High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2018: Chapter 239: In the Library

Sunday, the next day.

After waking up in the morning, Zheng Qing didn’t feel any sense of weekend leisure, just felt groggy and his head somewhat heavy — whether it was because of playing too much at the Cat Fruit Tree last night — but he felt it was more likely that his head was filled with too many bothersome things.

Su Shijun, Jiang Yu, the overcrowded D&K, Mouse People, assignments, clubs, hunting team, and the impending school hunting party selection.

Because he was always somewhat absent-minded, he forgot to fasten the cufflinks while dressing, not realizing it until Dylan’s dressing mirror loudly reminded him, bringing the boy back to reality.

”Sloppy!”

The sculpted face on the dressing mirror twisted, speaking sternly: ”No witch would like a sloppy warlock! This is advice from someone with experience!”

”Do mirrors have a past?” The young cost student sniffed, muttering.

Xiao Xiao tightened his belt and leaned his head in, carefully examining Zheng Qing’s complexion: ”Sick? Why not skip the morning class and take a rest today... after all, it’s the weekend.”

”Sick?”

Upon hearing the word, Xin Fat Man, who was originally snoring, jumped out of bed, barefoot, and rushed to the young cost student’s side, smiling under sleepy eyes: ”In one minute, I can brew an excellent cold remedy! Using crushed dried Edelweiss combined with Chrysanthemum Dew collected earlier... it will be ready soon!”

Zheng Qing was just about to be moved by the supportive and loving attitude of his roommates, but suddenly remembered last night’s argument in the dormitory, and his expression slowly turned rigid.

He definitely didn’t want to end up with diarrhea until exhaustion today.

”No... I’m not sick.”

The warlock decisively stopped the Fat Wizard from preparing the magic potion, rubbed his face hard, and tried to force a healthy smile: ”... I’m fine, really.”

”Really?” The Fat Wizard’s face showed an unmistakable disappointment.

”Couldn’t be more real.”

The Fat Wizard turned around, left in defiance, and plunged back into bed where shortly thereafter, the sound of snoring rose again, as if the previous conversation was just Zheng Qing’s illusion.

...

Perhaps because the results of last night’s selection were released, there were notably more students doing morning classes in the Flying Garden today. Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao searched for quite a while before finally finding a small inconspicuous vacant area among several bushes.

Of course, this also admittedly had to do with the invisibility charms both of them wore.

”When can I get rid of this annoying thing?”

Just wearing it for a few days, Zheng Qing already felt the burden was overwhelming — walking required careful avoidance of pedestrians, when queuing, he had to constantly apologize to people who couldn’t see him. He doubted, if he accidentally fell into Lin Zhong Lake on his way to school, he might be eaten by Fishmen as a snack without his companions even realizing he was missing.

”At least a week.”

No diviner in the Absolution would dare make a definitive prediction about such matters, only speaking vaguely: ”Typically, public attention on hot topics doesn’t last more than seventy-two hours... a week is quite sufficient... but Su Shijun isn’t an ordinary person, she has a lot of fanatic fans watching her, so we can’t simply interpret this in terms of ’public’ concept... If you want an absolute answer, I can only say, after the school hunting competition, it’ll definitely calm down quite a bit.”

The school hunting competition usually lasts for a month.

Upon hearing this answer, Zheng Qing suddenly felt the whole world darken, the freshness brought by the morning class vanished again, and the same heavy feeling from morning, like concrete, slowly poured back into his head.

This sense of heaviness persisted until they entered the library and sat down in the spot Jiang Yu had reserved, unable to shake it off.

”Stop overthinking, our first priority is to ensure we pass tonight’s first selection round.” Xiao Xiao mumbled on the ground, his tone also somewhat suppressed: ”If the hunting team guided by Su Councilor doesn’t make it past the first round, guess who’ll be blamed in the end?”

”It definitely won’t be her.” At this moment, Zheng Qing was unexpectedly clearheaded.

”Very sensible.” Doctor Xiao adjusted his glasses, nodded slightly: ”Therefore, if we don’t want to be chased and scolded, it’s best to recall our experience in the Dreamland last time.”

”That’s why I said, Nicholas’s Fringe Hunting Team really got lucky this time.” Xin Fat Man sighed, bringing up last night’s topic again.

Nicholas’s Fringe Hunting Team invited Zhu Si as the guiding teacher, and Zhu Si, who teaches Dream Interpretation at the First University, possesses extensive Dreamland survival experience — provoking jealousy from all current teams.

If it weren’t for the fact the members of the Fringe Hunting Team were mostly unnoticed and lacked any background, there certainly would have been all sorts of bizarre conspiracy theories circulating around the school.

Even so, at the start of the morning class, Zheng Qing still heard quite a few rumors — like the school, to appease Northern District Wizards, lowered the difficulty of the selection; or specially chose Zhu Si’s more specialized field as an attempt to befriend the emerging legend, among others.

”Shh!”

Jiang Yu interrupted the male wizards’ discussion, made a hushing gesture, indicating someone was approaching. Several male wizards quickly put back on their invisibility charms.

A few hunters from the Absolution Hunting Team sat in a corner on the second floor of the library, surrounded by tall bookshelves, with Jiang Yu sitting on the outermost side of the desk, so unless someone intentionally came in and looked, people passing by could only see the witch sitting on the outside.

Two first-year witches, carrying textbooks, came over, sticking their heads in to look. Besides Jiang Yu and Li Meng, they didn’t see any other figure.

Li Meng winked at them.

”Seniors,” the taller girl softly asked, ”may we sit here?”

”Sorry, it’s already occupied.”

This was the Nth time Jiang Yu had shooed away the students who saw empty seats and came over, she smiled apologetically: ”They’re just a bit shy, so they’re wearing invisibility charms.”

A timely flipping sound from ”The Book of Ancient Gigantic Titans” echoed, accompanied by the scratching sound of a feather pen on paper, as if annotating the witch’s words.

”Oh, sorry, we disturbed you!”

The two little witches widened their eyes in surprise, squeezed together while whispering as they left, occasionally glancing back, as if something unspeakable was happening in that corner.

Turning back, Jiang Yu finally impatiently knocked on the table towards the male wizards:

”Is it really that scary just to have Su Councilor as a guiding teacher, needing to hang invisibility charms all day? Isn’t a simple ’Charm of Face Washing’ or glasses like Su Councilor’s that reduce presence more convenient?”

Zheng Qing looked around, and after making sure no one was nearby, he cautiously removed his invisibility charm.

”Glasses that reduce presence are certainly more convenient,” the warlock answered softly and sincerely: ”But comparatively, invisibility charms are the most convenient and low-cost option Absolution Hunting Team can provide its members...”

This statement was something only he could say with confidence.

For others, consuming dozens of invisibility charms each day, the sheer cost of talismans alone could quickly bankrupt a team with healthy cash flow.