High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2227: Chapter 448: Friday Morning

Compared to the public uproar after the article from the ”Daily Horn Newspaper”, the analysis report from ”Beta Town Post” this time received little response. Zheng Qing had placed ten Nightmare Dolls beside his pillow the night before, and when he woke up in the morning, surprisingly there were still nine dolls with their heads intact.

Thinking about it carefully, it’s not hard to understand.

On one hand, it’s because the end of the year and the holidays are approaching, so many people’s thoughts have long flown to more distant places; on the other hand, it is also largely related to the stance of the Post’s article.

According to the Post’s ’opinion’, there is no ’intimate’ relationship rumored between Zheng Qing and Su Shijun. He is merely a fraud seeking attention and fame, someone with a personality disorder.

To be honest, Zheng Qing couldn’t quite distinguish which narrative was worse; perhaps both were equally bad.

But if he had to choose, he’d rather be the fraud described by the Post.

At least, a fraud doesn’t need to wear an Invisibility Talisman to class, or frequently face embarrassing challenges or doubts, nor does he need to place Nightmare Dolls under his pillow every night.

Of course, there are benefits to wearing an Invisibility Talisman to class.

Essentially, you can sleep openly in class without worrying about being penalized by the professor—as long as you don’t grind your teeth, snore, or talk in your sleep while doing so.

On Friday morning during Alchemy class, Zheng Qing sat in a corner of the classroom, listening to the teaching assistant on the podium drone on, repetitively reciting the textbook content with a monotonous voice, making him drowsy.

The winter sunlight is always exceptionally warm.

Sitting by the window, with clear light spilling onto him, Zheng Qing felt an urge to become a cat and start purring. Only at such times did he strongly miss the freedom of attending classes with an Invisibility Talisman.

The sound from the podium was incomprehensible.

It wasn’t quiet under the podium, either.

Occasionally, someone would turn a page, a sound rising and falling, mixed with the rustling of Xiao Xiao or someone else writing, making it even harder to keep one’s eyes open.

Besides that, there were other sounds of daydreaming.

Zhang Ji Xin and Xin Fat Man, sitting in the row in front of Zheng Qing, had their heads almost buried in the drawer, whispering, seemingly discussing the guest list for Sunday’s D&K anniversary; farther away, several witches were quietly but intensely discussing the upcoming Christmas Moonlight Dance—it’s said that this year’s ball is exceptionally grand due to Su Shijun’s attendance, with many young Wizards in the Alliance trying their utmost to secure an invitation.

Moonlight Dance.

This was another source of stress for Zheng Qing.

Whenever this term came to mind, he felt a shortness of breath, enough to spoil even his naps. Perhaps some higher power heard the Warlock’s impolite internal curses and promptly delivered retribution.

The ears of the young Wizard who was dozing off twitched.

Because the sounds in the classroom abruptly stopped—from the teaching assistant’s boring voice on the podium to the whispers of the witches in the corner, from the chalk screeching on the blackboard to the rustling of turning pages, even including the sound of breathing—everything seemed frozen in an instant.

Zheng Qing knew why. Even without opening his eyes, he could sense a somewhat familiar vast magic power swirling and coalescing at the classroom door, the released pressure intimidating everyone inside.

The Warlock suddenly raised his head along with everyone else, looking toward the door.

The raging magic power was already visible to the naked eye, like an artist splashing paint on a white canvas, intertwining in the void, slowly outlining the graceful figure of a witch.

From hazy to clear, she transitioned from illusion to reality.

It was Su Shijun.

A Su Shijun not wearing glasses.

By simply standing at the door, she captured all the world’s colors—the corridor, the ceiling, the blackboard, desks, chairs, books, even the blue sky and the golden sunlight outside—all seemed to lose their sense of existence at that moment.

Zheng Qing looked blank, feeling the laser-like scrutiny from multiple eyes sweeping over him momentarily, those gazes filled with weighing judgment.

But more eyes remained fixed on the witch at the door, as if the beauty before them was a delicate porcelain, shattering with the slightest shift in focus.

”Oh, sorry, sorry.”

Realizing the surrounding silence, the Upper House Member of the Moon Council chuckled, took out a pair of glasses, and placed them on her nose, as if a cloud had obscured the sun, making the world abruptly dim.

”I’m truly sorry,” the witch’s cheerful voice resonated in the small classroom: ”I just learned a little skill, not yet mastered... apologies for the disturbance.”

The teaching assistant on the podium was the first to recover.

”No, not at all, you, you...”

He stammered, face flushed, unable to string together a coherent sentence for a long time.

”Oh, I’m here for Zheng Qing.”

The Upper House Member of the Moon Council smiled understandingly, stating her purpose while looking around naturally and asked: ”Is Zheng Qing here?”

”She’s looking for Zheng Qing?”

”She’s looking for Zheng Qing!”

”Where’s Zheng Qing?”

”Zheng Qing!”

The young Wizard had just processed these chaotic, eager, and noisy voices when he saw large hands descending from the sky. Xin Fat Man, sitting in front of him, leaned half of his body toward the rear, grabbed Zheng Qing’s collar with both hands, and viciously yanked him off the bench.

Zheng Qing found himself suspended in front of the desk, awkward and a bit dizzy.

Finally managing to stand firm, he looked toward the door, with a few funny red marks still on his face from sleeping. For a second, he was immensely grateful that he hadn’t drooled while napping, preserving a shred of dignity.

Dozens of eyes stared straight at him.

The feeling was terrible, yet it oddly carried a sort of wonder.

Especially when those gazes were filled with intense emotions ranging from envy to jealousy, amazement to annoyance, and then to sadness and disbelief—it was like a pot of rich soup, suffocating the onlooker.

The Upper House Member of the Moon Council nodded slightly toward the male student.

Then turned to the young teaching assistant of Alchemy: ”I need Zheng Qing’s help with some small matters...”

Before she could finish, the teaching assistant hurriedly nodded repeatedly: ”No problem, no issue... Zheng Qing? Zheng Qing! Hurry up!... Sorry, this student’s seat is a bit towards the back... Please wait a moment.”

Evidently, he was pleased with his ability to finally speak fluently.

Zheng Qing hastily gathered his books on the desk, then under the prodding from his peers, made his way toward the door with shaky limbs. His classmates’ gazes were like daggers, each step making tiny cuts.

While passing by the first row of the classroom, he clearly heard Li Meng’s not very loud huff.

The boy guiltily glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing the little witch crossing her arms, pouting at him angrily, while the witch next to her sat quietly studying the law book with a calm expression.