High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1479: Chapter 223 Outside Wusa City

The sounds of the Zu Ge beating their chests echoed anew at the edge of the oak forest.

Several elder Zu Ge propped up their upper bodies, tripping over themselves in a rush to describe everything the little Zu Ge had observed to the Female Demon, from spotting the arrival of unfamiliar Wizards, to those Wizards erecting a magic circle, and then the swirling of white mist within the Array and the descent of the Shatake bird flock—everything recounted with a cadence of scattered, rhythmic thudding.

Of course, in the process of describing, these timid yet malicious creatures very much enjoyed shifting blame onto others.

For instance, how the Shatak Birds were unruly, especially the Shatake leader that had been torn apart by the Three-headed Black Flood Dragon, who dismissed mice entirely, ignoring the advisement of the Zu Ge elders and stubbornly used its pitch-black claws to grab at the Wizards’ magic circle.

Or how those two unfamiliar Wizards were extremely dangerous—even their pet, a dusty-looking creature, had bitten to death the most cautious and bravest accidental warrior of the Zu Ge. At the time, the warrior had stealthily infiltrated to within less than one hundred meters of the Array but ultimately couldn’t escape Wusa’s venomous grip.

Nikita patiently listened to the chest-beating sounds of the elder Zu Ge, capturing useful information from their topsy-turvy descriptions.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise when she heard the word ”Wusa.”

”Wusa?”

The Female Demon interrupted a Zu Ge that was flamboyantly beating its chest, a hint of confusion in her eyes: ”You mean to say, those two Wizards came from Wusa City? How do you know that? If I remember correctly, those two Wizards never communicated directly with you all from beginning to end, right?”

Her question was met with an even more dense and urgent series of chest thumps—not just from the Zu Ge she had questioned but also from other nearby Zu Ge who joined in the explanation.

Each Zu Ge wished to appear more valuable in front of their new master.

Only after the Female Demon listened for a considerable time did she understand their meaning.

For the Zu Ge of the bewitching forest, Wusa City was considered the most evil place in the world, without rival. This was because Wusa City was home to cats—many and various kinds, big and small—which relied on humans from Wusa City as allies to brazenly oppress the Zu Ge tribes within the forest. Every year, the Zu Ge tribes must offer endless numbers of quails, fat chickens, and sap to the cats of Wusa City.

Should a year yield a poor harvest in the forest, the Zu Ge even had to cleanse themselves, displayed on reddish-brown wooden platters, and presented as tributes to those furry evil creatures in Wusa City.

For survival, each member of the Zu Ge tribes could smell those wicked creatures from tens of miles away, allowing them to flee in time from their clutches.

The reason they surmised those two unfamiliar Wizards were from Wusa City was because both Wizards carried a distinct scent of cats, and moreover, one of them had a cat’s tail, and the other had cat’s ears.

Though the view through the magical barrier of the Array was somewhat blurred, the Zu Ge’s descriptions of the two Wizards’ appearances varied, yet without exception, they were all able to clearly and accurately depict that cat’s tail and those cat’s ears.

Hearing this, the furrow in Nikita’s brow relaxed slightly.

She lifted her arm.

Upon seeing the hand gesture of the Female Demon, the Three-headed Black Flood Dragon, which had been relishing the taste of the Shatake leader’s flesh at the edge of the pit, slid away, turning back into a small snake as thin as chopsticks and returning to the wrist of the Female Demon.

”Lead the way.”

Nikita instructed the elder Zu Ge with these words: ”To Wusa City.”

...

...

As the Zu Ges set out from the Enchanting Forest with a large tribute at the behest of the Female Demon, heading towards Wusa City, outside the city, Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu had just crossed the enormous stone bridge spanning the Skye River.

Before stepping onto the stone bridge, Jiang Yu had already put away her invisible Cloak, and Zheng Qing had retracted the vines bound around Furry Bean’s neck, letting them return to the void.

The effects of the Cloud-Climbing Charm had faded, and the two young Wizards walked upon the great stone bridge, marveling at the colorful variety of cat-shaped stone carvings on the railings on both sides.

But even more astonishing was the way the passersby they encountered along the way— including farmers, fishermen, traveling merchants, officials, and even two soldiers guarding the bridgehead— all showed unexpected friendliness and goodwill towards the two unfamiliar Wizards.

Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu met Xiao Xiao at an open-air tea pavilion not far from Wusa City.

At the time, the Diviner from the Absolution Hunting Team was sitting cross-legged on a bench, holding a Crystal Ball, and carefully distinguishing the colors of each bent ray of light on its surface.

The gaze of any passerby who walked by that major road would be involuntarily drawn to that Crystal Ball.

Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu were no exception.

Once their eyes landed on that Crystal Ball, they easily noticed the short-statured Wizard holding it, and thus, they saw Xiao Xiao.

The tea pavilion owner served the two travelers a clear, brownish liquid, and even threw in a small plate of dried fish as a snack, respectful making the gesture of an Old Seal across his chest before retreating— this attitude left Zheng Qing feeling quite uneasy.

”Is it because of our robes?” Zheng Qing was well aware that he was not a noble from Dreamland, the only thing that might have caught the pavilion owner’s attention was the dark red Mage’s Robe he was wearing: ”...Is the status of Wizards very high in this city? I’ve noticed this earlier.”

Saying this, he described what they had seen to the Doctor, especially emphasizing the courtesy shown to them by many passersby.

”The status of a Wizard in this city is equivalent to that of a scholar or a major merchant, inferior to nobles, and even more so to Priests.”

Xiao Xiao, who had stayed in Wusa City for a while, had already gleaned a lot of local information. Holding the Crystal Ball, he enviously eyed the small dish of dry fish in front of Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu, and explained begrudgingly:

”If I’m not mistaken, the reason you are regarded differently is because of the cat tails and cat ears you possess.”

”In Wusa City, cats are sacred creatures, and the most famous and stringent law of this city is the prohibition of killing cats... so I suspect that you two have been mistaken by those people as envoys from the Wusa Temple.”

Under Zheng Qing’s robe, his black cat tail swished restlessly.

He turned his head to look at Jiang Yu; the Witch’s cat ears nestled among her hair also carefully folded in, as if they wanted to burrow back into her locks.

A large Flower Cat kept by the tea pavilion owner nimbly jumped onto the table, crouching in front of the two young Wizards, its amber eyes filled with curiosity as it inspected Zheng Qing’s tail and Jiang Yu’s ears.

Then, with a meow, it buried its head in the dish and grabbed a piece of dried fish.

In the corner of his eye, Zheng Qing noticed many other patrons in the tea pavilion cautiously watching their table.

He hesitated for a second.

He reached out his hand and stroked the Flower Cat’s head, then continued along its neck and down its spine; the Flower Cat immediately began purring contentedly.

In the pavilion, many patrons immediately showed a look of ’I knew it’.