Chapter 710: Let's Do the Right Thing

"It seems... we're on the same page," Siwei Jiejie said.

"Is that so? You think that way too?" Gu Yu Gege asked.

"Truth be told, Wan Ge laid out the future path for our city last night, but I don't think it's right," Siwei Jiejie said, turning her gaze toward me and speaking softly. "He said that Yu Cheng is about to enter the Hunduan Shidai."

"With the three of us here, it's really hard to slip into the Hunduan Shidai. Wan Ge underestimated Yingxiong Didi, and he underestimated you too," Gu Yu Gege said. "What we're about to face isn't the Hunduan Shidai, but..."

Siwei Jiejie nodded after hearing this: "The Yingxiong Shidai."

"Siwei, this is going to be a very dangerous road," Gu Yu Gege said with a serious expression. "We'll be pushing Yingxiong Didi's Shen Ge to new heights, making everyone blindly worship him. I was born here, and if I want to escape, this is the only way out. Other cities might look better off, but I can't keep traveling there every time I respawn—it would waste too much time."

"So you're planning to come back... and tame this Meng Shou."

"What a fitting metaphor," Gu Yu Gege said with a bitter smile. "Right now, everyone in Yu Cheng has turned into one big Meng Shou. It's probably our only advantage compared to other cities. This Meng Shou is incredibly powerful, but none of us can escape it—it keeps pulling us in, making itself even stronger. It's incredibly dangerous, but the three of us can try to tame it. Whether it ends up devouring us or destroying the world... well, that's just up to fate."

"But..." Siwei Jiejie's face changed as she realized the crucial issue, "where are we supposed to take this Meng Shou? If we can't gather enough Yu, there's no way out anywhere... How are we going to escape?"

Gu Yu Gege sighed after hearing this: "Honestly... Siwei, I don't know."

"You don't know...?"

"That's right." Gu Yu Gege opened his eyes, which held a hint of despair, and looked at me, then at Siwei Jiejie. "I won't hide it from you—over the past four years, I've traveled back and forth between three cities, but I'm not sure what the real way out is. From what I can see, both Wo Cheng and Dao Cheng rely on killing the Shengxiao as their method, but that involves gambling your life against the Shengxiao, which clearly isn't suitable for us in Yu Cheng."

"You're right..." Siwei Jiejie said hesitantly. "If we suggest gambling our lives against the Shengxiao, people will see it as a death sentence. If we can't get past that mental barrier, we'll never take that step."

"That's why I say our situation is so dangerous—we're taming this Meng Shou without any real goal," Gu Yu Gege said. "For now, my only thought is to calm this Meng Shou down first, otherwise if things start to fall apart... Yu Cheng won't have many survivors left."

"Calm it down..." Siwei Jiejie paused. "Do you mean... shifting the mindset of the people in Yu Cheng back to how it was before?"

"I know that's basically impossible. The way people are now isn't just Wan Ge's fault—they themselves want to earn Yu through the safest method possible, which is just a delusion. They're stuck in their comfort zone, hoping to pull a few people in and get rich quick... It's the same in the real world or here. Since when is making money that easy?"

"Ah..." Siwei Jiejie sighed. "In that case... can we really pull this off?"

"We have to try—it's the only reason I chose to come back here. If a bunch of participants in Yu Cheng disappear en masse, it'll be like a total collapse, and many people won't make it out of the interview rooms. If it affects me, I'll never have a chance to escape."

"So that's why you said everything can still be salvaged."

"That's right. I'm not just protecting you two—I'm protecting myself too," Gu Yu Gege continued. "Anyway, Yu Cheng is bound to fall apart eventually, so we're going all in."

Watching Siwei Jiejie and Gu Yu Gege discuss their strategy, I stepped forward and said, "I want to contribute too."

"Yingxiong Didi..." Siwei Jiejie looked at me with a touch of sadness. "You've already done so much. Your nose was bleeding every day recently—you don't need to put this kind of pressure on yourself."

That day, I smelled a scent on Siwei Jiejie that I'd never encountered before—it was called "guilt."

"But I'm a hero," I said. "Jiejie, can you tell me what I should do?"

"You..." Siwei Jiejie seemed hesitant. "Yingxiong, just do what you want to do."

"Do what I want to do?" I was stunned—I'd never heard that before.

"Yingxiong, what do you want to do?" she asked.

Me...?

I want to run down the hallways, shout at the top of my lungs, and jump on the bed nonstop.

I want to collect pretty cards, own toy cars, and play soccer.

I want to eat lots of candy, drink cola I've never tried, and talk to my mom and dad.

After thinking for a while, I asked quietly, "Can I really do anything I want?"

"Of course you can." Siwei Jiejie squatted down in front of me and said softly, "Yingxiong Didi, we've broken free from Wan Cai's control. You can do whatever you want—you're an independent person, not anyone's tool, okay?"

"Then..." I said through gritted teeth, "I want to become a real hero."

"Hmm...?" Both she and Gu Yu Gege were taken aback.

Gu Yu Gege pondered for a moment before saying, "Yingxiong Didi, even though Wan Cai is gone, I won't lie to you—we will still use your abilities to some extent, because that's the only way to keep things stable. But Siwei and I can promise to make your life happier than before, so I support what she said—you can do what you want, you don't have to be a hero..."

"Gege, Jiejie, I don't know if this feeling means I've grown up, but my thoughts are different now," I said, lifting my head and smiling at them. "Before, I thought that what I wanted to do wasn't what the adults agreed with, so I only did what they wanted me to do. But now, I don't want to do what I want—I want to do what's right."