Chapter 232: Suffering and Tragedy

Everyone was completely puzzled; clearly it was the middle-aged man who had harmed the old dean, so why did the old dean let him go?

But the old dean gave no explanation; he knew the middle-aged man had not meant it, and in extreme grief one's emotions can easily run out of control.

The old dean knew he would not survive, so there was no need to add another person can easily run out of control.

【3】 The old dean knew he would not survive, so there was no need to add another person's suffering because of him.

Moreover, the other party was merely a pitiful soul tormented by fate.

So the old dean said again, "Let him go!"

Only then did the crowd scatter; the middle-aged man immediately panicked, clutching the little girl's corpse and fled.

Two young nurses hurried off to find help; within less than half an hour, all the leading figures of the Medical Academy gathered before the old dean's tent, yet even these luminaries of medicine could do nothing about his condition.

The atmosphere inside the tent was gloomy and frightening, but the old dean's mood was optimistic; he gradually instructed these comrades and partners about his affairs after death, school matters, and this rescue operation.

This was the cause he had struggled for his whole life; even on the brink of closing his eyes, he could not let it go.

After everything had been explained, the old dean said, "Don't blame that person; he didn't mean it, he's just a pitiful soul."

"It's my worthless old bones that, even at the end, still bring trouble to the organization."

After saying those words, the old dean slipped into a coma; two hours later he passed away.

Inside and outside the tent rose a mournful weeping.

All the Medical Academy's students and the surrounding disaster victims who had been rescued came to mourn the old dean and see him off on his final journey.

Upon learning that the old dean was over seventy, that he had rushed to the disaster zone upon hearing of trouble there, and hearing of his lifelong deeds, everyone was moved to tears.

The old dean never married or had children; he devoted everything he had to the medical cause he loved and to his country.

Because of the old dean's dying wish, his body was not kept long and was sent back to Kyoto.

As the old dean departed, he was draped in the national flag; countless soldiers escorted him, guns fired in unison, startling a flock of birds, and his heroic spirit returned home.

Everyone who saw it wept.

The man clutched the girl's corpse, hidden in the crowd; when he heard the old dean pleading for him even in death, urging people not to pursue him, he immediately fell to his knees and wept bitterly.

The man had never done anything heinous in his life; thus when disaster struck and his dearest ones left him, his emotions once collapsed, and he resented heaven's injustice.

Especially after his only daughter also left him, he almost instantly lost his reason, yet the man never imagined that his single act would actually cause a death.

Moreover, the victim was a highly respected, immensely benevolent person who had saved countless lives.

At that moment, the man held his daughter, his heart filled with deep self‑reproach and regret.

After an unknown amount of time, once everyone had left, the man rose from the ground, carried his daughter's corpse to his wife and son's grave, and dug with his hands until he had made a pit over a meter deep, then placed the girl inside.

He said, "Cui Ping, I'm sorry I failed to protect our daughter; I am burying her beside you so that, with you there, she will not be afraid or alone."

"Wait for me underground; I'll come find you soon, and then you may hit or scold me as you wish."

After saying that, the man kowtowed deeply several times and left; he went to the river to wash the dirt from his hands.

At this point all ten of his fingers were bleeding, yet he paid no heed.

Instead, he tore a strip of cloth from his own clothing, used the blood on his fingertips as ink, and, with only an elementary‑school education, wrote a long, long apology.

The man knew this could not really make up for anything, but if he did not do it, even after death he would feel uneasy in the underworld.

After finishing the letter, the man came under cover of night to that day's tent, slipped the blood‑stained letter through a gap in the curtain, and threw it inside.

Having done all this, the man alone walked deep into the mountains—the place that had given him life and nurtured him, which had brought him countless joys as well as his deadliest blow.

At this point, the man had no lingering attachment to this world, still bearing the weight of his sins, and could find no reason to go on living.

Therefore, when the man stood on the mountain summit and jumped, he did so without the slightest hesitation.

The system asked Su Ruo, "Why didn't you stop him?"

Su Ruo looked at all this, her expression unchanged, and said, "You simply cannot stop someone who is determined to die."

Today, if the man had shown even a hint of hesitation, Su Ruo would have stepped forward to stop him, for although he was at fault, his crime did not deserve death.

Moreover, even the old dean had forgiven him; what right did Su Ruo have to act as justice's agent and punish the man?

But the man had not a shred of hesitation; to him, death was undoubtedly a release.

Su Ruo could save him this time, but there would be a next time, and a next‑next time…

Su Ruo could not stay by the man's side forever; knowing she could not change things, she would not casually intervene in others' karma.

The system said nothing more; having witnessed more than Su Ruo, it deeply knew that if a person loses the will to live, no one can save them.

The next day, people at the mountain's base found the man's corpse and that blood‑stained letter.

This event left people with an indescribable sorrow and sigh, unsure whose fault it was; all they could say was that fate had toyed with them…

Because of the old dean's affair, the Medical Academy's students felt an indescribable gloom and despondency.

Although they still kept the old dean's mission in mind, each day they earnestly and seriously treated the sick and saved lives.

But the inner wounds would never heal; the old dean had said, "He brought them out whole and sound, so he must bring them back whole and sound."

Yet now their rescue work was about to end, while the old dean could never return.

As fellow Medical Academy students, Su Ruo's mood was also very poor; just then, Hao Manru's mother came to see her.

Upon entering, Hao's mother introduced herself; upon learning she was Hao Manru's mother, Su Ruo's face showed no extra emotion, or rather, the present Su Ruo simply could not be bothered with her.

Unfortunately, Hao's mother failed to notice Su Ruo's annoyance and went on, "I've heard about your dean's affair; he truly is a great person, worthy of great admiration.

I'm thinking that your Dean is so broad‑minded, even able to forgive the one who caused his own death; the students he teaches must certainly not be bad either.

Su Ruo couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush with her, and she asked directly with a cold face: "You came to find me—what exactly do you want?"