High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 876: Chapter 224 The Boss of the Mouse-Wolves

Because his shadow had been stripped repeatedly before and after the school hunting event, along with the massive influx and outflow of memories, Zheng Qing’s spirit had become extremely sensitive and fragile.

For this reason, after consulting the school’s therapists and his companions, the young state-funded student ultimately chose a conservative treatment plan—reciting scriptures—slowly and gently adjusting his spirit by studying the ”Heart Sutra of Morobo Polomituo” that Monk Shi Yuan had given him.

Overall, Zheng Qing felt that the therapeutic effect was quite good.

At the very least, he no longer became irritable and short-tempered at the drop of a hat like right after the school hunting event had ended; his mental state had noticeably improved.

However, it was hard to articulate this improvement, and others were not sure whether Zheng Qing was deliberately suppressing himself, or if his mental condition had really gotten better.

So, when they suddenly heard the young state-funded student’s Wuhan accent out of the blue, Doctor Xiao immediately thought of that issue and couldn’t help but start probing in a subtle manner.

Zheng Qing might be lacking in sensitivity most of the time, but that didn’t mean he was actually foolish.

He immediately caught on to Doctor Xiao’s probing.

”It’s just a joking tone, can’t you use your brain?!” the young state-funded student looked at his companion somewhat annoyed: ”You, for all intents and purposes, are a specially recruited student and the diviner of our hunting team, a person referred to as ’Doctor.’ How can you be so superficial when you think about things? Always suspecting this and that... I tell you, if you keep this up, you’ll be prone to dementia when you grow old!”

”When dealing with superficial people, you can’t think too deeply about problems,” Xiao Xiao retorted unblinkingly with sarcasm.

Zheng Qing caught the sarcasm and returned it with an underhand throw, targeting a pile of snow not far ahead.

”Let’s see where you can run now!” he muttered under his breath, the paper ball he had just wrapped with a talisman paper lightly falling upon the snow pile, and with a flash of fire, a thick mass of vines suddenly sprouted above the pile of snow, spreading like a net, plummeting down from the sky.

The snow pile, which had been quiet, suddenly exploded, and a white figure zipped out from beneath it, trying to run past the net.

Unfortunately for it, its escape was just a tad too slow.

The dark green vines, as if they had eyes, accurately lashed at the waist of the White Weasel. With a pitiful scream, it fell from mid-air, and was immediately bound by several vines that came following the sound, wrapping around its limbs and head-tail, stretching it out flat in mid-air.

Only at this point did Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao walk up casually.

”How did you know it was hiding in that snow pile?” Xiao Xiao turned back in astonishment after taking a glance at the White Weasel that had been captured without a fight, asking the state-funded student.

Zheng Qing curled his lip, smugly saying, ”Just intuition... As an outstanding wizard, you should have that much intuition!”

”It’s not just intuition,” Xiao Xiao spoke thoughtfully, holding a crystal ball the size of a palm, looking down: ”In these woods, divination has always been heavily suppressed... and just now, that little creature even used a talent-based concealment. For you to have discovered it under such circumstances, it must be more than just intuition.”

Zheng Qing ignored Xiao Xiao’s soliloquy and casually plucked a slender, dry branch from the nearby bushes, walking up to the White Weasel and beating it fiercely.

”Let’s see you run now, you sure were scampering happily!” Every time he thought about the Fu Bullets he had wasted, and the talisman papers used to support his companions, the young state-funded student felt a pang of heartache, which made his blows even harsher: ”Scream! Louder! More pitiful! Scream faster!”

The White Weasel, bound by the vines in mid-air, writhed and squeaked, its shrill cries echoing far across the woods.

Although Zheng Qing was grumbling, most of his attention was focused on the surrounding environment—according to the hunting team’s prior plan, using this likely leader White Weasel as bait to lure out the other Mouse-Wolves, they had already completed half the task.

The rest was to see when the rest of the prey would show themselves.

While Zheng Qing was putting on a spirited performance, Xiao Xiao was not idle either. He circled around the area where Zheng Qing and the White Weasel were, walking in circles and every now and then throwing down several Array Plates into the snow, setting up an environment more advantageous for the Hunters in advance.

”All right, all right, a little lesson is enough!” a duck-like voice suddenly rang out above the two Young Wizards’ heads, ”After all, they’re my subordinates. If you keep beating them like this, it won’t look good for my face.”

The two Young Wizards were startled by this abrupt voice and immediately stopped their actions, looking up in unison.

”Who’s there?” Zheng Qing called out warily.

”The boss of those Mouse-Wolves you’ve caught!” the duck-like voice answered without hesitation, then after a few seconds of hesitation, it added, ”In the trendy terms of today, I’m their big boss!”

While the duck-like voice was speaking, Xiao Xiao had already taken out his old turtle shell from his bosom, holding it in his palm, ready to deploy a defensive Barrier at any moment; Zheng Qing, on the other hand, did not reach for the Colt at his waist but rather drew the Remington that Su Daxu had given him from his Grey Cloth Bag.

Compared to the ’small and nimble’ Colt Python, the power of the Remington was obviously more remarkable.

But the two Wizards, though fully prepared, did not spot anything unusual in the direction from which the voice came.

This made them even more vigilant.

”Tsk, tsk, tsk, not bad at all. Haven’t seen you in a few days, and you’ve got quite a few more tricks up your sleeve!” The unpleasant duck-like voice continued to come from above their heads as if it had no intention of avoiding their line of sight.

Despite this, Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao were unable to determine the source of the voice.

The only thing they could be sure of was that the voice was coming from a thick branch above their heads—one of the main branches of a Return Soul Poplar, thick as a child’s thigh—if they weren’t wrong, something was hiding behind that branch, in the blind spot of Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao’s field of view.

Zheng Qing made a subtle signal to Xiao Xiao while casually responding, ”From what you’re saying... are we acquaintances?”

”Who’s a human!” The duck-like voice coming from behind the branch clearly wasn’t pleased with Zheng Qing’s accusation.

”Then what are you?” Zheng Qing immediately retorted.

The duck-like voice fell silent at once.

Meanwhile, Xiao Xiao took the opportunity while Zheng Qing was conversing with the stranger to quietly move a couple of steps outward and initiated the Five Hearts Bond Symbol concealed at his waist. This was a set of five instant communication Talisman papers. Each member of the Absolution Hunting Team carried one. Should anyone run into trouble, activating one of the talismans would immediately alert the remaining four people, who could follow the Talisman paper’s guidance to come to the rescue promptly.

Feeling the Five Hearts Bond Symbol heating up in his pocket, Zheng Qing’s initially tense mood relaxed a bit.

It seemed that the mysterious guest above was not as powerful as it made out to be. At the very least, it had not erected a restrictive Barrier to completely sever the two Atoning Hunters from the Silent Forest.

As long as they could still make contact with the outside, everything was negotiable.

Just as these thoughts floated through Zheng Qing’s mind, a chubby Mice head suddenly poked out from the branch above, blinking its two shiny black eyes, and in an unpleasant duck-like voice, asked curiously:

”Were you just sending a message? Who are you communicating with? Are you planning to hold a farewell ceremony?... I’m just here to pick up my subordinates, no need for such pomp and circumstance...”

Upon seeing that familiar yet strange head, Zheng Qing gazed for a long moment before exploding with an expletive, ”Fuck!”