High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1161: Chapter 223: Cat and Cat

”Snail” got smashed, and the work afterward for the exploration team went smoothly.

Korma reinforced the Barrier around the camp once more, and Elena recovered the ”Firefly Swarm” she had nearly left behind—this swarm of fireflies was their helper in exploring the surrounding environment when the exploration team had first entered the Secret Realm World.

As for Black Cat, he didn’t continue dealing with those dead rabbits and the corpse beetles inside their stomachs. It wasn’t that he had suddenly grown compassionate; he just didn’t want to smear his paws with a whole lot of kerosene.

Honestly, the smell of kerosene is quite unpleasant.

And a cat has a nose that’s sensitive to smells.

The first exploration of the Secret Realm World thus ended on a bittersweet note. Zheng Qing’s pre-arranged leave from Professor Montreya hadn’t been wasted, but his pre-completed night patrol at Lin Zhong Lake seemed a bit squandered. Their exploration had lasted less than ten hours, and by five o’clock Saturday afternoon, the exploration team had already returned to the Sakura Pub in North Beta Town.

Korma gave a brief work summary, and the gains made along the way were evenly distributed among two humans and one cat—the materials portioned to Black Cat were inconvenient to carry, so Zheng Qing simply exchanged them for two jade coins, which he strung on a Red String and hung around his neck.

”We’ve completed collecting basic data, information on the ecological environment, and landscape features of the Secret Realm World. Other than the time flow speed being slightly unusual, there isn’t much difference compared to Silent Forest. We haven’t encountered any creatures more dangerous than rabbits.”

The flow of time in the Secret Realm World was slightly slower than the outside world by a mere ten or so minutes, but the difference wasn’t significant. It was only the scrupulous student Korma who took this disparity seriously and took note of it.

”...It may have something to do with the new birth of the Secret Realm World, as well as the environment from which it emerged. In any case, this is good news, meaning we can proceed with our next steps without much trouble.”

According to Korma’s next step, they would pick a place in the Secret Realm World abundant in Spiritual Machine and clear space, preparing to set up an Array. Although Zheng Qing wasn’t sure what kind of Formation she intended to lay out, the clues he’d gleaned suggested it was bound to be an Array both vast in scale and impressive in power.

”We’ll meet at the same time, same place next week for our second Secret Realm exploration. ’No Face’, remember to bring an extra Law book, just in case... and a few more ’Yellow Turban Warrior’ Talisman paper.”

Elena simply nodded silently, without a word.

”As for you,” Korma turned to Black Cat, pausing thoughtfully, ”Are you coming next time?”

Black Cat was originally busy licking the cream from inside his cup, but he looked up in surprise when he heard this, ”Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

Elena, with arms crossed, touched her lips with a hand, ”Considering you only came with a single Jade Pendant, and with paws that can neither lift nor carry... there probably isn’t much you can help with when we set up the Formation.”

Black Cat flicked his ears and licked the cream from the corner of his mouth clean.

”I’m responsible for the site’s security,” he asserted shamelessly, ”Haven’t you ever seen a construction site? There always needs to be security staff responsible for the safety of materials and equipment. Wasn’t it me who dealt with that ’Snail’? Without my calm judgment, we’d have fled the Secret Realm long ago.”

He wasn’t wrong in saying that.

While Korma’s face still bore a hint of hesitation, she ultimately acknowledged Black Cat’s role.

Leaving the Sakura Pub, Black Cat didn’t head straight for the dormitory. Though he didn’t feel that Korma or Elena would covertly follow him to snoop for information, being careful was never a mistake.

After taking several turns along the dimly lit corners of North Beta Town, Black Cat made his casual way toward Lakeside of Bell Lake. He decided to check on his own territory.

It was six in the evening, and it had already grown dark.

But when Black Cat arrived under the Cat Fruit Tree, he recognized at a glance the white furball squatting on his ”Throne”.

...

...

Jiang Yu felt she had lost herself in the purpose of becoming a cat.

To trap the killer who murdered the little white cat? Yes, at the beginning, or even until now, her reason for becoming a cat had included this. But with Liu Fei Fei’s giant snake escaping, the possibility of trapping dropped continuously, and this purpose became more and more out of reach.

So what was her purpose in becoming a cat now?

On Saturday evening, after loading Li Meng with a mountain of homework, Jiang Yu quietly used the Transformation Potion and turned into a little white cat, sneaking out of the dormitory. As she wandered along the meandering trails between the academy’s lawns, her mind continually pondered this question.

Perhaps what she wanted was the brief carefree feeling after becoming a cat?

Perhaps it was just because of that black cat.

Jiang Yu was ninety percent certain that the leader of the cat group on the Cat Fruit Tree was transformed by Zheng Qing. For the remaining ten percent, she was convinced that the black cat had some inseparable connection with Zheng Qing. It was just like last year’s school hunting party rookie competition when a big black cat had sprinted out from Zheng Qing’s side—although most in the school thought it was a black panther.

What also puzzled her was why the black cat could speak and how it could change its size at will.

This was completely against the rules of magic.

With these doubts, she sauntered all the way to the base of the Cat Fruit Tree.

By late April, the weather had already become much warmer, and the breeze blowing from Lin Zhong Lake rustled through the treetops and branches, making all the cats hanging on the tree purr comfortably.

The little white cat looked up, glancing left and right, but did not see that familiar figure.

She hesitated for a few seconds, and eventually, instead of continuing to run about, she chose to leap onto the Cat Fruit Tree and sit on the black cat’s ’Throne’. The big cats lying on other thick branches—like the second-ranked Forest Cat in combat power, the most agile Blue Cat, and the Ragdoll Cat that had turned into a big cat—either raised their heads or turned to glance, staring at the little white cat for a while.

But not a single cat made a move to uphold the dignity of the black Cat Leader’s throne.

This was not only because they recognized this little white cat but also because she was the only one they had seen who could kick the black cat’s head with her paw.

Unprovokable, unprovokable.

Jiang Xiaomao did not lie on the ’Throne’ for too long. She felt she had just taken a nap when the Cat Fruit Tree became noisy. The various-sized cats perched on the branches all got up, issuing fawning cries down towards the base of the tree.

The little white cat squinted her eyes, pondering whether to move when suddenly, darkness loomed before her, and a familiar figure squeezed in beside her.

The black cat nudged the little white cat towards the edge of the ’Throne’ with his paw, then paused for a moment.

He turned his head, glanced at the Ragdoll Cat lying not far away batting her eyes flirtatiously at him, and then lowered his gaze to the little white cat at his feet. He couldn’t help but use his paw to measure the distance from her head to the tip of her tail.

”How come you’re still so small?” The look on the black cat’s face was full of confusion. ”That Ragdoll used to be about your size... Now she must be at least a meter long, right?”

The little white cat let out a yelp, swiftly turned her head, and viciously bit the black cat’s wrist.

Because while he was measuring her height, he had accidentally touched her bottom.