Chapter 141 Beyond Redemption

"Back then, I met someone." Xu Anxin looked into Jiang Yao’s eyes. "You should be able to guess who he is."

Jiang Yao’s hands slowly clenched into fists in the shadows. "Zeng Qiwen?"

Xu Anxin nodded and walked over to the window. "He had a lot of money—enough to buy out my entire life. For the sake of my mother and my education, I had no choice but to submit to him. Naturally, he was quite generous to me, but he would often beat me. Endlessly."

Jiang Yao silently touched the scar on her own wrist.

She could empathize all too well with that pitch-black, sunless existence.

"Later, I finally reached my breaking point and wanted to break free from him. But how could a demon like that ever be shaken off so easily?" Bitterness filled Xu Anxin’s voice. "He gave me an ultimatum: go find Chen Shu. He said he detested the self-righteous air of that family and wanted Chen Shu to become his loyal follower. So, I helped him. Using the knowledge I had acquired, I planted a seed deep inside Chen Shu's heart."

Jiang Yao stared in disbelief. "Ten years ago? How old was Chen Shu back then! How could you have the heart to do something like that to an innocent child who knew nothing?"

"Precisely because he knew nothing, he was easy to control, wasn't he?" Xu Anxin’s eyes grew slightly red. "After that, I visited him frequently, using Zeng Qiwen’s darkest sins to water his growing mind, until Zeng Qiwen was sent to prison."

A memory flashed abruptly in Jiang Yao’s mind—the words Zeng Qiwen had spoken to her right before his death.

He had said he left a gift for her.

Now, Jiang Yao finally knew what that gift was.

"During the ten years Zeng Qiwen was in prison, I never went to see Chen Shu again."

"Then why are you seeing Chen Shu now?"

"Because Zeng Qiwen has been released from prison. Without my knowledge, he took my mother away under the guise of taking care of her for me. But you and I both know what that really means. So, I had no choice but to seek out Chen Shu again. He has grown up well. Under the guidance of my professional expertise, he has evolved into someone just like Zeng Qiwen—polite and refined on the surface, yet evil and hypocritical deep down."

Xu Anxin smiled, her laughter laced with heavy mockery, though whether it was directed at herself or Chen Shu was impossible to tell. "I truly am a master psychologist, Jiang Yao. Zeng Qiwen said he was immensely proud of this masterpiece of mine."

Jiang Yao clenched her teeth so hard they ground together. Suddenly, she raised her hand and slapped Xu Anxin across the face.

"He was just a child! How could you do this to him!"

The sharp, resounding slap echoed through the consultation room.

From outside the door, the assistant’s voice called out, "Teacher Xu, is everything alright in there?"

Xu Anxin’s smile remained on her face, but the tears in her eyes betrayed her. She sniffled and called back toward the door, "I'm fine."

Then, she sat back down. "He isn't a child anymore. He is a demon now."

"You becoming my psychological counselor—that was premeditated too, wasn't it?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Because Zeng Qiwen is dead, and I no longer have to live under his control. Jiang Yao, you might not believe it, but I do still have a shred of conscience left. My getting close to you was simply my way of trying to help you myself."

"Should I believe you? Can I still trust you?"

Xu Anxin stood up, her shoes crunching softly against the scattered glass fragments on the floor. "Believing me or not doesn't matter anymore. Not long after Zeng Qiwen died, my mother left me forever as well. Perhaps this is my karmic retribution; now I have no family left in this world. I originally intended never to see Chen Shu again, but like Zeng Qiwen, how could he be so easily shaken off? So, Jiang Yao, it’s not that I want to see him. It’s that he has come looking for me."

"What does he want with you?"

"What else?" Xu Anxin let out a soft, cold hum. "He wants me to talk to him about Zeng Qiwen, just like I used to every time in the past. It was a mistake of mine, and I wanted to correct it. But now I realize it is all too late."

"Fortunately, though, he is not Zeng Qiwen after all—he is still just a teenager of fifteen or sixteen. As long as I let go of everything here, I can easily escape."

Jiang Yao’s gaze drifted casually and inadvertently caught sight of a plane ticket tucked inside a book on the desk. "So, you're planning to..."

"That's right, I'm leaving the country. Far away from all of this. It's time for this nightmare to finally end."

"You're just going to pack up and walk away after doing such evil things? Your nightmare might end, but what about the nightmares you've inflicted on others?" Jiang Yao glared at Xu Anxin through gritted teeth.

Xu Anxin’s tone remained remarkably earnest. "Don't stop me, Jiang Yao. In this world, merely surviving is already difficult enough. Everything I did was simply to ensure that my mother and I could stay alive. I know I committed wrongs, and I will spend the rest of my life quietly repenting. But you and I are the same, aren't we? We both want to crawl out from the shadows of our past."

"No, I am not like you." Jiang Yao stood up abruptly. "No matter how difficult or bitter things got, I never once thought about harming anyone else, nor would I ever let someone else suffer pain on my behalf."

"Yet isn't the outcome the same?" Xu Anxin demanded defensively. "You didn't want to hurt anyone, but Teacher Chen still died because of you. I harmed Chen Shu, and you harmed Teacher Chen—what is the difference? At the very least, I didn't get Chen Shu killed, did I?"

Jiang Yao stared at Xu Anxin in utter disbelief.

"You are truly beyond saving!"

Yet, there was a twisted logic to what Xu Anxin had said.

Even though Jiang Yao never intended to harm anyone, the end result remained the same: Teacher Chen was dead.

Aunt Qin now only had Chen Shu left. How was she supposed to face all of this?

Leaving Xu Anxin's office, Jiang Yao wandered in a daze all the way to Aunt Qin's snack shop.

It was not mealtime, and the shop was empty of customers.

Aunt Qin was sitting at a table peeling garlic. When she looked up and saw Jiang Yao walking in, she frowned instinctively. "Not eating on time again."

Jiang Yao stood frozen in place, staring silently at Aunt Qin without uttering a word.

"Sit down."

Aunt Qin motioned toward the chair opposite her. "What are you standing there daydreaming for?"

Jiang Yao silently took a seat and watched as Aunt Qin walked into the back kitchen, muttering as she bustled about. "Good thing there are still some dumplings left. I'll heat them up for you. Pork and napa cabbage filling—there's nothing else if you want something different."

Aunt Qin was always like this: sharp-tongued with a heart of soft tofu.

Before long, Aunt Qin placed a plate of hot dumplings in front of Jiang Yao.

"Eat up. Don't like them? Or do you need vinegar?"

Jiang Yao lowered her head, took a silent bite, and tears instantly welled up and flooded her eyes.

She reached out and grabbed Aunt Qin by the hand as the older woman turned to leave.

"What's wrong with you, child?"

"Aunt Qin," Jiang Yao choked back her tears, "I'm sorry. I've failed you."