Chapter 721: Echoes of Remorse

Teacher Xiao Lu, who had awakened at an unknown moment with a face full of regret, fell silent along with Lu Xin and Number Eight.

They could sense the guilt and inner torment radiating from Teacher Xiao Lu.

Yet, from their different perspectives, neither could truly understand or see it clearly.

The orphans at the Orphanage were divided into three groups:

One group had been dead and then revived – like Number Eight – and they felt nothing but mixed emotions towards Lu Xin, the one responsible for their initial demise. The second group were those who had died permanently; though they had lost all consciousness, someone still pitied them.

Then there was Teacher Xiao Lu…

She survived, but was left disabled. The once swift runner could no longer move with the same speed.

In truth, she was probably suffering the most…

That is why Number Eight sought her out – because she was the most suitable to seek justice.

But now, she believed that she was the real sinner.

And was that emotion genuine?

……

……

“I…”

Teacher Xiao Lu spoke haltingly, summoning the courage to look at Lu Xin.

She seemed unable to meet Lu Xin’s gaze directly.

In her eyes, Lu Xin revealed not so much fear as an abundance of guilt and sorrow.

“I’ve always known…”

she murmured softly, though she never revealed exactly what she knew.

As if trying to untangle her chaotic thoughts, she slowly raised her head and addressed Number Eight, “You’re right about standing up for the children at the Orphanage – they should never be forgotten. But you shouldn’t have dragged Lu Xin into this…”

“Really, because it was my idea in the first place for the escape plan…”

She replied with difficulty, “If it weren’t for me, how could the escape plan have failed? How else would we have ended up in this mess?”

“……”

Listening to her words, both Lu Xin and Number Eight fell deeply silent.

They weren’t surprised by her answer.

After all, they knew who had originally proposed the escape plan, since they had all been involved.

But faced with Teacher Xiao Lu’s profound self-reproach, even Number Eight couldn’t agree. As she recounted the events, he couldn’t help but shake his head; though he couldn’t find the words to refute her claims at the time, he completely disapproved.

Does the failure of an escape plan automatically make its proposer guilty?

Of course not.

No one could ever question such a person…

……

……

“No, there’s so much you don’t know…”

As Lu Xin and Number Eight instinctively denied, Teacher Xiao Lu shook her head firmly to silence them and whispered, “It’s not as simple as you think. I am the one who must bear all the responsibility…”

“At that time, I was nothing more than a scavenger in a chaotic city, stealing to survive…”

“I never knew when hunger would finally take me down.”

“That orphanage – which to you is a living nightmare – was, for me, nothing short of paradise.”

“Only there could I get enough to eat; I even managed to taste chocolate so sweet that I’d never dared to dream of it before. I could sit in class like those wealthy kids, writing and reading, dressed in clean clothes…”

“……”

Teacher Xiao Lu’s narration left Lu Xin and Number Eight in silent contemplation.

Her words brought that bygone era vividly before them, drawing them unwillingly into its depths.

“Tell me, with such a life, what could I possibly have been dissatisfied with back then…”

Teacher Xiao Lu continued slowly, her voice trembling as she said, “I never understood why I spoke that way. I… I was with you, fully aware that this was the best life, yet I deliberately described the world outside to you, almost as if I were boasting about its vastness and freedom…”

At that, her voice fell into a shadow of sorrow.

After a long silence, she whispered, “I had no idea that my meaningless boasting would in the eyes of those children – who, beneath their pristine exteriors, endured endless experiments daily – represent such deep-seated yearnings…”

“Then, the escape plan came about…”

“I was the one who precisely proposed it.”

She shook her head instinctively, adding, “But deep down, I wasn’t the one who truly wanted to escape.”

“I was never meant to be subjected to those experiments – how could I have been so desperate to run away?”

“Long before I put forward the idea, or rather, before I ever boasted empty promises, many of the older kids at the Orphanage had already thought about it. I merely discovered their plans and happened to be the first to voice it…”

“I even noticed the needle marks and knife wounds on you all, and thought that whisking you away would make me a little hero.”

“……”

As Lu Xin and Number Eight listened, confusion began to cloud their faces.

Even they had nearly forgotten the events that unfolded before the escape plan ever took shape.

It all seemed to have emerged naturally, as if it were destined.

So many children felt anguish from the relentless torment of experiments.

And as they grew older, they slowly recognized their own strength.

Though in their youth they never truly entertained thoughts of defying the adults.

That seed of escape, however, grew ever clearer in their minds.

They longed to leave the Orphanage behind – to flee from this perpetual suffering and experimentation.

It all seemed predestined.

Who even remembers exactly how that idea took root or how it was solidified…

Teacher Xiao Lu, against all odds, remembered…

She recalled it so clearly, as if not a single detail had faded away.

Perhaps she once, driven by a subtle competitiveness among the kids, had spun tales of the outside world’s beauty. Maybe she fancied herself a hero, capable of rescuing these tormented children and freeing them from their misery…

But can any of that truly be deemed a mistake?

……

……

“Later, the escape plan was finally set in motion among the children.”

Teacher Xiao Lu seemed to catch her breath before continuing, “But initially, it wasn’t so many of you – it was just the older kids who decided to escape. They never intended to take along the younger ones. After all, it was nearly impossible to break free from the heavily guarded Orphanage with them in tow…”

“But…”

Her voice trembled as she continued, “But I stopped them.”

“I was so full of bravado – I truly believed I was the smartest among you all at that time…”

“I insisted that everyone should escape together. Only then would I be seen as a hero.”

“Beyond the little kids, I even insisted on bringing Lu Xin… on bringing Number Nine.”

“……”

For the first time, she addressed Lu Xin as “Number Nine.”

And as those words left her lips, she looked up with eyes brimming with indescribable guilt and fear.

“The older kids never intended to take you along because they were all afraid of you…”

Teacher Xiao Lu explained with difficulty, “In many eyes, you even invoked more fear than the Orphanage itself…”

Lu Xin listened in silence before nodding gently.

He clearly remembered how, in the Orphanage, the more mature and older ones were terrified of themselves.

Thus, it was only ordinary people like Teacher Xiao Lu and little children like the trio who got close to him.

As for himself… he seemed unable to truly connect with anyone.

Back then, his world was filled only with curiosity and distance.

“But I insisted they take you along.”

Teacher Xiao Lu continued slowly, her eyes full of remorse.

“Not because of some noble cause—really…”

She mustered every bit of courage to confess, “I had to bring you along because I knew the older kids were scared of you and closer to me. That way, they’d listen to me.”

“I even asked you right there, in front of them, whether you’d really get us out, if you’d listen to me…”

“When you smiled and agreed while the older kids dared not speak up, I felt a joy I can’t even put into words…”

“They finally wouldn’t abandon us. None of them dared to express any desire to give up on the escape plan…”

“……”

Number Eight’s eyes gradually grew distant and confused.

Teacher Xiao Lu’s words seemed merely to recount what they had known all along.

Yet as a participant in those events, he found himself increasingly lost in her account…

Lu Xin too fell silent, sitting quietly in the dim Office, his entire demeanor strangely off.

“You all know what happened next…”

Teacher Xiao Lu softly caressed her face and murmured, “No one has ever blamed me.”

“Everyone who looks at me wears an expression of apology and sympathy, as if I were the one who suffered the most…”

“But…”

Her voice cracked as she whispered, “It’s all my fault…”

“It all started with me. Your pain, the deaths of the children, everything you carry burdens me. I was the one who unleashed that monster in your heart. I ruined everything.”

“For all these years, I was the one who never dared to tell you the truth…”

“……”

She gazed at Lu Xin, tears streaming down her face, as a countdown rapidly ticked away to zero: “I’m sorry, Number Nine…”

“Actually, I always knew what you were like…”

“All these years, I knew deep down, but I never dared to admit it…”

“Because to admit it would prove that I was the one who had messed everything up back then…”

“That’s why I stubbornly believed that the you in the Orphanage was a gentle child…”

“But now, I can no longer deceive myself…”

“……”

“Is that so?”

Lu Xin listened to Teacher Xiao Lu’s words, a profound confusion welling up within him.

An intricate mix of sorrow and anguish surged inside him.

The convictions he had clung to for so long suddenly shattered.

He had been striving, fighting for a normal life and showing everyone that he was on the mend.

He thought he’d performed so well, deceiving everyone – especially her.

It was precisely to fool her that he never admitted his problems, even when she misunderstood him.

Only in her presence did he acknowledge that something was wrong and try to mend himself.

But only now did he realize:

All his efforts had been in vain; he had merely been acting out a clumsy, laughable performance.

……

……

Boom!

At that moment, a violent tremor shook the area outside the School. The entire city seemed to sway, and in the next moment, piercing screams erupted from afar. Everyone looked up in terror to see a pair of red, bloodstained eyes in the sky – positioned so close to Qinggang that they seemed to hover, casting a chilling gaze over Qinggang City.

Alongside Red Moon, there appeared to be three crimson orbs hanging in the sky.