High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 527: Chapter 196 Explanation_1

When Zheng Qing heard Zhang Ji Xin mention the hunting team’s training, he was taken aback for a moment and only snapped out of it after a while - because of Su Shijun, he had been in a daze all afternoon. Although it was only half a day, it felt as though it had been a long time, with words like ”hunting team” and ”new student competition” sounding somewhat strange to his ears.

”Training... huh?” he mumbled, lifting his head to gaze blankly at the moon hanging in the mid-air.

It was already past nine in the evening now.

Usually at this time, the study rooms would be closed and the library would start clearing out people. Most students would gather in the dormitories or the snack shops on the pedestrian street to ease the fatigue of the day.

Before the night patrols by the campus committee began, many spots like the Wild Garden, Lakeside of Bell Lake, and the small groves also gradually lost their hustle and bustle. Only a few straggling werewolves, zombies, and ghosts holding graveyard parties appeared in these places at this time, basking under the silver moonlight amid a myriad of stars, with insects chirping in accompaniment and fireflies lighting their way.

However, today — or perhaps ever since the university entered into the period of the Moon Hunting — these classic nighttime scenes on campus have disappeared.

In their place were hunting teams shouting slogans and arranging different battle formations, sweating it out and wasting magic power and precious sleep in every secluded corner of the campus. They were making the final preparations and struggles for the upcoming hunting competition.

The tree elves stuck their heads in tree holes, trembling in fear. Even the ferocious Fishmen in Bell Lake felt uneasy, raising their Stone Spears and Stone Axes in fear of being hit by the spells and talismans thrown randomly by those little wizard kids on the shore.

”Oh yeah, according to the plans, we should start our night training today as well.” Zheng Qing slapped his forehead, a hint of irritations betrayed in his voice.

Then he lifted his head and looked at Zhang Ji Xin: ”So... where do we start from?”

”Why don’t we start with my exclusive interview with you?” Xin Fat Man squeezed past Zhang Ji Xin to get in front of Zheng Qing, holding a small notebook and a stenograph pen in his hands, with a quill always at the ready tucked behind his ear.

He spread his arms out to fend off the others nearby and yelled, ”First come, first served... Don’t you guys want to learn more about Su Daxu?”

His reason was so valid that even Zhang Ji Xin, the main hunter of the hunting team, put off the idea of starting training immediately. Instead, he crossed his arms, stood aside in interest, and awaited Xin the Journalist’s on-the-spot interview.

”You’re just trying to grab tomorrow’s headlines! Don’t you think you’re a little too pretentious?” Lin Guo, standing outside the circle, mumbled resentfully. When Blue Bird was around, he was always restricted from participating in activities that were harmful to his physical and mental health. But miraculously, while Lin Guo was not happy about it, he still obediently listened to Blue Bird.

”I’ll take him to familiarize with the route.” Blue Bird pulled along the reluctant Lin Guo, and without hesitation, they headed towards the depth of the woods.

”Half an hour! At most half an hour, and we start our training!” Zhang Ji Xin yelled after them.

Blue Bird didn’t respond, he just raised his hand and waved, signaling that he knew.

Compared to the relaxed attitudes of everyone else, Zheng Qing’s expression was somewhat terrified.

”An interview?” He felt his throat tighten and forced a smile: ”What interview?”

Xin Fat Man scratched his chin with the tail feathers of his quill, furrowing his brows, his green bean-like eyes blinking as he appeared to be deep in thought.

”You’re behaving quite unusually.” Xin the Journalist analyzed with apparent seriousness: ”According to journalistic theory, normally, anybody with big news would desire to share it - Just like you, after meeting Su Daxu, would normally have a desire to show off... at the very least, you should display an attitude of looking down on ’you bunch of hillbillies’...”

”But you’re acting too repressed.” Xiao Xiao chimed in judgmentally from the side.

”Bingo!” Fat Man snapped his fingers: ”You seem to be very resistant to us discussing this topic... there’s a problem here, a big problem.”

”Did you anger Su Shijun and dare not let us know?” Dylan suddenly hung upside down from the branch above Zheng Qing’s head, baring his ghastly white fangs, posing contemplatively: ”That would explain why you’ve been so evasive...”

”God damn!” Zheng Qing was startled by the grim face that suddenly appeared in front of him, almost throwing a talisman in response.

”Even if you did anger her, it’s not a big deal... as long as we don’t leak it out, will Su Daxu’s fan club even dare to give you a hard time?” Xin Fat Man comforted, continuing his analysis: ”Looking at it from another angle... being able to anger Su Daxu is also something to brag about! Not just anyone can anger her!”

”Who said I angered her? She’s the one who angered me!” Zheng Qing finally couldn’t bear it, loudly refuting these guys’ absurdity.

”She angered you?!” The quill in Xin Fat Man’s hand was fluttering as though it had taken stimulants, frantically scribbling on his notebook. It rattled so much that it didn’t even care about the few feathers that got knocked awry.

”How did she anger you? Did you see her? Did you see her husband and child? Did you find out who that wild man is? Is he from our school? Is he a professor or an assistant? Certainly not a janitor!!” Dylan suddenly fell down from the tree, and without even having time to straighten up his disheveled robes, he grabbed the scholarship student, his excitement spraying spittle everywhere.

”Manners... remember your manners!” Zhang Ji Xin feigned stopping the agitated Mister Wolfman, hypocritically reminding him: ”After all, you are a member of the Tabbot and O’Brien families, you need to maintain your image... let’s take it one question at a time, Brother Qing will tell us everything, right?”

As he spoke, he stared eagerly at Zheng Qing. His normally maroon complexion seemed even more earnest under the moonlight.

Watching the chaotic scene unfolding around him, Zheng Qing’s face was scrunched into a frown; the bitterness in him was unutterable.

If he had merely angered the renowned beauty, that wouldn’t be too much trouble - the key point was that he was sure if he revealed the truth, he might survive to walk out of this small grove, but he certainly wouldn’t survive until the next moonrise.

He then lowered his head, a spark of an idea forming in his head.

”I said she angered me, because she tricked me into participating in some sort of dimensional evolution experiment.” The young scholarship student showed a hint of anger on his face and loudly complained to his teammates, ”You see, they stole my shadow at their lab! It’s absolutely ridiculous! Don’t you agree?!”

The silvery moonlight filtered through the gaps between the tree branches and fell onto the ground.

Zheng Qing was standing in the moonlight, but the ground under him was completely devoid of any shadow.

His shadow had indeed disappeared.