Chapter 23: The Deceased Teacher’s Dark Diary

“D-dead?”

Their faces registered utter shock.

“Yes, I believe it was last Thursday?” The old woman’s expression immediately soured at the mention of Teacher Matsui. “That man suddenly committed suicide in his home. When I opened my door that morning, I saw his blood flowing into the hallway. Ugh… it was absolutely disgusting! I hired people, and it took ages to clean, but even now, I still feel like there’s blood in the cracks when I walk by.”

Her casual words struck the group like a thunderbolt.

If Teacher Matsui had died back then, who had been communicating with them in his name these past few days?

Bai Yuliang’s hand trembled slightly, his initial conjecture seemingly confirmed.

‘Teacher Matsui might… have already become a ghost.’

“Teacher Matsui… why would he suddenly commit suicide?” Nishionji Mitsuki asked, her voice hollow. “There’s absolutely no reason.”

“Who knows! That wretched man…” The old woman spoke with irritation. “Out of all places, he had to die in his own room. Not only was it difficult to clean, but several nearby tenants were so frightened they broke their leases… What a terrible fellow, causing so much trouble for others!”

“Grandma, by your tone, are you the landlord here?”

“That’s right, the entire building belongs to me.” The old woman sighed helplessly. “But don’t let my many properties fool you; Sakurashu’s economy is terrible right now, and my building is old. It’s often hard to find tenants.”

“Ah… I see.”

“By the way, who are you all? Why are you asking so many questions about Matsui?”

“We are Teacher Matsui’s students. He hasn’t come to class for several days,” Nishionji Mitsuki said sadly. “Both we and the substitute teacher thought he might have contracted COVID and needed a few days to recover, but we never expected…”

“Oh, so that’s it…”

Her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. She stepped out, approached Teacher Matsui’s door, and, from a dense cluster of keys at her waist, found the right one to unlock it.

“Since you’re Matsui’s students, help yourselves to some of his belongings,” she said, pointing inside the room.

“Eh?”

“That man’s parents died long ago, and I haven’t heard of any close relatives, let alone a wife. Aside from the funeral home staff and the police, I haven’t seen anyone visit these past few days. There doesn’t seem to be anything valuable in his room, so feel free to take whatever you like. I’m scheduling someone to clean the room tomorrow.”

With that, she hunched her shoulders, waved a hand, and retreated into her own house.

The trio exchanged glances, then decided to go inside and look.

As they reached the doorway of Teacher Matsui’s room, a gust of cold air seeped out from the dark interior.

They peered inside. Despite it being high noon, the room was as dim as night.

The residence was a standard single-person apartment, with two rooms and a living area, and only one floor-to-ceiling window for ventilation.

With the curtains drawn, the room was not only dark but also cold and damp, with mold clinging to the walls.

Qichuan Feng had barely taken a few steps before her foot found empty space. Looking down, she saw that several holes had rotted through the floorboards.

“Someone actually lived in a place like this?” She covered her mouth, a look of disbelief on her face. “Just staying here would drive anyone mad!”

“While it is certainly spartan, it offers shelter from the elements, which is far better than living on the streets.” Bai Yuliang surveyed his surroundings, recalling the impoverished life of his previous existence, a sigh escaping his lips.

“I never imagined Teacher Matsui lived in such a suffocating and oppressive environment.”

Nishionji Mitsuki sighed, glancing around. Finding nothing seemingly useful, she opened the bedroom door.

The bedroom was tiny, yet crammed with bookshelves. It was a chaotic mess, utterly uninhabitable.

Bai Yuliang thought for a moment, then rummaged through the desk, finally finding something that looked promising.

[Matsui’s Diary]

“Oh right, Teacher Matsui used to say he had a habit of writing in a diary,” Nishionji Mitsuki recalled. “Let’s open it and see. Maybe we’ll find something.”

The diary was thick. Bai Yuliang flipped through it, the first page reading:

[Today marks the end of being a student. I will use this diary to record my growth.]

“He must mean graduating from university,” Qichuan Feng commented.

The next few pages contained trivial daily complaints, which Bai Yuliang skipped, finally reaching a meaningful entry after a considerable time.

[January 12, Heisei 12: I finally started my job at Kyosuke Rakunan High School as a teacher. This is truly wonderful; I can finally stop being disciplined myself. I must strive to learn how to be a teacher.]

However, the very next page skipped an entire year.

[March 4, Heisei 13: Disappointment, disappointment, utter disappointment… Being a teacher is so hard! Not only is the salary low, but I also have to manage a whole bunch of troublesome students. It’s infuriating! I don’t want to manage them at all! They can all just die!]

[March 10, Heisei 13: I attended a mixer today, but none of the girls I showed interest in paid me any attention. Sure enough, women are creatures who only care about money and looks.]

[May 1, Heisei 13: I went to the red-light district today and actually spent 80,000 yen (approximately 4168 RMB) in one go. Though my heart aches, it felt good. It really is the right choice to relieve stress there.]

Most of the content was deeply negative. While Teacher Matsui endured work pressure, there was also a stream of bad news from home.

[July 8, Heisei 14: Dad was cremated today. It’s so unfair; he never smoked, so why did he get that disease?]

[September 1, Heisei 14: Mom is gone too. I no longer have a mother… I hate cancer.]

“Let’s just look for content about us.”

Qichuan Feng reached out and flipped through the pages.

“Around here.”

[September 1, Heisei 30: I have to take on a new class today. There’s actually a student from Shenzhou in it. Heh, that inferior race… what a pity colonization wasn’t successful back then.]

“Huh???”

Bai Yuliang’s eyes widened at the entry. After processing it, he nearly tore the diary apart.

Although his previous life was in the Central Plains, as a person from Shenzhou, and having been influenced by his father, it was impossible for him not to understand certain historical periods.

He immediately recognized what that sentence implied!

No wonder he used the ‘Heisei’ era name; this fellow, living his ‘good life’, hid his true nature quite deeply!

A surge of nameless fury ignited in his chest, and the hand clutching the diary trembled.

“Uh… this, are these Teacher Matsui’s inner thoughts?”

“This… this seems a bit too awful…”

Nishionji Mitsuki and Qichuan Feng didn’t know what expression to make. Although Sakurashu’s history books only briefly touched upon that period, their knowledge base was far greater than the average person’s, and they naturally knew about those events.

“Um… Yuliang-kun, let’s just flip to the next entries…”

“Yes, yes, this kind of right-winger is detestable everywhere. Don’t get too agitated…”

“I know.”

Bai Yuliang took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart, a sneer playing on his lips.

“There’s no point getting angry at a dead man. Let’s keep reading.”

[September 2, Heisei 30: There seem to be two very cute girls in my class. I really want to have relations with them. If possible, I want both of them together.]

“Huh?”

This time, it was Nishionji Mitsuki and Qichuan Feng’s turn to be stunned, especially Qichuan Feng. As the school beauty, she was almost 100% certain that she was one of Teacher Matsui’s fantasy targets.

“How… how disgusting! Absolutely repulsive!” She hugged her arms tightly, her face pale as she spoke. “It’s a good thing this guy died! I wouldn’t want to be fantasized about by such a disgusting person… Good riddance!”

“Ah… I was truly mistaken. I never thought that a teacher who appeared upright on the surface would harbor such thoughts in private. Is this his true face?” Nishionji Mitsuki’s eyes were filled with disappointment.

“Mm.”

Bai Yuliang suppressed his revulsion and continued to flip through the pages. The subsequent entries became increasingly unbearable, with all sorts of ugly desires written in the notebook, sending shivers down their spines.

Entries like wanting to stab a certain student to death today, or getting a pretty student drunk and taking them home to assault them, actually appeared…

Finally, he found the most crucial piece of information.

[January 4, Reiwa 1: I met a strange person wearing a Hannya mask. They told me I was going to die.]