High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1081: Chapter 143 Fall Down a Black Cat

Upon hearing the question from the Rat Immortal, Korma’s first reaction was to subconsciously lift her head and glance above. The treetop’s branches and twigs intertwined with the fresh leaves of early spring, but there was no cat riding upon them.

Therefore, she interpreted the term ’riding’ as ’seven,’ which also fit the pattern of a brain teaser.

With her fingers crossed behind her back, the witch quietly counted, then tentatively responded, ”Seven cats in the tree, no cats on the ground, so could there be a total of seven cats or maybe one cat? As for whose cats they might be... in the Silent Forest, the cats are perhaps born and bred of the forest itself.”

This answer was by the book, yet showed a bit of cleverness.

”Do you think the cat has the surname Sun? Born and bred indeed...” The Rat Immortal sneered at the witch’s answer, shook his head, and denied, ”Let me tell you directly, then. There are zero cats in total, and that cat belongs to Schrödinger.”

”Zero cats? Schrödinger?” Korma blinked.

Regarding the Big Wizard who made outstanding contributions in the area of low-speed spell formula movements within the field of thought forces, Korma still had a slight impression. Equally memorable was this Big Wizard’s peculiar interest in feline animals.

Legend had it that Schrödinger once transformed into a stray cat to roam the wild, all to better understand the behaviors of cats so as to better serve his own Egyptian cat named ’Elwin’—allegedly, this Egyptian cat often played hide and seek with Schrödinger. When Schrödinger looked for it, he could never find it; but when he stopped searching, it would always sit right by his feet.

Therefore, hearing that this cat belonged to Schrödinger, Korma could just keep pace with the rhythm, feeling like she somewhat understood the profundity of the Rat Immortal’s answer.

But what about ’zero cats’?

The witch looked up in confusion and glanced again at the treetop.

The sky above was crisscrossed with bare branches, indeed devoid of any Egyptian cats hidden among them.

The Rat Immortal sighed deeply, ”Indeed, letting you enter Jiuyou Academy was a huge mistake; it has dulled your spirituality quite a bit. As a result, your way of thinking has become so rigid now.”

Korma pursed her lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Mr. Mouse’s assessment.

The Rat Immortal didn’t keep up the mystery but went straight to the explanation, ”I said there are zero cats above because, at the moment I spoke, this cat thought of running away. So naturally, by the time you looked up, there would be zero cats.”

”But since I’m here, that cat is caught between being able to run away and not being able to run.”

”You look up; it runs away, and there are no cats in the tree. You don’t look up; it doesn’t run, and there’s still one cat in the tree. This is very similar to the state of Schrödinger’s own Egyptian cat, so I say it’s Schrödinger’s cat.”

This answer was suffused with the essence of the ’Philosophy of Magic,’ and it took the witch a long moment to comprehend the convoluted logic, feeling quite vexed—aside from the quirky Rat Immortal, who would consider this kind of answer as part of a brain teaser!

However, she temporarily had no time to bother with this vexation.

For just as the Rat Immortal’s words fell, the witch heard a pitiful howl. A black cat suddenly appeared amidst the branches above her head, then splayed out its limbs, half-falling from the sky, and thudded onto the muddy ground next to the witch’s feet.

Certainly, as a cat, it was unlikely to be hurt from the fall, merely differing in how gracefully it landed.

The black cat’s landing posture was rather awkward since it nose-dived into the mud. But after taking a tumble, this black cat instantly rolled over and abruptly grew larger, soon reaching the size of the Rat Immortal and the witch, resembling a small black panther, arching its back, growling, and baring its teeth as it issued a threatening sound at them both.

”Oh!” The Rat Immortal lifted his arm again, twisted the whiskers at the corner of his mouth, and made a minor supplement to his previous answer, ”Um, let me add a bit more... this cat of Schrödinger’s exists in a state between a cat and not a cat. If you think it’s a cat, then it’s a cat. If you think it’s not a cat, then it’s not a cat.”

Korma’s eyes narrowed, revealing a glint of danger.

”So you mean,” the witch pulled out the Law Book from behind, bent slightly, and stared intensely at the black cat in front of her, making a ready-to-attack posture while sinisterly saying, ”This is a cat transformed by a wizard using transformation magic? But we just saw it can grow and shrink... Could there really be wizards who choose to become schizophrenic in order to retain their powers after using transformation techniques? That would be too ridiculous!”

The Rat Immortal smiled broadly and did not join the conversation.

The black cat opposite couldn’t hold back anymore.

The witch’s tense figure and the Law Book, glowing with blue magical aura, told him that if he didn’t want to leave parts of his body here, he better say something in these last few moments.

”Hold on!” The black cat shrank back, yelling, ”Today is the Magic Ban Festival! Wizards cannot use magic! We must respect ancient traditions!”

The witch raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Then she exchanged a look with the Rat Immortal and revealed a mischievous smile, saying very politely, ”As long as I kill you, no one, no, no cat will know I used magic today, right?”

Okay, okay, since she was willing to respond, things hadn’t gotten irredeemably bad yet. The black cat’s thoughts spun quickly while it retracted the blades peeking through its paw, showing its goodwill first.

”I mean no harm, just passing by,” the black cat tried hard to convey his goodwill, glancing several times between the person and the mouse, then added, ”And I didn’t hear anything just now.”

”Counterproductive,” commented the Rat Immortal.

”Gilding the lily,” said the witch.

The black cat’s face grew even darker.

”If you had malicious intentions, you would already be buried under the roots of the Return Soul Poplar as fertilizer, not here chattering.” Korma had not put away the Law Book, but her tense posture had slightly relaxed, ”You should find a better excuse.”

The black cat looked at her eagerly.

A long pause.

”If you think it’s appropriate, maybe I could take on the role of the ’guide’ you just mentioned,” the black cat spoke dryly, ears pulled back like airplane wings, in a very submissive manner.

The witch glanced sideways, eyeing the Rat Immortal subtly.

”That’s the one,” the Rat Immortal said, satisfied, twirling his whiskers, ”Destiny is such a wonder... If there is anyone in the world who could help you find that secret realm faster, it would be this black cat.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qing shivered, nervous as he looked at the fat old mouse in front of him.

He always felt that this mouse had seen through his real identity beneath the cat skin.

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Ps1, there was an error in the previous Chapter’s riddle, ”Question: A cat on a tree, no cat on the ground, how many cats in total? Whose cat is it?” This slightly affected the following content.

Ps2, Do not mind the issue with Chinese homophones; just assume they all speak Chinese.