High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 215: Chapter 139: The Patrol Begins_1

Normally, the night often implies monotony and dullness of the color black.

However, for Lin Zhong Lake, the night here is not monotonous.

Above, there is a bright and clear moon like a jade disc; in the far distance, the shimmering lake water seems like shattered jade; even the lakeside, the path, and the tree groves on both sides are adorned with peculiar bright colors by a variety of magical creatures.

The bioluminescent moss emits a green glow, haphazardly smeared on the lakeside bluestones and at the foot of the trees like the work of a clumsy painter; Candlewoods hoist their flowers, allowing the stamens to bloom in the night breeze, swaying with a warm orange light; and there is the precious Purple Light Creeper, winding around the branches and lazy, hanging in mid-air, providing a resting place for the many weary flying insects.

Fireflies perch on the tree trunks, sipping the tree sap, their bellies pulsating and emitting an alternating blue-white light; luminescent clams quietly lie in the shallow water, opening their shells, using their bluish glow to lure the small fish and shrimp; there are even a few mature Fire Red Chains, boldly flashing their surrounding red light, completely unafraid of the dangers lurking in the water.

The slightly heavy silence between Zheng Qing and Lin Guo did not last long.

The restless little wizard quickly found a new topic.

Knowing that Zheng Qing lacks a lot of the basic knowledge of wizards, Lin Guo carries his backpack, and starts explaining the glowing magical plants by the lake to the young state-funded student in a serious manner.

”Many magical creatures like to hunt around Candlewoods, such as Ghost Face Spiders, Scarred Back Scorpions, and many worms.” Lin Guo pointed to a low bush not far away, with orange light twinkling on the top of the branches and said: ”So at night in the wild, it is best to stay away from Candlewoods... Of course, there shouldn’t be such things near Lin Zhong Lake.”

A worm, surrounded by a red glow, climbed up the Candlewood, eventually resting its head amidst the flickering petals. The young prodigy from Alpha Academy quickly corrected himself, adding: ”Except for Red Chain Snakes.”

”Why does the school allow aggressive creatures like Fire Red Chain to stay around the lake freely?” Zheng Qing cautiously watched the wriggling creature fifty meters away, his hands shoved in his pockets, as if he was just a few protective incantations short of being at ease.

”Why would the school let a demon touch the school’s special aircraft?” A gruff counter-question resonated behind him.

Zheng Qing quickly turned around, looking at the old man, Ferna, with caution, and gave a nervous shake of his head.

The old man had just put on a coat from inside the house, and also hung a thick belt around his waist, on which hung several bulging pouches, without any indication of what was inside.

Perhaps he is the leader of tonight’s patrol team, Zheng Qing realized.

”The news reported that the school was short-staffed, and that was why demons were able to sneak in.” Lin Guo replied in a small voice, hugging his backpack.

Compared to Zheng Qing, this very young freshman from Alpha Academy seemed even more anxious when facing the old man.

”It’s not that they can’t manage it, it’s that they don’t want to.” The old man reached out with his walking stick, pulled down the Deadly Wind Lamp above Lin Guo’s head, held it in his hand again, and said leisurely: ”Kick the River Child Water Ghosts that have climbed ashore back into the water, capture the venomous worms among the grass, clean up the courtyard, and allow other students to focus without worry.”

”This is the task of the patrol team.”

”This is your task.”

As Zheng Qing was digesting these words, a commotion suddenly arose from the crowd not far away.

”Look over there.”

”Someone’s coming!”

Zheng Qing looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a faint light emerging from the depth of the lakeside path.

This light was extremely dim amid the colorful nightscape by the lake and unremarkable. Nevertheless, it seemed as if enchanted, always inadvertently attracting attention, appearing exceptionally outstanding.

And as time passed, this light became more and more conspicuous.

At first, it was the size of a green bean, shaky, as if it would extinguish at any moment; then the light grew brighter and larger, like a peanut, an egg, a pineapple; soon, Zheng Qing determined that it was a Deadly Wind Lamp floating in the air.

It looked nearly identical to the one that old man Ferna held in his hand.

”The first Night Patrol Team is back.”

”They really do come back on time, not willing to delay for a second.”

”They seem to be at ease, it looks like nothing happened during their patrol tonight.”

”Just because nothing happens to them doesn’t mean we can rest easy. These pests like the Kappa and Fish Wives love to creep ashore in the late night hours.”

The surrounding people were arguing in a lively discussion, making Zheng Qing dizzy with the noise.

As the lantern in the distance grew brighter, the shadows that followed it slowly came into view.

A row of young wizards, clad in robes of various hues, quietly followed the lantern, stealthily moving through the sleeping forest.

Occasionally, some mischievous boys poked at the sleeping Tree Elves nestled among the branches with their sticks, watching them fumble around with blank, large eyes and giggling uncontrollably.

Soon, this row of wizards arrived at the cabin.

A tall, strapping old wizard, his hair silver and his beard dark, stepped forward with the aid of his walking stick and approached Old Man Ferna.

”It’s the usual. Those stingy bastards are always waiting for the peak of moonlight. The first half of the night is usually quiet.” The tall wizard extended his hand, aiming to snatch Old Man Ferna’s wine gourd. He complained in a rapid speech, ”I knew it was going to be this dull, I would’ve let those rascals led by Thomas go ahead. They made me walk so long, I’m dying of thirst... I finished my Amber Light on the way, you owe me a refill!”

The agile Ferna nimbly avoided the large hand reaching for his wine gourd, raised his walking stick, placed it under the man’s arm and expressionlessly exclaimed, ”Get going, get going!... I still have to train these freshmen, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense.”

”Training?” The tall wizard spat out, ”Follow the lantern, bash whatever dares to come at you with a stick... Where’s the need for training!”

While keeping an eye on the two old men’s argument, Zheng Qing also carefully listened to the discussions among the young wizards who had just returned from patrol, and he quickly gained some vague concept.

This tall wizard is known as Master Ernest. Like Old Man Ferna and Uncle Sistanda, he has a long tenure as a staff member in the school.

However, unlike Uncle Sistanda who manages the herb garden or Old Man Ferna who guards the Lin Zhong Lake, this Master Ernest frequently shuttles back and forth in the Silent Forest, rarely interacts with the regular students, and even amongst the veterans, his popularity isn’t that great.

The two patrol teams quickly completed the handover.

Just as Zheng Qing thought, Old Man Ferna was indeed the captain of the second patrol team.

And as Master Ernest said, there really wasn’t much training involved in the patrol team.

If there was anything different, it would probably be the wooden stick in their hands.

”Follow the lantern, don’t panic when you encounter monsters, just whack them with your stick.” Old Man Ferna waved his hand carelessly, looking far from serious. ”There’s not much danger in Bell Lake... Even the old Fishman that has been hiding at the bottom of the lake for a lifetime can’t withstand you guys coming all at once with your clubs.”

The old man placed the Deadly Wind Lamp on top of his walking stick, tightened his belt, and with a stern face, looked at the anxious young faces behind him:

”Keep up, line up, don’t fall behind!”

”That kid called Lin Guo, stand behind me... If you’re so short, don’t try to squeeze yourself in among the tall ones.”

With a reluctant look on his face, Lin Guo mumbled. Hugging his backpack, he slowly shuffled forward.

”It’s fine for young people to have dreams, but always thinking about dragons might lead you to get tongue-tied in the strong wind.” The elder man placed one hand on Lin Guo’s shoulder, while he rambled on, ”This Bell Lake is so small, if there was any dragon type, it would be skinned and deboned by those Fishmen in the lake or already caught for breeding by the voracious professors from school... It has nothing to do with you!”

”Thinking about cooking and eating a Swallow (bird)... You should think about stuffing yourself with Baozi (steamed bun)!”

Watching the dejected figure of Lin Guo in front of him, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but laugh.