High School of Demon Hunting-Chapter 2386 - 607: The Flying Centipede on the Window Lattice
The window Su Ya mentioned was located in the attic at the end of the second-floor corridor.
This was Zheng Qing’s first time stepping onto the second floor of Greenhill Mansion; usually, these areas were sealed off, and even now, he could clearly feel a dense, cold atmosphere.
However, aside from the cold, there was a touch of liveliness. The twisting corridors were flanked by many portraits of Qingqiu Beauties, who usually inhabited the second floor. Hardly anyone visited, let alone a Warlock, so when Zheng Qing went upstairs, the portraits immediately buzzed with activity, critiquing his attire, looks, and every move.
"Are there men in Greenhill Mansion too?"
"This doesn’t count as a man... I mean, not an outsider, Dong Dong is his child."
"Is he Little Junjun’s little husband?"
"Correct! My portrait hanging in the First University’s office building has seen him, but I remember there was another Witch beside him at that time, not Little Junjun..."
"Looks handsome, but unexpectedly a scumbag!"
"Oh, men after all..."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but glance surreptitiously, only to see every frame was full of fox race beauties in splendid attire, each with her own charm, unparalleled in beauty, and almost everyone held a small fan to cover their mouths, making it difficult for him to discern who recognized him or who was gossiping about him.
However, his sneaky glance seemed to confirm those last remarks, as the beauties in the portraits suddenly burst into laughter for reasons unknown, filling the air with tweets and giggles.
Zheng Qing felt his ears burning, lowered his head, and quickened his pace slightly.
Perhaps they hadn’t seen such a ’bashful’ boy in a long time, so the witches in the frames grew ever more enthusiastic, their voices getting louder, and their comments increasingly wanton. Some of the bold words from them overwhelmed the young Wizard, who had no choice but to flee. Su Ya had to hasten, sprinting with her little legs, to catch up with the boy’s pace.
They managed to block out the portraits’ noises by entering the attic room and shutting the door.
Even so, a strange invitation, ’Little brother, come play often,’ faintly slipped through the crack in the door, leaving him speechless and blushing for a while.
"Look, that’s the window."
Su Ya, oblivious to the corridor’s teasing, remembered her mission well, holding Poseidon with one hand and pointing to the direction above.
Zheng Qing followed her gesture to see indeed a small pane of glass in a high position.
"Since cleaning magic isn’t allowed, how did you guys clean the glass up there before?" Zheng Qing took a deep breath to calm himself, then curiously asked as he looked around.
In the room were two other little fox ladies, not much older than Su Ya, seemingly brought from Qingqiu to help for a few days. They probably weren’t official maids yet, as Zheng Qing noted they dragged a fluffy stump tail beneath their skirts, something never seen on official mansion maids.
The two little fox ladies simultaneously turned to Su Ya.
Su Ya put down Poseidon, held up two fingers, and gestured uncertainly: "Head Maid always used a peculiar alchemical item...but I tried earlier; it ignored me the whole time...and wouldn’t stand."
"An alchemical item?" Zheng Qing raised his eyebrows: "What does it look like? Where is it?"
"It has two long wooden poles, a few short ones...like this, like this together," Su Ya waved her arms, awkwardly describing, seriously adding at the end, "but I couldn’t find its eyes or nose. I guess it’s hibernating...like a bear or a turtle!"
She was quite pleased with the terms she used and the examples she provided.
Until Zheng Qing saw the ’alchemical item’ she spoke of.
It was a triangle ladder.
"You’ve never seen a triangle ladder?"
The young student licked his lips, feeling at a loss. He suddenly thought that letting Poseidon fully embrace Qingqiu-style magic education might not be a good idea.
"It’s called a triangle ladder?"
"Why doesn’t it talk when you call it?"
"Its two legs must be for walking...but with such disproportion, and tied in the middle, how can it walk? Where’s its mouth?"
Zheng Qing automatically tuned out the chatter from the three little witches, silently pulled the switch on the ladder, spreading it out and placing it at the window, carefully climbing up, then looked down to offer a brief explanation: "Like this, you can climb up to clean the glass..."
The three little fox ladies with big tails and one little fox chasing its own tail gathered under the ladder, whispered loudly:
"Wow, amazing! No wonder he’s the young master!"
"...The mansion should have a few male servants."
"As long as the mistress is still the lady, that won’t be possible..."
"Didn’t know you could climb this high without magic!"
"Truly surprising...I didn’t know there were such magical things as triangle ladders in the world! Did you notice it’s dead-like? Folded like that yet doesn’t talk!"
"The young master the lady fancies is indeed the best!"
"If he falls off the ladder, that would be even better." Su Ya muttered, hoping Zheng Qing would fall so she could have a chance to climb high.
"Chirp chirp!" Poseidon enthusiastically agreed with the little maid’s wish.
Zheng Qing rolled his eyes speechlessly, still stretching his arm upwards to feel the dust on the window’s edge, reminding: "When you guys clean later... Woah!"
A golden light shot down from the edge of the window directly at Zheng Qing’s face, quick as a spell light. Zheng Qing’s outstretched arm couldn’t shield or defend him in time, and instinctively he leaned back.
"Woohoo..." The word just flashed in his mind.
Bang!
Zheng Qing fell backward, heavily crashing down from the nearly two-meter-high ladder, the loud thud seemed to shake the entire mansion.
In just a second, Su Shijun in her sleep gown appeared above him, crouching down to scrutinize the young student wincing on the floor, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
Since the Witch wasn’t wearing glasses, Zheng Qing instinctively avoided her gaze, glanced downward, and saw the deep V neckline of her sleep gown, causing his gaze to pause suddenly before attempting to return to its original path.
Then he saw Su Shijun extending a finger towards his eyes.
Zheng Qing thought the angry Witch wanted to gouge out his eyes.
"I didn’t..."
He barely uttered a word when Su Shijun spoke thoughtfully: "I didn’t expect your skull to be this hard? Ordinary Wizards stung by a Flying Centipede like that would have a hole in their head and lose some brain fluid..."
While speaking, he saw the white jade-like finger press against his forehead, gently rubbing it.
The fingertips were soft and slightly cool.
