High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2135: Chapter 256: The 12th Saturday

On the day of the Cold Clothing Festival, Zheng Qing ultimately did not buy any clothes.

It wasn’t because he was short on cash or didn’t know what to buy, but because, after returning to the dormitory that afternoon, he unexpectedly received two gifts.

One was from the girls’ dormitory, and the other from the Greenhill Mansion.

The gifts were surprisingly identical; they were both small articles of clothing that Zheng Qing absolutely couldn’t wear, immediately apparent as winter clothes for a certain short-haired cat.

However, the winter coat from Greenhill Mansion thoughtfully came with a furry tail cover, which, when the black cat put its tail into it, looked as if it had grown a fox tail; and the one from the girls’ dormitory had an extra pure white cross-collared fur collar, hanging around the neck like a lion’s mane.

Along with the gifts, there were also two short letters.

The content of the letters was also unexpectedly similar—the letter from Greenhill Mansion said the fabric leftover from making Poseidon’s winter clothes was used to make an extra piece for him; while the girls’ dormitory’s letter said that the extra winter coat was made for Li Neng.

Poseidon is a one-and-a-half-year-old little fox.

Li Neng is said to be a plush bear.

Zheng Qing never knew that one day he would have such a ’shared clothing’ bond with these two little creatures. Holding those two gifts, he was filled with mixed emotions and trembling lightly—in comparison, he would rather receive a dozen little voodoo dolls full of silver needles.

Xin Fat Man, holding the Fat Cat, concluded enviously and schadenfreudely: ”Imagine, a righteous, young, promising wizard who already has a widely known engagement, receiving two pieces of clothing on the ’Cold Clothing Festival’...”

”For a cat!”

The young cost-free student instinctively lifted the two small gifts, weakly retorting: ”These two pieces of clothing are for a cat, not me.”

The Fat Wizard shrugged with effort.

”Then you won’t mind if I write a news article with commentary about it, will you?” His greasy, fat face crumpled into a fake smile that looked particularly infuriating: ”Teaching young witches how to identify a scumbag cat...”

”Watch your language, sir.”

The cost-free student of Jiuyou Academy warned with a serious face: ”Slandering others with falsehoods is a very serious illegal act and doesn’t align with your professional ethics!... Especially in this sensitive and anxious atmosphere... A bit of careless action from you could cause irreparable dangerous consequences!”

”You!”

The Fat Wizard raised the innocent-looking Tuan Tuan with both hands, his expression and movements equally exaggerated: ”He actually used the word ’You’ like it’s nothing! And he actually cares about words like ’violation’ or ’ethics’!”

”I think...” Zheng Qing cleared his throat.

”Exactly! Of course! ’You think’!” said the Fat Wizard, putting the Fat Cat heavily on his head, his expression stern: ”Our respected ’First Gentleman’, ’Prince of Jiuyou’, and ’Young Master of Green Hills’, when bringing a child less than a year old to school, isn’t he already prepared to be an irresponsible scumbag?”

”Absolutely not!” The young cost-free student resolutely denied it, trying to prove to the stern journalist in front of him that he did not know Poseidon’s identity before enrolling.

But before he could think of how to organize his words, the journalist couldn’t wait to draw a conclusion.

”Absolutely unprepared?”

The Fat Wizard showed a satisfied sneer: ”You really weren’t prepared to be a scumbag, otherwise, you wouldn’t find yourself in such an embarrassing situation now... A real scumbag can juggle two balls like a circus clown while making sure the remaining three don’t fall!”

The slow creaking of the coffin board in Dylan’s tent signaled Dylan’s preparation to get up for his evening class.

Zheng Qing discreetly breathed a sigh of relief, seizing the chance while the journalist’s attention was drawn to the creaking coffin board, he sneaked back to his tent with those two small clothes.

...

...

In the following days, Zheng Qing, having received two gifts, carefully maintained a fragile balance within his field of vision like a clown holding two balls in his hands, never acting impulsively or neglecting any bad phenomenon, strictly practicing Jiuyou Academy’s ’justice and equality’.

This made him feel like he was walking on a very thin wire all day long.

Until Saturday.

He finally got a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.

At eight o’clock on Saturday night, Zheng Qing turned into a black cat—nearly a week had passed since he last used Transformation, and the side effects hadn’t occurred for a long time, enough to muster the courage to look at the Transformation Potion box again.

The black cat wore a Ruby Ring from the Seven Sins on its paw wrist, with a small, ambiguously revealing white mask on its face, passing through countless secluded corners and eaves under the night sky, eventually reaching today’s destination, the Wandering Bar, along a route that an ordinary wizard would never take.

As always, it did not enter from the front door, but found a narrow gap between the windows and the eaves and slipped into this famous black market in the wizard world.

Unexpected yet reasonable, at the end of that gap awaited a polite Multi-armed Tribe Attendant—for a black market that could survive a long time under the noses of the First University, it’s impossible to leave such a big gap for anyone to come and go at will. Presumably, that path was reserved for special guests like the black cat—upon seeing the masked black cat, the servant’s face did not show a hint of surprise, but rather led the black cat along a quiet passageway to the second floor into a small private room.

Zheng Qing had been to these kinds of private rooms before, the décor was similar, groups of plump fireflies clung to the ceiling, a low tea table stood in the center, comfortable sofas were against the walls, and there was a small wine cabinet and bar in the corner.

An old gray Pointed Wizard Hat rested on the bar, precisely the type commonly worn by the Wandering Wizard.

The black cat skillfully trod on the soft sofa, made a few strides, and leaped onto the small bar, tilting its head to look at the obstructive pointed wizard hat, finally kicking it off, then squatted on the bar, carefully examining the bottles on the shelves.

A cheerful voice of the Wandering Wizard echoed from the back:

”Kicking the host’s hat to the ground upon entering, that’s certainly no manners for a guest.”

The black cat slightly tilted its head, noticing that the wizard hat behind it didn’t fall to the ground as expected, but instead floated lightly in mid-air, blackish hues surging beneath its brim, outlining the hazy figure of the Wandering Wizard.

It was a projection.

That hat was the medium for the projection.

This thought flashed through the black cat’s mind, and, realizing it, it instinctively curled its lips: ”Having a shadow greet guests, isn’t proper hospitality either.