High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1466: Chapter 210: Gathering in the Dream

The biggest difference between dreamscapes and reality is that dreams do not follow any rules.

Even after being introduced to The Magical World, Zheng Qing had already witnessed many nonsensical scenes, but in the Dream World, this feeling was particularly prominent. You might have just stepped on a white sandy beach with your front foot, only to step onto a soft grassy field that stretches across hills and dales with your back foot; look up to see multiple moons of different colors competing for beauty in the sky, and look down to find an ant waving its antenna politely, asking you for directions.

Out of caution, neither Zheng Qing nor Fat Man paid any attention to the ant asking for directions.

However, Gouzi was very interested in it and specially created a clone, sticking out its tongue to lead the way for the ant, even kindly allowing the ant to stand on the tip of its ear to point the way with the breeze.

Not far from leaving the beach, the two men and one dog found themselves on a profound shaded alley.

On both sides were tall French paulownia trees, with broad leaves rustling in the breeze, and many spying eyes peering out from between the branches and behind the leaves.

At the end of the shaded alley, there was a bench.

Sitting on the bench was a short-statured male wizard with a Watermelon Head haircut and sporting black-framed glasses.

It was Doctor Xiao, the diviner from the Absolution Hunting Team.

When Furry Bean led Zheng Qing and Fat Man to the bench, Xiao Xiao was holding a hefty ”Encyclopedia of the Wizarding World,” rapidly flipping through it.

”What are you looking for?” Zheng Qing, adeptly tossing various detection talisman papers onto Xiao Xiao, asked curiously, ”Haven’t you memorized that book already? Why do you still need to flip through it?”

Fat Man, utterly bored, swayed from side to side, occasionally parting the shrubs beside the road and poking his head into the dark shadows, trying to find some interesting scenes in Xiao Xiao’s dream.

Gouzi squatted in front of the bench, ears perked up, looking around vigilantly.

”Dreamland can reflect a person’s deepest memories. For me, memorizing books is the deepest memory of the past.” Xiao Xiao closed the encyclopedia in his hands, looked at the anti-evil charm hanging on his forearm, and nodded, ”You’re a bit late... This is the third anti-evil charm you’ve tossed at me.”

It took Zheng Qing a few seconds to grasp the implication behind Doctor Xiao’s words.

”An impostor? A nightmare creature? A peculiar entity? Or some kind of evil shape-shifter?” The young scholar stared at the slowly rising blue smoke on the talisman paper, his expression growing a bit more serious, ”How do you know they’re impostors?”

Xiao Xiao glanced at the thick tail hanging from the corner of Zheng Qing’s robe.

”They’re missing a cat tail behind them.” He made a rare joke, then somehow pulled out a piece of turtle shell and tossed it in the air: ”... And also, the divination result isn’t very good.”

As he spoke, a pale blue flame rose out of nowhere, burning on the turtle shell, making a crackling sound.

In the blink of an eye, the flame disappeared again, but the turtle shell was now covered with a dense network of cracks. Xiao Xiao picked up the turtle shell, quickly interpreted the meanings of the cracks, and nodded.

”It’s really you,” he said, standing up and patting the non-existent dust from his clothes, then looking down at Gouzi, ”You’re leading the way?”

”Meow~”

Furry Bean answered softly, swinging its tail, turned around, leaped past the shrubs behind the bench, and dashed into the darkness.

The Hunters from the Absolution Hunting Team, holding their law books, followed cautiously.

...

The third hunter located by Gouzi leading the way was Zhang Ji Xin.

Unlike the peaceful and friendly exchanges with the previous two, as soon as Zhang Ji Xin saw Zheng Qing and his group, he let out a thunderous roar and charged at them with fists swinging, initiating a fight without a word.

If it weren’t for Xin Fat Man who could transform into the Blue Giant and hold back for a moment, Zheng Qing would have likely been smashed half to death by the Elder’s bowl-sized fist at first encounter.

But even if he could avoid a near-death experience, he couldn’t escape the consequences of being hit until his nose was swollen and his face was bruised.

Luckily, Zheng Qing’s side had three people and a dog.

There was only one person on the other side.

With Xin Fat Man bearing the brunt of the Elder’s tempest-like assault, Doctor Xiao and Zheng Qing worked together to cast several combined magics, and with Furry Bean sporadically darting out of the void to bite at his heels, the sudden battle ended in a very short time.

Zhang Ji Xin was bound by several thick vines, hung upside down, and suspended in mid-air.

Beneath the trees, Zheng Qing grimaced while inhaling the cool air, letting Xin Fat Man apply medicine to his bruised face.

”Was that necessary? Was that really necessary?” the young state-funded student hissed through the cool air, glaring at Zhang Ji Xin angrily: ”Even if you couldn’t think of a testing method, was there any need to fight so fiercely?”

Because he was hanging upside down, Zhang Ji Xin’s originally dark red face was now somewhat purple from the blood congestion. And since Furry Bean was biting his ankle again, his expression appeared rather fierce.

But none of these affected the tone of his speech.

”There’s no other way,” the purple-faced Warlock said nonchalantly, sniffling, ”You know, my Divination Skill has always been just barely passable, and my observational skills are not as meticulous as Fat Man’s... The only thing I can be proud of is these two fists.”

”What if you had killed me?”

”Since it’s a dream, if you’re killed, then you’re killed,” Zhang Ji Xin’s reply gave Zheng Qing some speechlessness, but his following analysis was quite interesting: ”...Moreover, I think, if you’re killed by me, then you all are probably fakes. The real you couldn’t be this weak.”

With blank eyes, Zheng Qing looked at the ’hanging man’ who was full of apologetic smiles and felt that his logic was somewhat odd. But a compliment is a compliment because it makes the listener feel a bit better.

”That reasoning does make some sense, we indeed would not be that weak,” the young state-funded student’s expression softened a lot, and while pulling out various Talisman papers from his pocket to hang on Zhang Ji Xin, he retorted:

”...And what if you were accidentally killed by us?”

Light blue smoke rose from the Talisman papers, shrouding Zhang Ji Xin’s face a bit more vaguely:

”I’m tough-skinned and hard-fleshed, not so easily killed... If I were defeated and hung up like this, then you must be real. The peculiar demons and monsters in the Dream World wouldn’t be so kind to losers.”

After listening for a while, Xin Fat Man finally understood Zhang Ji Xin’s logic and couldn’t help but sigh, ”Truth be told, while this method is pretty dumb, it does make some sense... Turns out there’s actually some gray matter in that muscle-packed head of yours.”

”... Since you find it makes sense, please, could you move this dog off my ankle?”

Zheng Qing silently glanced at Gouzi hanging on the Red-faced Male Wizard’s foot.

Furry Bean opened its mouth and meowed.

Then it thumped down from midair, falling onto the grass.

Since it wasn’t a high fall, it didn’t hit the ground hard, and the dog quickly got up, shook its head, wagged its tail, and happily trotted to Zheng Qing’s side, sticking out its tongue.