High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 231: Chapter 155: The Trouble Caused by Bugs_1

In the end, the skull processed by magic didn’t stick out its pitch-black tongue at Zheng Qing.

The attention of the young scholarship student was soon caught by the low-level conversation between Thomas and Hilda.

”... If you ask me, it’s our bad luck. Who arranged the duty schedule? Trouble is brewing every other day this month, I never get a moment of peace...” Hilda had been complaining non-stop since earlier.

From his indications, because he was assigned extra duty this month, a good deal of paperwork had accumulated.

”At best you are just needing to write some reports, it’s not that difficult.” Thomas console him in a gentle voice, while also instructing Zheng Qing to select and hand him the appropriate forceps.

”Just write some? An attendance report, a feedback report, an opinion report, that’s at lease five or six thousand characters. And you are telling me it’s just ’some’?” As Hilda spoke, he gave a shiver dramatically. The copper ring and iron nails on his face collided due to the jolt, making a piercing sound.

An old wizard glared at him dissatisfiedly.

Hilda immediately closed his mouth, giving an awkward smile cautiously.

Being the one personnel to take care of the injured Kappa, his workload was considerably lighter than his colleagues at the moment.

The old janitor was having a small seminar with the school’s professors; while other assistants in black robes were directing the young patrol members. They were conducting a grid search centered on the location where the Kappa was discovered.

According to old man Ferna, even if the incident was committed by a powerful demon, there would be traces left behind.

Flocks of white fireflies flew from the bamboo baskets. They formed a clump and hung on the surrounding branches, illuminating the area with bright light; Hilda’s altered insects, sensitive to monster aura, were fluttering around trying to capture the faint abnormal aura in the air.

The patrol students in various school robes followed behind the assistants, holding law books and chanting different spells.

Some chanted ’the birds chirp and sing, seeking their kin’, asking the birds awakened on the branches if they noticed any unusual occurrences nearby. Some chanted ’clearly visible in every direction’, attempting to search for any minor disturbances that had taken place nearby by borrowing the power of the school’s Protection Array. While others simply directly prayed to the ghosts and gods, ’May Heaven dispatch beasts to aid us’, seeking the law net to capture the offender.

These spells broadened Zheng Qing’s horizons and fascinated him.

Maybe ghosts and gods truly responded to the students’ prayers, or the school’s Protection Array indeed found clues.

Soon, an exciting message was heard from under an old locust tree deep in the forest.

”Here!”

”There are many insects here!”

”White insects.”

A few restless students rushed to report their findings to the professors. One even bravely brought forth an insect.

Zheng Qing squeezed into the crowd and looked at the scarab radiating a faint phosphorescence; it seemed very familiar.

”Ouch!” The student who had caught the insect suddenly screamed out. Startled, he threw the white insect away.

The insect glided through the air in a graceful arc and fell into Thomas’ wide-mouthed bottle.

”This insect is poisonous!” The student’s voice was filled with panic: ”My hand, I can’t feel my hand!”

Under the white light scattered by the overhead fireflies, everyone clearly saw the student’s hand that had caught the insect darken and swell right before their eyes.

His fingers looked just like pickled cucumbers, the dark color surfaced with rough spots and patterns.

”Use coal oil!” Zheng Qing, without even considering, blurted out, ”Who brought coal oil? Wipe it on his hand, quickly!”

The other students looked at him in surprise; even the assistants showed a certain degree of confusion.

Only the old janitor and a few professors smiled approvingly.

”Why use coal oil?” Assistant Hilda quickly threw out the question everyone was wondering.

”It’s a carrion beetle!” Zheng Qing gasped, his face slightly red.

He was not used to expressive situations under public scrutiny, nor was he accustomed to being surrounded by so many observing eyes.

But looking at the frightened eyes of the injured student, he could not let himself remain silent.

”I’ve seen this kind of insect in a research institute. Their shells are actually dark gray, but they grow many tiny white hairs on them. The phosphorescent glow they emit is due to years of feeding on rotten flesh.”

The crowd became uneasy.

For those living in the college, such strange insects rarely show up from the depths of the Silent Forest. No one foresaw them appearing deep within the campus.

The elder Ferna nodded slightly.

Thomas lowered his head, gave Zheng Qing a surprised look, then raised his head and sarcastically said to Hilda, ”The student’s reaction is even quicker than the teacher... I wonder if someone will feel ashamed.”

Hilda was taken aback for a moment, then laughed cheerfully, ”The later wave overpowers the previous one, students will always surpass their teachers.”

Meanwhile, some students had twisted open the lamp nozzle and poured out a bowl of black kerosene to cleanse the injured student’s hand.

The dark swollen hand visually returned to normal.

”It’s healed.” The boy still appeared anxious with his voice full of excitement, ”I can move it... there’s sensation again.”

Zheng Qing took a deep breath and instantly felt much more relaxed.

”I know what happened!” he called out happily, ”That Kappa was gnawed on by these carrion beetles... ’This is an ideal tool if you want to use smooth bone surfaces in experiments’.”

He was recalling the phrases a certain doctor once told him and repeated them to everyone present.

”Very good.” Professor Yi suddenly interrupted Zheng Qing’s explanation, clapped his hands, attracting everyone’s attention: ”All of you pay attention.”

He cleared his throat, letting everyone hear his voice.

”Put on your deer-skin gloves, get a pair of tweezers from Assistant Thomas, and then catch these carrion beetles and put them in this jar.”

Thomas raised his hand to indicate his location.

He held a bag of sheepskin in one hand, filled with tools; while supporting a wide-mouth jar with the other hand. At the moment, there was only one lonely beetle crawling around the bottom of the jar.

”If you don’t want your hands to end up like our classmate here,” Professor Yi’s words paused, his stern gaze sweeping over the naive faces around him as he raised his voice, ”then you must put on your deer-skin gloves correctly!”

The patrolling guards answered in neat unison, awakening the napping tree spirits.

With a goal and excellent execution, the wide-mouth jar was soon filled with the gray-white carrion beetles.

While the guards were catching the beetles, the old janitor and few professors were having an intense argument on the side.

Because of the distance, Zheng Qing couldn’t hear what they were saying. But he could see that elder Ferna didn’t look very pleased.

When everything was over, Professor Yi standardized the explanation for the night’s incident:

”Remember, this was just an incident caused by carrion beetles entering the campus... Since that kappa is still alive, you don’t need to write any additional patrol reports.”

This wise decision sparked cheers from everyone.

No one paid attention to any potential small abnormalities that might still be linked to the incident.

Soon, Professor Yi took the injured kappa away, disappearing into the deep night with his assistants.

At the lake, the patrolling guards who hadn’t completed their tasks stared at the old janitor in hopes that he would show compassion and allow them to head back to their beds early.