High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 628: Chapter 297 Armor Horse_1

The Armor Horse Charm, also known as the ’Paper Horse Charm’ or the ’Godspeed Talisman’, is a talisman that aids wizards in swift travel. It has a usage history of over a thousand years within the wizarding community, with economic convenience and widespread use.

The various reasons as to why this talisman is known as the ’Armor Horse’ all contain differing opinions and lack of agreement.

Zhao Ji, a famous eighteenth-century wizard known for his textual research – the very author of ”Twenty-Two Historical Notes” who once wrote: ”There are always talented people in every generation, each leading the trend for centuries” – speculated in Volume 30 of his ”Additional Examinations” that ’God images were drawn on paper in the past, always with a horse as a mount, hence the name Paper Horse’ meaning that gods were drawn with a horse on paper for their travel needs, hence the term ’Paper Horse’.

Another wizard named Yu Zhaolong, in his book ”Accidental Discovery in the Heavenly Fragrance tower” wrote that ’The common people paint heavenly images on paper, color them, and after the sacrifice is over, they burn the paper, calling it an Armor Horse.’

In short, whether it is a Paper Horse or an Armor Horse, the general consensus in the wizarding world is that they are all meant for deities to ride, with the common folk just borrowing the power.

The Armor Horse Charm’s most famous user is none other than the Divine Travel Dashi, Dai Zong of the Northern Song era.

It is said that Master Dai excels in swift travel. He could travel four hundred li in a day with two Armor Horses; with four, he could cover eight hundred li day and night – of course, with the passage of time and the development of magic technology, the speed of the Armor Horse Charm has significantly improved, and it no longer takes four Armor Horses to cover just over thirty li.

But no matter how much advancement there is, this talisman cannot avoid one key thing: the Gods.

The traditional wizards believed that this talisman achieved the effect of aiding in swift travel by summoning the divine power of the ’Sky Speed Star’, thus it is necessary to bathe and fast, pray devoutly, and burn the talisman after use, out of respect for the Gods.

In the seventeenth century, the famed Spirit Witch from Qionglu Mountain, Shi Daoyuan (also known as the Iron Bamboo Daoist), wrote an interesting little story in his diary: one time, when Shi Daoyuan summoned the general, Wen Shuai, to descend, Wen Shuai asked for an Armor Horse before leaving and kept burning a number of them without rest. Shi said: ”I have already offered many Armor Horses.” Wen Shuai judged: ”The hooves of your Armor Horses are broken, I cannot ride them.” So Shi Daoyuan inspected an Armor Horse that had not yet been burned and found that the stencil was broken and the hooves were not connected. After Shi Daoyuan fixed the hooves with a talisman pen, Wen Shuai finally left.

However, with the passage of time, especially after the rise of Dimensionism, wizards have new analyses and insights on the inheritance of many mysterious items in the past. Although talismans or spells like the Armor Horse Charm are still widely used, there were few instances of wizards ’bathing with incense’ or ’praying devoutly’ when using them.

Like Zheng Qing, whenever he used the ’Armor Horse Charm,’ he always drew it on the spot, and didn’t think about it after using it. He never bathed or fasted, let alone praying devoutly.

According to the elders, he should be bringing bad luck upon himself with this behavior.

So, when he was running alone in the boundless wilderness with a large group of demons of all shapes and colors chasing him, he couldn’t help but think of this.

”Heavenly Gods and Buddhas, Three Pure Ones, Tathagata, Yahweh, Allah above, bless my horse to run fast.”

”I’ve offered pig heads for you in my heart...”

Reluctantly, the young wizard thought within his heart—he definitely didn’t mean to stint, nor was he disrespectful.

After all, he was now fleeing for his life in the wilderness hunting ground and there was no way for him to set up an altar for burning incense and making offerings.

And there were no pig heads for offerings in the wilderness, either.

There was only a boundless expanse of wild grass, growing rampantly in the wilderness. From afar, it was fluffy, like a vast blanket stretching from underfoot to the horizon, boundless.

Zheng Qing was not clear about where the horizon was, although he taunted the demons behind him, saying he’d ’wait for them at the horizon,’ he didn’t actually plan to run until the horizon—After all, he only had six Armor Horse Charms tied to his leg, and the distance he could run was very limited.

He just hoped to reach that small hill in his line of sight before the six charms burned out.

To get as far away from everyone as possible would be good.

However, mental exhaustion and physical fatigue gradually turned this hope into a luxury.

Before leaving the Four Image Array, Zheng Qing had tied six Armor Horse Charms to his leg—the Godspeed Talisman has a stacking effect, the more one can withstand, the better—exactly how fast the speed of six horses is, the young wizard didn’t really calculate. But undoubtedly, this kind of stacking use of the talisman puts a much heavier burden on the body than using two or four horses.

His steps became heavier and heavier, and the taste of rust in his breath increased.

Zheng Qing knew that wasn’t actually rust, but the metallic taste of blood surging from his lungs and throat.

This meant that the distance he could run was getting shorter and shorter.

As the saying goes, the horse dies from running towards the mountain.

The meaning is that it seems very close, but in fact, it’s still very far away.

Just like that small hill not far from Zheng Qing’s sight.

Half of the six Armor Horse Charms have been burnt, but that small hill is still sitting in his sight, as if the distance between them is fixed, as if he can never reach it.

”All Gods and Buddhas in the Sky, Three Pure Ones, Tathagata, Yahweh, Allah above, bless my horse to run faster.”

”Give me some more cool time...”

Zheng Qing, who was tied with six Armour Horses and was speeding all the way in the wilderness, was indeed cool.

Especially behind him, followed a large group of howling demons.

But being cool is a very physically demanding job.

So, when his magic was about to be exhausted and his feet began to stumble, the young wizard felt a touch of regret in his heart - the cool time was a bit too short.

The howling of the demon group was getting closer, at this moment, a sudden intense headache surged. The young wizard who was already overdrawn let out a scream, his feet softened, and he rolled to the ground.

...All Gods and Buddhas bless.

...If I can survive, I will definitely offer you a few sticks of high incense.

Before passing out completely, a thought flashed in Zheng Qing’s mind.

...

...

A flying rat demon spread its limbs, drummed up the large thin membrane between its waist and legs, and tried to float faster. As one of the first batch members hanging behind the young wizard, it has enough confidence to surpass the wolf demon on the side and the sparrow demon above the head, and bite the tempting and appetizing wizard first.

The nose or the ear?

There is crisp bone in those places, which is more chewy.

The mouth is also a good choice...It is said that the heart of a wizard is very delicious, and it can save a lot of effort to get in from the mouth.

Slobber overflowed from the corner of its mouth and floated behind with the violent wind around it. The flying rat demon’s small blood-red eyes were full of greed and desire, its gaze was wandering on the young wizard, looking at, choosing the direction of attack.

Or, that crystal clear red eyeball?

A few hundred meters distance vanished in a flash, unsurprisingly, the flying rat demon took the lead and pounced first.

If it had eyes at the back of his head and could see the mocking eyes of the Wolf Demon King, it might consider slowing down its pace slightly - but there are no ifs.

The Rat Demon had also selected its target, the young wizard’s red eyeball.

For the demons, beautiful red eyes are more popular than luxurious fur and strong body.

The Rat Demon opened its mouth wide, and its sharp and fragmented teeth bit in one go.

”Boom!”

A crimson flame rose from the young wizard, instantly covering the rushed rat demon.

”Squeak...!”

The rat demon only had time to let out a scream, and was swallowed by the red flame. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a pile of dry bones.