High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 962: Chapter 24 Descendants of Satoguya

Buji Island was home to many frogs.

For instance, there was the ’Xiu Bi’ with a white mouth and a fishtail, whose call resembled that of a sparrowhawk, and whose flesh could cure vitiligo. There was also the ’Gu Zao’ with horns on its head and scriptures on its cheeks, which, if caught at noon on the fifth of May and dried in the shade, could ward off hundreds of soldiers. And then there was the ’Xiam,’ two meters long, that spat red mist and devoured birds, insects, snakes, and rodents for food, which could transform into red rock when still, among others.

Of course, the most common were still those noisy, irritating amphibians with yellow-green skin that crawled between puddles and marshes. And then there was Iseni’s small frog that could climb through midair and move back and forth swiftly, which he used as a messenger.

But none could compare with the one Zheng Qing was currently facing.

It squatted on a rock at the river bend’s end, five meters tall, with a wide mouth and huge eyes, a big belly, and covered all over in short black fur that fluttered slowly in the cold wind.

In fact, calling it a frog was not entirely accurate—it only had certain frog-like traits—but from another angle, the low humming from its abdomen or its apparent hibernation traits brought it closer to a frog.

”Stand still, don’t move!”

Old man Xiao Bonar’s lips barely moved, yet his voice distinctly reached the ears of the two young wizards, ”The descendants of Satoguya prefer stillness over movement, whether it is themselves or their prey... So you better nicely stand still right now.”

The descendant of Satoguya must be the name of that monster.

The two, who had initially planned to sneak back to the cabin, now had to freeze in place, trembling as they stared at the towering figure dozens of meters away. All around was silent, even the copper bell hanging at the bow that jingled had stilled.

”What is it?” Zheng Qing asked softly.

His voice, carrying clearly across the open space, traveled far over the water.

The giant frog, which had been sitting on the rock with its eyes closed, turned its huge, semi-transparent, golden-yellow pupils towards the boat.

The gaze that fell upon the small boat made the young scholarship student feel utterly cold.

There was no murderous intent in that gaze, no cruelty, no brutality, yet also not a trace of good will. Through those eyes, Zheng Qing felt as if he were seeing a world careening toward ruins, as if witnessing a tangled mass of colorful threads.

His temples pulsed violently, a sharp pain piercing through his skull and into the depths of his soul.

”Ugh...” the young wizard moaned, clutching his head and dropping to his knees on the deck.

”I’m a Dark Yellow Horse!”

A deep spell voice emanated from the direction of the old boatman. A dark yellow streak of light emerged from behind and struck the giant frog first that had just opened its eyes.

”Pop!” the crisp sound of a coin striking an eggshell rang in Zheng Qing’s ears, his expression suddenly relaxed, the pain in his mind vanishing as quickly as it came, a rush of relief so intense it was like going straight from hell to heaven.

From Zheng Qing looking into the giant beast’s eyes to him being freed from the soul-stinging pain, the entire process took less than five seconds.

Only then did the Gypsy react, squatting down hurriedly and placing her hands on Zheng Qing’s shoulders, repeatedly asking, ”What happened? Are you alright?!”

”I’m fine,” Zheng Qing grinned, flashing a careless smile, ”Just got bitten by a mosquito...”

Elena knew Zheng Qing was just trying to reassure her, but could say nothing more, only frowning and nervously complaining, ”What kind of mosquito can knock you flat on the deck!”)

Zheng Qing paid no attention to the Witch’s complaint as he suddenly remembered something.

”Look at my eyes, have they turned red?” he asked Elena, his tone somewhat anxious.

Previously, headaches caused by stimulations often led to the aftereffect of red eyes, which greatly annoyed Zheng Qing. Moreover, each time the redness lingered longer—last occurring during the Big Snow festival day when he accompanied Elena to the Lakeside of Bell Lake. Affected by the Lake Heart Tower, both of his eyes had turned red.

The aftereffects lasted until the end of the term’s winter hunt, persisting for almost a month.

Thus, Zheng Qing was now extremely sensitive about this issue.

Elena was naturally aware of this situation as well.

”Perfectly clear and very healthy,” said the Witch, her lips curling into a smirk as she joked, ”It wouldn’t be every time you accompany me that your eyes would turn red, right...?”

Zheng Qing silently rubbed the back of his head, chuckling sheepishly, and dared not to respond.

At this moment, silence was the best option.

The quiet river water flowed noisily outside the boat’s hull, carrying the lightweight ferry past one Return Soul Poplar after another along the shore.

Because there was a large bend up ahead, the current was slightly turbulent here, so the boat’s speed also increased a bit.

In just the time it took to exchange a few words, the ferry had crossed the end of the river bend and began to turn. The giant creature that sat crouched on the rocks reappeared in the vision of the two young Wizards.

It was only then that Zheng Qing saw that Old Xiao Bonar’s spell hadn’t directly hit the giant beast’s eyes—he had thought the old man’s spell had burst the creature’s eyeballs. That spell had merely placed a thin screen over the beast’s eyes, blocking its vision.

Looking back, the old boatman was holding the pole with both hands, his muscles tensed, staring intensely and unblinkingly at the slowly reviving giant creature at the river bend.

”Really is cursed,” the old man muttered softly, his fingers gently rubbing the bamboo joint of the long pole, ”This beast hasn’t opened its eyes once in ten years... why it opened them now, in the dead of winter...”

”Let’s go down,” Elena whispered into Zheng Qing’s ear.

Her hands were still on Zheng Qing’s shoulders, a rich and familiar fragrance filling the young Warlock’s nostrils.

Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds—he was not a hothead, recklessly throwing himself into danger, and he was well aware that he might not be of much help to the old boatman on deck. But standing in the old man’s position, if the boatman truly needed that ”last straw” of help later and no one else was by his side, it would be dreadful.

From another angle, if the old boatman were defeated by the beast, could this tiny ferry and its thin deck in the cabin withstand the monster’s attack?

Zheng Qing felt he would rather face the beast head on and be swallowed by it than hide trembling in the cabin, praying to emerge unscathed when the boat was destroyed.

”Just step back a bit,” Zheng Qing paused, accepting half of the Witch’s suggestion—they both pulled back into the cabin, except that he leaned half his body outside, holding the long Remington Symbol Gun in his hand, aiming through the side of the boat at the beast.

”Can you hit it from this far?” Elena’s voice, slightly anxious, arose behind the Warlock.

Zheng Qing was full of confidence.

”Don’t worry,” he said as he reached his finger into the grey cloth bag, pulling out a Fu Bullet enveloped in a swirling red light, ”I’ve hit targets from even farther away... and besides, I used a special Fu Bullet.”