High School of Demon Hunting-Chapter 1462 - 206 Sleeping Insect

The midnight museum was far from quiet.

In the neighboring exhibition hall, there were occasional sounds of exhibits fighting and brawling, interspersed with the powerful voice of some singer, as well as the odd roars of magical creatures.

In this temporary exhibition hall where the Absolution Hunting Team was located, although the displays lacked the vitality of regular museum pieces, they were not lifeless objects. When the young wizards gathered in front of the mirror, discussing methods of entering and exiting the Magic Mirror, they unintentionally attracted a circle of onlookers.

Such as the ’Traveler’ statue carrying a suitcase, half of its body hollow; an Old Master holding a Law Book, his robes billowing; an Astronomer holding a telescope, its lens aimed at the young wizards; and a stone young lady covered in moss, lying next to a willow dog.

Furry Bean snuggled up to the willow-coated dog, wagging its tail merrily, seemingly intrigued by its unique counterpart. However, the willow dog remained dignified beside the stone young lady, not shifting its gaze as if it couldn’t see the lively grey dog beside it.

The onlookers were silently yet cheerfully watching the young wizards discuss, occasionally pointing at the Magic Mirror beside them.

As Zheng Qing and the others were busy with pressing matters and no longer responding to the provocations of the mirror demons, most of the bored mirror demons inside the Magic Mirror had vanished from view, leaving only a few gaunt and lifeless mirror demons sitting in the corner, spying on the movements of the young wizards.

Xiao Xiao’s voice wasn’t loud, but the temporary exhibition hall was spacious and quiet, so his words clearly echoed in the ears of each young Hunter:

"...The path of the Dream Master, as the Elders said, we neither know who the Dream Masters are nor their rates, and we don’t have more time to waste looking for them."

"The magic ritual at midnight is widely known, yet it is known to be dangerous. Because that moment is when the starlight shines most brilliantly throughout the twenty-four-hour day. No one knows what kind of beings we will summon through the mirror. In many of the stories that have been passed down, the end results for those who entered the World in the Mirror through such means were not so pleasant."

"Of course, there wasn’t much good to be found inside the mirror to begin with."

"As for the other two methods mentioned by the Monitor... There are many cliffs in the dream, and without correct guidance, it’s hard for us to climb the right cliff and jump off in the proper way. As for stepping down the stairs, the biggest question is how many steps we should take, forty-nine or fifty. Although it’s only one step off, it’s a world of difference."

"It doesn’t necessarily have to involve jumping off a cliff."

Zhang Ji Xin, one hand on his chin and the other on his elbow, interrupted Xiao Xiao’s analysis, musing: "The Monitor’s grandmother lives in the mountains, so the story uses cliffs as an example. But we are on an island, surrounded by the ocean. I have a cousin who lives by the sea, and he’s heard a similar tale. Only in that story, it’s a white ship that takes the wizard to Dreamland, and the ship’s captain is said to be a wizard who has gained permanent residence in Dreamland."

Jiang Yu nodded in sudden understanding, agreeing with his point.

"Whether it’s the white ship or the cliff, they are both a bit too far for us now." Zheng Qing put away his pocket watch, looking somewhat impatiently at the Doctor: "So, what’s your ’good method’? How exactly are we going to enter this mirror... and also, what did you just say about already understanding the principle of entering the World in the Mirror through this mirror?"

Xiao Xiao took out the Crystal Ball again, restoring the image from a short while ago.

In the Crystal Ball, the pattern resembling a distorted solar eclipse with a central irregular dark shadow surrounded by a dazzling white halo reappeared in front of everyone.

"This is a space rift."

Xiao Xiao simply explained: "This rift is located between reality and the World in the Mirror, captured by some Big Wizard, then solidified in this mirror, making this mirror a gateway to an alternate dimension."

"How do we enter this gateway?" Zheng Qing asked once more.

"With dreams." Xiao Xiao answered with a double meaning: "If you keep thinking about ’passing through this door,’ you might never be able to get through this mirror in your life... I’m not your gentleman, I can’t push you through."

Zheng Qing forced a wry smile and expressed his agreement.

"But we can pass through this mirror in our dreams," Xiao Xiao put away the Crystal Ball and gently touched the Magic Rune on the Roman column to the left of the Magic Mirror, murmuring, "The premise is that we need to dream the same dream."

"That sounds pretty tough," Xin Fat Man grumbled, then seemed to add something under his breath, but it was so quiet that no one heard it clearly.

Zheng Qing completely understood Xin Fat Man’s concern.

If everyone present were the rough gents from the Absolution Hunting Team, then dreaming the same dream—if it were possible—wouldn’t be much of a psychological burden for anyone.

But there was a Witch among today’s hunting team.

And a very beautiful Witch at that.

Zheng Qing greatly doubted whether the Young Wizards, who couldn’t completely control their own dreams, might expose some deplorable thoughts in the dream.

The mere thought made one consider giving up on the idea.

Perhaps only Xin Fat Man and Zheng Qing were worried about this; Xiao Xiao thought that when Xin Fat Man said ’pretty tough,’ he was referring to the difficulty of having five people share the same dream.

He cheerfully took out a small bottle and held it aloft:

"It’s not that difficult with its help; there’ll be no problem."

"What is this?" Zheng Qing scrutinized the bottle closely, observing the coiled semi-transparent little worms inside. They looked like undeveloped earthworms, yet the aura they emitted felt somewhat familiar to Zheng Qing.

He was certain he had never seen little worms of this appearance before.

This contradictory feeling made one frown.

"Sand Hour," Xiao Xiao’s answer was somewhat unexpected: "Last term, the School Works Committee caught a group of Sand Time Worms and raised some larvae. This is a reward I just got a while ago."

Jiang Yu glanced at Zheng Qing.

The Sprite activator that Doctor Du Zemu had specially formulated for Zheng Qing used Sand Hour royal jelly. She also knew the origin of those worms.

Zheng Qing’s frown deepened.

"I’ve seen what Sand Hours look like; they don’t look like this," he examined the coiled little creatures in the bottle, uncertain: "I remember they were Beetles, right?"

"These are Sand Time larvae, also known as ’Sleeping Insects’," Xiao Xiao tapped the glass bottle lightly with his fingertip, looking at the motionless little worms, and added: "When they consume enough threads of the time dimension, they undergo metamorphosis and evolve into ’Lazy Bugs,’ which are the adult Sand Hours we caught last year."

"Even if you have a way to make us have the same dream, how can you be sure that the mirror can also enter our dream world?" Zheng Qing had one last question: "Moreover, if we enter the World in the Mirror from our dream, can we truly rescue Zhu Si?"