Chapter 2643: Chapter 864: April Fools’ Day
Thursday.
April 1st, April Fool’s Day, Lunar February 17th.
Good for engagements, prayers, coming-of-age ceremonies.
Avoid funerals, travel.
While flipping through the old almanac in the morning, Zheng Qing vaguely remembered that last year’s April Fool’s Day also avoided funerals, feeling particularly amused, not knowing whether it was because the God of Death refused to be fooled or because death was taboo to be desecrated.
It’s been two days since the changes happened in Beta Town on Forbidden Magic Festival, which was on Monday.
As more and more information is disclosed through different channels, the entire wizard world is becoming increasingly clear about the incident on Buji Island that day—from First University’s Array briefly launched with full force, to the suspected Legendary Rank aura eruption in the North District of Beta Town, and to the school’s brief and unconvincing announcement, all of which indicate to any wizard who understands a bit of divination that there is more to the matter.
Yet, it’s quite miraculous.
The more people agree there is something more to the incident, the fewer people discuss it publicly.
This led to the public sentiment that Zheng Qing thought would last for ten days or a half-month, dying down in just two to three days. As a professional from dorm 403 put it, this is a standard method of dimensionality reduction.
"Facts have repeatedly proven that the wizard rank is the biggest variable for public sentiment."
In the practical part of the Potion Class on Thursday morning, Xin Fat Man said while waiting for the saffron infusion: "... Each time the wizard rank increases by a level, the clarity with which public sentiment reflects the truth decreases. In other words, ordinary wizards dare not overly discuss matters involving high-level wizards, because their ’ubiquity’ and ’omniscience’ are likely truly genuine... And as low-level wizards, they are unaware of where the boundaries lie, so ’taboo’ becomes the best coping mechanism. Do you remember the ten or more uses of the word ’taboo’ we learned in the spell class last year? Hey! The reason it has such a rich meaning is because it understands the societal operation rules very deeply!"
As he spoke, he poured out the infused herbs, wrapped them in a thin cloth, and began to squeeze them—on the podium, Professor Li was repeatedly emphasizing in his slightly weak voice the details of ’avoiding residues in roots and stems during squeezing’, ’prohibiting the use of magic to interfere with the production process’, and ’squeezing until the herb loses its original color’, among other operational details.
"Do you guys feel that the Forbidden Magic Festival is particularly prone to incidents?" Zheng Qing speculated while pressing the bag of herbs in front of him with his fingertips: "This year, something happened in Beta Town during the Forbidden Magic Festival; last year, it was the Fishman of Lin Zhong Lake causing trouble... Is it possible that the name Forbidden Magic Festival conflicts with the school’s aura?"
Last year’s Forbidden Magic Festival, the young Fishmen of the Lin Zhong Lake Fishman Tribe staged a large-scale protest around the lake, opposing the school’s interference with the tribe’s independence. They muddied the lake, pulled the tails of water buffaloes, plucked the feathers of Firebirds, and threw the Kappa ashore to scare passing witches, causing tension within the school for several days.
"It’s not that the Forbidden Magic Festival is unlucky; it’s that wizards choose to release accumulated ’negative energy’ in society on this day." Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses with his wrist and gave a serious analysis: "From the perspective of divination, the ascent of negative energy harms the harmony of heaven, affects the flow of aura between heaven and earth, and feeds back into reality, resulting in various incidents big and small on this day..."
"How is negative energy released?" Zheng Qing asked with great interest.
He intuitively felt that this involved a high-dimensional conceptual method of release similar to the release of Forbidden Curse power.
"When everyone stops using magic, the negative energy trapped by magic power will naturally be released." Xiao Xiaoyan explained succinctly.
Obviously, he wasn’t clear on the specific method himself, merely repeating concepts from the books. Zheng Qing was pondering the words ’naturally’, momentarily remaining silent.
Beside them, the Fat Wizard had already finished squeezing the herbal juice clean, and hearing his two companions discuss the Forbidden Magic Festival being prone to incidents, he suddenly interjected with a piece of news: "Actually, this year the young Fishmen from the Lin Zhong Lake Fishman Tribe planned to cause trouble too, like last year, but on the Forbidden Magic Festival day, when the aura of the big snake from Beta Town swept over, Lin Zhong Lake instantly fell silent... the young Fishmen were all stuffed by the Old Fishman back into the bottom of the lake, like a group of frightened quails..."
Slap!
The Fat Wizard was slapped on the back of the head.
He turned around angrily, only to see the Potion Class Professor had silently appeared behind him at some point, looking at him with a cheerful smile: "For this, a slap results in one potion."
A slap for a potion?
Xin Fat Man looked bewilderedly at his companions—Zhang Ji Xin pretended to hear nothing with closed ears, Zheng Qing was intently focused on pressing his herbal juice, while Xiao Xiao was holding a notebook, murmuring as if reciting the potion formulas from the textbook.
Merlin Above, when had he ever seen Doctor Xiao memorizing formulas!
"Sorry, Professor, I don’t know." The Fat Wizard admitted defeat with straightforward honesty, showing a sincere face of guilt.
"This potion is called ’Hu’s Slap’, passed down from an ancient butcher named Hu."
Professor Li wiped his hands and explained slowly: "The famous magic theorist Zhang Shanqiao, known as ’The Woodcutter of Mount Tianmu’, commented on this potion, saying ’The slap is hot in nature, spicy in taste, expels phlegm, clears vision, cures madness, and dissolves flattery toxin, to be mixed with lard for administration, and takes effect in the time of one quarter-hour’... I didn’t have lard on my hand just now, so the efficacy was a bit lacking, but presumably, the effect on treating ’madness’ or ’clearing vision’ should be present?"
His last sentence seemed to be a rhetorical question.
But only a fool would argue with it—Xin Fat Man nodded rapidly like a chicken pecking rice, fearing that if he was even a bit slow, Professor Li would give him another slap on the head.
The professor nodded in satisfaction and then looked around, issuing a warning reminder to the young wizards: "The potion I used just now, if you need it, feel free to ask... Whether someone has poor eyesight, can’t see this is a classroom, or suffers from madness and talks recklessly about unknown Legendary Wizards, I can provide several free treatments."
Immediately, the heads of the people around shook unanimously like rattles.
After the professor turned to inspect the other experimental tables, Xin Fat Man retracted his gaze, rubbed the back of his head, and glared at his companions with gritted teeth, his lips moving, cursing silently: "A bunch of disloyal bastards!"
Xiao Xiao, holding his notebook, showed Fat Brother his written response—Old Almanac, advisable today, pray for blessings, did you pray?
Watching the rhetorical question, Zheng Qing suddenly felt a vague sense of unease.
Because out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Jiang Yu, not far from them at the witch’s experiment table, rolling up her sleeves, revealing a small section of jade-white arm, with a string of dark golden Haha Beads on her wrist prominently standing out.
Zheng Qing knew very well, she wasn’t one for such high-profile behavior.
