High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1082: Chapter 144 Reverse Narrative

Before Zheng Qing fell from the Return Soul Poplar, he had always felt that his Witch Festival today had not been in vain.

He had participated in the spring outing required by the school, overheard the whispered conversation between two witches, and witnessed the great battle between mice and Five Poisonous Insects.

The reason he ended up above Korma and the Rat Immortal’s heads started with that quiet yet intense battle between the rodents and the insects.

As a third party to the battlefield, the Black Cat sat on a branch observing the entire battle—he saw three mice violently beating a toad until its eyeballs burst out; he also saw a Golden Scorpion snap off a mouse’s paw with its pincers, causing the mouse to squeal in agony; he also witnessed the mice, red-eyed with rage, abandon the use of tools to tear into the insects with their sharp teeth and claws, flinging fluids in all directions.

In short, after a fierce and arduous fight, the mouse army emerged victorious. The dead insect bodies were de-shelled, de-venomed, and buried on the spot. The living insect captives were sorted and guarded by the mice, who marched them towards the depths of Silent Forest.

Being a cat, and especially one with a deep sense of curiosity, Zheng Qing naturally wouldn’t just stand by and watch those mice escort the insects away with such pomp and circumstance. So, he stealthily followed the troop.

As the saying goes, rats have their Rat Roads, and insects have their paths. When rats and insects come together, their paths differ, so they have to compromise with each other. As such, the mice didn’t just draw a black hole on the ground and leave with the insects, which gave the Black Cat an opportunity to track them.

The troops wound their way through the forest, and after quite some time, when the Black Cat was beginning to get impatient, he suddenly realized that the large mouse army that had been marching in front of him had disappeared without a trace!

Even the insect captives being escorted had vanished into thin air!

Due to his tracking, the Black Cat had maintained a safe distance of about two to three hundred meters from the mouse army. This distance, negligible under the cat’s keen sense of smell and hearing, was exactly what created a blind spot that allowed the leading mice to disappear for a while before the Black Cat noticed.

The initial disappearance of the noises from the mouse army’s movements had not grabbed the Black Cat’s attention; then the mice’s scent also vanished amidst a dense thicket of bushes.

The Black Cat’s paws stopped in front of a Privet with golden leaves.

All around were unfamiliar bushes and trees, with no caves or rock holes suitable for hiding.

The Black Cat looked around, twitched his whiskers, took a few quick steps, sprang from the bushes, and climbed straight up the massive trunk of the Return Soul Poplar, all the way up to the treetop.

In contrast to the dim and dark scenery between the woods, the view above the canopy was exceptionally fresh and pleasant. Although it was only March, the forest was already brimming with life. Dark green, emerald, and light green interspersed with varying depths, twinkling under the gentle breeze, with golden sunlight spread evenly above, livening the entire forest.

The Black Cat tugged at his ear and squinted as he surveyed his surroundings.

Far below at the mountain foot, the tall and imposing walls of Jiuyou Academy sat peacefully, with the Silent River winding past it, disappearing in the thick forests. To the left of the Academy, there were a few rolling hills, next to which was a pale green open space—through the gaps between the hills, the dark blue sea was in sight. And the building nearest to the Black Cat was a section of mysterious ruins.

That was it.

Anomalies hinted at demons. The disappearance of the mouse army was an anomaly, and so was the emergence of a stretch of architectural ruins within the forest.

Zheng Qing lifted his paw, gauging the distance between himself and those ruins—hmm, about four to five hundred meters? The Black Cat, unsure, flicked his tail and without further hesitation, leaped down from the treetop and bolted towards the ruins following the direction from his memory.

After being in school for so long, he had never known about the existence of such ruins in the forest—but of course, for Zheng Qing, nothing in the Silent Forest should come as a surprise. He was a man who had witnessed time reversal—besides, the ruins didn’t seem dangerous on the surface. Perhaps they were a relic of the Academy’s history?

It was just a quick look on the way; after all, he was quite fast.

Zheng Qing convinced himself at the bottom of his heart.

Of course, for safety’s sake, when he was still at some distance from the ruins, the black cat climbed back into the treetops and moved stealthily from high above, using the crisscrossing branches and the cover of leaves.

His steps were light, his movement silent as he walked like a shadowy traveler— the cat was a qualified passerby.

Soon, he arrived near the ruins.

He then cast his gaze over the ruins and couldn’t help but admire them.

The outermost part of the ruins featured an archway-like structure made of rough rock, with remnants of wooden frameworks around it, all of which were decaying and breaking apart under the ravages of time. In the middle of the archway, the words ’Lingxing Gate’ were inscribed in Yang script, and around the large characters, faint traces of Yin-engraved talisman marks could still be made out.

Through the stone door was a dried-up pool scattered with oddly-shaped rockeries, and disorderly wild grass grew luxuriantly, guarding these forlorn stones. At the edge of the pool lay a broken stele with only the character ”泮” remaining. Not far from the stele, an ancient bridge arched across the pool, leading into the depths of the structures.

Before he could fully appreciate the scenery, he noticed the arrival of the Rat Immortal’s vehicle, saw the hateful hamster he had once named ’Fei Rui,’ and also caught sight of the Korma witch, who stood under a tree shadow still as a sculpture.

Then, once again, he involuntarily eavesdropped on a lot of conversations.

Zheng Qing didn’t know if the Rat Immortal was aware of his presence from the beginning, or if the Rat Immortal had captured a flaw when Zheng Qing’s emotions fluctuated dramatically upon hearing about the ’violent fluctuations of space-time during winter hunting’ or that ’Satoguya’s eyeball was blasted.’

Either way, as a black cat, he was gloriously captured.

It was a real slap in the face for the Black Cat Police Chief.

As for taking on the role of ’guide’ for Korma, it wasn’t just a spur of the moment decision but also one with deeper reasons.

Because if the Rat Immortal’s words were to be believed, the newly born secret realm was the result of a brief yet violent fluctuation in time-space. Without a doubt, Zheng Qing could assert that this so-called ’brief and intense fluctuation of time-space’ was caused by Mr. Wu turning his pocket watch and initiating a time reversal.

Therefore, Zheng Qing surmised he would have enough clues to find that secret realm.

On another front, he was extremely curious about what Korma and Elena wanted to do and had been worrying about how to infiltrate their circle to probe further—before being forced to act as ’guide,’ Zheng Qing had been pondering whether to adopt the identity of ’Elena’s boyfriend’ or that of an ’advisor who had once freelanced for the Korma Magic Array.’

Now, the Rat Immortal had offered him an even more perfect role.

A collaborator.

And one that would not reveal his identity in front of the two witches.

It was like being delivered a pillow just as he felt the urge to nap.

Originally somewhat reluctant, Zheng Qing experienced a surge of joy when he came back to his senses.