Chapter 512: Good Friends

"You got it! I promise I'll take care of it beautifully." After the vice director left, Teacher Hu smiled and told the class to study quietly. Standing on the podium, he looked down at Ye Bing. "Let's go. I'll take you to get your medical checkup."

Most of the students thought nothing of it. Even the oldest among them, Fu Xin, didn't understand the realities between men and women.

Out of everyone, only the Hunchbacked Boy sensed something was wrong. He didn't actually know what his teacher was going to do, but he had seen Teacher Hu's smile back in the Rehabilitation Area. When Teacher Hu was bullying the mentally disabled girl in that rundown room, he had worn this exact same smile.

It was "kind"—kind to the point of making one shudder.

Teacher Hu reached out to Ye Bing. She didn't touch him, sitting frozen in her seat for a long time before dodging past him and walking out of the classroom.

"What an interesting little girl. Not bad at all." Without even bothering to close his textbook, Teacher Hu quickly chased after her.

The moment the teacher left, the classroom dissolved into chaos. Kids were roughhousing, chatting, and doing whatever they pleased. The injuries on the Hunchbacked Boy's hand hadn't fully healed yet. Arching his back, he slowly crouched down.

He had no friends, and very few people ever paid attention to him, so he easily sneaked out of the classroom without drawing a single glance.

The boy knew where the medical room was, and he hurried after them.

I couldn't shake the feeling that the master of the Dream Realm was deliberately letting me see this; he wanted me to uncover the truth buried by time.

'Taking such great pains, just to expose the darkness of the orphanage? No, the master of the Dream Realm must have a deeper purpose for this.' This livestream was extremely complex and involved many factions, which was why I was being careful at every turn, acting only after careful planning.

I had followed the boy to the medical room once before, so I was familiar with the place. It was very crude. The sole doctor on duty was actually the vice director, who was responsible for the health of every child in the orphanage.

By the time I rushed over, the Hunchbacked Boy was already pushing against the medical room door. Unfortunately, the wooden door was shut tight, locked from the inside.

'I'm a step too late.' Seeing this, I grew anxious as well. Even though this was a dream, I couldn't just sit back and watch five- or six-year-old Ye Bing be left alone with a pervert.

Securing my mask, I was just about to intervene when the Hunchbacked Boy suddenly did something rather impulsive.

With his hands protecting his chest, he rammed straight into the wooden door.

'This silly kid really isn't afraid of dying.' I shook my head and stopped in my tracks. Everything displayed in the dream had actually happened in the past; this wasn't an illusion, but a memory of reality.

The Hunchbacked Boy from twenty years ago had done exactly this!

His tiny body was like a starving, emaciated dog as he slammed fiercely against the door, producing a loud crash.

The door didn't open. The boy clutched his shoulder, scrambled up, and hurled himself at the door again.

After he repeated this two or three times, the medical room door opened from the inside.

Teacher Hu stood in the doorway with a trace of panic on his face, but when he looked down and saw that the one ramming the door was just a little brat, his expression immediately darkened.

The hands growing from the top of his head and his left cheek all clenched into fists, the bones grinding and creaking.

"You again."

The words were squeezed out through gritted teeth. Teacher Hu was truly furious this time. His fun had been interrupted twice, and by the exact same person, no less.

Looking at the towering Teacher Hu, the Hunchbacked Boy's legs went weak. Only when truly facing his teacher did he realize how utterly small and weak he was; he didn't even have the courage to meet the man's eyes.

The back he had just straightened slowly bent down again. The boy's beautiful eyes were filled with panic. He was absolutely terrified.

Teacher Hu poked his head out of the medical room and glanced left and right. Finding the corridor empty, he hoisted the Hunchbacked Boy up and tossed him into the corner. "Who told you to come here? Did you tell the director about what happened before?"

The boy said nothing. Teacher Hu crouched down with a smile. The hand on his left cheek reached into the child's clothes and pinched the soft flesh of his thigh. "Even if a chunk of flesh went missing here, your clothes would cover it. Outsiders wouldn't see a thing."

His fingers began to apply force. Judging by the bulging veins on his arm, the beast was using all his strength.

Tears instantly streamed from the boy's eyes. He tried to scream, but Teacher Hu clamped a hand over his mouth.

By the time he let go, the Hunchbacked Boy could barely stand.

"This is just a little lesson. I hope you remember this feeling. Next time, I really will shove your hand into a juicer. Scram back to class." Teacher Hu patted the Hunchbacked Boy's cheek, turned around, and walked back into the medical room. The wooden door swung shut once more.

Not a single sound came from the room. The Hunchbacked Boy stared blankly at the door, but suddenly, he moved.

The soft flesh of his thigh was bruised purple from Teacher Hu's pinching. Standing outside the door, the little guy didn't overthink it; he simply raised his hand and pounded on the wooden door.

'This kid really doesn't know the meaning of the word death.' There were many ways to handle this situation, but for such a young child, this was the only path he could think of.

His friend was in that room, and intuition told him something terrible was going to happen, so his actions weren't entirely incomprehensible to me.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The noise was loud. Afraid of attracting others, Teacher Hu had no choice but to open the door.

His face was full of fury; he couldn't even be bothered to fake that hypocritical smile anymore.

Teacher Hu lashed out with a kick, sending the Hunchbacked Boy flying straight into the wall. He used the tip of his shoe—it hurt intensely but wouldn't leave a footprint.

"You're definitely doing this on purpose. Have I been too nice to you? Did that make you think I'm nothing to fear, huh?" Teacher Hu grabbed the boy by the neck through his collar. "Do you think your teacher is a pushover? That I love playing games with you?"

He only let go when the boy's face turned completely red, then delivered another kick to the child's back. "They say kids' bones haven't fully formed yet and heal quickly. How about I break two or three of yours today and say you fell down the stairs?"

Punching and kicking, Teacher Hu struck heavily. He had been right on the verge of getting what he wanted, and the one in the room was a rare, top-tier prize! Unfortunately, everything was ruined by this little brat outside the door. It was a rare opportunity lost, so he vented that sick, twisted desire in his heart as pure violence.

The boy was badly injured, but most of his wounds were covered by his clothes. From the surface, nothing could be seen at all.

"Brat, this isn't over. You want to play? I'll play with you real nice! Who do you think you can protect? You're just a piece of trash whose cursed luck killed your whole family. Mind your own damn business from now on." After this commotion, Teacher Hu's mood was completely ruined. He checked his watch, estimating that the vice director should be back soon. With a cold snort, he opened the door and made Ye Bing and the boy follow him back to the classroom.

During the following classes, Teacher Hu tactfully informed all the students that there was a dirty, stinking rat turd in their class, doing everything in his power to slander the Hunchbacked Boy.

Sitting in the corner, the Hunchbacked Boy knew very well that the teacher was talking about him. His head sank lower and lower, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.

Watching from outside the classroom made my chest feel tight. To a child, a teacher was the only guardian angel in the school. When that guardian angel no longer protected them and instead took the lead in isolating someone, the results could be terrifying.

The Hunchbacked Boy didn't say a word. He only occasionally glanced at Ye Bing's back—the only splash of color in his eyes.

After class, Teacher Hu kept only the Hunchbacked Boy behind to clean. It was only after everyone else had left that Ye Bing dared to grab a broom and help him.

The boy had already suffered severe injuries by this point. The soft flesh of his thighs and lower abdomen was a mass of dark bruises, entirely hidden by his clothes.

Ye Bing didn't speak to the boy either. She didn't like talking to begin with and had an extremely withdrawn personality.

After finishing the cleaning, the Hunchbacked Boy returned to his dorm room. As soon as he walked in, he noticed something was wrong—something seemed to be missing.

"Where's the Plush Bear?" Standing outside, I was also stunned.

That Plush Bear was extremely important to the Hunchbacked Boy. He didn't see it as a mere toy, but as a living, breathing person.

Because of the toy, he got into an argument with Fu Xin for the first time. It was through their argument that I learned the Hunchbacked Boy's roommates had thrown that ugly toy bear away while he was out.

The sky was gloomy and dark. The boy searched frantically all over the campus. A long time passed. I followed him as he ran through the entire orphanage, but the Plush Bear was nowhere to be found.

Finally, I followed the despairing boy back to the dorm. Yet, the moment he pushed the door open, we saw an inconceivable scene.

That tattered toy bear was lying right on Fu Xin's bed!

At the same time, footsteps suddenly echoed in the hallway. Teacher Hu, Old Wang, and the vice director all rushed over. Instead of entering the dorm, they headed straight into the public bathroom at the corner of the stairs.

'What happened?' I wondered.

I stepped out of my hiding place. Relying on my Judging Eye, I finally saw it: the second-to-last stall in the bathroom had been smashed open. Fu Xin, completely stripped of life, was wedged squarely in the middle of the cesspit. His massive head was tilted upward, overflowing with terror, while his shriveled limbs were twisted together like braided dough, arranged into a posture of repentant prayer.