High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1422: Chapter 169 Two Voices

The heat in the Silent Forest deepened in June, especially near the Silent River, where the dense woods and slight wind, coupled with the rising water vapor, compounded the sultriness within the forest, making people increasingly irritable.

The Houdou struggled to sleep well at night, and they were all in bad moods.

Buck had just finished a brief negotiation with Furry Bean in front of the shrubbery when threatening growls erupted from the Houdou Camp. Some of the sounds instinctively made Buck tuck his tail tighter.

”Lie down and stay put!”

Buck glared fiercely at the dingy Grey Pup in front of him, sending a thought: ”Dare to move, and I’ll bite you to death!”

The little dog looked at Buck with an innocent face, opening its mouth as if it wanted to meow again.

The night guard, quick-eyed and swift-pawed, nudged a short stick from the ground and stuffed it into Grey Pup’s mouth with a ’puff’.

”Quiet!”

It warned again with its eyes.

Furry Bean finally gave up on the idea of meowing and obediently lay on the ground. A gourd bug crawled over a pile of damp leaves, reaching Furry Bean’s tail, which the Grey Pup flicked with the corner of its eye, turning the little bug into a mush with a swing of its tail.

Buck stared at the bug on the tip of the dog’s tail, hesitating for a few seconds.

Although almost no Houdou would meow, but what if?

What if this fellow was raised by a cat? What if it had strong foreign language skills? What if its voice seemed higher because of a sore throat? The stories the old Houdou had told Buck at the edge of a magma pit one by one came to his mind, except those stories featured Houdou raised by wolves, learning to howl like them.

Once such a guess formed in his mind, it was hard to suppress.

Buck paced around the clearing several times and finally made up his mind. He slipped to the edge of the clearing, where there was a small mud pit, dug a little with his front paws, and soon unearthed a piece of charcoal still shining with a dark-red gloss.

This was his reward for being on duty tonight.

Buck shook his tail; the bifurcated tip looked like a sharp fork, easily picking up the charcoal and holding it up to the dingy Grey Pup.

The Grey Pup instinctively leaned its head back, seeming to dodge the glowing-hot charcoal.

Buck relaxed inwardly, and then a hint of pleasure crossed his eyes. He had secured his snack and successfully confirmed the identity of this grey dog right in front of him.

But before the pleasure could fade, the Grey Pup winked at him, opened its mouth, and with an ’a-woo’, swallowed the charcoal whole.

”Meow~!”

It let out a contented burp, spitting out a puff of Mars.

Buck stared blankly as the sparks slowly dissipated in the moist air, his tail hanging mid-air like reeds in an autumn pond, trembling in the night breeze, filled with a sorrowful air.

...

...

Furry Bean naturally did not possess Houdou bloodline.

As a dog with a trace of the Tingdalous Hunting Dog’s bloodline, Furry Bean was slightly less ferocious and persistent compared to a real Tingdalous Hunting Dog, but far surpassed in intelligence and cunning.

Although it hadn’t been long since it had opened its mind, through the countless avatars scattered in the crevices of time and space, Furry Bean had learned numerous hunting skills, such as tracking, concealing, killing, and camouflage.

Camouflage is a profound art.

True disguise is not about learning to look like something; it’s about being whatever you want to be.

Like Furry Bean now wanting to become a Houdou, it has to like Flames, despise humidity, be able to swallow charcoal, and defecate fire.

The first two are easily achieved by showing affinity for Flames and a distaste for humidity. The latter two are somewhat more challenging. Just like the piece of charcoal that Furry Bean has just swallowed, it utilized its Talent to shift the burning charcoal into the space-time rift, without actually ingesting it.

As for the fire defecation, Houdou do not need to excrete every day, so for a day or two, Furry Bean is quite safe.

The moonlight grew denser.

The Calamity Fight Group’s night watchers stood still like stone carvings behind a clump of bushes, gazing absent-mindedly into the dark woods. Next to the watcher, although Grey Pup had its eyes closed and Tail coiled, its ears were perked up high.

Not long ago, when it was traversing the space-time rifts, tracking the owners of the Snake molts, it inadvertently captured a brief glimpse of a future scene.

In that scene, a black figure hovered midair, waving their hand to scatter Seeds of flames that ignited a vast stretch of forest. Within the Flames, a group of Houdou joyously howled, leaping and hopping on the tips of the flames, respectfully prostrating at the feet of that black figure.

Its keen sense of smell told it that the black figure was the owner of those Snake molts it had smelt.

And those Houdou were a shining clue.

Simply by following this clue, it would not be difficult to locate its target.

The Silent Forest is vast, and although the Houdou are a rare Magical Creature, their population is not insignificant. But this is no trouble for the Gouzi with the ability to replicate itself. Its figures leap and traverse through the space-time rifts, with replicas scattered across every Houdou Camp in the forest.

The one in front of Buck is just one of its many informants.

But it’s the luckiest one.

Because as the moonlight faded from thick to dark and gradually fell behind the treetops, two unfamiliar voices suddenly echoed in the woods.

They were the voices of two Witches speaking.

”These creatures in the Silent Forest are born into darkness and strife, utterly lacking in any grace... They haven’t been refined by the gardeners in the schools. What beautiful flowers can grow from Seeds that sprout at will amongst the humus and stone cracks?”

”We need to gather more armies... not beasts.”

The first Witch spoke with a crisp voice and rapid pace: ”Having been on the island for so long, do you know which Clans are easier to recruit? We don’t have much time.”

”You have spent more, time on the island, than me.” The second Witch’s voice was slightly hoarse, at first sounding like an old, poorly tuned radio, but with more listening, one could detect a certain raspy charm hidden within the hisses, captivating.

Furry Bean is not a Wizard, naturally unable to discern the charm within that hoarseness.

But it is a dog, easily catching the familiar scent that permeated the air.

The owners of the Snake molt.

Were within those two voices.

Gouzi silently opened its mouth, transmitting messages to its replicas scattered in every corner of the Silent Forest. Its previously perked ears stood more erect, and the eyelids that were closed suddenly sprang open, flashing a heart-pounding pale green in the dim forest.

After hearing the retort of its companion, the first Witch clearly fell silent for a moment.

”I have indeed been on the island longer than you have.” Her tone softened somewhat: ”But I spent all that time in the school, within the campus. The few times I left school, the last time ended in great misfortune... falling to such a state.”

”I, too, the same.”

The second voice answered thus.