My sister is Luna

"Buzz—" Guiguzi instantly raised his staff high, making a sound like the flapping of wings, and a layer of light covered his body.

The four figures vanished from their sight in an instant.

With the power of Guiguzi, Cain felt his steps were lighter and he could run faster.

"Capture them!" Si Ming frowned and gave the order.

"Yes!"

Although the guards could no longer see Cain and the others, they dared not disobey the orders of the God of Fate. They could only judge by the sound of footsteps and the crowd that had been pushed aside out of thin air, chasing after them like clumsy children.

“Guiguzi…!” A cold, hostile glint flashed in Siming’s eyes. Just from the stealth technique, he could confirm that it was Guiguzi, and the others were most likely his accomplices.

"You choose not to take the path to heaven, but you choose to come to hell when there is no way out."

They thought Guiguzi would hide away, but they didn't expect him to dare to swagger in front of them. In Siming's eyes, this was a provocation!

"God of Fate, please calm your anger..." The onlookers were terrified and knelt down one after another.

This was the first time they had seen Si Ming so angry, and they hoped that Si Ming wouldn't take his anger out on them.

With the ability to become invisible, the pursuers from the God of Fate were destined not to find them and would have to return empty-handed.

"Go and block the back gate and strictly check everyone coming and going."

But Si Ming never expected that Cain and the others would separate, turn back, and instead of fleeing directly, they would enter the alley and then take a detour.

Cain and the others mingled in the crowd, watching Si Ming's carriage get further and further away from them.

Having shaken off his pursuers, Cain stopped abruptly beside a man standing near the front gate of the city. He hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Miss Lin?"

Of all the people Cain knew, none had changed more drastically than this man.

Her hair, which was jet black just a few months ago, is now completely white. Her animal ears droop, making her look nothing like a young person in her early twenties. Her face is extremely thin, yellowish-black, and all traces of her former happiness have vanished, making her look like a wood carving. Only the occasional movement of her eyes can indicate that she is still alive.

Draped in tattered clothes, she held an empty, broken bowl in one hand and leaned on a bamboo pole longer than herself, its bottom cracked, with the other. She was clearly a beggar now, and her heart had darkened.

She saw Cain, who was standing there.

"Are you passing through here on your way back to Chang'an?" she asked as she approached.

“I need to go back to Jixia first, then back to Chang’an. What’s wrong with you?” Cain replied.

Looking at the drastically changed Miss Lin, Cain felt complicated and puzzled. She was living a good life not long ago, so why did she become like this?

Miss Lin's real name is Lin Xiang'er. She was someone Kaiyin met when he stopped at the Yunmengze post station in Jixia. At that time, she was the daughter of the post station owner. She was a cheerful person who chatted with Kaiyin and others out of curiosity about the outside world and became friends with them. She had just gotten engaged a few days earlier and even gave him several bags of wedding candy, her eyes full of happiness and anticipation.

“That’s perfect. You’re a traveler, so you’ve seen a lot. I was just about to ask you something—” Lin Xiang’er’s dull eyes suddenly lit up.

"It's just—" She took two more steps closer, lowered her voice, and whispered as if it were a secret, "Does a person have a soul after they die?"

Cain was surprised to see her eyes fixed on him. In a brief moment of hesitation, he wondered how to answer her. The people here generally worshipped the Eastern God and were very devout; it was mythology, so they also believed in ghosts. Yet, she was puzzled.

—Or rather, it's a hope: a hope that it exists, yet a hope that it doesn't... Cain wasn't sure.

"Probably, probably." Cain wasn't sure, but the Forget-Me-Not Swamp should fit the bill.

"So, there must be a hell?" The hell that Lin Xiang'er was talking about must be the place where people go after they die.

"Hell? It's about..."

"So, the entire family that died can meet again?"

"Meet……"

Cain hesitated. He didn't know what had happened to Lin Xiang'er, but it must have been something bad. According to mythology, Hell was a place for evil people. But if that meant meeting her, wouldn't that be insulting her family as evil people? Since something unfortunate had happened, he was afraid that if he didn't meet her, she would overthink things. He also didn't know if the mythology created by Donghuang had anything similar to Heaven.

"There they are, catch them!" Cain's thoughts were interrupted as the pursuers caught up again.

Si Ming wasn't stupid; he quickly realized the truth and understood that the most dangerous place is the safest place.

Cain wanted to say something to Lin Xiang'er, but the pursuers wouldn't give him time. As soon as Lin Xiang'er saw the soldiers, she ran away tremblingly.

"Go!" The purple-haired youth suddenly appeared and pulled Cain out of the city gate.

……

Somewhere outside the city.

"Phew...we've finally shaken them off." Guiguzi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your help, sir. May I ask your name?" Cain asked the young man.

"My name is Liu Bang, courtesy name Ji. I only stepped forward because I really wanted to get to know you. May I ask how I should address you?"

The young man smiled, ruffled his hair, and let his purple hair fall naturally. His smile was somewhat frivolous.

"Cain," Cain said, a mixture of surprise and wariness in his heart.

It's hard not to suspect that Cain had ulterior motives in approaching him; after all, Liu Bang wouldn't do anything without a reason.

"Liu Bang?! No wonder you looked so familiar, it's you!" Guiguzi was somewhat surprised, marveling at the smallness of Yunmengze.

Liu Bang was a rebel leader who raised the banner of freedom in Yunmengze, openly declared that he would abandon the gods and was not bound by them. He had many capable and virtuous people under his command.

He led ten thousand men and carved out a base in Ba Shang, north of Yunmeng City, making him a local hero.

"I dare not accept the title of leader. I am merely a vanguard in pursuit of freedom, Master Guiguzi," Liu Bang said modestly.

Guiguzi glanced at him again and said:

"What are Chief Liu's plans now? Will we part ways here, or will we stay together?"

"Don't you think there's one person missing?" Cain suddenly asked. Now there were only three of them, including himself.

"Gan Jiang and Mo Xie!" Guiguzi reacted instantly.

"Oh no, he's still in the city. Why isn't he coming with us?"

As they fled, they were completely unaware that Gan Jiang and Mo Xie had fallen behind.

“Revenge…” Cain recalled Gan Jiang’s words, and he probably couldn’t resist the urge to take revenge.

“All the city gates have been sealed off. We’ve been discovered once, so the guards will only be tighter. Alas, we can only hope that Gan Jiang and Mo Xie won’t act too impulsively and that they’ll wait for our rescue.” Looking back at Yunmeng City, Guiguzi sighed and said.

"Let's go, Cain." Exposing him once would only invite a more severe investigation. Guiguzi had to return to Xuanwei Forest to make preparations. He felt that this time there would be a resolution. Gan Jiang was seeking revenge, and a rebel army had appeared here. Yunmengze was about to undergo a major change.

"Brother Cain, you seemed to have been a little interested in that Miss Lin before?" Liu Bang suddenly whispered as Cain brushed past him.

"Yes, she's my friend. I don't know why things turned out this way. She ran away just now, she should be alright." Cain stopped, making no attempt to hide his doubts and worries.

"What if I said I knew what happened to her?" Liu Bang said mysteriously.

Cain kept his eyes on Liu Bang.

"It is said that she brought disaster upon herself and ended up here. More details can be found at Ba Shang..." Liu Bang smiled and thought for a while, then looked at Cain.

Cain knew that Liu Bang was inviting him, and he looked towards Yunmeng City—

In a hazy vision, the city wall pressed down on the earth, as if pressing down on his heart. He recalled everything he had seen before: the blind people, the rejection of others, and the so-called gods... Suddenly, he felt a sense of oppression.

"Let's go."

……