High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 156: Chapter 80 Spirit Scattering_1

The weather was somewhat stifling in the afternoon.

The layer of clouds in the sky had not completely dissipated, the sun was half-hidden, revealing its face, lazily shedding a few rays through the cracks of the fingers.

The courtyard of the institute was not large, and the layout was very compact.

The sunlight could only leave a small bright spot in the yard.

Two young wizards crossed this bright spot and walked towards the depths of the backyard.

There was a small garden there, planted with some herbs and saplings commonly used in alchemy, which belonged to the personal wealth of Doctor Du Zemu.

The old mulberry tree they were looking for grew in the center of this nursery.

It’s unknown whether it was because the bluestone road under their feet was carved with talisman, it was very quiet all the way, even without the noise of insects. This quiet environment made Zheng Qing feel very comfortable.

There was a row of lush ivy vines at the corner of the tall wall adjacent to the alley.

Zheng Qing was deeply impressed by this row of plants.

He remembered when he was waiting at the door, under the wide leaves of these vines, many interesting little lives were hiding.

Of course, even now, if he pays attention to observe, he can always find those peeping gazes hiding amongst the vines.

”When I get old, I also want to buy a secluded house. I’ll open a small garden, plant some vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. There should be a well in the yard, and a reclining chair. And then, plant a large locust tree. In the midsummer, lying under the locust tree, ah, it feels so wonderful just thinking about it.” Zheng Qing held the porcelain plate and jade slip, took a deep breath, and planned his retirement life unabashedly: ”As for those tree elves and grass elves, I will build grass nests for them to keep them from destroying my garden.”

A ghostly expression appeared on Jiang Yu’s face.

”You haven’t even been of age for a year, and you’re already thinking about retirement?” She couldn’t help but laugh out loud: ”Thinking a bit too far, aren’t we?”

”Because I always feel that I can’t adapt to this world.” Zheng Qing seemed a bit unhappy: ”When a large group of people in the campus were guessing about the cause of the kitten’s death, I mentioned that the one who might have killed the kitten was a wizard, and as a result I was despised by many people... Ah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

He suddenly realized that the owner of the kitten was walking right in front of him and he immediately felt regretful, apologizing again and again.

But obviously, his words rekindled Jiang Yu’s negative emotions.

”It’s okay, you didn’t say anything wrong.” Jiang Yu lowered her head, walking in the shadow between the buildings, her voice sounded somewhat low: ”In fact, perhaps you’ve said the true cause of its death.”

”But at the lake, no one supported me.” Zheng Qing always felt uncomfortable every time he thought of the gazes of the crowd.

”That’s because some things can be thought of in that way, but they can’t be said so openly under public scrutiny.” Jiang Yu turned her face and forced a smile: ”My home teacher once discussed such issues with me. If your views are ’politically incorrect’, then even if what you say is the truth, no one will want to accept it.”

”Humans always like to deceive themselves and others.” Zheng Qing sighed: ”How childish.”

”No, the one who is truly childish is you.” Jiang Yu shook her head and said softly: ”If you still belong to this society, you have to go with the flow of this society’s thoughts. You are not an important figure, so your thoughts are not important, what’s important are the thoughts of everyone else.”

While they were talking, the two had already arrived at the center of the small backyard garden. The old mulberry tree hung its head peacefully, not a single leaf stirred by the breeze, as if it had fallen asleep.

”That’s outrageous!” Zheng Qing pondered over Jiang Yu’s last sentence, his tone was filled with discontent.

”That’s the way it is - speech based on unconventional ideas is offensive to the public.”

”What kind of offense is that?” Zheng Qing laughed out of irritation: ”So I can’t even speak out if I see something wrong?”

”Of course there’s no problem in speaking out.” Jiang Yu shook her head helplessly: ”But if your words are like a fluttering fluff, easily swept away by a gust of wind, then what’s the point of speaking them out? The older you are, the more experienced you are, and the more worldly-wise you are, the less likely you are to say something irreversible.”

”Thankfully, I’m still young.” Zheng Qing looked at the jade slip in his hand with self-deprecating humor, and snapped off a few old mulberry leaves fiercely.

”Making mistakes is a characteristic of young people, don’t worry.” Jiang Yu held up the porcelain plate, caught the mulberry leaves, raised her voice to remind him: ”That mulberry leaf looks older... Yes, the one on that forked branch.”

Zheng Qing sighed and finally stopped complaining and started working quietly.

When the two young wizards returned to the study with a plate of mulberries and tender leaves, the doctor was busy at the experimental table with his back turned to them.

”Bring the things over.” The doctor turned his head, raised his eyelids, and glanced at the two, sounding somewhat surprised: ”You’ve picked twelve servings of materials so quickly?”

”Doctor, your eyes...” Zheng Qing looked at the doctor behind the desk and exclaimed with delight.

The previously empty eye sockets of Doctor Du Zemu were once again filled with two eyeballs.

Between his gaze and his eyebrows, he regained some liveliness.

The whole person seemed much more real.

Although compared to the first time they met, his eyes seemed to have grown a bit, and his eye sockets seemed a bit swollen. But it was at least within a normal range now.

At least there was no atmosphere of a horror movie anymore, Zheng Qing thought to himself, his mood instantly lifted.

”Is there anything wrong with your eyes?” Jiang Yu worriedly looked at him: ”They seem a bit bloodshot?”

”Oh, it’s fine... The eyeballs have been soaked in the potion for a bit too long, they are a bit swollen.” Doctor Du Zemu rubbed his eye sockets, squinted his eyes and looked at the two young wizards: ”Rest more at night, it’ll be fine... So let’s start on the potion together, we must finish this task as soon as possible.”

Zheng Qing’s spirit was lifted, and he nodded repeatedly.

If he could secretly learn the doctor’s potion-making methods, perhaps his little elf could last longer, he thought cheerfully to himself.

”You two come here, I’ll allocate the follow-up tasks.” The doctor walked to the back of the desk and called out to the two young wizards.

On the desk, that thousand-year-old tortoise was still lying in the center like a rotting tree, it raised its neck, looked like a rotting wood, its nostrils opened and closed, staring blankly at the square jade base of the medicine grinder placed in front of the table.

A thin layer of delicate red powder had already been laid inside the grinder.

”What’s this? Cinnabar?” Zheng Qing carefully used the porcelain wheel to grind the red powder, curiously asking.

”Cinnabar?” The doctor shook his head: ”Whether it’s cinnabar, or saltpeter, or alum, or stalactites, all these are virulent drugs, your little elf can’t handle it.”

”This is jade powder.” Jiang Yu scooped out a tiny bit with an ear spoon, rubbed it between her fingertips, and confirmed: ”And it’s processed jade.”

The doctor nodded in approval, then turned his head and stared with a pair of swollen eyes, instructing Zheng Qing: ”Go, under the sunlight outside, continue to grind the jade in there, the finer the better.”

Zheng Qing left to carry out the task, feeling downcast.

He realized that Doctor Du Zemu would certainly not allow him to see the entire potion-making process.

Finally, as the sun was setting and the spots of light on the ground were stretching and distorting, Jiang Yu emerged from his study and called Zheng Qing back into the room.

The white ceramic grinding wheel had rubbed the palm of his hand raw and itchy, and the jade powder in the grinder had been ground untill it almost flowed like water.

With a rub of the sorely reddened palm, Zheng Qing asked in a muffled voice, ”Is everything ready?”

”Mm.” Jiang Yu laughed softly, ”According to the doctor, this spiritual granule can be adjusted later without any special refining.”

Inside the study.

There was a yellowish bowl on the table.

Inside the bowl were finely cut green-black herbs, spread thinly, barely covering the bottom of the bowl.

Doctor Du Zemu was using a brush dipped in a bowl of bright red pigment to outline a complex rune array; underneath it were several layers of different colored arrays.

”This is a very rare array nesting method.” Jiang Yu whispered in his ear.

Without explanation, Zheng Qing understood the high-end nature of this array.

To be able to nest several rune arrays with different effects together, interacting with each other, required a solid foundation and superb array skills.

Doctor Du Zemu had placed four small empty bowls by his side. The original black, white, blue, and yellow pigments had been used up.

Once the small bowl filled with red paint was also thrown on the ground, Doctor Du Zemu finally raised his head.

”Pass me the bowl.” He issued a low command.

Zheng Qing quickly picked up the medicine bowl not far away and handed it to the doctor.

Doctor Du Zemu moved the old tortoise away, then placed the board full of rune arrays in the center of the desk, took the medicine bowl from Zheng Qing’s hand, positioned it on the board, and carefully checked the alignment.

”These are the basic tasks.” He finally stood up, his voice sounded extremely tired: ”Later you can follow my instructions... No magic power is needed, it’s very simple.”

Zheng Qing nodded vigorously.

”Miss Jiang will be in charge of the juice squeezed from old mulberry leaves.” Doctor Du Zemu glanced at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu quietly nodded in agreement.

”Why is it only green?” Zheng Qing looked puzzled at the bowl of green oil-like leaf juice: ”Where are the mulberries? Shouldn’t they add some color?”

”It was eaten up.” Jiang Yu whispered, quietly pointing at the stain on the old tortoise’s mouth, ”I just found out that actually, the medicine only needs a little juice squeezed from the mulberry leaves.”

The Spirit Turtle seemed to hear their whispering, its head lifted proudly and it sniffed at them.

After contemplating for a moment, the doctor looked at Zheng Qing and instructed: ”As for you, when you see smoke, throw in the jade powder without hesitation.”

Zheng Qing obediently nodded once more.

”Finally, remember what you have to do.” The doctor glanced again at the old tortoise.

The Spirit Turtle twisted neck, disdainful marks lifting at the corners of its mouth.

The doctor took a deep breath, looked at the sunlight outside the window, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers.

A convex lens suddenly appeared above the bowl.

”Air Fire.” He murmured as light sped through the lens and focused on one spot. In a blink of an eye, the finely cut herbs at the bottom of the bowl were ignited, hissing as they caught fire.

The fire spread instantly, fiercely growing with the wind. Those fine herbs were reduced to a pile of fine ash in an instant.

A stream of pale smoke rose.

”Stone-like Water.” The doctor abruptly raised his head and looked at Zheng Qing.

A shiver ran down Zheng Qing’s spine as he reflexively picked up the grinder. The water-like jade powder inside immediately turned into a red light, fluttering down onto the bowl, pulling back the rising blue smoke.

”Wood generating Metal(Jin).” Doctor Du Zemu seemed to have finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up at the witch by his side.

Jiang Yu lifted up the cup in her hand and poured the juice squeezed from the mulberry leaves into the bowl, one drop after another.

The green juice fell into the bowl, blended with the smoke-tangled ash, and quickly lost its color, forming a jelly-like substance.

”Medicine like Smoke.” Doctor Du Zemu smiled and tapped on the tortoise shell in front of him.

The Spirit Turtle approached the jelly with a sigh and opened its mouth.

After a while, a shiny and transparent thread of saliva dropped from the corner of its mouth onto the jelly.

The final catalyst was the saliva of the thousand-year-old Spirit Turtle.

Like boiling water dropped on an ice cube, the jelly met the saliva and quickly melted, turning into a nearly transparent ethereal mist in a blink.

”The five qi circulates, giving birth to smoke in the void.” Jiang Yu clenched her fist, moaned weakly: ”This is what high-level alchemists call ’simple adjustments’? The sophistication of this refining method would take us many years to learn.”

Zheng Qing was puzzled as he looked at the green cloud spinning in mid-air, he shrugged his shoulders.

He didn’t notice the doctor’s ingenious potion-making method.

But he was immediately happy again.

No matter what, the little elves were finally able to wake up.