High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1098: Chapter 160 Practice Class Over

Aristotle once said that there are three types of people in the world, ”the living,” ”the dead,” and ”those who go out to sea.” Essentially, this was a critique of how unpredictable the lives of sailors are, often hanging in the balance between life and death.

In Buji Island, especially in the North District, people tend to rephrase this as ”the living, the dead, and those who enter the forest.”

Though the wording is different, the meaning remains the same.

Once you enter the Silent Forest, your fate is in heaven’s hands, with fortune and misfortune equally uncertain; you could die at any moment, or you might live on indefinitely.

A week ago, if someone had mentioned this phrase to Zheng Qing, he would likely have chuckled, and if in a good mood, might have engaged in a chat, sharing anecdotes he had heard about the Silent Forest. He certainly wouldn’t have given it much more thought.

After all, as a freshman who had only been at school for half a year, for at least the next two years, their only dealings with the Silent Forest would be during the brief periods of winter and spring hunting and spring outings. Furthermore, the range into the forest they were permitted to enter was strictly limited, and the school would also arrange sufficient defensive forces to safeguard the students, ensuring these young people wouldn’t suffer losses in the woods.

But now, if someone whispered in Zheng Qing’s ear about ”the living, the dead, and those who enter the forest,” the young, state-funded student would most certainly not spare his white eyes and resentment. If luck were poor, they might even be treated to a round of his fists.

The sudden turn of events was, of course, due to the contract Zheng Qing and Korma had signed under the supervision of the Rat Immortal during the recent outing. The contract obliged Zheng Qing to assist Korma fully in finding the new Secret Realm that had appeared near the Silent Forest.

This meant that, for this semester, Zheng Qing needed to slip out of school from time to time and enter the dangerous Silent Forest. And it was very likely that he would need to venture deep into the Silent Forest.

Even though Zheng Qing had some secret connection with the newly born Secret Realm, this did not mean he could easily find it in the forest. Coupled with several dangers encountered last year, including warnings from Su Shijun and several professors not to leave the protection of the school’s Guardian Array at will, young wizards like him felt an increased psychological burden.

Whenever he thought about this, it would make him sigh and fill his belly with worries.

”Is it necessary to sigh over a mere scratch?” A crisp voice chirped in Zheng Qing’s ear, disdain palpable in its tone, ”And you’re a state-funded student... I’ve never seen a state-funded student as weak as you!”

The speaker was the on-duty nurse at the school hospital, a young witch with a round face and short stature, who was quite lively. In just the little while that Zheng Qing had been admitted, she had already become familiar with everyone in the room.

The reason for his admission was due to a conflict that erupted during this afternoon’s practical class, when the students from Alpha Academy and Jiuyou Academy chose partners to practice magic and ended up in a brawl. Being one of the representatives for the boys, Zheng Qing naturally took the lead, and as a result, a few minor spells from the other side had struck his body.

Thankfully, the other side hadn’t used any malicious curses—but it was not as simple as the little nurse’s description of ”a scratch”—according to the therapist, Zheng Qing could leave tomorrow morning.

Hearing the nurse’s scorn, Zheng Qing’s mouth pulled downward in a grimace, forming an ugly smile: ”I still haven’t finished today’s homework. Can I leave earlier today?”

For a student of Jiuyou Academy, this reason was very persuasive.

Upon hearing this, the nurse sighed sympathetically, then decisively shook her head, ”No, even if it’s just a superficial scratch, leaving the hospital still requires a formal discharge certificate from the therapist... Doctor Ma is very busy right now, those lunatics from Starry Sky Academy are fighting again, lots of them have broken bones, so you should just stay put here tonight.”

Patients with broken bones naturally take precedence over those with mere scratches. Zheng Qing had no reason to expect the therapist to abandon those seriously injured patients to attend to his minor issue.

The nurse shook her head, then suddenly resentment crept into her voice, ”Look at you college students, instead of attending classes and studying magic properly, why do you keep on fighting every day? I could understand those brats from Starry Sky Academy coming in often because it has something to do with their bizarre educational philosophy.”

”Now what? You Jiuyou students and those from Alpha Academy going mad? You’re sent in batches every two or three days, forcing us to work overtime! It’s been almost a month since I last had a day off!! Don’t you care if we live or die?!”

The crisp voice of complaint was like a machine gun, rat-a-tat-tat, spraying across all the students in the ward.

Everyone hid in their tents, silently, pretending they did not exist.

It was only after the nurse handed out medicines, finished her checks, and left that everyone simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. But the thought of a pile of various things waiting for them tomorrow made Zheng Qing collapse back onto the bed, not wanting to get up again.

”Whoosh!”

The curtain of the neighboring bed was yanked open, revealing Xin Fat Man’s big round face, green with envy—he had been hit by a ’Stink Egg Spell’ launched by a thin-eyed warlock from Alpha Academy named Julian during the practice class that afternoon. It not only knocked out his circle of companions but also left his head looking greasy green.

Although the therapists at the school hospital quickly got rid of the stench on Fat Man’s body, they advised him to stay in the ward for a couple of days to avoid secondary damage from the healing magic, relying on the passing of time to complete the aftercare, since the residual green tint was all on his face.

Considering the green tint would fade by the next day, Fat Man did not struggle and stayed obediently in the ward.

”It’s not like we start the fights,” Fat Man complained to Zheng Qing, only after making sure the door of the ward was closed tightly. ”Should I just turn the other cheek when ’the enemy strikes my left cheek for him to strike’?”

Seeing Fat Man’s oily green face, Zheng Qing instinctively covered his nose and shrank back. He did not want to re-experience the power of that stinky egg from the afternoon. Even the memory made him want to vomit.

Zheng Qing’s small gesture clearly stung Fat Man a bit.

”What are you dodging for! It doesn’t smell anymore!” Xin pulled the curtain further apart and leaned his head even closer to Zheng Qing, his eyes wide open, ”As the leader of our Hunting team, can’t you act a little more steady?”

”Steady like Doctor Xiao?” Zheng Qing retorted irritably, ”Backing out when it counts, that’s not being steady, that’s being cowardly!”

”If you have the guts, say that in front of the doctor.”

”I’ll say it.” Zheng Qing hummed defiantly, yet his body involuntarily shrank down, trying to withdraw into his own bed.

Xin Fat Man snickered to himself, but the mention of Xiao Xiao reminded him of the topic he wanted to bring up when he first stuck his head out, ”Speaking of which, we have tomorrow off, right? Why were you in such a hurry to do your homework today?”

Zheng Qing rolled his eyes and said irritatedly, ”It was just an excuse... There’s been a pile of troublesome things lately, and I just want to get back to doing what needs to be done. Not lying stupidly on a hospital bed.”