Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 181: Chapter 159: The Brave Woman Alone, The Beastmaster Executed

"The townspeople began to doubt whether this incident had really occurred, otherwise how could it have escalated like this? Teacher Wang was targeted, the windows of his dormitory were smashed, and as a college graduate from the city, he had never experienced such things. He fell ill almost immediately,"

"On the contrary, the woman in the hospital received a great deal of attention, with people sending her flowers and writing poetry for her, praising her courage in standing up to authority. They compared her to a valiant lone warrior swimming upstream in the dark."

"A few days later, she was discharged from the hospital. It was only after revisiting the whole incident that we realized her injuries weren’t serious at all. The so-called wrist-slashing was just a stunt, first to garner sympathy from the uninformed elements of society and, second, and more importantly, to pressure the police."

"She was worried that Xia Xiuyan and the two others being interrogated wouldn’t withstand the pressure and would reveal the truth. If that happened, the persona she had so carefully crafted would be destroyed, and she wouldn’t be able to avoid imprisonment,"

"As it turned out, the woman made the right bet. Those who were riled up without knowing the truth were all exploited by her, becoming the bloodless weapons in her hands."

"After she was discharged, she arranged for a go-between to approach us, hinting that we could sit down and talk. When both sides met, one of the bosses couldn’t hold back and took the initiative to offer money to make the problems go away. He hoped to put the matter on hold and after the deal with the foreign investors was settled, we would jointly investigate the incident. If Xia Xiuyan and the others were indeed harmed, the perpetrator would not get away with it,"

At this point, Principal Wu sighed. "I understand the boss’s predicament in the town; their entire fortune was invested in the project. If the foreign investors pulled out now, their losses would be incalculable. Thus, with the go-between’s coordination, we reached an agreement for several bosses to front the compensation for Xia Xiuyan and the others—3,000 yuan each, paid in cash on the spot,"

Principal Wu’s face turned bleak, and his eyes suddenly filled with despair. "At the time, I had no idea this would become the most regretted decision of my life."

"What happened?" Yang Xiao asked in a hushed tone.

"The next morning, the police station called to say their emergency line was overwhelmed with calls, and more than a dozen parents were causing an uproar at the police station’s door, all claiming their children had been harmed by Teacher Wang and demanding the school give an explanation."

"By the time we rushed over, we found out that the parents were all from Teacher Wang’s class. Many of them worked away from home and hadn’t returned for years. Who could have imagined that all of them would rush back? When they saw us, they all demanded 3,000 yuan, or else the matter wouldn’t be settled."

"Somebody even produced a recording, secretly made during the negotiation the day before. However, the recording had been edited to only include the part about money, and these student parents were clamoring. If Teacher Wang was innocent, why would he need to pay?"

"No matter what we said, we couldn’t reason with them. So we immediately called that woman, but her phone was completely unreachable."

"Of course, you can’t reach her if she orchestrated the whole thing," Yang Xiao saw it very clearly.

Principal Wu nodded with a grim face. "You’re right. We were too foolish. They got the recording, which even had my voice as the principal on it. This blew the matter wide open; the school’s reputation plummeted, and Teacher Wang became a monster everyone wanted to strike down."

"These student parents went everywhere claiming their children were harmed, each more tragic than the last. They even fabricated a ’bloody letter,’ a joint petition. As long as their child was harmed, they would sign it, making it easier to collectively seek compensation,"

"Out of 28 students in the class, 27 parents signed. They threatened to commit suicide if justice wasn’t served," Principal Wu said with a bitter smile. "Teacher Wang could never have dreamed that these students, whom he had helped, would turn on him like this. All these parents had gone mad."

"To disregard their daughters’ innocence and reputation entirely, all for the sake of money, is the epitome of irresponsible parenting! Don’t they consider how this will affect their daughters’ futures, how they will marry, or how they can hold their heads high in town after admitting to such a thing?" Even as a bystander powerless to intervene, Yang Xiao couldn’t imagine the depths of Teacher Wang’s despair at that time. Ms. Shengnan and Xia Xiuyan—these people deserved to die.

"Why would they care? Back then, 3,000 yuan was a substantial amount, enough to build a new house in the town."

"But I remember you saying that when the incident first occurred, there were parents who spoke up for Teacher Wang," Song Yan suddenly recalled.

"Yeah, that was then. Once they saw the actual compensation money, their attitudes changed. They probably never thought it would be so easy to make money, and they didn’t need to do much—just join in the commotion and the cash was theirs," Principal Wu explained.

"What happened later?" Yang Xiao asked.

"As the public outcry grew and the incident escalated, the town had to agree to negotiate with that woman. After some haggling, the final compensation was set at 5,000 yuan per family, and 8,000 yuan for each of the three, including Xia Xiuyan."

"Worried that this woman would make more trouble, we drew up an agreement this time, in black and white. The town agreed to pay, and they promised not to make any more fuss. With this, the matter was to be put to rest."

"But this woman made a demand, insisting that Teacher Wang must apologize to her in person, or else they would keep causing trouble relentlessly."

Song Yan couldn’t bear to listen anymore and suddenly stood up, "Isn’t this damn well pushing a person to their death?"

After a long silence, Principal Wu managed to calm down and continued, "We know this is incredibly unfair to Teacher Wang, but there’s no choice. If the foreign investment project gets canceled, years of the town’s hard work will go down the drain, many business owners will go bankrupt. With an incident like this, the town’s reputation will be completely destroyed, and there will be no more opportunities for development in the future. That woman knows exactly what we are afraid of."

"However, we also promised Teacher Wang that if he could just endure this for a while and wait for the storm to pass, we would definitely clear his name. We all know he didn’t commit the acts he’s accused of, he’s a true gentleman."

"With our consolation, he reluctantly agreed. He was a strong and kind man who understood our difficulties. But... but we never expected, on the night before the agreed apology, Teacher Wang... he actually committed suicide!"

"It happened right in the old teaching building where you were filming, on the third floor, in that very classroom where he educated his students. He hanged himself, dressed in a clean suit, and had tied two heavy sandbags to his ankles. When we opened the sandbags, inside were stones engraved with words—Goose Egg Stones."

"It was only later that we found out these stones were the Wish Stones that Teacher Wang had prepared for the students. To motivate them and promise them a bright future, he once had each student write their wishes on a stone. And on that night, he used the students’ wishes to hang himself."

Just through Principal Wu’s narrative alone, Yang Xiao could feel the despair washing over him. The hopes of the students had hanged the teacher— it was hard to imagine what Teacher Wang must have gone through in his final moments.

Ms. Shengnan alone couldn’t have hurt Teacher Wang, the real knife was the collective betrayal of the students’ parents, their ungrateful greed.

And that woman, she was the one holding the knife.

Yang Xiao undid the top two buttons of his shirt reflexively, the story made him feel oppressed, his breathing became somewhat laborious.

The male teacher beside him couldn’t hold back any longer, and with agitated emotions accused, "And that’s not all. After Teacher Wang died, that woman broke her promise. Under her own manipulation, the story hit the papers, front page headlines, with the title ’Heroic Woman Alone, Beastly Teacher Slain.’"

"In the article, she twisted the truth and fabricated events, portraying herself as a lone heroine standing against the darkness, daring to speak out, whereas Teacher Wang, under her pressure, committed suicide out of fear for his crimes, otherwise he would have escaped legal punishment with the machinations of the ’dark forces.’"

"As soon as the article was published, public opinion erupted. Media outlets swarmed her with invitations, and through this she gained fame and fortune overnight, hailed as a defender of women’s rights, and the last bastion of female dignity."

"Furthermore, this woman also publicly disclosed the contracts signed with the business owners, turning around to accuse us, claiming that these were our attempts to silence her with bribes. However, she deemed herself too honorable to associate with us, that her actions were merely to expose our vile faces, a necessary evil." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"She even hypocritically said that people can scold her for not honoring the contract, but to respect her, because she is first and foremost a woman of conscience."

"Her actions caused all the foreign investment to be withdrawn. The town’s development came to a complete halt. The business owners who had signed the contracts became targets of public animosity. Public opinion accused them of shielding a beastly teacher. Some even added fuel to the fire, concocting conspiracy theories alluding that these business owners had secret deals with the school, and that these unfortunate female students were bargaining chips for the school hierarchy to please the business owners."

"Not only did these business owners lose their entire fortunes, but their reputations were also destroyed. They had to leave their homes, and some couldn’t bear the pressure and went mad, now residing in a mental institution."

"Injustices unresolved, slanderous tongues kill." Yang Xiao suddenly thought of the flyer that had come fluttering into the ambulance.

Unexpectedly, Principal Wu and the male teacher were startled, looking puzzled, "How come, have you even dug up that? "

"It’s the headline of a flyer." Yang Xiao replied.

"That flyer was covertly printed by Teacher Xu, and she was also the main writer of its content," Principal Wu sighed, glancing at Xu Yu, who had been cold and almost silent since she came in, "Teacher Xu is a person who knows gratitude. Back then, all 27 students in the class signed for compensation, but only she refused. She was the only one who stood up for Teacher Wang, declaring his innocence. Even after so many years, Teacher Xu has not given up."

"Yes, at the time, that woman demanded a large sum, 10,000 from each family! If it weren’t for the lack of Teacher Xu’s signature, that woman wouldn’t have had enough leverage... She would have succeeded!"

"But also because of this, those people held a grudge against Teacher Xu. Otherwise, Teacher Xu’s grandmother wouldn’t have..." The male teacher suddenly stopped speaking.