Chapter 513: His Final Gift

"Someone died?!" The news quickly spread through the orphanage. It caused such a massive commotion that many of the children on the same floor found out.

The vice director stood outside the restroom, covering his nose and mouth. With a dark expression, he asked, "Did you call the police? Who was the first to find him?"

"Yes, yes, they've been called." Old Wang nodded frantically, then dragged out a short boy from behind him. It was Fu Ming. "He's the one who saw the body first."

Fu Ming was still young. He was vicious and perverse when bullying others, but seeing his older brother's tragic death had terrified him out of his wits. His face was deathly pale, and he couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

"Forget it. Let's wait for the police. Don't go near it; we can't ruin the crime scene." The boy had stopped breathing; he was as dead as could be. As for how he had been stuffed into the cesspit, no one could say. It was simply too bizarre.

The police arrived a short while later and took away Fu Xin's corpse. The Dream Realm recreated this particular sequence with exquisite detail, showing just how profoundly this memory was ingrained in the dream's master.

Once the police, the vice director, and the others left, the corridor felt empty. No one else remained in the dorm room besides the Hunchbacked Boy. The other children sharing the room had all been called away for questioning, but the Hunchbacked Boy was ruled out by the police because he hadn't been at the scene.

His dorm room was very close to the restroom. Yet, even as the Hunchbacked Boy stayed alone right next to where someone had just died, I couldn't detect a single trace of fear or dread on his face.

This accustomed look astonished me. 'Only someone used to death would be so unfazed,' I thought. 'This isn't right. Teacher Hu mentioned before that the boy was a jinx who caused the death of his entire family...'

Before I could come up with an answer, a new change occurred inside the dorm room.

The Hunchbacked Boy had always been incredibly close to the Plush Bear, hugging it wherever he went. But ever since Fu Xin's death, he had been sitting alone on the edge of the bed. His beautiful eyes stared at the Plush Bear, revealing a trace of complex emotion.

'Could the Plush Bear really be the one who killed Fu Xin?'

The silent Hunchbacked Boy suddenly moved. Bolstering his courage, he walked up to the Plush Bear and asked in a questioning tone, "Why did you kill someone again? Didn't we have an agreement?"

'He's talking to the Plush Bear?' My heart skipped a beat, realizing this dream had likely reached its most crucial moment.

The stuffed toy lay motionless on Fu Xin's bed. After three or four minutes, the damaged zipper on its back slid open on its own, oozing a large mound of filth mixed with bloody water.

Then, an even more bizarre event took place. The bloody water coagulated on Fu Xin's bedding, forming sinister, bright red words written in blood.

"Together for a lifetime, never parting..."

The bloody text was messy and blurred, looking like a child's casual scribbling. I had to squint hard just to make out the meaning.

It roughly meant that the boy and the Plush Bear had established three eternal pacts of loyalty. The boy was to be friends with the Plush Bear for a lifetime, could never throw it away, and could never leave it alone. In return, the Plush Bear would help the boy accomplish the three things he most desired in his heart.

Listening to their conversation, I also gleaned a few hidden secrets. The Hunchbacked Boy came from a single-parent family. His father was violently abusive—a heavy smoker, alcoholic, and gambling addict. Every time he got drunk, he would suspect the boy wasn't his biological flesh and blood and would beat him mercilessly. Once, when the boy was on the verge of being beaten to death, the Plush Bear killed his father.

To my surprise, killing his family actually had nothing to do with the Hunchbacked Boy. When suffering abuse, he only wanted to break free from that cage, nothing more. He never intended to kill his father; the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

However, his "good friend," the Plush Bear, clearly misunderstood his intentions—or rather, deliberately misinterpreted them. It didn't give the Hunchbacked Boy any chance to back out before the slaughter was already finished.

The Hunchbacked Boy didn't have a bad nature. He was kind, cowardly, and struggled with low self-esteem—the typical psychological state of an abused child. Even if you handed a child like him a knife, he still wouldn't fight back against his parents. The sense of authority and being dominated had already rooted itself deep into his bones.

But the Plush Bear was different. A malicious soul resided inside this tattered doll, and its appearance was purely accidental.

Tempted by online posts, the boy had repeatedly played One-Man Hide and Seek at three in the morning. This attracted that filthy spirit, which took the opportunity to inhabit the Plush Bear's body.

The Plush Bear had promised to do three things for the boy. Whether the boy agreed or not, killing his father counted as the first. Killing Fu Xin counted as the second.

On the surface, it looked like the Plush Bear did this to protect the Hunchbacked Boy, but deeper thought revealed that it likely harbored ulterior motives. This was also why the master of the Dream Realm had displayed this particular memory to me.

The Hunchbacked Boy and the Plush Bear were at odds. Of course, the Hunchbacked Boy did most of the talking; the Plush Bear's only response was to continuously repeat those bright red blood words.

Regardless, the deed was done. Saying anything more was useless.

The boy fell out with the Plush Bear. He refused to go near the murderous doll again. A faint worry lingered in his heart, and at that moment, he seemed to think of Ye Bing. He was terrified that the girl might be hurt by the Plush Bear too.

"You've never actually listened to me. That's not what friends do." Perhaps the boy's words were a bit too harsh. The blood and filth spilled by the Plush Bear began to retract, the bloody words vanished, and the zipper pulled itself shut. It stopped making any response.

The Hunchbacked Boy didn't bother with the Plush Bear anymore, either. Hugging his quilt, he fell into a deep sleep.

'So the relationship between the Plush Bear and the boy back then was like this. They seemed like the closest of friends, but in reality, it was extremely delicate.' The way I saw it, there was no telling what kind of thing was living inside the Plush Bear's body, but its approach toward the boy was definitely malicious. Violent slaughter wouldn't solve any problems at all; it would only plunge the boy into a deeper predicament.

'One-Man Hide and Seek... the game itself might have been a trap, and the Hunchbacked Boy is already trapped deep within it.' As a bystander in the Dream Realm, I slowly puzzled out the cause and effect of the situation, faintly sensing that the final conflict was about to emerge.

'The Plush Bear promised to do three things for the boy. Once those three things are done, what will happen? Will the two of them really be together for a lifetime, never parting?'

I waited patiently outside the room. Soon, the Dream Realm shifted again. A new day seemed to arrive. The Hunchbacked Boy crawled out of bed and subconsciously glanced toward Fu Xin's mattress. The Plush Bear was still tossed there, its posture completely unchanged, looking as if it were just an inanimate object.

The boy didn't touch the doll. He ran straight to the classroom for his lessons.

Students were sparsely scattered throughout the dilapidated teaching building. Most were discussing Fu Xin's death. Since the killer had yet to be caught, the entire orphanage was shrouded in an atmosphere of terror.

Class started, class ended, and the boy remained alone as always. In contrast, thanks to Teacher Hu's warmth and her own beautiful appearance, the withdrawn Ye Bing was quickly accepted by her classmates. She slowly integrated into the class, gradually drifting further apart from the Hunchbacked Boy.

The brightness in the Hunchbacked Boy's eyes dimmed. He didn't understand why things had turned out this way.

...

Time in the Dream Realm flowed differently than in reality. Days passed, but the sun never rose. The pitch-black Dream Realm was filled with fear and cruelty.

More and more injuries accumulated on the boy's body, and his leg was crippled in an "accident." To prevent the child from causing any disruptions, Teacher Hu and the vice director moved him from the teaching area to the Rehabilitation Area. Within this semi-closed Rehabilitation Center, he suffered even more tragic torment.

Every time he fell asleep covered in bruises, the flame of hope within him gradually flickered out. His only motivation to keep on living might have been Ye Bing. Of course, that was just a possibility; based on my observations, I suspected not even the boy himself knew why he was still pushing through.

Enduring, keeping secrets, struggling to survive like a rat in the sewers...

Finally, one day, the Hunchbacked Boy fell severely ill. Long-term abuse had ruined his immune system, leaving him with a high fever that wouldn't break. He felt like he was truly about to bid farewell to this world.

Old Wang, who supervised the Rehabilitation Area, forced some cold medicine down his throat and then washed his hands of the boy.

Perhaps it was a terminal burst of lucidity, but when Old Wang wasn't paying attention that day, the Hunchbacked Boy snuck out of the Rehabilitation Area. He wanted to see his friend one last time, terrified that he would never have the chance again.

When he reached the classroom, however, the Hunchbacked Boy couldn't find Ye Bing. Also missing was Teacher Hu.