High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1134: Chapter 196: No Longer Human

When the headmaster of Jiuyou Academy and two witches were in the office discussing whether the school’s punishment of Zheng Qing was too harsh, the central figure of the whole issue, student Zheng Qing, had turned into a cat and slipped away to Beta Town.

Having been given a ’school probation’ sanction, Zheng Qing felt somewhat wronged. Especially when everyone around him was expressing indignation on his behalf, he felt even more wronged.

So he decided to let his self go wild for once today.

If being human felt so grievous, he would just stop being human and become a cat.

With this thought in mind, after the routine meeting had ended, Zheng Qing returned to his dorm, hid in his bed curtain, drank a vial of Transformation Potion, and then, while nobody else was paying attention, quietly slipped out through the balcony—not that everyone was oblivious to Zheng Qing’s escape; Fatty Cat Tuan Tuan, plopped on the bed, had caught a glimpse of the black cat slipping away.

But as a moral and ambitious Spiritual Cat, Tuan Tuan disdained betraying his fellow by becoming a tattletale cat.

So he simply shook his whiskers, flattened his ears a little, then squinted his eyes and went back to meeting the Duke of Zhou in his dreams.

After leaving the dorm, Zheng Qing first went to the Cat Fruit Tree.

Perhaps due to the tense atmosphere near Lin Zhong Lake, there were only a few stray Cat Fruits hanging on the tree, and Zheng Qing’s familiar pet cats were nowhere to be seen.

Smelling the moistness in the air and hearing the sound of Lin Zhong Lake water flowing not far behind the bushes, Zheng Qing decisively turned around and left that heartbreaking place.

There weren’t many places a black cat could go: the Cat Fruit Tree was one, the Flying Garden was another, and occasionally when the gatekeeper was lax, it could also sneak into the Pet Garden for a stroll.

But today, the black cat had no plans to visit any of those places.

It threaded through the low shrubs, along the corners of the walls, zigzagging and quickly arrived at a side gate of the academy. Outside the gate was the Beta Town Pedestrian Street. During normal class hours, this gate is open from seven to nine in the morning and from five to seven in the evening, with slight adjustments for special circumstances. On Saturdays and Sundays, due to the increased number of students, this gate isn’t closed until after nine at night.

It was now Sunday evening at half-past eight, over half an hour until the gate would close.

The black cat felt it ought to exhibit a little adventurous spirit.

Even though it was night, the Pedestrian Street was still bustling with people. Young witches and wizards were taking advantage of the tail end of Spring and the weekend, snuggling in pairs, their merry laughter rising and falling, utterly mismatched with the black cat’s current mood.

So it ran along the wall corners, making its way toward a place far from all the gaiety and laughter.

It was uncertain how long it ran, but eventually, the surroundings quieted down.

The street became somewhat deserted; the number of passersby had dwindled considerably, and their attire had become more tattered. Men and women alike hurried along, rarely stopping. The atmosphere here was devoid of the leisure and relaxation found on the Pedestrian Street.

The air was filled with a pungent mixture of herbal dregs, cat urine, and the smell of burning wood.

The black cat hid behind a stone talisman, peering through the gap.

The dilapidated signs hung on rusty chains, swaying in the wind and eliciting feeble wails from the images on them. Many glass windows had shattered, yet they were haphazardly fixed with paper tape. On the moldy wooden walls, numerous thin white lines left by rainwater resembled a late-stage vitiligo patient, shriveled in this gloomy corner, gasping for survival.

This was North Beta Town, the Black Cat realized.

Although he’d been planning on letting his true self out, Zheng Qing hadn’t thought about wandering in the North District before. After all, he was still a cat, and while he might be fine in other parts of Beta Town, he seriously doubted whether he would be caught by some starving Tricksters in the North District and boiled for a fight between a dragon and a tiger.

But after retreating just one step, the Black Cat stopped his paw.

What about the North District? What about the starving Tricksters? Were they fiercer than the eight-foot-tall descendant of Satoguya? Were they more ruthless than Sepulano from the Auspicious Society?

He was the man who had almost blown up monsters and killed a cost student from the Alpha Academy!

Even as a cat, he was not someone these mere Tricksters from the North District of Beta Town could bully. He had turned into a cat to enjoy himself, not to carry on being humiliated!

With that thought, the Black Cat narrowed his eyes, twisted his body, and squeezed through the crack between the protective stone figure and the corner of the house, slipping into the tranquil streets of the North District.

He did know people in the North District. Before school started, he and Xiao Xiao had been on a mission to Sister Korma’s club. Admittedly, he was now a cat, but Black Cat was also closely connected to Korma. He could now easily visit her as a Black Cat, and perhaps even squat on the counter at the Sakura Pub for a few drinks.

The Sakura Pub seemed to be in a place called Gu Diao Street, the Black Cat thought as he strolled along the corner of the street, recalling the way.

Speaking of which, drinking sullenly at the Sakura Pub in the North District was much safer than at the Wandering Bar on the Pedestrian Street. That Wandering Wizard always had a grin on his face when he saw him, but he gave off a sly and sticky vibe. Dealing with him felt like trying to touch a toad.

”Splat!”

As he turned a street corner and was about to arrive at Gu Diao Street, the Black Cat stepped on something soft and squishy. He lifted his paw and brought it close to his nose, only to smell a thick, pungent scent of blood.

”Ugh!”

The Black Cat’s eyes bulged, and he felt like vomiting out his stomach. Speak of the devil and he shall appear—he had just thought of a toad, and there he’d stepped on an amphibian that had been skinned and deboned, its white hair oozing out.

But in a flash, he understood why.

Toad skin and bones were common magical ingredients for Wizards, used quite frequently in Magic Potions and Alchemy. However, the meat of toads was not popular among Wizards, especially those from the edge of the Silent Forest or Riverside Silence, as their flesh often contained unknown toxins or parasites. Even impoverished Tricksters seldom dined on them.

After all, not many Tricksters would spend a few Silver Horns to buy an Antidote just to taste the unremarkable, not particularly delicious meat of a toad.

”I’ve just sent you a Paper Crane... how did you get here so fast?”

A slender figure appeared behind the Black Cat, bending down to scoop him by the front legs and hold him in an embrace. The voice sounded exceptionally cheerful, but in the blink of an eye, the Black Cat was thrown far away, and that cheerful voice became agitated:

”Yuck! What’s that smell on you?!”

Only when the bewildered Black Cat landed did a green Paper Crane flutter its short wings and elegantly come to rest on his head. Clearly, this was a failed attempt at Paper Crane messaging.