High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1638: Chapter 382: A Candlelit Night Tour

”Did you hear the sound of a deer?”

Zheng Qing instinctively tightened his grip on the charm gun, looking around cautiously into the dense darkness, as if at any moment a grim-faced sharp fork would come crashing from the shadows, with glaring scarlet eyes.

”No, it didn’t!”

Jiang Yu raised her voice slightly, interrupting Zheng Qing’s erroneous topic, while glaring fiercely at the black cat before unscrewing the cap of another opaque wide mouth bottle: ”... Speaking of light, I just happen to have some herbs candles in my bag that might come in handy.”

The black cat slurped the last bit of wine from its cup, then silently shrunk smaller, turning its head away, pretending not to see the witch’s glance.

The witch, with a stern face, tapped the wide mouth bottle with her finger.

A dark yellow bead trembled out of the bottle. The bead was small, about half an inch in diameter, with a slightly uneven surface, and the center protruded a thin black wick, swaying lightly in the night breeze, much like San Mao’s hair.

Zheng Qing instinctively touched his own cowlick.

”Is this a herbs candle?”

He curiously examined the ’bead,’ openly displaying his surprise: ”I thought... I mean, aren’t herbs candles supposed to be candles?”

”Idiot,” the black cat muttered under its breath.

But everyone present directly ignored its grumbling.

”Yes,” the witch casually flicked her hair behind her ear and answered in a light tone: ”Herbs candles are a special type of magic candle. An ancient rite has it, ’with a sheep as sacrifice, a candle for worship... the candle, made of pure herbs and white fabric.’”

”By Merlin’s beard!”

The Old Witch Demon hunched over, exaggeratedly spreading his arms, pointing towards the plain before the valley, ”Honorable young master and generous lady... we have just sacrificed a sheep by chance! This is Merlin’s decree!”

Zheng Qing looked uncertainly at Jiang Yu.

He wasn’t sure if the Black Mountain Goat captured by the Kunpeng Hunting Team counted as their own sacrifice.

”It should count, I suppose.”

The witch was also unsure, but she still rubbed her fingers to create a flame, lighting the thin wick:

”The primary characteristic of ancient magic rituals was often to add many ’ineffective’ actions to the ritual... Initially to enhance the ritual’s mystique and to intensify the magical hierarchy attribute, but as time passed, later wizards had forgotten much of the original intent behind the fixed motions in these rituals, merely repeating mechanically and fogeyishly... I consider ’with a sheep as sacrifice’ to be such a type.”

The spark at her fingertips landed on the black wick, remained silent for a few seconds, then abruptly flared up — transforming into a brilliant orange-yellow spark, crackling, and burning brightly.

The small flame cast a glow on the witch’s face, making her smile ever warmer.

”...Phew!” she quietly exhaled, scanning around to measure everyone’s shadows: ”As a type of magic candle, herbs candles have the primary effect of dispelling and concentrating the mind, often used in conjunction with ’purity incense,’ by wizards in their abodes. Burning incense by day, lighting herb candles by night, provides an excellent environment for wizards to meditate or contemplate.”

”But in the Black Prison, the greatest effect of herbs candles instead is its auxiliary effect — within the range of candlelight, it can bind our aura into our shadow, minimizing the risk of unexpected guests spying on us.”

”As the ancients said, ’holding a candle for a night tour, there is good reason,’ it seems indeed so now.”

Zheng Qing praised, looking down at his shadow, which had indeed grown more intense; he had originally thought it was because the candlelight had brightened but hadn’t expected it to contain such a magical effect.

This way, it indeed made traveling safer in the Black Prison.

He quietly put away the talisman paper he had clenched in his palm, originally thinking hard about how to discreetly attach it to the witch without embarrassment, realizing now that it was unnecessary.

”How long can this... this bead of herbs candle last?” Zheng Qing asked, examining the bead that had burned slightly, and glanced at the floating wide mouth bottle, ”How many beads do you have in the bottle?”

”Eleven remaining,” Jiang Yu counted, putting the bottle back into her bag while answering, ”... Under normal conditions, a beads of herbs candle can last an hour, but I just discovered that magic power consumption in the Black Prison is unusually fast, and difficult to replenish, so further observation is needed...”

”No need to make it so complicated.”

In the darkness, the black cat’s impatient voice emerged: ”Stop dawdling, let’s hurry up! They’ll probably keep fighting for a while, too busy to notice us... Hou Bi Xiao Xing, three and five ahead!”

Zheng Qing rarely agreed with the black cat’s stance, but before he could voice his approval, he heard the illumination magic thrown out by the black cat.

With the recitation of the spell, five points of light suddenly appeared in the darkness, rapidly inflating into five light orbs of varying sizes, like stars of different brightness, they expanded and contracted, forming a sophisticated array, floating in mid-air, scattering around the party, casting a bright pale light all over.

Little stars, candlelight, plus the previously consumed green rice wine.

The darkness in the Black Prison World was no longer an obstacle for this small team.

”Let’s go!”

Zheng Qing waved his hand, signaling everyone to follow the path paved by the black cat down the mountain, while glancing at the Old Witch Demon cowering at the back: ”... Aren’t you supposed to lead the way?”

The Old Witch Demon hesitated for a few seconds.

”Is there a problem?” Zheng Qing keenly sensed the unease in its eyes.

”No, no, no problem.”

The Old Witch Demon hunched over, smiling ingratiatingly, but still rubbed its fingers, gesturing a slight gap: ”No problem at all... just a little suggestion.”

”You know, I’ve stayed in the Black Prison for quite a while, and have forgotten most other things, but the skills for survival I wouldn’t dare neglect... In the Black Prison, quietness and darkness can be the worst environments, but also the best camouflage; just by pretending to be a stone, we can evade many ruthless hunters.”

”Of course, now those formidable prisoners in the Black Prison have been recruited by those Great Demons, and the profound, long-lasting presence of the Lord Black Cat naturally isn’t afraid of those petty foes...”

”But just in case something happens, just in case there’s a vicious prisoner who disregards the summons of the Great Demon and dares to challenge the Lord Black Cat... You, my Honorable Young Master, naturally needn’t worry, but if the generous young lady or the miraculous little witch were to lose a few hairs, little old me would be beyond redemption.”

Zheng Qing listened for a while before finally understanding what it was trying to say.

”So much useless chatter!”

The young warlock rolled his eyes: ”No wonder you’ve survived in the Black Prison for so long... just tell me directly that lighting a lamp in the Black Prison is dangerous. Next time, don’t waste your breath with so much drivel.”

The Old Witch Demon hugged itself, hunched over, wearing a fake smile, repeatedly agreeing, with its piled-up wrinkles drowning its eyes, nearly obscuring the vivid crimson.