Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 98 - 18: Evil Spirits, Step Forward!

Chapter 98: Chapter 18: Evil Spirits, Step Forward!

Madness, it turned out, was contagious.

Faced with an unreasonable demand from a madman, any sane person would have sternly refused—and he, as the current head of the Yunhai Academy, should have immediately started an assessment and psychological evaluation of Duan Mingyuan.

But he didn’t do that, instead he personally took on the role of a guide.

Mo Song suspected he must be mad, or perhaps brainwashed by some kind of demon art.

And it seemed he wasn’t the only one brainwashed, as the monsters, who had been bristling with hostility towards them in the forbidden area, made way for them after Duan Mingyuan promised he would find the traitor hidden within the academy.

Even the monsters, who were usually of a foul nature and brutally violent, didn’t trouble them anymore.

The journey was exceptionally smooth as the trio, along with one monster, made their way down a steep mountain path to the base, where an endless darkness had already engulfed the sky. Gusts of cold wind blew towards them from the Ghost Prison, the lanterns in their hands flickering, seeming like they could go out at any moment.

This was Mo Song’s third visit to Ghost Prison, and since his last visit, the aura of death here had become heavier, as if the strength of the seals was thinning.

"Oh? Isn’t this the seventeenth head of the academy? What brings you to visit this old thing?"

The moment they set foot in Ghost Prison, a voice, as if fused from hundreds of people, drilled into their brains.

Benefitting from the dim lantern light, Duan Mingyuan scrutinized the interior structure of Ghost Prison. Unlike a traditional prison, there were no cells; perhaps the founder of the academy had sentimentally provided living facilities for the imprisoned.

Due to the blood sacrifices, however, no one lived in Ghost Prison anymore, not even the bones of the deceased were left behind, and everything within sight was desolate and dilapidated.

Ignoring the voice in his head, Mo Song turned around to warn the others, "Watch your step."

He illuminated the ground with his lantern, and the tentacles formed by shadows retreated slowly under the light.

At the dark end of the area, Duan Mingyuan finally saw the seal Mo Song had mentioned—a simple wood hut. The door and windows of the hut were plastered with seal strips, and in front of the hut was a circle with inscriptions that Duan Mingyuan had never seen before, seemingly written in blood.

But the seal strips and the circle looked as in disrepair as the dilapidated wood hut itself. They seemed to have lost their potency as effective seals, and the shadows engulfing the sky were spreading out from the cracks in the door and windows. As soon as Mo Song came to a stop, he suddenly had a hallucination.

In the hallucination, a figure pushed open the door of the hut, and a sea of blood surged out, heading straight for the trio.

"Let me guess, someone from the Imperial Court has come, and the academy is in grave danger, to the point where you have no choice but to seek help from me?"

As the contemptuous voice burst into their minds, all hallucinations vanished in an instant, and snapping back to reality, Mo Song was left cold and breathless.

The voice still haunted his consciousness, "It’s a wise choice. After all, the last head of the academy is a foregone conclusion, so you might as well let me out to help you kill them all. Maybe if I’m pleased, I’ll spare you since it wasn’t you who trapped us here... See the seal strips on the doors and windows? Tear them off, and I’ll be able to come out."

"You’re mistaken, it was me who asked the head to bring me here," Duan Mingyuan interjected.

"You? Who are you?"

"I’m the new ’Evil-Defense class’ teacher at the academy, Duan Mingyuan."

"Evil-Defense class?"

The voice inside the hut paused, then burst into booming laughter, the hut shaking violently, "Mo Song, you’re supposed to be the head of the academy. Even if you’re a fool, you wouldn’t put all your hopes on a swindler, would you? What did he promise you? Did he boast he could help you through this crisis?"

"I never promised anything to the head. I chose this job because the academy offers good salary and benefits in every aspect," Duan Mingyuan replied, puzzled. "Besides, I have no old grudges or recent quarrels with you, so why do you slander me?"

As a teacher, spreading rumors and slandering was against teacher morality.

Although he hoped the evil spirit within the hut would act as an assistant teacher, that didn’t mean he would tolerate it degrading the academy’s atmosphere.

Duan Mingyuan’s questioning left the voice inside the hut silent for a while.

No one had ever seriously questioned it about this matter before. From the moment it came into being, it did as it pleased, cursing whenever it wanted to, without needing a reason.

"Speak, what do you want from me?"

"I heard about you from the director and highly appreciate the Tricky Art you’ve mastered, so I want to hire you as my teaching assistant,"

said Duan Mingyuan, glancing at Jiuyue.

The little fox, telepathically in tune, unwrapped the Luck Braised Chicken, placed it onto the plate she had brought with her, and poured wine for both of them. This was the osmanthus wine that she had begged from other monsters through Li Hua. Duan Mingyuan, carrying the plate and fine wine, crossed the wide-eyed threshold, approached the slightly ajar wooden door of the cabin, delivered the chicken and wine inside, then sat down on the ground outside the cabin, cup in hand, waiting.

"A little gift for our meeting, albeit not much of a gesture."

"You want me to teach you?"

From inside the cabin came the sound of someone eating the chicken. The voice said, "Seeing as you’re quite sincere, I’ll agree to it. Just kill that old thing behind you and help me tear down the seal, and I might just benevolently teach you some tricks. If you can even learn the basics from me, that’ll be enough for you to throw your weight around outside."

The tone was less arrogant but revealed a strong malice.

"Not to teach me, to teach my students."

"It doesn’t matter who I teach. First go kill that old thing... This chicken is not bad; I’m in a very good mood. If you can deliver the old man’s head before I finish this chicken, I’ll agree to it,"

"That’s impossible."

Duan Mingyuan sighed deeply, the conversation with the evil spirit reminding him of clients he had encountered before.

No, worse than clients.

At least clients would symbolically obey laws and regulations and wouldn’t ask you to commit murder right off the bat.

"I’ve come here with sincerity and hope you will not make any outrageous demands."

"That’s what I want. What will you do about it?"

The voice suddenly became piercing, echoing non-stop in Duan Mingyuan’s mind. Beyond malice, there was mockery, "I’ve changed my mind. In addition to that old thing, you’ll also have to kill that fox."

The evil spirit peered through the crack of the door, mockingly sizing up Duan Mingyuan.

He had never intended to agree from the start. Even if the kid really was foolish enough to attempt murder on the dean and break the seal, he would mercilessly kill Duan Mingyuan.

As for the reason...

How about, I don’t like chicken?

Yes, that’s a good reason.

The evil spirit carefully watched every move Duan Mingyuan made, taking great pleasure in the moments when those who thought they had everything under control became completely flustered.

He could see that Duan Mingyuan was indeed angry.

Angry enough to place the porcelain wine cup on the ground, and angry enough to lose his reason. Amid Mo Song’s shouts of alarm, he suddenly stood up and walked towards the seal on the window.

The evil spirit watched as Duan Mingyuan tore away the seals on both the window and the door completely, then pushed open the door of the cabin.

"Get out!"

This human walked straight up to him...

and tossed the chicken from the plate several meters away.

Huh?

The evil spirit also saw Duan Mingyuan grab his hair, press his face against the ground, and drag him out all the way from the cabin.

Ouch!

A stinging pain on his cheek finally made the spirit realize, belatedly, that this was not an illusion but the stark reality unfolding before his eyes.