"No!" Shen Yuanshu shouted, "You're not wrong! Everything that made me who I am today was her fault! Her fault!"
"She forced me..."
"You're not wrong, Huo Rou, you're not wrong."
He kept repeating this phrase, as if trying to convince himself of something.
"You're not wrong, you're not wrong!" Shen Yuanshu's eyes instantly turned crimson. He looked at Huo Rou and repeated, "You're not wrong, I'm innocent, I was forced."
Looking at his incoherent state, Huo Rou suddenly felt that further words were futile.
One must take responsibility for their wrongdoings.
Could casually pushing the blame onto others conceal the fact that they had done wrong?
It's still possible to make amends once one realizes they've strayed.
However, this was not the first time for Shen Yuanshu.
He hadn't paid for his previous mistakes, which led to even more errors now.
Huo Rou's indifferent gaze completely provoked Shen Yuanshu.
He roared and banged on the tables and chairs.
"She beat me! You know, if I didn't do as she said, she would beat me."
Shen Yuanshu's expression turned sorrowful. "I was so young then, how could I defy her will?"
"You also said that I had the ability to choose the life I wanted, that I should resist."
Shen Yuanshu fell into a memory, a flicker of nostalgia in his eyes. "That was the most we talked. I saw you less at school than during that time."
Huo Rou interrupted him, "That was an interrogation."
"You are not innocent, Shen Yuanshu," Huo Rou told him with finality. "You knew the consequences when you were making those things."
"The first lesson in college, the teacher taught us that." She looked at him. "In fact, it was always your own choice, wasn't it?"
"Shen Yuanshu, the victims are the people your drugs harmed back then!"
"The victims are the people poisoned by you without cause!"
Shen Yuanshu's face remained unconvinced, still wanting to argue. He opened his mouth, his expression agitated.
Huo Rou's cold eyes met his.
With her final sentence, her tone was somber, striking directly at the heart.
"The victim might have been you once, but not anymore."
She had once felt a pang of sympathy for Shen Yuanshu due to his past and abilities.
She had considered giving him a chance.
Unfortunately, the higher-ups did not agree. And his crimes were indeed unforgivable.
After saying this, she no longer looked at Shen Yuanshu's expression. She had asked what she needed to ask.
Further words were useless, it was time to leave.
She signaled to Si Nian, tidied the materials in her hands, and prepared to depart.
"Huo Rou!" Shen Yuanshu called out to her, his voice desperate.
Huo Rou looked up at him one last time.
After a long pause, she said softly, "Thank you."
"Huh?" Shen Yuanshu was stunned by her words.
Even though Shen Yuanshu had added other ingredients to the medicine he gave her, he had figured out a way to suppress Samael. For that, she had to thank him.
With that said, Huo Rou did not linger and walked out.
Shen Yuanshu, who was still stunned, watched her receding figure.
As she walked further away, Shen Yuanshu's emotions began to churn.
"We are the same kind of people!" Shen Yuanshu looked at her retreating back.
The first time he saw Huo Rou back then, she was already this proud and aloof.
He saw a kindred spirit in her.
Therefore, when she turned around, his heart pounded violently.
Not only their shared spirit, but her appearance also haunted him.
"We should be the same kind of people..." he repeated the phrase.
Si Nian's whip fell upon him, yet he laughed, an exceedingly mad laughter.
"Crazy people and crazy people..." Shen Yuanshu watched Huo Rou pause, his smile growing brighter. "Are the most fitting."
Huo Rou's foot, which had been stepping forward, stopped. Hearing Shen Yuanshu's words, a vague image flashed in her mind.
So, he had seen her like that...
Huo Rou's eyes slowly began to redden.
"A Rou?" Qin Ningyi, waiting outside the door, called to her softly as he saw her lost in thought.
Huo Rou looked up.
The person in front of her smiled. "Are you leaving?"
Meeting Qin Ningyi's gentle and focused gaze, she couldn't help but smile.
Shen Yuanshu was wrong, she was fundamentally different from him.
She ran towards Qin Ningyi with light steps.
Without any hesitation.
"Huo Rou, Huo Rou, come back!" Shen Yuanshu was still shouting behind her, "Come back!"
Qin Ningyi's gentle voice came from outside the door, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Huo Rou's voice was unchanged, but her tone carried a hint of brightness.
"Qin Ningyi, let's go home."