Chapter 723: Breaking the Old to Establish the New

The days that followed were no different from hell itself.

No, I had always been in hell, and I had become the most ridiculous existence in it. I was a hero who was being choked and had my Yanzi taken away.

Zhou Zhenglong, that man, had ascended to the throne. He was even madder than Wan Cai, or perhaps his fate wasn't yet fulfilled, because when he took the throne, I smelled that foul Qingxiang.

In the days after, whenever I didn't do as he said, he would punch and kick Siwei Jiejie, but he never laid a finger on me. The family members thought he hadn't broken the Jia Gui, so they started obeying him without question.

He withheld food from us for long periods, locking the two of us in a dark little room. It was a converted storage space that had become our prison, belonging to Siwei Jiejie and me.

The place never saw sunlight, and even the air smelled foul.

Zhou Zhenglong's rule added an extra layer of "force" compared to Wan Cai's. He was overly confident in his own power, even leaving a dagger in our prison and telling us we could kill ourselves if we couldn't hold on.

Every morning, all the family members lined up and walked past me, and I would just woodenly nod or shake my head.

I really wanted to give up on these people, but they had captured Yanzi, so I had no choice but to go along woodenly.

But my half-hearted attitude soon angered Zhou Zhenglong. He used Siwei Jiejie to threaten me, forcing me to say only "I smelled so-and-so's Qingxiang" from then on. If I missed even a single word, he would punch Siwei Jiejie.

In that endless dark time, I would often hear Siwei Jiejie hugging herself in the dead of night, choking back sobs as she whispered, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, it'll be over soon." She was trying to heal her own wounds, but once she finished, even fresher torments awaited her.

The scent on her body started to change strangely, almost as if she had become a different person.

Was there any good news in this hellish life?

Yes, the only good news was that Siwei Jiejie was always by my side.

I could feel that after such prolonged torment, even Siwei Jiejie, who loved me the most, was starting to lose her mind. The scent on her body would sometimes turn like Wan Cai's, sometimes like Zhou Zhenglong's, and at other moments like Gu Yu Gege's. In any case, it wasn't like her own.

I was truly afraid that Siwei Jiejie would go mad. She was my only support here, the Yanzi beside the "Happy Prince," but fairy tales never told me that the Yanzi would go mad before dying.

My confusion and helplessness lingered in my heart, with no one to show me a clear path. Siwei Jiejie often sat quietly in a daze, and sometimes I had to call her several times before she would respond.

I might have been too selfish. Why had I never thought that... not only did I need care, but Siwei Jiejie needed it too?

How much better off was her situation than mine?

After Gu Yu Gege left, in that eerie and terrifying family, only she and I remained. We were surrounded by the family members with their vacant stares, the "Happy Prince" holding no sword, just a crown that would fall off with every step, and a Yanzi covered in wounds.

We walked on a towering building that could collapse into eternal damnation at any moment. If we said even one wrong word or did one thing incorrectly, we would be killed on the spot.

Even in that dark prison, Siwei Jiejie always comforted and guided me, but who was there to guide her...?

She had come here looking no older than twenty, and now even my age was approaching hers. Why hadn't I realized... that she was someone who needed protection too?

She had once said she loved everyone in the world and had tried to guide the family members in her own way, but it had never had any effect.

It felt like a sharp knife hung over both our heads, slowly drawing closer to me. But I was a statue, unable to move a step. I couldn't even interfere with what was happening outside the prison.

My mind was flooded every day with questions, like whether the other teams collecting "Yu" had gathered everything yet.

Or, now that these people no longer seemed human, would Siwei Jiejie still love them?

Or, as our numbers grew, food became increasingly scarce—could those few "Qingxiang holders" supply enough for everyone?

Only now did I realize that fairy tales are all lies. A hero might have thousands of subjects, but a hero can't feed them all.

"Hero..."

Siwei Jiejie, who was lost in thought, suddenly turned and called out to me, startling me.

"Wh-what's wrong?" I replied with a smile. "Siwei Jiejie, how are you feeling today? Is anything bothering you?"

"No."

Siwei Jiejie shook her head. "I just realized... you haven't eaten anything for a long time... Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine..." I smiled. "Siwei Jiejie, don't worry about me. I'm used to going hungry."

"That won't do..." She paused, then forced a smile. "You can't go without food... You're at the age where you need to grow, and not eating will hurt you..."

I thought Siwei Jiejie must be the one who was hungry. Even if I didn't eat, I needed to ask Zhou Zhenglong for something for her.

But as I turned around, I heard a strange sound behind me, followed by a muffled groan.

I was stunned and slowly turned back, only to see Siwei Jiejie holding the knife that Zhou Zhenglong had given us. Her arm and hand were a mess of blood and flesh, and for a moment, I couldn't understand what had happened.

"Uh..." Siwei Jiejie murmured, dropping the knife. She touched her arm and said, almost tearfully, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt... It'll be over soon..."

"Siwei Jiejie...?" I blinked, my mind going blank.

After mumbling for a while, she finally let go of her hand. I saw that her arm had no wound anymore, but it was covered in blood.

What on earth had happened?

Siwei Jiejie shakily clasped her hands together and held them out to me. I thought it was a pool of blood, but inside was clearly a piece of meat.

"Hero... Hero..." Siwei Jiejie said with a smile, "I found something we can eat..."

"Eat... your... meat?"

My voice trembled as I spoke.

"Yes... Hero... I'm 'Zhi Yu'..." Siwei Jiejie said with a smile, "I can even provide food for everyone... Just eat me... I just need to keep 'healing' myself..."

Looking at that piece of meat in her hand, I suddenly felt dazed.

Was there something wrong with my memory?

In "The Happy Prince," it says the Yanzi carried off the prince's gold leaf, piece by piece, to give to the poor in the city, until the prince's entire skin was stripped away.

But why was it the Yanzi cutting off her own flesh now?

This was all wrong... Everything now was wrong...

I didn't know what to do, so I stepped forward and gently hugged Siwei Jiejie.

"It's okay... Siwei Jiejie, leave it to me. I'm the 'hero'... I'll protect you..."

I think I finally understood what Gu Yu Gege meant by "not breaking, not standing."

To protect Siwei Jiejie, I would have to kill her with my own hands.