Chapter 137: Xu Nuo is Completely Dumbfounded

Xu Yunzhou scratched his head in front of the screen, subconsciously repeating murmuringly:

"Xu Kun? Mhm... this name... why does it sound a bit familiar? Seems like I've heard it somewhere..."

Kirigaya Nuo:

"..."

A crack appeared in the anticipated solemn atmosphere.

Xu Yunzhou recalled for a moment, and remembered!

That incident when Song Jiaru was kidnapped back then!

It's that lawless underground emperor entrenched in Chengzhou!

"Oh, it's him!"

Xu Yunzhou suddenly realized,

"No wonder you would wander to Nihon."

He rubbed his chin, trying hard to recall the materials he had seen:

"His downfall was because... eh? I remember it was mainly the domestic iron fist's special campaign to sweep away black and eliminate evil, what does it have to do with Takemiya Susumu? I really haven't looked into this carefully..."

Kirigaya Nuo was stunned.

The anticipated shock, questioning, disappointment, or even possible estrangement... none of it appeared.

Teacher's attitude was flat... like discussing what to eat for dinner today.

That secret she had always treated like facing a formidable enemy, feeling that once spoken the sky would collapse and the earth would crack, was just weightlessly... caught by Teacher?

An extremely weird feeling surged in her heart.

Like gathering all her strength to punch out, but hitting a thick and soft pile of cotton, feeling empty, and even a bit inexplicably... aggrieved?

She sniffled, her voice muffled, continuing to confess:

"Actually... my enemy was never Takemiya Susumu at all."

"That was... a name I casually grabbed at the time. Later, I was afraid you would get angry and leave after knowing the truth, so... so I just made the best of a mistake and bit the bullet to act it out, ending up sinking deeper and deeper..."

She twitched the corners of her mouth self-mockingly,

"Thinking about it now, Takemiya Susumu-san... died quite unjustly."

Xu Yunzhou nodded in front of the screen, his tone actually quite fair:

"Mhm, looking at the result, he indeed paid the bill for that lie you casually spun. But then again, he himself wasn't a good thing either, extreme right-wing, problematic historical stance, dying isn't considered too unjust."

He paused, asking with a natural tone:

"Also, regarding your father's case, when I was looking out of curiosity before, I briefly glanced at the materials... how should I put it, him reaching that step and having that ending, looking at the macro environment and his own choices, actually... was inevitable."

No condescending criticism, no hypocritical sympathy, just a calm statement.

Kirigaya Nuo lowered her head even further, almost burying it into the water. Her voice was as thin as a mosquito, yet carried a painful clear-headedness:

"Mhm... I'm sorry, Teacher. I... I also only recently had the opportunity, through some special channels, to see parts of the internal files and detailed chain of evidence of the case back then."

Her shoulders trembled slightly:

"My father... he really did many, many... unforgivable bad things. Harmed many people, ruined many families..."

Those cold words, conclusive evidence, and bloody victim statements made her hatred lose its most righteous fulcrum.

Xu Yunzhou sighed gently, that sigh carrying the emotion of the complexity of worldly affairs:

"The dead are respected; we won't judge past matters anymore. Mhm... then who is your true enemy now? It couldn't be..."

He made a joke, but his tone became serious,

"Wanting to oppose the entire Great Xia state apparatus, right? I really can't help with that, and I advise you to absolutely not think in that direction."

Kirigaya Nuo's lips moved a few times.

Underwater, her fingers unconsciously curled up.

"Actually... I was too young at that time, and didn't understand many things."

"Those things my father did, given the domestic situation and policy direction at the time, he... he would sooner or later be a key target of the special campaign to sweep away black and eliminate evil."

She finally raised her head, looking at Xu Yunzhou, her eyes containing pain and relief:

"So, I... I simply do not have an enemy specific to an individual anymore."

Almost immediately, Xu Yunzhou clicked the [Reward] button.

The warm halo surfaced again, gently caressing the top of her head, like a silent, comforting hug.

"Mhm, it's truly amazing that you could figure this out yourself. Ah Nuo, remember, you are you, he is he. Your father's choices and ending should not become the shackles and shadow of your whole life. I... will not have any opinions of you because of this, much less care about those things."

Biting her lip, Kirigaya Nuo's biggest knot in her heart was finally about to be untied.

She mustered up her courage:

"Teacher, also... before, I always thought it was Song Jiaru... it was the forces behind her, or something she did, that led to my family's misfortune. I, I even once thought of..."

"But now, after understanding more, I just want... on behalf of my father, and also for those dark thoughts I once had, to say to her... I'm sorry."

She couldn't continue speaking, her face full of guilt and remorse.

Only now did Xu Yunzhou completely string together the causes and consequences!

So that's how it is!

No wonder she had such a huge reaction in Kyoto! No wonder her hostility toward Song Jiaru was so deep! No wonder she always occasionally revealed complex attention toward Song Jiaru!

This is simply a massive misunderstanding!

He simply didn't know whether to laugh or cry, this is completely unrelated!

"Mhm,"

He responded gently,

"How old were you at that time? Thirteen? Fourteen? Suddenly encountering a massive family change, wandering in a foreign country, having no relatives to turn to, suffering bullying..."

"When people are in that kind of extreme pain and despair, they always need an outlet to vent emotions, need a specific enemy to support themselves to live on. Venting anger on others is a... very common psychological self-protection when people are powerless. Teacher understands it all."

Kirigaya Nuo was completely dumbfounded.

Where was the anticipated thunderous rage? The utter disappointment? Even just a little bit of blame?

Why... is there nothing?

She was like a warrior prepared to die heroically, charging onto the battlefield fully armed, only to find no enemies, only the person who had always accompanied her, holding a bowl of hot soup, sitting by the campfire, smiling and saying to her: "You're back? Come quick, the soup is getting cold."

This huge psychological gap made her at a loss what to do for a moment, even a bit... dizzy, like stepping on clouds.

"Teacher..."

She murmured, carrying unbelievable bewilderment, her eyes wide and round:

"You... you aren't angry with me? I lied to you for so long, and I... I even once wanted to kill Song Jiaru..."

In front of the screen, Xu Yunzhou almost laughed out loud, the kind of laugh that carried heartache and relief, while also feeling this girl was silly and cute.

He deliberately asked back using a relaxed and slightly puzzled tone:

"Angry at what?"

He paused, counting on his fingers,

"Angry that you didn't read the manual carefully when reincarnating, and your small hand shook, directly checking the Hell Mode? Or angry that a little brat like you, when you almost couldn't live on, secretly hated a completely unrelated star in your heart?"

He shook his head, his voice becoming incomparably gentle yet firm:

"Ah Nuo, what I see is that Xu Nuo who gritted her teeth learning programming in the dilapidated attic, the Kirigaya Nuo who fell countless times in the training ground and climbed back up."

"These, are the true you."

"As for the rest... they are all insignificant background noise."