Chapter 519 - 315: Founding the Group

Chapter 519: Chapter 315: Founding the Group

Li Jueyin chimed in first, "Zhang Xunyi isn’t happy with you! He wants to challenge you!"

"Oh~"

Yu Fei feigned surprise, then drew Name-Sever from the void, creating a shower of sparks.

He pointed the longsword straight at Zhang Xunyi and said with a serious expression,

"Bring it!"

"I won’t!"

Zhang Xunyi hastily hopped off Li Jueyin’s longspear. He clasped his hands behind his back and angled his head forty-five degrees away, pointedly refusing to look at Yu Fei.

"I’m not an idiot. But after we both become Martial Saints, I’ll definitely have a bout with you!"

"Pfft~"

The group sneered, but Zhang Xunyi paid them no mind.

After two years together on the battlefield, their bond was quite strong.

After the playful banter, Yu Fei got down to business.

"What are your plans now?"

Zhang Nianwei was the first to speak. "We’re about to return to school. There probably won’t be any combat missions for the next month! But you—why did you show up so suddenly?"

"I saw Liu Ze and the others... I heard the news about Deng Yu and the others being sacrificed, and also what that Yuwen fellow has been doing. So I came."

At the mention of Deng Yu’s sacrifice, however, the others exchanged a look, as if sharing some silent message. Yu Fei could clearly sense there was something more to the story that he didn’t know.

His expression hardened. "What is it? Is there something fishy about it?"

Feng Hua mulled it over for a moment before saying, "Yu Fei, we have a theory about the students who were sacrificed! We suspect their deaths were deliberately arranged!"

"Is such a thing even possible?"

Yu Fei was deeply shocked. For some reason, when Feng Hua mentioned the deaths being ’arranged,’ the image of Ye Shuping flashed through his mind.

"Tell me everything."

Feng Hua continued his explanation. "When the casualties first started, we were all devastated. It’s natural to grieve for your own. We all know that life and death on the battlefield are a matter of chance, but we never expected it to be so sudden. Then, we cross-referenced the information on the students who were sacrificed and realized something wasn’t right!"

"Hmm... Zhang Xunyi was the one who discovered it. Let him tell you!"

’Zhang Xunyi discovered it?’

Yu Fei was a little surprised. When he turned to look, he saw that the man had, at some point, climbed onto the back of a chair—the highest point in the simple barracks.

"Ahem..." Zhang Xunyi suddenly started putting on an act, his voice low and deep.

"As we all know, I am a lonely and sensitive soul. In our daily lives, everyone is jealous of my handsome features and envious of my disposition, and so they isolate me. I do not blame them, for my heart is as vast as the ocean. I always walk a solitary path of inquiry, silently..."

Yu Fei drew Name-Sever and tapped it on the table. "Get to the point!"

"Ahem... The point is, I wasn’t on good terms with the students who were sacrificed. I had investigated them privately before. These people had, to varying degrees, all committed serious crimes and violations!"

’Investigating people just because you don’t get along with them... yeah, that sounds exactly like something this guy would do!’

At this, Zhang Xunyi paused, a vicious light glinting in his eyes. "Slaughtering the innocent, treating human life like dirt, raping and abusing women!"

Yu Fei’s gaze hardened. "Are you certain?" he asked gravely.

Zhang Xunyi spread his arms, speaking with immense pride. "I don’t know about the others, but at least Chang Wei and Wang Yangjie from our class, and Deng Yu from yours, definitely were! I secretly investigated them during the holidays. Unfortunately, I was a bit too late—I couldn’t save anyone, nor could I catch them red-handed! But I compiled the evidence I had on them and submitted it to the school!"

At this point, Feng Hua stepped forward and said, "The other deceased students were also all from our senior year. Although I haven’t investigated them in detail, from daily interactions, it was clear they had few friends. They also acted very selfishly on the battlefield, even using others as shields."

"So we suspect this might have been a premeditated cleanup operation by the school..."

The words hung heavy in the air. If it were true, it was a disheartening thought. Legally speaking, if these people deserved to die, they should have been executed after a public trial and verdict, which would also serve as a warning to others.

But judging by the school’s methods—disposing of them privately through special means and making their deaths look like accidents—it raised another question: was everyone under the school’s constant surveillance? Was every single thing they did being watched?

Yu Fei thought for a moment. He believed Zhang Xunyi’s speculation was correct. He remembered that at the start of the school year, Ye Shuping would review the history of every single student in extreme detail.

Thinking back on the school’s educational strategy, the message, both overt and subtle, was that they wanted prodigies with upright values.

With this in mind, he said to the group, "Everyone, relax. An upright person has no fear of shadows. As long as we hold ourselves to a righteous standard, we’ll have nothing to worry about!

"As for being monitored, don’t be so shocked. We talk about everyone being equal, but don’t forget that Martial Saints are beings whose immense power is entirely their own!

"I suspect the school authorities must have some kind of evaluation agency. They would only initiate this type of cleansing action if they determined one of us had crossed a line.

"Following that line of reasoning, our conflict with Yu Wen Baji, and maybe even the great battle against the Yuan Mo at Celestial Sword Gorge, were likely under their control the whole time!

"Honestly, this kind of thing annoys me too, but there’s nothing we can do to change it right now. If, in the future, we all reach the Martial Saint realm, maybe we can change some of the rules!

"Besides, if Deng Yu and the others were really such scum, their deaths are nothing to mourn. Letting them die on the battlefield and still receive honors would have been letting them off way too easily."

Qingshan also had an optimistic take. "I think this is a good thing. Let’s be honest, we all have a good idea of the talent and strength of our batch. If those people with twisted minds were to cultivate to a high realm in the future, they would cause endless harm!"