Chapter 23: Congratulations on Becoming a Member of Wisdom Elementary School

"I am merely correcting a mistake."

"You!"

"Lu Yuan!"

"You are the greatest mistake of all!"

An Shi glared at Lu Yuan with a look of pure malice, as if he wanted to tear him apart with his own teeth.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes, lost in thought. After a long silence, he finally spoke: "Did you have anything to do with Tang Wen's death back then?"

"I didn't kill her."

An Shi took great pleasure in seeing Lu Yuan’s expression of frustration and helplessness. He wanted Lu Yuan to remain in pain forever. "But I know who did. Do you want to know?"

Lu Yuan stared straight at An Shi.

An Shi was not afraid in the slightest. Lu Yuan was nothing more than a living human; what could he possibly do to him?

Lu Yuan said softly, "I will find out who the killer is. Since you don't want to say, I won't force you."

The smile on An Shi’s face stiffened slightly.

Lu Yuan slowly stood up, looking down at An Shi with a cold, indifferent expression. "Actually, I have many questions I want to ask you, but I know you won't answer a single one."

"So, to save time, let's just begin the therapy."

Therapy?

An Shi was stunned. But soon, he realized what he meant: "I am not sick! I don't need your therapy!"

Lu Yuan smiled. "Every mental patient claims they aren't sick. It doesn't matter; once I'm done treating you, you'll realize you are."

An Shi stopped shouting at Lu Yuan and instead turned his head toward the bedroom, yelling, "You cannot let him be a therapist! This is against the rules!"

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered. Who was An Shi talking to? However, the bedroom remained quiet, offering no response to An Shi’s pleas.

Before Lu Yuan’s eyes, the bloody text reappeared—the mission he had accepted from the television screen.

[Treat An Shi and obtain his forgiveness.]

The mission sounded simple enough. But after pondering it, Lu Yuan realized the prompt did not specify the method of forgiveness, meaning he could employ any approach he saw fit.

Lu Yuan looked at Zhuo Yan, who was standing behind him, and offered a gentle smile. "You must hate An Shi very much, don't you?"

Zhuo Yan quietly studied Lu Yuan. For a moment, she actually felt a twinge of fear toward this living human, but when her gaze shifted back to An Shi, it was filled with pure hatred. "I do."

Lu Yuan flipped the fruit knife in his hand, gripped the blade by the tip, and held the handle out to Zhuo Yan. "Go ahead. Vent your hatred on him until you are satisfied."

Zhuo Yan gently took the handle.

Lu Yuan was not joking. He was entirely serious.

There were two ways to obtain "forgiveness." One was for the perpetrator to forgive themselves—this was typically the expected outcome in a psychiatrist's therapy process. The other was to have the victim forgive the aggressor. As long as those An Shi had killed forgave him, it counted as a form of forgiveness.

Lu Yuan could not achieve the first, so he had to attempt the second. Zhuo Yan was one of the victims; letting her do it herself was perfect.

"Are you not afraid that I might just kill him?"

Zhuo Yan was only maintaining her sanity now by suppressing the hatred within her. If she unleashed it all, she could not guarantee An Shi would survive. Supernatural entities were difficult to kill, but they were not immortal.

Lu Yuan was certain. "You won't."

"If you wanted him dead, you could have killed him the moment you cut off his head. You wouldn't have needed to bring his head to me."

Zhuo Yan offered a rare compliment: "You are very clever."

Lu Yuan smiled without answering and retreated to the sofa. He sat down, watching An Shi on the floor. An Shi would not die, but he would suffer immensely. Having lost his limbs, An Shi would endure this agony for a very, very long time, until he had obtained the forgiveness of everyone he had killed.

Zhuo Yan walked toward An Shi with the knife. An Shi finally showed a look of terror; he did not fear Lu Yuan, but he feared Zhuo Yan, who was likewise a supernatural entity.

The sound of the knife stabbing repeatedly filled the living room. An Shi’s body was filled with fluid. Every time the blade pierced him, it felt as though it were plunging into water, and each time it was withdrawn, it brought out a large splash of foul-smelling, bloody sludge.

Zhuo Yan’s eyes gradually turned red with rage, and the black aura of her hatred surged and spread. Every blow caused An Shi extreme agony, yet none of them were fatal.

Lu Yuan did not look away. An Shi was right. As Lu Yuan gradually adapted to the bloodshed and cruelty of this supernatural world, his subconscious began to constantly produce surges of dopamine. His fear of the unknown was slowly fading, replaced by an unprecedented sense of excitement and thrill.

I do not know how much time passed before Zhuo Yan slowly stopped.

Zhuo Yan was covered in black, foul-smelling blood, and the fruit knife had lost its original color, now coated in a layer of grime. She looked down at An Shi’s wretched state. Although he was not yet dead, he was close to it.

Zhuo Yan turned around. The hatred in her calm eyes had largely dissipated, and the obvious distance and alienation she had felt toward Lu Yuan were gone.

Lu Yuan had watched the entire process from beginning to end. At this moment, Zhuo Yan finally understood why Lu Yuan had been able to arrive here as a living human. In a sense, this living human was even more terrifying than the supernatural entities themselves.

"Do you feel better?" Lu Yuan asked softly.

Zhuo Yan nodded.

Lu Yuan glanced at the bloody text in mid-air. Less than ten minutes remained before the deadline set by the television screen. After constant testing, Lu Yuan had confirmed that only he could see this line of text; the other entities could not.

"Then, can you temporarily forgive him?" Lu Yuan asked again. "I believe An Shi has realized his mistakes."

Zhuo Yan’s eyes flickered as if she were considering his suggestion. After a moment of thought, she tossed the fruit knife to Lu Yuan. "I forgive him for now."

As soon as the words left her lips, the bloody text before Lu Yuan shifted.

[Preliminary treatment of An Shi completed: Respected Psychotherapist, you have once again contributed to building a harmonious world for us. Thank you for your diligent efforts.]

[In return, we shall grant you a generous reward.]

Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up. What would he get this time?

To his slight disappointment, no bloody text appeared on An Shi’s body, unlike with Zhuo Yan earlier. Perhaps it was because An Shi was not yet dead. When he found the time to kill An Shi later, he would likely be able to loot items from him.

[Reward 1: Ghost Eye. Your eyes can see everything clearly in extremely dark environments. Prolonged use requires a period of rest.]

[Reward 2: Identification Card. Possession of this card grants free access to the Mingzhi Elementary School map.]

[Reward 3: Teacher’s Dignity. An active skill. When used, it forces supernatural entities under the age of ten to stand perfectly still for five minutes. Cooldown is 24 hours.]

"Respected Psychotherapist, because of your outstanding performance, you have gained the approval of the Principal of Mingzhi Elementary School. You are cordially invited to serve as the Psychology Teacher at Mingzhi Elementary School. For the mental health of the children, please continue your hard work."