High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2642: Chapter 863: Examine Yourself Three Times a Day

Tuesday afternoon is a session of Advanced Magic Text.

Even after Professor Montreya and most of the class had left the room, Zheng Qing still felt a bit out of it, his mind occasionally drifting back to the last two words Su Shijun said after they met at noon.

Right.

Right?

Right!

Each time he recollected, he attempted to interpret those two words with different tones, but no matter which way he twisted it, he had to admit he couldn’t provide a definite answer.

By the resolve set a week ago right after leaving Shanglin Garden, he should have drawn a clear line with her and certainly shouldn’t have sought her out after encountering trouble.

Yet, subconsciously delaying for a week, his determination quietly vanished completely in the procrastination.

Indeed, he could convince himself in his heart— for example, the presence of Poseidon made it impossible for him to fully cut ties with her; for example, she’s still guiding his graduation thesis; for example, she once tried to shatter her tail to save him during the first sandbox incident in their freshman winter hunt, and so on.

These excuses provided him ample reason to maintain this ambiguous yet beautiful relationship.

Ah, pondering the nature of love, it’s really just a case of nothing but mutual subduing.

This profoundly meaningful saying floated across his mind, prompting him to clench his fist and knock his own head, seemingly wishing to drive out those dreadful thoughts.

”A fist won’t kill a person, if you want to commit suicide, use a hammer.” The Fat Wizard sneered coldly, playfully pulling out a small hammer and banging it down in front of Zheng Qing.

Startling the young teaching assistant.

”I didn’t... I just have a slight headache, an old ailment.” Zheng Qing mumbled, pushing away the hammer.

”Nonsense!”

Xin Fat Man looked disdainful, pointing his stubby finger at Xiao Xiao: ”Let the Doctor speak for you, is it a case of headaches? Clearly, you are thinking about women! Your eerie interest is just like Furry Bean’s! Furry Bean wags its tail when it sees you, your mouth curves upwards just thinking of women, repeatedly curving is exhausting, should I get you a Slit-Mouthed Woman to teach you the secret of keeping your mouth forever curved?”

The amusing image of the Slit-Mouthed Woman quickly sobered Zheng Qing up.

Before he could fully recover, the somewhat cold voice of the Doctor reached his ears.

”Not to say he’s entirely wrong,” the Diviner from the Yuzui Hunting Team commented objectively: ”His headaches over his tangled relations with different Witches is an old issue of his... under another perspective understanding his response, there’s no problem at all.”

”Did I offend you two?” Zheng Qing looked puzzled.

The Fat Wizard twirled the little hammer, whoosh whoosh, as if spinning a feather pen, making Zheng Qing jittery with fear of it slipping free and landing on his face.

Xiao Xiao comfortingly answered Zheng Qing’s doubt on behalf of Xin: ”That thing at noon yesterday caused us to be dragged to Old Yao’s office today at noon to make a statement, new Silence Contracts piled high, not allowed to use magic, writing until our hands went numb... then when we asked Old Yao what you were doing, he smiled and told us you were drinking tea in Su Councilor’s office.”

Just hearing this description, Zheng Qing felt a mix of anger, feeling he might need to hit himself with a hammer.

”Linda was supposed to have lunch with me!” The Fat Wizard added through gritted teeth.

”I’m extremely sorry, it’s my fault.” The leader of the Yuzui Hunting Team clasped his hands, bent at a ninety-degree bow, sincerely apologizing.

”Knowing it’s wrong, yet repeatedly erring, what’s the use!” Xin Fat Man grumbled with indignation: ”You’ve said so many apologies, I could almost engrave your words on my butt!”

Zheng Qing struggled to hold back from asking—why should his response be engraved on someone’s butt—a comment sure to earn a beating.

”I truly wasn’t thinking of any Witch.”

He ultimately half-heartedly defended himself, throwing out a plausible reason: ”I was thinking about those crows, who they might be, where they might normally hide, why they’re attacking us... it’s not the first time... did you bring it up to Old Yao at noon?”

The two companions exchanged glances.

”We did,” Xiao Xiao confirmed the premise first.

”But Old Yao’s attitude was slightly peculiar.”

The Fat Wizard stopped playing with the hammer, arms folded, a face full of hesitation: ”He simply said the school is already monitoring the relevant developments, would handle it cautiously... also, he said what we see might not be the whole truth.”

”From a Diviner’s perspective, we might interpret Old Yao’s statement as some form of ’casting a long line to catch a big fish’. But as you know, it’s quite laughable for us to delve into the minds of Legends...”

”The editorial staff also had no more news, neither the Campus Newspaper nor the Beta Town Post published anything other than the school’s press release. Rumors abound, no authoritative information, especially nothing about the crows...”

”I suspect it’s because we mentioned the crows to Old Yao, later leading to us having to sign that large stack of Silence Contracts.”

”The Doctor and I discussed it at noon and concluded those crows should be targeting you. Remember during winter break, you accidentally ate that copper bean? You’re likely already marked by them as a test subject... How would a lab normally handle a test subject?”

”Pluck feathers, bleed, knock out and section.”

”Does that spark anything?”

”Your devil organization’s last task! If it were just someone wanting to mess with you, they’d not pay such a high price for a prank or jest...”

The two went back and forth, leaving Zheng Qing scratching his head until the Doctor’s last words caused a sudden recall of his former Absolution Sin Bearer, and his meeting with it under the Cat Fruit Tree.

That subtle feeling resembled the day he saw the Blue Jacaranda and the Rainbow Wizards Group’s vice-captain, and the scent of cherry blossoms when the Green Bird appeared.

He felt momentarily dazed, his face relaxing significantly.

”Pull yourself together! In what time can you be this silly? There’s no time for daydreaming now!”

Doctor Xiao patted Zheng Qing’s shoulder, his tone tinged with emotion: ”Next time you’re unknowingly caught up thinking about Witches or your mouth curls upwards, ponder how little time left you have at school... ask yourself, are your after-class assignments done? Is your thesis proposal started? Are the tasks for your assistant role finished? Will the crows attack again? If you can still smile then, it’s not too late.”

”You’re the devil! I wasn’t just now thinking of girls!” Zheng Qing grumbled with frustration, the spark of inspiration in his mind abruptly vanished without a trace.

”That’s called ’reflect on yourself thrice a day’.” The Doctor corrected him earnestly.

Ps, regarding Zheng Qing’s subtle feelings, refer to Chapter 831 Emergency Gathering