Chapter 149: Life

Feng Yan spoke, and the people before him were somewhat doubtful.

Lin Xiyan shook their head, indicating they didn't understand what Feng Yan was saying.

Feng Yan smiled, then said to Lin Xiyan: "You go back first, or find a place to rest; I still have some things that must be done here..."

Feng Yan lowered his head, before he finished speaking, he heard the door behind him creak open.

Lin Xiyan looked up and saw a very weak girl; at that moment, Lin Xiyan seemed to understand what Feng Yan was saying.

Ah! Is that so? It's just a game—is it worth it? Is it worth you doing this? They're just data, while we are the masters here.

Lin Xiyan thought that, but a familiar face suddenly appeared in their mind; then Lin Xiyan's mood became low, and they told themselves: "So saying, are we not the same? What others consider important might, for all we know, also be incomprehensible to us!"

Lin Xiyan was thinking about things; when they came to, Feng Yan was no longer before them, his hand supporting the girl, his gaze also softening.

"What you expect? Is it redemption? Or is it that those things are merely driven by the guilt in your heart?" Lin Xiyan looked at Feng Yan before them, the emotion in his eyes seeming as if they themselves had been redeemed.

"Hey, who is she?" the girl suddenly pointed at Lin Xiyan's back in front of them and asked Feng Yan.

Feng Yan watched Lin Xiyan slowly drift away, smiled, and told the girl: "That's my friend, a very close friend."

Feng Yan smiled, watching Lin Xiyan slowly leave, lowered his head toward the girl in front of him and asked: "How is your body now, any better?"

"Hmm." the girl nodded, then said: "I feel a bit better, but..."

"But what?"

"I still don't know where my brother went; I still have nightmares in the middle of the night, dreaming that I am abandoned again in a mass grave, where I saw my brother..." Under Feng Yan's questioning, the girl voiced her worries; at the same time, Feng Yan noticed that although the girl's complexion had improved considerably, according to the imperial physician, he guessed she didn't have much time left.

Feng Yan could not tell the girl that her brother had died; this was something Feng Yan could not bear to do, and no matter how much the girl pressed, Feng Yan would not reveal the truth.

But even now, the girl before them could only use that set?

Thus Feng Yan still lied to the girl, saying a few reassuring words, then stood up.

"Are you leaving?" the girl asked.

"Hmm, I have some matters now; for a treasure of your country, I must solve this riddle." Feng Yan explained to the girl, then strode away.

The girl watched Feng Yan's back, praying in their heart that he could quickly resolve the country's treasure issue; then, as a sudden fit of coughing came over their body, they hastily covered their mouth with their hand.

Cough cough...

After the girl stopped, they brought the hand that had been covering their mouth up to their eyes; seeing the red blood on their hand, the girl knew their time was short.

She clearly knew her own condition, and at that time the girl had already given up hope of living.

When Feng Yan pulled them out of that field of corpses, they had already lost consciousness; the girl knew that, to her, Feng Yan was a benefactor.

But why does their benefactor never tell them where their brother is?

This is the girl's question; she clearly knows that her brother was sent to a terribly frightening place, which adults say can make oneself and one's brother obedient.

But what they don't know is that their children have all died, and the few that return are merely substitutes made by some divine power.

But the adults noticed nothing, as they led the "obedient child" they had brought back around from door to door, visiting relatives, hearing only a few words of praise from relatives' mouths, and secretly rejoicing in their hearts.

Some showed it openly, some kept their joy inside.

Precisely under those adults' praise, that place spread quickly; in just a few dozen days, their signs were erected, buildings grew more numerous and taller, even the Prince came to inscribe.

The founders couldn't stop smiling, revealing their kind faces to the crowd, making solemn promises that they would bring parents the best children, the most obedient offspring.

All the parents were secretly happy, hoping their children would shed bad habits, be reborn, become entirely new people, while they themselves could also have someone else's child.

Precisely for this reason, they and their brother were sent there to experience human purgatory, to experience the light behind it, to taste the darkness that they ought not to have tasted.

The girl was violated, her brother's whereabouts unknown—isn't that tragic? The agreed-upon rules forbade visits, leaving only a group of beasts in human skin; they listened to the children's wails, wore expressions of extreme pleasure and enjoyment, and the so-called teaching tools they spoke of in their hands were nothing but weapons for tormenting children.

So-called human hell is nothing more than that.

The girl recalled that tragic past, the scene of companions around them constantly dying appearing in their mind; the girl knew that, fortunately, she let out a sigh of relief and looked toward the distance.

She knew that the place she now resided in was the splendid Wanggong; at night a few palace maids came to attend to her, her pair of large eyes fixed on the eaves ahead, watching the few birds perched there.

"Time to take your medicine!" the palace maid came over with a tray, bringing snacks and a black pill.

The girl took the pill and swallowed it.

Meanwhile, behind them, an imperial physician was merely watching; after seeing the girl swallow the pill, they slipped away quietly.