High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1046: Chapter 108 Spring Thunder

The third Thursday of the third week was March 5th, also known as ’Start of Spring Thunder’.

’Start of Spring Thunder’ signifies the idea that hibernating insects are startled by the thunder of early spring and leave their burrows. Lying dormant for a winter, alongside the warmer weather and frequent spring thunder, the insects crawl out of their dens, also awakening the vitality of the land.

Of course, the above is just what’s supposed to happen ’in theory’. But like the ’rational person’ in economics, the situation in theory often deviates in practice.

For instance, during the winter of 08-09, due to the abnormal silence and return of the tide from the previous year, the time insects spent in hibernation underground was significantly shortened. Many had already swarmed out of their caves with the onset of spring, resulting in the ’Start of Spring Thunder’, although the lead characters of this solar term had become supporting players by the actual day.

Regardless of whether the insects had crawled out from their burrows or not, the sounds of spring thunder that should be present on ’Start of Spring Thunder’ were still reliably resounding through the entire campus of First University.

Starting from Wednesday night, the campus atmosphere became damp. The next morning, after Zheng Qing finished his morning lessons, the sun still hadn’t risen, and the whole sky was enveloped by a thick layer of rain clouds.

By noon, the rumbling of thunder grew from faint to loud. Even through the classroom windows, Zheng Qing could keenly feel the air reverberating with tremors.

”March 5th, Start of Spring Thunder, around 10 am, frequent spring thunder, a fine drizzle, an abundance of spring vitality,”

clutched a feather pen and left such a record in his weekly journal.

Ever since Tuesday’s Divination Class, when Professor Yi taught everyone a new divination skill, Zheng Qing suddenly discovered a new hobby—organizing his weekly journal.

Initially, he merely intended to complete the task of drawing the Line Drawing to get by with his homework, but, after hastily sketching it, Zheng Qing filled in the moving averages and trend lines as described in the textbook. He was unexpectedly able to see his fortune clearly written down.

Looking at the big picture, his fortune had been on an upward trend since he entered the school.

He made a bunch of friends, defeated several demons, learned Transformation, got a girlfriend, became the recipient of the Merlin Medal, led his Hunting team to victory in the freshmen tournament, earned the Great Arcana ’World’ title, and had some sort of close relationship with the beautiful Su Daxu—of course, whether the last point was good or bad, Zheng Qing was not yet certain, but it didn’t stop him from judging whether his luck was good or bad.

But as the saying goes, ’Good fortune doesn’t last forever.’ Even within an upward trend, the fortune occasionally turned down, brushing against the moving averages and trend lines to solidify its foundation—like occasional severe headaches, repeated hospital stays, attacks by demons or a certain Vampire Duke, and barely satisfactory final exam grades, and so on.

This was not a big deal in itself; it was merely a reflection on the past experiences.

However, as Zheng Qing fully completed the Line Drawing and outlined the moving averages and trend lines, he immediately noticed that his fortune was in a state of peaking and falling. In the terms of divination, the Line Drawing of his recent fortune had been consolidating downward for several days straight with far more bearish lines than bullish ones.

Even if they were all small bearish lines and seemed trivial, the trend is still a trend. For example, the demon Satoguya that broke through the boundaries two days prior was an example of this trend. Although the school’s powerhouses managed to destroy the monster’s eye, the experience still left a significant bearish line on Zheng Qing’s Line Drawing.

Watching the Line Drawing breach the seven-day average and shakily tiptoe on the thirteen-day average, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but feel discouraged—viewed from a pessimistic angle, this mindset was continuously dragging down his Line Drawing score for the past few days. Learning that his recent fortune was not so good yesterday naturally spoiled his mood, which resulted in today’s drawing of yesterday’s Line Drawing being a moderate bearish line.

But from another perspective, this precisely demonstrated the accuracy of the divination skill.

As the saying goes, ”Divination has its risks, and fortune-telling must be done with caution.” Any attempt to peek into the future through the rivers of time is bound to be touched by the waves of time. Minor effects could lead to a decline in fortune, while severe cases may bring about an overwhelming streak of bad luck.

Although the Trend Divination Method cleverly avoids some of the risks associated with divination, it still carries some residual danger. For instance, wizards who practice or use this method of divination will find negative lines in their line drawings on the same day.

Zheng Qing did not like to experience bad luck every day.

Therefore, after completing his line drawing on the first day and sneaking a peek at his trend, he put that chart away, only to wait for Tuesday next week to submit it as homework.

Even though the chart was put away, the restlessness in his heart was not easy to calm down.

Following Xiao Xiao’s suggestion, Zheng Qing simply began to organize his weekly journal, summarizing the messages left in the lines of previous entries by date, in preparation for drawing more precise, day-specific line drawings when necessary.

In addition, like Doctor Xiao, he developed the habit of taking notes on the fly—knowing that events that happened every day comprised crucial information for divination, Zheng Qing naturally wouldn’t let it go to waste.

Just like now, although Professor Li from the potion study was discussing a new antidote formula with everyone, Zheng Qing, after noticing the scenes of spring thunder and continuous spring rain outside the window, immediately flipped open his notebook and recorded it.

”...After the dark tides pass, the five poisons proliferate!”

Up on the platform, Professor Li’s voice, lacking in resonance, seemed rather weak, forcing Zheng Qing to strain his ears to hear:

”Which five poisons?”

”Naturally, they are the centipede, scorpion, gecko, toad, and venomous snake—these five kinds of poisonous creatures.”

”During winter, they hide in underground caves, hibernating to survive the harsh cold. Then, when spring thunder strikes, like right now,” Professor Li gestured towards the window, and the heads of everyone in the classroom turned as if controlled, following the direction of the professor’s hand.

It was almost robotic.

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but let out a few muffled laughs, drawing sideways glances from the students around him.

”...When the spring thunder rolls, they emerge from their caves and wreak havoc until before the Dragon Boat Festival.”

”Some might say, didn’t many insects already crawl out from their holes during the dark tides in school a few days ago? How come there’s still a proliferation of the five poisons?”

”This is because the five poisons are naturally insects and beasts, yet not all insects and beasts are the five poisons. These five poisonous creatures, influenced by mysterious magic, can and only appear and breed between the time after the awakening of insects and before the Dragon Boat Festival.”

”Thus, the antidotes taught in these lessons must be learned well, remembered firmly, and be put to practical use... It will greatly benefit your safety at school.”