High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1590: Chapter 334: Chasing the Sheep and Pursuing the Ghost

The Yellow Flowered Cat sat crouched on the windowsill, pressing a small yellow fish under its paw.

The fish’s skin was fried to a crisp, golden brown, emitting a charred fragrance that had long since stripped away the last traces of life. All that remained were those pale fish eyes, staring blankly at the grayish-white sky, occasionally flickering with an uncanny sheen.

However, the Yellow Flowered Cat’s attention wasn’t focused on the dried fish.

It squinted, observing the black-robed wizards hastily passing by the windows of the San You Bookstore. Occasionally, its gaze would sweep past the imposing walls and fall upon other corners of the town.

Mr. Wu lay in his rocking chair, a thread-bound ancient book without a cover cradled in his arms. His round black-framed glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose, yet this did nothing to stop him from continuing his nap.

Beside the rocking chair.

The small tea furnace had been burning all night, piling a thick layer of white ash inside the hearth. Only a few dark red embers were left, flickering weakly amidst the ash, exhaling their dwindling warmth.

Woo woo!

The little red clay teapot screamed twice, signaling that the water inside it had boiled again.

The shrill cry startled the bookstore owner from his dreams, but the striped Flower Cat remained utterly indifferent—though, it wasn’t entirely unresponsive. Upon hearing the teapot’s shriek, the Yellow Flowered Cat twitched its ears twice, curling the soft fur in its ear canals to block out the noise. Mr. Wu adjusted his sliding glasses, yawned, and lazily stretched.

”What time is it?”

He reached out and touched the small red clay teapot, feeling the warmth of its body. In his hand, the teapot purred contentedly, gurgling softly, much like a cat basking in afternoon sunlight.

The Yellow Flowered Cat flicked its tail, ignoring the bookstore owner’s question.

”You don’t need to keep staring.” Mr. Wu lifted the teapot, taking a sip of tea, and cast a somewhat helpless glance at the Flower Cat. ”If you have this much free time, you might as well take a nap.”

”Are you truly going to remain uninvolved?” The Yellow Flowered Cat finally withdrew its gaze from the window and turned to look at the bookstore owner. ”I must warn you, things outside have become utterly chaotic... Every passing second spawns a dozen more possible futures. Just moments ago, I saw that Black Mountain Goat running upstream along the Silent River. Based on previous observations, it should have returned to the Silent Forest by now.”

Mr. Wu set down the red clay teapot, leaned back, and once again settled comfortably into his rocking chair.

”The future is meant to possess infinite possibilities.” He squinted lazily, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile of satisfaction. ”If everything were so certain, wouldn’t this world be unbearably dull?”

”The price for your ’amusement’ is putting this town, this school, this island, and even this world at unpredictable risk.” The Yellow Flowered Cat’s whiskers curled at the sides of its mouth, the gravity of the situation reflected in the stern expression on its feline face:

”You’re not a cat; you shouldn’t wield our kind of petulance... Bring that child back. His existence has become the greatest variable.”

”The unknown and the certain, chaos and order—they’re like two Yin and Yang fishes biting each other’s tails,” Mr. Wu murmured, his voice growing quieter and quieter until it was barely audible. ”This world was never meant to have an absolute future...”

The Yellow Flowered Cat let out a deep sigh, lowering its gaze to the dried fish beneath its paws.

For the first time, the dried fish seemed to have lost all flavor.

...

...

A translucent, pale blue fish paused in a secluded cove along the Silent River.

Its body was adorned with intricate white runes, which shimmered enchantingly in the morning light. Its two fins occasionally shivered gently, sending ripples across the water beneath it, releasing waves of captivating magical energy.

”Why did you stop?” A warlock’s voice suddenly emerged from within the fish’s belly, sounding slightly muffled, perhaps due to the enclosed space.

”Ahead is the First University’s protective array,” a little girl’s voice responded, tinged with apprehension. ”Should we keep going? Won’t the school’s old custodians catch us and beat us to death...?”

A third warlock’s voice echoed within the fish’s belly, sounding irritable. ”Is now the time to be worried about those old geezers? They’re all in the Black Prison—we’re working for them!”

Zhang Boren’s head emerged from the left eye socket of the fish.

Ishikawa poked out from the right eye socket.

”What’s the situation?” The Kunpeng Hunting Team leader gazed at the thin, mist-like layer of pale golden barrier several meters away, furrowing his brows and turning to his wandering hunter.

Ishikawa Ukyo lifted his hand, holding a jade-green paper crane that flitted cheerily above his palm, leaving behind a trail of faint green symbols.

”It’s already inside,” the swordsman answered succinctly. ”It passed through a crack in the riverbed’s barrier.”

”The school’s protective array has cracks?” Even as he witnessed it firsthand, the hunting team leader found it hard to believe. ”That’s absolutely insane!”

”The protective array is meant to stop ghosts,” the wandering hunter retorted earnestly. ”Even ghosts couldn’t sneak past this barrier unnoticed.”

”The strongest fortresses always fall from within their own walls.” From inside the blue fish’s abdomen came the voice of the team’s diviner. ”My crystal ball tells me this crack carries the traces of fishmen, Alpha, mice, and certain clans of the moon.”

”It’s probably the Blood Comrades’ black market channel.” The dwarf, Balin, immediately voiced his guess. ”Back in school, they always managed to procure rare items from the outside. Everyone knows they had their secret channels.”

Zhang Boren let out a heavy sigh. ”Downright evil and depraved.”

He stared at the countless ripples forming beneath the fish, paused for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the wandering hunter. ”Where does this tributary lead?”

Ishikawa moved his fingers slightly, prompting the jade-green paper crane to flutter its wings once more.

”Lin Zhong Lake,” the wandering hunter confirmed.

”What time is it now?” Zhang Boren asked while glancing down.

”Ten minutes to seven,” replied the diviner inside the fish’s belly. ”It’s Saturday, so at this hour, there aren’t likely to be any students lingering around the lake.”

”If we continue the pursuit, we can intercept the goat before it emerges from the lakebed,” the wandering hunter offered his opinion. ”But we’ll need to consider the fishman tribe—they might cause trouble during our hunt.”

The dwarf’s agitated voice came from within the fish belly. ”We’ve already breached the school’s barrier! Are we really going to care what those foul-smelling creatures think?”

”Indeed,” Zhang Boren glanced at Ishikawa, shook his head, then looked back at the pale golden barrier. He licked his lips, his eyes flickering with a hint of amusement. ”Time is running out for us... I believe those old men stuck in the Black Prison should be able to understand our choice.”

Moments later, the blue fish swished its tail, gracefully sinking into the murmuring waters of the Silent River.