Originally, Zheng Qing just wanted to fool the shadow, so he covered his head and pretended to sleep.
Unexpectedly, in no ti, he actually fell asleep, and this nap lasted from midday till sunset, by which ti the sunlight outside the window had turned a dark red, casting a long, dim glow on the white walls.
Zheng Qing was awakened by a faint rustling sound.
He opened his eyes to a world of white, making him almost think he had returned to the land of void he once visited, but soon he realized it was just the white powder on the hospital room walls.
Unlike the pale, deathly white of the land of void, the white powder walls before him, under the sunlight, exuded a reassuring softness, full of vibrant life.
It wasn’t ti to turn on the lights yet.
The orange sunset shone through the clear glass windows, bathing the hospital room in a warm, comfortable glow, making Zheng Qing feel like he wanted to continue his slumber.
But a voice quickly brought him to full alertness.
"You’re awake?"
A familiar and hoarse voice arose not far away. Zheng Qing turned his head to see Xiao Xiao sitting on the sofa on the right side of the bed, peeling an apple. On the coffee table in front of the sofa, a fruit platter was arranged with peeled and washed fruits, including grapes, pears, green dates, waterlon, and apples.
The young public-funded student imdiately felt his mouth watering and beca much more spirited. He lifted his arm and grabbed the small brass bell at the head of the bed, shaking it.
Jingle, jingle.
Poof.
With a soft sound, like a deflating balloon, a little sprite in a white gauze dress appeared abruptly above the patient, flapping its translucent wings, and made a curious Hehe-like inquiry.
"I want to eat fruit." Zheng Qing pointed to the fruit platter on the coffee table.
The little sprite floated lightly to the coffee table, lifted her skirt, and curtsied to the guest sitting on the sofa. Xiao Xiao waved her hand, indicating it could take as it pleased, while disdainfully looking at Zheng Qing.
"Have you beco this lazy?"
Watching Zheng Qing open his mouth for the sprite to pop peeled grapes into it, the tone was full of mockery: "I wouldn’t be surprised if you stayed in bed for another month and forgot how to walk."
"How were the practical exams?"
The sweet fruit juice effectively relieved the dryness in his mouth upon waking, which also improved Zheng Qing’s mood significantly. He didn’t mind the Doctor’s sarcasm; instead, he amiably inquired: "Were the questions difficult? Was Assistant Hilda supervising?"
"A proctor I didn’t know."
Xiao Xiao shook his head, slowly replying while putting a piece of apple into his mouth: "...The exam covered the three transformations of the Binding Spell, the usage skills of the Chaos Spell, the Yuan Chen Guardian Spell, and the Positioning Spell... The additional question involved a combination magic, which must include the Firestorm Curse and Wind Spell."
Zheng Qing took the green date handed over by the little sprite, bit it with a crunch, chewed, and couldn’t help but sigh: "Sounds difficult..."
"It’s alright."
Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, answering carelessly: "If you rember last year’s school Hunting Competition, Queen Joan’s Clover Hunting Team used a similar combination magic... During this extra question, except for Nicholas who failed after consuming two frogs, everyone else more or less cast that combination spell."
"Nicholas, huh."
Zheng Qing mumbled the na, the image of that ponytail-wearing, sallow-faced, slender veteran flashing in his mind: "Do you think he can advance to sophomore year this ti?"
"Highly likely." Xiao Xiao put down the silver-handled fork, counting with his fingers: "This ti’s upgrade assessnt includes ten percent of regular grades, twenty percent for midterm grades, end-of-term written exam grades reduced to thirty-five percent, and practical scores at thirty-five percent... As long as the total score reaches sixty percent, he’s assured advancent."
"Nicholas perford exceptionally well in the battle against the dark tide. The Northern District Wizard patrol team he led protected shops on two streets. Even without considering the special nature of the Northern District Wizards, this accomplishnt alone can earn him an A rating... Plus, according to insider info, the Assistant Team gave him a perfect score for his practical class."
"Wow."
The patient on the bed voiced his envy: "That’s thirty-five percent... As long as he gets a passing score in the end-of-term written exam, plus his regular and midterm scores... Tsk, he’s finally also going to sophomore year."
Xiao Xiao tilted his head, giving Zheng Qing a glance.
"You shouldn’t have any problems either." He raised an eyebrow: "Your regular and midterm scores are good, if you get thirty percent in the written exam, that’s about enough... Anyway, they have to give you at least so practical points, right?"
"Thirty percent!"
Zheng Qing tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a bitter expression: "Thirty percent ans I have to score above eighty-five on every paper... I don’t have your unreasonable brain, nor do I have a chief student like Nicholas who helps with coursework 24/7..."
"You can’t say it like that, Mr. Zha." Along with the sound of the door opening, Xin Fat Man’s indignant voice vibrated the entire room: "...Nicholas only has Liu Fei Fei helping him, but you have several beauties; how’s that for fairness?"
"Don’t call Mr. Zha!" Zheng Qing shouted in warning as anger stained his face pale.
This was another thing that irritated him upon waking up.
The other Hunters in the Absolution Hunting Team had, without his knowledge, given him the nickna ’Mr. Zha’, and it had already started to circulate in small circles.
The reason being that while Zheng Qing was unconscious, the witches who sent flowers for him were a bit too many—Jiang Yu sent a pot of white tulips, Greenhill Mansion sent a bunch of blue hyacinths, Sister Korma from Sakura Pub sent so sunflowers, and for so reason, the Gypsy Witch Coven also sent a bunch of multi-colored balloon flowers, red and purple, exceedingly pretty.
Besides that, a rather large number of witches visited Zheng Qing while he was unconscious; besides Jiang Yu, Greenhill Mansion’s Su Shijun and the two big witches from Sakura Pub, Sister Korma, also visited several tis each—not including the little witches like Li ng, Su Ya, and Zhu Si who ca along with them.
Later, when the kitten group from the Cat Fruit Tree ca to visit, the hunters from the Absolution Hunting Team wondered if they were a bunch of female cats.
Upon hearing the warning from the young public-funded student,
Fat Man put on a ridiculously exaggerated expression: "Okay, Mr. Zha... But while you were asleep, our whole hunting team voted, and your code na in the team was changed from ’Little Mister’ to ’Mr. Zha’... Not a big impact, anyway your previous code nas weren’t used much."
"Jiang Yu also voted in favor."
Zhang Ji Xin followed closely behind, squeezing into the hospital room, adding with a laugh: "Our hunting team uses a dual-captain system, so when you can’t perform your duties, I can preside over a team eting. Oh, and just to let you know, Headmaster Jiang has officially beco a mber of our team, code na ’Monitor’. These were all submitted and approved by the school."
Zheng Qing’s face turned gray as he looked out the window, appearing utterly hopeless.
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