High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1287: Chapter 34 The Belated Lunch Break

The meeting had ended, and it was already almost 1:30 in the afternoon.

With only a little over half an hour left before classes officially started at two o’clock, there wasn’t enough time for a nap, and it was too late to go to the library—perhaps one would just manage to find a spot in the library, then immediately have to dash to the teaching building.

After seeing off Monk Shi Yuan, only the members of dormitory 403 remained.

It wasn’t until then that Zheng Qing turned his attention to Xiao Xiao.

In today’s meeting, Doctor Xiao had hardly spoken at all—an extremely rare occurrence—instinct told the fee student that the doctor must have found something but it wasn’t convenient to say it to everyone.

”What have you discovered?” Zheng Qing walked over to the doctor, lowered his voice, and asked quietly.

Xiao Xiao raised his eyebrows, not surprised by Zheng Qing’s discovery.

”Does sheep milk taste good?” he replied in a suggestive tone.

Zheng Qing glanced at the empty sheep milk bottles on the table and blinked.

”Not bad,” he praised sincerely.

”So, when did you start to think that sheep milk wasn’t bad?” Xiao Xiao rephrased his question.

Even someone as slow as Zheng Qing could sense the subtle meaning in this way of asking.

”So you’re saying, it’s related to the sheep milk, right?” Xin Fat Man, who had been paying close attention to this little corner of the conversation from the start and listening with ears perked up, finally couldn’t help but butt in:

”I’ve also noticed that recently, there seem to be more people drinking sheep milk... Usually, besides me, not many people bother with sheep milk, but this morning, there was actually a line at that place! Definitely something fishy!”

”Now that you mention it, it does seem rather odd.” Zheng Qing suddenly recalled the topic of today’s meeting and couldn’t help but confirm: ”Is Lin Guo’s Black Mountain Goat male or female?”

”Of course, it’s a male goat!” Xiao Xiao rolled his eyes: ”Have you ever seen a female goat with such large horns?”

”If I were you, I would be more cautious before making a statement.” Xin Fat Man raised a plump, short index finger, wagging it in front of his companion and spoke with the instructive tone characteristic of an old-school wizard: ”You must know, you are in a Wizard University. There’s nothing that magic can’t accomplish.”

”Although Lin Guo’s Big Black is a male goat, that does not rule out a connection between the two matters.” Xiao Xiao leaned back and stretched: ”On the contrary, there must be some sort of connection... Brother Qing inexplicably developing a liking for drinking sheep milk, Lin Guo’s Black Mountain Goat playing the disappearing act.”

Zheng Qing suddenly remembered last night’s ferocious apparition of the Outer God in the north of Beta Town.

Instinctively, he felt there was a hidden clue threading through these events, stretching into the known or unknown depths of the fog.

”...Many times, before the onset of a crisis, pets tend to notice the situation easier than wizards,” Xiao Xiao summarized in the end: ”Just like mice scatter before an Earth Dragon turns over, or herds leave the woods after a silent tide returns. With this sort of issue, we can’t overlook any slight clue.”

Though the speaker was unintentional, the listener was deliberate; Zheng Qing subconsciously thought of Liu Fei Fei’s missing snake, and then realized that Poseidon seemed to have been less clingy lately—not to mention that, due to being overly busy these past two or three weeks, he hadn’t had much time to manage his relationship with the Little Fox, but he couldn’t rule out that the Little Fox may have found ’new love’.

With this concern, after the meeting, Zheng Qing did not head straight for the teaching building but instead made a detour to the Pet Garden first.

The person on duty at the Pet Garden was still an acquaintance, Deng Xiaojian.

”Since when have you started handling the affairs of the Pet Garden?” Zheng Qing asked curiously while filling out the visitation request form.

”Helping out temporarily,” Deng Xiaojian replied with a darkened face, succinctly.

He wouldn’t tell his junior that he had lost a bet at the Hunting Competition and was consequently saddled with this thankless task—given his own choice, he would never waste time on such trivial matters. Wasn’t it better to spend the free time running a few laps at the Hunting Ground?

In the meantime, the duty student had taken the application form and entered the Pet Garden to find Poseidon.

But he came back empty-handed very quickly.

”Not there?” Upon hearing the Pet Garden duty’s response, the young cost student yelled somewhat hysterically, ”What do you mean not there? If my pet isn’t here, where is it?”

For a moment, the image of the Little White Cat with its eyes gouged out and dead flashed in his mind, he thought of Lin Guo’s lost Black Mountain Goat, and he vaguely saw the enraged owner of the Qingqiu Mansion.

This involuntary shiver went through him.

The Pet Garden duty student turned his head slightly, dodging the wave of sound from Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing noticed some students passing by who were looking over with interest, and he immediately lowered his voice, ”You can’t just lose my pet like that... This could have legal consequences... We have a contract, don’t we?”

”We have limited liability. For pets placed in the school, the school has always only taken on limited liability,” Deng Xiaojian politely corrected the young man’s misconception and added, ”And it wasn’t someone else who took Poseidon away...”

Saying this, he fished out another application form from his notepad and shoved it under the young cost student’s nose.

”Su Ya, that’s the name the Little fox lady left.” The Pet Garden duty analyzed seriously, ”It sounds related to Greenhill Mansion... but the form you signed. Do you have any relationship with the Qingqiu Mansion?”

Zheng Qing let out a sigh of relief, only to be frightened by Deng Xiaojian’s question and hold his breath again.

”Absolutely no relation,” he replied dryly, while indignantly complaining, ”When did I ever sign any agreement... I’ve only traded some talisman paper with them in the past, and they really liked Poseidon... This must be that girl acting on her own!”

Deng Xiaojian gave him a skeptical look but said nothing in the end.

”This is your problem.” He shrugged and took back both application forms—since the magic Dharma Seal was verified correctly, the rest was no longer the business of the Pet Garden.

Zheng Qing wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and mentally made a note against a certain Little Fox.

Not that he could do anything about it, even if he remembered.

But he had to have the attitude.

Checking his pocket watch, there was less than a quarter of an hour before class. The young man gave up his immediate plan to go to Greenhill Mansion and, after bidding farewell to the Pet Garden duty, headed straight to the academic building.

He hurried and managed to sit down in his seat just before Teacher Zhang entered the classroom.

Relaxing internally, the fatigue that had been suppressed all afternoon surged like a tide.

The May sunlight was very gentle.

It lacked July and August’s scorching intensity and April’s cold indifference. It felt warm on the skin, perfect for breeding Sleeping Insects. Having been seated in the classroom for only half an hour, Zheng Qing felt his eyelids sticking together.

”It’s time to take worm medicine... Does the school have Sand Time Worms again?”

This was the last thought in the warlock’s mind before he lost consciousness.