, where are you going?”
A few people moved to grab me, but I dodged them easily. What was going on…?
Were they trying to stop me?
“Grab him! He’s supposed to ascend with us tomorrow!”
“Tomorrow… ascend…” My heart pounded uneasily. I felt like I was missing something crucial.
More and more people began converging on me. I realized there were still about twenty people left in the entire building.
Why had *these* people stayed behind?
Scanning their faces, I noticed they fell into two categories: those from my room, and those who could create food.
The sense of dread in my chest deepened. Before they could reach me downstairs, I snatched up a few wooden rods on my way out, then turned and wedged them into the revolving door to jam it. I barricaded the side doors too. Without looking back, I sprinted toward the distant procession.
But after a few steps, I realized my legs wouldn’t obey me.
They felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I slowed to a stop, completely immobilized… What was happening?
As I watched the distant crowd disappear around the street corner, panic clawed at my chest. I pounded my legs with my fists, but I couldn’t move…
“Little brother, you need to understand the logical sequence here,” a voice said calmly from nearby. “Because you didn’t rest well last night, you’re too exhausted to take another step today.”
I turned my head numbly. Standing there was a woman I’d never seen before—long-haired, dressed in black.
What puzzled me was the overpowering ‘fragrance’ wafting from her, one that was on the verge of turning foul. It was called ‘Causality.’
“‘Causality’… Who are you…?”
“Just a friend of Gu Yu’s,” the woman said with a faint smile. “I keep my promises when entrusted. I’ve got a rough idea of what’s happening here.”
“A friend…?” She wasn’t lying—her scent was faint. “Did you make me immobile…? Let me go!! I have urgent business!”
“I’m sorry… little brother.” She sighed softly. “It’s *because* I know how urgent it is that I have to keep you here.”
“What…?”
“Your sister has made her decision, and it’s the right one,” the long-haired woman said. “If you rush over now… you’ll disrupt it. She specifically asked me to hold you back. It won’t be long—just an hour.”
My fists clenched. I felt abandoned by the entire world.
“‘Causality,’ what are you and my sister planning?” I demanded. “What’s the scheme?”
“I have no scheme. It’s all that girl’s doing.” She shook her head. “I only helped her restore a building. Such a big project really was exhausting.”
“So it was you…” I blinked. “Why? Just to solidify her position as the ‘Divine Maiden’?”
“No…” The woman shook her head again. “Little brother, you’ve got the ‘causality’ backward. You think restoring the building was the ’cause,’ and her becoming the Divine Maiden was the ‘effect.’ But in truth, becoming the Divine Maiden was the *cause*.”
I stiffened slightly. “Then what… is the ‘effect’ of that ’cause’?”
“She wants to completely free you.”
The long-haired woman stepped closer, placing a hand on my shoulder before pointing into the distance.
“Her becoming the ‘Divine Maiden’ was for *your* liberation. Right now, she’s leading all the survivors of ‘Jade City’ to the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ game arena to gamble their lives. You just need to wait one hour. Then… it’ll all be over.”
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