"Su Jue!"
"Stay quiet." After rolling to her feet, Su Jue immediately began to flee. He had no time to deal with her, and a low murmur was enough to silence her. His two strongest A-rank combatants were temporarily unavailable. At most, Su Jue himself was only B-rank; he held no advantage against a Temple-class Honkai Beast.
Jian Yun quietly shut her mouth and curled herself up even tighter, allowing Su Jue to carry her as he fled. Unfortunately, as this was a hunting ground for Honkai Beasts, there was naturally more than one of those monsters. With ruins blocking the area all around them, their massive bodies easily sealed off every escape route.
With a bang, a huge chunk of stone falling from the building crashed down in front of Su Jue, forcing him to brake sharply and change direction. Yet that tiny difference in speed was enough for him to enter the Honkai Beast's hunting range.
Now, their only hope was probably to wait for that girl to come to their rescue.
Unfortunately, that possibility did not exist. More than anyone, he knew that Kiana was still closely following the clues surrounding Griseo's disappearance. She definitely would not appear anywhere near the school, much less come to save them.
He had expected this from the start.
Crack—
The spear pierced the ground. The Temple-rank Honkai Beast attacked too swiftly for Su Jue to dodge in time, and a huge gash was torn open across his arm. Scalding blood immediately soaked his sleeve and flowed down his arm onto Jian Yun's face. She wanted to check Su Jue's injury, but in the end, she merely gritted her teeth, not daring to interfere with his judgment.
"Hold on tight." Taking advantage of the Honkai Beast's momentary stiffness after thrusting its spear, Su Jue took a deep breath and charged straight up along the spear toward the beast itself.
But it was, after all, Temple-rank. Unlike weaker Honkai Beasts, it was not stupid. Seeing an insect daring to crawl up its weapon, it grabbed the spear and flung it viciously, sending both of them flying.
This was exactly the opportunity Su Jue had been waiting for. Borrowing the force of the Honkai Beast's throw, he hugged Jian Yun and traced a huge arc through the air before landing inside a half-collapsed school building.
After rolling across the ground several times to bleed off the force, Su Jue could not hold it in any longer and spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Are you okay?" Seeing Su Jue injured, Jian Yun, whom he had been protecting all this time, hurriedly got up and supported him. But there was no first-aid kit here, and she knew nothing about emergency care. All she could do was watch anxiously.
"I'm fi—" Before he could finish, Su Jue coughed up blood again. Still, one got used to coughing up blood after doing it enough. He had not expected Jian Yun to have any solution, so he could only endure the pain and lead her toward the other side of the building.
"There's a tree over there. I'll jump across first." A lush, sturdy landscaping tree caught Su Jue's eye. Looking back, he saw that the Honkai Beast, having lost its target, was already flying toward them. He stopped hesitating and took a leap of faith.
The branches scraped against him with a burning pain, but he landed safely enough. Of course, with a B-rank physique, jumping into a tree would not injure him anyway.
"Jump!" After landing in the tree, Su Jue called out to Jian Yun. Looking at the branch five or six meters below, Jian Yun felt a wave of fear. But seeing Su Jue reaching out to catch her, she gritted her teeth, shut her eyes, and jumped.
The sensation of falling was hollow and empty. Every source of support had vanished. Nervous and uneasy, Jian Yun did not know whether she would be caught or smashed into a pile of flesh.
"I've got you." A gentle voice reached her. Jian Yun opened her eyes and found herself lying in Su Jue's not particularly strong arms.
Boom—
After they jumped from the building, the entire school building was completely destroyed by the Honkai Beast. Flying rubble rained down on them, and Su Jue did not dare linger. He hurried down from the tree and ran toward a safe area. More than ten minutes later, the sound of helicopters came from afar. The Honkai disaster relief forces had finally arrived.
We're safe.
But this was only the beginning.
This Honkai disaster had been utterly horrific. As a key development project, the entire school's students had almost all died, leaving only two survivors.
Living in the suburbs, they had never known the splendor of skyscrapers or the luxury of fine jewelry they could not afford. Their only hope and expectation lay in their children's futures. They hoped their children would change their impoverished lives and rise above their station.
Yet after this disaster, everything was destroyed. Everything was gone. Grief filled everyone's hearts, and when they looked at Jian Yun, that grief became resentment.
Why did my children all die while you got to live without a care in the world?!
Why were you the only one who got to live just fine? Why didn't you die?!
You brought the monsters here! It's all your fault! It's all your fault!
Die! Die alongside my child!
Die!
Die!
Die!
Die!
My Love, My Hatred—All Because of You
It wasn't me. It wasn't me. I didn't kill them!
"Jian Yun, what's wrong?"
A familiar voice sounded. Her darkened vision gradually blurred, then slowly cleared. A gentle breeze brushed across the classroom curtains, and the setting sun shining through the windows dyed the entire room a soft gold. It was so peaceful and tranquil, as though a dreamlike filter had been laid over the whole world.
Dusk, sunset, class, classroom.
Jian Yun stood alone in the center of the classroom, blankly staring at her classmates seated at their desks, all looking at her with curious eyes.
What am I...?
Was that a dream?
The school had not been attacked. Her classmates had not died. Everyone was the same as before. Nothing had happened. Nothing had changed.
Thank goodness. It was only a nightmare. Just a dream...
For a moment, Jian Yun nearly cried with joy.
"Jian Yun, stop standing there. Come sit with us and listen to class properly." A classmate called out to her. Hearing her friend's voice, Jian Yun let out a long breath and instinctively looked beside herself, where there was an empty seat.
Huh? Whose seat was that supposed to be?
Her mind was muddled. Jian Yun could not remember who that seat belonged to, so helplessly, she could only sit down and listen to the lesson first.
"Very good. Now that Jian Yun has taken her seat, our class is finally complete. Now, let us begin our first lesson." The bald teacher wore a kind smile and seemed close to the students, no longer possessing the harsh, cutting manner he once had.
"Jian Yun, could you answer this? If the entire class encountered a disaster, how should someone who abandoned her companions to survive alone be dealt with?"
As his voice fell, the air went silent. The smile that had just appeared on Jian Yun's face froze. The next moment, the classmates who had been listening so attentively began shouting loudly.
"Of course we kill her! Make her die with everyone else!"
"No one gets to survive alone!"
"We're all the same kind! No one gets to live!"
No, that wasn't it. I didn't abandon everyone, I...
The noisy arguments grew more and more violent until they roared like thunder, endlessly pouring into Jian Yun's ears.
At some point, the golden glow of sunset had turned blood-red. The bodies of the classmates she had spent every day with were twisted and mutilated. Severed limbs and blood stained the whole classroom, while the walls were densely covered in names written in blood—Jian Yun.
"Jian Yun, the teacher asked you a question. Why aren't you answering?"
"Say it! Say it!"
"Why didn't you die?!"
The evil ghosts of hell repeated themselves again and again, endlessly cursing her. This was no longer a classroom, but the ruins of the school after its complete destruction.
Their broken limbs were scattered across the floor, constantly wriggling toward Jian Yun.
Come on, come on, die with us.
They drew closer, gripping Jian Yun's calves tightly and pulling at her arms, tearing her apart bit by bit.
No!!
"No..." Tears had long soaked through her pillow. In the pitch-black room, Jian Yun hugged it and curled herself tightly into the corner. She cried like that until exhaustion made her pass out, only to be tormented by nightmares once more.
The heavy curtains were blown open by the wind outside, leaving a crack through which sunlight shone. Yet Jian Yun recoiled in terror, afraid to touch those rays of light.
"Don't look at me, don't look at me..."
Sunlight was no longer warm. Whenever Jian Yun went outside, countless hateful and malicious gazes fell upon her, accompanied by the cruelest curses hidden deep within human hearts.
She no longer dared meet anyone's eyes, nor did she dare expose herself to sunlight. Gradually, she shut herself inside her room and hid herself in darkness.
Only darkness and solitude could give her even the slightest sense of safety, sparing her from the hateful stares. Yet the fear that came with them never faded. Instead, it continued to grow in the darkness, gnawing at her fragile heart and tearing at her mind.
The quieter the dead of night became, the more she heard hallucinations of her classmates calling her name. Whenever she ate, the food she swallowed turned into severed, bloody flesh. Whenever she slept, she was dragged into an endlessly repeating nightmare.
Gradually, both her mind and body became unbearably weak. The only thing supporting her was probably her family.
The weakness caused by prolonged hunger was more than Jian Yun could bear. Clutching her pillow tightly, she slowly moved closer to her bedroom door.
At least... Mom and Dad still care about me...
"Ever since that incident, those bastards have been pushing me out, and those assholes in charge of compensation even withheld the money that belongs to our family..."
"Xiaoyun survived, but everything is ruined."
"If only... she had died in that accident too."
Tears dripped onto the floor. Jian Yun covered her mouth tightly, not daring to make a sound. Even as she bit her palm until it bled, she felt nothing.
No matter how vicious strangers' stares were, no matter how terrifying the trauma of that attack had been, nothing could make Jian Yun despair more than a single sentence from her family.
At that moment, her mind could no longer hold together. Deep despair completely crushed her.
Why am I still alive?
Why do I have to live?
Why am I the one who has to endure all this pain?
Su Jue's face flashed through her mind, and suddenly, she found the answer.
It was all his fault. He had saved her and made her endure all of this.
Everyone had been equal. If not for him, she would not have become like this. While she endured every last bit of despair, he alone could act as though nothing had happened.
The deepest affection was also the most desperate hatred.
From the beginning, they had merely been people at the very bottom huddling together for warmth. From the beginning, they had been the same. If he had not appeared in her life, he would not have shattered that balance. If she had never seen the light, she could have grown accustomed to the darkness.
Only death was the most equal gift. The moment she survived, the equality belonging to the weak was broken.
Su Jue... I loved you, and I hated you just as much.
I hated you for bringing me light. I hated you for changing everything. I hated you for making me endure this despair.
It was all your fault!
It was all your fault!
Why did you save me?
Why did you leave me after saving me?
You destroyed everything I had, made my family, my friends, and everyone around me change beyond recognition.
Pain and despair had completely devoured Jian Yun's reason. Like a walking corpse, she slowly walked toward the window.
Pulling open the curtains, she found open sky beyond the window.
If I jumped from here, Mom and Dad would not have to struggle anymore, right?
At that moment, sunlight covered her body, and she smiled.
I'm sorry.
The person I hated most, and loved most.
Rebirth and Farewell
"So this was the result you deliberately guided her toward, Herrscher of a Thousand."
"You lit a faint spark for a girl trapped in darkness, nurturing her fragile little flower of affection, only to snap it in two when it bloomed."
"That intense affection would become the finest nourishment amid painful despair, giving birth to the purest puppet."
"You think you still have any humanity left?"
"Admit it. You're a monster that toys with people's hearts!"
"Shut up!"
Countless threads flew through the air, tearing the puppets in the theater to pieces. Su Jue stood alone on the stage, and deep exhaustion flashed through his golden eyes.
"Even though I already abandoned the plan..."
Yet the outcome still continued to unfold in the worst possible direction. Su Jue had wanted to change Jian Yun's fate by becoming her emotional support, but she ultimately failed to hold past the breaking point of her mind. The malice of her companions was far more destructive than he had imagined.
But now that things had come to this, although he could not achieve the ending he had envisioned, fortunately, Su Jue still had a chance to change things.
Before you continue