High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1350: Chapter 97 Next Step Plan

Lakeside of Bell Lake.

Inside a pavilion along the lakefront corridor.

When Zheng Qing opened his eyes, returning to reality from the classroom of his dreams, it took only a few seconds for the discussions about the succession of the principal in his mind to begin to blur—like someone was erasing them with an eraser little by little.

Zheng Qing ultimately couldn’t provide Xin Fat Man with groundbreaking news.

This regret diminished significantly after he pulled out a notebook from his grey cloth bag. The young, publicly funded student unexpectedly discovered that the notes he had made in his dream were completely intact in the notebook of reality.

The sentence emphasized in the notes—know enough, and you won’t be confused; be smart enough, and reality won’t bewilder you—was his own summary based on the lecture content from his teacher.

Muttering this sentence, he stretched lazily and stood up from the long bench in the pavilion, leaning out to look outside.

The afternoon sun had lost some of its fierceness but gained a thickness, making it almost suffocating to look at the sun-drenched world from the shadows of the pavilion.

The cicadas called out ’wa wa’ weakly, like a ’veteran’ on stage dragging out their singing tones.

Most creatures on the usually lively lake surface had either hidden away deep at the bottom of the lake or concealed themselves in the crevices of stones and rocks on the shore. Only a few empty Ze Meng boats could be seen on the water, along with water buffalos by the boats’ side, showing only a bit of their greenish backs.

These were the working oxen of the School Works Committee, required to be on standby to respond to any wizards wishing to cross the lake at any moment. Hence, they had no choice but to hold their positions in such high temperatures.

It’s said that since it’s not yet July, the school won’t issue high-temperature subsidies.

Quite tragic indeed.

Hundreds of meters away, in the mud ponds on the East Shore of Linzhong Lake, the hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team were, under the guise of ’training’, searching every corner there. They wore clunky rain boots and heavy dragon-skin gloves, rummaging through the mud nests for longevity tortoises.

The hunters would perform magic checks on each tortoise found and stamp a safety mark on those that passed the inspection. This was the method confirmed in yesterday’s general meeting, with the hope of finding the Faceless Demons hiding in the mud ponds—or at the very least, learning something about the whereabouts of the Black Mountain Goat from the older tortoises’ mouths.

Obviously, the work wasn’t going so smoothly.

As Zheng Qing leaned out to look, he saw an irritable longevity tortoise, lashing its tail and striking Zhang Ji Xin’s face hard. Another tortoise was stretching its neck, spitting at Lin Guo’s face.

The saliva of the tortoises was clear but hefty, drenching Lin Guo’s head completely.

”Oh, damn it!” the young publicly funded student shouted as he rushed out of the pavilion: ”How dare they be so impolite! Can’t you use a bit more force?”

Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes at Zheng Qing.

”When you’re sleeping snugly in bed, dreaming sweetly and snoring, and someone suddenly pulls off your covers, checks you with magic, and then stamps on your butt... would you still be polite in that situation?”

Zheng Qing was at a loss for words.

During the conversation, he had already reached the edge of the mud pond.

It seemed that the hunters of the Absolution were almost done checking the pond, and the stamped tortoises were gathered together in twos and threes, stretching their necks and staring angrily with their mung bean-sized eyes at the young wizards causing a ruckus.

Zheng Qing suddenly felt a bit queasy.

”Will they complain to the school?” he asked the doctor in a low voice.

Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and glanced at the team leader: ”By the time you think of this question, we’ve already received the complaint... Absolution’s training schedule for today includes ’Demon detection’ and ’Marking’. The School Works Committee has also tacitly approved our inspection of the mud pond. This is essentially a compromise.”

Zheng Qing quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He still remembered that he was currently under the penalty of ’School probation’ and did not want to stir up any ’racial conflicts’ and get reported at this time.

”It’s really hot!” the young public expense student tugged at his gown’s collar, hesitating, ”Shall we... take a break first?”

Before he could finish, Xin Fat Man cheered, dropped the Longevity tortoise he had just picked up, and crawled gasping towards the outside of the mud pond. The washbasin-sized tortoise heavily splashed into the muddy water, causing a giant brown splash, which made Zhang Ji Xin curse loudly.

Xiao Xiao looked at Zheng Qing with dissatisfaction.

Zheng Qing smiled awkwardly, fanning the air with his hand: ”It’s too hot... It’s only May, and it already feels like July or August. Surely the Weather monitor hasn’t reached the months for emergency use of weather spheres yet, right?”

”This is the repercussion of the silence returning at the beginning of the year, the school had already confirmed in January that this year the high temperatures would come early and last longer. Don’t you ever read the Campus Newspaper?” Xin Fat Man struggled to take off his Dragon-skin Gloves and clumsy rain boots, reaching immediately for Zheng Qing’s waist: ”Quick, quick, give me a couple of Refreshing charms...”

Zheng Qing dodged the fat man’s greasy hands.

”Speaking of the Campus Newspaper,” the young public expense student swiftly drew a stack of Refreshing charms from the Grey Cloth Bag, stuffing them into the fat man’s hands: ”When I just woke up, I seemed to have some big news for you... but now I’ve forgotten it... hey, share some with the others!”

Xin Fat Man was about to shove the spare Refreshing charms into his own pockets.

Hearing Zheng Qing’s words, he exhaled in disappointment.

”Big news?” Xiao Xiao took two Refreshing charms, sticking them to both temples, with a trace of curiosity on his face: ”Where did this big news come from? From last night?”

”No, it was in a dream,” Zheng Qing answered earnestly.

”The Campus Newspaper is a serious publication and normally wouldn’t publish students’ dreams,” the fat man refused without hesitation, but also offered an alternative: ”Of course, I have some contacts at the ’Ladies in Flowers’ editorial team, they love publishing those whimsical thoughts of young people.”

”It’s not whimsy,” Zheng Qing corrected: ”It was... damn, why can’t I remember? I remember it had something to do with the school’s vice-chancellors.”

”Oho!” Fat Man let out a short, sharp laugh: ”That does sound like it’s not just ordinary whimsy... more like a daydream.”

”Let’s drop the topic,” Zheng Qing waved his hand irritably, signalling Fat Man to shut up.

The group had returned to the gazebo, sprawling languidly on the long seats, in twos and threes.

Zheng Qing hesitated, then selectively shared some of his past experiences—whether it was facing the upcoming challenges or rescuing Zhu Si from the World in the Mirror, he needed some helpers.

There were no more reliable helpers than the hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team.

”I just had a dream,” the young public expense student stood among the Hunters, looking at everyone very seriously: ”In the dream, I heard a prophecy and saw a little girl.”