High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 184: Chapter 108 Mystical Grain_1

”Professor! Professor Li!”

Duan Xiao Jian, who had run off earlier to beg for a herb from Uncle Sistanda, suddenly came bouncing and jumping from outside the crowd, yelling at the top of his lungs.

”Lower your voice,” Tang Dun grumbled from not far away, ”Maintain your image!”

The onlookers quickly opened a small gap, allowing this messenger to pass through the wall of people.

Jiang Yufei quickly lifted his head, his eyes full of anticipation.

”Uncle Sistanda said that the latest batch of vine grass has just started to sprout and there’s no ripe fruit.” Duan Xiao Jian squeezed through the crowd, bringing bad news to everyone.

Jiang Yu’s face instantly lost all its color, turning deathly pale.

”None?” Professor Li frowned.

Zheng Qing looked at the little witch anxiously, guessing in his heart that if there was no special herb, Professor Li would surely take Li Meng to the school hospital for treatment.

In that case, this trip to the Hundred Herb Gardens might come to an early end.

”Where can we find this kind of grass?” He poked Xiao Xiao who was next to him, asking her, ”Can we find it at the Wandering Bar?”

As Jiang Yu’s friend, he felt he had the responsibility to do something.

Especially since she had done him a big favor not long ago.

Before Xiao Xiao could answer, Duan Xiao Jian, who stood in front of Professor Li, had already spread his palm, adding, ”Uncle Sistanda gave me a few leaves, said they are some kind of Mimu leaves, and they’d be useful. He told me to give them to you.”

Professor Li took the leaves.

Jiang Yu, standing at the side, looked nervous.

”Mystical Grain.” The professor corrected Duan Xiao Jian’s pronunciation with a smile returning to his face, explaining to everyone, ”These leaves are from the Mystical Grain tree. Their effect is similar to that of vine grass, so they are quite suitable here.”

The spectators all breathed a sigh of relief with this news.

”Why are you breathing so heavily when you talk!” Zheng Qing also exhaled deeply.

He slung an arm around Duan Xiao Jian’s neck, gave him a tight squeeze, and complained, ”You’re likely to get punched in our class if you carry on like this, you know?”

Laughter spread through the crowd.

Professor Li held the leaves in his hand, looked up at Jiang Yu and reassured her, ”To be precise, the effect of the ’Mystical Grain’ leaves is much stronger than that of ’vine grass’, so there’s no need to worry.”

Jiang Yu took a long, deep breath, bit her lip, and nodded forcefully.

”Mystical Grain?” Zheng Qing poked Xiao Xiao at his side.

Xiao Xiao glanced at him expressionlessly.

”Oh, sorry,” Zheng Qing pretended to have just thought of it and smirked, ”I forgot you don’t have your notebook with you... of course, you can answer the question after we leave the garden.”

”Childish!” Xiao Xiao’s mouth twitched, and she gritted her teeth and explained, ”The chief of the Que Mountain is called Zhu Yao. The mountain abounds with sweet osmanthus and gold jade. There is a grass there, it looks like leek but with a green flower. Its name is Zhu Yu, and if you eat it, you won’t be hungry. There’s also a tree there. It’s shaped like grain and has a black texture. Its flowers shine in four directions. Its name is Mystical Grain. If you wear it, you won’t be deluded.”

”Very accurate.” Hearing this explanation, Professor Li turned around in surprise, looking at Xiao Xiao and giving her an approving thumbs up, ”Even the ’Wizard’s Encyclopedia’ can only provide this much of a definition... by my usual classroom standards, you’ve earned yourself a credit.”

Xiao Xiao smiled modestly, bowed in thanks, and then gave Zheng Qing a sidelong glance.

Zheng Qing shrugged, lowered his head, and began to watch Professor Li handling the leaves seriously.

”Remember, magic is prohibited in the Hundred Herb Gardens.”

After emphasizing this, Professor Li took out a white jade pestle and mortar from his pocket and threw the Mystical Grain leaves in.

Zheng Qing remembered Jiang Yu’s actions not long ago and couldn’t help but give the female monitor a wink. Jiang Yu’s face blushed a little, but she said nothing.

The professor seemed to have forgotten about Jiang Yu using magic to check on Li Meng just a short while ago. While slowly grinding, he started explaining to the students leisurely:

”Usually, witches wear ’Mystical Grain’ leaves as accessories to protect against bewitching formations. It is a quite effective navigation guide. This is the most basic use of the Mystical Grain tree.”

”However, like all magical plants, through extended practice, witches always manage to discover even more profound uses.”

”Take the Mystical Grain tree, for example.”

”Through extensive experimentation and testing, wizards have confirmed that the reason the Mystical Grain wood is ’immune to delusions’ is due to its ’latent spiritual mark’. In other words, this plant possesses sapience that anchors the mind of the wizard.”

”This is the principle behind its ability to awaken the unconscious.”

”Unclear sight, confusion, and loss of senses are all considered states of unconsciousness.”

”Mystical Grain wood radiates light, reflects the heavens, and sets a spiritual marker. Once the mind is anchored, unconsciousness naturally lifts.”

As he spoke, the leaves in the mortar had already been ground into a mash. The sapience within the Mystical Grain was forced out of the cells by the jade pestle, mixed in with fine foam, forming a pool of dark green juice.

Professor Li took out a glass measuring cup and a filter. After filtering out the residues, he directly poured a small cup of the remaining leaf juice into Li Meng’s mouth.

”Doesn’t this prescription require additional medicines?” A classmate asked from the side.

”No need.” Professor Li shook his head and added, ”In fact, this is not a complete prescription. It’s just a remedy based on the condition. For symptomatic treatments like ’Mystical Grain for delusion’, the purer the herbal medicine, the more significant the effect.”

Not long after the medicinal juice was administered, Li Meng, whose eyes were originally vacant, seemed more spirited.

Jiang Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

The crowd watching erupted in cheers.

”Quiet!” Monitor Tang Dun once again tried to control the situation from the back of the line: ”Everyone stay calm and maintain order!”

When the little witch fully recovered, the dragon-shaped mound at the front of the line had already trembled away, disappearing between the fields.

Uncle Sistanda stood at the side of the road, encouraging the newcomers to continue further into the gardens.

”Move it, you little brats!” the old gardener, leaning on his Crane’s Beak Hoe, yelled from not far ahead: ”If you plan to end class early, move faster.”

The newcomers hurried forward at Professor Li’s urging.

”Do spirit witches faint easily?” Zheng Qing, walking in the middle of the line, looked at the little witch who rested her head on Jiang Yu’s arm and couldn’t help but laugh. ”School hasn’t even been in session for a month, and you’ve fainted twice.”

He shook his head, a still amused expression on his face.

Jiang Yu gave him a sidelining glare, saying nothing.

”Go away!” The little witch wriggled free from her cousin’s hold and shoved the scholarship student towards the side of the road with all her might.

Zheng Qing staggered backwards, feeling as though his leg was hit with a hammer. His knee went numb, and he cried out, falling to his knees.

”Ouch!” He cried out in pain and looked up at the culprit.

Not far from him, a few bushy, tall shrubs were shaking their branches, tossing out things that looked like beans. Several students nearby were hit by these and tumbled in various directions.

As these beans hit the protective gear, they immediately burst open, splattering a paint-like liquid that stuck firmly to it. The dragon skin protective gear sizzled and smoked under the effect of this liquid, emitting a foul smell that spread around them.

The already tense lineup immediately fell back into chaos.

”You lot really don’t make things easy!” Old Man Sitangda rushed from the front of the line to the site of the incident, clearly frustrated by these ever-emerging complications among the newcomers. ”Can’t you just walk straight in the middle of the road?”

Zheng Qing blushed, let out an awkward laugh, and lowered his head.

”What is this grotesque thing?” Li Meng held her nose, complaining loudly, ”So stinky!”

”So now you realize it stinks?” Old Man Sitangda cocked his head, glanced at her sideways, and scolded, ”If you were walking on the path as you should, you wouldn’t have triggered the defensive mechanism of these ’Black leaf stinky beans’, and you wouldn’t have to smell this.”

Li Meng pouted her lips and said nothing.

The old gardener grumbled while he dug a handful of fresh soil from the base of the Black leaf stinky bean plant, added some water from his copper kettle, mixed it with the soil to make mud, and started applying it to the spots where the newcomers’ protective uniforms had been stained by the stinky beans.

”All good,” the old man smacked Zheng Qing’s leg with his rough hands and barked, ”Once this mud dries, you’ll be fine. Now, get a move on!”

”Stick to the middle of the path!”

”And stop causing trouble!”

Li Meng slouched, resting her head on Jiang Yu’s arm again, seeming rather dispirited.

Zheng Qing gave a forced smile, limped along, and continued into the depths of the gardens.