The relationship was poor.
It might have been a personal grudge, or it might have been a public one.
Zheng Qing considered himself someone who had always treated others kindly. At school, he rarely took the initiative to argue or clash with anyone.
Strictly speaking, he had only fought Arthur Ness when he had first enrolled as a freshman, had a dispute with the mermen of Linzhong Lake, and accidentally seriously injured Sephrano—if the scope of conflict was not limited to his student identity, he had also briefly clashed with Professor Trude, the "World" of the 2006–2008 Great Arcana sequence.
Other than that, he dared swear on Maodou's paw that he had no other personal grudges.
As for those who secretly stuck pins into little grass dolls, drew circles to curse him, shouted "Burn Zheng Qing!" during bonfire parades, mailed him Explosion Talismans and Howling Letters, or came knocking every other day demanding duels, Zheng Qing classified all of them as "public grudges."
A public grudge, naturally, was distinct from a personal grudge arising from individual interests and conflicts.
The largest and most widespread group who openly hated him were those who liked Su Shijun—both wizards and witches. And judging by the grand scale of last year's Halloween bonfire parade, Zheng Qing had reason to believe they had formed some vague sort of religious faith, worshipping Su Shijun as an idol. Religious fanatics were capable of anything.
If Li Meng suddenly came to his seat during class one day, pulled out a small knife, and stabbed him straight in the stomach, Zheng Qing would not find it strange at all.
"Your distinction between 'public grudges' and 'personal grudges' is far too arbitrary." Xiao Xiao sat cross-legged in his tent, rubbing the Crystal Ball in his arms as he mocked his