Wangji woke up on time the next day, feeling infinitesimally well-rested. He shook his head as he sat up in bed, trying to recall the previous day. He found the Cold Pond Cave, met his grandmother, watched his grandma turn into sparkly lights and die, took the responsibility of the white jade Zither and the yin iron, ran into that stupid Wei Wuxian and...

Staring down at his hands, he did the same thing he did whenever he transformed. 

Picture it in your head. Visualize it. 

Slowly, small bits of ice formed on his hand, curling around his wrists like vines. 

He could feel his Qi mixing in with the ice as it kept forming. It felt good; it wasn't warm, obviously, but it felt revitalising in a way. 

Gliding his fingers over his solid oak bed frame, he watched as it was completely covered in a thick layer of ice in under a minute. 

Alright then...

Being a lot more careful with his hands, he got himself dressed and combed through his hair, making sure not to freeze it off accidentally. 

Today was the first day of classes, and he couldn't afford to have anything go wrong. Wei Wuxian luckily didn't notice what happened yesterday, but things could get ugly if he didn't keep his rage in check. 

                                                                                         ✿

Wangji sat upright at his desk as he listened to his Uncle recite the Gusu Lan principles from a scroll. 

"The sixth rule is to accumulate virtue and merits. The seventh rule is to be compassionate. The eighth rule is to be loyal, filial, and dutiful." Lan Qiren's voice rang through the classroom as everyone listened attentively. Well, almost everyone. 

"Wake up." He heard the Jiang heir whisper-shout, hitting Wuxian on the head, while the man in question groggily glanced around before lazily resting his head on his hand.

"Be virtuous, be kind. Be merciful and understanding." Lan Qiren walked through the classroom, one hand placidly behind his back. 

Taking his chance, Wuxian stuck a poorly drawn fish with a long beard on his back.

Instantly, the whole class broke out into fits of hushed giggles as they all tried not to attract the attention of Lan Qiren. 

With his right eye twitching at the oh-so-clever prank, Wangji quickly pulled it off his uncle's robes before he noticied anything was amiss. 

Wei Ying watched with poorly concealed glee as he pressed his lips together in a futile attempt to hide his grin. Wangji took deep breaths in as he maintained his indifferent face. 

I'm not done with tormenting Young Master Phantom just yet, Wei Ying thought.  

Wangji could hear the small sound of tearing and folding coming from the desk across from him. 

What is he doing now?, Wangji exasperatedly thought, preparing himself for the worst. 

The entire class watched in awe as a small paper goldfish swam in the air and made its way over to Lan Wangji. 

Lan Wangji watched as it hovered a few inches above his desk and swam in a figure  eight, its paper fins slightly rustling.  

He should have felt pure, unbridled fury at that moment and crumpled it up in his hands; he really should have.

But it was really cute. He couldn't help but watch it swim through the air, still maintaining his indifferent face. Trying his best to look somewhat mad, he just folded his hands on his lap. 

"Wei Wuxian!" Lan Qiren finally snapped, garnering everyone's attention. 

"Here, Master Qiren!" Wei Ying yelled, quickly bouncing up. 

"It seems that you don't need my lectures." Qiren frowned. "So let me ask you. Are imps, demons, monsters and ghosts the same thing?"

"No."Wei Ying answered straightforwardly. 

"Why? How are they differentiated?" Lan Qiren put his hand behind his back, preparing himself for a ridiculous answer. 

"Imps are formed from living, non-human beings. Demons are formed from living humans." Wei Ying confidently spoke, breaking the silence. 

"Ghosts are formed from dead humans. Monsters are formed from dead non-human beings." 

All heads now turned to Lan Qiren, worried that they would be called on. 

"Imps and monsters are often confused with each other." Lan Qiren continued, determined to catch him off guard. 

 "Give me an example." All heads turned to the middle of the room, awaiting a response. 

"That's easy. For example, if that tree behind you is tainted by your energy of principles and cultivated into a conscious being, it would be an imp." Wuxian answered with a smile.

"If I took an axe and cut it in the middle, so there was only a dead tree stump left, and then that cultivated into a being, that would be a monster."

"What was the profession of the ancestors of the Nie clan?"

"Butchers."

"The heraldry of the Jin clan is a white peony. Which type of white peony?"

"Sparks amidst snow."

"Who was the first in the cultivator to focus on the rise of his sect rather than his clan?"

"The progenitor of the Wen clan, Wen Mao."

The majority of onlookers were astonished by Wei WuXian, the Head Disciple of the Jiang Sect, and his remarkable knowledge despite the evident anger of Lan Qiren. Jiang Cheng fervently hoped that Wei WuXian would resist the temptation to show off. 

"As a disciple of the Jiang clan, you should have already been very familiar with these and know them by heart. It's nothing to be proud of that you answered them correctly." Lan Qiren irksomely looked to the side. 

"Let me ask you again, Wei WuXian.

There is an executioner with a living parent, a wife and children, but he has executed more than one hundred people. Now, he suddenly dies in public, and his body is left alone for seven days. With the repressed energy of resentment, he began to haunt and kill. What should be done?"

The sound of paper could be heard as a few students tried to peer into their books for the answer inconspicuously. 

"Don't open your books! Think about this yourselves! Everyone here is a Senior disciple of their Sect, and should be able to answer."

Despite Lan Qiren's words, nobody, Wuxian included, gave an answer. 

"You don't know? Alright, Wangji, tell him what should be done."

"There are three ways." Wangji began, gladly taking the opportunity to get back at Wei Ying for all the stupid fish comments. 

"First liberate, second suppress, third eliminate. First, try to move it with its family, grant his dying wish, and set him free from his obsessiveness. If that fails, suppress it. If its hatred isn't relieved, then exterminate it completely. No errors are allowed."

"Not one word is wrong. No matter in terms of cultivation or as a person. One needs to be as solid as him."Lan Qiren preened his goatee. 

"If one becomes complacent and proud just because they defeated a few simple mountain beings in their home and hold some empty reputations, one would definitely bring disgrace upon themselves sooner or later."

"Master Qiren, I have a question," Wuxian said, while Jiang Cheng sank into his seat, knowing what was coming next. 

"Speak." Lan Qiren gestured with his free hand. 

"Although liberation comes first, most of the time, it's impossible. To grant his dying wish sounds simple enough if the wish was a new outfit." Wuxian was explaining something to Lan Qiren, who was stroking his goatee in intrigue.

"But what if the wish was to kill lots of people in an act of revenge?"

"Thus, suppression assists liberation," Wangji parried, his face neutral.

" If it is necessary, elimination would follow."

"Such a waste. I knew the answer, but I was thinking of a fourth path. "Wei Ying waved off, while Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji looked ready to strangle a certain someone. Not that it showed on Wangji's face. 

"I've never heard of a fourth path. "Lan Qiren said, now genuinely curious. 

"What's your solution?"

"Because the executioner died so abruptly, it's only natural that he turned into a ghost," WuXian explained to a listening class.

 "Since he executed more than one hundred people before he died, why not dig up the graves of these people, arouse their resentment, collect their heads and just use them to fight the ghost?"

Oh no, he didn't, Wangji's inner voice sounded out.

Oh yes, he did, Wangji replied as he cautiously watched the situation unfold. 

"How dare you!" Lan Qiren shouted in anger.

" The essence of exorcising demons and annihilating ghosts is to liberate! You do not study the methods of liberation, and even think about increasing their resentment. You reverse the natural order and ignore ethics and morality!" 

All the students looked nervously between the student and teacher, watching the scene unfold. Even Wangji found himself wanting to leave. 

"Master Qiren, there are some things that are not suitable for liberation, so why not find a way to make use of them? When Yu the Great tamed the flood, obstruction was inferior, and redirection was superior. Suppression is the same as obstruction, so isn't it inferior." He argued while veins were now popping out of Lan Qiren's forehead.

In fact, he was so utterly vexed that he lost his composure and threw a scroll at Wuxian, who luckily dodged it.

"Master, spiritual energy is energy. Resentful energy is energy as well. It can split mountains and fill oceans. It's available for human use. " He debated, knowing he had a point. 

"Then let me ask you again." Lan Qiren said, knowing Wei Wuxian couldn't answer this. 

"How do you make sure that the resentful energy only listens to you and does not harm others?"

"I... haven't thought of that yet." Wei Wing nervously chuckled, and Lan Qiren felt the urge to throw another scroll.

"If you thought of it, the cultivation world wouldn't allow your existence. Get out! Go to the library pavilion and copy the Chapter of Conduct one thousand times!"

Wuxian followed his instructions and exited the room, leaving the rest of the class in a state of shock.

Did he just walk out? His inner voice said, sounding surprised. 

He just walked out, Wangji answered, shocked. 

"Wangji, you take him to the library. He can't leave without a thousand copies!"Lan Qiren sat down in a huff, irritably adjusting his sleeves 

"Yes, uncle." Wangji practically scampered out, although he was as elegant as ever to anyone else.

However, nobody saw the split second in which he stuffed the paper goldfish in his sleeve.