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Chen Ying could hardly remember why things had turned out as they were in front of her eyes...

Upon returning, the initial plan was to provide a verbal explanation, promising to capture the real culprit within a maximum of seven days and give the Northern Wolf Country an explanation. In the meantime, additional manpower would be dispatched to ensure the safety of all newly admitted students.

But halfway through her explanation, problems arose...

"Can Dean Chen truly guarantee our safety?"

Chen Ying couldn’t even recall who had uttered those words, since that single sentence instantly caused chaos.

"Yeah, can adding more manpower really ensure safety?"

"Right, the one who died was a representative of the Northern Wolf Country, wasn’t there been a focus on protection before?"

The barrage of questioning erupted very quickly, leaving Chen Ying feeling extremely dissonant.

Initially, those who doubted her were from aristocratic families from other places; the local students mostly maintained a wait-and-see attitude, but it still felt very off to Chen Ying.

The aristocratic families of the Capital City and those of the northern regions had always been at odds, yet their stance this time was surprisingly unified.

In a short period, they formed an alliance of sorts, coordinating their skepticism as if they were one family.

It made Chen Ying suspect that the Murong person from the Northern Wolf Country might have been taken out by their collaboration.

And then, strange things started to happen.

"Dean Chen can’t even ensure the safety of visiting envoys; how can she guarantee the safety of other students at the academy?

Dean Chen says the killer is on the run, doesn’t that mean the murderer not only killed but also escaped?

There were so many War God Guards under the Observing Stars Tower, but they seemed useless, didn’t they? "

"Yeah, with so many War God Guards at the Observing Stars Tower and yet not even a shadow of the killer was seen. If the root of the problem can’t be found, what’s the use of adding another layer of guards?"

The more they talked, the more enthusiastic they became, and then even the students from Jiangnan began to murmur among themselves. With her exceptionally keen senses, Chen Ying quickly noticed that the students from Jiangnan who had passed the exams all seemed a bit panicked.

"Maybe... we should just go back and talk after things have calmed down?"

"But someone just said it was the work of demons, what’s the use of going back? What if it follows us home?"

"How could that be possible?"

"How could it not be possible?"

"Didn’t they say the Gate God can recognize demons? Why are there demons entering Lyuzhou City then?"

"Is the Gate God ineffective now? Or is it... that it never really worked at all?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"It’s the truth. Didn’t Lyuzhou have several sudden death cases recently? Were they really just sudden deaths? Maybe... that Gate Deity never actually worked, did it?"

"But... many people saw that the Gate God could recognize demons, slaying them right at the gate..."

"Could it have been staged? Look, every time a demon appeared, it was under the public’s eye. My father always suspected... it might have been staged..."

"That could be staged?"

Listening to these increasingly absurd voices, Chen Ying was completely numb!

She felt something was very wrong, extremely wrong...

There was an atmosphere in the hall that spread like an epidemic, quickly rendering everyone panicked and suspicious. If these doubts had come from visiting aristocratic families, it would have been tolerable, since they came bearing skepticism.

But it was different with Jiangnan. These people had lived comfortably and happily under Chen Qing’s care for two years.

Their sense of belonging to Jiangnan was extremely strong, especially these students.

Born out of rational learning, with clear minds adept at discernment, they worshipped the academy to the extreme. Why were they so easily swayed today?

Even if there had been a mistake and someone did die because of the academy, where was the authority and sense of security that had been built up over such a long time? Was it something that could just collapse overnight?

Chen Ying felt something was very wrong...

And then she slowly realized that those below were becoming more and more agitated as they spoke. From the initial unease and fear, they moved on to a clearly frantic emotional state, their eyes filling with increasing hostility!

Chen Ying had a bad feeling, turning her head to have the soldiers maintain order when she suddenly realized that the state of the War God Army was also strange.

Many warriors were complaining about having to work day and night in shifts, all for the sake of ensuring the safety of these "damned students." And what was the result? Now with a bit of trouble, they were being treated worse than dogs?

Chen Ying went cold all over!

The War God Army, under Xuu Hu’s training, had excellent discipline.

With generous military pay and various welfare benefits, the soldiers were willing to accept Xuu Hu’s strict discipline.

In Chen Ying’s view, the atmosphere of the entire army was much better than that of the aristocratic families’ scions.

Soldiers like these were becoming unraveled in just a matter of moments?

Moreover, they seemed to mirror the frenetic state of the academy’s students!

She clearly saw the rising hostility in several soldiers’ eyes, their gaze toward the students laced with malevolence...

At that moment, she knew that she couldn’t let the Warrior Army maintain order anymore; otherwise, the consequences could be worse than she had imagined. The current hall was like a powder keg, ready to explode at a moment’s command!

What on earth was going on?

Chen Ying looked around, covertly activating a Technique, even secretly mobilizing the academy’s Formation.

But she dared not act rashly, as she was certain that something had infiltrated this place. She didn’t know what it was, but everything in front of her was definitely not normal!

What should she do?

Chen Ying was completely stunned at this moment. She had never encountered such a bizarre situation before. Clearly there was an enemy, but she didn’t know who the enemy was, seeing nothing at all, yet her own people were the first to fall into chaos, as if everyone had been poisoned.

She didn’t dare to give an order, but she also knew that even if she didn’t give an order, it was only a matter of time before the powder keg exploded!

As expected...

In the next moment, someone couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Shut the fuck up, all of you!!"

The voice was like thunder, causing the ears of the hundreds of disciples to buzz. Obviously, the person who barked out the command had used the power of his Qi and blood!

Chen Ying looked over. The one who had roared was a centurion of the Warrior Army.

At this moment, his face was fierce, and his eyes were blood red.

If it weren’t for the certainty that there was no demonic aura of the Ancient Worm on him, Chen Ying would have subconsciously thought that he was a mutant living corpse!

"What the hell is that guy going to do?"

"Could it be that he’s the one who killed the member of the Murong Family?"

"There indeed seems to be something wrong with Jiangnan..."

Murmurs of discussion, like chants, emerged once again among the circles of visiting Princely Heirs, and quickly, the panic spread. In just a few breaths, the disciples from Jiangnan who looked up to the Warrior Army on regular days were filled with panic and suspicion...

The more this happened, the more upset the Warrior Army became, all with unfriendly faces backing up the captain who had just roared.

"Can’t understand what I said, huh?" The captain’s face showed ferocity as he drew his sword, "I said shut your mouth!!"

Boom!!

With this threat, disciples from both the Capital City and the Northern Aristocratic Families quickly formed hand seals, their Techniques erupting in an instant!

"Oh, you want to fight?" The Warrior Army sneered viciously, seemingly having found their excuse.

Chen Ying’s face turned cold as ice. She could clearly see the murderous intent in the Warrior Army’s eyes!

These guys... do they really intend to kill?

"Brothers, let’s teach these not-yet-weaned brats a lesson and show them what real futility is!"

"Got it!" All members of the Warrior Army revealed smiles like tigers and wolves and charged forward.

On the other side, the Aristocratic Family disciples, upon seeing this scene, did not hesitate to activate their Techniques, ready to counterattack.

Almost instantly, this once harmonious hall was about to turn into a battlefield. The Warrior Army, once loyal to Chen Qing, was about to become butchers, wielding their slaughtering knives against teenagers barely in their teens!

Seal!!

Without any hesitation, Chen Ying activated the Array. In an instant, the Warrior Army, who had charged like tigers and leopards, froze in mid-air, turning into ice sculptures that crashed to the ground.

The Aristocratic Family disciples, who hadn’t yet fully activated their Techniques, also became encased in frost, immobile, even the Techniques in their hands stalled under the ice seal.

The entire hall was completely sealed in ice; from the outside, the entire building looked like a massive sculpture of ice!

"Huff..." Chen Ying exhaled sharply.

The defensive Array of Lyuzhou allowed her to exhibit the abilities of a Super First Rank Magician, even surpassing a regular Magician in terms of activation speed.

This was the trump card given to her by Chen Qing, but she had never thought that she would have to use this power on her own students and the Warrior Army!

"What on earth is it, come out!!" Chen Ying’s mood turned irritable.

"Yelling like that is useless..."

A familiar voice appeared. Chen Ying hurriedly looked over because she recognized that voice: Wei Gongcheng had arrived...

"Senior... I..."

"I saw..." Wei Gongcheng looked around at everyone who had been frozen in ice and nodded slightly, "You did well.

If you had been even a moment slower, those visiting Princely Heirs might have been hacked to death by the Warrior Army, and in that case, the reputation of Jiangnan Academy would have been truly ruined! "

"Could the monster be among these people?" Chen Ying calmed her emotions upon hearing this and looked at everyone who had been frozen.

"I don’t think so..." Wei Gongcheng shook his head, sighed, and walked to the top of the tavern, pointing below, "Take a look outside."

Chen Ying hurriedly followed his gaze downwards and was immediately taken aback to see that, unbeknownst to her, a large crowd had gathered outside the tavern, pointing and discussing...

But that was also normal. If she hadn’t drawn the attention of those outside after freezing the entire tavern, that would have been strange...

However, something even more bizarre happened!

The people pointing and discussing below, their conversations and rhetoric almost identical to those of the disciples from before, were all filled with suspicion, doubt, and various conspiratorial guesses...

Chen Ying was completely numb at that moment. She was very familiar with this sensation, and yes, just like before, that inexplicable fear began to spread like a plague. And this time... it was faced by the citizens of Lyuzhou City outside the tavern!