High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1417: Chapter 164: The Wool of the Black Mountain Goat

”Hasn’t Absolution already posted the task at the Wandering Bar? Why do you still need to go find that wandering old man separately?”

”It’s different.” Lin Guo straightened his chest, his face displaying a precocious expression: ”When Absolution posts a task at the Wandering Bar, it can only ensure that some Wizards will pay attention to it... But when the Wandering Wizard steps in, it makes all the Wizards at the Wandering Bar take notice of this matter. As the saying goes, ’To gain the benefits, one must bear the burdens,’ which is human nature.”

Zheng Qing was stunned for a few seconds.

He had never thought that he would be discussing the ways of the world with an eleven or twelve-year-old little boy.

”Everyone says the Wandering Wizard is a Black Wizard, aren’t you afraid?” he couldn’t help asking.

”I’ve learned how to not be afraid since I was eight.” The Little Warlock said earnestly: ”Furthermore, since the school hasn’t arrested him, it means he is not that bad... Besides, with so many students going in and out of the Wandering Bar every day, nothing bad has ever happened there... Don’t worry!”

Upon hearing the first reply, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but raise his hand, wanting to pat the Little Warlock’s head. Lin Guo, at such a young age, had learned to fend for himself and knew more about life’s hardships than he did.

But after hearing the rest, he ended up putting his raised arm on the Little Warlock’s shoulder.

”Bars run by the Mafia are often safer than those run by ordinary owners, but that doesn’t prove anything,” he patted Lin Guo’s shoulder and let out a deep sigh:

”Since when did naivety and stupidity become synonymous... You think you’ve found hope bit by bit, but you don’t realize that in the process, you’ve bit by bit lost your wits.”

”Are you calling me stupid?” Lin Guo looked somewhat downcast.

”No, I’m just saying you’re a bit naive,” Zheng Qing shook his head, then asked: ”What did the old Wandering Wizard ask you to help with? Don’t do anything related to Black Magic; you’ll be expelled from the school.”

At the mention of specialization, Lin Guo seemed to become a bit more spirited.

”Don’t worry, I have the most experience when it comes to Alchemy.” He curled up a finger and tapped his head confidently: ”I’ve carefully analyzed the blueprints he gave me, and they’re definitely not Black Magic... On the contrary, it should be part of some very sophisticated and rare Alchemical Items... I guess it’s probably some equipment of a chieftain from a Giant Tribe, collected by a Hunting Team during their exploration, who want to restore it and sell it for a good price.”

Zheng Qing watched the Little Warlock’s confident expression and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly again.

He had been through that age, and it wasn’t very far behind him. He knew that twelve and thirteen-year-old boys were the most stubborn and rebellious period in a man’s life. Compared to most boys of this age, Lin Guo was much steadier; at least, he wouldn’t carve words into his arm because of puppy love.

Zheng Qing wasn’t his guardian, nor could he have higher expectations for him.

”... Anyway, you must be careful.” The young sponsored student shook his head, finally bringing the topic to the main point of their meeting: ”Also, the things I asked you to bring, did you bring them?”

”I did!”

Lin Guo grabbed his little backpack, unzipped it, and began digging inside. On the small backpack, there was a Big Mouse, coiled with its tail around it, holding a chunk of cheese, lazily dozing off.

Seeing the mouse, Zheng Qing immediately thought of those vest-wearing mice he employed in his shop. As soon as he entered the shop, he was a bit curious why he hadn’t seen those mice come out to greet customers today.

But before he could ask, Lin Guo had already found what he was looking for.

A copper badge, a short piece of leather string, and a tuft of black hair in a wide-mouth glass bottle, laid out in front of Zheng Qing.

”This badge was once used by Big Black, it didn’t have a bell before, it was hung with this badge... This leather strap too, it was used when it pulled the cart, pure cowhide, very sturdy.” Lin Guo introduced the origins of these items one by one, finally lifting the glass bottle: ”And these wool strands, I picked them up one by one from Big Black’s mat, they’re definitely right.”

All these things belonged to Lin Guo’s pet, the Black Mountain Goat.

Ever since confirming that Gouzi could help with ’hunting,’ the idea sprouted in Zheng Qing’s mind. As the proverb goes, snakes follow the snake path, and rats the rat road; the world of pets is ultimately different from that of wizards. Since the Absolution Hunting Team had been searching for a long time without finding any trace of the Black Mountain Goat, perhaps entrusting Gouzi could pave a new way.

And to have Gouzi help find a black sheep it had never seen, Lin Guo needed to provide some items tainted with the scent of the Black Mountain Goat.

Zheng Qing sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at the items lined up in front of him. Lin Guo squatted opposite, holding a small backpack, full of curiosity. He was unaware of Zheng Qing’s plans, having only received Zheng Qing’s Paper Crane earlier, asking him to bring the items to the store.

”Come out.”

Zheng Qing didn’t look up and struggle to search around, he just raised his hand and beckoned.

Before Lin Guo had a chance to speak, he was startled by a dusty-looking Gouzi that suddenly popped up next to Zheng Qing, falling backwards and sitting on the ground.

Gouzi, with its tongue out and tail wagging, had a silly smile on its face.

”Sniff sniff.” Zheng Qing picked up the leather strap and brought it close to Gouzi’s nose for a smell, then he switched to the copper badge, and finally the wool strands in the glass bottle.

Gouzi sniffed around, its silly smile tinged with a measure of seriousness.

”Where did this little dog come from?” Lin Guo pulled himself together and climbed up from the floor.

”Picked it up from a tree.” Zheng Qing mentioned a fact that was hard to believe.

”From a tree!” The Little Warlock leaned in with curiosity, reaching out to touch it, but unexpectedly he touched thin air. The moment his hand reached Gouzi, it vanished instantly, reappearing on the other side of Zheng Qing.

This, on the contrary, aroused even greater interest from the Little Warlock: ”Does it know Escape Technique?”

”Roughly.” Zheng Qing gave a perfunctory answer—although the old janitor who smoked water pipes told him the school wouldn’t care about this little dog’s bloodline, with the current sensitive situation concerning the bloodline of Outer Gods, and its complicated background, Zheng Qing didn’t dare to be fully certain, so he simply glossed over it.

”You want it to help find Big Black?”

”Let’s try, it’s harmless anyway.” Zheng Qing’s answer was cautious, but to bolster Lin Guo’s confidence, he still went out of his way to praise Gouzi: ”Don’t judge it by its silly appearance; it’s actually good at tracking prey... There was a villain not long ago, I couldn’t find him with all sorts of magic, but it found him in one night and dragged him to Dorm 403.”

”That’s amazing.” The Little Warlock sincerely praised.

Gouzi, with its tongue out, curving its tail tip, and its soft ears perked up, called out proudly:

”Meow meow!”

It boasted with two sounds.

The mouse napping on Lin Guo’s backpack was suddenly awakened by the noise, screeching.