Chapter 226: Two Hundred and Twenty-Two: Mental Torture

Two Hundred and Twenty-Two: Mental Torture

Flipping through the homework grading records prior to September 22nd, Takayama Keika's comments on Ju Xiuyi's assignments were earnest and responsible, yet they were actually much the same as those for other students. However, in the homework comments after September 22nd, Takayama Keika was clearly giving Ju Xiuyi double the attention; the most notable sign was that the word count of her comments far exceeded those of other students.

If she hadn't known beforehand that Ju Xiuyi was involved in the death of Takayama Keika's daughter, Misaki Naomi would not have been able to spot the problem so easily.

Ju Xiuyi's brain was naturally not slow, and he must have felt guilty inside. Regarding Teacher Takayama Keika's sudden, special, double attention, he must have felt flattered yet fearful, and he could also guess that Teacher Takayama Keika already knew the whole truth. In front of her, he, who was concealing the facts, was actually no different from the anatomical model in the Biology Classroom—completely laid bare.

The better Teacher Takayama Keika's attitude toward him was, and the more caring she appeared, the more tortured and broken Ju Xiuyi felt.

In fact, one could see the change in his state of mind from Ju Xiuyi's subsequent homework performance; each time, his work was written more and more messily, and there were more and more mistakes that he shouldn't have made. Consequently, the red characters marked by Teacher Takayama Keika became more numerous and denser.

Seemingly, every rigorous and meticulous comment was a teacher's care for a student, but in reality, for Ju Xiuyi, every single red character was a mouth of Takayama Keika, urging him to stand up, admit his mistake in person, and confess the truth.

"This Teacher Takayama Keika is quite mature and calm, and she is also skilled at scheming." He Jia'an's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a trace of cold mockery toward Ju Xiuyi's workbook, as if he were seeing Ju Xiuyi himself. "Ju Xiuyi concealed the truth for the sake of his studies, but the price of lying was so heavy that it kept him awake at night, nearly breaking him, and he could no longer focus on his studies."

"If I had a teacher like that by my side, I definitely wouldn't dare to not study hard." Misaki Naomi shuddered; imagining that if she had such a teacher by her side, she would certainly be the most diligent student in the class.

He Jia'an closed the workbook. "In this way, I seem to have a rough understanding of Hanako's background story."

"But we still can't confirm Hanako's existence, and then there's how Ju Xiuyi suddenly disappeared in the toilet stall—was he really taken to hell by Hanako... these questions cannot be explained." Misaki Naomi felt a bit regretful and remained confused.

He Jia'an: "Let's look for other clues."

Misaki Naomi nodded and searched Takayama Keika's desk again with He Jia'an. Immediately, He Jia'an found a letter under a folder; the front of the letter was clearly written with the two characters for "Resignation Letter".

Takayama Keika had actually resigned!

He tore open the envelope of the resignation letter and took out the letter to read: "As a mother, no matter what I do for my deceased daughter against everyone who treated her poorly while she was alive, it is justifiable. But as a teacher, doing such things to a student is still too disqualifying."

"Originally, I wanted to do more as a mother, but I have decided to leave those matters for my daughter to choose how to handle herself."

"Just consider me crazy, rambling nonsense."

"In summary, these days have been a bit chaotic, and I am a bit tired, so I choose to leave."

"I hereby inform you, Principal."

Seeing this, Misaki Naomi couldn't help but start to sympathize with this teacher, Takayama Keika. Her daughter was gone, and in the end, she had still lost to her own conscience, choosing to voluntarily abandon her job. As a single mother, what could she do after this?

Unlike Misaki Naomi, He Jia'an was clearly more concerned with other parts of the letter's content, frowning slightly: "Takayama Keika mentioned 'everyone.' So, besides the 'mental torture' of Ju Xiuyi, what other things did she do to others? And this 'everyone' who treated her daughter poorly while she was alive... how does she define this group of people?"

"But we have already searched everything that can be searched here, and it seems there are no other clues..." After He Jia'an's analysis, Misaki Naomi also felt a chill down her spine. Judging from Takayama Keika's means of torturing Ju Xiuyi, this teacher, who might be somewhat psychologically pathological due to her daughter's death, was indeed capable of doing anything crazy.

Subsequently, Misaki Naomi suddenly realized something, her heart tightened, and she looked at He Jia'an with wide eyes. "The... the Biology Classroom, that Biology Classroom that one cannot walk out of, does it also have something to do with Takayama Keika?"

He Jia'an raised an eyebrow and said: "At the time, going in and out was too rushed, and I walked too fast, so I don't have a deep impression of that classroom. You stayed inside for a long time; what did you see in the classroom?"

Misaki Naomi's breathing began to quicken, and she felt cold all over, whispering: "Corpses, dismembered corpses. Many human tissues were preserved in jars in the Biology Classroom, and also... there was a strange pattern drawn on the blackboard, like a Magic Array."

Upon suddenly realizing the origin of the human tissues soaking in those medicine jars, the fear that Misaki Naomi had finally managed to calm down surged from the bottom of her heart straight to the top of her head. A chilling coldness seemed to arise from all sides, surrounding her, and she felt a panic of being besieged on all sides.

"A pattern?" He Jia'an frowned and asked carefully, "Can you roughly draw what the pattern looks like?"

Misaki Naomi took the Kisaragi High School School Badge out of her pocket and flipped it to the back. "I might not remember the specific details clearly, but the outline of the Strange Array is actually the reverse side of our Kisaragi High School School Badge, plus various obscure and difficult-to-understand symbols and graphics."

When he saw the outline on the back of Misaki Naomi's school badge, the wrinkles between He Jia'an's brows deepened. He picked up the paper from the desk, found a relatively clean piece of white paper, and then began to trace the outline using the school badge. Then, as if he had known it beforehand, he filled in the pattern of the Strange Array bit by bit according to the characteristics of the outline.

However, He Jia'an deliberately did not finish drawing it, and Misaki Naomi did not wait until He Jia'an drew to the end to speak. When she saw He Jia'an draw the Strange Array pattern that she still had some impression of, she exclaimed immediately: "Yes! That's the pattern!"

"As expected!" Upon hearing this, He Jia'an flicked the pen away, tore the paper with the half-drawn Strange Array into shreds, and scattered them all.

Noticing a layer of fine sweat on He Jia'an's forehead, Misaki Naomi couldn't help but ask curiously: "Uncle, how do you know this Strange Array pattern?"

"Because I've seen it." He Jia'an looked at Misaki Naomi with a complex expression, his gaze drifting toward the window. He first muttered a sentence: "Circum-Sea Region, seaside, Merfolk... Drake, no wonder you personally sent me to this place. It seems you felt it."

Then, He Jia'an explained to Misaki Naomi: "I have seen this Strange Array pattern; it belongs to an ancient Sacrificial Ritual, a Special Array Pattern used during sacrifices."

"What is that Sacrificial Ritual used for?"

"To summon a great sea monster to enjoy a feast, where the ingredients are humans."