High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 680: Chapter 28 Temporary Pass_1

The campus was very empty.

Due to the Fest of Lower Elements, the majority of the students, obediently following their teachers’ instructions, remained in their dormitories. The few who dared to stroll through the corridors wore bright red arm covers—temporary signs of the student union patrol team. As the overweight student put it, the red arm covers were the professors’ ’Hawk Dogs’.

Facing the patrolling figures back and forth, Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds, and then decisively pulled out an invisibility talisman from his pocket and slapped it on himself. This standard talisman could perfectly hide the presence of a wizard, such as their figure, scent, body temperature and so forth, for almost fifteen minutes. With just a pair of naked eyes, it was hard for the members of the patrol team to spot Zheng Qing.

Nevertheless, the young state-funded student still selected the small stone paths or dry hardened ground in order to avoid leaving any footprint traces or any other signs, lest he be detected and caught by the patrol team.

The golden-red leaves trembled in the breeze, with a few weak ones falling occasionally. As far as the eye could see, the ground was covered with a soft golden leaf carpet, surrounded by rows of dark tree trunks. At the end of the tree-lined path stood a patch of deep blue sky, inevitably making one feel hopeful.

The young state-funded student touched the notebook and reference book inside the grey cloth bag and rehearsed the dialogue for the upcoming meeting over and over again in his mind.

After passing through the tree-lined road and crossing over the mountain beside the lake, Zheng Qing, upon seeing the glass door of the Book Mountain Library in the distance, faltered, his expression clearly flagging, and he stopped in his tracks.

The library was closed for the Fest of Lower Elements today.

A large, bright red notice was posted on the glass door.

Zheng Qing hid behind the bushes and, after being upset for a moment, finally pulled out the letter, trying to find a more detailed address from the edges of it.

But from beginning to end, there were only nine characters on the paper—accurately speaking, it’s eight and a half, because the last letter replacing the name was not a complete word.

So, for a moment, the young state-funded student suddenly suspected whether this letter was the work of some students who were not satisfied with the newbie competition results and wanted to knock him out?

But soon, he negated such a conjecture. The rich scent on the letter was unique to Elena, and was one of a kind. He would not mistake it.

As the time was getting closer to the deadline, with no alternative, Zheng Qing could only crumple the letter and fold it back into a paper crane. Then, holding it in his palm, he made a wish: ”Oh paper crane, clever and wise paper crane, if you know where she is, please lead me to her...I’ll kowtow to you!”

Saying this, he lifted his left hand, which was slightly bent at the index finger and middle finger, and tapped it in front of the paper crane.

Amazingly, the originally stationary ’second-hand crane’ raised its slender neck after receiving Zheng Qing’s tapping, spread its crumpled wings, shook its body, and just like that, began to fly.

Flying up?!

The young state-funded student was surprised and pleased to see the paper crane fluttering in mid-air. Then, he was puzzled as he looked at his own left hand, gently kissed his finger, and began to chase after the paper crane at a trot.

The revived crane seemed even more spirited than before and appeared livelier—it loved to fly erratically—even without the harassment of bees and butterflies, it didn’t affect its habit of diving into flower bushes and shrubbery from time to time. It wasn’t long before the young state-funded student’s delight was replaced by grinding his teeth in frustration.

If it weren’t for the fact there was still one way to go, Zheng Qing would definitely have prepared a small cross, and would have used magic to cruelly show the paper crane the horrors of ’burning at the stake’.

Crossing the lawn by the lakeside, passing through a few layers of bushes, then sneaking in the lakefront corridor for a while, the paper crane led Zheng Qing into a secluded corridor with a sudden change in direction.

Zheng Qing hadn’t decided whether to take out his anger on that aimlessly flying paper crane, when a sudden brightness appeared before his eyes, instantly stopping him in his tracks.

At the end of this secluded corridor stood a stone door, hidden among dense vines and foliage. Even now, at the cusp of winter, the vine leaves weren’t sparse--they had merely changed from a lush green to a mixture of gold and red.

In front of the stone door stood a slender figure, bent over, engrossed in deciphering something. The paper crane spun in mid-air and lightly landed on the witch’s large shawl, cocking its head and nuzzling her ear.

”I thought you weren’t going to come today!” Elena turned her head, looking somewhat happily surprised at Zheng Qing. ”It was my lack of foresight, I didn’t think the library would close. I wanted to send another paper crane to let you know, but I didn’t have any paper with me...”

Zheng Qing had removed his invisibility talisman, revealing his whereabouts.

”I didn’t expect to find you either,” The young scholarship student scratched his head, and couldn’t help but smile foolishly, ”Your paper crane is really smart! It even led the way!”

”I can’t take the credit for that.” The witch smiled slightly, glanced at the paper crane on her shoulder and added in her slightly hoarse voice, ”...the magic is something we can never truly understand.”

This was a profound philosophical question.

Zheng Qing wisely kept his mouth shut - he still remembered the awkward and difficult conversation he’d had with the Gypsy witch at a recent dance. Nothing could derail a conversation or cool things down between a man and a woman more than discussing philosophy.

”Where is this? It looks familiar...” The young scholarship student casually changed the subject landing his gaze on the stone door behind the witch.

The door looked ancient, with magic lines etched on the lintel, threshold, and leaves that had faded and lost their luster over time, many lines losing their complete structure. However, the faintly remaining marks on it seemed to display many badges and signs still very famous in today’s wizard world.

The more Zheng Qing looked, the more familiar it seemed.

”This is the shortcut from Jiuyou Academy to Alpha Castle,” came Elena’s explanation, making the young scholarship student realize. He had seen people from Alpha Castle entering and departing from here during the night patrol of the patrol team.

It’s just that he had seen it at night, seeing it in the daytime inevitably caused some degree of disorientation.

”You’re going to Alpha Castle?” Zheng Qing raised his eyebrows, asking curiously.

”Yes, I have a little business there.” Elena turned back to the stone door, touching the Door Ring Beast on it and occasionally turning the door ring patiently as if hoping to find a way to open the door through it. ”...It just seems that this Door Ring Beast doesn’t quite welcome me.”

”Maybe you’re just missing a pass.” Zheng Qing confidently pulled out a card and slipped it into the Door Ring Beast’s mouth.

”Baah, bah!” With a dry heaving sound, the door ring beast rolled its eyes and spat out the card. The previously closed stone door slowly opened with a creaking sound.

”They’ve always had prejudices against students of Jiuyou Academy.” The young scholarship student quickly explained.

”How did you get it open? I tried my student card earlier, but it ignored me!” Elena looked at Zheng Qing in surprise.

”This isn’t a student card, it’s a temporary pass from the staff committee, it’s unnamed.” Zheng Qing couldn’t help but brag a little, ”During the previous hunt, I was also in charge of patrol duties... this temporary card was issued by the staff committee. It just hasn’t been reclaimed since the hunt ended. You just got lucky, I estimate on Saturday’s night patrol, this card will be confiscated.”