Finally, they all left.

Only the Ghost Prisoner remained, standing still, staring at his own hands, not moving at all.

"Am I... really dead?"

Bai Zhi’er looked at him, pointing to the corner where a skeleton wearing prison guard clothes lay.

"Over there."

The Ghost Prisoner turned his head, and the darkness before him seemed to be instantly lifted.

He saw his own remains.

The Ghost Prisoner slowly moved forward, crouched down, and saw a wallet of indistinguishable color at the edge of the now tattered clothing.

It was embroidered by his wife.

He had always carried it with him.

The Ghost Prisoner realized he had already passed away, and whether his wife was alive or dead remained unknown.

He held his head in his hands, completely broken.

"How could this happen? Lord Inspector clearly said to guard this place well, and if I could make a contribution, I’d be promoted after these people were released."

"I thought by staying here, Lord Inspector would return sooner or later, but in the end... the kingdom was lost and the family destroyed!"

Bai Zhi’er looked at him with compassion.

In life, he might have been a diligent little prison guard.

In this dungeon, the so-called Lord Inspector had tasked him to guard this place, and he truly never took a step away.

Little did he know, in the sunless dungeon, death was near.

And outside, the earth had changed, and the rulers of the land had shifted.

The dungeon could not be opened from the inside; it required someone from the outside to lift the chains.

So even in death, the Ghost Prisoner couldn’t leave, burying his life here along with these innocent people.

In death, he continued to remember his mission in life, guarding the prisoners in the dungeon.

Day after day, driving them to be tortured on the implements.

Bai Zhi’er reminded him: "You should go to hell. If you stay here too long, you will slowly dissipate."

The Ghost Prisoner was somewhat unwilling.

He lifted his reddened eyes to look at Bai Zhi’er.

"Is my wife still among the living?"

Bai Zhi’er gently shook her head: "The paths of the living and the dead are different. Whether she is alive or not, you have nothing to do with her now."

"If you insist on finding her, you’ll only harm yourself and implicate her."

"I can promise you, once I leave here, I will help search for your wife’s whereabouts." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"If she is still alive, I’ll give her some silver to make her days better."

The Ghost Prisoner’s eyes became sad and desolate.

He was silent for a long time.

He slowly lowered his head: "My home is in Xishui Village, and my wife is called Hong Yue."

"If you see her, please tell her that I did not run away... nor did I abandon her or the family. I was... powerless."

Bai Zhi’er softly nodded: "I will."

The Ghost Prisoner walked heavily toward the Ghost Gate.

At the end, he turned around to look at Bai Zhi’er.

"May I ask, is there still war outside? Beichen’s fate has ended, the people should be living well, right?"

Bai Zhi’er’s eyes sparkled: "They have plenty to wear and eat, getting better and better."

The Ghost Prisoner smiled with relief.

"It’s good, it’s good..." He murmured: "If Hong Yue is still alive, she won’t suffer."

Bai Zhi’er suddenly remembered: "By the way, I have a companion, a young master who accidentally wandered in here and went missing. Do you know where he might be?"

The Ghost Prisoner replied: "I thought someone broke in to free the family of these prisoners, so I knocked him out and locked him in the firewood cellar at the end of the other path."

Bai Zhi’er guessed, that must be where Third Brother went.

It seems he has already found Fang Wushen.

Thus, Bai Zhi’er waved to the Ghost Prisoner: "Goodbye~"

The Ghost Prisoner bowed to Bai Zhi’er, giving a final glance at the dungeon.

This was the place he guarded until death, also the deadlock that trapped him.

In the end, he entered the darkness, and the Ghost Gate disappeared.

Bai Zhi’er sighed softly.

The era of chaos back then was like surging waves, and everyone was but a grain of sand within it.

Some were swept to the riverbed, becoming history, others were pushed onto the shore, reborn in the sunlight.

Bai Zhi’er picked up the wallet from the Ghost Prisoner’s remains.

Though it was old and worn, its original color was unrecognizable.

However, she thought, if his wife is alive, upon seeing this item, she will surely know her husband’s reminiscing of her.