High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2148: Chapter 369: The Difference Between Living and Merely Breathing

Ever since discovering this morning that others had been ”black and blue” the previous night, Zheng Qing paid particular attention.

It’s not that he felt sympathetic towards those who might have also been beaten, but the moment he heard the news, he had an inexplicable intuition that those ”black and blue” faces were related to his own.

This intuition was continuously reinforced after learning that there was a duel between Big Wizards on Pedestrian Street the previous night, and it was related to the Greenhill Mansion. By the evening, in front of Su Shijun, the ”concern” in his heart had accumulated to the point that he had to speak about it.

The owner of the Greenhill Mansion rolled her eyes dramatically upon hearing the black cat’s question.

”Don’t blame everything on me,” she extended a finger, seemingly slow but actually quick, and pointed it straight at the black cat’s forehead, her tone slightly displeased: ”...a bunch of students who aren’t even registered properly. Do you think I would personally deal with them? Even if I knew they ambushed you with a sack, I’d just hand you the news and let you handle it yourself. Besides, if I had been involved, they would be more than just black and blue.”

The black cat felt the warm touch on its forehead and sat stiffly, not daring to move.

It had no doubt about the witch’s words. Just as it didn’t doubt that the slender, white finger on its forehead could easily poke a hole in its own head.

But since she wasn’t the one who took action, it made the situation even stranger—did those students who ended up black and blue the same night really encounter pranks by mischievous ghosts, or was it due to some students practicing black magic?

The feline curiosity was so strong that the black cat finally dared to ask in a low voice: ”Then was the sack put on them last night?”

The witch’s finger shifted, sliding from its forehead to the tip of its ear, flicking its ear: ”Shouldn’t you investigate such things yourself? I’ve already helped you handle the off-campus trouble. Such small matters, can’t you handle them yourself...”

The black cat’s fluffy face scrunched up at these words.

It wanted to investigate on its own, but the Absolution Hunting Team had already exhausted all means last night. Neither Xiao Xiao’s divination nor Furry Bean’s tracking could identify the attackers.

It was as if the owner of the Greenhill Mansion understood the black cat’s inner struggles.

She casually added: ”After you got beaten up last night, because of the Wandering Wizard’s concealment, you couldn’t find any clues... But since I wrecked the Wandering Bar, the fates should be clear now. Once you go back and divine again, you should get an accurate answer.”

A hint of delight appeared on the black cat’s face.

But before the delight could fully bloom, the witch showed a peculiar smile: ”Oh, there’s another thing you should know... those guys at school got beaten after I smashed the Wandering Bar.”

A trace of bewilderment flashed in the black cat’s eyes.

Crack!

A bright flash of lightning streaked outside the window.

In the distance, dull thunder rumbled ominously, signaling an approaching downpour. Such weather was rare at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, but whenever the school’s Astronomical Observatory needed to dispose of weather globes, they’d secretly use them at night, calling it ’not wasting.’

Just as the black cat set foot on the balcony of dorm room 403, a torrential rain began to pour down behind it.

The silvery lightning, as if limitless, tore open the night sky one after another, causing the soft fur on the tip of the black cat’s tail, which still extended out the window, to puff up and sway in the wind, as if celebrating the lively and radiant night.

However, the black cat had no inclination to share in its tail fur’s mood.

The chill in the air intertwined with its thoughts, making it feel as though its heart was curling into a ball. At this moment, its mind was consumed by the meaning in Su Shi’s final words—

First, it sorted through the timeline.

After self-study at night, it walked back to the dorm alone, was ambushed and beaten during this period, roughly between eight and nine o’clock in the evening;

Then a little later, Su Shijun went and smashed the Wandering Bar and destroyed Karen’s family’s mansion in the western district around two to three in the morning;

Afterwards, others at the school started sporting ”black and blue” faces. Rumors at the school didn’t clearly indicate when exactly that happened, and those involved remained tight-lipped. The only certainty was, when those students woke up the next morning, their faces were different from the night before.

”So, assuming those guys were your attackers, they got beaten because the Wandering Wizard’s concealment magic failed, revealing their identities to someone tracking them.”

Xiao Xiao sat upright at his desk, holding a feather pen, writing and drawing on parchment, outlining the timeline the black cat sorted through, and concluding: ”...So the question arises, who could have tracked them down so quickly?”

”A skilled diviner?” The first thought in the black cat’s mind.

”A powerful hunter?” This guess came from Dylan, who had long served as a hunter. He had just gotten up and hadn’t yet gone to class.

”Don’t forget Furry Bean.” The Fat Wizard, holding a fat cat, reminded everyone present, even though he immediately dismissed such a possibility: ”But if it were Furry Bean using its mouth or paws, those guys wouldn’t just be black and blue...”

”Mr. Zha’s suggestion is the most likely but not precise enough.”

The diviner from the Absolution Hunting Team tapped the parchment heavily with their feather pen, scanning the dorm with insightful eyes before adopting an enigmatic expression akin to Old Yao’s: ”The one who could immediately track them down should be a diviner with a ’medium.’”

The so-called ’medium’ refers to an article possessing the aura of the divined subject, like worn clothing, used paper or pen, or lingering bloodstains, used during divination.

And last night, there were two ’media’ left at the scene.

”Now the question arises,” Doctor Xiao adjusted his glasses, glancing at the young scholarship student: ”Mr. Zha, where did the sack used on you and that parchment with writing go after our meeting yesterday?”

”Jiang Yu took them. She said she needed them to submit an appraisal request to the school...” The young scholarship student’s voice weakened as he continued, eventually speaking in a daze.

Crack!

Bright flashes of lightning crossed the sky once more.

By the windowsill, the Fat Wizard, brushing Tuan Tuan, pouted, his voice tinged with jealousy: ”Sometimes, those who seem absent-minded and listless lead more exciting lives than us calm and composed honest folk... Indeed, without an exciting life, how can one taste the feeling of being lost and despondent?”

”That’s true life; that’s the feeling of being alive.”

Mister Wolfman adjusted his cufflinks dejectedly, his expression somewhat lackluster: ”You and I, on the other hand, merely count as breathing.”

Meow!

Tuan Tuan wagged its tail, audibly voicing agreement, completely indifferent to the Fat Wizard’s darkening expression.