High School of Demon Hunting

In life, most things follow a certain rhythm.

The so-called phrase ’gamble it all in one go, then decline, and finally exhaust,’ encapsulates this idea.

During the first few dances, Zheng Qing made no significant progress with Elena. The following dances, in his view, lacked any unique aspects - it was all playful banter and dancing along to different songs.

Even though Zheng Qing racked his brain for something more, he had to relinquish his original plans due to the increasingly unusual atmosphere of the night.

Time elapsed leisurely to the footsteps of young wizards.

Midway through the dance, Zhang Ji Xin, accompanied by other hunters from the Absolution Hunting Team, found the young scholarship student at the edge of the venue.

”What are you doing out here?!” The lead hunter of Absolution swung his arm, shouting: ”We’ve been looking for you for quite a while, even Elena didn’t know where you were... weren’t you dancing with her?”

”Obviously, he got ditched by his dance partner.” Xin Fat Man snickered.

”Nonsense!” Zheng Qing widened his eyes in defense: ”Elena just sprained her ankle while dancing and needs to rest... I just came out for a walk and to see if there were any nice snacks to bring back to her.”

”I see, I see.” The fat man nodded continuously, looking as if he understood completely.

Zheng Qing drooped his head in frustration, no longer responding, but fiercely rubbing the petals of a Speaker Flower in his hand.

This Speaker Flower, wrapped around a thick stone pillar by its vine, was playing a nocturne as requested by the student council.

Under the torment of the young wizard, the poor flower’s sound became disrupted - if it had sharp teeth like a kappa, it would definitely have bitten mercilessly by now.

Zheng Qing did not understand the language of flowers and vines.

He was still dwelling on the night’s events.

The journey of a hundred miles is half completed at ninety, sometimes it’s just one step away, but not achieving is not achieving. He knew no matter what he said, Xin Fat Man would always find the right words to mock him, so he closed his mouth, unwilling to waste his energy.

At times like this, the young scholarship student would sorely miss a certain pact he had left in his dorm - with that pact in hand, there is no way Xin Fat Man would be this brazen.

But his reminiscing did not last long.

Zhang Ji Xin interrupted his thoughts.

”Do you guys have patrol duty tonight?” The loudness of the Absolution team’s leader’s voice was evident as he asked, his face looking purplish under the glow of fireflies.

He was referring to the punitive patrol duty Zheng Qing was given at the beginning of the school year for fighting - every Saturday after midnight, he was to patrol around Lin Zhong Lake for the duration of a semester. At the end of the term, further arrangements would be made based on the evaluation of the school labor committee.

And today happened to be a Saturday.

”Did you forget? Since there’s a game tomorrow, Old Yao helped to coordinate a few days ago and my patrol shift was arranged for last night... Didn’t you complain about me not attending yesterday’s training and falling behind in several battle formations this morning?” Zheng Qing rolled his eyes, expressing his concern over the lead hunter’s memory.

As a result, his confidence in the future of the Absolution Hunting Team diminished slightly.

”Really? Oh, oh, yes.” Elder Zhang Da paused slightly before nodding rapidly, indicating that he remembered.

His spirits lifted instantly, and a look of delight crossed his face.

On the contrary, the other hunters standing nearby wore looks of resignation.

”You should have said you have patrol tonight.” Lin Guo muttered under his breath: ”I just told him I still have to do patrol today... And now, the free time is gone.”

”No teamwork at all.” Xin Fat Man jeered and shot a glance at Zheng Qing.

The young scholarship student shrugged helplessly, indicating his confusion.

”Well then, that’s perfect.” Zhang Ji Xin clapped his hands, drawing the attention of those around, ”Since we’re all here tonight, and the freshman competition is tomorrow, we could take some time to rehearse the battlefield... Oh, and bring out your Minotaur, let everyone have a chance to see it. We don’t want it to startle our own people when they see it for the first time on the hunting ground.”

With that, he turned his head to the scholarship student with an inquiring look, ”There wouldn’t be an issue, would it?”

Zheng Qing rubbed the Merlin Medal in his pocket, looked around, and his face showed a sudden realization.

No wonder everyone seemed a bit displeased.

Anyone would be upset if they were dragged away from dancing with the ladies to perform tedious training exercises.

As he pondered, his gaze swept over the other hunters.

With a sulky face, Xiao Xiao stood at the outer edge of the crowd. Zheng Qing noticed that the scholar’s usually watermelon-shaped hairstyle was parted tonight, seemingly styled with wax—although his size didn’t change much, this look made him appear more mature. This style spoke volumes.

Zheng Qing immediately realized that he was not the only one who had been borrowed from a female companion by Zhang Ji Xin tonight.

Blue Bird was as usual - indifferent and even wore his starry sky academy robe without changing into formal attire. Yet, it did not lessen his appeal to the girls - as now, within five minutes of standing on the edge of the dance, four or five girls came over with smiles, inviting him to dance.

Life is always full of obstructions for the ugly, while a handsome face faces no obstacles anywhere.

The young scholarship student could only express his inability to retort.

As for Lin Guo, although young, he was brimming with excitement. When the witches came to invite Blue Bird, he showed his eagerness, but Blue Bird’s hand pressed on the young wizard’s head stifled his restlessness.

Amongst all of them, it seemed like only Xin Fat Man looked carefree and enthusiastic — of course, it was more likely that he was reveling in the misfortune of others as they were whisked away by Zhang Ji Xin from their female companions’ side.

After all, he was the only wizard in the Absolution hunting team who hadn’t found a female companion.

”Where’s Dylan?” Zheng Qing looked around a few times, even craned his neck to look at the tree branches above for a while, before he finally confirmed, ”Isn’t our hunting team missing one person?”

”He has something going on and can’t make it.” Zhang Ji Xin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, ”He probably can’t participate in tomorrow’s freshman competition either...fortunately, we have another hunter.”

As he spoke, he looked approvingly at Blue Bird.

Blue Bird’s eyes drooped, he held his sword and leaned against a pillar, appearing on the verge of sleep.

”What could possibly cause you to give up on your own hunter!” Zheng Qing immediately showed some interest.

”The fifteenth of this month coincides with the next festival.” Xiao Xiao’s gloomy voice echoed from a distance, ”For regular under the moon creatures, this day is absolutely thrilling, like having a stimulant in the air. But for mixed breeds, this day is not so easy... because their self-control is relatively weaker, they can easily show certain aggressive traits.”

”Anyway, it has nothing to do with you! If you plan to buy some premium beef to visit him in the school hospital, that’s something for tomorrow.” Zhang Ji Xin impatiently interrupted the scholar’s explanation, turned to Zheng Qing, and reminded, ”So, about tonight’s training... ”

”But I told Yilian earlier...” Zheng Qing, trying hard to think of a delicate way to reject Zhang Ji Xin’s proposal.

But he didn’t notice that the faces of the other members of the Absolution Hunting Team showed a hint of pity.

”I already excused you to Elena.” The red-faced wizard waved his hand impatiently, as though shooing away a pesky fly, ”Gladly, she agreed to lend us the remainder of your time tonight...”

Zheng Qing was immediately taken aback and rendered speechless.

”I’ve never seen any of you do this,” after a long time, the young scholarship student finally regained his senses and quietly complained, ”You casually borrowed a third party’s time...”

”What, you have objections?” The lead hunter of Absolution gave him a weird look and asked sternly.

Zheng Qing sighed deeply and slowly shook his head.

”That’s more like it!” Zhang Ji Xin nodded in satisfaction, emphasizing, ”You are the team leader of Absolution, you must lead by example in daily training, especially in times like these, which can best test whether a team leader is qualified... On the whole, you’re doing just fine.”