High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1341: Chapter 88 Zhu Si

Zheng Qing took a good while to react before he realized that the mischievous little girl’s name was Zhu Si.

Right after, he grasped the meaning that the little girl has just revealed in her words.

”Do they eat people?” The young cost student looked around nervously: ”They... who are they?”

”Spirits in the mirror,” the little girl spoke softly: ”But I’d rather call them mirror demons, the fairies in the mirror. They like to take on the appearance of others, use others’ voices, talk about others’ affairs... There’s nothing more fake than them in the world! Even more fake than a warlock saying ’I love you’ to a fishwoman!”

This statement didn’t seem like something a girl of seven or eight years old would say.

”Why do they do that?”

”To replace others.” Zhu Si’s little face was tightly drawn, looking very serious: ”As long as they are fake enough, they can create confusion with their falsehoods, the impostor replacing the crown prince, changing the beams and pillars without notice!”

She knew a whole set of idioms.

The warlock showed a hint of interest on his face and continued to ask:

”How do they eat people, from within the mirror?”

Zhu Si’s face showed a look of disdain: ”How can you be so stupid! Can eating people only be done with the mouth? What’s most important about a person? It’s the mind! The soul! They can unknowingly contaminate your mind! Suck away your soul!”

”That’s terrifying,” Zheng Qing remarked with a sigh, his gaze moving past the girl’s head, towards the concealed mirrors behind her.

”I always feel that your gaze is very rude,” the little girl crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head back and looking dissatisfied at the tall boy before her.

Zheng Qing was a bit bemused and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

”I thought... I just thought that you were a spirit from the world in the mirror,” he explained, spreading his hands.

”Me? A spirit from the world in the mirror?!” The little girl had an ’are you blind?’ expression on her face, pointing around her and drawing a large circle with her finger: ”Those guys are the spirits from the world in the mirror... Are there spirits as beautiful, cute, clever, and articulate as me in the mirror? No!”

The corners of Zheng Qing’s mouth twitched.

This was a little girl who was somewhat talkative, self-loving, and kind at heart, he internally commented—of course, she could also be a sinister, cunning, and malicious true monster.

Which one she was, Zheng Qing could not be sure yet. But he was more inclined to the former because whether it was his intuition as a wizard or the discernment magic he had just quietly used, he sensed no malice from the little girl towards him.

On the contrary, within the interweaving tones of cheerfulness and seriousness in the little girl’s voice, he sensed a strong sadness. It lingered around her, not dissipating for a long time.

”How old are you?”

”That question is quite impolite!” Zhu Si’s eyes widened: ”Mom said, you can’t just tell boys your age. Unless you promise to marry me.”

That certainly wasn’t something a seven or eight-year-old girl would say.

Zheng Qing immediately skipped the topic.

He already had enough trouble with a tree, a cat, and a fox; he certainly did not want to attract trouble from a mirror as well.

”My point is, you don’t seem that old.” The warlock rephrased his question.

”I could change my own diapers when I was three!” The little girl glared at him, unconvinced: ”What does age have to do with ability?! Gan Luo became a Big Wizard at twelve, and Kong Rong discovered nine uses for ’Pears’ when he was eight... Compared to them, my age is not small at all.”

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but chuckle.

”Wow, that’s impressive.” He complimented sincerely, caressing the Law Book in his hands and asked tentatively, ”Judging from that... are you a witch?”

”Guaranteed genuine!” Zhu Si tugged at her old robe, looking quite proud: ”This is a wizard robe specially made by First University’s Traditional Magic Tool Research Institute, warm in the winter and cool in the summer, it even repels insects and evil spirits!”

Zheng Qing wasn’t sure if there are seasons like spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the World in the Mirror, or if there were any mosquitoes.

But what he was certain of was that Zhu Si must have been in this world for a very long time.

Because the ’First University Traditional Magic Tool Research Institute’ is the precursor to the ’Institute of Applied Magic’, and that name has been discontinued for more than fifty years.

The warlock’s expression became slightly more serious:

”Since you are a witch, why are you here?”

”It has always been you asking and me answering; I want to ask you the same question.” Zhu Si crossed her arms, putting on a grown-up act, and huffed: ”How did you end up inside here? Were you also looking for someone?”

Oh, she came to the World in the Mirror to find someone.

Zheng Qing mulled over it quietly, suspecting that Zhu Si was a child who got lost while playing hide and seek in the World in the Mirror when the ’Wizard’s Code’ was still incomplete.

”I came here to study.” He told the truth honestly: ”It seems the teacher wants me to comprehend the true essence of this world.”

The Little Witch looked at him with sympathy.

”You must be one of those apprentices who gets abused by their master,” she tiptoed and comforted him by patting the Warlock’s arm: ”I’ve heard from my mother... I heard that you have to sleep on the floor of the wizard tower at night, barely get enough to eat, and the master might throw you into dangerous places to conduct magic experiments.”

Zheng Qing didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

What Zhu Si described did occur in history. Before the establishment of First University and the Mage Alliance, it was very common for old-school wizards who followed family and apprenticeship traditions to exploit apprentices.

Even now, many children of Wizard Families have heard the intimidating words from the elders, something like ’if you don’t behave, we’ll send you to become Gaerter’s apprentice’.

Gaerter was a notorious Black Wizard in the early 20th century. It was said that he enjoyed turning his apprentices into slippery snakes or squishy slugs — no one wanted to be a slug.

”How long have you been here?” Zheng Qing touched his forehead, tucking the Colt Python’s barrel back into his mind — from the start, Zhu Si had been eyeing it with an eager expression. Zheng Qing was really worried she might leap up and try swinging from the barrel.

A look of obvious disappointment flashed across the Little Witch’s face.

”Two or three months.” She mumbled, the disappointment fading from her face and replaced by a hint of worry: ”I sneaked in here quietly... I remember the book said, the World inside the mirror could lead to anywhere... I wanted to give my parents a surprise. But after I got in, I got a bit lost.”

At this point, she carefully looked around, motioned for Zheng Qing to bend down, and then whispered into the Warlock’s ear: ”They work on very important magic experiments at a very secret institution! Usually, they can only be contacted through a Double-sided mirror...”

Then, stepping away from the Warlock’s ear, she walked over to the side with her hands behind her back, sighed heavily, turned to give the young Warlock a pitiful look, full of sympathy in her eyes.

”My Escape Technique is quite good,” she seemed to be encouraging herself and also comforting Zheng Qing: ”You don’t have to worry about me... I think you are the one who needs to be worried about. I’ve never seen a bumbler like you... coming here and straight-up broke a mirror. Don’t you know that the worst thing to do in this World is to break a mirror?”