High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1013: Chapter 75 Address, Cat Fruit Tree

”Cough cough.”

The young cost student coughed softly twice, squeezing a warm smile onto his face, ”What I was just saying is that it’s good to get some wind in the winter. The more you expose yourself to the wind, the more spirited you appear! The body can become as sturdy as a bear’s.”

This answer disregarded any semblance of his integrity, swallowing what he had said before, metabolizing and digesting it, then releasing it as if it were a fart.

The other two onlookers in the dormitory were not surprised by this.

They had grown accustomed to Zheng Qing’s increasingly thick skin and rarely bothered to mock him, not wanting to waste that bit of saliva. Xin Fat Man nodded in satisfaction, flipping his hand and setting the green Paper Crane free.

The Paper Crane traced a brief arc mid-air, almost falling to the ground before it struggled to unfold its wings, previously crumpled by the fat man, and flapped off into flight.

It angrily flapped its tiny wings and circled the dormitory’s ceiling-mounted copper mirror three times before finally fixing on its target, folding its wings and zooming straight into Zheng Qing’s palm.

After landing, it viciously pecked the young warlock a few times, as if to vent its frustration, before settling down obediently.

Zheng Qing drew in a few breaths of cold air, looking at the few red marks the Paper Crane had pecked on his palm, hesitated for a few seconds, and ultimately decided to first see what was written in the letter, then deal with the Paper Crane.

The greeting in the letter was very brief, only four words:

”To Big Black Cat.”

Just by seeing these four words, Zheng Qing felt a tightness in his chest, and the hairs on his back instantly stood on end.

Only a very few knew about his transformation into a Black Cat. It was unlikely that Old Yao or Professor Li would play such a humorous joke on him, and Xiao Xiao or others in the Absolution Hunting Team who knew of this kept it to themselves. They would approach him directly if they needed anything, making writing a letter unnecessary.

Thus, upon reading these first four words, Zheng Qing’s gaze slid rapidly to the end of the letter, curious to see who had sent the Paper Crane.

But to his confusion, there was no signature at the end of the letter, only a small vermillion paw print.

Long and slender, with four toes, the palm was very small and round, and the print looked somewhat blurry on the paper.

Zheng Qing compared it with his finger, estimated the size of the paw print, and after speculating for a while, still had no clear answer.

He could not even discern whether it was the print of a cat or a mouse, or perhaps of a Kappa or another Magical Creature. Off the top of his head, he could think of a whole list of four-toed beings, and that’s without consulting Doctor Xiao.

Carrying this burden of the unknown, he began to read the letter’s content seriously, word by word:

”Upon receiving this letter, be well.”

”Winter break has ended; no more sleeping in. It’s time to get to work.”

”At the hour of shen, beneath the Cat Fruit Tree.”

”(Paw print)”

”(P.S., You must not tell anyone else!)”

After reading it through once, Zheng Qing fell silent for a brief moment.

Then, he patiently read it once more. The entire letter, not counting the paw print and including the heading and postscript, was less than forty characters. There was a time, place, recipient, and event. Logically, this should be a message with a very clear meaning.

But Zheng Qing was sure he couldn’t understand it.

For a moment, he suspected the Paper Crane had found the wrong recipient, but quickly he dismissed that thought. Whether considering the precision of the Paper Crane magic or the conspicuous ”Big Black Cat” in the heading, it was very clear that there was no error in the delivery.

He sighed softly and lifted his head, squinting as he looked out the window.

Although the winter sunshine wasn’t glaring, it still looked quite pale, causing some dizziness even through the pane of glass.

Withdrawing his gaze, Zheng Qing’s peripheral vision briefly swept over his companions.

He had just been hesitating whether or not to discuss the letter with Xiao Xiao for advice, feeling that if anyone in the dormitory could offer him a better suggestion, it would certainly be Doctor Xiao.

But the postscript at the end of the letter made him reconsider, and after a few turns of thought, he ultimately dismissed the idea.

Lowering his eyelids, Zheng Qing’s thoughts raced. Since the message was addressed to ”Big Black Cat,” it was only natural that the one to fulfill the appointment should also be ”Big Black Cat,” not some wizard. The appointed time, the Hour of the Sheep, was from three to five in the afternoon, and by the principle of being neither too early nor too late, three o’clock was undoubtedly the correct time to keep the appointment.

As for where the Cat Fruit Tree was, the moment Zheng Qing read the address, an image of a winter-surviving big tree naturally came to his mind, its leaves all fallen, and clusters of lazy furballs clinging among the clean branches, as if they were fruits hanging from the treetops.

That was the gathering place for the cats, not far from Lin Zhong Lake, in a small grove.

The young scholarship student raised his eyebrows, feeling the name was quite apt, very fitting. But because it was too fitting, it vaguely led him to grasp the tail of the one who sent the letter.

”Could it be some cat?” he murmured softly.

”What are you muttering to yourself?” Xin Fat Man, who had just finished an Asian pear, called out from beside his desk.

”He just said something about a cat,” the keen-eared Dylan immediately replied: ”It seems he thinks that letter is related to some cat.”

Zheng Qing glanced sideways, giving Mister Blood Werewolf a look before ultimately shaking his head and slipping into his own tent.

”I’m stepping out for a bit, no need to save dinner for me,” his muffled voice came from the tightened tent. The other three of room 403 looked at each other.

”We didn’t plan on getting dinner for you anyway,” Xin Fat Man eventually shrugged and responded: ”You just said a few minutes ago that you have plans tonight... don’t you eat during your dates?”

Dylan, sitting in his coffin, chuckled.

Zheng Qing did not respond to the jibe from the fat man.

Only a few low grunts came from his tent.

Xiao Xiao looked thoughtfully at Zheng Qing’s tent and then raised his voice: ”Wait a minute, I’ll put your Talisman Scroll in the drawer—to keep Tuan Tuan from leaving claw marks on it—if you can make it back tonight, remember to look for it in my drawer.”

There was no sound from Zheng Qing’s tent.

On the windowsill, however, Fatty Cat Tuan Tuan, who had been squinting and enjoying the sunshine streaming through the glass into the dorm, snorted discontentedly at the Doctor’s words and twitched the whiskers at the corner of its mouth.

”Such an idiotic Bookworm,” Tuan Tuan licked its paw, and with contempt glanced at the Talisman Scroll in the Doctor’s hand—as a dignified Spiritual Cat, its paw prints were precious, why would it deign to stamp its mark on those grimy scraps of paper?

Its paw prints would only be bestowed upon places worthy of them.

Such as greaseproof paper wrapped around a chicken leg, some fat man’s belly, and the backs of pretty she-cats.

”Hehe.”

A slight commotion from the sprites came from inside Zheng Qing’s tent.

Tuan Tuan wrinkled its nose.

It had just fleetingly spotted a shadow, smaller than a mouse, slipping out from underneath the Little Warlock’s tent, then with a swift motion, slipping through the crack of the door.