High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1112: Chapter 174: Two Flowers Bloom

Having left the Abnormal Life Research Institute, Zheng Qing didn’t head straight back to school.

Carrying the cardboard box, he wandered along the winding Pedestrian Street for quite a while before finally finding a cat café named ’Coffee Cat.’ At the entrance sat a porcelain Egyptian cat, elegantly long and well-proportioned, with two glowing gemstone eyes sparkling enchanting colors under the dim streetlights.

Upon seeing a customer approach, the Egyptian cat merely twitched its ears, remaining motionless, without so much as a glance. Zheng Qing believed that if a Teddy or Pomeranian had been perched at the door, they would have certainly started yapping by now.

The young government-sponsored student carefully stepped over the alchemized cat and pushed open the glass door of ’Coffee Cat.’

Behind the door was a tall cat climbing frame, with coarse jute rope tightly wound around the wood, decorated with simple plates and branches. Dangling haphazardly from the frame were numerous ’Cat Fruits,’ just like the ones from the Cat Fruit Trees by the Lakeside of Bell Lake. Zheng Qing faintly spotted a few of his former subordinates on the frame, but since human eyes aren’t great at recognizing cat faces and since those ’former subordinates’ showed no particular reaction to his arrival, he wasn’t certain whether he had mistaken them.

Taking a light breath, a satisfied smile appeared on Zheng Qing’s face.

The air in the shop was fresher than he’d anticipated, much less stuffy and unpleasant than expected. He could see many Green Sprites bustling about, flying amidst the vines hanging from above, gathering the long and short cat hairs that had fallen in the café, as well as any scents that might affect the customers’ experience.

The wizard stood at the entrance, looking around.

”Hello, how many?” A staff member in coffee-colored trousers walked briskly up and greeted warmly.

”Ah, I’m looking for someone,” Zheng Qing continued, peering around the café.

”If you’ve brought your own pet cat, our store can take care of it,” the café staff glanced at the cardboard box in Zheng Qing’s arms, saying hopefully, ”Like grooming your cat’s fur, scratching its itches, cleaning it, feeding it... If you’d like, we can even feed it some catnip.”

”Oh, a cat?” Zheng Qing came to his senses, looked down at the cardboard box he was holding, then looked back up at the enthusiastic staff and started to smile, ”I like cats, but my pet is a fox... and I didn’t bring it with me today. Inside the box are some Green Sprites. They’re sick, and I just took them to see a doctor.”

As he spoke, he lifted a corner of the cardboard box slightly.

An energetic Sprite immediately drew close, sticking its little head out of the box and staring with its shiny black eyes, curiously observing its brethren flying about in the air.

”I see,” the staff member nodded with a slight disappointment.

Zheng Qing quickly found Elena in a corner of the shop. The witch seemed to sense something and at that moment looked up. Seeing Zheng Qing, she waved at him.

The staff member smiled faintly, no longer intruding, and quietly backed away.

”Jiang Yu said you might need about half an hour to get here... I didn’t expect you to arrive so early.” Once Zheng Qing reached the corner, Elena gestured for him to sit across from her before pulling another chair closer, leaning to the side.

Today, the Gypsy witch was dressed in a red ruffled midi skirt, high-waisted and figure-hugging, with a black blouse on top, a small V-neck, adding a touch of elegance to her allure. Hanging on the chair behind her was a crimson cape, upon which one could vaguely make out the markings of a Gypsy witch embroidered with golden thread.

”Jiang Yu?” Zheng Qing expressed a puzzled look.

He had planned to meet with Elena at this place in advance. According to the Gypsy witches’ idea, they should choose a different location for each date, so that each time there would be a new sensation. It would be best to dine in every little shop throughout Beta Town.

For such a slightly whimsical choice, Zheng Qing had no objections. Although he was not yet a wealthy man, with the support of many previous prizes and small shop earnings, he still had the money to occasionally treat Elena to sit around in Beta Town.

”Yes, Jiang Yu,” Elena said, gathering her textbooks and homework at hand, smiling at the warlock, ”You weren’t here today, and I asked Jiang Yu to help review this afternoon’s Fu Lu Class homework...”

”Jiang Yu is here too?” Zheng Qing shifted uncomfortably in his chair, twisting his body slightly. He wondered if it was because the wooden chair underneath him was a bit too hard.

”She went to get coffee ... hm, over there,” Elena pointed in another direction of the coffee shop.

Zheng Qing immediately recognized the familiar figure amidst the crowd.

Jiang Yu was carrying a pot of coffee, walking towards their seats.

Today, she wore a beige dress, nude-colored peep-toe high heels, her arms bare, a slim belt tied around her waist, which was adorned with a jade pendant emitting a faint green glow. The sound of the jade pendant along with her high heels clicking on the floor quickened one’s heartbeat.

Upon seeing the taxpayer-funded student, Jiang Yu’s steps seemed to hesitate, but she quickly returned to normal, carrying the coffee over as if nothing had happened.

”Perhaps I should prepare another cup,” she said, setting the coffeepot on the table and waved her hand in mid-air. A sprite soon brought up a new coffee cup.

At the same time, the witch looked at the warlock with a grin, ”How come you finished so early today? Don’t you usually take an hour?”

”There weren’t any issues, so I came out a bit earlier,” Zheng Qing replied dutifully.

Elena blinked her long eyelashes curiously at the warlock and witch before her.

Zheng Qing immediately realized what was going on, and lifted the cardboard box he had been holding in his arms slightly, ”It’s for treating the sprites. Jiang Yu had introduced me to a senior alchemist before, his skills are very high-end...”

He intentionally emphasized the words ’alchemist’ and ’high-end skills’, trying to steer the Gypsy witch’s attention to it, so that he might find an opportunity to inadvertently leak news about Doctor Duzem, solving the problem that had been troubling his mind.

However, Elena didn’t seem to be interested in the alchemist treating the sprites—or perhaps, in her opinion, even if the alchemist who treated sprites was skilled, it wasn’t too impressive.

And so, she quickly moved past the subject.

”Oh, I see,” the Gypsy witch played with her long hair by her ear, leaned forward, sniffed the coffee in the pot, and exclaimed with delight, ”Wow, it smells wonderful... I feel rejuvenated already.”

Zheng Qing felt like he was punching with all his might into a bundle of cotton.