The witch followed Zheng Qing's gaze and looked at her wrist, took it off casually, and threw it into the wizard's hand: "A few haha beads, a gadget my cousin gave me at Christmas...an ancient alchemy doll...if When you encounter tough but not too powerful opponents on the hunting ground, smash them out and they will turn into alchemy dolls to help you entangle the enemy. But don't hold too much hope, as they have limited resistance to magic. Far inferior to your Minotaur. I even think an edamame can beat three of them."
Zheng Qing shook the few pale golden beads in his palm and weighed them, feeling they had some weight. Looking carefully, they looked like little people curled up together and laughing.
No wonder it’s called ‘Haha Beads’.
"It's so interesting. I've never seen such a little thing before." He praised sincerely, and at the same time kicked the furry gray dog next to his feet that came out of nowhere after hearing his name being called: "...Get out of here quickly, don't come to this shop, or you might be caught and skinned!"
These words were by no means alarmist. Zheng Qing could already vaguely feel that the figures in black cloaks at the nearby tables were casting curious glances at the dogs at their feet.
Maodou purred, wagging his tail happily, and walked around the witch, then disappeared into the shadows in the corner between the bar and the wall.
"Sorry, I forgot its habits." A trace of apology flashed in the witch's eyes, and she immediately added happily: "So, as compensation, I will give you these haha beads..."
Zheng Qing suddenly felt that the small beads in his hand became extremely hot.
"Your butterbeer, no sugar added!" The multi-armed waiter pushed two large wine glasses in front of the witch.
"Thanks."
The witch took the cup, turned to look at the troubled boy, raised her chin slightly, and said: "...You go and play with the boys, don't let them scold me quietly behind my back."
"I..." Zheng Qing opened his mouth.
"I won't be able to use this gadget for the time being, but you might be able to use it when you go hunting in two days." The witch interrupted the boy's attempt to refuse and added: "The tasks assigned by the alliance to registered hunting teams are not simple. , even if you are a hunting team composed of current students...if you feel sorry for yourself, just give me a generous Spring Festival gift."
Zheng Qing slowly closed his open mouth and nodded vigorously.
The witch smiled slightly, waved her hand, turned around and left leisurely.
cough.
Ahem.
A few deliberately suppressed low coughs brought the young public-funded student back to his senses. Zheng Qing reluctantly moved his eyes away from the witch's back and looked at the guy who made the noise.
"Do you need some cough syrup?" He said with an unhappy look on his face.
Xiao Xiao touched his neck and politely refused: "Thank you, I feel much better. I don't need it for the time being... but you... Although I'm sorry, I just vaguely heard the word Spring Festival... you Do you plan to celebrate the New Year with the squad leader after completing the mission?"
The hunting team mission designated by the alliance has not yet been confirmed, so it would be a luxury to talk about completing the mission.
"Eavesdropping is a bad habit, especially for fortune tellers. Be careful of your ears bleeding after sleeping at night." Zheng Qing glanced at him, raised the wine glass in his hand, and took a sip: "... As for the New Year and so on, it's
So what, so what if it’s not?”
"Whether it is or not, I suggest you lie in the campus hospital during the Chinese New Year, just like you did last summer."
Dr. Xiao Da adjusted his glasses and gave his opinion very sincerely: "Otherwise, I'm worried that when school starts after the new year, our hunting team will have to change the captain... If you celebrate the New Year with the squad leader, someone will assassinate you."
The young public-funded student sneered, a little disapproving: "It's not that serious! It's the Chinese New Year, and those fanatical fans should stop for a few days... And Jiang Yu and I are just friends..."
"There's no point in explaining this to me."
Xiao Xiao rolled his eyes and said in the simplest terms: "In addition, the first day of the first lunar month this year happens to be Valentine's Day on February 14th in the Gregorian calendar. Don't tell me you haven't read the old almanac."
Zheng Qing was startled when he heard this, and immediately thought of the 'generous gift' he had promised before, and couldn't help but curse in a low voice. This meant that he would have at least double blood during the Chinese New Year.
The short wizard obviously misunderstood something. He stood on tiptoes and patted Zheng Qing's shoulder sympathetically.
"Be more open……"
"Has the alliance's assigned mission been confirmed?"
Zheng Qing changed the topic, not wanting to get entangled in the issue of who to spend the New Year with, and thought of what Jiang Yu had just mentioned: "I remember that you submitted the relevant materials of apology to the school hunting committee last week...
…I heard that sometimes student hunting teams also encounter very troublesome tasks?”
"Well, today is Wednesday, and we should receive the notice before Friday at the latest." Xiao Xiao did some calculations and added: "...Then we will have about two to three weeks to complete the task. Indeed, although
According to the agreement between the school and the alliance, the official hunting team composed of current students has a lot of room for negotiation in terms of task selection and difficulty. However, sometimes, in order to maintain a certain kind of "fair reputation", the school will
Deliberately choosing more difficult tasks for students...especially since most of our members still belong to Jiuyou Academy."
The spirit of Jiuyou Academy is justice and equality.
Zheng Qing sighed deeply and raised the wine glass in his hand: "I hope everything goes well."
Ding!
"Everything goes well." Xiao Xiao clinked glasses with him.
"By the way... what gift will you give Sima? During the Chinese New Year." Zheng Qing drank the warm wine in the cup in one gulp, blushing again on his face, and unconsciously returned to the previous topic.
"A bouquet of flowers is always indispensable." Xiao Xiao's tone was a little uncertain: "As for the rest...it depends on the situation. I hope I can find some good things during this hunting mission."
Zheng Qing squeezed the few warm haha beads in his palm, nodded in agreement, then took out a piece of letterhead and a quill, and hastily wrote a memo.
He folded the memo into a light green paper crane and stuffed it into a gray cloth bag. This was a new little magic trick he had recently learned. He could use the paper crane as a memo, and they would arrive at the exact time when the scheduled time came.
Climb out of the pocket and remind the wizard not to forget the previous arrangement by pecking his ears or other means.
When he finished everything, he turned around and found Xiao Xiao looking up at the ceiling.
"What are you looking at?"
"I saw a crow flying into the ceiling from the second floor." Xiao Xiao pointed to the top of his head. Zheng Qing looked in the direction of his finger. He saw dots of candlelight like a real starry sky, and the dark ceiling seemed to have no entity.
, swallowing up everything, giving people a feeling of remoteness and loneliness.
He did not see the crow Xiao Xiao was talking about.