Dust-Sealed

Dust-Sealed

Smack!

The gift box and letter were both opened.

Seeing the gift in the box and the contents of the letter, Yin Ge felt the pain in her mind ease slightly.

So that was it—she suddenly understood.

She knew why Zhang Zichen had resolved to transfer schools!

Then, she wanted to pull her gaze away, but her eyes remained fixed on the mirror, still frantically Peeping at everything she could see.

The pain in her mind nearly reached its peak.

At the same time, the dorm manager's other eye seemed unable to bear so much information either. It rapidly swelled, then burst like a balloon with a bang!

Yin Ge stopped thinking about anything related to the Son of Heaven Game, and all the information instantly vanished from her mind.

Only after abruptly tearing her gaze away from the mirror did Yin Ge feel as though she had come back to life. The pain in her mind gradually faded.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock~"

The hour hand slowly moved, about to point at the number "6."

Before long, the entire world seemed to fall silent.

Yin Ge knew that Persona Time had arrived.

In the blink of an eye, she returned to the familiar classroom.

"He's Beasthood!"

The homeroom teacher's voice rang out immediately. She pointed at the school bully. "I used Discernment on him. He's Beasthood!"

After saying that, she turned around and only then noticed Yin Ge's miserable state. Startled, she took a step back. "Y-you... what happened to you?"

Yin Ge shook her head. "The dorm manager had a conflict with someone and got hurt by accident. That isn't important. Who did you just say was Beasthood?"

"Him!" The homeroom teacher stared fixedly at the school bully beside them.

Seeing her reaction, the school bully first widened his eyes in confusion. After looking around, he finally showed a look of realization. "No wonder. So there are only three of us left, and you couldn't keep hiding, so you said I'm Beasthood?"

He looked at the homeroom teacher with fear in his eyes. "You hid it so well. You actually fooled everyone!"

Hearing that, the homeroom teacher became agitated. "You're still pretending? You're obviously Beasthood!"

"If I'm lying, then where is the real Son of Heaven?"

The school bully frowned deeply. "That's probably something only you know."

"And if we go by what you said, I'm Beasthood, then where is the real Court Minister?"

The homeroom teacher pressed her lips together. "I don't know. I don't know what happened in between, but you must be Beasthood!"

After saying that, she suppressed her fear and grabbed Yin Ge's arm, her eyes full of pleading. "You know, right? I'm not Beasthood!"

Yin Ge looked at her, then slowly pried her hand away. "Let's talk first. About the gift and the letter."

At the mention of the gift and letter, both the homeroom teacher and the school bully froze.

"How did you know I wrote a letter?" The homeroom teacher looked utterly confused.

Yin Ge spoke slowly. "Zhang Zichen, you are an incomplete person who always brings misfortune to others. Teacher hopes you can learn from your friend Zhao Cisheng. Not only does he have a sound body, he also possesses a noble soul—"

Zhao Cisheng was the school bully's name.

Sentence by sentence, Yin Ge recited the contents of the letter.

"That's not it!" The homeroom teacher shook her head. "That isn't what my letter said. My letter was clearly written to Zhao Cisheng!"

"Hello, Zhao Cisheng. I've been watching you all along, and for certain reasons, I never dared explain the situation to you. But I can no longer endure the condemnation of my conscience. I am a teacher. I cannot stand by and watch you continue down into the abyss. A defect of the soul is worse than a defect of the body. Teacher hopes you can learn from your friend Zhang Zichen. He is kind and tolerant, with a fulfilled heart—"

"That's what I wrote, really. You have to believe me. I've always treated Zhang Zichen well—" The more she spoke, the less conviction she had, until she slowly lowered her head.

Yin Ge spoke. "For Zhang Zichen, that must have been a devastating blow."

"It wasn't like that—" The homeroom teacher wanted to explain further, but when she looked up, she found that Yin Ge was not looking at her. Yin Ge was staring fixedly at the school bully.

Yin Ge stepped forward and looked directly into the school bully's eyes. "Why did you alter the letter's contents? And why did you give Zhang Zichen women's underwear?"

"Zhang Zichen always considered you his best friend. He even refused to leave that school full of malice toward him because of you."

"Zhao Cisheng pulled Zhang Zichen up from the cliff, only to push him into an even deeper abyss."

"Perhaps you thought that pair of women's underwear was the last straw that broke the camel's back?"

"No. It wasn't."

"Zhang Zichen recognized that the malicious letter was pieced together by you from the letter the homeroom teacher originally wrote to you."

"That was the real reason he lost all hope."

Every word Yin Ge spoke landed with force.

"What? Women's underwear?" The homeroom teacher looked at the top student in shock.

The top student opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but for some reason, he only smiled in the end.

"Fine." He suddenly laughed. "Fine. Honestly, I got sick of this Son of Heaven Game a long time ago."

L

"Phew~" He let out a breath and sat down on the stool with his legs together in an extremely relaxed posture.

"You're very smart." He smiled at Yin Ge. "The letter was indeed given to me by the homeroom teacher, but I—or rather, Zhao Cisheng—changed the contents around and pieced it together into an entirely new letter."

"Along with the women's underwear, it really did hurt Zhang Zichen badly."

"How could these little brats do something so vicious?"

He shook his head as he spoke.

Yin Ge remained silent.

The homeroom teacher pressed her lips together. "Y-you and Zhang Zichen weren't close?"

"I don't know." The top student shrugged. "Maybe that's just how children are. Their thoughts are really hard to understand."

"I used to get so angry with my students that I cried, but now that I think about it, compared with this Zhao Cisheng, they were much more lovable."

As she spoke of this, the top student wore a nostalgic expression.

Yin Ge seemed thoughtful. "You're a teacher?"

"That's right." The top student admitted it readily, then looked at the homeroom teacher. "You're a fake homeroom teacher, but I'm a real one. Just not in the game."

"Why... why didn't you struggle at all?" The homeroom teacher looked confused. "That letter is something I can barely explain."

"Even if you didn't explain it, she already had the answer in her heart." The top student nodded toward Yin Ge.

Yin Ge did not react, which amounted to tacit agreement.

Seeing that, the school bully slowly spoke. "I have not only a group of adorable students, but also an adorable son and a husband who loves me dearly."

"A son?" The homeroom teacher spoke again. "Didn't you say earlier that your wife and daughter were waiting for you outside?"

"It should be your husband and son, right?" Yin Ge stared at the top student. "The way you sit doesn't look like a man's."

After previously being fooled by an adult pretending to be a child, Yin Ge had become especially sharp about such things.

It was only that the school bully had hidden it very well before, showing no behavior associated with a woman.

"That's right." The school bully nodded. Perhaps thinking of her husband and son, she smiled before speaking. "My son is about the same age as Zhang Zichen. Before entering the Son of Heaven Game, we had a huge fight."

"Honestly, I regret that during our last time together, I blamed him for not getting full marks."

"From now on, even if I want to argue with him, I won't have the chance."

Hearing that, Yin Ge and the homeroom teacher both fell silent.

The top student continued on her own. "That child Zhang Zichen is a lot like my son—strong and gentle. It hurt me terribly to see him being bullied."

"I don't understand why there are people as vicious as Zhao Cisheng in this world."

At that, she revealed a dazzling smile. "Does this count as me insulting myself now?"

But very soon, her smile gradually disappeared, and her voice became choked. "I tried my best. I really tried my best."

"I wanted to get out. I wanted to survive. I wanted to watch my son grow up and become an adult. I wanted to see him pursue a happy life."

"I-I even just wanted to see him one more time. Just once would be enough."

"And my husband—he loves me so much. And my elderly parents, who will take care of them? And my students—"

"But I... I really can't hold on anymore. M-my heart really hurts—"

The school bully's eyes were filled with tears.

Or rather, the originally happy and fulfilled soul hidden behind the school bully was.

"Sigh—" Seeing this, Yin Ge did not feel good either.

"Do it." The school bully took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. She looked at the time. "If you can, tell my baby that Mommy loves him—"

The homeroom teacher tightly pressed her lips together. She wanted to say something, but could not say anything at all. Slowly, she raised her hand and pointed at the top student.

After remaining silent for a while, Yin Ge also raised her hand and pointed at the school bully.

Then, the game ended.

Beasthood would naturally be sealed within this mother's corpse.

But this mother's Personhood and the radiance of her humanity were also destined to vanish along with Beasthood's sealing.