High School of Demon Hunting

Not far along the street, when the figures of Xiao Xiao and the others completely disappeared from Zheng Qing’s sight and he could no longer hear their noise, Zheng Qing belatedly realized something he had long overlooked.

"Have you noticed that the atmosphere at the market this year is different from last year?"

He hesitated, looking around.

In his impression, this underwater trading market was very quiet and should not be as noisy as it is now, resembling the bustling markets run by the surface wizards.

"The style of the organizers is different."

The witch, hands behind her back, walked lightly, her voice equally light-hearted: "This year, the market is being hosted by the Jiaoren Clan, which is the faction of the Aquatic people that most admires wizards. In their manners, behaviors, and even aesthetic tastes, they strive to emulate the wizards. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the market style they’re hosting is similar to the surface."

Zheng Qing suddenly understood.

Just about to say something, suddenly, he saw a familiar face turn around a few meters away.

It’s Hilda.

At this moment, he’s standing in front of a small stall, holding a small plate, with a bamboo skewer piercing a small piece of "Live Maggot Cheese," savoring it with great interest. Seemingly sensing the gaze from the side, he tilted his head and looked over.

"Yo! Good evening, you two!"

The Practice class teacher greeted cheerfully, raising the bamboo skewer in his hand: "Do you want to try this ’Casu Marzu’? A specialty snack of Quankela, it’s very interesting!"

As he spoke, he stuck out his tongue, curling the escaping maggot back into his mouth, chewing it with satisfaction, and added a comment: "—It’s really very interesting!"

Ugh!

Zheng Qing gagged internally.

He had a strong aversion to such strong-flavored foods. From childhood to adulthood, no matter how many people recommended the wonders of stinky tofu to him, he had never tried it. Whenever he encountered it, he would run as far away as possible.

"Was it him you saw just now?" Zheng Qing recalled the witch’s earlier words.

"No—"

Jiang Yu shook her head slightly. Unlike the disdainful expression on Zheng Qing’s face, she remained very polite: "Good evening, Mr. Alfonso! Are you planning to buy something?"

"No, just wandering around, browsing casually... while serving as a guard for Quankela." Hilda laughed, casting a meaningful glance at Zheng Qing.

The boy suddenly realized.

This must be a protective plan temporarily formulated by the school guards. He instinctively looked around and, sure enough, in another direction, saw the muscular Victor and the purple-haired witch Violet dressed as a couple—though they were so engrossed in their flirtation that Zheng Qing became unsure of his own guess.

Jiang Yu didn’t think that much.

She mistakenly thought that Quankela Fair had hired Hilda as a guard. Strictly speaking, this counted as ’private work’ and wasn’t sanctioned by the school, but often people turned a blind eye.

"You should be careful not to get caught by the professors." The witch’s eyes bent with a smile as she waved: "...so we won’t bother you, see you tomorrow afternoon!"

Tomorrow is Friday, and Hilda’s Practice class is in the afternoon.

"See you!"

The assistant teacher wiped the brass studs on his mouth that had just been soiled by worms and moved on to another stall.

"Do you want to go in and have a look?"

Zheng Qing noticed that the girl’s steps stopped at the entrance of a shop. Looking up, the sign outside was neatly written in Aquatic script with the four large characters ’Zhenshui Hundred Goods’.

The wizards entering and leaving the shop were mostly female.

It took only a brief moment for Zheng Qing to recall what place this was—Zhenshui is a river under Qing Yao Mountain, which itself isn’t particularly remarkable, except for two special products along its banks that are quite famous in the Wizard World.

One is xun grass, which resembles orchid grass, with square-shaped stems, yellow flowers, and red fruits. When consumed by humans, it beautifies the skin; the other is the ’Yao bird’ resembling a wild duck, with a cyan body, red eyes, and a red tail, whose meat aids fertility.

Without a doubt, it is the xun grass that naturally attracts witches.

Clap!

Zheng Qing snapped his fingers.

"I just remembered," he laughed as if suddenly recalling: "The doctor mentioned before that his turtles breed too slowly, leaving him with no shells to use... Coincidentally, using Zhenshui’s Yao bird jerky mixed with feed would work well. I’ll go buy some for him; you stay here and don’t move."

Saying this, he hurriedly rushed into the shop first.

The girl’s lips curled slightly, yet she obediently stopped, waiting outside the store.

It wasn’t long.

The boy soon came out of the shop, left hand carrying several strips of Yao bird jerky tied with hemp rope, right hand holding a plain wooden box.

"Hmm, when I was inside buying the jerky, I happened to see this item on sale, so I bought a bit... to quench your thirst when we tire." He placed the wooden box into the girl’s arms.

Jiang Yu looked down, opened the box, glanced inside, and couldn’t help but laugh as she lightly punched him: "Do you think xun fruit is a strawberry? What girl would use it to quench their thirst!"

Zheng Qing inexplicably thought of Victor and Violet he had seen earlier.

"—Do you want anything?" the witch’s cheerful voice came to his ears.

Zheng Qing withdrew his gaze, hesitated slightly, but had no intention of declining the girl’s kind offer.

"I don’t really need to buy anything."

His gaze wandered around, trying to find a certain familiar tent: "—But last year when we came, wasn’t there a diviner who worshiped ’Yagneg’? Do you remember where their fish-skin tent was?"

"You want to talk to them?" The witch seemed a bit surprised.

"Other people’s stone can polish my jade."

The boy momentarily glanced at a passing Ninfus and then turned to look seriously at the girl: "—I should have told you, during Qingming Festival, I went to Silent Forest on a mission with the assistant teaching team and heard a prophecy at the Horseman Tribe. Those words didn’t sit well with me. So, I’d like to hear what the Fish People Priest has to say."

This was his main reason for coming to Quankela today.

Last year, the old priest’s fish-skin tent and the little fish people’s singing left a very deep impression on him.

Jiang Yu sighed softly.

"Do you know what’s the most unreliable thing in this world?" she suddenly said, startling the boy who had just caught sight of a passing little mermaid from the corner of his eye.

He immediately looked straight ahead.

"The testimony of eyewitnesses?"

Zheng Qing casually offered an answer—though in his mind, he was thinking, ’For women, the most unreliable must be men’—while seriously analyzing: "...Many eyewitnesses are sure they’ve seen the truth, but it’s not the whole truth. Like observing a leopard through a tube, you see only a part of it."