High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 939: Chapter 1: Going Home

Pushing open the door, he was greeted by a pitch-dark corridor, with patches of light vaguely visible in the distance.

The damp wall plaster mixed with the scent of rust and moldy wood rushed into Zheng Qing’s nostrils, causing him to sneeze uncontrollably.

”Achoo!”

With that sneeze, the iron door behind him closed slowly.

It blocked the light from behind and also cut off the distant bell sounds of Westminster Abbey.

”Such a strong sense of déjà vu,” the young cost student chuckled softly, no longer uneasy like the last time but adeptly pulling out his Law book, flipping to the first page, and softly chanting:

”Hou Bi Xiao Xing, three, and five in the east!”

Three and five points of twinkling starlight appeared suddenly in front of Zheng Qing, like a horde of giant fireflies joyously dancing, drawing beautiful traces of light through the dark basement corridor and brightly illuminating the surroundings.

This was a common illumination spell used by students, consuming low magic power and summoning a cold light, making it very suitable for use in the depths of libraries or during hunts. Compared to spells like ”the moon is bright” or ”the sun shines brightly,” ”Little Star” required advanced casting skills and was often used by everyone to compete, seeing who could summon the most stars and with the most beautiful trajectories.

Zheng Qing had learned this spell from Dylan.

After walking dozens of steps along the corridor and turning a corner, the familiar staircase stood quietly not far in front of Zheng Qing.

”Click.”

Zheng Qing opened his pocket watch and glanced at the time.

It was 9:46 PM, less than a minute since he had left Buji Island and the school where he’d lived for half a year.

”Magical magic,” the young warlock murmured under his breath, carefully storing away the pass hanging around his neck. It was the ticket for his return to school in two weeks.

Then, he began to haul the heavy luggage out of the Grey Cloth Bag, gasping for breath as he climbed the stairs.

”I’m back!”

As he climbed, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

...

Zheng Qing arrived home on the evening of the 18th, just as the Little New Year’s Eve was coming to an end.

At that time, his family was gathered together eating dinner, watching TV. Under the image of the Kitchen God in the kitchen, a freshly added stick of incense was emitting wisps of blue smoke, and on the TV, the New Year’s programs were the same as every year.

As expected, Zheng Qing’s sudden appearance at the doorstep startled everyone in the house.

”Didn’t the school notify us that you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow? Why have you come back late tonight!” The Father of Zheng Qing was perturbed by Zheng Qing’s unexpected arrival; he had planned to drive to Chang’an Airport to pick him up the next day.

For students from non-wizard families, First University would adopt methods of information shielding and magic confusion to ensure the distance between the Wizard World and the Mortal World. Correspondingly, for holiday gifts or everyday phone calls and correspondence, there were dedicated departments in the school responsible for these matters.

Just like this winter vacation trip home.

The dates communicated to parents by the school were about a day later than the actual dates the students would return. This prevented some parents from actually going to the airport or dock to pick up their children, which would complicate matters.

The school had a standard explanation for this.

”It was a last-minute notice from the school; the year-end flight schedule changed, and the flight to our school’s area was moved up.” Zheng Qing rolled his eyes internally, but explained earnestly, ”I was thinking of calling home once I got to Chang’an... but it wasn’t that far, so I didn’t bother.”

For Zheng Qing’s explanation, the family had no doubts, just a slight complaint about the school.

Compared to her father, Zheng Qing’s mother’s concerns were much more practical.

”Everyone’s back, so why talk about those useless things?” she bustled about, adding a set of chopsticks and bowl for Zheng Qing while urging, ”Wash up quickly, remove the dust, and then eat first... You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

Zheng Qing mumbled without confirming or denying.

Actually, he had dinner less than four hours ago, but looking at his mother’s expectant eyes and listening to her happy tone, he really didn’t have the courage to refuse.

”Then I’ll go wash up first,” he muttered, piling up the bags of luggage by the door, and headed straight for the bathroom.

Behind him, there were faint sounds of his parents chiding each other.

”I’d said earlier that we should have prepared the dumplings today, so he could eat them immediately when he got back tomorrow. You insisted on making them tomorrow.”

”Making them tomorrow would be fresher! Who knew he would come back tonight...”

...

While Zheng Qing was eating, the already resting Professor Zheng also got up and came to the living room.

”Back are you? Was the journey tiring?”

”Is studying in university hard?... Don’t relax too much once you’re in university. I remember your program is a continuous bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD, right? They have requirements for your regular grades, and you can’t be sloppy at all!”

The old man sat on the couch, rambling on about Zheng Qing’s studies. Zheng Qing was eating while picking the nicest words to appease the elder. Father Zheng and Mother Zheng wanted to stop the old man from the heavy topic but didn’t feel it was appropriate to interrupt, so they just nudged each other, making Zheng Qing chuckle silently.

After sitting for a while, perhaps due to low energy, Professor Zheng stood up, planning to go back to rest.

Zheng Qing could almost hear the sigh of relief from his parents in the living room.

”Oh, that’s right.” After walking a few steps, Professor Zheng suddenly remembered something, turned his head back, and said to Zheng Qing, ”Mr. Wu isn’t in the shop recently... A few days ago when he left, he mentioned to me that you should find time to visit the shop... The New Year is coming, remember to clean up when you go to the shop, and to put up The Door God couplets and such.”

”Oh, no problem,” Zheng Qing readily agreed, though he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Although he had heard from the professor earlier and was prepared that he might not meet Mr. Wu when he returned for New Year, there was still a tiny bit of hope in his heart before he returned home.

Professor Zheng didn’t notice his grandson’s expression and continued giving instructions at a steady pace, ”... And keep an eye on that Yellow Flowered Cat at Mr. Wu’s shop. When he left, he also asked us to look after it, and if you find the cat in the shop, bring it home. It won’t make much difference for those few days.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

That Yellow Flowered Cat needed his care? What a funny joke. However, considering that Mr. Wu wouldn’t speak without cause, Zheng Qing agreed without hesitation.

Once everything was arranged to his satisfaction, Professor Zheng comfortably headed for the bedroom.

As he walked, he muttered, ”I don’t know where that fat mouse at home has gone to... Later, let that Flower Cat look for it, maybe it can find it...”

Zheng Qing knew that the old man was referring to ’Fei Rui’, the creature full of spiritual energy that had lived in their home for quite some time. The old man was very sensitive to it due to the long association, which is why he couldn’t forget it.

Of course, he also knew that Fei Rui had already returned to Buji Island, and even if the Yellow Flowered Cat at Mr. Wu’s place was exceptional, it wouldn’t be able to find that chubby mice at home anymore.

But this was something he would definitely not mention to his grandfather.

Some things can only be washed away by the power of time, slowly erasing the traces they once left.