CHAPTER 1981: CHAPTER 202: WEDNESDAY MORNING

As September slowly receded and October approached, the drums of the Moon Hunting event began to beat gently, and a restless atmosphere started to permeate every corner of the First University.

The new students, who had just enrolled, urgently needed a major ritual to anchor their presence in the new environment, while the veterans needed an unrestrained festivity to release the piled-up academic pressure on them.

This anticipation for the university hunting competition was almost palpable, like a vast spider web covering the entire Buji Island, making every individual moving on this web feel the tremors sent by others.

For the Hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team, it meant they needed to further intensify their pre-game training.

Monday night’s training session ended smoothly and steadily.

No mutated Getrassi attacked the team, nor did any frenzied Two-headed Ogre burst out from the darkness wielding a thick wooden club—Zheng Qing had reasons to believe that someone was not so happy with this peaceful result.

For instance, Assistant Hilda, when he saw Zheng Qing the following day, looked quite displeased. When Zheng Qing greeted him, he was too lazy even to raise his hand, merely shrugging indifferently and sighing.

Perhaps he hadn’t slept well the night before or was feeling unlucky because of a failed plan.

"Using us as bait, I wonder how they came up with such a stupid scheme." Turning around, Zheng Qing quietly complained to the Doctor: "... Even if there really was a Black Wizard causing trouble, they wouldn’t risk the world’s censure to continuously target the same hunting team, at the same time, in the same hunting ground."

He emphasized the three ’same’ to highlight the stupidity of the plan.

"Maybe the school thinks our hunting team is special and more attractive to those Black Wizards," the Fat Man guessed, popping a nut into his mouth.

This was a rather irresponsible, yet dangerous speculation.

Zheng Qing blinked and naturally changed the topic: "Perhaps... By the way, I wonder what the specific terms of the newly announced university hunting competition plan are? ... It feels like the people from Alpha Fortress are already itching to stage a collective protest."

The freedom-loving Alpha People would protest against any topic they disliked, including but not limited to Jiuyou Academy extending study room hours, Starry Sky Academy students’ excessive hospital visits, Atlas Academy’s insufficiently refined cafeteria divisions, and the unfair treatment of Lin Zhong Lake Fishmen, among others.

"Picking faults is always the easiest, just like reforms are always the hardest."

Having just finished taking notes, Xiao Xiao finally looked up, summarizing in his usual tone while pushing up his glasses, glancing irritably at the Fat Man: "Don’t eat during class; the crunching affects the image of our entire dormitory!"

The Fat Wizard hesitated for a second with a piece of green bean cake in his hand, tossed it back into the box, and instead popped a crispy fried silkworm into his mouth, the crunch resounding defiantly.

As he chewed, he mocked, "You can’t make me not eat just because this is Sima’s class... Besides, there’s still half an hour before class starts!"

Zheng Qing always felt the Fat Man’s mouth was particularly similar to his feather pen, always busy—as if bewitched, two feather pens could simultaneously record different things, and the Fat Man’s mouth could simultaneously manage both chatting and eating.

"Alright, alright."

The young cost student skillfully stood between the two companions, chuckling: "Snacking before class is no big deal, as long as you don’t eat in class... Is there any new discussion in the newspapers about this university hunting competition’s rules?"

Xin Fat Man readily pulled out a stack of newspapers, slapping them onto the desk, while wiping his greasy fingers on them.

Zheng Qing carefully avoided those oil stains, picking the edge of the newspaper to open it.

"Nothing new, just the same old discussions."

The Fat Wizard picked up the piece of green bean cake again, stuffed it into his mouth, making his voice indistinct: "For example, some people say this reform was implemented without broader discussion, an illegal move by the student council to expand its power; others suspect the Hunting Committee was heavily lobbied because it’s said some new students spent a lot of gold to organize new hunting teams this year..."

"I can attest to that." Zheng Qing casually glanced over the newspaper headlines while smiling and joining the conversation: "That Alpha freshman named Lin Yan is quite wealthy... Wasn’t he planning to buy the Absolution at first?"

"During the last night’s training session, I remember he was with Andrew; he must have joined the Ouroboros Hunting Team." Xiao Xiao opened a "Great History" textbook beside him, pondering aloud: "Speaking of which, Ouroboros is also a very strong hunting team, especially their diviner Amber... He’s really formidable."

Zheng Qing also had a deep impression of that thin diviner.

"Not sure about formidable, but I reckon Lin Yan might regret his choice." Xin Fat Man pulled out a piece of cake, took a big bite, and squinted his eyes contentedly before explaining: "... Since Sepulano became Augustus, as the ’Guardians’ second only to the Auspicious Hunting Team, Ouroboros has become very popular among the Alpha Fortress students, with the number of official hunters in the team surpassing double digits... So I’ve heard many ’less reliable hunters’ have been placed on the substitutes’ bench."

"Less reliable?" Zheng Qing felt this term was quite subtle.

"Yes, like fishmen or freshmen." Xin Fat Man winked, trying hard to tone down the sarcasm on his face.

"Tch."

The young cost student immediately recalled the tall fishman he saw by the river some time ago, shaking his head: "Iseni won’t be happy..."

"Not happy, so what? Could it form another hunting team?"

The Fat Wizard seemed indifferent: "Although for unofficial hunting teams, the rules don’t limit a hunter from serving different teams simultaneously, the relationship between Ouroboros and Sepulano is special... Even just to maintain their small trade network, it wouldn’t upset the Alpha Augustus... Enough flipping through, nothing fresh at the front, but this article here might interest you."

Xin Fat Man interrupted Zheng Qing’s aimless browsing, briskly flipped through several pages with his sugar-dusted fingers, and slapped an article in the central section in front of the young cost student.

Before seeing the content, Zheng Qing was first drawn to the illustration accompanying the article.

Beside the article, there was a dark-toned, blurred-quality picture.

In the picture, Zhu Si was walking briskly out of the door of No. 33 Gu Diao Street, the slight lift of her robe corner made her appear like a well-fed Vampire, her pale face contrasting sharply with the dark background. As if noticing the reader’s gaze, the witch in the photo glared fiercely, turning her face into the deep night shade.

Below the photo was a small line of annotation

—— Ms. Zhu Si hurriedly leaving after a late-night secret conversation with the North District Great Wise Person.