Chapter 88: The Terrifying Campus, Sunshine Doll (26)

"You judge me too narrowly and too harshly," Zi Yushu replied with a gentle laugh. "We met when we were both young, in an age where none of us understood love, and encountered each other. But people change. Even if I did something to hurt you when we were children, how can you be certain I would harm you again now?"

"I don’t need certainty. I only need to know that what’s ingrained in a person never changes."

Zi Yushu’s face showed confusion. "What is ingrained in me?"

"Cold-blooded, heartless. You treat emotions as a game: you play when you’re entertained, and withdraw when you’re bored."

So the conclusion was, "You don’t understand feelings."

He could not win the argument against Tang Mu, so he decided to shift the topic.

“How are you these days?”

“Not bad.”

A conversation killer.

After a long, awkward pause, Zi Yushu pressed on, refusing to give up, determined to get to the bottom of Tang Mu’s current situation.

"Your mental strength is SS. With such a level, you should be sought after by the top academies. So… why haven’t I seen you in any of them?"

At this, Tang Mu’s heart was barren and desolate.

She gestured toward the group playing games at the podium.

If she once felt hatred, now all that remained was resignation and an acceptance of fate’s laws.

"When I fell for you, it was also my most helpless moment. You were like a beam of light piercing my impoverished, fragile, besieged world. I am the misfit in this campus, out of step with their persona. And you are another anomaly—one who perfectly controls others’ minds, almost godlike. Even though our circumstances are worlds apart, I could sense a familiar spirit in you, as if we should have known each other for years, like old friends."

Tang Mu’s eyes were filled with nostalgia for the past, and helpless sorrow for old wounds.

Even after so many years, the scars had not faded with time.

When you look back, the imprint remains deep, impossible to forget.

"I was too weak then."

When she spoke of her weakness, Tang Mu’s gaze flickered with confusion and unwillingness, but she quickly hid such vulnerability deep within, never showing it to anyone.

Not even to Zi Yushu, one of the only two people in her life she could call a rival. She had no desire to reveal anything.

"Do you know? In their eyes, passion is a crime, sincerity is a crime, expression is a crime, and selflessness is the greatest crime of all. But indifference is innocent, coldness is innocent, vanity, hypocrisy, greed, deceit—they’re all innocent. Brutality, cunning, caprice, selfishness—none of these are crimes."

"In the eyes of you elites, profit is everything, money is supreme. Weighing value and scheming is the highest law; toying with others is life’s greatest pleasure."

"This is your world, and I don’t want to reach it."

"But…" Zi Yushu tried to defend himself.

Tang Mu swiftly cut him off. She had no interest in his explanations, only in speaking her mind.

"And that passionate confession I made to you back then was the strongest push into the abyss for me."

Tang Mu pointed to the remaining girls in the room.

"Do you see them?"

"They all like you; they are all conquered by your charm. So in their eyes, my existence is a threat."

"Even if some of the pain wasn’t directly inflicted by you, the root cause still traces back to you."

"So now, between us, there is no love—only a battle that won’t end until one of us falls."

…

What?

As an adult, Zi Yushu felt himself utterly innocent.

There were so many things he himself barely remembered. And yet, for such reasons, he was now being dragged into the game outside of game time by Tang Mu… That hardly seemed fair.

Though his life wasn’t at risk, his mental energy would still be drained, possibly affecting his next game.

Zi Yushu sighed, "What will it take for you to let go?"

He glanced at his gadget-watch. The next round was about to begin; he was pressed for time.

"Play a round with me," Tang Mu said. "They lost. There’s no winner, so now it’s our turn."

Only then did Zi Yushu realize all the previous players had died.

But he hadn’t seen how Lin Mingxue, Fu Yan, Mao Yeyun, and Kou Yuanliang had met their ends.

As if she saw his confusion, Tang Mu kindly explained the last round of the game to him.

"Mao Yeyun played the ‘2’ card and eliminated Lin Mingxue. Kou Yuanliang played ‘9’ and landed on square 5. Mao Yeyun then played the ‘7’ card and moved to 14. Kou Yuanliang played ‘8’ and reached 13. Mao Yeyun moved ‘6’ to 20. Kou Yuanliang played ‘7,’ overtook Mao Yeyun, and attacked with the oil cauldron."

"As for Fu Yan… even if she played all the cards in her hand, with no one attacking her, she still couldn’t land exactly on 21 as her cards ran out."

At this, Tang Mu suddenly laughed.

"You see, even when someone is told that the next step is the edge of a cliff, they will still blindly refuse to look, insisting on moving forward, utterly ignoring all well-meant warnings."

"You still won," Tang Mu smiled faintly, a sadness hidden in her smile. "When it comes to understanding the flaws of human nature, I’m still not your equal."

"You’re not inferior to me. You just want to beat me." Zi Yushu narrowed his eyes, examining the woman before him. After so many years, even with the same youthful face, she felt utterly changed.

More heart-wrenching, more captivating, more lovable.

From head to toe, she radiated an enchanting aura, making one want to look at her again and again.

Especially when she was sad—the subtle dip of her jaw, the lowered eyes, all evoked an inexplicable tenderness.

Her body trembled slightly, and though she tried desperately to hide it, she could not mask the weakness and vulnerability within.

It made one want to offer her a shoulder to lean on.

"Is there really no possibility between us?" For some reason, Zi Yushu suddenly wanted to ask.

His heart was tugged by this woman immersed in sorrow.

Especially knowing that she still liked him. Such a clever woman, not quite as clever as himself, was rare in Zi Yushu’s world.

Someone he could control, yet who evoked compassion.

How could he not be drawn to her?