High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2075: Chapter 296: Gathering Materials

Snap!

A small bug fell from the tree, landing on the hands of Zheng Qing and Nicholas as they clasped.

It was a wood-borer beetle.

This is a small beetle that feeds on leaves. The female lays its larvae on a tree, and from birth to maturity, the larvae feed on that tree’s leaves.

At this moment, this little beetle was curling its tarsi, motionless, with two long antennae drooping on either side of its body, slightly swaying in the wind, as if it were dead.

Zheng Qing dismissed it—being hit by a bug in the Silent Forest was as normal as could be. Even if a bug crawled into your nostril, ear, or even mouth, it wasn’t unusual—he raised his hand, intending to flick the little bug away.

Once, twice, thrice.

The young cost student flicked three times in a row but failed to hit it every time!

The world before his eyes seemed to have doubled, layered over and over. The fingers he extended turned from one into four or five, and the bug in his hand seemed to have entered a kaleidoscope, appearing in countless fragments, making it impossible for him to tell which was real and which was an illusion.

He couldn’t help but blink hard, lifted his head to look into the distance, hoping to restore sanity through ’distant view.’ Until this moment, he still thought this was merely a symptom of magical imbalance caused by the backlash of the previous formation.

But as far as the eye could see, the entire world’s proximity, height, and size began to distort.

The boy felt a sudden chill, turning to look at his companions.

Dylan hung upside down on a sycamore tree, his arms crossed over his chest, his whole body exuding a faint red aura—this was the form the Blood Race took when sleeping in the wild, as he had heard Xiao Xiao mention.

If Dylan paid attention to sleeping decorum, then Xin Fat Man had no such psychological burdens at all. He stood behind Zheng Qing with arms crossed, his snoring slight and abrupt, clearly sleeping carelessly.

Beside the Fat Wizard, the red-faced male wizard was still rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, struggling to resist the sudden onset of sleepiness. As the most experienced hunter of the Absolution, he knew better than anyone what falling asleep in the Silent Forest meant.

”It is... high-tier... slumber... twist... whew.”

Xiao Xiao gritted his teeth, his voice intermittent. In front of him lay the set of Bamboo Slip Law Books given to him by Sima, a feather pen in his hand trembled as though he was trying to supplement a spell on the spot, but the skewed strokes on the slips indicated that his efforts were doomed to be ineffective.

From the side, Nicholas’s voice faintly reached, as if bidding farewell, yet also like anxious shouting, the sound melodious and distant, as if through a thick barrier.

The world began to spin.

Zheng Qing completely lacked the strength, feeling as if wrestling with the wind.

”Silence and Think!”

The young cost student used the last bit of strength to throw several Calm Heart Talismans at his companions. Xiao Xiao slowly rolled his eyes at him, his glasses askew, snoring loudly.

Then, Zheng Qing also fell asleep.

Crickets, birds, fish, fallen leaves, and little winds, all vanished, even the silently flowing Silent River became more muted.

The entire forest was silent, as if it had sunk into ancient slumber.

...

...

Swish!

Swish swish!

One black-robed figure after another landed by the river bend, each wearing a raven mask, numbered from zero three all the way to twenty-one.

”The Silent Forest should be renamed the Sleeping Forest today.” Crow No. 3, with his usual flippant manner, joked with No. 7.

This time, No. 7 ignored him, holding a law book and cautiously observing the surroundings.

”Relax, relax.” Crow No. 3 patted his companion’s shoulder confidently, ”This Sleeping Spell today, was crafted by the Big Wizard...”

”Be quiet!”

A cold female voice interrupted Crow No. 3’s chatter, it was the witch who had previously hosted the green net, she glared fiercely at No. 3.

Crow No. 3 tilted his head, raised his hand adorably, and mimicked zipping his lips in front of the long bird beak.

”The Sleeping Spell’s effect is remarkable, no conscious targets detected!”

”The School Guardian Array will scan through this area in five minutes!”

”Hunter Committee Observation Group shows no abnormal reactions!”

”Hunting Competition liaison mechanism is functioning normally!”

The nearest two hunting teams are the Jiu You Hunting Team and the Judgement Hunting Team, 19.31 kilometers away... The conflict between the two teams will not affect the project.”

”The Shielding Array will expire in four minutes and thirty-seven seconds!”

Puffs of cyan flames appeared before the witch, transforming into green birds, reporting one piece of news after another, chirping and gathering together, becoming the only sound within a few miles.

The witch raised her hand.

Several pairs of eyes fell on her simultaneously.

”As planned,” she waved her arm calmly, issuing an order: ”Twelve to twenty-one, you go collect materials... including the fishman hiding in the river; No. 6, No. 9, No. 11, go plant Qiao trees, mind the leaf range and effect; No. 3 and No. 7, are the male deer-completes ready?”

”Of course!”

Crow No. 3 immediately patted the law book hanging at his waist, full of confidence: ”Two male deer-completes in their mating season, at their prime, their teeth are definitely fine!”

The witch ignored his later ramblings, her gaze falling upon her busy companions.

On the flat and damp riverbank, the nine hunters of the Absolution Team and Fringe Hunting Team lay sprawled, their snores thundering. One raven after another landed beside them, opening the toolboxes they carried, and began collecting ’materials’.

They donned thin silken gloves, carefully snipping some hair strands from these young wizards, using rubber-tipped pipettes to extract liquid from their mouths, then releasing creatures as large as palms, resembling mosquitoes, to extract blood and other body fluids from different parts of their bodies.

The witch scrutinized the bellies of these mosquitoes.

The Zhang family child’s blood, heavy as mercury, made the witch feel like the mosquitoes drawing his blood would drag their bellies to the ground; the O’Brien child, though bearing a werewolf bloodline, had pitifully little blood, the blood-sucking mosquito’s proboscis bent while sucking, yet its belly remained flat; and as for that Blue Giant, perhaps due to previously hosting the formation, the giant’s blood still boiled, causing the mosquito drawing its blood to turn bright blue, like an anomaly.

Then, her gaze fell upon her main target.

The captain of the Absolution Hunting Team.

A boy named Zheng Qing.

The instant the proboscis of the blood-sucking mosquito penetrated his body, it burst into flames spontaneously, turning to ashes.

”Try again.”

The witch calmly ordered, ”Don’t waste ordinary mosquitoes, use the mother bug directly... the Professor already anticipated this situation.”

A mosquito nearly twice the size of others, but with a finer proboscis, landed on the boy’s arm. This time, the fresh blood gushed into the mosquito’s belly, kept within a golden aura.