Experimental activities

Huaxia·Y City

Tao Xiaochun was looking for a suitable tie for her husband when the doorbell rang and interrupted her.

“Here I come.”

Tao Xiaochun put down the things in his hands and ran out in a hurry.

Outside the door, Mrs. Chen from the neighbor's house stood at the door, looking at her with a smile: "Mrs. Tao, we agreed to go to church together later, didn't you forget?"

"Of course I didn't forget." Tao Xiaochun opened the door and quickly invited Mrs. Chen to come in first: "Come in and sit for a while. We'll leave after I find something."

Since moving to the villa area, the clever and simple Tao Xiaochun has been welcomed by the neighbors. The rich ladies here have long since gotten rid of the low-level desire to compete for money. Instead, they like Tao Xiaochun, who is a good cook, quick to do things, and consistent in her appearance and heart, and like to call her for help with anything.

The reason why Mrs. Chen came this time was to take Tao Xiaochun to visit the religious church that she recently believed in.

Mrs. Chen, who used to be so extravagant, was dressed very simply today. She sat down on the sofa with ease, looking at the living room which was rarely messy, and asked curiously, "Are you going on a trip?"

"I have to attend my daughter's parents' meeting this afternoon." Tao Xiaochun smiled and replied, "I'm afraid I won't have time to prepare if I come back too late, so I'm preparing things first."

"I remember your daughter goes to a public school. Why does she have to dress so formally for parent-teacher meetings now?" Mrs. Chen asked curiously.

"My daughter's parent-teacher meeting...is quite special." Tao Xiaochun didn't finish his words, only spoke vaguely.

Fortunately, Mrs. Chen was not too interested in this, and Tao Xiaochun quickly found the tie she had prepared for her husband. After putting it and her husband's suit away, Tao Xiaochun, led by Mrs. Chen, who could not hide her excitement, went to the nearest church.

Although China does not prohibit religion, it never publicly promotes it. The church that Mrs. Chen took Tao Xiaochun to was the first religious sect that the government had vigorously promoted on television for the first time.

Tao Xiaochun was not very interested in religion. The only reason she accepted Mrs. Chen's invitation and came here was for one reason - the deity believed in by this sect, the "Goddess of Disaster", was too similar to her daughter.

This order alone was enough to make Tao Xiaochun feel good about her.

But what Tao Xiaochun cares more about is the origin of this goddess - Parnaki.

Not long ago, her daughter had just told them that she was a "time traveler" who had experienced hundreds of years in Parnaqui.

Although Yu Zhi did not elaborate on her experience in Parnaki, as a mother, Tao Xiaochun could not suppress the doubts in her heart from the first moment she saw the statue of the "Goddess of Disaster".

"The 'Goddess of Disaster' Dolores is said to be a princess of a country in Parnaqui called the 'Holy Carlos Empire'." Outside the church, Mrs. Chen enthusiastically introduced to Tao Xiaochun: "Legend has it that the king of San Carlos personally sacrificed his daughter Dolores in order to appease the anger of the 'Goddess of the Four Seasons' they believed in. The princess endured the pain of being cut into pieces, and because of her anger, she turned into the 'Goddess of Disaster'. She sent down a torrential rain for 30 days, killing the foolish royal family, but she did not vent her anger on the people of the entire country. Instead, she let go of her hatred, protected and responded to the people's prayers."

A god from another world could have caused such a stir in China, so it couldn't be based on a myth.

Then Mrs. Chen said, "This living goddess will respond to the prayers of her believers even if they are in a different world. You know XXX in our community, right? Her whole family are believers of the goddess. Her son originally didn't have a 'magic circuit', but because he was too devout, the goddess responded to their wishes - now her son is attending classes at the magic academy!"

At this point, Mrs. Chen's eyes revealed a yearning color: "My daughter has always wanted to learn magic, but unfortunately she doesn't have a 'magic circuit'. As long as I pray devoutly, I believe the goddess will hear my wish and give my daughter a chance - by the way, Mrs. Tao, is your daughter still planning to study art in college? Learning magic is the first choice now. If your daughter can't learn magic, you'd better come here to pray as often as I do. The goddess will help those who are sincere."

Tao Xiaochun, whose mind was filled with the story of the birth of the "Goddess of Disaster", forced a smile and nodded: "I'll come when I have the chance."

Fortunately, after entering the church, Mrs. Chen had no time to talk to her anymore.

The church was crowded with people, but very quiet. Even the footsteps were very light. Apart from the occasional sound of the black-robed priest striking his instruments, there was no other sound around.

Every believer who comes here either sits on a bench or kneels on one knee in front of the statue, crosses his fingers in front of his chest, and makes a pious wish.

There were also tourists who came to visit like Tao Xiaochun. Most of them watched quietly for a while, took one or two photos, and then left on their own so as not to disturb these devout believers.

Tao Xiaochun stood quietly at the edge of the church for a while, gazing carefully at the huge statue in the center.

The goddess slightly closed her eyes, her left eye was compassionate, and her right eye was angry. Her scarred arms were spread out to both sides, like an embrace, as if to say to the believers: I am willing to accept each and every one of you.

——No matter how you look at it, that face is exactly the same as her daughter's.

As the daughter of a time traveler, in the hundreds of years of Parnaki, the god who looks like her daughter...

Could it be her?

Tao Xiaochun thought.

If this god really exists, I hope he will never be my daughter.

The pain of being cut into pieces, just imagining it, was enough to make Tao Xiaochun feel suffocated.

...

Parnaky Reltsad

Tao Xiaochun pushed open the car door, and his legs were still a little weak when he landed.

The first time she flew, she had never even flown on an airplane before, and was in a griffin car. The griffins, as big as two elephants, flapped their wings and flew at an altitude of ten thousand meters. Just a glance down was enough to terrify her.

Tao Xiaochun looked up at the sky. At the connection between Panaki and the earth, one flying car after another was flying towards the castle where she was. The spectacular scene seemed like a trip to a movie.

If someone had told Tao Xiaochun and her husband three days ago that they were going to Panaki to attend a parent-teacher conference, Tao Xiaochun would have thought that the other person was someone who couldn't even lie.

But now her legs fell on this strange land, and the faint fragrance floating in the air made her dizzy.

Everything seemed like a dream until their daughter, in a white dress, walked towards them. Her smiling face stunned Tao Xiaochun and Yu Lei.

The girl in front of me had long hair and a long skirt. She was so beautiful that she seemed to glow when she walked under the sun. Her every move was so sacred that people wanted to bow down and worship her.

"Dad, Mom, you're here." Yu Zhi curved her eyes and smiled at them.

"...Xiao Zhi?"

"It's me." Yu Zhi nodded, her elegant smile becoming even brighter. She walked forward, holding her parents' hands, and led them into the castle: "The parents' meeting will be held in an hour, I'll take you around here first."

"well."

Tao Xiaochun and Yu Lei were still a little confused.

Although their daughter had told them of her identity as a time traveler, they were still unable to react when they saw her appear in front of them in a different appearance than when she was in China.

Especially Tao Xiaochun, who had many doubts in his heart.

"Relthad is a city ruled by demons. This is the royal city of Relthad. The castle where the demon king lives is where we are now." Yu Zhi's voice came softly from the front. Tao Xiaochun and Yu Lei, whose attention was originally on their daughter, were shocked again.

"The Devil's Castle?" Yu Lei asked in surprise, "Weren't we supposed to be in Parnaki for the parents' meeting? Why are we in the Devil's Castle?"

"Our class teacher Rui Hang is the 'Lord of the Demons.'" Yu Zhi introduced.

"What!" Two exclamations rang out at the same time.

They were surprised enough that both the students and teachers in the class were time travelers, but it turned out that the head teacher was a devil!

Even though the two of them didn't have much knowledge about the Demon King's identity, the title contained the word "king", so he definitely couldn't be a simple existence.

Tao Xiaochun couldn't help but look at his daughter carefully - when she was on Earth, Yu Zhi always looked like a good girl, but she didn't expect that after coming to this other world, she got tattoos instead.

"...Huh?" Tao Xiaochun was stunned.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Yu Zhi, who was introducing the castle to her parents, asked in confusion, "Is there something you don't understand?"

"No, you..." Tao Xiaochun stretched out his hand and touched Yu Zhi's neck directly.

It felt cool and delicate to the touch, like a piece of fine jade. But when I touched those light-colored marks, the texture suddenly became uneven.

The scars covering his skin were exactly the same as those on the statue seen in the Church of the Goddess of Disaster, and were even more exaggerated.

Tao Xiaochun began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Xiaozhi, you have...scars?" Tao Xiaochun's voice was choked with uncontrollable sobs: "Why do you have so many scars on your body? How did you..."

Facing her own wounds, Yu Zhi's expression was indifferent: "It's just some old things."

For Yu Zhi, the past is over, and there is no need to bring up the past. But how could her parents ignore the numerous wounds all over her body?

Yu Lei keenly sensed that something was wrong between the mother and daughter, and tentatively changed the question: "Xiaozhi, after you traveled to Parnaki...what is your identity?"

Knowing that she couldn't hide it from her parents, Yu Zhi sighed quietly and put aside her calm appearance.

"...Actually, I should have told you a long time ago, but I just haven't found the right time." Yu Zhi said: "You should have heard of my name - 'Goddess of Disaster' Dolores."

Tao Xiaochun's heart skipped a beat and tears instantly fell from his eyes.

The "Goddess of Disaster" is really her daughter!

Although Yu Lei was still a little confused, he had heard the story of the "Goddess of Disaster" and soon realized why Tao Xiaochun was crying.

Being cut into pieces... Such a suffocating thing just to imagine actually happened to their daughter?

"Xiao Zhi..." Yu Lei gasped for air. His intense anger made him dizzy. He could only grit his teeth and continue asking, "Those stories about you...are they true?"

"..." Yu Zhi pursed her lips and nodded under the sad gaze of her parents.

"What a beast! Scum! How can there be such parents? They are not worthy of being human!" Yu Lei cursed loudly in anger: "Sacrifice? You say you respect the gods, but why don't you be the object of sacrifice!"

Tao Xiaochun kept crying, and gently stroked Yu Zhi's cheek with trembling hands, asking again and again: "My dear, does it still hurt?"

Does it hurt?

After becoming a zombie, the feelings of heat, cold, pain...had long disappeared from her body. Only within the short nine months after returning to her human body did Yu Zhi regain these experiences.

As for the pain at that time, after five hundred years, it has long become blurred.

The only thing that never faded away was the pain and anger of being imprisoned and hurt. Every time she closed her eyes, she would go back to that day and relive this desperate past. But now she could witness the torture she suffered calmly in her dreams, instead of the past when the memory alone could make her feel miserable.

At first, she was immersed in despair and had no one to talk to or act cute with. When she returned to Class 9, she was no longer at the age to freely express her pain.

If it weren't for her friends in Class 9 who firmly maintained her humanity, perhaps she would have already abandoned the last bit of emotion and completely transformed into a true "god".

But Yu Zhi has no regrets for staying in the world and experiencing suffering. Her heart has long stopped beating, and only this humanity, and the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness it contains, make Yu Zhi feel what it means to be "alive".

Yu Zhi shook her head and smiled: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Tao Xiaochun held her weather-beaten daughter in her arms and gently stroked her long, smooth hair. "It's okay. Everything is over now."

The usually serious man standing aside had tears in his eyes: "With your parents here, we will never let anyone touch you again, even if it costs us our lives!"

Yu Zhi snuggled obediently in her parents' arms, feeling their love pouring towards her.

Suddenly, she seemed to travel through time and space and returned to that dark day. The sixteen-year-old girl was lying in the tower, and every breath she took was like a knife cutting her.

"Dad, Mom...I'm in so much pain..."

She murmured in despair, but no one could save her.

The darkness made her five senses clearer. She could even feel the flow of blood and the passing of life, until her heart beat slower and slower until it stopped.

But this time, the desperate story finally had a turning point.

Two pairs of hands reached out from the darkness and hugged her tightly, warmly and powerfully soothing the scars, grievances and resentment on her body.

"Wow wow wow—fly higher!"

The cheers interrupted the warmth of Yu Zhi's family of three. Yu Zhi blinked and raised her head from her parents' arms.

In the sky not far away, Song Mingzhe, who turned into a dragon, was taking his parents for a ride in the sky. Song Mingzhe's father, who was born in the West, was very accepting of his son's dragonization. He was not worried about being thrown off the dragon's back at all. He directed his son to fly around the sky and perform complex movements like a fighter jet.

The griffins that were also in the sky were frightened by Song Mingzhe's pressure and ran around in panic. The carriage behind them shook like a roller coaster, and loud "wow wow" sounds were heard continuously.

A figure jumped up from the castle and kicked Song Mingzhe in the head, knocking him back to the ground.

"Who allowed you to run around in the sky!" Rui Hang pointed at Song Mingzhe's nose and yelled, "What if you scare other parents? You should be more sensible when doing things!"

The Nether Dragon King Song Mingzhe, who had transformed into human form again, and his parents stood obediently in front of Rui Hang, lowered their heads and admitted their mistakes listlessly.

Yu Zhi/Tao Xiaochun/Yu Lei: "......"

The sad atmosphere suddenly could not continue.

Half an hour later, all the griffins landed smoothly, and the classmates and parents who had been tormented by the flying cars turned pale finally recovered.

Led by Ulysses, parents and students walked through the corridor and came to the parent-teacher meeting place specially prepared by Rui Hang.

"...We have come to a different world, why do we still have to hold meetings in the classroom?" Bai Luo looked at the classroom in front of him, which was almost the same as the No. 2 Middle School, except that it was more spacious. He twitched his lips and couldn't help but complain.

"What's important at a parents' meeting is the atmosphere." Rui Hang said this and walked straight to the podium.

He turned around, placed his hands on the podium, temporarily put aside his identity as a demon king, and returned to his duties as a teacher.

"Hello, parents. I am the head teacher of Class 9 - Rui Hang."