"You've been in Twin City for hundreds of years, haven't you? The scenery outside the city is just your imagination, isn't it? You thought all the species on the mountain had died out, but they haven't. A hundred years later, there's still a pine forest on the mountain that's thriving."

Liu'er said "Oh," and pointed to the pine forest growing on the mountain: "I was just joking with you! Let's go!"

A smile returned to Xia Chuhe's face, but he still didn't move.

Li Qiusheng poked his head out from behind Xia Chuhe and said with a troubled expression, "Sixth Brother, the eldest brother lied to you just now. There are no pine forests on the mountain, only grass."

The scenery on the mountain remained unchanged this time.

Liu'er said with a fake smile, "Stop joking, let's go, or I'll drag you into the city again!"

Li Qiusheng scratched his head: "Okay, I was just joking, but there really aren't any pine forests or bushes on the mountain..."

Liu'er's smile became more genuine.

Li Qiusheng said in a serious tone, "However, there is still one giant pine tree."

Liu'er's fake smile finally crumbled. She shoved them away and yelled, "Go to hell! You two!"

A bulldozer sped out from a small road in the city and headed straight for Xia Qiu and her companion.

The two, who were prepared, leaped into the air, landed on the car, and then jumped down again for leverage.

The bulldozer, unable to brake in time, continued to rush forward and crashed down with a loud bang.

The illusion set up by Liu'er was completely shattered by the bulldozer that fell into the trap.

A deep pit appeared before them, with countless sharp spikes at the bottom, and rotten rags stuck in the spikes.

The bulldozer fell into the deep pit, smashing several skeletonized corpses and sending up clouds of sand that lingered for a long time.

If you had trusted Liu'er and taken a few more steps forward, two more fresh corpses would have appeared at the bottom of the pit.

Liu'er missed her first attack, but instead of summoning more out-of-control objects, she smiled insincerely and said, "Since you don't want to leave, then stay and witness the tragedy you've created."

Xia Chuhe frowned: "What tragedy?"

You'll find out in a moment.

Liu'er reached out and snapped the earpiece in half, revealing the finely tangled wires beneath where her ear used to be. In a cheerful mood, she hummed a song—the same one she always played.

Sleep well, baby.

Not afraid of the long night

There was a clear pond in my dream

The old gears, too, turned gently.

Roses bloom in my heart

..."

As the song filled the air, the city noise gradually subsided. A delivery drone that had been flying overhead landed unexpectedly, patrol officers stopped what they were doing, and construction workers left their excavator booms hanging motionless in the air...

A gentle song, yet Li Qiusheng heard it conveying an endless sense of sorrow.

She recalled the pain of having her flesh cut off to return to her mother and her bones to return to her father, and what hurt even more than her body was the feeling of being raised as an investment product, disappointing investors, and the helplessness of turning into a handful of dry earth.

She used her yearning for freedom to mask her sense of homelessness and rootlessness.

The home she finally found is now facing the crisis of being destroyed at any moment.

Li Qiusheng tugged at Xia Chuhe's combat uniform and asked, choking back tears, "Boss, we don't know what the rules are. Even if we find the rules, will it still not save our home?"

Xia Chuhe stared at her in confusion, then suddenly had a look of realization on his face. He casually took out two earplugs and put them into Li Qiusheng's ears.

The music stopped, interrupting the sad mood.

Li Qiusheng wiped away his tears, not understanding why he had such negative thoughts just now.

The pain of the past has long since transformed into nourishment for growth. Even if a way to rebuild the city's rules cannot be found, there are still companions fighting side by side...

Green Willow City.

Following the clues from the forum replies, Bu Yi finally traced the shady shop owner back to him.

Her special ability allows her to distinguish between true and false information to a certain extent. The commentators were not lying; they had indeed "heard from the sidelines." However, the source of the information was a shady shop owner with ulterior motives, and the way the information was spread even had the tacit approval and assistance of the Green Willow City Lord.

The forum had already lifted registration restrictions long ago, so it's truly remarkable that it was only at this point that it was exploited by malicious individuals.

However, in the future, we should no longer seek help from the forum for any important information, lest it be exploited by malicious individuals.

After gathering the evidence, Bu Yi led his men to attack Green Willow City.

This time, she came on behalf of Taotie City. Her goal was to eradicate the shady shop owner and hold the Green Willow City Lord accountable.

Just in case, Bu Yi also brought Sha Feng, who had visited Green Willow City twice before.

Before even stepping into the inner city of Green Willow City, Sha Feng sensed something was wrong.

The evolved humans who patrolled back and forth had changed their clothes, moved stealthily, and had piercing eyes, making them far superior to the weak-looking patrolmen of the previous two times.

“The patrol team has changed,” Sha Feng reminded Bu Yi.

Bu Yi: "Regarding the diplomatic relations between the two cities, I sent a message to the city lord of Green Willow City according to the rules, so it's normal that the other party is on guard."

Bu Yi and his group walked slowly toward Green Willow City, only to find that someone was already waiting at the city gate.

The leader was a middle-aged woman with a gentle appearance and fair skin. Her hands were remarkably delicate despite the sandstorm.

Two soldiers stood behind the woman, each holding an iron box.

The woman's gaze swept past Bu Yi and Sha Feng, then swept over the people from Taotie City, and she said with some disappointment, "Little... City Lord Xia didn't come?"

Bu Yi gave a forced smile: "It's a small matter, no need for the city lord to trouble himself."

The woman smiled and said, "That's true. Let's see the gift I gave you first."

Upon hearing the words "gift," the warrior behind the woman seemed to have triggered some kind of pre-programmed action. Without being told, he immediately opened the iron box, inside which were two human heads.

One of them came from the owner of the shady shop.

Sha Feng's eyes twitched, and she whispered a reminder to Bu Yi.

The people that Taotie City had sent out in advance to infiltrate and gather information returned to the group after going around in circles. Standing behind Bu Yi, they couldn't openly pass on the message and almost got injured from holding it in.

The woman pointed to the two heads and explained, "This one belongs to Boss Qiang, and this one belongs to City Lord Qiang. They are, by a reckoning, distant cousins."

"Oh, let me introduce myself again. My surname is Deng, Deng Congrong. I come from Xinghuo and am the aunt of Xiao Xia City Lord."

Bu Yi: "..."

Spark, they stopped looking for it, but it finally came knocking on their door?

Also, what's the deal with "aunt"?

Bu Yi knew that Xia Chuhe's mother was named Xia Qingxue. Shouldn't "Auntie" have the surname "Xia"?

In short, the enemy somehow became an old friend.

Bu Yi quickly summoned Li Yue, who knew more about Xia Chuhe's background, to deal with the situation.

Seeing Bu Yi's reaction, Deng Congrong frowned and pouted, feigning sadness: "Xia Xia didn't even mention me to you? Sigh, I'm so sad..."

Bu Yi: "..."

Bu Yi was dazed and confused when Deng Congrong invited him into Green Willow City. On the way, he heard from his scouts that Green Willow City had changed hands two days earlier.

The people of Xinghuo were quite capable, and they took Green Willow City in a single day. Deng Congrong swiftly beheaded the former city lord and the black shop owner, seemingly already aware of their conflict with Taotie City.