High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 3014: Chapter 27: The Pumpkin Car Arriving from Silence

Zheng Qing suddenly felt a bit dazed upon hearing Jiang Yu’s question.

Unconsciously, more than two years had passed since the first black gemstone cat had left.

Two years ago, in the Cloud Sea World, the teacher extracted the ’soul’ of the first black gemstone cat and sacrificed it to the Forbidden Spell Book, which allowed Zheng Qing to safely use the power of the forbidden curse at a very low rank.

He wouldn’t end up like in his first year, where he was blown apart by the curse power due to unauthorized use of the forbidden curse.

However, as a rather ordinary avatar, the power of the black gemstone cat’s ’soul’ was ultimately insufficient, and the sacrifice allowed for limited usage time. Thus, Zheng Qing nurtured a few more black gemstone cats as a backup later.

”—Your gemstone is here.”

Zheng Qing pulled out the remains of the first black gemstone cat from the grey cloth bag while cautiously watching the big hammer held by Xiao Bai and sincerely explained the circumstances. In the end, he expressed his regret very earnestly: ”In short, I am very sorry!”

Looking at that piece of dull black stone with a very clear crack on it, the witch’s expression visibly relaxed and she didn’t mind, instead seeming quite pleased.

”Being able to help is a good thing,” she said as she glanced at the Hairy Dragon Bracelet still tied to the boy’s wrist, looking increasingly satisfied, then glanced at the three little black cats perched on Zheng Qing’s shoulder and added: ”—I’ll find a few gemstones with abundant spiritual energy for you later, they are easier to nurture.”

The words were said casually, but to the three little black cats, they sounded ill-intentioned.

Fortunately, Zheng Qing noticed something was amiss early on, slightly shook his shoulders, and made the three little black cats who were about to speak fall back into the hood.

”—This gemstone.” He weighed the remains of the first black gemstone cat in his hand, hesitating whether to return it to Jiang Yu.

Before he could make up his mind, there was a loud noise by his feet.

BANG!

Xiao Bai heavily slammed the hammer onto the ground, creating a beautiful web-like crack on a complete green brick. Then, without uttering a word, she stared intently at the boy.

Zheng Qing was somewhat unnerved under her gaze and hesitated for a moment, then tentatively handed over the black gemstone remains: ”—How about you help keep this gemstone safe?”

With her ears drooping, Xiao Bai stood upright, took the gemstone in both hands, leaped, and vanished into Jiang Yu’s hood as a streak of white light.

The two young wizards glanced at each other.

It seemed the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Just at this moment, Zheng Qing’s ears twitched slightly, and he frowned while looking towards the direction of the door: ”—Did you hear any noises?”

”Noises?” Jiang Yu also frowned, tilting her head to listen.

—Ring ring ring!

Faint tinkling bell sounds, accompanied by the night breeze, intermittently reached into the courtyard.

Ring—ring—ring—

”Where is this bell sound coming from?”

Dylan turned back alertly, possessing very keen hearing as a blood werewolf, he easily caught the disharmonious sound coming from the Silent Forest.

Accompanied by his vigilance,

The atoning hunters scattered at the doorway immediately distanced themselves from each other, forming an all-encompassing nested array. Everyone focused their attention in Dylan’s wary direction.

In the quiet night, the dark Silent Forest seemed like Leviathan’s open mouth, swallowing all concepts not belonging to this forest—from the moonlight falling from the sky to the quiet conversations of the young wizards—but it couldn’t swallow that intermittent tinkling bell sound.

No, not just the bell sound.

Amid the vigilance of the atoning hunters, a slightly floating orange light dot appeared faintly in the darkness. It seemed like a lost firefly, wandering slowly and swaying in the darkness beside, appearing as if it might be swallowed next second by a tongue flicking out from the darkness, making people subconsciously worried for it.

But the concern didn’t materialize after all.

The orange light remained steady, inching closer to where the abandoned palace was situated.

And as it approached, the tinkling bell sound became ever clearer.

By now, no one would mistake the light dot for a firefly; whether it was a monster’s single eye or a ghost fire lantern crossing through, no one knew the right answer before it got closer.

”—Who will knock on the door to remind our two captains that there seems to be an uninvited guest approaching from the forest?”

Xiao Xiao sat in the center of the battle array, giving orders while frowning as he watched the slightly glowing crystal ball in front of him—the smooth surface reflected patches of mist in varying density, warning that the Divination Hunter Team was now in a very dangerous environment. However, these mists had existed before the bell sound and orange light appeared.

In other words, since they were currently in the depths of Silent Forest, the surrounding environment must be dangerous. The appearance of the bell sound and orange light did not make the situation any worse.

”—No need to knock, we heard it too.”

The wooden door behind the battle array silently opened, Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu came out one after the other, while the yellow flowered cat, which had disappeared somewhere before, was now tail lifted, energetically following alongside.

This gave Zheng Qing an ominous feeling.

But before he could ponder that fleeting unease, he noticed the strange glances directed towards him.

Xin Fat Man sidled up to Xiao Xiao, sighing ’very softly’: ”—The professor was right. Someone’s indeed tough and resilient!”

Zhang Yudou looked him up and down, adding: ”Dust on the head, creases on the clothes...but the face is clean, not a scratch. Is this the advantage of having thick skin?”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qing’s face turned black immediately.

Jiang Yu lightly coughed, explaining: ”—I was just helping Zheng Qing demolish the house earlier. He plans to rebuild the courtyard. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

She spoke sincerely.

This statement was mostly factual.

But at this moment, no one believed her. Sometimes human nature works this way: the more you explain things you haven’t done, the guiltier you appear; whereas for things you have done, seeming nonchalant makes people less likely to question—it’s as though everyone believed she had just given Zheng Qing a beating, and the current cover-up was to save his face.

Just like the saying goes, everyone only wants to believe what they choose to believe.

Ring—ring—ring!

The increasingly closer bell sound interrupted this little episode at the door.

”Hou Bi Xiao Xing!”

A small white star rose from within the hunting array, illuminating the surrounding area for several miles and completely enveloping the orange light dot, exposing its presence.

The orange light dot belonged to a small orange lamp.

And the small orange lamp belonged to a rotund pumpkin carriage.

The pumpkin carriage was drawn by four fluffy white big mice, the driver being the young wizards’ familiar companion, belonging to the Atonement Hunting Team—Dangdang Ears.

The tense atmosphere lingering at the door gradually dissipated.

It was replaced by the sparkling eyes young hunters exchanged with one another.