Chapter 31: Where the People Stand

Facing Yu Sheng’an’s puzzled expression, Doman didn’t dare keep him guessing and quickly said, “Sir, just take a look at the school forum; it’s already being discussed up there.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng’an felt a stir in his heart. The Phantom Scroll unfolded in front of him.

He proficiently navigated to the Felix Forum, entered ‘Eileen’ into the search box, and instantly, over a dozen posts came into view.

“Explosive News: Eileen suffers humiliation at the hands of Magus Marchi, forced to kneel and beg for mercy!”

“Is this for real?”

“I saw it with my own eyes! Eileen’s flowerpot was smashed to pieces. You can still see the shards at the Belkar Garden, three hundred steps directly in front of the Magic Forest.”

“Eileen? That name sounds familiar. Isn’t she the lucky one who got the Violet Snow Wood Wand from Ajev?”

“That’s her!”

“There are so many rumors! Let me tell you, I saw it with my own eyes. It looked like Eileen bumped into Magus Marchi; that’s when Marchi smashed Eileen’s flowerpot.”

“What’s the grudge here? Why would a great magus torment an apprentice?”

“Even hitting a pet involves considering the owner, right? Saying this is an affront to Eileen is really an insult to Ajev, isn’t it?”

“This is going to be interesting! Ajev took all the Wood Spirit System apprentices the moment he arrived. Some mentors have been bitter for a long time. This definitely isn’t a coincidence!”

Eileen, who usually went unnoticed, had almost all posts about her on the Felix Forum concerning two things.

The first was her receiving the reward from Yu Sheng’an;

The second was her humiliation by Marchi.

As Yu Sheng’an browsed through the forum posts, his gaze gradually turned icy.

“Eileen, come here a moment!” Yu Sheng’an called, his voice not loud, yet it penetrated the entire underground laboratory.

Eileen, who was assigning tasks not far away, hurried over when she heard.

“Mr. Ajev, were you looking for me?” Eileen asked nervously, noticing Yu Sheng’an’s somewhat stern expression.

“Did Marchi give you trouble?” Yu Sheng’an’s face was cold.

“No…” Eileen instinctively wanted to deny it, but seeing Ajev’s gaze, she eventually nodded her head.

“Tell me what happened exactly.” Yu Sheng’an’s voice was calm, betraying no emotion.

Eileen bit her lip and nervously recounted the events that had transpired, down to every detail.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I angered Magus Marchi. It has nothing to do with you, sir,” Eileen quickly explained.

Seeing Eileen’s terrified expression, Yu Sheng’an didn’t say anything more and turned to leave.

Doman was taken aback and suddenly realized something. He hurriedly called out, “Mr. Ajev? Where are you going?”

Yu Sheng’an remained silent as stone, neither responding nor stopping.

“Wait, you’re not going to confront Marchi, are you? Hey, wait!” Doman panicked and quickly ran after him.

Doman’s shout also caught the attention of all the magic apprentices in the underground laboratory.

Countless people looked over, whispering among themselves.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems Eileen was humiliated by Magus Marchi, and Mr. Ajev is furious.”

“Check the forum; it’s all there.”

“Where is Mr. Ajev headed?”

“Not sure. He listened to this and turned to leave… Wait, could he be going to settle things with Marchi?”

“My God!”

The magic apprentices were stunned, exchanging glances, all shaken to the core by this thought!

Suddenly, someone could no longer suppress their curiosity and followed.

The moment that person moved, it triggered a herd mentality.

Anyway, many hadn’t been assigned tasks yet, so they simply rushed out after him.

Those who had been assigned tasks watched as their companions left, their hearts hardening before deciding to follow too.

After all, they couldn’t punish everyone, right?

At that moment, Eileen was stunned.

After a long while, she finally reacted, gritting her teeth before running off.

Yu Sheng’an wasn’t moving fast, and the crowd caught up quickly. They saw Lord Doman beside him, speaking non-stop, seemingly trying to convince or console him.

Yet Mr. Ajev said nothing, continuing to walk out of the academy.

In an instant, they walked ahead while the crowd of magic apprentices trailed behind, making for quite a spectacular scene!

Along the way, countless magic apprentices and even mentors were left dumbfounded, all asking what the matter was. A group trip?

The Felix Magic Academy Forum was even more chaotic.

“What’s happening? What are Ajev and that crowd doing?”

“Is the Magic Forest planning a large outdoor magic experiment? Why is a crowd of people heading off-campus?”

“Who has insider info? Speak up! I’m dying of curiosity.”

This was where the convenience of the Internet really showed.

As the saying goes: One person witnesses, the whole school watches.

Commentary spread on the forum, and those with nothing better to do and who loved a commotion simply followed the crowd.

Once they moved, even more people were swept up.

After all, who doesn’t have a few friends? A couple of close buddies?

By the time Yu Sheng’an stepped out of the academy, nearly six or seven hundred magic apprentices were trailing behind him.

This was nearly a quarter of the school’s students.

When this group arrived on the streets, as expected, Willis City was instantly buzzing!

As the capital of Kewell Empire, Willis was full of talented people, naturally including magicians. Some lucky citizens even occasionally glimpsed an Archmage in a black robe.

But seeing a crowd of seven or eight hundred magic apprentices all at once? This was unheard of!

“What’s going on here?”

“No idea.”

“Check online; maybe there’s some explanation?”

“Nothing conclusive online either.”

“So… shall we go take a look?”

“Let’s go!”

Caught up in the herd mentality, driven by curiosity and a love for a good spectacle, more and more Willis City residents joined the crowd.

The group grew like a snowball, getting larger and larger.

At the forefront, Yu Sheng’an was like a comet dragging a long tail, extremely dazzling!

But for Doman beside him, the more impressive the scene, the more uncomfortable he felt!

Now, with everyone’s eyes on him, he didn’t know whether to stay or go.

The worst part was, he was now very confused as well.

What on earth was Ajev planning?

If he wanted to confront Marchi, shouldn’t he go to Marchi’s manor?

Even if he wanted to complain to Dundar, shouldn’t they be heading to the Ring-Shaped Magic Tower?

So why were they running out of the city?

Amidst the noisy crowd and the forum’s uproar, Yu Sheng’an left the city and stopped in front of a neatly organized magic field.

“Doman, if I remember correctly, Marchi’s plantation stretches one thousand three hundred steps from here, right?”

Oh, my dear lord, you finally decided to speak… Doman was so emotional he nearly cried, quickly replying, “Yes, that’s correct, Mr. Ajev. What are you planning to do?”

Yu Sheng’an grinned and turned to beckon Eileen over.

Eileen quickly jogged over, her expression becoming more and more anxious. “Mr. Ajev.”

Yu Sheng’an didn’t respond, his gaze sweeping over the dark crowd that had followed them, shouting, “Does anyone here know what winter mallow is?”

With the power of the Divine Spark, his voice wasn’t loud, yet it was clearly heard by everyone.

Most of the magic apprentices were puzzled, but the citizens of Willis exchanged shocked glances, wondering why this mage master would bring up such a thing.

A bold voice called out, “Master Mage, I know; it’s a wild vegetable. In winter, the mountains are covered with them.”

Yu Sheng’an nodded, “Correct, it’s a wild vegetable! For those who don’t know, let me tell you that in the countryside where you can’t see, countless poor folks survive the harsh winter by relying on winter mallow!”

“Winter mallow is a good thing, but it’s also a bad thing. It’s bitter, and if you eat too much, it can cause stomach pain, diarrhea, even death! But in the face of hunger, if you don’t eat, you die! If you eat, there’s at least a chance of survival!”

As Yu Sheng’an spoke, the crowd that had followed quieted down.

Some were indifferent;

Some looked puzzled;

And others were touched, their eyes reflecting deep pain.

“She!”

Yu Sheng’an grabbed Eileen’s wrist and raised her arm high.

“My assistant, Eileen, is an excellent magic apprentice. Through countless days and nights of magic experiments, she has purged the toxins from winter mallow, making it no longer bitter, no longer poisonous, and she has even managed to make it possible to grow it without further magical modification. Do you know what this means?”

“It means that in winter, we’ll have an endless supply of vegetables! No bitterness, no toxins, no diarrhea, no death!”

The crowd quieted down.

Countless people looked at the thin, dark-skinned girl beside Yu Sheng’an in shock.

Eileen was equally stunned, looking at her idol, Mr. Ajev, with one thought repeatedly echoing in her mind:

‘Wait? Didn’t this just happen overnight? How did it become countless days and nights? Also… I’m not even sure if the White-flowered Winter Mallow is poisonous! I’ve only confirmed it’s not bitter, so how could it have no side effects?’

Before her thoughts could catch up, Yu Sheng’an suddenly roared:

“And this lifesaving wild vegetable was destroyed by Magus Marchi! He destroyed the only sample we had! Simply because his magic plantation needed magic apprentices, he forbade them from researching crops, from researching wild vegetables!”

Yu Sheng’an paused, his voice filled with rage: “Do you think he deserves to die?”

The crowd went silent.

“He deserves to die!”

A quiet curse was heard within the crowd.

“He deserves to die!”

A voice echoed.

“He deserves to die!”

More voices joined in.

“He deserves to die!”

Everyone began shouting!

“He deserves to die!”

The overwhelming cries drowned out all other sounds, becoming the only thing in this corner of the world.

“What is that—”

At that moment, the roaring chants abruptly stopped!

Countless people widened their eyes in horror, looking behind Yu Sheng’an.