High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1910: Chapter 131: Organized Chaos

When Zheng Qing stepped into the entrance of the Institute of Applied Magic, the sky had completely darkened.

The darkness behind him was like the world inside Leviathan’s wide-open mouth; ahead lay a vast, silent hall, untouched by a single shadow. The reception parrots that greeted Zheng Qing during his last visit to this building were missing, leaving only a few emerald feathers on the empty bird stand, which made Zheng Qing feel quite disappointed.

He put the prepared bird feed back into his pocket, stroked the furry little head of Poseidon in his arms, and continued into the building.

The Little Fox had completely given up struggling, gazing lifelessly at this detestable world, with its two moist, big eyes reflecting a trace of desolation.

”Can you hear it?”

Zheng Qing gently rubbed the fox’s ears, his tone infused with a touch of poetry: ”The elegant wind whispers softly through the hallways: Poseidon, Poseidon, have you finished your homework, Poseidon? The loving mother, the grateful child... can you hear it?”

The Little Fox let out a sad whimper.

”For whom does the bell toll? My heart beats out the silent drumbeats.”

The young public-funded student continued mumbling nonsensical words to himself as he walked with the Little Fox towards the direction of the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab: ”...The protective amulet I drew every day was too few, only to find at this moment they can’t protect you or me...this sadness flows backward as a river... silence, oh, silence, silence is tonight’s Cambridge.”

Jiji!

Poseidon seemed to hear a sound named ’anxiety’ resonating from the warlock’s chest, growing even more pessimistic about its future. It gathered its strength once more, struggling, extending a paw from under Zheng Qing’s armpit, with pink tips spreading like the petals of a blooming peach flower.

Zheng Qing followed the direction of the Little Fox’s diligent struggle, realizing it was towards the tall bay window at the end of the corridor.

A half-moon hung in the angle between the glass and the window frame outside.

Cool, snow-white.

The young public-funded student was slightly lost, a passage he once read flashed through his mind—a golden full moon in the deep blue sky, and below it, sandy beaches by the sea planted with endless green watermelons.

”The night is truly beautiful tonight.”

The warlock sighed: ”So beautiful... this weather is fitting for hunting sables. Have you ever seen a sable? It’s something that looks like a puppy, but is very fierce, with fur sleek as oil; it doesn’t bite people but is quite clever...”

He stirred the fragmentary thoughts in his mind, haphazardly stuffing them into the Little Fox’s head, leaving it entranced, ceasing its struggle.

Jiji?

The Little Fox questioned doubtfully, suspecting whether the warlock had really seen a sable.

”Sable, dog, catch. Wine, water, drink.” The young public-funded student waved casually: ”In fact, there was no such thing as a sable in this world, but after mentioning it enough times, there it was.”

On the ground, Zheng Qing’s shadow forked; one part remained straight under the moonlight, resembling an exclamation mark, while the other curved into a prominent arc in the narrow passageway, resembling a large question mark, as if questioning whether the warlock had unwittingly been hit by a Chaos Spell, otherwise why he was speaking so much nonsensical gibberish tonight.

Zheng Qing caught a glimpse of the long, pitch-black question mark from the corner of his eye.

”There are two shadows beneath me.”

He patted the Little Fox’s head, letting out yet another sigh, uncertain of how many tonight: ”...One is mine, the other is also mine. I never intended to put you through such hardship...yet hardship insists on finding its way to us, troubling the both of us.”

As he spoke, he had already arrived at the door to the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab.

Just as he had seen the last time he came here, the space beyond the door was tall, vast, and enclosed, resembling a gigantic air-raid shelter. Along the central axis of the lab, numerous large glowing orbs were slowly rotating on gray bases, emanating waves of obscure and weighty magic fluctuations.

However, unlike last time, this time when Zheng Qing stood at the entrance looking inside, he saw no one. Not only were the researchers usually surrounding the orbs nowhere to be seen, but even Su Man, the Head Maid who maintained the lab’s order, was also missing.

”Is anyone there?”

The young public-funded student cleared his throat, cautiously calling out loudly: ”Ahem... is there anyone in the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab? I am Zheng Qing of Jiuyou Academy...”

Poseidon nestled obediently and quietly in the warlock’s arm, its large tail grown much ladylike, hanging outside the arm, motionless.

Similarly, the lively shadow beneath Zheng Qing’s feet began to grow ’shy’, solemnly adhering to the rule of light falling upon the warlock’s silhouette, not deviating a single hair’s breadth.

Sss!

A sharp pain seared in Zheng Qing’s palm, making him take a sharp breath. When he looked down, he saw the letter paper once clenched in his hand was refolding itself into the shape of a Paper Crane.

The Paper Crane’s slender neck had already squeezed through the knuckles of his hand, wriggling forward with effort, attempting to pull its body out as well.

The warlock hesitated for a moment, then loosened his hand.

The Paper Crane stood lightly in his palm, spread its triangular wings, shook its body with slight creases, and leapt into the air, flying towards the depths of the lab.

Zheng Qing understood that this was the lab’s host guiding him.

He obediently followed behind the Paper Crane.

At the end of the lab was an office cordoned off by a massive bookshelf, belonging to the owner of this lab. When Zheng Qing entered the office, he happened to see the Paper Crane flatten itself out, lying on the edge of the large desk inside the room.

Su Shijun sat behind the desk, casually crumpling the letter paper into a ball and tossing it into the trash can in the corner of the room, while nodding towards the sofa with the Feather Pen in hand, indicating Zheng Qing to make himself comfortable.

Zheng Qing hesitated slightly, then placed Poseidon on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

”Good evening,” the lab host greeted with a lighthearted tone: ”Sorry to affect your participation in the opening ceremony... but those kinds of ceremonies have no real meaning, attending once to understand the general process is enough, after that, it’s just a waste of life.”

”Right, right, it is indeed a bit of a waste of life.” The young man agreed without much principle, his gaze sweeping over the host of the office and then falling onto the coffee table.

The coffee table was empty, except for the furball Zheng Qing had just placed there, nothing else.

No fruit platter, no snacks, and no tea.

”Apologies,” seemingly guessing the young public-funded student’s current thoughts, Su Shijun adjusted the large glasses that obscured her features, and expressed a very insincere apology: ”One person can’t manage it all...so there’s no juice, no tea, and no coffee.”

”Ah?” Zheng Qing looked at the witch in a bit of a daze.

”Hmm, you need to understand. A single unmarried mother, life is always in a state of organized chaos... she needs to balance work, life, learning...”

Stopping for a moment here, the witch glanced at the poised Poseidon lying on the coffee table and added: ”...and various aspects like childcare, inevitably neglecting some areas.”