High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 398: Chapter 67 After-effects of Transformation_1

”So, please calm down now and sort through your memories again... I believe you will surely come up with something different,”

At some point, Xiao Xiao produced a pocket watch and held it in his hand, swinging it back and forth in front of Zheng Qing, as if he were a hypnotist, mumbling:

”Deep breath... Slowly exhale... Relax...inner piece...”

”Dismiss those memorable images.”

”Search carefully in the images where you think the behavior is normal... Observe your actions as a cat again, but from a human perspective.”

”This is a very important step in re-establishing your identity and adjusting your self-awareness.”

Zheng Qing initially found Xiao Xiao’s antics somewhat comical.

But gradually, his eyelids became heavy, his breathing began to slow following the Doctor’s guide, and his mind became more open.

Every action he took when he turned into a cat flickered before his eyes like a carousel.

The first look at the black cat in the mirror, the first time sliding out of the dormitory along the cliff, the first time climbing a tall tree to chase a squirrel, the warm bench in the sunlight, and that fragrant soft embrace.

Amid these impressive images were numerous tiny, fragmented memories-- all of which were hidden deep in the sea of memories, like phosphorus shrimp on the sea floor, elusive.

But with Zheng Qing’s subconscious capture, the phosphorus shrimp group seemed to have encountered a predatory blue whale, scattering in panic. Those fragmented memories lit up one by one in his mind, like the first flickering lamps in the dark night.

Zheng Qing recalled the memories he had subconsciously ignored, his face contorted as if struggling with constipation.

Fighting with puppies!

Bullying mice!

Licking paws!

Grooming fur!

If the first two things could still be somewhat masked by phrases like ’kid-like innocence’ or ’child-like enthusiasm’, the last two matters had already crossed the line for the young wizard.

”Ugh...” he leaped up from his broad recliner, ran out of the room, and dashed into the bathroom, throwing up violently.

This action also seemed a bit beyond Doctor Xiao’s expectation.

When the young scholarship student came out, his face pale and leaning against the wall, Xiao Xiao cautiously inquired, ”It looks like you’ve remembered something?”

”Ugh...” Zheng Qing turned and ran back into the bathroom again.

...

...

It wasn’t until it was completely dark outside that the young scholarship student finally quieted down a bit.

But he still held a toothbrush in his mouth, his face numb, brushing intermittently, completely ignoring the dried toothpaste foam at the corner of his mouth.

”When you were a cat, you were a cat; now that you’ve changed back, you’re a human! Don’t confuse the two,” Xiao Xiao, based on the young wizard’s reactions and feline behaviors, figured out what had happened. He couldn’t help but earnestly advise, ”Always look on the bright side... If even turning into a cat is this unbearable for you, then those predecessor wizards who turned into dung beetles, should they commit suicide!”

Dung beetles, also known as scarab beetles, from the Scarabaeidae family...

The moment this term floated through Zheng Qing’s mind, a burning sensation rose in his throat, and with a retching sound, he dashed into the bathroom again.

”Shut up... Don’t speak...”

When the young scholarship student once again slammed his hands on the desk, he weakly warned Doctor Xiao, who was not far away, his face pale.

Xiao Xiao shrugged his shoulders, raised his notebook, and read aloud a poem:

”If life deceives you...”

”If life has deceived you, don’t despair, don’t be in a hurry... Restraint is needed in gloomy days!”

”Trust me, happy days will come!”

”I am very calm right now.” The tone of the young scholarship student was faint, but his gaze was like a sharp knife, constantly piercing the doctor’s body, left and right.

Xiao Xiao got a little bit nervous under his stare, finally raising his hand to indicate reconciliation.

”Don’t blame me for this.” Doctor Xiao put away his notebook and shrugged, ”I just made you recall what happened... You need to bravely face reality.”

”Humph.” Zheng Qing let out a cold laugh.

”Alright, alright... I’ll be honest with you, Professor Yi asked me to do this.” Xiao Xiao ended up reluctantly betraying his boss, ”He called me into his office yesterday and assigned me this task... He even rewarded me with a credit.”

”Why...” Zheng Qing adjusted his sitting position. Confusion painted on his face as he asked, ”Is it just to annoy me for a bit?”

”Annoy you?!” Xiao Xiao widened his eyes, ”You’re just a freshman... Even if you received a level three Merlin Medal before... Which professor would go out of his way to annoy you!”

A blush slowly spread across Zheng Qing’s pale cheeks.

Fortunately, the doctor did not continue to mock him, but explained patiently, ”Transformation is a very complex magical project, involving a series of high-risk operations.”

”It’s not as simple as drinking a potion before bed, sleeping, and waking up transformed... If it were, this magic would not be included in the list of advanced magics by the Wizard Alliance.”

”It’s only in the first university, with a guardian array, that you can sleep peacefully after drinking the potion. You don’t need to worry about demon invasions, or evil spirits wreaking havoc. You also won’t need to worry about someone taking advantage of your transformation to cage and sell you.”

”Of course, even so, you still need to watch out for aftereffects of the transformation.”

Understanding the implication of these words, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

”Aftereffects?” His voice was a bit dry.

”It’s not a big trouble.” Noticing Zheng Qing’s unease, Xiao Xiao reassured him, ”It’s just the influence that the transformed creature has on its self-consciousness... Under Mendel’s Law, you won’t lose your self-consciousness, but it will be slightly affected. Your preferences, lifestyle habits etc, may deviate slightly from before.”

”The memory you just lost is the same.”

”Obviously, your subconscious doesn’t want to face this... So you buried these memory fragments deep in your memory.”

”This is not good, this is bad.”

”According to Professor Yi’s explanation, if you avoid facing yourself for a long time, those hidden memory fragments may condense and give birth—under the shadow of your subconscious—to an entirely new soul projection... When that happens, you will be truly schizophrenic.”

Zheng Qing was dumbfounded.

The toothbrush in his mouth was about to fall into his collar and he didn’t even notice.

”If you think your mouth is already clean, then get dressed quickly. We need to go to the Club Union to submit relevant work reports.” Xiao Xiao eyed the pale faced scholarship student, and grumbled.

”Meeting...” Zheng Qing mumbled, and for some reason, he had an image of a large group of cats squatting behind a conference table in his mind.

Suppressing the uneasiness in his throat, he vigorously rubbed his cold face, ”As I recall, we were supposed to submit the work report yesterday...why go now? Did I remember the time wrong? Also, why should I go with you? According to Knight Group’s regulations, all these things are your responsibilities.”

”No, you didn’t remember the time wrong. I was dragged to the office by Professor Yi yesterday, so I missed the report submission time...The office asked me to submit it today and stay overnight.” Doctor Xiao lead Zheng Qing out of the dormitory as he unhesitatingly replied, ”As for you... It’s ten o’clock at night now, you haven’t forgotten that you need to patrol, have you?”

”Ah!” Zheng Qing was struck with realization.

The temporary cat life during the day had him reeling with a sense of time and space confusion, and he almost forgot this important matter.

Just before leaving, he remembered something, turned around and rushed back to the dormitory.

”I still have to talk about the timeline with Lin Guo.” Zheng Qing fished out a stack of materials from the drawer of his study table, shaking his head at the curious doctor: ”...I consulted several professors on Lin Guo’s timeline issue previously, and the professors said it’s very difficult to completely eradicate such deep-seated lesions, so they asked me to chat with Lin Guo and see what he thinks.”

”On a different note, the other two guys in the dormitory are missing again.” Xiao Xiao forcefully closed the dormitory door and complained, ”Dylan sneaking around at night is understandable...but where did Barry go? He hasn’t been seen since morning...”