When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)-Chapter 699: Shang’s Nightmare (2)

After this incident, he expected the troublemaker boy and the rest of the class to repent and behave themselves better.

That had been his second mistake, hoping so naïvely that they could change.

At the start of a new year, the classes were reshuffled and the bullying started once more. This time, however, the girl was no pushover. Knowing that her background could not compare to the troublemaker boy, she quietly gathered the evidence of his offenses before reporting it to Shang.

"Please, Teacher... you’re the only one I can rely on!" she choked out, her eyes brimming with tears. "I can’t do anything to him, he can easily destroy me and my whole family. But if it’s you... you must be able to do it!" she pleaded, "Teacher, help me report him to the police!"

Staring at the desperation, trust and dependence in her eyes, Shang found it a little harder to breathe, as if the noose called ’hush money’ was slowly tightening around his throat.

Silly girl, you don’t know how society works. Do you think your teacher is omnipotent? I am helpless too. Besides, who can say they don’t have insiders in the police department?

If I reported him, wouldn’t that put me in huge trouble?

However, to prevent her from doing anything extreme, Shang could only accept the documents under her hopeful eyes and gave her a composed smile he had practiced countless times in the mirror, as if he had everything under control. "Okay, you can leave it to me."

The girl’s shoulders visibly sagged, as if a huge burden had been lifted off them. "Thank you, Teach!" she cried, her voice trembling with gratitude. "Thank you... thank you so much! I know I can rely on you!"

Shang comforted her with a few words, but after she was gone, he shoved the documents into his drawer and locked it, his heart growing numb.

***

When he passed by the restroom one day, he heard a faint ruckus inside. Pausing, he stepped closer and strained his ears to listen— the girl’s muffled cries and some boys’ leisure laughter, including the troublemaker boy.

They must be bullying her again!

Shang angrily reached out, intending to rebuke them, but halfway through, he froze. A visible sign of struggle appeared on his face as he weighed his choices, but in the end, he still chose to withdraw.

He dared not push open that door.

He didn’t have the strength to.

Sorry, he whispered inside his heart. I’m so sorry I can’t be of help.

The pinpricks on his conscience were growing harder and harder to bear. Knowing that he could not confront the boy head-on, he chose a softer approach and summoned the boy to his office once more, planning to give him a subtle warning. However, the boy, who had once held great respect for him and acted playful with him, immediately showed annoyance and kicked the table hard.

"Damn it, can’t you just mind your own business?!"

Shang was shocked by his sudden outburst, then anger rushed to the top of his head. "Is that how you’re talking to your teacher?!"

But the boy merely sneered, entirely fearless. "Heh, you took my dad’s money, then turned around wanting to control me, and you still call yourself a teacher?" He spat out with venom, his eyes blazing with disgust and contempt, "Hypocrite."

Shang’s face flushed in a mix of rage and humiliation. "You...!"

He dared not even turn around, knowing that the whole office of teachers must be watching the spectacle. He had truly lost his face this time. Who knew that the boy would act so unrestrained, tearing off the pretense between them? Shang loved to bask in the students’ admiration and appreciation for him, he loved to be a special figure they could rely on, thus this kind of disrespect was more unbearable to him than the matter of bullying.

"No matter what, I’m still your teacher!" he asserted angrily.

Alas, his protest only made the scorn in the boy’s eyes grow stronger. Leaning in, he whispered beside Shang’s ears, "You have seen how capable my dad is, haven’t you, Teach? I heard that Teacher’s parents are preparing for their retirement. Surely it won’t be good if something happens at such an important juncture, right? They must be quite old already. If an accident were to happen..."

Shang whipped his gaze toward the other person, plain disbelief written all over his face. "Are you... threatening me right now?"

"If Teacher thinks so," the boy straightened up with a cold smirk. "Can I leave now, Teach? I haven’t had my lunch yet."

Whistling, the boy sauntered out of the office, leaving Shang slumped on the chair, his mind still reeling from the shock, disbelief and more importantly— fear. This was the first time he vividly realized that, to the other person’s eyes, he was no different than the girls he was bullying.

Weak, easily squashed, as insignificant as an ant.

He could get rid of Shang whenever he wanted.

***

When yet another suicide occurred, Shang did not react much, except for thinking— ’finally’.

He knew it was cruel; he was literally half an accomplice in pushing the girl to the brink of despair, but at this point, Shang had become completely numb. Even his conscience could no longer utter a single protest under the crushing weight of absolute power and unspoken rules. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

However, what he had never expected was for this accident to affect him as well.

"What...?!"

Back at the principal’s office, Shang reacted in shock at his dismissal notice.

The principal looked much older now, wrinkles etched deeply on his face, and his gaze toward Shang was full of sympathy and pity. "Sigh, it’s not that I want to do this. I know it’s unfair to you too, but Teacher Shang... it’s only your class that’s suffered two huge incidents in a row. Other parents have been complaining that they’re not rest assured to leave their children under your care. How about this? As compensation, I can let you have three months of wages in advance."

Shang stood still in place, a cold shiver creeping up from the depths of his heart, spreading through his limbs until even breathing felt difficult.

In lieu of responding, he asked a question himself, "It’s him, right? That troublemaker boy."

But then again, there was no need to ask. Who else would be so eager to get rid of Shang except him?

Just because I lectured him last time...

Shang wanted to get angry, wanted to protest for the injustice, but in the end, all he felt was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Once again, he was reminded of his own significance, like that of an egg trying to split a stone, only to break itself apart.

Power.

Only when you held power in your grasp could you stand above the masses, not fearing that you would be trampled to death.

Alas, that was one thing Shang did not have.