High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2757: Chapter 978: The Bookstore Owner Can’t Be a Cat

Young wizards have limited experience.

Older wizards also beat around the bush, not giving Zheng Qing any satisfactory answers.

On Tuesday evening, before the night class started, Zheng Qing went to San You Bookstore to directly ask the owner about the mysterious leaf. But no surprise, the bookstore was empty. The dust accumulated on the window frames seemed to be an inch thick, and the dark world behind the glass starkly contrasted the brightly lit night scene of the pedestrian street.

He raised his fist and pounded twice on the door.

No response.

Anger rose in the young wizard’s heart, and boldness sprouted by his side; he pulled out his brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and drew a circle on the glass, leaving behind a big ’demolition’ character.

...

...

”——So I tell you, old man, leaving the bookstore to Xiao Qingzi is not going to work.”

Inside the glass window, the Yellow Flowered Cat looked at the large red character outside, its face full of schadenfreude: ”Maybe as soon as you leave, he’ll hang the bookstore contract in the Wandering Bar across the street to sell it. Isn’t there a saying that goes, ’Sons sell their fathers’ fields without a care’? Look at that, you’re still alive, and he already wants to demolish your shop!”

The response was the long snoring from the lounge chair.

After a while.

The teapot boiled.

The owner of San You Bookstore seemed to finally wake, gave a small yawn, and hummed: ”——Sell the bookstore? If this bookstore could be sold, would I still be waiting for someone to take over? I would have sold it long ago! This is merely a shell on the back of a snail; what the kid inherits is not the bookstore, just the identity of the store manager.”

”Pfft.”

The Yellow Flowered Cat seemed to disdain the owner’s words: ”How long have you been watching over this shop... a few hundred years? A few thousand years? When I met you, you were the manager, and the bookstore owner has never showed up, even according to the rules in ’The Code’, this shop should belong to you.”

The old man in the lounge chair opened his mouth, ready to say something, then suddenly came to his senses and slowly closed his mouth in the Flower Cat’s sparkling gaze, swallowing the words ’whoever wants this lousy shop can have it’ back down.

”Unfortunately, when the shop was handed to me, the Alliance didn’t have ’The Code’ yet.” He sighed, with a hint of humor, his slightly ethereal figure wavering slightly with the sigh.

The face of the Yellow Flowered Cat immediately fell.

”I don’t care, I want to be the manager!” It seemed like a spoiled child, sprawling on the edge of the windowsill, its fluffy tail flapping about.

The bookstore owner curled his lip: ”No, you don’t want that, you just want to see the world outside...”

”Is it wrong to explore the unknown?” The Flower Cat proudly puffed out its chest.

”That’s why I can’t hand over the bookstore to you.”

The bookstore owner cast a meaningful glance at the cat: ”The owner of a bookstore can have a cat in their heart, but the owner cannot be a cat... Just like learning magic, maintaining a certain level of curiosity is essential, but when curiosity becomes a habit, it’s easy to stray off the path.”

...

...

If Zheng Qing were beside him and heard these words, he would surely scoff.

Because not all cats possess curiosity.

Just like the one in front of him.

”——Why must you pursue the purpose of this leaf?”

White Jade Cat squatted under a blossoming balloon flower, counseling the Black Gem Cat with earnest concern: ”You’ve researched all day and haven’t found any harm from this leaf, so let go of its use. Many old-school wizards have this approach; they prefer to maintain a balance between chance and destiny... Anyway, your master won’t harm you. Like this balloon flower, since it can openly bloom on campus, it must not be some evil spirit, because I know the school wouldn’t allow poisonous flowers to bloom freely.”

The Black Gem Cat glanced at the purple, pretty flower and sniffed.

Normally, balloon flowers should bloom in late summer in sunny grasslands, not under spring’s densely wooded areas. But this ’odd flower’ openly blooms under the Cat Fruit Tree in late spring, which doesn’t make sense anywhere!

”Not entirely harmless.”

It raised its paw, touched the oak leaf on its forehead, and muttered: ”I feel like I’ve turned into a monster... you know what it’s like to be awake all day without feeling tired? I feel like my worldview is slowly collapsing!”

”It’s not that exaggerated.”

White Jade Cat leaned forward as if to see the leaf more clearly: ”——Everyone’s worldview is constantly collapsing and rebuilding. Things should be thought in a good way. Perhaps because you didn’t choose to travel to higher dimensions, your master gave you another gift...”

Since the Little White Cat approached too closely, the Black Cat seemed immobilized, not daring to move.

But its mouth wasn’t shut.

”Exchange for this leaf?”

The Black Gem Cat rolled its dark eyes upwards, seeming to look at its own forehead: ”——He might as well give me some super powerful Fu Bullets, ones that can send off a legend with one shot.”

”Then you accidentally shot Old Yao dead?” White Jade Cat looked speechless: ”Just like you accidentally injured Sepulano badly, or accidentally smashed the Inner City of the Black Prison?”

The Black Gem Cat’s face blushed instantly.

Its core being a black gemstone, so the redness wasn’t obvious.

”Those were accidents.” It murmured.

”Some things, once is an accident, twice is an accident, but if it happens a third time, it’s no longer an accident.” White Jade Cat eyed the Black Gem Cat: ”I think your master didn’t give you more powerful Fu Bullets to prevent the third accident.”

The words were not what the Black Cat wanted to hear.

It coughed loudly twice, as if a bug flew into its throat.

”Speaking of accidents——”

Its mind raced, subtly shifting the topic: ”Yesterday, well, no, today is Wednesday already... it was Monday morning, when I went to Trident Sword to deliver Fu Bullets, I accidentally met Lin Guo. He’s now with Doctor Du Zemu’s new project, and he’s wearing a black robe too. Do you remember the black sheep he made using alchemy? I don’t know how Professor Du Ze-mu modified it, but it’s practically indistinguishable from a real one!”

White Jade Cat didn’t show much happiness.

Instead, it showed a hint of worry.

”Lin Guo, huh?”

She murmured, shaking her head: ”I overlooked this... recently, Greenhill Mansion has had a few new playmates, and Li Meng rarely hangs out with Lin Guo anymore... It’s good he can wear a black robe, but we can’t be careless. After all, he’s a member of Absolution.”

”Careless about what?” Black Cat blinked, puzzled.

White Jade Cat gave him a serious look: ”Although Doctor Du Zemu regained his freedom, don’t forget what he was like when we first met him... I hope Lin Guo doesn’t end up like that.”