High School of Demon Hunting
Chapter 653 - One: The familiar stranger_1

Chapter 653: Chapter One: The familiar stranger_1

One of the most puzzling things in this world is that even happiness and joy must adhere to the principle of equivalent exchange.

True happiness always comes at a cost, just as true success carries the weight of the past, and real happiness hides sorrow that is difficult to express in its shadows.

We sing in drunken delight, and then we wake up with headaches, bitterness, and fatigue; we enjoy delicacies, and then grit our teeth to exercise and burn off the excess fat; we watch clowns perform slapstick comedies, only to endure the endless emptiness aftermath the laughter.

Every positive moment is always accompanied by a negative energy of proportionate magnitude.

Without difficulties, failures, pain, and sadness, one can never truly understand success, joy, or happiness.

In the end, we find that the amount of happiness and joy we can feel depends on how much suffering and sadness we can bear—not how much suffering the world offers us.

It’s a difficult choice.

But most of the time, life doesn’t give us the right to make a choice.

Just like Zheng Qing.

If given a choice, he would rather blend into the background during the freshman competition a few days ago, maintain an average rank, and be content with a fair portion of rewards, leading his life in peace.

Instead of bearing the honor of the first place in the freshman competition, he now moves around under cover of night, avoiding the strange and scrutinizing gazes of others, evading their whispered whispers like a mouse crossing the street.

At the freshman match award ceremony, the uniform chant of ’cheat’ from the audience echoed endlessly in his ears, making him restless and irritated every time he remembered it.

Out of sight, out of mind, the scholarship student decided to hide in the deepest part of the Book Mountain Library, hoping to blot out these embarrassing accusations with time.

Just like now.

The afternoon Philosophy of Magic class just ended, and before Old Yao had even stepped out the door of West 306, Zheng Qing had already stuffed his lecture notes and exercises into the grey cloth bag, stood up, and was planning to slip away while the others hadn’t reacted. This was the only class on Wednesday afternoon. By acting quickly, he could still find a concealed spot in the depths of Book Mountain Library.

However, his calculations were spoiled by Xiao Xiao.

"Don’t run off yet." Doctor Xiao grabbed the corner of the scholarship student’s robe and whispered: "Wait a bit, I have something to tell you of important..."

"Can’t it wait until we go back?" Zheng Qing noticed the casual glances around him and, feeling anxious, interrupted the doctor’s words.

"No." Xiao Xiao shook his head firmly, his hand gripping tighter: "Wait a while. Blue Bird and Lin Guo are also coming, we’ll hold a meeting in this classroom."

As they spoke, Zhang Ji Xin and Xin Fat Man also came over with their notebooks and snacks. The four of them gathered in the corner of the room, seeming a bit detached from the rest of the class.

Zheng Qing sighed deeply, slumped back into his seat, and let his head fall onto the desk.

Ever since the freshman competition last Sunday, there seemed to be a vague barrier between many of their classmates and themselves. More familiar ones, like Jiang Yu and Li Meng, seemed to avoid bringing up the hunt for fear it would upset them, which oddly made their relationship a bit colder.

Whereas those who weren’t that close to them initially, had even less to say now—though there were some who tried to find out what rewards they had received for their first place in the freshman competition, what it felt like to ’die,’ and whether Absolution really had a way to get special favors from the academy.

Some things Zheng Qing and the others couldn’t share; some things they hadn’t done; and some things, even if they explained them over and over again, insisted on them, those who were unwilling to believe wouldn’t believe.

So, lately, everyone has been a bit lackadaisical, also growing tired of arguing with others. They simply hid in the corner as one, disregarding whether people were idle or not.

"Your Elena, she didn’t come to class again today." Xin Fat Man, holding a small bucket of beef jerky, was chewing happily on one hand, nudging the scholarship student who was lying on the desk with his elbow on the other.

Because of the courage and trust shown in the Hunting Ground, the Gypsy witch in dorm 403 gradually gained a lot of recognition. Everyone also started to tease the two from time to time.

Zheng Qing rolled his head on his arm, and his gaze shifted in another direction.

Just like he had seen countless times before, Elena’s seat was empty. Since last Sunday’s rookie race, the young scholarship student had never seen the Gypsy witch again, and like before, the teachers did not seem to mind the late transfer student’s absence, not even Old Yao, who had never urged the two monitors to look for Elena.

"I don’t know." Zheng Qing answered in a muffled tone: "She hasn’t been to the library these days either."

"Li Meng seems to want to ask us something." Zhang Ji Xin’s gaze noticed two other acquaintances.

Not far away, Li Meng was leaning on Jiang Yu’s arm, seemingly arguing about something. She looked towards Zheng Qing’s corner from time to time, waving her small arm, showing a desire to come over. But Jiang Yu gently shook her head, didn’t come over, instead, she pulled the little witch out of the classroom.

Error: "What can she possibly want?! In the past few days, she’s asked me about the whereabouts of that big black cat a hundred times!" Zheng Qing couldn’t help but sigh heavily again: "If it weren’t for you guys holding me back, I’d probably be in some corner of the Book Mountain Library right now..."

"Escaping can’t solve the problem, you should learn to ignore the rumors." Xiao Xiao, clutching his head and staring at the ceiling, suddenly advised.

"Just like you, causing a storm around the school with your student-teacher relationship, acting like nothing’s happening?" Zheng Qing retorted, "If I were Mister Sima, I would have gone to the Discipline Office with the school workers to send you home."

Xiao Xiao’s face instantly darkened.

"So, where did that big black cat go after all?" On the other side, Xin Fat Man, who was chewing on his beef jerky, suddenly asked: "If others can’t say it, can’t we?"

"Of course, you can... I already told you hundreds of times, Big Black went to the Silent Forest to sharpen his claws." Zheng Qing twisted his butt to make himself more comfortable, murmuring lazily: "When he comes back after sharpening his claws, he’ll rip you open... to see how much fat you have inside."

The group chatted idly, waiting for around half an hour, waiting until the classroom was empty, and the corridor outside was quiet, then the door to room 306 was finally pushed open again.

"Sorry! Made you guys wait!"

"It’s not our fault... we had to wait for our turn because they were praying when we went to find people in Atlas just now, so we had to stay longer."

Lin Guo hopped in from outside, talking rapidly: "In fulfilling the mission, we’ve invited everyone... the entire Absolution Knight Group, is present!"

Behind him, two familiar figures entered one after the other.

Leading the way was the Blue Bird, who was still holding the sword that was wrapped layer by layer in cloth. But there was no Diao’er in his hood, and his expression was even more stern.

Walking behind, was a familiar face Zheng Qing hadn’t seen in a while.

The little monk, Shi Yuan, who was studying at Atlas School.

He was wearing a yellow straight robe, his head was polished till it shone, a string of purplish-red Buddha beads the size of longan hung around his neck, his smile was amiable, and he looked like Maitreya.