Your father... is he doing well?

Liu Qingfeng's somewhat icy voice kept echoing through the classroom.

Among the students below, some looked thoughtful, while others remained noncommittal.

Watching them, Liu Qingfeng looked a little helpless. He sighed, said nothing more, and turned wearily to push open the door and leave.

Inside the classroom, the clamor rose again.

The students curiously analyzed the precise purpose of this assessment, as well as Yu Sheng's father's occupation.

Outside the door, Liu Qingfeng watched them, a faint, bitter smile tugging at his lips.

The young knew nothing of sorrow.

They only hoped that one day they could ride fine horses in splendid clothes, receiving the world's adoration.

Or perhaps...

They called that being a hero.

But they would never know how many people's blood had soaked every single blue brick atop Demon-Suppressing Pass.

Those bricks had even been stained brown.

Perhaps only when they one day watched lives perish and slip away beside them would they finally come to their senses and mature.

Scenes like that...

He had seen far too many.

Without experiencing it themselves, they would never understand just how cruel war was, or how much those so-called heroes in their eyes carried on their shoulders.

Even among the Ten Elders of Ink Pavilion, the ten strongest fighters in Ink Pavilion, nine remained hidden among the masses, keeping the Demon Clan in check from the shadows. Perhaps they would remain unknown to the world their entire lives, until the day they died.

So he... had been that powerful.

Were they heroes?

Yes!

But they had never considered themselves heroes. They merely did what they ought to do in silence.

The supposed glory and adoration were, in their eyes, less important than even a single minor demon.

"Yu Sheng, your father..."

The principal looked at Yu Sheng, hesitated for two seconds, then phrased it more delicately. "Is he doing well?"

Yu Sheng thought about it. "He should be doing fairly well."

"Cornmeal buns are worth a lot in Sin City."

The principal fell silent.

After hearing the first sentence, he had thought Yu Sheng's father had already been released from prison, only for an unexpected twist to follow.

Over the past few days, he had kept thinking about Yu Sheng's situation and had looked up a great deal of information.

After all, Sin City generally held the most heinous criminals.

Yet Yu Sheng's father was just an ordinary, unremarkable man without any criminal record, while Yu Sheng had entered Sin City at a very young age.

That made little sense.

According to the records, however, Yu Sheng had been mistakenly swept into Sin City during a disaster when he was very young, and Sin City had its own rules.

Anyone who entered, regardless of the reason, could never leave.

The only way out was to claim the single annual slot.

Although even awakened people could not use their abilities within Sin City, their physical strength still far surpassed Yu Sheng's.

What the principal found most outrageous was that Yu Sheng's father had never tried to find a way to rescue his son all these years, as though he had forgotten him.

That complicated relationship left the principal completely at a loss for the moment.

But there was at least one thing he was sure of.

Since the boy had managed to walk out of Sin City, even if he looked utterly harmless standing there, bullying a few students during the assessment would still be easy for him.

It would be a completely one-sided trouncing.

Although the principal had never actually seen the conditions inside Sin City, he could imagine some of it.

Of those who had emerged from Sin City over the years, quite a few had already soared to lofty heights.

"This assessment won't just evaluate the students. It'll evaluate the schools too."

"Because Mobei City is too small, there's little point in having three schools."

"So the higher-ups are planning to consolidate them."

"Who gets to lead the new school after the merger will most likely depend on the rankings this time."

"So this is a win-win situation."

"Whatever you do, don't hold back!"

The principal gave him this solemn reminder.

Yu Sheng's way of thinking was simply too unusual. Unless he reminded him repeatedly, he really could not rest easy.

Yu Sheng silently raised his head and glanced at the principal. "The price."

"Huh?"

The principal froze, a little puzzled.

Yu Sheng explained patiently, "Our rule in Sin City is that if you ask someone to do something, you have to pay."

"We don't work for free."

The principal's face instantly darkened. "But you got a place in the assessment too."

Yu Sheng considered this for a moment, then shook his head seriously. "The way I understand it, you need me to do a job, and the assessment slot is the admission ticket."

"That's something the client should be paying for anyway."

"The fee is separate."

"In Sin City, people who don't follow the rules die the fastest."

Hearing Yu Sheng's earnest, solemn words gave the principal a headache. For a moment, he found it hard to imagine just what kind of place Sin City was.

After all, what they knew of Sin City was nothing more than rumors from the outside world.

"All right."

"Three grade-one crystals."

"I'll pay out of my own pocket."

The principal gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Grade-one crystals were the kind Yu Sheng had used before. They did not contain much energy and were generally obtained from the lowest-ranked demonic beasts.

Yu Sheng nodded. "Deal."

As though suddenly remembering something, Yu Sheng asked another question. "Um... I don't need to kill anyone, do I?"

The principal was stunned.

He looked at Yu Sheng as though looking at a monster. At that moment, he suddenly felt some regret. Had letting Yu Sheng participate been right or wrong?

"No!"

"Remember, you absolutely must not kill anyone!"

The principal spoke hurriedly.

Yu Sheng let out a soft sigh of relief. "That's good. Killing people outside Sin City is against the law."

"For three crystals, I'd be taking a bit of a loss."

The principal stared at Yu Sheng as though struck by lightning, momentarily at a complete loss for words.

By Yu Sheng's explanation, did that mean that inside Sin City, killing someone for three crystals would not be a loss?

And in this assessment, the other two schools had ten students in total...

Three crystals, ten lives.

Sin City...

Just what sort of place was it?

At that moment, even the principal, who had once served at Demon-Suppressing Pass, could not help feeling a chill.

After all, standing here was not a hardened bandit or a vicious thug, but a child... who had only just turned eighteen.

"The school bus is outside. Go get some rest on it."

"Also, the other four students..."

"Never mind. You don't need to look after them."

The principal felt mentally exhausted. He had originally wanted Yu Sheng to look out for them during the assessment, but considering how Yu Sheng did things, he feared that in the course of being looked after, the other four students would end up eliminated or driven mad.

If their own people came to blows at the venue, they would truly become a laughingstock.

"Remember, whatever you do, don't kill anyone!"

Even as Yu Sheng walked out the door, the principal, still shaken, reminded him once more.

What answered him was Yu Sheng's sunny, even slightly bashful smile.

Suddenly, the principal seemed to understand something.

Perhaps...

Yu Sheng was not mentally unwell, but simply stating facts over and over.

In other words... he was honest.

It was just that the facts he stated were things most people could not accept, or did not wish to accept.

After all, there was such a thing as a white lie.

That was part of how people interacted.