High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2415: Chapter 636: Eighth Day of the Lunar New Year

February 21st, eighth day of the new year.

Also the last day of winter vacation.

Last year, by the time the ’last day’ arrived, all members of dorm room 403 had been wandering around the school for over a week, and even completed a task from Gini Cottage, assisting Beta Town in resisting a small wave of the Black Tide.

This year, however, by afternoon, half of the dormitory’s beds were still empty—Xin Fat Man wrote saying he was still in Venice on a field trip, trying to trace the origins of the ’Ravens’; Dylan was on the run.

In the literal sense of ’running away’.

According to an unnamed Paper Crane, O’Brien and the Tabbot Family had agreed together, demanding that classmate Dylan marry a Zombie Bride, hoping that in the future a ’super bloodline’ combining the werewolf, vampire, and zombie three high clans of the Moon could be born. However, classmate Dylan did not want to have any contact with a certain pale-faced zombie lady whose actual physical age was over five hundred, beyond fingertip contact.

So he decisively ran away.

During this time, the Blood Werewolf has been constantly on the move to avoid being caught by family and even hid in an Inuit tribe, thus his arrival at school would be delayed by a few days—Starry Sky Academy, although without Alpha’s habit of extending vacations, wasn’t as harsh as Jiuyou either; occasionally being late by a few days was no big deal.

”When he said at first that his family arranged several balls for him, needing him to go home, I thought it was just some regular social balls.” Zheng Qing shook his head, a flame igniting at his fingertip, reducing that paper crane to ashes, ”Who would have thought it would be this...”

”It’s quite normal.”

Doctor Xiao squatted in front of a few sunflowers, focusing on the sprites in the flower pans, answering without lifting his head, ”O’Brien and Tabbot are both major families in the Moon Council; the fact that Dylan could be born must represent some kind of will from the upper echelons of the two families. Those born from such backgrounds naturally don’t have much freedom of choice...”

The sprites had over a dozen silver needles of varying lengths stuck into them, swaying slightly as the Warlock spoke. Fatty Cat Tuan Tuan, unnaturally alert, had its tail up, circling the vase silently, eyeing the Doctor’s every move with concern.

”Not much freedom of choice,” Zheng Qing repeated the last sentence of Xiao Xiao unconsciously, reminding himself of Jiang Yu, his tone tinged with a hint of worry.

Doctor raised his head, glancing at him, adjusting his glasses.

”Your situation with Jiang Yu is not the same.”

He lowered his head again, continuing to observe the sprites, his tone unchanging, ”If over in Zhongshan they genuinely didn’t want anything to develop between the two of you, they wouldn’t have allowed her to graduate early, much less turn a blind eye to her moving into Greenhill Mansion a week early without taking any action... As for Su Councilor, you already have a child together, so why bother with others’ gossiping? This is a fait accompli.”

Zheng Qing had already told him about the matter of early graduation.

”Same difference, babbling nonsense.”

The young scholarship student habitually said stubbornly for a moment, and then deftly diverted the Doctor’s attention, steering the topic back to a certain hapless person, ”But Dylan is also funny, didn’t he always claim he was over a thousand years old? Even a five-hundred-year-old yellow flower maiden didn’t mind him, and he had to run away...”

”Not bad.” The Doctor blurted out suddenly.

”What?” Zheng Qing didn’t react for a moment.

Xiao Xiao bent down, carefully removing the varying lengths of silver needles from the sprites, concentrating on his task, his voice calm, ”I meant that these little guys aren’t doing too badly right now. Based on current passive observations, their life force is vibrant, state stable... slight fluctuations in their aura are within safe limits... Of course, if you want more accurate results, I might need to collect some skin scraps, snip a few hairs, or draw a few drops of blood from them, though I think... Hmm, where’d he go?”

The Doctor looked up intending to consult the sprite owner’s opinions, only to find the room empty, with someone vanishing abruptly again. He turned his head to glance at the tail-up Fat Cat.

Tuan Tuan’s gaze was glued to the sprites, and upon sensing the Doctor’s gaze merely twitched its ears, snorted aside, indicating it neither cared nor knew.

The Doctor shook his head, poured himself a glass of water.

Upon entering the dormitory, he hadn’t even got a sip of water yet, already pulled to do labor.

...

...

Zheng Qing was snatched away after he heard, ”The little guys aren’t doing too badly.”

So when that familiar dizziness came over, he wasn’t panicked, nor did he feel regret; even when he caught the familiar whiff of smoke, he had time to pinch his nose and place a couple of spirit talismans that protect consciousness on himself—this was something the office director had once reminded him of during a visit.

Achoo!

Nearby came the slightly suppressed sneeze of the witch.

Zheng Qing steadied himself, shook his head vigorously, and turned to see Jiang Yu too appearing in the room. She was wearing a plain long dress, a book of ”Standard Spells - University Second Grade” clutched in her hand, her hair tied back in a simple bun with a few strands falling at her cheeks, appearing a little unkempt.

”Professor!”

A slightly suppressed, annoyed voice of the witch echoed in the room.

”Ah, sorry, sorry.”

The esteemed dean of Jiuyou Academy seemed to realize his blunder, repeatedly apologizing, snapping his fingers; the witch’s figure vanished abruptly, and along with it disappeared the smoky chaos in the office.

Only then did Zheng Qing put down the hand pinching his nose, took a deep breath.

”Ah, there’s quite a difference between girls and boys, almost overlooked that.” Old Yao shook the ash from the pipe bowl, chuckling dryly, flicking his fingers, muttering to himself, ”Should be fine now...”

Snap!

He snapped his fingers again, Jiang Yu’s silhouette reappeared in front of the desk; however, this time the witch’s hair was neatly styled, her makeup impeccable, and she wore a bright red Jiuyou Academy robe adorned with the school emblem. Zheng Qing subconsciously straightened his back, nonchalantly tugging the slightly wrinkled robe corner.

”Good afternoon, Professor.” The witch greeted, mechanically composed, bowing formally.

”Good, good, it’s been hard on you.”

Old Yao cleared his throat, pointed at a bookcase nearby: ”This is Master Bao Yangzi from the ’relevant department’; regarding your application for Time Conversion, he needs to conduct a brief interview... just procedural matters, no need to be nervous, simply speak truthfully.”

Zheng Qing gazed in the direction he pointed, realizing only then that a full-headed white, long-bearded, rosy-faced Elder Wizard stood in front of the enormous redwood bookcase. His figure was unusually conspicuous, but until Old Yao confirmed, Zheng Qing hadn’t noticed his presence at all.