Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 87 - 8: Purging the Remnants

Chapter 87: Chapter 8: Purging the Remnants

"So that’s how it is."

Duan Mingyuan suddenly understood, and the stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.

As the Prime Monarch was on the verge of collapse, he could imagine that the company must be playing their game of "proving loyalty" again. To inherit the position of Prime Monarch, one had to present achievements that could satisfy the company, such as purging the remnants of the old regime or bringing the whole academy into their pocket to offer to the company. By doing so, one could naturally gain the company’s favor.

He had said that Jiuyue’s box of lucky braised chicken should not be so powerful as to affect the timeline, at most it could accelerate the historical process to some extent.

Therefore, it made sense that there was a mole within the academy.

Collaborating with imperial court insiders to capture the academy and assassinate the current dean, then to take over by oneself...

All the clues pointed to Professor Snape.

"I don’t intend to keep you in the dark, the future is uncertain, and if Mr. Mingyuan doesn’t want to wade into these troubled waters, I can have Yun Lin escort you all down the mountain right away."

"It doesn’t matter."

Duan Mingyuan waved his hand, "On the contrary, this is exactly what I want. I am destined not to get along with the company."

It felt a bit peculiar, like driving on the wrong side of the road, facing nothing but villains with ill intent. In this way, he also wouldn’t feel too much psychological burden when using some of his abilities.

Moreover, if one wanted to expand and strengthen their organization, they needed to unite all possible forces, and the Cloud Sea Academy was undoubtedly the best partner at the moment.

"Well said!"

"Dean Mo Song, Miss Yun Lin mentioned on the way that all the messenger’s routes are confidential, yet Yin Die knew their movements in advance and set up an ambush. This suggests that there may also be a traitor within the academy, so you need to be extra careful."

"Hmm."

Mo Song nodded, "I will investigate thoroughly as soon as possible."

.....................

By the time they returned to the dormitory building, Jiuyue had already packed her bags. She was swaying her big tail, back to the door, sticking the prepared group photo on the wall, and placing the homemade garlic sprout pot she brought from home on the bedside shelf.

They would be living here for a long time to come, so she wanted to decorate this room into a cozy little home.

The staff dormitory was located in a separate building, and according to school rules, students were not allowed to enter the building without an invitation from a teacher. Tang Qianqian and Yang Ping went to the student dormitory like the other students. They would stay in the temporary dormitory until the division ceremony was over. It used to be that today was the liveliest time for the freshmen dormitory, with new students coming from afar usually unable to sleep all night. They would eagerly discuss the academy’s rules and the upcoming division ceremony before dawn, and imagine which academy they would be assigned to.

But this year’s freshmen dormitory was exceptionally quiet.

The main reason might be that there were only two freshmen this year, while the others had failed along the way and had to leave with regret.

"Mr. Mingyuan, should we paint the wall blue?"

Jiuyue had finished with the photos, admiring the fruits of her labor with satisfaction and completely unaffected by the urgent atmosphere of the academy, fully immersed in the arrangement of her new home.

In the future, she would definitely have to decorate a bridal chamber, so she decided to start practicing from now.

She pointed to an open space not far away, "I plan to put a computer desk there, but it’s a pity that there’s no network in the academy."

The biggest premise of being cut off from the world was that they did not allow "new things" from the outside to enter this pure land.

Duan Mingyuan felt this was also within reason. If the academy had internet access, then there would have been no need to wait for their arrival, the company would have discovered the location of Qing Chi Peak decades ago.

The silver lining was that the academy had somehow solved the electricity problem, allowing most daily electrical appliances to operate.

"Why blue?"

Seeing Jiuyue, Duan Mingyuan’s nerves relaxed.

This fox meticulously maintained her role as a rest reminder assistant, so much so that now seeing her triggered a conditioned reflex to enter rest mode.

"Because my bedroom at home is blue."

"Decorate it according to your liking then," he said.

"Mm-hmm."

Jiuyue stretched languidly and sat on the bed, "Mr. Mingyuan, there’s something I don’t understand. Since you can know their secrets through Life Energy without interrogation, why not gather everyone together and investigate one by one? That way, the mole hidden in the academy would have nowhere to hide, right?"

"This will harm the innocent,"

Duan Mingyuan explained.

Like inspecting memory or reconstructing space, it was an ability he was reluctant to use under normal circumstances, "If human memories were likened to a web page’s browsing history, the use of this ability is like ignoring the will of the computer owner and forcibly accessing all of their browsing history to date."

If the people of the academy were subject to individual "browsing history" checks, then before the true spy was found, all the weird habits hidden deep in their hearts would become known to him.

By then, even if the spy were found, the entire academy would be disheartened, and everyone would regard him as a heretic.

Duan Mingyuan was someone who greatly respected personal privacy, so he usually only used this ability on those close to death.

Death was a release.

It spared them from enduring the agony that social death brings.

In the spirit of humanitarianism, no matter how perverted a deceased was, Duan Mingyuan would help keep their secrets safe.

"No wonder!"

Jiuyue suddenly realized, "I was wondering why there are so many spies in this academy, it turns out that even the good people are afraid of having their memories searched."

?

Duan Mingyuan was stunned and an ominous premonition surged in his heart, "What have you done?"

"Well..."

Jiuyue guiltily avoided Duan Mingyuan’s gaze, "Mr. Mingyuan, you have to believe that my intentions were good, I was also considering the academy."

"Don’t beat around the bush, just confess."

"I was trying to help you narrow down the search, really! I thought if the spy hidden in the academy knew you could search memories, they would panic and slip up."

On the way back to the dormitory, Jiuyue was not idle. She knew the other teachers and students must be very curious about Mr. Mingyuan’s abilities, and would ask Yun Lin privately about their origins and the ambush they encountered on the road. Therefore, she instructed Yun Lin to subtly reveal the ability to search memories to those who inquired about Mr. Mingyuan.

The real spy would definitely panic on the spot upon hearing it.

"Mr. Mingyuan, I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Looking at Mr. Mingyuan, whose eyes were now shrouded in darkness, Jiuyue’s voice grew weaker, and it seemed her attempt to lighten the mood was failing, "Maybe you should hear the good news first. The good news is that the spy did indeed show panic and slipped up after hearing about it."

Duan Mingyuan did not respond to her.

"...The bad news is that everyone showed a slip."

After Mr. Mingyuan’s earlier explanation, Jiuyue finally understood why the teachers of the academy were hastily fleeing.

After what seemed like an eternity, Duan Mingyuan finally said, "How many people did Yun Lin tell this to?"

"...All the teachers."

Dead silence again.

On his first day at the academy, rumors about him spread among the teachers and students.

The new "Defensive Against the Evil Spirits" teacher was a pervert who could invade people’s privacy at will.

"Jiuyue!"

"Present!"

"What should be your punishment?"

"I acknowledge my guilt!"

Jiuyue shrank back in fear, saying, "I will make up for your loss."

"How will you make it up?"

"Tonight, I’ll serve, serve in your bedchamber!"