Human nature was inherently evil

Girl B cursed, her eyes bloodshot.

"It's all your fault! Why should you get the scholarship? Why does that senior only have eyes for you and never notice me? I'm clearly prettier than you! It's just because you know how to act innocent and seduce people!"

Unwilling to accept this, Xiao Qian turned back and stiffened her neck, her voice thick with tears.

"I get good grades. Why shouldn't I get the scholarship? You wanted it, and I gave it to you. Do you know how important those five thousand yuan were to me? That was two semesters of living expenses. My mother is sick, and she needs money too. You're rotten to the core! Why did you bully me? I gave you the money, so why did you strip me and send my nude photos to everyone?"

Girl B showed no remorse at all, giving a malicious smile.

"With a body as good as yours, those breasts, that little waist, that ass, of course we had to let everyone else enjoy it. I wanted to see whether that senior would still like you once your nude photos spread all over school."

"And sure enough, he was disgusted with you. Hahahaha..."

Xiao Qian stared at Girl B in disbelief. She seemed to see through Girl B's exterior to her already-rotten bones.

"I don't even know any senior! If you like him, go after him yourself!"

"You planned everything. You deliberately spread rumors about me, hoping to trade my death for guaranteed postgraduate admission for the three of you. You secretly took photos of me going to the gynecology department. You were the anonymous poster too, weren't you? And you were the one who had my post clearing things up taken down. So... human nature really is inherently evil."

Seeing Xiao Qian's devastated expression, Girl B secretly reveled in it.

"Yes, I masterminded everything. You should be grateful that your death can still give us one last bit of value."

"You asked for help and reported it to the police, but so what? My family has money. Money makes the world go round. How does it feel to be isolated and helpless?"

"I can't stand you, so you have to die!"

"Watching you struggle so hard to scrape by every day, working part-time and volunteering-if you're already that busy, why do you have to get such good grades too? You wouldn't even do me a tiny favor on an exam. How can you be such a phony?"

"Why would you go to gynecology if you weren't sick? You're just sleeping around! If I say you got pregnant and had an abortion, then you got pregnant and had an abortion. If I say you have HIV, then you have it. What can you do about it?"

Xiao Qian screamed shrilly.

"I'm not sick! I'm fucking not sick! It's you, all of you, pouring your endless malice onto innocent people! You're rotten to the bone! Everything is your fault!"

The girl paid no attention to Xiao Qian's fury and continued tearing her down. "Do you know why you have no friends?"

"No one wants to be friends with a withdrawn person who reeks of poverty."

Xiao Qian stared blankly at Girl B's excited expression and murmured, "That's nonsense. I was just too busy. I didn't have time to make friends."

The next instant, Xiao Qian looked at Girl B with murderous eyes. A black shadow walked toward Girl B with a hemp rope and pulled it tight around her neck.

Girl B grabbed the rope and tried to pull it away, but her efforts were as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Gradually, she struggled to breathe, her face turning blue and purple.

Just as she was about to draw her last breath, the rope suddenly loosened. Girl B coughed violently, gulping down oxygen.

But a second later, the black shadow repeated the process again and again.

When Girl B had been tortured until her face was covered in snot and tears and she was sobbing and begging for mercy, a blade plunged into her heart, steady, precise, and ruthless.

Girl B died.

Xiao Qian sat on the edge of the rooftop as though all her strength had drained away, covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Was it wrong for me to want to live a decent life? My father died in an accident at the factory. The factory saw that my family was easy to bully and refused to pay compensation. My mother was seriously ill. I was about to graduate, about to get a job and earn money to support my family. Why did the school tell me to withdraw over a fake medical record?"

"My family was poor. Was it wrong for me to work hard at part-time jobs and save money? Was it? Why couldn't they stand me? Do poor people not deserve to work hard to stay alive or make friends? Was it wrong for me to seek treatment at the gynecology department? Why did they spread rumors about me?"

Xiao Qian screamed in anguish, "Why has fate been so unfair to me? I hate it so much!"

Xiao Qian's pupils gradually faded, and the tears in her eyes slowly turned to blood, running down her pale cheeks. "In the end, my mother still died of her illness. There's finally no one left in this world to protect me..."

Thinking of her own experiences, Jiang Jingyi was already streaming with tears of heartache. She unconsciously took a step forward.

"Xiao Qian, I went through the same thing as you. My teammates ganged up to bully me, but I still gritted my teeth and held on. I paid the penalty for breaking my contract and left the company that oppressed me. If you're willing, would you be friends with me?"

Song Anran wiped her tears and looked earnestly at Xiao Qian. "I can help you find a lawyer and sue the people who spread the rumors, make them rot in prison, and keep suing until the school publicly apologizes and withdraws its notice asking you to leave!"

Su Tianle said softly, "I can also fund your studies. If you want to go to graduate school, I can cover your tuition and living expenses. I apologize for the rude things I said earlier."

Lu Xingchen waved the phone in his hand.

"Xiao Qian, don't be afraid. Do you know what a hacker is? I'm a very skilled hacker. Just now, I deleted your photos from everyone else's phones."

"And the evidence of your roommates framing you, the chat records-as long as it's evidence of anything done online, I have it all."

Xiao Qian stared blankly at the four of them. "R-really?"

Everyone nodded.

Xiao Qian hugged her trembling body and sobbed, "Why couldn't I have met you sooner? It's too late now... There's nothing left in this world worth holding on to."

Jiang Jingyi hurried forward several steps, trying to grab Xiao Qian, but her arm passed straight through Xiao Qian's body. "It's not too late for anything! Xiao Qian, don't do anything drastic!"

Her eyes red, Song Anran covered her mouth in disbelief.

Xiao Qian turned back and asked with a smile, "Tell me, in this world, are good people really rewarded and evil people really punished? Why does Heaven single out those with bitter lives to torment?"

Fighting back a sob, Lu Xingchen said hoarsely, "Xiao Qian, there's no fairness in this world to begin with, so people shouldn't have to be forgiving. No one can truly feel what someone else feels. Only when they suffer the pain themselves will they realize they were wrong."

"What you did was right. If no one will protect you, then take revenge for yourself."

Xiao Qian looked at Lu Xingchen in disbelief. "You're the first person to say I did the right thing."

"Ever since the curse took effect, they went from hurling abuse at first to regretting and repenting under torture. I know their apologies aren't sincere, but what does it matter? I only wanted to make them pay."

Xiao Qian looked gently at everyone. "Thank you for wanting to be friends with me, but A Kai will be here to pick me up soon. I should go."

Jiang Jingyi was sweating all over her forehead with anxiety. "Who's A Kai? Where is he taking you?"

Just then, a fierce gust howled across the balcony, and the branches swayed wildly. Black shadows clustered around a tall man in a purple python robe as he floated in the air.