High School of Demon Hunting
Chapter 1068 - 130: After the Scandal

Chapter 1068: Chapter 130: After the Scandal

Nicholas ultimately did not leave the tough choice to Liu Feifei; he decided to report the matter himself in her stead.

Undoubtedly, it was a very brave but also very foolish decision.

When he submitted the Painted Skin of the pet snake to the School Works Committee office, the school’s reaction was not beyond Xiao Xiao’s expectation—the School Works Committee immediately closed all external passages, launched a full-scale inspection for a day, and issued new campus safety regulations to all students.

This reaction was not excessive.

For Jiuyou Academy, which had experienced several safety incidents within the year, it was no surprise that the atmosphere within the academy suddenly became tense when the security departments heard that the school had concealed a demon with a history of killings (referring to the death of Xiao Bai)—especially since the investigation into that particular killing incident had been ambiguously handled by the academy.

However, the spokesperson for the institution was vague in his choice of words at the press conference a few days later, emphasizing repeatedly "the school environment is very safe," "student safety is adequately ensured," "the School Works Committee has submitted completely new security regulations," "new security detectors have been purchased from Danube Star," and so on, without mentioning the suspected identity of the demon, nor whether the demon had been captured. Rumors among the students circulated that this was because the school had not caught the owner of the Painted Skin.

This was indeed a scandal.

It was even worse than last semester’s Sand Time Worm incident or the school’s hunting party brawl. Public opinion outside the school had already started comparing it to the story of a female demon who invaded the school’s private plane before the start of last semester.

Compared to the scandal at school, Zheng Qing was actually more worried about Nicholas’s situation.

At a time when the debate between Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Academy had not yet subsided, and with the Fishmen from Lin Zhong Lake causing trouble, most of the academy’s resources, including the student council, were focused externally. Unexpectedly, Nicholas’s report caught Jiuyou by surprise.

Using the latest popular saying in Alpha Fortress, it was "how can one secure the world if one’s own stronghold is in turmoil," "shamelessly losing face outside when one’s own matters are not sorted," and so on.

In short, students from Alpha Academy, during debates with students from Jiuyou Academy, loved to throw these phrases, causing Jiuyou’s students to blush profusely yet have nothing to say in return.

Thus, rumors gradually emerged within the academy, questioning why Nicholas chose this critical moment to reveal this matter. The rumors pointedly noted that when Nicholas first enrolled, he was at Alpha Academy, and though he transferred, it’s hard for one not to have their heart linger where they once belonged.

In simple terms, it just lacked someone pointing at Nicholas’s nose in person and calling him "traitor."

Regarding this kind of talk, Zheng Qing completely dismissed it.

But these days, it was difficult for him to use his influence to clear Nicholas’s name—this brings us to another negative effect of Nicholas’s report, namely its impact on the reputation of Jiuyou Academy’s publicly funded students.

The owner of the Painted Skin was Liu Feifei, a publicly funded student at Jiuyou Academy and also the top scorer in last term’s final exam. According to Jiuyou Academy’s consistent standards, Liu Feifei was naturally considered an excellent student.

However, it was precisely such an ’excellent student’ who smuggled a demon of unknown identity and dubious intentions with a history of killings into the school. This caused a tremendous negative impact on Jiuyou Academy’s public students, and even on Jiuyou Academy’s standards for selecting talent.

According to Zheng Qing, the "Beta Town Post" had recently launched a special column, inviting several educators from the wizard world — mostly from the other three academies — to discuss Jiuyou Academy’s excessive focus on grades while neglecting aspects such as student morality and practical skills, leading to the current embarrassing situation.

This further strengthened the already dominant position of Alpha Academy.

There was also Liu Feifei.

Because Nicholas had submitted the snake molt painted skin to the school without her permission, it had caused tension between the couple, and Zheng Qing hadn’t even seen the two talking together these past few days!

"Maybe we should intervene and help them mend their relationship," Zheng Qing, wearing silk gloves, suggested thoughtfully while pressing juice out of Zhu Yu on the laboratory bench. He gazed at Nicholas standing alone in the corner of the laboratory and said to Xiao Xiao beside him, "After all, Nicholas is not the main culprit, and he has drawn a lot of attention both inside and outside the school to help Liu Feifei... They shouldn’t be arguing at this time."

"Watch out! Your Zhu Yu juice is about to spill on the floor!" Xiao Xiao ignored Zheng Qing’s advice and reminded him to pay attention to their surroundings and the task at hand.

Zheng Qing quickly bowed his head, hands flustered.

Xin Fat Man, who was sitting in front of them, suddenly turned around, a sly smile spreading across his face: "You can’t even sort out your own feelings, and yet you’re worrying about others? Did Elena stand you up again last weekend?"

Last weekend, Zheng Qing had planned to meet Elena on Pedestrian Street, but just before the appointed time, a Gypsy witch sent him a paper crane saying she couldn’t make it.

This incident had become a running joke among Zheng Qing’s peers. According to Fat Man’s view, Zheng Qing should give up on his on-and-off relationship with Elena and focus on Jiang Da Headmaster instead.

This statement earned nothing more than a low-quality suppression symbol thrown at him by Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing, with a stern expression, ignored Fat Man’s teasing and grabbed the chopped Zhu Yu with the silk gloves, throwing it into the medicine pot, and fiercely pounded it with a pestle.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He imagined the medicine pot as Fat Man’s chubby face, which made him even more vigorous.

Xiao Xiao carefully shifted to the side to avoid any Zhu Yu juice splashing on him, and changed the topic with a helpless tone to prevent Fat Man from provoking Zheng Qing further: "Fat Man, is that faceless monster caught? Does your editorial department have any news?"

Fat Man’s head shook like a tambourine, his cheeks jiggling as if they were waves.

"No," he squinted his small eyes, clearly perplexed: "It’s as if the creature has completely disappeared... The School Works Committee has plowed through with the Protection Array several times, but there’s no trace of it at all. Everyone says it has run away."

"Run away? To where? How?" Liu Feifei, holding a medicine pot, also turned around, pounding medicine while repeatedly sneering: "Normally, all the external passages to Buji Island are closed. Not to mention, after this incident, the school immediately blocked all routes leading to the Silent Forest and Quiet River... not even a fly could escape, let alone such a large demon!"