Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 109 - 29: Ascending the Hall

Chapter 109: Chapter 29: Ascending the Hall

Under the narration of the Enforcement Team Leader, Duan Mingyuan understood the reason for the tense atmosphere, with swords drawn and bows bent.

The one who summoned them was the Dean of the Chess Institute, Chu Xingluo.

An accident occurred during the concluding session of the advanced class. The last sword that fell from the clouds shattered the painted world, thus forming an eerie scene in the eyes of the academy’s teachers and students who were unaware of the cause and consequence—a sword shadow that enveloped the entire Qing Chi Peak suddenly appeared overhead and crashed down on them unexpectedly.

Although this sword did not cause any substantial damage, it made everyone in the academy feel threatened, leading them to suspect that a group of assassins sent by the Imperial Court was trying to force their way through the Barrier with aggressive measures.

The Enforcement Team, ordered to "invite" Duan Mingyuan down from the mountain, coincidentally overheard a discussion about the Blood Sacrifice Ritual when they approached, which deepened their prejudice against this new teacher.

Duan Mingyuan always believed that misunderstandings could be resolved through effective communication.

He simply lifted the Enforcement Team Leader by his collar in mid-air and tossed him into the academy’s bathhouse. The other members then set aside their biases, calmed down, listened to his explanation carefully, and agreed to follow him to the Dean to clear up all the misunderstandings.

But some misunderstandings in this world cannot be resolved through communication, just like you can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.

Bringing Chen Chou in as an assistant teacher completely cut off the last escape route for the mole. Cornered, the mole might resort to desperate measures.

Their destination was the academy’s public court.

This was also established by the founders of the academy and is not usually used.

It is only when the academy faces villains of the worst kind that a court session is held. According to Chen Chou, during the hundreds of years in the Ghost Prison, occasionally, villains of extreme wickedness were imprisoned in the Ghost Prison, including those who wanted to collaborate with him in a jailbreak. However, these people had little skill, and most were quickly driven mad and then died gloomily within the Ghost Prison.

Compared to Chen Chou, the lifespan of humans is indeed too short—what seems like the snap of a finger for him, a few decades, turns into white bones.

Today, Duan Mingyuan became the first person to ascend to the public court in nearly a hundred years.

Apart from the Deans of the four institutes, the academy’s teachers were also gathered here. When he entered, the court fell into an immediate silence, and every pair of eyes that turned to look at him was filled with wariness.

Duan Mingyuan looked around at the imposing array with interest; all along his journey, he had never even been to a courtroom.

Naturally, the Deans of the four institutes were responsible for presiding over the order of the public court. They sat in a row at the forefront of the court, with portraits of the four founders of the Yunhai Academy hanging behind them.

As Dean Mo Song gave the order, a glowing net-like Barrier sealed the entrance.

The Dean of the Chess Institute, Chu Xingluo, was the first to speak and asked, "Teacher Mingyuan, the commotion at the back mountain was caused by you, wasn’t it?"

"Yes, I had reported to Dean Mo Song before the class,"

Duan Mingyuan acknowledged openly, "It was to help the students in the advanced class better understand the Barrier, and at the same time, to set a target for them because I found during the main course that the academy’s students did not have any foundation in how to construct Barriers."

"Not only that, but you also released the eldritch prisoner who was confined in the Ghost Prison."

At this, the court erupted into an uproar.

Most teachers and students of the academy were also graduates of the four institutes. They had heard about the horrors of the Ghost Prison since their student days. The source of all terrifying rumors pointed to the eldritch prisoner sealed in the deepest part of the Ghost Prison, a criminal who had survived since the founding of the academy.

"I believe that the knowledge known by Mr. Chen Chou is the most likely to help students improve,"

Duan Mingyuan considered that his theoretical knowledge was not as solid as his practical experience, which was why he hoped to initiate academic symposiums whenever the chance arose.

His judgment proved correct. Although Mr. Chen Chou’s mouth could be as unpleasant and unyielding as a rock in a latrine, the Blood Sacrifice Ritual he mentioned did indeed bring a breakthrough to the "Defense Against the Eldritch" class.

The senior class’s future teaching approach involves gathering each student’s Life Energy to help them construct a shared Barrier together.

"As you all can see, Teacher Mingyuan does not deny that he released the evil spirits from the Ghost Prison."

Chu Xingluo said coldly.

The interrogation seemed to be going too smoothly, as Duan Mingyuan did not attempt to hide anything and openly admitted his actions in front of everyone.

As long as Duan Mingyuan admitted to this fact, it would be easy to handle.

Historically, the Ghost Prison has always been a taboo topic in the academy; not to mention releasing the evil spirits within, even approaching the Ghost Prison without permission was considered a serious crime.

"Teacher Mingyuan has also reported this matter to me, and it was I who personally took him there."

Mo Song spoke up.

He did not deny Duan Mingyuan’s approach to teaching the junior and senior classes, and he believed that Duan Mingyuan could manage his classes well, but he also did not publicize the matter widely.

Mo Song knew all too well that changing people’s minds was not something that could be achieved overnight. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe that someone could remove the seal with their bare hands, and then drag out the evil spirits, which had been transformed by the sinners from the wooden house, and force them into submission through physical coercion.

Even if he were to tell everyone present about what happened in the Ghost Prison right now, it would probably be dismissed as a made-up story.

There would certainly be conspiracy theorists who would think that all this was an act put on by the evil spirits in collusion with Duan Mingyuan, with the goal of breaking the seal on the wooden house.

Even if the academy weren’t in such a precarious situation, he would not have risked such a great danger.

"This only shows that there may be disagreements among us."

Chu Xingluo seemed to have anticipated Mo Song would say this and rebutted at an unhurried pace, "According to the academy’s tradition, if the heads of the four institutes can’t reach a consensus on important decisions within a department, we must convene all teachers and students to vote under the ancestors’ witness."

Mo Song’s face changed slightly, which was also the reason for his reluctance to make the issue public.

If a vote were truly held in accordance with academy traditions on this matter, then more than ninety percent of the people would cast a vote against it.

Chu Xingluo did not intend to stop there; seeing that Mo Song did not object and took his silence as consent, he continued the topic, "But today, I did not convene everyone here to hold Mingyuan accountable for what happened in the Ghost Prison. If that were the only issue, I would turn a blind eye given the dangerous situation of the academy, but..."

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject and raised his voice, "The new teacher Mingyuan seems candid, but he has concealed the most important matter from the dean and all of you. I believe everyone has just seen the sword shadow descending from the sky; it is one of the Tricky Arts strictly forbidden by the founders of the academy."

"Under the current circumstances, even studying Tricky Arts is not blameworthy."

The head of the Chess Institute, Su Yunru, showed a slight change in expression, deliberately taking over the conversation as if she was reluctant to let Chu Xingluo continue on the subject.

"Indeed, but the Tricky Art that Teacher Mingyuan performed was not just any Tricky Art; it is called the Sword Control Technique, a Tricky Art personally handed down by the Prime Monarch."

The hall fell as silent as the grave.

The Prime Monarch was the ruler of the Imperial Court, and all the crises the academy was facing were orchestrated by the Prime Monarch himself.

Su Yunru furrowed her brows, "Are you suggesting that Teacher Mingyuan is a spy sent by the Imperial Court?"

"No, it goes beyond that. The Sword Control Technique is a Family Secret Technique."

Chu Xingluo shook his head, "This only proves one thing—his blood carries the lineage of the Prime Monarch, what better proof could there be?"