High School of Demon Hunting

"——Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

The Yellow Flowered Cat curled up in Zheng Qing’s arms, murmuring the sentences from "Matthew" as if in a dream, while adding its own annotation: "Now you hold David’s key, your door has already opened a crack, undeniably true, that when the door is shut, no one can open it, but once it’s open, no one can close it..."

Zheng Qing let out a gentle sigh.

"The last time I heard this sentence from ’Matthew,’ was at Shangyuan Bookstore, when Xiao Yuan, the manager, introduced me to a nineteenth-century Paris-bound law book,"

His tone carried a hint of nostalgia: "I remember clearly, that set of law books was lavishly styled, using the secondary skin of Romanian Fire Dragon, and the proverbs of the New Testament were embossed in the gilded edge... Looking back now, it feels like a lifetime ago."

The Yellow Flowered Cat lifted its tail, wiped tears from the corner of its eyes with the tip, yawned, and raised one eyelid.

"Now is not the time to reminisce! You don’t have the leisure for that!"

Its tone was stern, looking at the young man: "The hearing in Danghag only legally recognized your qualifications, but if the relevant departments do not accept you, even if you forcibly take the position, it will just be an empty shell... It won’t help you in the slightest."

This was undeniably true.

No organization welcomes those who break the established interest structure; every piece of meat a foreigner eats is taken from someone else’s bowl.

Zheng Qing pouted.

"Do they dare to insert people, and do I dare to accept?" The young director was very clear-minded: "Especially with these shadowy institutions in life, who knows what kind of people they would foist upon me..."

"Yes, why not!"

The Flower Cat raised its head slightly, speaking solemnly: "You can use your own people in the core department, but an institution, besides its core, still has many non-core ’business departments’ or ’cannon fodder,’ just like those Northern District Wizards who manage the margins. When war begins, you can’t use your core team as the front-line pawns..."

While speaking, the person and the cat had walked past winding alleys, a shallow creek, low hills, through lush woods, from the bustling Beta Town all the way to a wall outside deep within Silent Forest.

The wall no longer showed its original color.

Covered in mottled moss and dense vines, the wall appeared eerily silent without the presence of Flower Sprites and Grass Spirits among the vines. Through the gaps between the leaves, one could faintly see the peeling wall skins inside and the huge grey-white stone blocks beneath them.

They walked along the wall for several hundred meters.

Until the very north, where they saw a broken stone archway and rotten wooden door. The crooked plaque on the arch faintly bore the words ’Ziwei Palace,’ surrounded by some collapsed wooden structures, like the bones of history, retaining some terrifying claw marks, tooth marks, and traces of burning.

Through that rotten wooden door.

Inside the wall, there were crooked stone corridors, dry pools, arched bridges, temples, semi-buried stone statues, and headless terracotta soldiers, as well as withered bamboo groves and large locust trees of dark green hue.

A breath of ruin and desolation.

Zheng Qing held the cat and came to the giant locust tree.

Under the tree stood four figures, three of them wearing wide hoods, concealing their faces, the remaining was an elder wizard with white hair, flowing beard, ruddy complexion, tall stature, Master Baoyangzi.

"Professor."

Zheng Qing greeted politely, his gaze swept across the other three, his tone carrying a faint detachment: "Sorry, this place isn’t easy to find."

The three wizards remained silent.

But Master Bao Yangzi gave him a deep look—before graduation, he had taught an elective course to Zheng Qing, remembering him as a young man who was modest and unassuming, not at all with the sharpness he showed now.

"—The locations of relevant departmental institutions are very secretive, difficult to find."

The elder wizard folded his arms, nodded simply, and then gestured: "How about it? This place is pretty good as the ’Order’s’ base, isn’t it? Rich in magic power, smooth Earth Qi, tranquil environment... It used to be the lair of an illegal cult, they worshipped an evil deity, which fascinated many wizards, including some young people from Atlas... Because of its broad reach, the school couldn’t intervene, so eventually, the relevant department stepped in and eradicated it... Of course, outsiders would see the cult’s downfall as incurring the wrath of the evil deity."

With this, he paused, glanced at the other three with some displeasure, snorted: "—Additionally, these three will be your colleagues in the future. Meet them today. Take off your hoods... There are no outsiders here!"

His last sentence carried a tone of seriousness.

The three were silent for a moment, one after another removed their hoods, revealing ordinary faces.

An elderly warlock, a middle-aged witch, and a young warlock.

"Seven." The elderly warlock was concise in speech.

"Eleven." The middle-aged witch’s voice was slightly gentle, but not much.

"Thirteen." The young warlock’s voice was rather cold, his gaze at Zheng Qing devoid of any emotion, as if looking at a piece of wood.

"These are their codes within the relevant departments."

Master Bao Yangzi glanced at the three with some irritation, then turned to Zheng Qing: "—The relevant department has many rules, after a long time there, emotions become indifferent. ’Seven’ is from Buzhou, the Vice Mountain Master of Buzhou; ’Eleven’ is from Eden, the Vice Garden Director of Eden; ’Thirteen’ is from Babel, the Deputy Tower Master of Babel... Don’t be deceived by his youthful appearance, in fact, his age isn’t much less than mine."

The elder wizard rambled on in introductions.

The Yellow Flowered Cat in Zheng Qing’s arms curled its tail, scratching the young director’s arm. Zheng Qing understood its meaning; the fact that only vice positions from the original three top institutions were sent to meet him spoke volumes.

"—What’s my code then? Four? Five? Six?" Zheng Qing suddenly interjected, interrupting Master Bao Yangzi.

The elder was momentarily stunned, shaking his head repeatedly: "—No, no, no, their codes are only concerned with the order of joining the relevant departments, but department heads are not included."

Speaking, he glanced at the cat in the young man’s arms, adding: "For instance, if your cat intends to join the relevant department, it might receive a numerical code like ’two four nine,’ but if it’s you, within and outside the department, they usually use the institution’s name to address. Just like the Buzhou Mountain Master, we insiders call him ’Mountain Master,’ outsiders call him ’Buzhou’... These small matters, you’ll gradually learn about them later."