Old Witch

"Brother Chu Mo... Wang Dong didn't mean any harm. She was just a little worried about Sister Tang Ya."

Huo Yu'er fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, her voice quiet, but her words still reached Chu Mo clearly.

Hearing this, he glanced at the nervous Huo Yu'er beside him and understood what she was thinking.

As one of her few good friends, she naturally didn't want them to argue, so she was trying to smooth things over. But why did that explanation make it sound as if she doubted him?

"Alright, I understand. I won't take it to heart."

The two of them headed toward the classroom together. The first-year classroom was naturally not far from the first-year building, and they soon arrived.

As soon as they went in, they saw Wang Dong'er in the corner, drawing plenty of attention. She was beautiful in women's clothes and handsome in men's clothes, appealing to both men and women.

A female student who hadn't managed to squeeze her way in sighed helplessly and returned to her seat. She looked toward the doorway, saw Chu Mo, and froze.

"Wow, another handsome guy!"

"Pfft, this is Wuhun Academy, not a beauty pageant. What good is a pretty face?"

Some jealous students muttered nearby. Their voices weren't quiet, so everyone could hear them.

"Pfft, you don't even have a pretty face."

"Go to hell!"

Chu Mo paid them no mind. Instead, he noticed Xiao Xiao, the green-haired little girl who'd had dinner with him yesterday.

Xiao Xiao's face lit up with a smile when she saw Chu Mo. She hadn't expected them to end up in the same class.

"Over here!"

Since someone he knew was calling him, Chu Mo naturally wouldn't sit beside a stranger. He nodded and walked over.

"What a coincidence. I didn't expect us to end up in the same class."

"Yeah."

Compared to Xiao Xiao's excitement, Chu Mo was more casual about it, since he'd already known.

Xiao Xiao tilted her head and glanced at Huo Yu'er before turning back to Chu Mo to ask,

"Is this your friend?"

"Yeah, I'm Brother Mo's friend. My name is Huo Yu'er."

Xiao Xiao froze at the name and looked the obvious young boy up and down.

"Hmm, why does your name sound like a girl's? What's the 'er' at the end for?"

"Ahaha, I don't know either."

Only then did Huo Yu'er remember she was still dressed as a boy. She raised a hand to the back of her head and gave a stiff laugh.

"It's just a name. It doesn't mean anything."

Chu Mo couldn't explain it, but since Huo Yu'er didn't want to say, he wouldn't expose her. She laughed it off, and the three of them moved on.

Just as they were about to chat about something else, the sharp clacking of high heels approached from outside the classroom and continued all the way inside.

The sound was loud. In a classroom this noisy, it shouldn't have carried so far, so the person was clearly making a point of it.

Chu Mo looked over. It was the main topic of yesterday's conversation.

He hadn't expected her to arrive so early. They'd come ahead of time too, without even eating breakfast.

There were still plenty of empty seats in the classroom, so some students were probably still having breakfast.

As Chu Mo sat quietly, he suddenly felt someone nudge his arm twice.

"Hey~"

Just as Xiao Xiao began to speak, Chu Mo nudged her with his leg. Neither of them even turned to look at the other; they simply nudged each other, and understood what the other meant.

One was saying she wanted to gossip; the other was telling her not to talk.

When the students saw Zhou Yi come in, they could tell from her stride that she was a teacher. Everyone immediately fell silent.

Only the clacking of her heels remained.

Zhou Yi leisurely walked up to the podium, set the class roster on the desk, and looked it over. She didn't say a word as she sized it up.

"Catch me if you can! Catch me if you can!"

Just then, two students came running in as they chased each other. When they saw the homeroom teacher at the podium, they froze.

Zhou Yi merely glanced at them, then ignored them.

The two awkwardly returned to their seats. Meanwhile, students continued to trickle in.

Once every seat was filled, Zhou Yi began speaking. She closed the roster, tapped the desk, and spoke in a voice infused with Soul Power.

"Starting today, I'm your homeroom teacher. My class at Wuhun Academy is for monsters, not useless trash. In this class, my word is the rule. I won't accept any challenges to it. If I tell you to do something, you do it."

At her words, many students swallowed hard. Her presence was overwhelming. Behind her mask, she looked like an ill-tempered, menopausal old woman who'd be impossible to get along with. She'd been there for quite a while, and the pressure she put on the students was already intense. Now they knew their homeroom teacher had a terrible temper, too.

Hearing her words, Chu Mo sighed inwardly. Was she teaching students or training slaves?

He knew she was trying to establish her authority, but a teacher didn't have to beat students to earn their respect. He couldn't help wondering if she was even human, or how she'd managed to cultivate to this level.

Huo Yu'er and Wang Dong'er both looked slightly troubled. Tang Ya had been right—Zhou Yi really did have a bad temper.

Seeing that her words had frightened the students, Zhou Yi pushed up her glasses, straightened her back, and surveyed the room again before asking,

"Has anyone gotten into a fight during the past few days of enrollment? If you have, stand up!"

At this, the students started glancing around at one another. Zhou Yi did the same.

Wang Dong'er and Huo Yu'er had a Chat Group, so they hadn't come into conflict. As a result, there were no fights.

A minute passed, and no one stood up. Quite a few students felt relieved. At least no one had gone and provoked their short-tempered homeroom teacher.

But they were wrong.

BANG!!!

Zhou Yi slammed both hands down on the podium, making a deafening noise. She knitted her brows, deepening the wrinkles on her mask.

It wasn't just a frown anymore. She looked almost ferocious as she shouted in anger,

"What a bunch of useless trash! You don't even know that someone who's afraid to cause trouble is a mediocrity!"

Everyone except Chu Mo, who knew what was going on, was stunned. Their mouths gaped wide enough to swallow an egg.

Some even rubbed their ears, as if they couldn't believe they'd heard her right. Had those words really come from a teacher?

Zhou Yi didn't care about their stares or murmurs. She raised her voice with Soul Power and shouted again,

"Quiet!"

"Everyone, stand up right now! Run 120 laps around Shrek Plaza. This will be your first test. If you don't finish, you don't deserve to stay in my class."

One of the girls timidly raised her hand and spoke in a weak voice.

"T-Teacher, I'm a support-type Soul Master. 120 laps is a little..."

Shrek Plaza was enormous, and 120 laps was a lot. Even speed-type Soul Masters would probably struggle to finish. Support-type Soul Masters like them would be out of breath before they even got close.

"Yeah, teacher. For support-type Soul Masters like us, 120 laps is really a bit..."

Once one student had spoken up, the other support-type Soul Masters also raised their hands to voice their objections.

But Zhou Yi took their words as a challenge to her authority, and made no effort to hide her anger.

"Shut up, all of you!"

"I told you already: in my class, my word is the rule!"