High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1343: Chapter 90: Light Like a Sheet of Water

Zhu Si eventually gave the warlock a leaf from the Mystical Grain, tying it to his wrist with a short piece of red string to serve as temporary protection for Zheng Qing during his time in the World in the Mirror.

But she also warned him:

”The Mystical Grain wood cannot prevent the fairies in the mirrors from draining your soul. At best, it can only help you block the voices or images in this world that bewitch you.”

”That’s already quite good.” Zheng Qing raised his hand, looking at the leaf on his wrist glowing with a faint red light, and sincerely praised it.

He felt that most students at First University couldn’t do what this little girl had achieved.

Thinking of the school outside, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but think of a few other little wizards about Zhu Si’s age—including Li Meng, Lin Guo, and Little Fox Su Ya from Greenhill Mansion.

He thought these kids should be able to play together.

”I’m leaving... What about you?”

The warlock looked at the leaf on his wrist as if it were a new watch, while trying to ask in a casual, relaxed tone, ”Do you want to come out with me? There are a lot of fun things outside now.”

After a few seconds of silence.

”It’s fine, I’ve gotten used to staying here.” The little girl’s voice sounded a bit melancholic: ”And I still have things to do.”

”What things?”

”I have to find my mom and dad... They are hidden here, but I’ve been looking for a long time and haven’t found them yet.”

”Why don’t you go out to play for a few days and then come back to look for them?”

”...I’d better not.” The little witch struggled for a while, but ultimately refused with difficulty: ”Mom said, when you do something, you need to see it through. You can’t leave things unfinished.”

”It’s dangerous for you to be here alone.”

”It’s fine, I am very good at Escape Technique... And, mom said, don’t talk to strangers, to warlocks... As long as you ignore them, this world is very safe.”

”...I’m also a stranger, why did you help me?”

”Because you smell nice!”

This really was the kind of answer only a child could give; Zheng Qing was both amused and touched, but the desire to take the little witch out grew even stronger.

Then he remembered a small gift he had prepared earlier for Lin Guo.

Zheng Qing hesitated for a moment, then took out a transparent glass box from the grey cloth bag, which had the ’Double Tang Note’ logo; inside were several sugar-made Candy Lambs that looked very realistic, with curled transparent horns and shiny eyes made of black sesame seeds, running around the green cotton candy grassland, nibbling on that fluffy ’grass’.

Through the glass cover, it was almost as if one could hear their cheerful bleating.

Zheng Qing felt that Zhu Si would probably appreciate this gift even more than Lin Guo.

”What’s this?” The moment the little witch saw the sugar box, her eyes were glued to those sweet-smelling little lambs, even forgetting to continue checking those precious Mystical Grain leaves.

”Sugar figurine, do you want one?” Zheng Qing, without a second thought, unwrapped the box.

The little lambs that were originally nibbling at the cotton candy grass seemed to sense the sky cracking and the end of the world, letting out screams, scattering in all directions. The sweet scent spread with the frantic motion of the flock.

The little witch fiercely sniffed a few times.

She pressed her lips tightly together, putting her hands behind her back.

Using bamboo tongs, Zheng Qing picked up the fattest black lamb and offered it to Zhu Si: ”Try it... Sugar figurines are delicious.”

The little witch hesitated for a long time but finally extended a hand from behind her back, gently touching the screaming lamb—its legs kicking even more vigorously.

”This is clearly a lamb.” Zhu Si corrected in a soft voice: ”I’ve seen one before!”

The warlock couldn’t help but smile.

”Yes, Candy Lamb... do you like it? There are lots of these outside, I’ll buy one for you after we go out.”

”I like it...” The Little Witch stared intently at the struggling little lamb but ultimately didn’t take it. She once again declined Zheng Qing’s suggestion to take her outside.

”If you like it, I’ll give it to you.” The young cost student thrust the box into the arms of the Little Witch.

Zhu Si held it with a look of surprise and joy.

Watching the little lambs nibble at the green cotton candy grass, she too had a look of complete satisfaction on her face.

”You gave me a gift, now it’s my turn to treat you to a feast!” The Little Witch slapped the Warlock’s arm heartily, put down the box of candy figures, and pulled out an old picture album from her embrace.

The album must have been flipped through many times, with many colors on the cover faded, but the whole book was still kept very intact and clean.

The Little Witch sat cross-legged on the ground, gesturing for Zheng Qing to sit opposite her, and then opened to the first page of the book.

On it was a steaming bowl of rice.

”There’s only rice for the staple,” she said with a tone of regret, as if sorry for not accommodating her guest properly: ”Please make do... I’m really sorry.”

Zheng Qing just stared at her, silent.

The Little Witch formed a Hand Jue with both hands over the picture album, and a bowl of white steaming rice slowly materialized as an illusion in mid-air. She carefully held a small blue and white porcelain bowl and presented it to Zheng Qing.

Zhing Qing bowed his head, looking at the rice that seemed to be pixelated with mosaic, a bit of sourness at the tip of his nose—the mosaics resulted from the damages in the magic Spell Formula on the album due to it being too old, affecting the image quality.

The Little Witch flipped to the second page of the album, which featured a roasted chicken.

The meaty parts like the drumsticks, breast, and wing tips had all turned into white blanks, leaving only the chicken head in the most complete form, but it, too, had lost its comb.

She sneaked a glance at the Warlock, thinking he hadn’t noticed, then quickly formed a Hand Jue and summoned the incomplete chicken head illusion. She placed it in a small dish and pushed it in front of the Warlock.

”This is the tastiest part of a chicken!” The Little Witch spoke earnestly, explaining in detail: ”You should start from the beak, it has a thin layer of skin that is really flavorful... there are quite a few bones in the cheeks, so be careful not to stab your mouth... the juiciest broth is in the eyeballs, goes great with a mouthful of fragrant rice, wow, that taste!”

She praised aloud and quickly flipped past the third page, turning the album to the fourth page.

From the corner of Zheng Qing’s eye, he glimpsed some fragmented images on the third page, which seemed to be a page pieced together from various different pictures? He wasn’t too sure.

The fourth page depicted several stalks of greens.

One could tell that the album used to feature a full page of greens, but now only empty white spaces remained. The Little Witch’s fingers lingered amongst those few stalks for a long time, finally choosing the most plump one, and then conjured it with a Hand Jue.

A stalk of lettuce drizzled with soy sauce.

The corresponding image of that particular lettuce on the album visibly faded a shade lighter.

”Mom said, eating more greens is good for the body.” The Little Witch pushed the plate with one stalk of greens in front of Zheng Qing, sighing: ”You can stick the greens into the rice, that way, when you eat the last bite of rice, you still have greens... and the mix of soy sauce and rice tastes pretty good too.”

”That’s enough, that’s enough.” Zheng Qing stopped Zhu Si’s intention to continue flipping through, with an awkward smile on his face: ”I have a small appetite, this much food is already too filling for me.”

”Really?!” The Little Witch’s face showed a clear hint of surprise, then she enthusiastically patted her thigh: ”Turns out our appetites are quite similar... Don’t be fooled by your height, you only eat about one more dish than I do!”

Zheng Qing looked up at the monochrome grey colors above his head.

It took a while before he lowered his head again.

”And what about you? What will you eat?” He asked with a smile.

”Me? Um... I’ll eat later.”

”Let’s eat together, otherwise it’s too wasteful.”

”Is that okay?”

”Of course, guests first.”

”Well... okay. I also think it’s a bit wasteful, haha...”