High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2691: Chapter 912: The Class Meeting in Week 8

The three-day Spring Hunting ended on Sunday afternoon.

It was only when Zheng Qing left the Pedestrian Street and was on his way back to school that he suddenly realized his academic journey at the First University was nearing its end, and yet he had never participated in a Spring Hunting. His only connection to it was through D&K’s hunting sales task.

An inexplicable sense of regret filled him.

”This is life.”

Before the evening class meeting, Xiao Xiao, after listening to Zheng Qing’s lament, commented: ”When I was young, I often heard the elders talk about various regrets from the past, and always felt it was a bit pretentious. Only when I grew up did I realize that some things, once missed, are missed forever... The younger you are, the lower the cost of trial and error. Many things you don’t do today can still be done tomorrow. But the older you get, the fewer opportunities life offers. Many things you don’t do today will really be impossible to do later, as your window of time continuously narrows...”

He gestured with his thumb and forefinger to indicate a narrow distance.

Zheng Qing looked at him with a strange expression.

Xiao Xiao seemed to realize something, and added: ”...Of course, these views are only for ordinary wizards; those freaks who can adjust timelines aren’t included. They always have the chance to make up for many regrets.”

”The school won’t allow me to overturn a time hourglass to participate in Spring Hunting.”

Zheng Qing touched the grey cloth bag hanging at his waist: ”I was just thinking, we’re not that old. Why do you have such deep reflections? How old am I? How old are you? How are we already ’aging’? I was just complaining about the incompleteness of my university life, but you make it sound like we’re at the end of our lives... It’s really bizarre.”

He shook his head, looking around.

He only felt that he was out of place with everything around him.

There was still more than half an hour before the class meeting started, but the classroom was almost full. Many had come directly from the Spring Hunting assembly point.

Wherever Zheng Qing looked, everyone was enthusiastically discussing their experiences during this Spring Hunting—Duan Xiao Jian was animatedly recounting the story of discovering a snowman hiding in a tree hole; Matthew was seriously discussing with someone how much a litter of newly born Houdou pups should be sold for. A group surrounded Tang Dun, listening to his recount of battling a lone ogre.

The witches were no exception; many were privately trading the rare magic potions they had collected from the Silent Forest, sharing and evaluating the purity of the Qi Yang Oil they extracted.

Zheng Qing’s only knowledge of Qi Yang Oil was that it was good for the skin, and concepts like purity and properties were completely beyond his understanding.

Xin Fat Man bustled through the crowd, drenched in sweat.

He gave off the impression of having walked from summer.

”The elders are still haggling with his brother; he thinks the batch of Fu Zhu Horns we have is of good quality and should be sold for a high price.” The Fat Wizard, holding a newspaper, fanned himself while quickly speaking to Xiao Xiao: ”Dylan and Blue Bird are trying to find contacts at Starry Sky Academy for those Tong Tong Pearls... The prices offered by Stellarians for such antidote and healing items are the best.”

Zheng Qing listened to these familiar yet alien words and sighed heavily.

It was only then that the Fat Wizard seemed to notice the presence of his team captain.

”Why are you sighing?”

He touched his seemingly still steaming short hair, blinked, and looked at Zheng Qing: ”If I remember correctly, didn’t Jiang Yu, like you, not participate in this Spring Hunting? Without us third parties around, you two should have had a good time these past three days! Why sigh?”

Zheng Qing cast him a sideways glance and turned to look at Xiao Xiao.

”Can Houdou pups be sold at school?” He pointed to Matthew, who was shaking hands with another warlock not far away, and asked quietly.

Obviously, he had forgotten that vampires have excellent hearing.

Matthew glanced at him.

Fortunately, Xiao Xiao immediately spoke, alleviating the awkwardness of the moment.

”Hard to say.”

The diviner of the Yuzui Hunting Team took off his glasses, carefully wiped them with a velvet cloth, and slowly analyzed: ”If this happened in Beta Town, I could certainly tell you it’s illegal. Any sale of magical creatures requires proper certification; otherwise, black wizards selling dragon bone powder or Luan bird feathers wouldn’t have to pay a large amount of protection money to the Wandering Bar.

But for the spoils of Spring Hunting, it’s in a grey area.

You know, in Logan Mountain, keeping a Tanggula Ice Chi is illegal, and on the territory of the dark-blue castle, hosting a banquet with more than three living people by a charity is also illegal. But in the Silent Forest... do you know why it’s called ’Silent Forest’? It’s because all laws fall silent in front of this forest.

This is also why those who conduct illegal experiments set up their labs in the Silent Forest. Secrecy is one reason. More importantly, whether for the school or the Alliance, that forest is beyond the reach of law.”

Upon hearing ’illegal laboratory’.

Zheng Qing involuntarily thought of the conversation he had with Su Shijun at the Greenhill Mansion in the afternoon, and about those ravens.

He took another deep sigh.

”Didn’t I make myself clear enough?” Xiao Xiao raised his eyebrows, mistakenly thinking Zheng Qing didn’t understand his earlier explanation.

”No, that’s not what I meant.”

Just as Zheng Qing was about to speak, he suddenly recalled Matthew’s earlier glance, paused, set up a sound insulation barrier, and then explained: ”I’m sighing because of those ravens... I can’t understand why, when they’re already students at the First University with a promising future visible to the naked eye, as long as they follow the rules, they can become elite members of the Alliance. Even if not revered, they would at least be respected. Why would they still risk physical and mental breakdowns to conduct those illegal magic experiments, and even join strange organizations like the ravens?”

Xin Fat Man scratched his head, hesitating to speak.

Xiao Xiao gave him a deep look.

”Precisely because they are students of the First University, they take the risk.”

He handed the recently cleaned glasses to Zheng Qing, signaling: ”Like these glasses, why do I clean them? Because I’ve seen a clean, clear world, so I think a blurry, dirty world is hard to tolerate. The First University is the place closest to the truth in the Wizard World. Young wizards who have seen the ocean here can’t endure going back to their muddy puddles. Returning to the puddles would suffocate them from body to spirit, full-on suffocation. Think about it from another angle, if you’ve seen what the road to immortality looks like, could you calmly walk down a dead-end road knowing there’s no way forward?”

”Not everyone has those ambitions.”

Xin Fat Man patted the newspaper in his hand, and rarely cited contents from other books in front of Xiao Xiao: ”Many students at school go astray simply because of ignorance and recklessness. Lady Larry described this process in detail in her famous book ’The Road to Perdition’—although joining the ravens is not the same as becoming a Fallen Wizard, in some aspects, these two share similarities.”