High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 598: Chapter 267: The First Prey_1

The green and black aerial roots of the banyan tree shivered slightly.

The fireflies sucking sap from the aerial roots flapped their wings nervously, and a few even flickered their bellies, looking like faulty lightbulbs, but without the buzzing noise.

Zheng Qing lifted his head alertly, casting a glance up at the aerial roots.

A gray sparrow holding a caterpillar in its beak stood quietly on the upper part of the aerial roots, hopping and chirping, curiously watching the strange figure below.

This put him slightly at ease.

”Swordsman, if you have adjusted to your state, you can start some preliminary exploration around,” Zheng Qing looked at the hunting team’s scout and advised, ”Maintain a safe distance, and prioritize the key directions mentioned by the doctor.”

Blue Bird, holding his sword, silently stood up, gave a slight nod, and suddenly disappeared from the sight of the others. He never spoke a word from beginning to end, only leaving behind a few leaves swept up by the airflow.

”Oh... He ran too fast.” The fat man suddenly remembered something and stamped his foot, ”Diao’er is still in his hat! We only have this one hunting beast now!”

”It’s because we only have one hunting beast left that Diao’er needs to follow him.” Zheng Qing continued to check Zhang Ji Xin’s documented data, explaining casually, ”They are well acquainted... and, for our future plans, a single hunting beast wouldn’t be much help anyway.”

”Actually, I don’t mind if you call out Nose Ring and Earring.” The fat man chimed in timely, ”I think if it’s present, everyone might feel a little more at ease.”

Nose Ring and Earring are the names of Zheng Qing’s double-headed minotaur. Indeed, the fat man’s suggestion was tempting. In such a perilous environment, having a creature that can constantly provide buffs while acting as a meat shield boosts the team’s confidence.

The tall and robust figure of the double-headed minotaur indeed exudes a sense of security.

”If necessary.” The captain of the Absolution Hunting Team didn’t refuse but didn’t immediately agree to the fat man’s request either.

”Even with the Merlin Medal’s assistance, any summoning magic will continuously drain a wizard’s magic power, it isn’t appropriate to summon the minotaur at such a safe time,” Xiao Xiao, who was drawing in a notebook on the side, explained upon hearing their conversation.

”Everyone knows that.” The fat man murmured, a rare hint of embarrassment appearing on his chubby face.

Perhaps to make up for his mistake, he opened his mouth, kindly offering his own idea, ”Do the other hunting teams have beasts? Will they trouble us? I have a dumb idea... I prepared some bacon coated in croton juice earlier, thinking some stupid hunting beasts might eat it.”

With that said, he quickly clicked on his storage watch a few times, materializing a piece of bacon that was striped black and red, emitting an enticing scent.

The aerial roots on the side trembled again.

Zheng Qing lifted his head, it was still the sparrow’s doing—only this time there were a few more, probably the companions of the previous sparrow. The fireflies perching on the aerial roots seemed increasingly restless, and their abdominal flickering also became more frequent.

It seemed the fat man also felt his idea was rather dumb, his voice involuntarily decreasing in volume, ”... Anyway, it would cause them some trouble, wouldn’t it?”

”It sounds like a good idea.” Zheng Qing didn’t deny it, but reached out to touch the surface of the bacon, sniffing the yellow oil stains under his nose, ”This is purified croton juice? It seems quite concentrated from the smell.”

”Eighteen times concentrated!” Finally getting affirmations from others, the fat man became elated, ”I was busy in the magic potion lab for a whole week, taking time out each day to heat it up... Professor Li said that this small piece of meat could cause an elephant to get diarrhea!”

As he spoke, he extended his pinky finger, gesturing its size.

”You’re not seriously using such low and disgraceful tactics against the beasts of other hunting teams!” Zhang Ji Xin finally reacted, looking at Zheng Qing incredulously: ”I remember that you always despised such ... shameless methods in the past!”

”That was before.” Zheng Qing waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away a pesky swarm of flies: ”In war, deception is key. Our only goal right now is to make it out of this hunting ground alive... and, who said these things would definitely be used on the beasts? Hunters, demons, and even the sparrows overhead... if necessary, I wouldn’t mind swallowing a pound of this jerky, turn my nose all the while.”

”That doesn’t sound like something you would say.” Elder Zhang Da frowned, but ultimately did not pursue the matter any further.

At last, Xiao Xiao set down his notebook, looking at Zheng Qing seriously.

”Is the effect within controllable range?” he asked inexplicably.

But Zheng Qing understood immediately what he meant — clearly, everyone had noticed his significant character change.

”Controllable.” The young government-funded student muttered, his head low: ”At least until we get out of this damn hunting ground, I suppose I should be grateful for this damn side effect.”

”In that case,” Xiao Xiao paused, took off his glasses, wiped them with the corner of his robe, then finally looked up and asked a question that surprised Zheng Qing: ”I remember you shouting something after taking the sleep potion last night... Do you remember what it was?”

Zheng Qing immediately raised an eyebrow.

”Oh, I remember too,” chirped the plump one happily, ”I recall him babbling something about returning... then he passed out before he finished.”

”Just a small prophecy.” Zheng Qing looked up focussing on the hopping sparrows, and waved it off unconcernedly: ”It was a prophecy made by that girl from Elena’s hunting team, Nanjian — to be precise, it was made by Professor Yi, she was merely the messenger.”

”Does it have anything to do with what happened today?” Xiao Xiao followed up his question, then quickly added, ”If it involves personal information, don’t mention it... this is not a secure place.”

”It doesn’t matter; it’s all old news. As you know, these prophecies are no different from flowers in a mirror if we don’t take them seriously”. Zheng Qing shrugged, repeated Nanjian’s prophecy: ”The departed will return, the sleeping will awaken, the world will be suffused with red, silence will reign over heaven and earth... And that’s it.”

Xiao Xiao jotted down the prophecy quickly in his notebook, muttering it to himself, pondering on the words.

”Indeed it’s hard to understand.” He finally admitted with a nod.

”But it’s a gift after all.” Zheng Qing carefully pulled out the Law Book from his robe. His eyes locked on the sparrows, he said impassively, ”Perhaps, I should reciprocate with a gift.”

Xiao Xiao noticed his anomaly, slightly cocking his head, but remaining silent. However, within the hunting team, there were always those who were not as keen.

”Returning a gift?” The plump one showed interest immediately: ”She’s in the same hunting team as Elena, wouldn’t it be awkward if you just send her a gift, just like that?”

”It’s just a simple gift... that’s all. I remember Xiao Xiao has a paperweight made of a turtle’s shell, right?” Just as he said that, Zheng Qing suddenly slapped the Law Book, chanting loudly: ”Ge Zhitianxi to this bird!”

Seven or eight slender vines shot out of thin air like hunting venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around the sparrows that had been hovering above the Absolution Hunting Team crew, coiling them downward.