High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2761 - 982: The First Drop of Dew After the Beginning of Summer

Thursday.March 23.

Year of the Geng Yin, Month of the Xin Si, Day of the Bing Chen.

Clash Dog, Direction South, Deity Department Destiny.

Today’s Old Calendar is quite peculiar.

Suitable: None.

Unsuitable: Avoid doing anything else.

’Avoid doing anything else’ means that apart from the activities deemed suitable on the Old Calendar, nothing else should be done; and on this day, coincidentally, the ’suitable’ activities are ’none’, meaning there is nothing suitable to do today.

Such a prescription doesn’t mean nothing can be done at all, but rather big events like groundbreaking, ceremonies, or traveling are inappropriate. Life still goes on—meals must be eaten, classes must be attended.

Originally, this was nothing out of the ordinary since days with ’suitable for nothing’ abound on the Old Calendar, and Zheng Qing had encountered many. Besides, if one strictly followed the Old Calendar, the vibrant extracurricular life of the young wizards at First University would be considerably diminished, significantly affecting the standing of the Old Calendar among the younger generation.

So most people just shrug off such days.

Few take them seriously.

But this laid-back attitude was shattered with the return of the Black Gem Cat—as fragile as a newly bought ice cream scoop that just hits the ground after one lick.

Before the Black Gem Cat bounced into Zheng Qing’s hands, the boy had a hint of curiosity and expectation, always feeling that reviewing one’s actions from a different angle was quite interesting.

But when the Black Gem Cat’s memory surged into his mind, he regretted it.

Careless.

He hadn’t pre-agreed to any terms with the beast.

He hadn’t expected such a short half-day would allow the Black Gem Cat to roam such a distance, from inside the school to outside, from the Cat Fruit Tree to Greenhill Mansion—truly befitting a cat. Even more unexpected was that the beast brazenly discussed its trip to Greenhill Mansion in front of the White Jade Cat!

It was like an old man eating arsenic.

Thankfully, it wasn’t entirely as dense as a rock and knew to make amends afterward.

Though its excuse was lousy, it just barely passed, preventing the young assistant from immediately calling in sick. Even so, before leaving, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but glance at the line drawing he had accumulated these days, finding his fortune as usual at a low point without significant fluctuations, providing some peace of mind.

Thursday morning was a Magic Potion class.

The class was in Room 301 of the east annex of the teaching building, a large tiered classroom, with the entrance at the back. Normally, upon arriving, Zheng Qing would quietly slip to his usual corner seat, where Xin Fat Man would generally have saved him a spot by that time.

But today, upon entering, Zheng Qing headed straight for the front rows, entirely ignoring the Fat Wizard waving at him.

"What’s going on today?"

Xin Fat Man took a sip of soy milk, looking somewhat surprised at Zheng Qing’s back, tapping the table behind him: "——Mr. Zha isn’t the type to flaunt affection publicly, right? Why is he sidling up to Sister Yu this early? Did he say something during your morning class?"

Xiao Xiao didn’t look up, absentmindedly rubbing the Crystal Ball beside him, deep in thought: "No... but I guess it’s related to that Black Gem Cat of his. Normally, in the morning when he has class, if Poseidon is nearby, the Black Gem Cat and Dong Dong would play together, but today Dong Dong was here, and the Black Gem Cat was nowhere to be found... I clearly saw it come back this morning."

"Are you guessing or divining?"

"Is there a difference? Divination is manifesting a wizard’s guesses about the future... The biggest difference between an excellent Diviner and a mediocre one is that an excellent Diviner can always discern the truth behind the glimpses Destiny reveals, while the first thought of a mediocre Diviner when seeing a scale is ’tasty’."

Xin Fat Man was initially quite interested, but hearing the last sentence, he couldn’t help but blink: "—Hmm, I feel like you’re implying something."

"No." The Atonement Hunting Team Diviner once again denied the Fat Wizard’s speculation: "You’re overthinking it."

Whether the Fat Wizard was overthinking it, Zheng Qing didn’t know.

But he knew, the task the Black Gem Cat received on its paw was his own task.

So, as soon as he entered the classroom in the morning, he headed straight to the front row to deliver the assignment given to him by the White Jade Cat last night as soon as possible.

"The dew you wanted, I only collected this much; I don’t know if it’s enough."

Zheng Qing pulled out a warmed-up glass bottle from his pocket, placing it in front of Jiang Yu, explaining: "You know, it’s just a cat; collecting dew isn’t easy, especially when you said it needed to be full of yang energy. It collected the first drops of dew condensed on plant leaves..."

"It’s okay, it’s enough."

The witch weighed the inch-high glass bottle, filled with about three qian of dew, carefully putting it away: "Dew after Start of Summer usually evaporates quickly; collecting this much is already quite challenging, I must properly thank you... Hey, where’s your cat?"

Meanwhile, her White Jade Cat had already emerged from between book pages, its head tilted upwards, looking around, thinking the Black Gem Cat was playing hide-and-seek with her.

Zheng Qing rubbed his nose.

That stone had caused such trouble; it needed a few days’ confinement to learn a lesson. As he pondered how to subtly change the subject, Jiang Yu’s next words sent a cold sweat down his back.

"——It didn’t go to Greenhill Mansion again, did it?" The witch glanced at him, half-smiling.

"Ha? How could it!"

The boy let out an awkward laugh, hurriedly pulling a small box from a Grey Cloth Bag, peeling away layers of seals as magic power flowed in his hands, awakening the Black Gem Cat turned into a stone: "——It’s just that, it was busy all day yesterday and wanted to take a break, so..."

"It’s quite quiet where it decided to rest." The witch slightly raised an eyebrow, pinching the Black Gem Cat’s neck, lifting it onto her table.

The freshly awakened Black Gem Cat let out a big yawn, halfway through, it couldn’t help but curse: "——It’s really using a cat and then disposing it like a flat... um, Hmm? Good, good morning!"

Realizing the situation, it immediately curled its paws, obediently greeting the witch.

"Thank you for your hard work on the dew gathering!" The witch placed it beside the White Jade Cat, gently patting it: "——You just play with her today and don’t wander off."

This arrangement was quite good.

Both Zheng Qing and the Black Gem Cat had no objections.

Yet Zheng Qing still felt an extremely subtle sense of discord, turning back to see the languidly slumped Li Meng, suddenly realizing: "...Why is this girl so quiet today!"

Ordinarily, given the trouble the Black Gem Cat stirred up, this little empress would at least give him a kick when they met as a warning. But today, Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu had been chatting for quite a while beside her, yet Li Meng kept a lazy demeanor throughout, making one suspect a sloth spirit had possessed her.