High School of Demon Hunting

This year’s Quanke comes begins on May 13th.

Coincidentally, it’s a Thursday.

This made Zheng Qing, who had five classes in one day, quite distressed for a while.

Fortunately, as in previous years, the Aquatic folk still scheduled the market opening in the evening, eliminating the trouble of Zheng Qing having to request leave. Because the Quanke invitation is not subject to the school’s curfew, Zheng Qing didn’t rush into the market early with the first crowd as he did last year, but instead waited until his evening class ended before leaving the campus.

The evening class ends at nine o’clock.

When he arrived at Visitors’ Bay, it was close to a quarter past nine, and his invitation’s companions were huddled at the decayed end of the bay by a withered oak tree, staring blankly, as if they had turned into withered wood themselves.

Seeing Zheng Qing come, the withered wood shifted their gaze.

"I’ve already told you, my class ends at nine o’clock..."

While taking off the Armor Horse Charm strapped to his leg — he had fastened four Armor Horse Charms to run faster — Zheng Qing proactively complained that his companions had arrived too early: "...Why did you come so early?"

"Observation." Xiao Xiao shook the black hard-covered notebook in his hand, expressionless.

"Boredom." Xin Fat Man drooped his eyelids, moving his cheeks as he noticed Zheng Qing’s gaze, he then took out a dried apricot from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth.

"To watch witches." Red-faced Male Wizard gave an answer that contradicted his reputation.

Zheng Qing instinctively pulled out an Anti-evil charm and waved it in front of Zhang Ji Xin, speaking with a worried tone: "Are you possessed? How could you say something so absurd! ... Although I think you’re being truthful."

Zhang Ji Xin remained stern-faced, ignoring Zheng Qing’s sarcastic tone, and simply tugged at his Dragon Skin Fingerless Gloves, cracking his knuckles.

Indeed it’s him, Zheng Qing dutifully put away the Anti-evil charm.

"I asked him to help look."

Xiao Xiao explained from the side: "— There were too many people passing through just now, so I couldn’t observe it all. Fatty helped with observing warlocks, while the Elder helped with witches... We just needed to observe whether they used any Water-Repelling magic before entering the market and which type they primarily used."

"What were the results?" Zheng Qing suddenly grew interested.

Xiao Xiao gave him a deep look: "Up until nine fifteen, a total of two hundred and thirteen wizards passed through, among them one hundred fifty-two warlocks and fifty-nine witches..."

Listening to these numbers, Zheng Qing instinctively raised his eyebrows.

"Did you miscalculate?"

He interrupted the Doctor’s ’analysis report,’ laughing slightly provocatively: "One hundred fifty-two plus fifty-nine doesn’t add up to two hundred thirteen... At this level, you’re recommending me to study numerology divination? My elementary school math level could easily outperform you!"

The Absolution Diviner pushed his glasses, calmly stating: "I didn’t miscalculate, but I hadn’t finished... because the last two were Yin Yang Wizards."

No further explanation was needed.

Zheng Qing immediately grasped the concept of ’Yin Yang Wizards,’ rendering him slightly speechless. But remembering the Rainbow Wizards Group trying to recruit him before made him realize that having a few wizards of special genders at school seemed quite reasonable.

Ahem!

"So then?"

The Warlock coughed lightly, then nonchalantly asked: "— Have you observed any alarming signs after all your counting? And have all these wizards consumed Gill Pouch Grass?"

He recalled the dorm arguments from a couple of days ago.

Xiao Xiao nodded slightly, not immediately answering Zheng Qing’s question, but instead asking: "Did you notice any differences between this year’s Quanke and last year’s one as you came over just now?"

"Differences?"

Zheng Qing hesitated, feeling his chin and looking up at the deep night sky where the moon was not visible, his expression slightly stalling: "Hmm, has a Protective Barrier been set up outside the market this year? Last year’s hosts weren’t this extravagant... or cautious."

"That’s exactly it."

Satisfied, Xiao Xiao raised the feather pen in his hand and concluded: "All the more than two hundred wizards we observed used Water-Repelling type magic before entering the market. Most warlocks used Gill Pouch Grass, witches used Bubble Head Charm and Shaotang Fruit, few carried Talisman Plates or Water-Repelling Pearls, but those are quite expensive, not something ordinary people can afford..."

"Why is there such a large discrepancy between male and female wizards?" Zheng Qing, curious, finally realized he had underestimated the ’reminder’ of a Legendary Wizard.

Just looking at the reactions of both the hosts of Quanke and the wizards shopping at the market tonight, it was clear they’ve taken Old Yao’s words to heart.

Xiao Xiao didn’t answer Zheng Qing’s curiosity, instead glancing at Xin Fat Man.

The Fat Wizard sighed and shook his head: "Because Gill Pouch Grass is hard to eat, and eating it makes you grow fish gills and webbed feet and hands, essentially making you uglier, so unless someone has peculiar aesthetic tastes, very few witches choose to eat it. But Gill Pouch Grass is much cheaper than Shaotang Fruit, so warlocks who prioritize practicality and cost-effectiveness almost always choose this herb. As for the Bubble Head Charm... keeping this spell maintained in the market is not easy, only a few witches who merely browse and won’t stay long choose this magic."

At this point, he noticed Zheng Qing’s thoughtful expression, paused, then added: "Of course, the Water-Repelling charm is also a good choice, but Talisman paper has relatively limited duration and doesn’t provide disguise..."

"Disguise?" Zheng Qing momentarily couldn’t follow the Fat Wizard’s rhythm.

"Do you think you could openly browse the market in your current state?" Xiao Xiao posed a slightly sharp question but then offered a solution: "I’ve prepared a pickled Gill Pouch Grass for you. Eating it will turn your skin Fishman’s deep indigo, combined with webbed feet and hands, and fish gills, those not particularly familiar with you won’t recognize you..."

Zheng Qing’s face stiffened.

He received the Gill Pouch Grass from the Doctor, looking at its tangled indigo ’mice tails’ on top, and feeling the slick, wet sensation in his palm, his mouth twitched slightly.

He had reason to suspect Doctor Xiao was privately retaliating due to his ’Tortoise Shell Incident’ from a few days ago.

But his retribution was ’proper.’

Leaving one speechless.

With a bitter face, he pinched his nose and stuffed the Gill Pouch Grass into his mouth.

At this moment, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Is everyone here?"

Jiang Yu greeted them cheerfully, frightening Zheng Qing so that he wasn’t even chewing, he stiffly swallowed the grass, choking, his expression grimacing as the veins on his neck stood out.

He patted his chest, catching his breath, and turned around, coincidentally seeing the witch standing not far away, wearing a deep red skirt with jade beads hanging, looking at him, her charming smile and beautiful eyes.