The Villain Saint is my secondary account

The origins of those mud monsters are probably not quite right.

He also gave Van Derrian a wink, and the latter immediately understood and stood up.

"Please wait here for a moment, everyone. The teacher will be back shortly after discussing some matters. Professor Rhodes, Professor Brandon, please look after the students."

Dude, are you trying to form cliques and play riddles with me at a time like this?

Ye Xiao roughly understood that there was probably something fishy about those mud monsters that they didn't want the younger students to hear, but he and Rod were professors after all, so it would be a bit much to exclude them as well.

Some noble students naturally noticed something amiss, but they understood the intricacies of human relationships and were confident they could find out more from Van Delian later, so they weren't in a hurry to find out.

For example, if Princess Femisil asked Van Deyan to privately inform her of information, Van Deyan would certainly not refuse.

Fortunately, Ye Xiao also had his own supernatural abilities. While comforting the students, he manipulated one of the crows that was monitoring the surrounding situation outside to fly down and land on a tree branch near where Vandrian and Sivirif were talking.

"...So what's the deal with that mud monster?"

Severif's voice reached the crow's ears clearly.

"We discovered that the bodies of those monsters covered in mud have many similarities with humans."

The doctor in charge said, "Although the hands and feet have a webbed structure and the skin has a slippery membrane, the overall skeletal and organ structure is extremely similar to that of the human body, so we speculate..."

"Could these monsters have originated from human mutations?"

Severif's expression turned serious. "We are not professional monster experts, and such reckless speculation is not rigorous."

"We also found partially decayed cloth on some of the monsters, which appears to be processed fabric..."

Severif immediately fell silent.

He wondered if they might be low-intelligence monsters like goblins that could make simple tools, but he had just fought those kinds of creatures before, and they hadn't shown any intelligence.

The answer, though he was reluctant to accept it, was indeed obvious.

If these monsters were originally human, it means that something terrifying beyond his imagination might be happening in this forest.

Whether it's the existence of a strange evil god spreading corruption that corrupts the corrupted, or the experimental product of some unknown group, neither of these can be dealt with by their dozen or so soldiers and fifty or so trainees.

Retreating back to the castle as quickly as possible was the best option, but the sky was still pitch black and there was no sign of dawn.

On the way back, he even had to cross a swamp and trek in the dark. He didn't dare to think about what would happen if they encountered an attack.

"Have you contacted Morningwind Keep or any other academy groups? We're afraid we'll need support."

Severif asked again.

"I've tried both spell messages and the warhawks that send messages,"

The subordinate in charge of communications looked rather grim. "We haven't received any replies to the text messages, and none of the warplanes we've sent out have returned."

"Was it deliberately blocked?"

Van Delian's relaxed expression also vanished.

He tried his best to create a peaceful atmosphere in front of the trainees to avoid making them feel scared, but he also knew that tonight's events were far from over.

Ye Xiao had observed the whereabouts of those war eagles using crows. It seemed that some kind of force that could disrupt the perception of living beings had appeared in the entire forest just now. The war eagles that flew out would dart around in the air like they were drunk, unable to find the right direction at all.

Chapter Forty-Nine: The Return Journey

Ye Xiao had tried it, and his crows also experienced a similar difficulty in determining their direction when they were far away from him.

However, he can still open a portal to Greta's anchor point, so his actions won't be affected too much.

But how can this news be spread without arousing suspicion?

In the vast forest, without the means of locating them using war eagles and magic, it's questionable whether reinforcements can even find their positions. More likely, they'll just send another wave of soldiers into the forest and then inexplicably get killed.

However, Ye Xiao felt that informing the academy about the mud monster in a timely manner would ultimately be more beneficial than harmful.

As for opening a spatial portal to move everyone away... not to mention that spacetime magic is taboo for Aslan, if his ability is exposed, the first person those Aslans will want to kill is him.

This makes the whole thing a bit of a pain in the ass.

After much deliberation, Ye Xiao finally summoned Ella, who, wearing a black cloak to conceal her figure, teleported to the vicinity of the camp. In the dark, she retrieved the corpses of the two war eagles and then used a portal to reach Group 1.

Ella originally intended to give it to Celinedra, but a larger stone camp had been set up there, with several small windows covered by vines, making it impossible to tell from the outside who was sleeping where.

She casually parted the vines by a window and saw the Second Princess lying against the wall, fast asleep with a pillow in her arms. Thinking it would be just as good for this girl, she simply threw it at her face.

But then she saw the gray-blonde girl with half her face buried in the pillow, her eyes tightly closed, when suddenly something hit her face, almost scaring her out of her wits.

“Aa ...

In a panic, Silvana instinctively rolled over, but with her whole body wrapped in the sleeping bag, she couldn't stretch out her arms and legs. She rolled around on the floor like a worm before suddenly sitting up and looking back at where she had been lying.

"What's going on?! What happened?!"

Sylvanas's commotion naturally attracted the attention of those nearby. A faint light spell illuminated the scene, revealing the carcasses of two eagles on the floor.

……

Here, Sivirif and Vandrian had a brief conversation and finally decided to grit their teeth and rest here, waiting for about five or six hours until dawn before setting off.

Compared to a nighttime trek with completely unpredictable risks, staying put and even if attacked again, at least provides experience in defense.

Of course, it would be best to avoid an attack, Vandrian prayed sincerely to the goddess in his heart.

The camp then fell silent again, with soldiers from the Ocean Legion taking turns on guard duty while the other trainees continued to rest.

However, most people will probably find it hard to fall asleep that night.

……

Fortunately, the camp was not attacked again until the sun reappeared on the horizon.

This time, without even needing Van de Rêve's prompting, the trainees quickly packed their luggage and prepared to set off.

Although they were still physically and mentally exhausted after staying up all night, none of them wanted to stay in this desolate forest for another second.

"By the way...did you guys hear something roaring last night?"

"I heard it too... It was really scary, it kept me awake all night..."

The trainees whispered among themselves on the way.

Ye Xiao naturally heard the sound as well, but it seemed to be far away from their location, so he didn't bother to pay attention to it.

As a human, he still needed to rest. After delivering the message, Ella picked up the corpses of two mud monsters to study.

She naturally wanted to see what was going on with the monster that posed such a threat to Severif.

Anyway, there are at least a hundred mud monster corpses lying nearby, so it wouldn't be noticeable if one or two were missing.

Of course, Ella used summoned tentacles to move these corpses into the portal and then returned to the Sanctuary dungeon for research.

As Ella, she instinctively resisted touching these dirty things, unlike Ye Xiao, who would probably just grab them and carry them on his shoulder.

And sure enough, compared to the doctors under Severif's command, she actually discovered some more clues.

After these monsters removed the mud from their bodies, Ella observed them for a while and felt that she had seen them somewhere before.

Fortunately, she didn't have to rely on her memory to think about it. Ever since the incident with the vampires in the Fog City, Ella had old man Hyde set up a research department to study the things she had picked up from all over the outside world in the dungeon.

So after wandering around for a while, she finally found another similar monster corpse in a room with an ice barrier.

Mermaid.

Their hands and feet are webbed, and their skin has a smooth membrane. Except for not having mud on their bodies, they are almost identical.

These are the monsters Ye Xiao encountered during the Magala Sea Ghost Ship incident. Ella killed them with her tentacles and then picked up a few more.

However, strictly speaking, these people cannot be considered mermaids. Rather, they should be humans who were corrupted by the mermaid boy through some unknown means and underwent mutation.

After all, the real merfolk are likely descendants of miracle sorcerer families, and if hundreds of them appeared in the camp, then Severif and Vandrian wouldn't be able to handle them.

Therefore, it is not difficult to deduce that those were also humans whose mutations were caused by similar methods.

The cause of the mutation has been discovered, but the question remains: where did those humans originally come from? And why are they in the swamp?

Ella stood with her arms crossed, deep in thought, before the ice block that held the monster's corpse. These mysteries remained unsolved, and for now, Ye Xiao could only continue to investigate.

……

During the day, the trainees in the three groups traveled at a very fast pace.

This time, unlike before when the students had to work together to cross the swamp, Professor Rhodes and Ye Xiao directly used ice magic to freeze a path for the students to pass through quickly.

They even killed the monsters Vandrian and Severif they encountered on the way, just to get back to the city as quickly as possible.

However, this also broadened the students' horizons considerably. After all, these professors usually don't demonstrate their skills seriously when teaching, or even if they do, they find it difficult to understand the profound meaning behind it.

It was only at this moment that they truly realized the professors' high level of skill. Monsters that previously required them to work together to deal with, or some rather difficult situations, could be easily solved by these professors on their own.

Leaving aside Professor Van Derrian's swordsmanship, the sickly-looking "Professor Brandon" flicked his fingers, and a dozen firebirds with fiery tails flew through the sky, piercing the rocky skin of the bear monsters along the way as cleanly and neatly as a needle piercing a piece of paper.

Last night, everyone only saw a flash of crackling fire before the three warlocks fell. Now, seeing the professor's incredible short arms firsthand, their eyes widened in astonishment.

I've seen plenty of fireballs, but this is the first time I've ever seen such a magnificent firebird with its distinct feathers.

Of course, Ye Xiao's move actually incorporated some elements from the Dongyang Secret Technique that he obtained from Shen San when he was in the Southern Continent.

He figured he still needed to occasionally reveal some special strength, so that if he encountered any powerful enemies in the future, he wouldn't have to rack his brains to cover up how he defeated them.

In this way, people will not have too many doubts about his ability to defeat certain powerful enemies. As for whether the powerful enemy was killed by blunt force or by slashing, everyone will assume that he simply used some ingenious magic.

“Professor Brandon, were you a professor in another college before? You don’t seem like an academic mage.”

Within the group, Femi Hill asked curiously, now completely convinced that the professor and the swordsman Ye Xiao could not possibly be the same person.

Professor Rhodes, who was standing nearby, heard this and awkwardly straightened his clothes. He was an academic and had never been in a fight, let alone created such a cool spell.

"Yes, yes, what did you do before, teacher?"

Some students echoed this sentiment.

"Sigh, I won't say any more."

Ye Xiao held a staff in one hand and put the other behind his back. Firebirds with whistling cries surrounded the group, displaying a superior demeanor. "You only need to know that your teacher used to be very strong."

Chapter Fifty Confession

From dawn until nearly sunset, the team hurried along, crossing swamps and traversing woodlands, until Morningwind Fortress on the cliff finally came into view in the distance.

Seeing this solid fortress meant they could rendezvous with the garrison, and the trainees could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Professor Van Derrian and Severif breathed a sigh of relief. Their biggest fear was encountering another enemy attack on this last stretch of the road, since their location had been exposed since last night.

Fortunately, for some unknown reason, the enemy hiding in the shadows did not appear, as if what happened last night was just an accident.

The castle gates slowly opened, and the exhausted students entered one after another. It seemed that none of them would want to go outside the wilderness anytime soon.

According to Professor Van Derlian's plan, they would remain there until the troops in Bluemane Bay came to their aid. After all, it would take at least a day and a half to travel back to the main city of Bluemane Bay from here, and without military escort, there would still be considerable risks.

These are all sons of the empire's upper-class nobles; there is no room for the slightest mistake.

The trainees from the three groups returned to the castle, as excited as if they were coming home. They went to their assigned rooms, some taking showers, others playing cards, completely forgetting about what had happened the night before.

With an entire castle guarded by them, they no longer needed to worry about monsters and could rest in peace.

In the evening, a long-awaited sumptuous dinner was held in the castle restaurant.

Having spent two days surviving in the wild, the trainees naturally enjoyed their meal. However, Vandrian and Sivirif seemed to have important matters to discuss, and after finishing their meal hastily, they left along the corridor.

Ye Xiao was about to return to his room to contact Greta to ask about the situation when a soft call came from behind him, stopping him.

"Professor Brandon, may I have a word with you in private?"

Ye Xiao was taken aback. He turned around and saw that Femi Hill was standing with his hands folded in front of him, giving him a polite smile.

Beside the princess stood a somewhat shy noblewoman, her hands nervously clutching the hem of her skirt. Beneath her distinctive algae-green long hair, her small and lovely face was flushed with embarrassment.

What is this for?

Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly. He believed that Femi Shir had not recognized him, and therefore he was even more surprised that the other party would seek out a professor from out of town like him at this time.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Your Highness?"

“Excuse me, Professor, this is my friend Lyra. She is curious about the spell you cast earlier, so she would like to ask you for advice.”

Femishire tugged at his friend's sleeve and laughed.

"If... if it causes you any trouble, it's okay if you disagree."