Chapter 2005: Chapter 226: One Left, One Right

“Oh.”

“Who?!”

“Say it again!”

The three voices sounded almost simultaneously.

Zhang Ji Xin was dumbfounded, as if hit by an immobilization spell; Xin Fat Man seemed like someone had hit him on the back of the head with a club, appearing bewildered and even reached up to his ears as if he thought he had misheard.

On the other hand, Xiao Xiao and Jiang Yu maintained a certain level of composure.

However, Xiao Xiao’s calmness looked more like a forced restraint, as the jade bowl in his hands tilted, spilling half of the collected dew without him noticing at all; Jiang Yu’s calmness contained a hint of realization.

That strange realization inexplicably made Zheng Qing uneasy.

“Su Shijun.”

The young public student composed himself, repeating the name word by word — since he would have to tell them sooner or later, he thought it best to be straightforward; hesitating would only make him seem guilty — and he thoughtfully explained, “… That’s the owner of Greenhill Mansion, the Upper House Member of the Moon Council… I confirmed she serves as a research advisor at the Institute of Applied Magic and meets the qualifications as a guiding teacher.”

“Is this a matter of meeting qualifications?”

Zhang Ji Xin looked bewildered, glancing at Zheng Qing and then at his other companions, as if trying to see if anyone was joking: “Qualifications? Su Shijun?”

“Ahem.”

Xin Fat Man gave a dry cough, shot a glance at the red-faced warlock, then stepped forward to Zheng Qing’s side, patting him on the shoulder, and said earnestly:

“Captain, I… and everyone else know the mental pressure on you these days is immense… Without an adequate guiding teacher, Absolution can’t compete, which negates all the hard work we put in over the past year… But no matter how great the pressure, you shouldn’t joke about a Big Wizard’s name.”

Noticing Zheng Qing was about to retort, the Fat Wizard quickly raised a finger, wagging it in front of him, interrupting, “I know, I know, joking can relieve stress when it’s not excessive… But this isn’t the time to joke. And also…”

He looked at his wristwatch, adding, “… there’s less than twenty-six hours left until the selection task ends, and what we should do now is quickly finish collecting the dew, then go back and get a good sleep, and tomorrow morning we can regroup with a clear mind to choose a better target.”

Zheng Qing forced a smile, feeling a bit frustrated yet amused.

Previously, he had anticipated various reactions from his companions — like Zhang Ji Xin shaking his shoulders intensely, asking about his relationship with Su Shijun; like Xin Fat Man taking out a feather pen and notepad to frantically write a gossip piece; or like Xiao Xiao deducing from the subtle links between Neptune and Poseidon and many previous clues.

He was prepared for all these reactions.

The only thing he didn’t expect was the Fat Wizard’s first reaction would be disbelief.

Not only disbelief, but he also found a logically sound reason for this disbelief, so much so that Zhang Ji Xin immediately looked enlightened and then looked at Zheng Qing with a bit of apology and sympathy.

“Don’t overthink it.”

The red-faced wizard stepped forward as well, sympathetically patting the young public student’s shoulder: “My brother also said that Absolution is a very outstanding hunting team… If we can’t participate in the following competitions, it’s the school’s hunting party’s loss, a flaw in the student union’s rules, having nothing to do with you… But just like Fatty said, no matter the pressure, we shouldn’t easily joke using the name of a Big Wizard…”

Zheng Qing stepped back with a wry smile, raising three fingers.

“I’m not joking, it’s really Su Shijun.” He glanced around, eyes unwavering, and emphasized again: “Councilman Su will be the guiding teacher for Absolution Hunting Team, and I’ve submitted the related materials to the Hunting Committee.”

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

The night was slightly cool, with gentle night breezes blowing, and apart from the low hum of unknown insects and the rustling of leaf blades, there was only the slow, muffled sound coming from deep within the earth, caused by some tirelessly working Earth Dragon channeling the earth’s veins.

The next second.

Zhang Ji Xin suddenly grabbed Zheng Qing’s arm, his face flushed, and his voice, due to excitement, sounded quite high-pitched: “Is what you’re saying true?!”

“Ouch!” Zheng Qing inhaled sharply, struggling to free his arm, and nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick: “Really, it couldn’t be more real! You’ll find out tomorrow morning, why would I lie to you guys?”

Crack!

His other arm was grabbed as well.

He turned his head and saw a blue, fan-sized hand and a blue face, with pitch-black eyes glistening in the night on the chubby blue face.

“Su, Shi, Jun?!”

With every word Xin Fat Man said, he stamped his foot with force. Zheng Qing faintly felt the Earth Dragon that had been rolling in the earth waves, raising its head in bewilderment, looking in this direction, seemingly curious about what was happening in the garden.

“I dare say, from tomorrow, we will become the most dazzling team in the entire academy, no, in the entire Buji Island, no, the entire Alliance!”

The reporter-turned Fat Wizard was evidently very aware of this piece of news’s impact, speaking quickly and analyzing rapidly: “Su Shijun’s new role? No, no, too ordinary… Shocked! She actually chose someone unknown! … Trite, trite… Hmm, before this report, there should be a description of Absolution… New champions’ pick? The student hunting team in the Black Prison battle? … The junior and the senior story that has to be mentioned? Oh, no, am I such a big junior? No way, if such a racy title gets published, I’d be sacked and beaten to death in a gutter!”

Apparently, he had already come up with several news themes in his mind, even setting roughly drafted titles.

Zheng Qing watched the somewhat frenzied Fat Wizard, listening to his rambling chatter, wanting to paste a couple of Calm Heart Talismans on him, but his arms were tightly held by others, making it impossible to reach for them.

It was imperative to calm these two down quickly.

Otherwise, the warlock worried he might be torn in half by the two people in a state of excitement.

Xiao Xiao timely intervened, solving this problem for Zheng Qing: “Could you tell us how you managed to get Councilman Su Shijun?”

He adjusted his glasses, his eyes full of curiosity — a rarely seen expression on his doctoral face — slowly but clearly repeating: “No matter from which angle you consider, Su Shijun agreeing to be our hunting team’s guiding teacher is a very incredible thing… She could have had much better choices.”

Once the words were out.

The excited Fat Man and Elders instantly quieted down, looking at the young public student.

Zheng Qing swallowed secretly, feeling that his two companions’ grip on his arms had tightened slightly, though it might be his mistake.