High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1556: Chapter 300 The Effects of Mushroom Soup

An orange flame bloomed like a fiery red flower, adhering to the bottom of the black cauldron.

Inside the cauldron, steam bubbled vigorously. Pearlescent mist seemed faintly translucent under the night sky, and within the clear broth, several plump slices of mushrooms floated peacefully, everything appearing so serene.

Except for the few silhouettes of somber faces reflected on the soup’s surface.

”The Cleaning Charm doesn’t work.”

”Even the Mage’s Hand can’t grasp that bean.”

”Once the mushroom soup is ladled out, it volatilizes within moments... then returns to the cauldron.”

”Such a delicate magic effect... If anyone tries to touch the cauldron with the intention of pouring out the soup, they’ll only encounter a phantom of the vessel.”

”Perhaps only within the Dreamland could magic this enigmatic be sustained.”

”Testing indicated the soup contains some highly active substance... It’s temporarily unclear whether it is beneficial or harmful to the human body, but one thing is certain—this is no ordinary mushroom soup.”

The young wizards of the Absolution Hunting Team gathered around the pitch-black cauldron, deep in discussion. Everyone tried every method they could think of, yet failed to fish out that elusive bean from the pot.

Finally, they started to glance discreetly at Nikita.

The Female Demon sat lazily at the stairs, cradling her head with a mocking expression. Perhaps noticing the young wizards’ probing stares, she smirked sarcastically, ”I’ve told you long ago... drinking the mushroom soup is the simplest solution.”

”But why?” Zheng Qing frowned, glancing at the cauldron and then at the tightly shut door not far away, utterly baffled. ”...How does that benefit him?”

”Perhaps he’s testing your courage, or maybe it’s just part of an old-school wizard’s twisted humor,” the Female Demon shrugged indifferently. ”Or, it could be that only the one who drinks the soup can discover something from that bean... Who knows.”

The Female Demon’s final suggestion snuffed out a budding idea in Zheng Qing’s mind.

Indeed, he had been considering a plan to have Nikita drink the mushroom soup.

”...So don’t try to force me to drink that soup,” Nikita wiggled her finger in defiance, smirking arrogantly. ”Theoretically, demons can’t consume your kind of food... Taking it a step further—if I were to drink it begrudgingly, aren’t you guys afraid I might swallow that bean and pretend there’s nothing inside?”

”They could always slice open your stomach to check,” Zhuzhu muttered a soft threat from the side, only to be rewarded with the Female Demon’s fist smashing into her head, causing tears to bloom.

Zheng Qing huffed irritably, abandoning any idea of having the Female Demon drink the soup.

It was indeed a lose-lose option, yet to the Female Demon, having a choice was still better than no choice at all.

”I’ll do it!”

Zhang Ji Xin rolled up his sleeves, grabbing a ceramic bowl and spoon placed beside the cauldron. ”I’m the lead hunter... Plus, I’ve grown up drinking all sorts of random concoctions back home, my body can handle it.”

But his hand was stopped by a larger blue palm.

”No one understands food and drink better than I do.” Xin Fat Man rubbed his mouth, staring at the bowl of mushroom soup with ravenous eyes. ”To be honest, I’ve wanted to drink it long ago—just didn’t take action because of the risks. But now that there’s an unavoidable reason, everyone please let me have it.”

”Meow meow!” Furry Bean eagerly volunteered from the side.

”It’s not just about fighting over it,” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and objected to Xin Fat Man’s intention to ’hog it.’ ”Like Nikita mentioned earlier, if the soup contains some substance... If only those who’ve drunk it can find the way home, then we must all drink a little.”

”I think I might be able to find five... no, nine bowls.” Jiang Yu patted his pocket, his tone uncertain. Aside from the five hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team, there were Zhu Si, Zhuzhu, Nikita, and Furry Bean—a total of nine mouths.

”Meow meow!” Grey Pup barked twice again.

Zheng Qing noticed Furry Bean’s voice.

”You want to drink this soup?” He asked in surprise, looking at the pup. Furry Bean immediately wagged its tail enthusiastically in confirmation. The young wizard hesitated, casting a glance at his companions, then back at the bubbling cauldron. Finally, he nodded. ”...Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

Granted permission, Furry Bean scurried to the cauldron, paying no heed to the orange-red flames, and extended its tongue directly into the mushroom soup, licking away without hesitation.

Xin Fat Man shrugged, abandoning any thought of competing for the soup with the pup.

”Aren’t you worried about those who didn’t drink the soup being unable to return?” Nikita called out from the stairs.

”I was slightly concerned,” Zheng Qing replied sincerely, looking at the Female Demon, ”but after hearing you say that, I suddenly feel like not drinking might be a good thing...”

The words barely left his mouth.

A resounding ’pop’ pierced the air as a massive tentacle emerged from the pup’s left shoulder blade, resembling a grotesque extra arm. It was marked with menacing suction cups, and viscous mucus dripped slowly down its pale red skin.

The young wizards cried out and instinctively took a step back.

Hearing Zheng Qing’s scream, the pup turned its head with a ’meow,’ revealing a pair of blood-red eyes—its eye sockets surrounded by short fleshy nodules writhing grotesquely as if alive.

Even as it turned back, it showed no sign of stopping its relentless slurping of the soup.

For below its neck, at some point, a vivid crimson tube had stretched out, plunging into the pitch-black cauldron, greedily sucking up the mushroom soup with gurgling sounds.

The soup visibly diminished at an alarming rate. Those plump mushroom slices were shredded by fine teeth on the fleshy tube, mixed with the clear broth, and swallowed whole into its stomach.

As the mushroom soup dwindled, so did one tentacle after another sprouting from the pup’s body, mouth, and eye sockets. Its frame grew increasingly gaunt, revealing its ribs and the intricate network of pulsing veins in sharp relief.

Zheng Qing even suspected he could hear the blood gurgling inside those veins.

”They are thin and ravenous,” Xiao Xiao murmured dreamily, his voice echoing in Zheng Qing’s ears, ”as if all the world’s evil was concentrated in their emaciated forms... Razor-sharp teeth, crimson eyes, and endless tides of pale blue skin... They are the offspring of Nos·Yedik, the stench of Kusuen, forever howling in Azathoth’s vortex... Yes, these hunters from the distant lands—they are the Tindalos Hounds.”

The young hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team instinctively fell into battle formations, their gazes wary of the gray figure struggling between mist and pale blue shadows at the cauldron.

Even Nikita dropped the playful expression on her face, her demeanor grave as she studied the writhing shadow.

Zheng Qing could now confirm the mushroom soup’s effect.

The soup had purified the blood within Furry Bean in an almost dreamlike manner, transforming it into a creature more akin to a true Tindalos Hound.