High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2275: Chapter 496: Surprises and Variables

What was ’not long ago’ to the gentleman seemed like a distant past to Zheng Qing.

If the young scholarship student remembered correctly, his entry into the Land of Void occurred at the end of April, and in a few days, it would be referred to as something that happened ’last year’.

Just thinking about it made the young man feel a bit dazed, and he instinctively glanced at a bookshelf not far away. Between several heavy reference books, there was a transparent sphere, inside which a peculiar little tree was gently swaying, as if waving at him.

His gaze was like it had been burned, and he quickly withdrew it.

”You once said,”

The warlock tried hard to dismiss the flutter of emotion that flashed through his mind, responding to the gentleman’s words with a dry voice: ”’The most exhilarating aspect of seeking truth is that you can never grasp all the variables’... Perhaps your ’unexpected events’ should be replaced with ’variables’.”

”Bingo!”

The gentleman put down his teacup, snapped his fingers, and his interest grew even stronger: ”In this world, as a ’forbidden curse’ that can break all rules, it’s surrounded by the easiest areas for ’unexpected events’ or rather ’variables’... Hmm, no wonder there have been increasingly complex matters at school over the years... Why didn’t I notice such an obvious rule before...”

Saying this, he raised his eyelids, glanced at the young scholarship student, and then nodded thoughtfully: ”Before your fourth generation, every forbidden spell was controlled by many wizards jointly, and casting required many wizards working together, never allowing for a situation of immense power concentrated in one person... The dispersion of the spell formula leads to reduced attraction to ’unexpected events’, while concentration means strengthened attraction... I always thought the frequent incidents around you were because of your greater contact with me. It now seems your own issues might be larger.”

On the desk, the Yellow Flowered Cat had its ears pricked, becoming distracted while playing with the Little Fox.

In front of the Small Red Clay Stove, Zheng Qing helped himself to a cup of tea.

The warm tea finally made his throat feel less dry.

”Is there any way to avoid these ’unexpected events’?” The young scholarship student pondered over his words: ”For instance, Transformation spells or certain Guardian magic?”

”If an unexpected event could be avoided, it would no longer be an unexpected event.”

The gentleman said something very philosophical, raising his teacup and clinking it with the young man’s cup: ”But your words gave me another inspiration... Since ’unexpected events’ or ’variables’ would be attracted to a forbidden curse, does it mean that, relying on this forbidden curse, we can find a way to construct a second forbidden curse with ’unexpected events or variables’ as a convergence path? If this forbidden curse is successfully constructed, then ’unexpected events or variables’ will never be your trouble again.”

Zheng Qing had come to the bookstore tonight originally to deliver a Christmas gift to the Little Fox.

He never expected to hear such a suggestion from the gentleman.

”Truly... a surprising solution.”

The young scholarship student nibbled on a tea leaf that fell in his mouth, savoring the slight bitterness it brought, smacking his lips: ”...Indeed, an unexpected event.”

...

...

When Zheng Qing and the gentleman were discussing ’unexpected events’ in front of the Small Red Clay Stove.

Korma encountered her own unexpected event.

When she followed Zheng Qing and Su Shijun into San You Bookstore, the store that appeared pitch-black from outside suddenly lit up with a warm orange glow. From darkness to light, the vivid brightness made her squint subconsciously.

Then, when she reopened her eyes, Zheng Qing and Su Shijun, who had been walking in front, were nowhere to be seen.

In the somewhat cramped bookstore, densely packed bookshelves stood tall, crisscrossed with a powerful sense of oppression coming straight at her. Looking up, the color of the ceiling was almost invisible, and the narrow corridors between bookshelves stretched endlessly into vast, deep places, giving one the feeling of peering into a boundless starry sky or an endless ocean, inducing awe.

”The ocean of knowledge is more suffocating than the real ocean.”

An elderly and gentle voice sounded beside the witch: ”This suffocation is spiritual, more despairing than physical. But just like those words in the Jiuyou Academy library — only a firm belief can guide you not to get lost in the ocean of knowledge. Hmm, that’s generally what it means.”

This voice seemed to be right beside her.

Korma was startled but managed to suppress her impulse to step back because she distinctly remembered that retreating further would take her out of the door.

After calming down from the momentary fright, she noticed it was a slightly short and plump elder wizard speaking, wearing black round glasses, with a Yellow Flowered Cat resting on his shoulder, standing not far from her, smiling at her.

The Yellow Flowered Cat’s tail hung down from the elder wizard’s chest, listlessly swaying with a bored look.

”I...”

She had just spoken a word when the elder wizard raised a finger and gave it a slight wave, and the witch immediately found herself unable to speak.

”I am Zheng Qing’s gentleman, and perhaps also the person you want to meet.”

The elder wizard waved his hand, turning towards the depths of the bookshelves and strolled unhurriedly as he spoke: ”No need to worry about others, everyone has their fate... I know you came to seek my opinion. But I must tell you, that matter requires your own decision.”

”Youth, ignorance, and recklessness, to me, are synonyms. And they are closely linked with ’unexpected events’. Sometimes, decisions made by ’unexpected events’ turn out better than the ’carefully considered’ outcomes of the elders.”

”Just like your appearance in the bookstore today is also an unexpected event.”

”This unexpected event might bring you good luck, or it might bring you trouble in the future. I won’t let ’authority’ influence your decisions, but I hope you can organize your decisions from a higher perspective... Ah, found it!”

The gentleman pulled out a book from the shelf, turned around, and handed it to the witch. After a slight hesitation, under the disdainful gaze of the Yellow Flowered Cat, he reminded: ”...In the days to come, you will face betrayal, slander, entrapment, isolation, bullying, abandonment, and anguish, experiences that can be described and some that cannot. Sometimes, you might even face the suspicion and doubt of the entire Wizard World.”

”Can you endure it?”

”No, don’t answer me now... I hope long after, when you think back to this conversation, you can happily pick up the teacup before you and drop a sugar cube into it.”

Saying this, the gentleman somehow produced a tray, containing a cup of hot tea and a small box of sugar cubes. The gentleman picked up a pair of tongs from the box, grabbed a sugar cube, and tossed it into the tea, then handed the teacup to the witch with a slight smile: ”The tea is fragrant but bitter; adding some sugar makes it less bitter... just like this.”

Korma somewhat dazedly accepted the teacup.

The next moment, her vision blurred, and she found herself behind the bar on the first floor of Sakura Pub, the teacup in her hand still swirling with pearly mist, with the sugar cube already melted into the tea water.

The witch frowned, hesitated for a few seconds, then raised the teacup to her lips and sipped lightly.

The slightly sweet bitterness seeped into her heart.

Then she looked at the book in her hand, the title made her frown slightly yet simultaneously smile knowingly — it was ”Entering First University”, a book many knew about at school but few actually read carefully.