The early summer air was mild and moist. Ancient locust trees and weeping willows along the roadside unfurled the greenery they had nurtured all winter, sheltering the little shops on either side beneath their shadows.
The streets of Four Seasons Market were paved with long slabs of blue-gray stone, level and spotless.
Usually, visitors streamed endlessly through the streets. Mischievous tree spirits often swung from the willows' slender branches, leaping from one visitor's head to another and occasionally dropping little trinkets fashioned from willow twigs and locust leaves.
Now, however, all the tree spirits were hiding in their tree hollows, trembling as they watched their trunks shudder to the thunderous drumming.
Beneath the trees, out on the street.
The boar demon galloped along the stone road on four short, thick hooves, their rapid clatter ringing out.
Like rain drumming on banana leaves, or a pig tumbling onto a jade platter.
The three rune characters that had drifted out of Thomas's spellbook dissolved with his incantation into wisps of exceedingly fine energy, merging into the ocean of air between heaven and earth.
The tree spirits burrowed deeper into their hollows.
They sensed something terrifying circling nearby.
Zheng Qing's eyes widened.
He felt the air growing angry.
Every wisp, every breath bristled with tiny filaments.
They prickled all over anyone who breathed that air, making their whole body tingle.
Standing in front of Zheng Qing, Thomas gently exhaled a stale breath.
A low rumble of thunder sounded.
It was muffled and drawn out.
As though coming from the distant horizon.
He turned his head and gave Zheng Qing a mischievous grin.
"Cover your ears!" he shouted.
Zheng Qing opened his mouth wide and covered his ears, wanting to say something.
But his voice was drowned out.
Thunder cracked beside his ears like beans popping in a pan, an unbroken barrage that swallowed every other sound.
The furious air seemed to have finally found an outlet, roaring and bellowing without restraint.
The whole world was engulfed in endless trembling.
Even with his ears covered, Zheng Qing felt his entire body buzzing.
He forced his eyes wide open and saw rolling thunderbolts slam into the boar demon.
They exploded.
The boar demon, whose tusks had already pierced the barrier of light, rolled about with agonized howls.
Chunks of flesh and skin mingled with clotted blood fell from its body.
They left a gruesome trail across the stone road.
The air filled with the fresh scent of ozone and the aroma of roasting meat.
But all Zheng Qing wanted to do was vomit.
A long while passed.
The thunder subsided for the moment.
The air, too, returned to its usual mildness and tranquility.
The tree spirits relaxed their tightly curled bodies inside their hollows, but still dared not venture out.
Zheng Qing rubbed his face and worked his jaw. Looking at the mangled boar demon nearby, he shouted to Thomas, "Is it dead?"
His ears were still buzzing. Unless he shouted, he could not even tell what he was saying.
Thomas shouted back, "Probably just unconscious! A massage at this level won't kill it."
"At this level?" Zheng Qing yelled in exasperation. "That spell was only a few yards away from exploding on us! What kind of lunatics go to Starry Sky Academy?"
"That's a personal attack! You'd lose credits for that at school!" Thomas laughed, grinning broadly.
Before he had even enrolled, Zheng Qing had already gained a profound appreciation for Starry Sky Academy's reckless way of doing things.
He was now extremely glad he had not entered Starry Sky Academy's examination hall in his dream.
The serious, conscientious, dependable image Thomas had worked so hard to establish a few hours earlier had been utterly shattered by that raging storm of thunder.
"Want to go over and take a look?" Thomas asked.
"I need to wait for my Stillness Talismans to fall first!" Zheng Qing tipped his head back and stared blankly into the air.
When the thunder had suddenly erupted, his nerves had gotten the better of him, and he had dropped the handful of Stillness Talismans he was holding.
Several had turned to ash amid the furious thunder.
Two others had been swept high into the air, escaping disaster.
Those two talismans were now circling as they drifted toward the ground.
Zheng Qing decided to wait for them.
Ever since discovering that he was a penniless wizard, he had begun watching every penny.
At Yunxiangyi, he had overheard some students shopping for clothes mention that the school had a flea market, where talismans, potions, and formation disks could be traded for experimental supplies.
The prospect had set his heart racing.
He had accumulated a whole box of completed talismans under his bed. Perhaps he could trade them for quite a few things!
He jumped up, snatched the lower piece of talisman paper, and stuffed it into his Gray Bag.
The gust stirred up by his jump caught the other piece of talisman paper and sent it drifting farther away.
Zheng Qing caught his breath, tilted his head back, and followed with his eyes fixed on it.
Beside him, Thomas held his spellbook in one hand and a feather pen in the other, scribbling furiously across its pages.
He glanced at Zheng Qing and cautioned him, "Don't wander too far. Once I finish copying this spell, we'll head back."
Zheng Qing agreed and followed the talisman paper toward the middle of the street.
There were still very few pedestrians about.
The little elves that roamed the ancient locust trees and weeping willows on either side were still sheltering in their hollows.
The tapping of his footsteps sounded especially clear along the Bluestone Path.
Zheng Qing stopped.
The yellow talisman paper was floating above the boar demon's mangled body.
Wounds as wide as the mouth of a bowl covered its body. Their edges were charred black, and tiny sparks occasionally spat from them.
The three thick folds around its neck had vanished completely, exposing its hideous tooth sockets and upper jaw.
Its once pale tusks bore pitch-black scorch marks. The rolling thunder had snapped off their sharp tips, leaving blood-streaked stumps.
Zheng Qing cautiously nudged one of its curled hooves with his foot.
The boar demon did not move a muscle.
He gave its belly another kick.
A wave rippled through its flesh.
The boar demon still lay stiff on the ground, its eyes closed.
Reassured, he raised his head to look for his talisman paper.
The energy between heaven and earth had settled. After drifting helplessly in midair for so long, the talisman paper finally ran out of momentum.
Zheng Qing watched happily as it drew closer and closer to his hand.
Then he heard heavy breathing.
An awful thought surfaced in his mind.
Holding his breath, he shifted his eyes cautiously downward.
A pair of tiny scarlet eyes.
Hungry, savage, chaotic.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
At the street corner, Thomas had just finished copying a spell. He put away his spellbook and looked up to find Zheng Qing.
The street was deserted, empty and quiet. He spotted Zheng Qing easily.
At the same time, he saw the boar demon slowly raising its hideous head.
There was no time left. Thomas stared at the two figures with a flicker of despair.
His spellbook never held weak spells.
And any one of those powerful spells would mean death if it struck Zheng Qing.
He could almost see the headmaster roaring at him.
He saw faces weeping in despair.
Then he saw a faint streak of yellow.
Zheng Qing held his breath.
He watched the yellow talisman paper sway lightly in midair, then settle onto the panting boar demon's nose.
The boar demon stared at the talisman paper with its tiny scarlet eyes.
Slowly, the breathing through its nostrils grew gentler and gentler.
Then it closed its eyes.
Its snores rumbled like thunder.
Zheng Qing let out a relieved breath and dropped onto the ground.
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