High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2116: Chapter 237: Facing It

Saturday night, Zheng Qing had a series of nightmares again.

This time, however, it wasn’t because someone was cursing him—or perhaps there was, but the nightmares caused by curses paled in comparison to the real nightmare—in this night’s nightmare, Zheng Qing dreamed that he had two signs hanging on him, one in front saying ’First Gentleman’ and the one behind saying ’Shameless Scum’, and then he was covered in tar and feathers and was being carried by a crowd of faceless people from Jiuyou Academy all the way to Atlas, finally being thrown onto a blazing fire.

When he awoke, he was drenched in cold sweat.

Strangely, upon realizing that what he just saw was only a nightmare, the first thought that popped into his mind was if he had as much cold sweat in the fire, he might be able to last longer in it!

Zheng Qing opened his eyes and looked out the window through the slit in the curtains. It was still dark, but since it was after the beginning of winter, it got bright very late, and he couldn’t tell whether it was midnight or early morning.

No matter if it was midnight or morning, he couldn’t sleep anymore.

The boy quietly got up and tiptoed through his morning routine, countless thoughts swirling in his mind, making his brain remarkably clear in this quiet and cold world.

By the time he finished washing up and getting dressed, there was already a vague and determined thought in his heart—he couldn’t keep avoiding it like this.

He took out his pocket watch to check the time.

Five thirty in the morning.

On the desk was a discarded piece of parchment, covered in messy star maps. The young cost student turned the parchment over and left a few lines of words on the blank side:

”I’m going to do my morning class. After that, I’ll go to the cafeteria. Then I’ll head to the library. No need to look for me. If you don’t hear of me being badly injured and sent to the school hospital today, see you at the class meeting tonight!”

Then, he solemnly placed the note in the center of the desk, weighing down one corner with Xiao Xiao’s inkstone, ensuring that others could see it when they got up.

The world before dawn was a mix of blue and black.

As Zheng Qing walked through the vast academy, he couldn’t help but tighten his robe around him, shivering slightly. Not only was the sun about to burst forth from the distant darkness, but numerous hidden gazes, and the approaching chill of winter, were also rolling over him.

He arrived at the usual place for his morning class.

Perhaps because it was too early, there weren’t many people; or perhaps because the wizards who get up so early on weekends are all unwell in the head; perhaps also because the sky was still dark, and people more than three to five meters away couldn’t clearly see each other’s faces.

In any case, Zheng Qing completed his morning class very quietly, steadily, and safely.

As the saying goes, ’A good beginning is half the success,’ this morning class gave the young cost student tremendous courage. He couldn’t even remember the last time he appeared in front of others without an invisibility talisman. So much so, when the class was over, and he headed towards the cafeteria, he inexplicably felt a tearful sensation.

Of course, it might also just be the cold morning wind blowing on his sensitive eyeballs—a biological self-defense.

This sense of security lasted until he entered the cafeteria.

”Zheng Qing?!”

A warlock, with a loud voice, greeted the young cost student. Zheng Qing looked up. It was Duan Xiao Jian, waving his arms excitedly at him: ”Long time no see! You haven’t been here for a while, the fat guy said you went home to hold a wedding?”

Zheng Qing’s expression instantly stiffened.

He knew the fat guy liked to spout nonsense, but he never imagined he’d go to such extremes. The repercussions of this rumor fermenting made the young cost student, who thought he had mentally prepared himself, involuntarily reach into his grey cloth bag, wanting to pull out those invisibility talismans again.

”Nonsense!”

He ended up not taking out the talisman papers but refuted loudly: ”I’ve been attending classes all along, haven’t left school, let alone gone home!”

Though he said this while looking at Duan Xiao Jian, he could still feel every pair of eyes in the cafeteria on him—from the little girl serving behind the counter, to the young wizard carrying a tray, and even the portraits on the cafeteria walls, and the little pig sneaking under the tables.

He felt his tongue getting a bit dry.

Yet he maintained the most basic balance of his body, striving to appear calm and collected as he walked towards the counter, not forgetting to give a friendly smile to a few wizards who kept staring at him.

Throughout the process, the wizards in the cafeteria were like they were under a Silence Spell, all quiet, turning their heads, watching every move of the young cost student.

”Two Liang of buns,” he said in a very normal tone to the little girl behind the counter: ”Half with green pepper and eggplant and half with pork and green onion, and a serving of millet porridge. Thank you.”

This sentence seemed like a signal.

As if a beehive had dropped to the ground, countless frenzied bugs buzzed, centering around Zheng Qing, erupting from the cafeteria, spreading in all eight directions.

”Is it Zheng Qing?”

”It’s really him!”

”Is Su Councilor here? What about the little fox? Is Poseidon around?”

”Didn’t see them! They shouldn’t be here... How dare he show up in public alone? During last week’s parade, how many little scarecrows got burned in one night!”

”Someone like him is surely accompanied by invisible protectors, probably even at the Great Wizard Level! Instead of worrying about his safety, why not quickly sell this piece of information!”

”That’s true. Otherwise, being cursed so many times, he should have died hundreds of times by now... Even for Greenhill’s reputation, they couldn’t let him be assassinated!”

”It might not be Greenhill’s bodyguards... I heard from my uncle’s neighbor’s second uncle, Zheng Qing has a very strong background, otherwise how could a mere second-year student be linked with rumors about Su Councilor and participate in the Black Prison Battle! And mind you, there’s the new Lei Zhe’s brother in his hunting team!”

”It’s not even rumors anymore, it’s been so long, and Greenhill Mansion hasn’t denied that news, they haven’t even clarified anything!”

”Besides Lei Zhe’s brother, his hunting team also has Zhongshan Jiang, O’Brien, and people from the Tabbot Family... You guys tell me, how does a hunting team of Jiuyou Academy students look so much like one from Alpha Academy?”

The buzzing discussions grew louder and louder. In just a few minutes, it felt like several hours had passed. Zheng Qing’s peripheral vision clearly saw many people openly staring at him, whispering to each other, while flocks of paper cranes flew out from their arms and swarmed in all eight directions.

”Buns, thank you.” He tapped the window in front of him, reminding the little girl inside.

”Oh? Oh!”

The girl inside the counter snapped out of her daze, hastily grabbing with her tongs, picking randomly from a few plates in front of her, then piling them on the young cost student’s tray. Blushing, she said in a small voice:

”Five, five coppers.”