High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 214: Chapter 138: Lin Guo’s Roast Swallow with Time_1

A great wizard of the Northern Song Dynasty, surnamed Qian and named Yixi Bai, once wrote a travel journal named ”New Southern Book,” recording the customs of the wizard community during the Tang and Song dynasties.

In the ”Xin” Chapter of this journal, an old news item from the Kaiyuan years is mentioned, referring to ’...the nature of dragons is crude and fierce, yet it fears scorpions, loves jade and Kong Qing, and craves roasted swallow meat. Therefore, those who eat roasted swallow meat must not cross the sea...’, indirectly pointing out that dragons like to eat roasted swallow meat. Even those who have eaten roasted swallow meat, as they are stained with the scent of roasted swallow, are easily harmed by salivating dragon beasts, hence it is not advisable to cross the sea after eating roasted swallow.

There was a Tang Dynasty wizard named Zhang Shuo who wrote ”Notes on Duke of Liang Part 4,” which includes an old tale of the East Sea Dragon King’s daughter being in charge of the Dragon King’s precious pearl. Emperor Liang Wu offered roasted swallow to the dragon princess, who rewarded him with various kinds of jewelry. The book included the amusing anecdote ’... Five hundred roasted swallows entered the Dragon Palace ... The small dragon at the gate smelled the scent of the wax and dared not move. They bribed it with a hundred things related to roasted swallows ...’.

Many wizard’s notes and manuscripts mention the characteristic of dragons liking to eat roasted swallow.

Roasted swallow is roasted swallow meat.

The swallow has been considered significant and peaceful by ancient people. Because of its unique charm among birds, it has always been beloved by wizards and is referred to as the ’Elf of the Sparrows’ — the widespread incantation ’Swallow soars in flight,’ is said to originate from this.

Most wizards know that dragon beasts like roasted swallow, but few people know how to roast it. Thankfully, there is no shortage of grey markets in the wizarding world, similar to the Wandering Bar, where wizards can always gain something after paying a large sum of jade coins.

However, Zheng Qing believed that Lin Guo, who is an orphan, should not and would not spend a large sum of money on such a thing that has an extremely short shelf life and is only useful for a very specific purpose.

”Where did this roasted swallow come from!” Zheng Qing examined the paper-wrapped package in his hand, but in the end did not dare to randomly unwrap it. He could only turn and ask the owner of the grilled meat, ”Are you so sure that we will run into some disoriented dragon tonight? I remember the ’Wizard World Encyclopedia’ mentioned that this thing’s shelf life is only thirty-six hours. After that period, not to mention those finicky dragon species, even grass snakes and Shiba Inus wouldn’t like to eat it.”

Grass snakes and Shiba Inus, as creatures with thin dragon beast bloodlines, have similar preferences to pure-blooded dragon species. They too dislike roasted swallow after its shelf life, indicating the strict requirement for freshness this food item has.

”I roasted it myself.” Lin Guo carefully glanced around, lowered his voice and said: ”I started preparing it last weekend, spent an entire week roasting it, and almost ruined it.”

”You!” Zheng Qing’s voice suddenly rose, and the tone was somewhat distorted.

”Shush!” Lin Guo quickly waved his little hand, looking around in a panic, jumping up and down in distress: ”Lower your voice!”

Not far away, several young wizards who were chatting curiously glanced at them, then quickly turned away. On the contrary, old Uncle Ferna’s old hunting dog at his feet twitched its ears.

Since Lin Guo took out the roasted swallow from his school bag, the old hunting dog had opened its mouth, stuck out its tongue, and started to drool. However, its little move was quickly noticed by the old man.

”At such an old age!” The old man raised his stick as if he was about to hit it.

The old hunting dog whined a few times, smacked its mouth, and collapsed on the ground weakly.

Zheng Qing took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, repeated the process several times, and finally calmed down a bit.

Very few people in the wizarding world knew how to roast the swallow.

Perhaps the deep part of the Book Mountain Library contains books on this topic. But not just the freshmen who have not been at school for a long time, even the veterans who have been at school for four years find it extremely difficult to find a recipe for roasting swallow among millions of books.

The phrase ’like looking for a needle in a haystack’ is an apt description.

Liuren Liangtai’s ”Dragon’s Food,” Lin Guo looked at Zheng Qing proudly: ”I found it the first time I went to the library. It elaborately describes how to prepare roasted swallows for dragon beasts... I learned it over a summer vacation!”

”You can sell roasted swallow to earn money in the future.” Zheng Qing enviously squeezed the parchment paper wrap in his hand.

”I can’t.” Lin Guo said sullenly: ”That’s a magic book from the depths of the Book Mountain Library. Even though I’ve learned how, I can only make one roasted swallow every month, and I can’t trade it either ...Don’t even think about me teaching you how to do it, it seems that the author named Liuren Liangtai added a strong contract to the book, as you understand.”

”Where is that book in the library?” Zheng Qing was still not giving up.

”I couldn’t find it the second time I went.” Lin Guo glanced at him apologetically and whispered: ”I asked the Professor Zhang in the Maze of Bookshelves, but he ignored me.”

”That stingy octopus?” Zheng Qing sighed regretfully, finally giving up on his new money-making plan.

”Call him Professor Zhang, or Mr. Zhang!” The old man Ferna scowled, jabbing his wooden cane hard into the ground.

Zheng Qing stuck out his tongue, didn’t dare to make a sound.

”While all dragons like to eat roasted swallows, not all dragons can be tempted by roasted swallows.” Old man Ferna turned to Lin Guo, curled up his thick finger, tapped his head, and said laughingly, ”Such a smart little head, why can’t you understand such a simple principle?”

With tears in his eyes, Lin Guo touched the back of his head, pouted, and did not speak.

”Get ready, I guess the previous patrol team will be back soon.” The old man seemed to lack the patience to continue explaining for them, he just instructed briefly, then went straight to his little wooden house.

The old hunting dog trailed its tail lazily following him. As it passed by the two young men, Zheng Qing seemed to see it sniff heavily a few times.

Once the old man had gone far, Lin Guo patted his chest and complained in a low voice: ”Old man Ferna is so fierce! Every time I see him, I always feel like I’ve been scolded for a lifetime.”

Zheng Qing looked at the little boy in front of him sympathetically, shook his head, and didn’t speak.

He had nothing to say.

Although he and Lin Guo were both under this starry sky, in reality, the two people did not live in the same world.

In other words, the two had completely different timelines.

Lin Guo was a special student. This specialness does not mean that Lin Guo had entered the top university at a young age, but that Lin Guo had a peculiar perception of time.

According to Lin Guo’s explanation, his concept of time had undergone a second processing of consciousness.

In his mind, the more important the event, the closer the time sequence, and the earlier it appears in consciousness.

As Zheng Qing vaguely understood it, Lin Guo marked his experiences and rearranged them according to their importance.

Therefore, in Lin Guo’s consciousness, he had known Blue Bird for a long time.

Even his acquaintance with Zheng Qing has exceeded three years.

Conscience of heaven and earth, three years ago, Zheng Qing was still struggling in the bitter life of high school.

”Isn’t this timeline distorting your consciousness?” Zheng Qing thought of Xiao Xiao’s warning not long ago, asked curiously: ”I remember that for wizards, distorting consciousness is a very dangerous behavior.”

”But my consciousness isn’t distorted.” Lin Guo, enthusiastic about sorting out his equipment, replied: ”It’s just that our timelines are different.”

”You can’t always live in your own world.” Zheng Qing hesitated for a moment and finally couldn’t help but advise: ”The past is past after all, adjusting your timeline at will is not good for your little brain.”

”Aren’t you living in your own world?” The little boy retorted stiffly, then lowered his head and started rummaging in his backpack again.

On his backpack, the Mickey Mouse, which had been asleep originally, somehow raised its head again, baring its teeth and grinning at the young cost student.

Zheng Qing sighed and gave up discussing this somewhat chaotic topic.