High School of Demon Hunting-Chapter 1899 - 120: Out-of-Control Paper Cranes

The Hundred Herb Gardens are located on the side of an independent two-story building in the backyard of the academy.

The entrance is a thin, dilapidated arched stone gate, with a wooden plaque above it bearing the words ’Hundred Herb Gardens’ in green paint, and outside stands a very noticeable, ancient oak tree.

However, apart from students attending the Magic Potion practice class or those involved in various forms of labor, scarcely anyone visits here regularly.

Firstly, the garden is filled with rare plants, and accidentally touching or losing a petal can be a huge issue. During the annual student tours, the experienced students always talk about the woes of their predecessors, which has now become a tradition.

Secondly, the eccentric groundskeeper, Uncle Sistanda, is notorious for his whims. If he sees students idling outside the garden, he loves to drag them in to help with weeding and watering, making them do volunteer work, which is why more experienced students deliberately avoid this place.

Only those naive and enthusiastic freshmen take the tasks assigned by the Elder Wizard as entrusted missions, working tirelessly with great zeal.

Zheng Qing followed at the back of the class, listening to Xin Fat Man cynically mock those naive first-years, wanting to retort that everyone was once that naive, but he gave up the thought.

Rather than debating a pointless topic with the fat guy, he chose to focus more on the two peculiar paper cranes.

The young public student, holding a nearly finished cup of milk tea, squinted as he watched the two paper cranes fluttering nearby, feeling endlessly uncertain.

Those two paper cranes were folded by him for Xiao Xiao and Zhang Ji Xin. The message within the cranes was simple, informing the two latecomers that the first class this morning had been changed to Magic Potion practice. If they received the crane after already arriving at East Building 603, they shouldn’t be baffled by the empty classroom but hurry to the Hundred Herb Gardens.

But after releasing the folded cranes in the classroom, they never left Zheng Qing’s sight, consistently flapping leisurely and occasionally appearing in his vision.

"Indeed somewhat strange."

Xin Fat Man quickly noticed the two paper cranes too and pretentiously analyzed, "Maybe there’s an error in the spell written at the end of your message... Did you turn them into pets?"

"Impossible!"

Zheng Qing adamantly denied, "With the amount of paper cranes I’ve folded over the Atonement Hunting Team incident, there’s no way I’d mess up even with my eyes closed!"

Despite saying this, his heart wasn’t as sure as his words conveyed. Sometimes things are bizarre; people invariably trip over the familiar, yet remain oblivious afterward.

"Try recalling them?" the Fat Wizard suggested.

"Useless." Zheng Qing inhaled a pearl, biting it with some melancholy, shook his head, "For convenience, I folded single-use paper cranes without a recall function... Here, take two of these."

"What’s this?"

"Armor Horse Charm," Zheng Qing answered while bending to strap two Godspeed Talismans to his legs, stamping his foot, "As they say, ’If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain.’ A living person won’t be stifled by urine... Run faster, catch them, dismantle them, and see what’s going on?"

Before finishing his sentence, the young public student had already turned into a wisp of smoke, darting toward the paper cranes. Xin Fat Man shook his head, muttering about being a showoff, then made a laborious effort to bend and attach an Armor Horse Charm, following behind.

The two figures caught the eyes of the passing Wizards and the students of Astronomy Class 08-1, with Li Meng watching them intently, eager to participate.

"I should help too!" She eagerly reached into her small backpack.

"No, you don’t want to." Jiang Yu grabbed the Little Witch’s arm to restrain her excitement, despite Li Meng’s pouty face.

...

...

The two paper cranes flapped their wings, deftly weaving through the void, always narrowly escaping from the fingertips of the Warlocks.

Zheng Qing, pursuing from behind, grew increasingly astonished.

Not merely because the two paper cranes eluded both his and Xin Fat Man’s attempts to intercept, but primarily because their flight path coincidentally headed toward the Hundred Herb Gardens.

This astonishment only dissolved before the arched stone gate.

"How did you get here so fast?"

A figure bent over arranging a row of Dragon Skin Protective Suits on the ground straightened up, stretching to relieve stiffness, and looked at Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man with a face full of surprise, then cast his gaze on the Godspeed Talismans strapped to their calves, "You’re so lazy to the extent... do you have too many charms with no place to use? Why use the Armor Horse Charm for a mere walk to class?"

The speaker was Xiao Xiao.

"Why are you here!" Xin Fat Man was obviously more astounded, circling around the Doctor several times before halting, scrutinizing him up and down, "Didn’t Mr. Zha say you were in the library?"

Zheng Qing ignored the Fat Wizard’s choice of words.

He watched as one paper crane lightly landed on the Doctor’s wrist, while the other silently passed through the arch, vanishing into the Hundred Herb Gardens, a realization dawning on him.

"So you’ve been at the Hundred Herb Gardens with the Elders all along? Where are the Elders?" he confirmed.

"He was taken into the garden by Uncle Sistanda."

The Atonement Diviner pouted, seemingly mourning for his companion, then shrugged and briskly responded, "While looking at the Line Drawing last night, it was deduced that some unexpected changes would occur today. After reserving a seat this morning at the library, we happened to encounter Professor Li and Brother Xin on our way out, and the Professor arranged for us to come here first to prepare the equipment for entering the garden... Here, these are your Dragon Skin Suits... What’s this?"

His hands, encased in thick Dragon Skin Gloves, struggled to open the paper crane.

As Xin Fat Man accepted the Dragon Skin Suits, he quickly summarized the situation in a few words, then followed up with keen interest, "Do you know why? I’ve never heard of paper cranes behaving so... strangely."

Xiao Xiao pulled his hand out of the Dragon Skin Glove, unfolded the paper crane swiftly, scanning it briefly, "The spell is correct, and the content remains the same..."

He then pinched the letter paper, licking it with his tongue, adding, "Ordinary locust tree bark paper, quite clean material, no anomalies."

"I recently folded so many paper cranes, and these are the only, no, the only two that acted out," Zheng Qing lamented as he struggled into the Dragon Skin Suit, unable to resist complaining, "According to Old Li, we’re supposed to collect dew... Can we collect dew wearing this thing?"

"Maybe because you’ve recently folded too many paper cranes."

Doctor Xiao adjusted his glasses, casting a meaningful gaze at the young public student, softly remarking, "Magic is always full of miracles, meaning it’s not static... Most of the time, such changes can be anticipated, but in some cases, certain changes are hard to predict... From another angle, are there not enough ’out-of-control’ cases around you?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qing was left speechless.