High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1337: Chapter 84: In the Mirror

The floor mirror was about three feet wide and nearly two meters tall, with a base made of a solid block of obsidian, carved with little figures holding up their hands. These figures were looking up, their faces filled with fervor, towards where the mirror stood.

Flanking the mirror were two Roman relief columns, made of red sandalwood. On the left column, a demonic creature with ram horns and bat wings was pressed under the base; on the right, a naked man and woman intertwined. At the top of each column, half-body statues of a Wizard bloomed, a male on the left and a female on the right, both wearing pointed hats and holding Magic Wands. The heavy lintel was supported by carved Spell-filled openwork, with a line engraved on the Stone.

Because it was too dark, and the inscriptions were somewhat blurred, Zheng Qing couldn’t make out what was written at first, catching only glimpses of words like ’water’ and ’person’.

At that moment, his entire focus was on the terrifying reflection in the mirror.

He would bet that the creature in the mirror, bearing his likeness, wearing his clothes, with a mouth full of fangs and dripping blood, had absolutely nothing to do with him.

”Who is that?!”

The Warlock shouted, stepping back.

The gentleman pressed on his shoulder, stopping him from leaving the pavilion: ”Just an interesting shadow, pay it no mind... As I said, next, we’ll journey to an interesting World.”

Noticing that the horrifying image in the mirror could not scare those outside, the reflection in the mirror displayed an annoyed expression, pulled up the Cloak over its head, and when it revealed itself again, it had transformed into Zheng Qing dressed in women’s attire.

A black bow tie, a white ruffled apron, lace waistband, garter belt, and dainty round-toed leather shoes. Seemingly to match this attire, the figure in the mirror also posed pigeon-toed, half-covering their face with a paper fan. This sight made the young cost student’s face turn red in anger, boiling with rage.

”Utterly insane! Lawless!” His eyes widened in anger, unable to help himself, wanting to shatter the mirror with a fist, yet fearing he might cut his hand, he could only look around, trying to find a solid Stone.

”Pay no mind to these details.” The gentleman lifted his hand, flicked his finger towards the shadow in the mirror, and the figure in women’s clothes screamed, tumbling and flung deep into the mirror until it shrank into a dot and completely disappeared from the mirror surface.

But this did not bring Zheng Qing any Assurance.

Thinking of a monster dressed as his female self, screaming somewhere in a corner of the World, he trembled from head to toe like he had just swallowed a big spoonful of mustard.

Feeling the instability in the young man’s heart, the gentleman reassuringly patted his shoulder.

”Are you ready?” He tilted his head and asked.

Zheng Qing took a deep breath, his expression stiff. Tentatively, he reached out his finger and touched the silver mirror surface.

The mirror surface rippled like water.

”Let’s go.”

The gentleman’s voice echoed in his ear. Then, Zheng Qing felt a strong tug on his hand, pulling him into midair, off his feet, and then crashing into that silver wave.

Splash!

A sound like falling into water rang in his ears, everything before him pitch black. Zheng Qing could clearly feel himself passing through layer upon layer of spinning, twisting, black and white barriers, constantly falling deeper and deeper.

Until a dim yellow light pierced through his eyelids.

Zheng Qing’s feet thudded heavily, and he regained his sense of weight.

Once he adjusted to his surroundings, he realized that he and the gentleman were standing in a narrow corridor. Above them hung inverted candles, their pale yellow candlelight, under the effect of gravity, stretched into smooth spindle shapes, casting a dim and flickering shadow.

”Sir...”

”Shh!”

The teacher placed his right index finger on his lips and softly shushed, signaling the boy to quietly observe.

In the hallway, the light and shadows danced, and Zheng Qing’s vision gradually became clearer. Originally on both sides of the dark, narrow corridor, many burning torches suddenly lit up. Below the torches, there were tightly shut doors.

Zheng Qing saw one of them nearby.

The paulownia wood door had no room number, no decorations, nor runes, just a piece of transparent glass embedded in the middle of the door. Looking through that glass into the inside, there was a bathroom—stalls, toilets, a sink, a broom, and a mop hanging behind the door, which looked no different from any school bathroom.

It took several looks for Zheng Qing to realize that this glass should be located in front of the bathroom sink.

Boys rarely primp in the mirror after washing their hands, but there were a few slick fellows who would come up to the glass, grooming their already shiny hair.

”So, why isn’t it a girls’ bathroom?” The boy thought regretfully, then immediately realized that the teacher was beside him and quickly denied in his mind, ”No no, I’m not that disgusting... it’s just human nature... if it really were a girls’ bathroom, I would shut my eyes immediately.”

While he was mentally preparing himself, the door behind the glass suddenly swung open.

A few boys pushed and shoved their way in.

Among them, one was short and frail, wearing rectangular black-framed glasses; the other three, two of them stocky with almost bald heads, and one with long hair and fair skin.

The boys who were originally using the restroom showed frightened expressions, hurriedly pulling up their pants, and without even washing their hands, they fled. The bathroom door was slammed shut and jammed slightly ajar with a mop.

The three cornered the skinny glasses-wearing boy in the corner of the restroom, shoving and jabbering about something. From time to time, the fair-skinned boy raised his hand and slapped the glasses boy.

The two stocky sidekicks laughed loudly, one on each side, gripping the skinny boy’s shoulders to prevent him from resisting.

A cliché bullying scene.

The thugs were demanding protection money.

The skinny boy weakly pointed out that he had no money left.

Which led to a flurry of punches and kicks.

The beaten boy crouched, clutching his stomach, then was immediately yanked up by his ears and slapped repeatedly.

After beating him for a while, someone pushed too hard, which sent the skinny boy crashing against the wall. His head hit a protruding metal corner on the wall, and in the blink of an eye, his face was covered in blood.

The two sidekicks were startled, their grip on the boy’s shoulders involuntarily loosening.

Meanwhile, the fair-skinned boy didn’t care at all, lifted the skinny boy’s school uniform, carelessly wiped his face, and warned him not to spread nonsense outside. Then the three left coolly.

The skinny boy stumbled to the mirror, taking off his glasses, revealing eyes intertwined with anger and fear.

”Help me,” he murmured, speaking softly to the empty mirror and unoccupied restroom, ”Help me... kill them... kill...”

The following words were so distorted that Zheng Qing could not hear clearly.

He only saw the boy’s blood-stained hand pressing against the glass, leaving behind a trace filled with curses and magic power.

As the light and shadow shifted, the three bullies successively met their doom in the restroom. The two sidekicks broke their legs while using the restroom, and the fair-skinned guy was directly drowned in the toilet—the school’s security personnel investigated for a long time but could not understand how a toilet pit less than two feet deep could drown a man of 1.7 meters.

This incident became a strange tale that circulated in this school for decades.