High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1346: Chapter 93 Inside and Outside the Dream

Under the night sky, the pavilion was silent and tranquil, like an old man sitting in a lounge chair, quietly observing the serene world. Outside the pavilion, the ever-energetic white mist rolled around; inside, the tall floor mirror stood like a qualified servant, quietly stationed there.

Silent as ever.

”Thump!”

A figure tumbled out, let out a muffled groan, and rolled out from the mirror.

He did not cry out loud, only struggled to stand up, looking around. In the silent night, the pavilion was empty, without a single soul in sight.

Not even the teacher was there.

Zheng Qing clenched his fist, feeling he was missing something.

He looked down, thought carefully for a few seconds, and then realized that the gilded silver pot given to him by Zhu Si was gone. The silver pot had to be carried by hand because it wouldn’t fit into the grey cloth bag.

Zheng Qing touched the grey cloth bag hanging by his waist.

The bulging grey cloth bag had deflated once again.

He hurriedly rummaged through the contents of the bag.

Various gemstones, Luminous Pearls, heaps of gold, Mithril, Brass, delicate silverware, broken Alchemical Items, all were gone. Except for the red string tied around his wrist with the Mystical Grain leaf, all the ’down payment’ Zhu Si had given him had disappeared from the bag.

However, the snacks, books, Cinnabar, Talisman paper, and other materials he had given away in the World in the Mirror were still quietly resting in the boxes of the grey cloth bag. But the food had turned grey-white, and when Zheng Qing bit into a piece of beef jerky, it felt like he was chewing on a piece of wood. The Cinnabar and Talisman paper were intact in appearance, but they had lost their magical luster and had become useless.

Only the books, although they looked a bit worn, had their knowledge and content intact.

A gentle night breeze passed through the pavilion, giving the Warlock a slight chill.

A chill that was hard to come by in summer.

Zheng Qing quietly exhaled.

Standing up straight, he turned around and glanced at the tall floor mirror behind him.

This time, he finally saw the inscription on the mirror’s lintel stone clearly.

Light as a sheet of water, reflections of those on both sides.

Moonlight spilled like water on the mirror’s surface, where the silhouette dressed as a woman was making flirtatious gestures, trying to provoke the Warlock’s ire. If it had been before meeting Zhu Si, Zheng Qing might have found a stone to argue with the Fairy in the mirror, but now, he simply glanced at the mirror’s figure and looked away.

At the very moment he averted his gaze, the silver surface of the floor mirror suddenly rippled, and the figure dressed as a woman in the mirror showed a hint of horror, screaming and fleeing into the depths of the mirror.

Moments later, Mr. Wu’s tall figure crossed through the mirror and appeared in the pavilion.

He looked at the young state-funded student with surprise.

”Did you come out on your own?”

Zheng Qing nodded and quickly said, ”Teacher...”

Mr. Wu raised his hand to stop the student’s question and countered with one of his own, ”What time is it now?”

Suppressing the impatience in his heart, Zheng Qing pulled out the silver-cased pocket watch, opened the cover, and glanced at the time: ”Midnight, zero one minute.”

As the words fell, the young state-funded student suddenly realized that only a minute had passed since he entered the World in the Mirror. Considering that the teacher had just taken him into the World in the Mirror at midnight, and the time he had just spent rummaging through the grey cloth bag, in reality, the time he had actually stayed in the World in the Mirror might have been even shorter.

”Too fast,” the teacher shook his head, turned to glance at the floor mirror, then looked back at the young state-funded student and repeated, ”Too fast.”

”Do you think I came out too quickly?” Zheng Qing asked.

”Yes,” the teacher’s reply was straightforward: ”It far exceeds your intelligence. Just with your bit of magic knowledge or the sporadic hint of a Forbidden Spell Aura, it’s far from enough to exit the World in the Mirror.”

”How long do you think I will stay inside?”

”I don’t know.” The gentleman supported the Roman column of the Floor Mirror with one hand, while calmly replying, ”The time in the World in the Mirror is chaotic and random. One second, a day inside the mirror might be a year in the outside world; the next instant, a year inside could be just a second outside. It’s difficult to define the illusion with reality.”

The warlock adjusted his forehead, recalling the words Zhu Si had said, and fervently hoped that she really only stayed in the mirror for a few months. As he raised his hand, the red string tied to the Mystical Grain leaf on his wrist was revealed.

Mr. Wu raised an eyebrow, grabbed his wrist, and closely examined the leaf’s flowing Runes and the thin red string.

After a while.

”It seems that you have met some interesting friends in the World in the Mirror.” Mr. Wu let go of the warlock’s wrist, turned his head towards the towering, silent Floor Mirror beside him, his tone filled with nostalgia, ”...If you don’t mind, would you tell me about it?”

Zheng Qing took a deep breath—Mr. Wu’s request was exactly what he wanted after coming out of the World in the Mirror.

”Her name is Zhu Si.”

The warlock started with her name, detailing his experiences in the World in the Mirror.

...

...

Likewise, it was a pavilion.

Likewise, there was a Zheng Qing.

But outside this pavilion, the sun blazed, the rolling heat waves mixed with the incessant chirping of insects, inducing a drowsy sleepiness. This was a pavilion on the Lakefront Corridor of Lakeside of Bell Lake. It was the weekend, and there were no students coming and going for classes; even the Fishmen in the lake had quieted down quite a bit, all hiding in the filthy caves at the bottom of the lake to nap.

The afternoon training of the Absolution Hunting Team had come to an end, and Hunters were leaning against the benches in groups of twos and threes, discussing the various situations encountered during the recent training.

”It’s too hot, way too hot.”

Xin Fat Man wiped his sweaty forehead, pulled at the collar of his robe, and bent his wrist, attempting to fan a meager breeze into his clothes.

But this slight breeze required him to offer even more sweat. It was hard to determine whether this action was worthwhile.

Fat Man turned his neck strenuously and looked around until he finally found the esteemed leader of the Hunting Team.

”You sure are sleeping soundly.” He muttered, sidling up to Zheng Qing, his pudgy hands groping around the young scholarship student’s body.

”What are you doing?” Zhang Ji Xin called out.

”Looking for the heatwave charms!” Fat Man replied coarsely, ”And that one providing cool air... what’s that charm called again?”

”Refreshing charm,” Xiao Xiao answered.

”Right, the Refreshing charm.” Fat Man searched for a good while and finally fished out a stack of Talisman paper from Zheng Qing’s embrace, which he had already prepared earlier. Delighted, he extracted it and waved it to his teammates, ”Finally, we can cool down a bit!”

A wave of enthusiastic cheers erupted in the pavilion.

Amidst the cheering, Xiao Xiao moved closer to Zheng Qing, curiously observing the sleeping warlock.

”What are you looking at again?” Zhang Ji Xin sighed, following up.

”How can he sleep so soundly?” Xiao Xiao plucked Zheng Qing’s ear, but the young scholarship student paid no mind and continued to sleep soundly, even blowing a bubble from his nose.

”Maybe he was too tired yesterday and used a Sleep symbol when he went to bed?” The acting team leader speculated, tugging at Xiao Xiao, ”Don’t disturb someone sleeping!”

”Maybe.” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, looking suspiciously at the young scholarship student, his gaze slowly sliding down from his face and finally resting on Zheng Qing’s wrist.

There, a thin red string was tied, with a Mystical Grain leaf attached. The leaf seemed to be enchanted; tiny fragments of golden Runes would flash across it briefly.

Xiao Xiao remembered that when they left in the morning, Zheng Qing’s wrist was clean, without that red string.

And certainly without that leaf.