High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 104: Chapter 28 Night Patrol at Lin Zhong Lake_1

Before entering the building of the University Workers’ Committee Office, Zheng Qing had already learned about the departmental division and responsibility arrangements of the Workers’ Committee through various channels.

Generally speaking, the Foreign Affairs Committee seldom recruits people from the lower grades because they often need to leave the campus to carry out tasks. And the Safety Affairs Committee, due to the certain risks involved in their work, also rarely chooses lower-grade personnel. So, the punishment for first-year students basically all comes from the Internal Affairs Committee.

Assignments to places like the Alchemy Laboratory where Blue Bird went, the Hundred Herb Gardens where Zhang Ji Xin went, and the Library where Xiao Xiao went were all examples of this. The work they were assigned to was also basically fixed: like forging, weeding, or sorting books.

All were fundamental jobs, where hardly any accidents would happen.

However, patrol tasks were entirely different.

In First University, the patrol team has always been a very special team.

As a strong department of several hundred people, the members of the patrol team were not fixed. Retired professors, part-time researchers, incumbent assistants, full-time university workers, and punished students, any position from First University could find a suitable team member in the patrol team.

As a formal department of the school, the patrol team was led by both the Internal Affairs Committee and the Safety Committee. On the one hand, the patrol tasks, route planning, and so forth needed to be coordinated by the Internal Affairs Committee; and on the other hand, many aspects related to campus threats during the patrol were closely related with the Safety Committee.

In fact, the tasks undertaken by the patrol team of First University were very diverse.

From registering students who did not sleep on time, to preventing beasts from the Silent Forest from sneaking into the campus; including stopping Fishmen from stepping out of the reservation, checking for glitches in the Protection Array that covers the campus range, and so on.

Zheng Qing once read in ”Entering First University” about a story where the patrol team returned a lost Fishman baby back to Lin Zhong Lake.

But he never knew that the school would recruit first-year students to join the patrol team!

”This arrangement indeed is a little surprising.” Heintz Leman extended his hands quite sincerely, he seemed a little puzzled too.

”Holy moly! First-year students are joining the patrol team!!” The Tiger-Feathered Macaw cried out, excitedly flew out of the office, and went to gossip this news with its friends.

”Much ado about nothing.” The Red-bellied Macaw on the bird perch clicked its beak, one head turned to Zheng Qing, and comforted, ”Don’t worry! Fly high during the patrol, the Wild Demons that sneak into the school generally can’t fly!”

”They don’t have wings!” The other head of the Red-bellied Macaw corrected.

The two parrot heads looked at each other and went back to drinking juice through their straws.

Zheng Qing and Lin Guo’s faces turned a bit pale.

”No worries, calm down. This task is not as dangerous as you think.” Heintz patted the shoulders of the two first-year students, encouraging, ”The First University campus is the safest area in the wizarding world, there’s no reason to believe any dangerous creatures could wander around the school easily.”

Zheng Qing looked at Xiao Xiao.

The warning in the corridor was still fresh in his memory.

He thought Heintz’s comforting statement needed some considerable discounts.

Patrol tasks.

And, specifically, the Lin Zhong Lake night patrol tasks.

Even if there were no encounters with dangerous creatures, there was still the possibility of dozing off, losing footing and slipping into the lake!

One must know, the inhabitants of the lake and the wizards don’t have a very friendly relationship.

”This is a very simple campus patrol, you don’t even need to leave the university. It just somewhat interferes with your rest, make sure to plan your time well.” The on-duty veteran student accompanied the few newcomers out of the building, constantly reassuring them during the journey.

However, even after they left the building of the Workers’ Committee, Zheng Qing’s mind was still a mess.

The stories about wild demons Xin the Fat Man told him in ordinary days, the ghost stories Dylan was telling in his coffin, all came to mind one by one.

He never knew that he had such an exceptional memory.

Night patrols! Could this possibly be a task for freshmen?

The images of the pig demon from the Great Ming Pavilion and the female demon on the airplane tumbled in Zheng Qing’s mind, making him feel a bit perturbed.

However, Lin Guo seemed excited about having an excuse to stay up all night.

As soon as they left the Committee building, Lin Guo could not help but mutter, ”I heard that we can see dragons around our school!”

His face lit up with mystery and longing.

”Dragons!” Zheng Qing spoke up, the corner of his eye twitching.

”Indeed.” Zhang Ji Xin joined the conversation with great interest, ”I’ve heard from my brother that sightings of dragons often occur in the Silent Forest. We can occasionally see them at school too. My brother said it’s no different from the ones we saw back at home.”

”You’ve seen dragons at home?!” The question sat heavily in Zheng Qing’s shocked gaze.

Zhang Ji Xin grinned smugly and said:

”Oh, I’ve seen a few. Mainly western giant dragons. Last year, I saw a Gubi Shev winged dragon while vacationing in Russia with my older brother. Ah yes, during my junior year, our family went to the North Sea and almost caught an Akon Elephant Dragon. There was also the New Zealand protein-eyed dragon... Of course, I haven’t seen godlike dragons, just some subspecies like the Tanggula Ice Chilong, or the Chi Qiu from Changbai Mountain. The ones near our school must be either a water dragon or a ground dragon, just like any other common species.”

Zheng Qing heaved a deep sigh.

None of these explanations diminish the threat these creatures posed to him.

”Even if they’re ordinary, they’re still dragons!” Lin Guo wistfully exclaimed, ”If I could get their scales, saliva, or even some blood...”

”Dream on!” Blue Bird curtly interrupted Lin Guo’s fantasies.

Lin Guo pouted and shut his mouth, following behind Blue Bird with a pitiful look on his face.

”But, we should be relatively safe here, right?” Zheng Qing struggled to recall Heinz’s words and reassuringly said, ”On the island, we really don’t have to worry about these mystical creatures, right?”

”Yeah.” Xiao Xiao’s nonchalant voice echoed from the side, ”We just need to watch out for the small demons.”

”Wild demons.” Blue Bird corrects Zheng, her hand never straying from her sword, her words sparse.

”Ah! Right,” Zhang Ji Xin feigned realisation while tapping his own head with a look of distress on his face, ”Those pesky things. For wizards, the threat from wild demons is just like the threat ordinary people face from wild dogs - rather limited.”

This reassurance felt more like a terror story.

Lin Guo’s face gradually paled as well.

”How could a school have wild demons?” Zhengqing couldn’t help but look at the building not far away.

”Some could’ve accidentally escaped from the Hunting Grounds, the laboratory, or got contaminated by black magic. Some could’ve been brought in on purpose by bad guys. The possibilities are many!” Zhang Ji Xin suddenly lowered his voice, adopting a mysterious tone, ”According to my brother, during his grade, well now they’re seniors, a student was bitten by a wild demon when he went out at night during his freshman year. No one has seen him since.”

”I suddenly envy Dylan.” Zheng Qing muttered dejectedly.

”Like how he sleeps in a coffin, or like his monthly naked run?” Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow.

”No, like how his power increases after every full moon,” Zheng Qing licked his dry lips, ”Moreover, Dylan was in his coffin all of last month, there was no naked run.”

”The most important thing is that they don’t need to fear the terrors that come with the night.” Lin Guo shivered and continued, ”They are the children of the night!”