High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1085: Chapter 147 Inside the Tent

After parting with Rat Immortal and Korma, the Black Cat dashed all the way, heading towards the outing site of Astronomy Class 08-1 with the help of the directional map provided by Rat Immortal.

He felt he could still salvage the situation.

Not until he approached the outing site and saw the fireworks signal rising in the distance, along with the faintly urgent shouts carried by the wind, did Zheng Qing finally give up all hope.

”It’s all over,” he muttered, hiding behind a bush as he discontinued his Transformation and reverted back to his wizard form, while staring at the smoke from the fireworks slowly change from orange to red, his face etched with sorrow, like someone who had lost everything.

It seemed that the class had noticed his ’disappearance’ for some time now, even the ’alert and summoning’ Magic Fireworks had turned red. Not to mention the shouting that was getting closer and closer.

The young state-funded student even glanced at the Return Soul Poplar next to him, considering whether to knock himself out against it, so that he would have some grounds for debate when facing his classmates and the school’s investigation.

But then, he remembered the warning from Rat Immortal, hesitated for a long while, and finally abandoned that somewhat extreme idea, walking dejectedly towards where everybody was.

...

”Where did you go?! Everyone has been looking for you for almost two hours!”

”Brother Qing, you’re doomed... Tang Dun has already reported your disappearance to the school, and the School Works Committee and the student council folks are about to arrive.”

”Were you seduced by the Water Demon in the river, or by the Ninfus in the woods? Do you have any fresh stories to tell me? I promise I’ll keep it anonymous when I publish it, and won’t reveal your true identity!”

”Quick, quick, act weaker, Jiang Yu might be coming over now! She was also incredibly furious just a moment ago...”

A chaos of diverse comments erupted, overwhelming the warlock who had just arrived at the team’s site. Some people, like classmate Li Meng among others, only added to the chaos with their earth-shattering voices.

Zheng Qing was numb-faced, letting his companions crowd around him, swarming towards a Veteran, who was a fourth-year student responsible for student safety during the outing and skilled in healing magic.

With just a glance, the Veteran assured everyone, ”This student is in good health, breathing normally. Though he looks a bit downcast, there’s nothing seriously wrong... Disperse now, everyone disperse.”

With that, he dispersed the onlookers and dragged Zheng Qing into a tent behind him.

The cacophony of student voices was muffled by the tent, sounding distant and empty.

In the slightly cramped tent, several figures huddled together turned their heads to look at the two wizards who had just entered.

In the corner of the tent, a brass teapot squatted on a small stove, its slender spout releasing pure white steam that flowed gently like a stream; grains of sand still persevered through the narrow glass channel of the tilted hourglass, marking time that no one was paying attention to anymore.

Several huge hunting team posters hung around the walls of the tent, blocking the cold wind that sneaked through the cracks. The Hunters from those hunting teams had long since disappeared without a trace, leaving behind empty canvases that hung there like a series of eerie abstract paintings.

Rosewood chairs were haphazardly stacked together, leaving enough open space in the center of the tent.

In the middle of the open space was a large square table, on which sat an enormous sand table.

The sand table featured hills, valleys, forests, bodies of water, and even a small bay. With just a quick glance, Zheng Qing determined that this sand table was a representation of the vicinity where Astronomy Class 08-1 was conducting its activities.

Standing nearby the square table were Tang Dun, Jiang Yu, Xiao Xiao, and Elena, along with the senior student who had previously sat on a tree branch warning Zheng Qing not to use magic to chop trees, and a member of the school works crew draped in a grey robe and a teaching assistant donned in black.

At this moment, their eyes were all wide open, staring at the two wizards who had just appeared in the tent.

Their gazes contained surprise, relief, as well as irritation and blame.

Zheng Qing felt somewhat helpless.

He did not know the senior student or the school worker in the grey robe, but he was very familiar with the teaching assistant in the black robe. It was none other than their practical course instructor, Assistant Hilda. The first to speak up in the tent was indeed this teaching assistant.

”Tsk tsk tsk, why is it always you!” Assistant Hilda displayed a vexed expression and fetched a packet of salt from somewhere, proceeding to sprinkle it all around Zheng Qing. As she scattered the salt, she complained, ”From last year to this year, we hardly had a few events, and yet every single one had an incident!”

”Think about it, does the charter flight at the start of last year count? A young female demon actually sneaked onto the plane, and next thing we knew, Old Yao was giving us a scolding of a lifetime. Then there was the hunting party with that inexplicably appearing dragon beast. And the winter hunt... And now, you couldn’t even spare us from your stroll through the greenery!”

”What grudge, what grievances?!”

Zheng Qing dodged the flurry of white salt, a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face, not daring to interrupt.

Although Assistant Hilda did not delve into the specifics of the latter incidents, Zheng Qing remembered them all too vividly. Indeed, in a certain sense, the events he had participated in did seem to be cursed, with either demon invasions or ancient beasts awakening.

But from another angle, it might be that Hilda was just unlucky, leading to Zheng Qing’s constant misfortunes.

The school worker in the grey robe interrupted Assistant Hilda’s complaints, soothingly saying, ”It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that there’s no harm... However, since you’re here, we still need to follow the necessary procedures. Can you tell us where you’ve been during the time you were missing?”

The first part of his words was addressed to Hilda, while the last question was directed at Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing grimaced, answering honestly, ”It was just that the woods looked interesting, I was chasing after those mice and bugs for a while, and then I got lost... Since today is a magic prohibition festival and I didn’t carry a compass or map, I couldn’t find my way back. Later, after seeing the light from the Magic Fireworks, I gradually figured out the direction.”

Upon hearing this explanation, the tent fell silent for a moment.

After a while, the veteran who had previously instructed Zheng Qing not to use magic to chop trees scratched his head and sighed, ”They say not to use magic, so you really didn’t... You sure are honest. Did you manage to gather the firewood in the end?”

”I did,” Zheng Qing paused, then added, ”but I lost it again while trying to find my way.”

”Cough cough,” the school worker in the grey robe coughed twice and looked at Zheng Qing with a smile, ”It’s great to follow the rules, but when it’s necessary, you do need to be a bit more flexible... At the very least, you could’ve sent a Paper Crane to everyone after getting lost.”

Zheng Qing touched his nose, unsure of what to say next.

With them having said both the direct and the implied, what more could he add?