High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 561: Chapter 230: Slight insult to me, slight wash of my clothes_1

”Purge my privates, cleanse my garments!”

”This is a basic cleaning spell you’ll be learning.”

”’Purge’ is an auxiliary particle, an inviting word... much like the legendary creatures familiar to you all in the Binding Spell such as Gē, Tán, and Lěi, through the ’purge’ in this spell, you can summon a mysterious race from the void - the Snail Matriarch Clan.”

”For you young ones, the Snail Matriarch Clan might be an obscure concept... but they have a quite famous close relative, the screw-maiden elf.”

There was a buzz of realization in the classroom.

Of course, responses were mostly from the wizard-born students, such as Zhang Ji Xin, Jiang Yu, Matthew, Tang Dun, and others.

As for Zheng Qing, whether it’s the Snail Matriarch Clan or the Screw Maiden Elf, he didn’t have a clear picture—though in his childhood, he read folk tales about the Screw Maiden Elf in children’s books, but Zheng Qing seriously doubted whether the Screw Maiden Elf he knew was the same as the one in the wizarding world.

”It’s a long-standing rumor in academia, unproven, that the Snail Matriarch Clan is an elf born from the essence of the deceased Screw Maiden Elf. They exist in a world between void and reality, responding to the summons of every wizard who needs their help.”

The elderly professor, leaning on her vine cane, slowly walked down from the podium and strolled leisurely in the aisle, elaborating on the abstruse spell on the blackboard:

”’Dirty’ originally means accumulated stagnant water, extended to dirty, impure. Derived from water, loss, indicating description.”

”But in this spell, you’ll need to pronounce it in a strong tone (wù) because it’s used as a verb, meaning to wash away dirt. This kind of change is to convey the wizard’s intention to the Snail Matriarch Clan...you guys surely don’t assume that those elves from the void can understand your complicated instructions.”

”As for ’private’ and ’garments’, they represent the objects to be cleaned.”

”Most of the time, ’private’ refers to undergarments, and ’garments’ to outerwear—basically covering everything you wear. Of course, there are a few things to note: for example, shoes can count as outerwear, socks count as undergarments; gloves are undergarments, while hats are outerwear...don’t ask me why, this was how the wizards decided when they set up the initial contract.”

”Professor!” Xin Fat Man immediately raised his hand to question, ”If this spell is only used for cleaning clothes, isn’t it a waste to learn?”

His question was met with nods of agreement from others.

”Don’t rush, don’t rush.” The old professor paused with her cane and the classroom quietly came to order. ”The world is as big as your heart is. If in your understanding, clothes are just fabric you wear, then you’ll never achieve much in your life.”

”Haven’t you heard the saying, ’spread the mat on the earth with the sky as the cover’?”

”If you consider the room as outer wear, naturally the furnishings inside would be undergarments; if you regard the outside of a cup as outerwear, naturally the inside would be undergarments...and so on, the application of this spell is quite broad.”

”Of course, when using this spell, you need to concentrate and have a clear impression in your mind of the ’shape’ of the object to be cleaned... the Screw Maiden Elf might not understand your explanations, but they are very sensitive elves and can clearly feel the pictures you imagine.”

”Focus!” The old professor pounded her vine cane, her voice suddenly intensifying, ”ABSOLUTELY! ABSOLUTELY! ABSOLUTELY NO distracting thoughts when using the cleaning spell. Our school hospital has admitted more than once some reckless male students who tried to have the snail elves bathe them. And normal males find it hard to stay calm in front of these elves...this results in the beautiful elves treating their ’transformed’ parts very roughly.”

”Ssss...” The male students in the classroom inhaled sharply in unison.

Although the professor’s phrasing was very obscure, it was clear using the cleaning spell to bathe wouldn’t give everyone a soft-spoken maid, but rather, a hard-handed washing machine.

In the whole classroom, perhaps only Li Meng didn’t understand the professor’s implication— or perhaps she understood but pretended not to— so Zheng Qing happened to catch the young witch pulling her cousin’s sleeve and asking some heart-pounding details.

Noticing the young scholarship student’s evasive gaze, Jiang Yu’s fair cheeks flushed crimson, spreading all the way to the nape of her neck.

Then she slapped Li Meng on the head, putting a stop to the young witch’s increasingly inappropriate questions.

”That sums up the essence of the spell, now we move on to the practical section.” The old professor’s voice returned to the front of the lecture hall with her steps, ”Now, let’s have our student Zheng Qing do a demonstration...with your ability to use that talisman, you should definitely be able to master this spell easily.”

She said the latter part laughingly to Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing finally understood why the professor had him stand next to the podium.

He scratched his head with a wry smile, pressed down on the spellbook in front of him, silently recited the spell in his heart a few times, and finally voiced each word clearly, ”Purge my privates, cleanse my garments!”

A milky white halo emerged from the spell inscribed in the spellbook.

Subtle ripples of space distortion fluttered in the air above the spell book, accompanied with starlight that gradually outlined a humanoid creature.

Zheng Qing was seeing the so-called ’Snail Matriarch Clan’ elf for the first time.

She was less than three feet tall, with starry eyes and gleaming teeth, dressed in sylphlike attire, her hair arranged in cloud knots. She was slim but well-proportioned, classy, with her empyreal garb shimmering brilliantly around her, like a dazzling galaxy encircling her.

Perhaps the traversal across space left her slightly uneasy, this snail elf looked around the classroom confusedly, yet paid no attention to the wooden basin close to her.

”Concentrate!” Professor Tian bellowed, forcefully striking her cane into the ground, ”Open your eyes wide, don’t miss eye contact with her!”

The jolt startled Zheng Qing and he immediately focused his gaze on the snail elf, while simultaneously imagining the shape of the wooden basin and clothes in his mind.

The elf suspended in mid-air finally seemed to notice her summoner, floated towards Zheng Qing and stared into his eyes.

Zheng Qing fought the urge to blink, drilling his eyes into the elf’s.

Her eyes were extraordinarily clear, like a polished gemstone.

A moment later, the Snail Matriarch elf finally lowered her head slightly in an elegant acknowledgement:

”Yes!”

Her raspy yet ethereal voice echoed in the classroom, sounding extremely pleasing to the ears.

Then the elf raised her arm, and gave a slight shake to her ethereal garb. It was like a galaxy falling into the mortal realm, its radiant light immediately enveloping the entire wooden basin.

After the swirling black, green, and gold light subsided, the snail elf retracted her ethereal garment, once again raising her arm.

In the wooden basin, the previously soiled clothes had become clean.

Zheng Qing even faintly smelled a sense of sunlight from the clothes.