Today, the main topic in the classroom revolved around Qi Jun, who attended class covered in injuries.

"Look, the murderer got into another fight." "Yeah, and it looks like he's seriously hurt this time." "Who in our school do you think is brave enough to tangle with him? Was it the Gang of Four?" "It's the Gang of Five now—that little Daoist joined them—but it's very possible. I heard they almost came to blows in the cafeteria yesterday." "It has to be. Who else but Xue Ziyun would dare provoke him..." "Does that mean Xue Dapaozhang is tougher than the murderer? I saw Xue Dapaozhang this morning, and he wasn't scratched at all." "Not necessarily. There are five of them against him, though?" "Five? You think the Han sisters and Chen Kangshan would fight for him? The Daoist Wu might, though." "It’s impressive enough if they can win one-on-two. Qi Jun is a murderer." "But isn't the murderer always hanging out with Shang Tongxin? Look at Shang Tongxin's bulk; he probably fights no worse than Qi Jun." "That coward. Forget fighting; a mouse could scare him to death." "But he's so huge..."

The students murmured quietly, almost all discussing the same topic. However, when Qi Jun, his hands wrapped in bandages and his forehead covered with gauze, inadvertently looked up from the last row, the classroom immediately fell silent.

Qi Jun paid no mind to the surrounding discussions, his expression blank as he toyed with a pen. Gao Tongxin kept whispering apologies beside him: "Sorry, sorry. It's all my fault for having poor magic. Not only did I fail to heal your wounds, but I made them worse. I'm sorry, Qi Jun, I'm sorry..."

"Shut up, idiot!" Qi Jun snapped at him fiercely. "Do you have to keep spouting magic everywhere? Are you afraid people won't know you're a demon? Be careful, or they'll catch you and put you on display at the zoo!"

"Sorry, sorry." Gao Tongxin continued to apologize profusely.

"He really seems hurt; even Shang Tuzi couldn't heal him," the small clique in the classroom, the only one not openly discussing Qi Jun's injuries, suddenly grew interested in the matter. Han Xing'er announced, gripping a straw between her bright red fingernails and slowly stirring her large cup of drink.

"Shang Tuzi can't heal anything. It's better not to let him try... You shouldn't drink so many cold things in the morning; it hurts your stomach," Han Tao'er reminded her sister.

Xing'er generally heeded her sister’s words. She shook the drink cup, dumped the remaining half into the trash, and then pointed a finger at Xue Ziyun, asking, "Did Xue Dapaozhang sneak in and beat him up last night?"

"No, we were busy staking out the Spider Demon last night," Wu Qianfeng replied for Xue Ziyun while rapidly copying Chen Kangshan's homework. Why was it that demons could magically duplicate homework, complete with perfectly replicated handwriting, while he, an honest human, had to copy every single word laboriously? It was just too unfair.

"If you did it yourself, you wouldn't have to copy it word for word," Chen Kangshan protested quietly.

In their small group, Chen Kangshan was always the only one who did his own homework (the elder sister, Tao'er, would occasionally write one too, though its accuracy was always far from the teacher's 'expectations'). The others simply copied his completed work. Wu Qianfeng had only joined them a couple of days ago, adding another person to the copier list. Chen Kangshan could only grumble a few complaints about these friends; they wouldn't listen anyway.

"Speaking of which, you absolutely cannot make a mistake on your homework."

"Yeah, if you mess up, we'll be the unlucky ones."

"You need to pay close attention in class, or you'll drag us down!"

The others declared this without any sense of guilt, piling pressure onto the honest Chen Kangshan.

"You’re practically wasting tuition fees..." Chen Kangshan mumbled, even more quietly.

"Hey, Ziyun, you still haven't told us if you did it?" Xing'er urged Xue Ziyun.

Xue Ziyun, who hadn't spoken, was busy in his desk compartment making a small snake perform a 'biting' motion—one of the two 'poor little things' he had 'rescued' from the recent 'World Venomous Snake Exhibition.' He was intentionally trying to cultivate the ability in these two 'compatriots' to autonomously choose whether or not to inject venom into a wound upon biting someone. He had been working hard on this whenever he had free time lately, and he replied absentmindedly, "What does it have to do with me? I don't have the leisure for that. Besides, beating him up would just be bullying him. If Shang Da Xiong stepped in, that would be interesting."

"Shang Tuzi? That would be even more bullying on your part!"

"Exactly! I bet he doesn't even know how to write the words 'fight'!"

The sisters’ vocabulary remained as sharp as ever.

Xue Ziyun shrugged, unwilling to argue with them. After all, fighting in class was unrealistic; he wasn't stupid enough to provoke the one person in Lixin City who was most untouchable.

Qi Jun wasn't the only injured person in the classroom, but the other 'casualty' garnered no attention from anyone.

Fang Yue sat by the window. She also had several strips of gauze on her arm—scratches from watches worn by the men she struggled with last night. Her lower leg also bore several abrasions, now bandaged. However, she had never been popular; apart from Yang Chun, no one cared if she was hurt.

It seemed he wasn't seriously injured. Fang Yue glanced casually at Qi Jun, then turned back toward the window.

Even though he had saved her, he ultimately wasn't a good person.

Thinking about last night, the terror had given way only to a surge of indignation: anger at those despicable men, anger at Qi Jun’s attitude toward her, and even more anger at the reason she had stormed out of school in a fit of rage. Yet, Yang Chun faced her with an attitude of presumed justification, as if she were merely throwing an unreasonable tantrum and he had been consistently yielding.

"Xiao Yue, here is your assignment book." Yang Chun always helped Fang Yue carry her bag, organize her textbooks, and even complete her homework—today was no exception. Since returning injured last night, Fang Yue’s temper had been foul. Yang Chun was extremely careful, afraid of provoking her further over any minor thing. He didn't have many days left by her side, and Yang Chun genuinely didn't want to stir up trouble.

"Get out!" To his surprise, the moment the homework was handed over, Fang Yue suddenly slammed the desk and shouted.

The attention of the entire class was drawn by this abrupt outburst. Everyone looked over. They saw Fang Yue, red with rage, jumping up and down, screaming: "Get out!" And the person she was pointing at was, of course, Yang Chun, whom she ordered around daily and who obeyed her every command.

Every student in the school knew that although Yang Chun was nominally the oldest student in the class, he was essentially just Miss Fang Yue's personal attendant. Even in this school full of children from wealthy families with peculiar habits, Fang Yue bringing a nanny to school was considered exceptional. The classmates watched the quiet Yang Chun perform various services for this willful young lady every day, even acting as her emotional punching bag, and most felt some degree of sympathy. Thus, when Fang Yue yelled and bullied him in class like this, many watched her with looks of disdain.

However, Fang Yue paid no attention to the gazes of others. She continued to yell viciously at Yang Chun: "Get out! Don't you prefer that run-down country school? Then go back there now! People like you don't deserve to attend a top-tier school anyway!" Her malicious shouting even startled the teacher who had just stepped through the door, freezing her momentarily, unsure what had happened.

Although Yang Chun was used to being bullied by her, being publicly scolded like this, especially as Fang Yue's words grew crueler, made his eyes instantly redden, and tears began to fall.

"She's bullying that little maid again."

"Seriously, working for someone like that isn't worth it, no matter the pay."

"What an nouveau riche attitude, absolutely no manners."

"No amount of money would make enduring this job worthwhile. Why hasn't this little maid quit yet?"

Although the murmurs weren't entirely clear, one could guess that the whispers in the classroom were along these lines. Fang Yue ignored them, pointing toward the classroom door at Yang Chun: "Get out now, and don't let me see you again! You like money, right? Take the money and get far away!"

Tearfully, Yang Chun stood up and ran toward the door.

"Yang Chun, stop." Lin Qingping, who had been watching the entire scene from the classroom entrance, spoke up, stopping Yang Chun just as he was about to bolt out. "It’s class time. Return to your seat. And Fang Yue, you sit down too! Both of you come to my office after class, understood?"

Facing the teacher, Yang Chun naturally dared not be as arrogant as some other students in the class. He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head, wiping his tears, and walked back toward his seat. But the cold stare from Fang Yue prevented him from sitting down; he stood there helplessly.

"Sit down, class is starting," Wang Tongtong, the class monitor, instructed, looking back. Yang Chun tentatively tried to sit, but Fang Yue slammed her desk heavily and jumped up: "Fine! If you won't leave, I will!" Saying this, she grabbed her bag and ran out.

"Fang Yue, stop! You stop right there!" Lin Qingping shouted from behind, but Fang Yue ran toward the end of the corridor without looking back. Lin Qingping took a few steps to follow, but Wang Tongtong ran past her: "Teacher Lin, I'll go find her!" Without waiting for Lin Qingping’s consent, she was already far ahead. Lin Qingping watched the two fleeing figures, one chasing the other, and sighed in frustration.

Lin Qingping stood on the podium and took a general look around the classroom. As usual, several seats were empty. Including Fang Yue who had just run out and Wang Tongtong chasing after her, the class was probably missing four or five students. This was typical in this school; some students were always absent for various reasons, from skipping out to play to staying in the dorms to surf the internet or sleep.

Her notoriously poor-reputation "Special Class" wasn't any worse than others in this regard. If Lin Qingping adhered to the mindset of 'better to do no wrong than to achieve greatness,' she would have no complaints about the students. But she genuinely wished every student could study well. Not for a degree, not for getting into a good university or securing a good future, but simply so that in the years they should be learning, they could grasp as much knowledge as possible—knowledge they might need someday in a critical moment. For instance, she, specializing in biology in college, never imagined she would one day become a high school math teacher.

Lin Qingping desperately hoped these children could understand that while parental wealth and status were certainly important in society, the knowledge absorbed into their minds was the "asset" that remained even if everything else was lost.

Lin Qingping’s gaze landed on Qi Jun, the notoriously violent student. The gauze and bandages on his head and hands startled her: "Qi Jun, what happened to you? Did you go to the infirmary?"

Shang Tongxin quickly kicked Qi Jun's leg, signaling him to stand up and answer the teacher's question. But Qi Jun simply raised an eyebrow and replied with a crowded, impatient tone, "I'm not dead, why are you worrying so much? Just teach your class."

His insolent tone drew many eyes in the classroom—wasn't this guy friends with Shang Tongxin? Why was he so careless about his own fate? If he angered Teacher Lin, who knew if he’d end up being braised or roasted.

It was rumored that Lin Rui and Huo'er were experts at playing the edge of the rules. If the target were merely an ordinary human student, to maintain stability in Lin Qingping's class, they might only tease them—perhaps making them trip, choke on food, or scald themselves while bathing. But if that student was friends with a demon and happened to know the secret that "demons exist," they would suffer the same treatment as the demons at the hands of this "demon duo," under the rationale that "daring to disrespect us means you need to be taught a lesson about our might!" Thus, the students in this class who knew Teacher Lin Qingping's true nature avoided her like the plague, let alone daring to anger her intentionally.

"You will come to my office after class as well," Lin Qingping instructed.

Qi Jun was about to retort when a searing pain shot through the top of his foot, nearly causing him to slump onto his desk. When he looked up again, Lin Qingping had already begun lecturing, and Shang Tongxin was looking at him with a pitiful expression: "Sorry, sorry, I was only trying to save you..."

"Damn it!" Qi Jun cursed under his breath, leaning heavily against the back wall and propping both feet up on his desk. He truly hated listening to teachers drone on, but thanks to Shang Tongxin’s constant nagging over the days, he knew this Teacher Lin was no ordinary person. Though audacious, he wasn't foolish enough to actively oppose things that lay outside ordinary human comprehension, so he simply lowered his head and stayed silent.

Perhaps if these students were called to the teacher's office for a hundred heart-to-heart talks, not a single trace of change would occur, but Lin Qingping still hoped to gain more understanding of them through conversation.

She, too, had once been young. Why couldn't she fully grasp what was going on in the minds of today's children?

Lin Qingping sat in her office, grading papers, unable to stop herself from glancing toward the door every now and then. Although she understood perfectly well that the students she had summoned to her office might never show up, she still held onto a shred of expectation in her heart.

"Sister Lin, your class students are really something... Even the spoiled brats in my class, no matter how disobedient, at least behave acceptably when facing me..." Another teacher said sympathetically. The students in this school had successfully trained the faculty to this state of 'having no desires or demands,' lowering expectations for students to the absolute minimum.

"Actually, they aren't fundamentally bad children; we just haven't found the right way to educate them," Lin Qingping articulated her viewpoint.

"You are too honest," the other teacher smiled thinly at Lin Qingping's naiveté. No wonder she was relegated to being the head teacher of the Special Class; only a rare teacher like her, who still believed every child was good and open to education and communication, could last several months in that class without resigning. In this world, some children were more detestable than adults; in her opinion, such children should be sent to juvenile detention, where only force might bring about a cure.

"While you teach in that class, it’s best to keep one eye closed. As long as they don't cause major trouble, let them do whatever they want. Don't worry about whether they study or not. I doubt many of them need a diploma to land a good job. Their families will either arrange for them to go abroad, take over the company, or use connections to get them into government departments anyway. Just get them to graduation, and that’s that." The other teacher seemed quite confident in her prediction coming true.

Lin Qingping sighed wearily. It was likely true that these students would face such futures, but surely some among them held their own dreams and refused to follow the path their parents laid out? If only she could do something for even one such child.

Teacher Lin looked at the door once more. Her students had still not appeared. Perhaps they weren't coming at all. She truly felt like a failure as a teacher.

"Teacher Lin... He's here."

"Teacher Lin, I caught him!"

Just as Lin Qingping was about to give up and head home for the day, the office door was pushed open forcefully. Qi Jun and Fang Yue, the two summoned for a talk, had arrived. However, Qi Jun was being dragged in by Shang Tongxin gripping both his arms, while Fang Yue was shoved in by Wang Tongtong, who held her by the collar. Both looked visibly displeased, yet seemed powerless regarding their current predicament.

"Teacher Lin, Qi Jun didn't mean to be late, really, he just forgot the time," Shang Tongxin explained to Lin Qingping in a flustered rush, though Qi Jun’s expression suggested he didn't agree with that assessment at all.

As for Fang Yue, she yelled at Wang Tongtong: "You lackey for the teacher!" clearly furious about being physically hauled in by her.

And Yang Chun trailed behind the group, sneaking cautiously into the office.