High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2755: Chapter 976: The State of Awakening Simultaneously

Zheng Qing opened his eyes, waking from a deep sleep.

Without dreams throughout the night, he felt refreshed and full of energy.

He reached out to touch the smooth black gemstone beside his pillow.

A flood of unfamiliar yet familiar memories surged into his mind like a torrent. This was the experience of his Doppelgänger, the Black Gem Cat, from last night.

At first, when accepting the Doppelgänger’s memories, he was quite unaccustomed, feeling a sense of schizophrenia, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion from the fragments that appeared in his mind. However, after a few times, the memories of the Black Gem Cat and his own began to integrate seamlessly. On one hand, this was because these were inherently his memories, with no essential difference; on the other hand, it was also because the Black Gem Cat had a limited range of activities and very limited experiences, each day either flirting with the White Jade Cat on the Cat Fruit Tree, or flirting with the White Jade Cat under the Cat Fruit Tree, with almost no other content.

And how complex could the interactions between two cats be?

Waking up today, before touching the black gem, Zheng Qing initially thought there was no difference from the previous days, wondering whether the two cats were playing on the tree or under the tree last night.

However, with the flood of memories rushing in, he abruptly sat up, instinctively pulling the curtain open, looking out the window, as if to confirm whether there was a fluffy cat-shaped face stuck to the glass on the balcony window.

But what met his eyes was only the faintly lit sky outside the window.

The season had entered early summer, and the sun rose early. Although the sun had not yet risen, the daylight had already spread, apart from the birds chirping, you could vaguely hear the sounds of young wizards doing their morning exercises.

”Had a nightmare?”

Xiao Xiao, who had also just gotten up, immediately noticed the unusual movements on Zheng Qing’s bed and asked quietly. The snoring from Xin Fat Man’s tent also paused slightly.

”No, nothing, just... remembered something else.”

Zheng Qing mumbled in response, lowering his eyelids, carefully recalling every word the teacher had said to him last night, as the black gem in his hand transformed into a cat under his rubbing.

Although the Black Gem Cat would not feel tired as long as there was sufficient magic power available, being forcibly awakened made it somewhat grumpy, looking at Zheng Qing with a hint of complaint:

”—Why are you waking me up so early in the morning? You got to sleep all night, I just barely closed my eyes!”

”How does a stone even have eyes!” Zheng Qing couldn’t help but retort, then shifted the topic: ”I wanted to ask about last night... Wait, what’s going on!”

He belatedly realized something, watching the Black Gem Cat licking its paws with a look as if he’d seen a ghost, and quickly withdrew his hand from the Black Gem Cat as if it had turned into a glowing hot ember.

The Black Gem Cat rolled twice in mid-air, landing rather awkwardly on his knee.

”What what situation?”

The Black Gem Cat furrowed its brow, lifted its paw, and patted the boy’s knee, speaking in a tone of reproach: ”How many times have I said, as the head of the household, you must remain steady, steady, always steady, set an example for Dong Dong and the Great Elves... Don’t make such a fuss when something happens. Wasn’t it just a chat with the teacher last night, was it worth such a fuss?”

Zheng Qing extended a finger to poke the Black Gem Cat’s forehead.

As usual, it was solid, with a faint ripple of magic power surfacing where his fingertips touched, fully proving that it was indeed the stone he’d been fiddling with for a long time.

”What are you doing!” The Black Gem Cat flattened its ears, looking at the boy warily.

”You,” Zheng Qing started a word, then paused, mulled it over for a moment, before cautiously continuing: ”...Didn’t you feel anything unusual?”

The Black Gem Cat blinked, bowed its head, glancing around itself.

”Where?” It raised its head in confusion.

In its foolish demeanor, Zheng Qing inexplicably felt like he was looking in a mirror.

”Why are you speaking now!” He finally couldn’t hold it in, questioning in a low voice: ”Aren’t you supposed to come alive only when I fall asleep? What’s happening right now!”

Initially, he didn’t want to ask so directly.

Because there are many taboos like this in transformation magic—in the initial transformation of a Spiritual Beast when ’testing its luck,’ if someone doubts its identity, then its transformation will fail—Zheng Qing wasn’t sure if his Black Gem Cat’s current state fell into the ’testing luck’ category, and didn’t want to voice his doubts directly.

But it seemed, if he didn’t ask, this idiot probably wouldn’t notice anything amiss all day.

Indeed.

Upon hearing the warlock’s question, the Black Gem Cat hesitated for a few seconds, then a trace of astonishment surfaced on its face: ”Oh right! You’re awake now! Why am I able to speak? Hold on... if I’m you, who are you? Who’s the real one between us? If I’m not you, then who am I?”

It sat cross-legged on Zheng Qing’s knee like a live person, raising its paws to its eyes, speaking in a slightly panicked tone, with a look even less accepting than Zheng Qing.

This left Zheng Qing speechless.

”What’s the matter?”

Xiao Xiao obviously noticed the anomaly here.

The Black Gem Cat said nothing, staring blankly at its paws, looking overworked, while Zheng Qing shook his head, explaining the situation in a few words.

”So,”

The Diviner from the Atonement Hunting Team concluded: ”Your Black Gem Cat is usually just an ordinary cat that only ’awakens’ when you fall asleep, allowing it to act as your Doppelgänger... But now, it’s ’awakened’ even while you’re awake, and neither of you can tell which of your consciousnesses is currently dominant?”

Both person and cat nodded repeatedly.

Their actions were surprisingly synchronized.

”Do you share sight now?” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, appearing curious: ”What about thoughts? Do you experience any interference with each other?”

Zheng Qing and the Black Gem Cat exchanged a glance, simultaneously shaking their heads in sync.

”Besides it starting to speak, any other anomalies?” Xiao Xiao looked towards Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing looked up and down at the Black Gem Cat, finally pointing to its forehead: ”It developed a leaf on its forehead... At first, I thought it was some debris picked up outside, but I couldn’t brush it off. After some thought...”

He paused mid-sentence.

Because he recognized the feather-like leaf as a leaf from a Chinese pistachio tree, just like the one the Sir had last night used to ’suppress’ him and the Yellow Flowered Cat.

Thinking along these lines, could it be possible the Black Gem Cat’s anomaly stems from meeting the Sir last night?

”What leaf? On my head?”

The Black Gem Cat had come to its senses, cradling its head in its paws, craning its neck to search for a mirror.

”A Chinese pistachio leaf,” Zheng Qing concisely reminded.

The Black Gem Cat’s movements abruptly slowed, seeming to recognize the origin of the leaf. This left Zheng Qing, who was secretly observing, breathing a small sigh of relief. At least this cat knew the significance of a Chinese pistachio leaf.

While one person and one cat were busy analyzing each other’s thoughts, the Diviner of Atonement had arrived at his own hypothesis: ”Could it be a phenomenon resulting from reaching a certain proficiency in the Art of Body Transformation? Generally speaking, the original body and the Doppelgänger can exist simultaneously.”

”Indeed!” Zheng Qing mused contemplatively.

”Makes sense!” The Black Gem Cat also slightly nodded.

Seeing these two clueless figures, Xiao Xiao supported his forehead, offering another suggestion: ”How about this... Today is Tuesday, your first class this morning is Divination Studies, and Professor Yi has significant expertise in transformation techniques, you could consult him. Alternatively, after class, you could seek out Old Yao... Didn’t you say that the professor teaching your Art of Body Transformation is Old Yao?”