High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 873: Chapter 131: Three Types of Star Ape

”What do you think Star Apes are like?”

Having been quietly observing for a while, Xiao Xiao suddenly spoke up, asking his companions.

This question immediately silenced the others.

The silence did not occur because the question was too profound and everyone needed time to consider their responses. Rather, it was because the question was too simple, so simple that no one thought Doctor Xiao would pose such a question.

Therefore, there surely was something curious behind this question.

But remaining silent was not a solution, and finally, someone from the Absolution Hunting Team’s leader took the initiative to break the silence, ”Star Apes... are a kind of magical creature?”

Without a doubt, this response was rather pointless. But considering how pointless Xiao Xiao’s question was, giving a pointless answer seemed not too inappropriate.

Moreover, he set a good precedent for the others.

”Star Apes, well, are like monkeys but mystical,” Xin Fat Man followed up nonchalantly.

In contrast to Fat Man, Elder Zhang Da, who had once served as the Hunting Team’s Main Hunter, was much more cautious in his reply. He directly quoted from the ”Wizard’s Encyclopedia,” adding, ”It looks like a gibbon with white ears, moves bending like humans, called Star Ape, consumable for better agility.”

Having previously identified their prey, the hunting team members had reviewed the relevant data in their spare time. Each could recite the basic information about Star Apes and their habits and preferences with their eyes closed.

”I’ve always wondered what feeling it is to eat Star Ape meat and become good at running away,” Zheng Qing couldn’t help but interject, speculating, ”Could it somehow cause your leg muscles to rapidly grow in size? Or perhaps stimulate the speed of blood and energy flow through the lower limbs, enhancing one’s walking capabilities?”

”Or maybe after eating it, one might grow an additional pair of legs. Using all four limbs could ease traveling, making one run faster,” Dylan’s laughter always carried the eerie, somber style of a vampire castle.

”Anything else?” Xiao Xiao, unbothered by the banter among his peers, nodded pensively and pushed further.

Seeing his serious demeanor, everyone finally settled down a bit from their playful mood.

As if remembering something, Zheng Qing hesitated before speaking, ”If I recall correctly... I believe the Star Ape is the first animal described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the first mountain... According to typical logic, that mountain or creature must have something special about it.”

”You remember when Old Yao taught us the Binding Spell and summoned that silverback gorilla? I think maybe he saw something then, and that’s why he prepared that particular creature for our practice,” Xin Fat Man also fully engaged his imagination.

”That’s exactly the point!” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and slightly intensified his tone.

The others’ curious gazes immediately centered on him. No one could see any issue with what Fat Man had just said.

”Who told us that Star Apes necessarily look like gorillas? Or, who told us to pronounce that character as ’xing’?” Doctor Xiao rhetorically assumed, then answered his own question, ”No one, it is just our assumption based on habit.”

The others exchanged looks, at a loss for words.

After a long pause, Zhang Ji Xin finally coughed lightly, ”Cough, cough, Doctor... does your analysis have any basis? We are on a hunting expedition here, and words spoken in the hunting ground must be responsible.”

Xiao Xiao did not respond but directly recited a classic passage, ”’The chief of the South Mountain is called the Towering Mountain. Its summit is called the Soaring Mountain, which overlooks the West Sea... There is a beast there, shaped like a Yu with white ears, moves like people walking, its name is the Star Ape, feasting on it enhances speed.’

”It’s in a forest three hundred miles wide, to the east of the Star Ape.”

”The Star Ape knows human names; it is like a pig but with a human face, located west of Emperor Shun’s tomb.”

”To the northwest of the Star Ape, there are rhinoceros, shaped like a cow but black.”

After finishing, Xiao Xiao looked around as if asking if everyone understood, but the onlookers were even more confused.

”Are you suggesting that we should be looking for a black cow and a forest spanning an area of three hundred miles?” Zheng Qing guessed the Doctor’s meaning, then expressed his own opinion, ”But we’ve just searched the woods for a long time—let alone a black cow, we haven’t even spotted a black boar... not to mention a forest spanning an area of three hundred miles.”

”Buji Island isn’t that big,” Xin Fat Man agreed, nodding.

Doctor Xiao shook his head in disappointment, clearly dissatisfied with his companions’ comprehension abilities.

”What I mean is, since the classic descriptions of the Star Ape itself differ, why are we obsessed with finding something that looks like a gorilla?” he finally provided his answer, ”Didn’t you hear what I just said? It was described as ’shaped like a Yu with white ears’ and then as ’like a pig with a human face’... How can one animal look both like a monkey and a pig?”

Upon hearing Xiao Xiao’s words, for some reason, the image of Sepulano’s brother—whom Zheng Qing had met on his first visit to the Four Seasons Pavilion to shop—suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Not strictly speaking, that fat man was a primate yet looked like a pig.

Therefore, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly to himself.

Xiao Xiao raised his eyebrows, ”Do you have a different opinion?”

”Ah, me?” Zheng Qing immediately snapped back to reality, shaking his head vigorously, ”No, no, no, I have no objections, I think what you said makes a lot of sense...”

That thought just now would suffice, it could definitely not be shared with everyone.

On one hand, it bordered on discrimination and appeared very impolite; on the other hand, as the saying goes, death is significant. Although Sepulano’s brother had a terrible temper, terrible personality, and even a terrible figure, he had ultimately become worse, and continuing to criticize him, Zheng Qing himself felt it was too much.

”So, I think we should change our searching direction and not fixate on prey that resembles a gorilla,” Xiao Xiao turned back, facing the others and said.

”But we should have a target,” Zhang Ji Xin frowned, ”the forest is so vast, filled with all sorts of birds... if we don’t have a target, by what criteria are we to hunt?”

”Three targets, from now on our focus will be on three types of targets,” evidently, Doctor Xiao had prepared for this question from Zhang Ji Xin and added without hesitation, ”The first type, an animal like a gorilla; the second type, an animal like a pig; the third type, an animal like a mouse...”

”Stop, stop!” Dylan quickly spoke up, preventing the Doctor from continuing, then he raised the question everyone was wondering, ”Like a gorilla or a pig, we can understand... but what the heck is like a mouse! Are there any Star Apes like a mouse?”