Chapter 52: Tree Gao Girls’ High School 12
Fu Mengru said cautiously: "Everyone get ready, I'll go around behind you, you wait for the opportunity, as soon as I give a signal in the corridor, you open the door immediately-"
Before he finished speaking, Xia Yi had already walked over, "Wow."
The door opened.
"What are you doing?!"
Xia Yi didn't even look at her, "See for yourself."
The visitor outside the classroom that caused the classroom to be cordoned off turned out to be an acquaintance, Zhu Ling, whom they met on the first day. She held a ringing bell in her hand, and beside her was her inseparable friend Lihua.
Lihua and Zhu Ling are very good friends. After spending two days together, they understand this very well.
Zhu Ling had excellent grades and was Mr. Yu's favorite student. It was said that before Xia Yi came, she was firmly in the top spot of Class 3. Compared with her, Lihua's grades were far behind. Among the four subjects, she only stood out in physical fitness, which was due to her natural strength and tall stature.
One likes quietness and often sits down to read, while the other likes excitement and is a frequent visitor to the playground.
How these two people could become good friends is really puzzling, and it is even more suspicious when you consider why they appeared in the dead of night.
Zhu Ling apologized: "…I'm sorry to bother you."
Fu Mengru narrowed her eyes and looked at the bell in her hand that kept ringing: "Come to think of it, I also heard the bell last night. Have you been eavesdropping since yesterday?"
“No, no, no…” Zhu Ling waved her hands hurriedly, “Yesterday, I didn’t mean it…”
"So today is the intention?"
Zhu Ling was so anxious that her face turned red, and she didn't know how to explain. A cold and hard voice cut in front of Fu Mengru, and Lihua stared at her, "Be careful with your words."
If someone else said this, it might not have such a strong deterrent effect. But the pressure of Lihua's body and the clumsiness caused by her lack of sophistication clearly accentuated the tone of this sentence, sounding like a death warning of "I will come to kill you at twelve o'clock". Fu Mengru was about to explode, but was held down by someone.
Jiang Yuelu looked at Zhu Ling: "Did you say that just now?"
Fu Mengru was confused. "What? Which sentence?"
"It's what you didn't hear just now." Jiang Yuelu observed Zhu Ling and said slowly: "It can make specific people hear the sound - is this your ability? The bell in your hand doesn't look ordinary either. You keep it ringing... to avoid surveillance? So the ringing sound is also your ability."
"No wonder the teachers praise you so much, your Moon Power is undoubtedly the best..."
It’s a pity that I met Xia Yi.
Zhu Ling was surprised and even more impressed by his analysis after hearing so much from his brief words. She picked up the bell in her hand and explained, "The hand bell is a magic weapon passed down from my family. It can hide from the eyes of the late-night female high school. I say this because even I don't know what is watching us."
"If we didn't have the handbell, we would have been notified and deducted points, and we would have to go to the Moon Altar to receive the penalty tomorrow."
"Just like Xiaochun." When she said this, her eyes dimmed.
Jiang Yuelu asked: "So meeting you that day was not a coincidence, right?"
Zhu Ling nodded. "Lihua went to the other side that day. When I first saw you, I was a little scared. The lie I made up subconsciously was not even believable to myself...Lihua knew that I was discovered, so...she asked me to wait and see the next day."
Jiang Yuelu smiled and said, "Is she willing to wait? I don't think she is that kind of person. I'm afraid she is suggesting that you just kill us. Or maybe it's not a suggestion. She wants to solve the trouble for you and act alone, and you noticed that she looked wrong, so you stopped her in time."
Zhu Ling: "..."
She didn't expect that she couldn't hide anything from Jiang Yuelu.
Xie Xiaoya was still terrified: "Wait a minute...so we escaped a murder a few nights ago, right?"
"No - Lihua didn't mean to kill you!" Zhu Ling explained hastily, "She just wanted to knock you out and throw you into the cave behind the Moon Altar. We'll let you out after we find out the secret..."
The more he spoke, the less confident he became. It didn't sound much less serious to knock someone out than to kill them... Zhu Ling said loudly, "I can guarantee that Lihua won't hurt anyone!"
Lihua said in a muffled voice: "It's okay, A-Ling, let them say whatever they want, it won't hurt me and it won't hurt me."
Jiang Yuelu smiled and said, "Don't worry, I didn't say I don't believe you. If someone shows up here in the middle of the night, we still have to trick them with words."
"That sounds much more believable."
He glanced at the tall girl who remained silent. She was not anxious because of being besieged by others, nor was she happy because of others' trust. She was too insensitive and acted on her intuition. She was an out-and-out single-celled activist.
He judged: "Knockout is indeed more her style."
"Want to knock us out? Just wait another thousand years!"
Seeing that Fu Mengru had come to her senses, Jiang Yuelu quickly held her down again.
Zhu Ling watched in horror as Fu Mengru struggled and bit Jiang Yuelu's hands. Jiang Yuelu's hands were bleeding but she remained calm and smiled like a spring breeze: "Let's put aside the new and old grudges. We are reunited in this classroom today because of the same confusion. We are already comrades-in-arms."
"So my dearest comrade Zhu Ling Lihua, what secret is it that you are going out of school to find out even at the risk of being punished?"
Zhu Ling had made up her mind, "I will tell you..."
She had been investigating these things by herself for too long, and Jiang Yuelu and her group seemed like rescuers who came from nowhere. When she heard their discussion outside the door yesterday, she almost cried out in excitement.
Jiang Yuelu's thoughts coincided with her suspicions - just like when you are walking in the desert and are about to lose your way in the wind and sand, someone holds up a torch in front of you and tells you: "We are going to the same place!"
She said firmly, "I will tell you everything I know."
Before I talk about Xiaochun's story, I have to first give a brief explanation of the rules of the girls' high school. First of all, the girls' high school students are not allowed to leave Zhalama, especially in the dead of night.
As Zhu Ling spoke, she drew a topographic map on the blackboard.
Jiang Yuelu sat at the side of the podium, watching intently. Next to him was Xia Yi, who had moved a long way to take the seat next to the teacher.
Compared with all the girls in the classroom, their sitting posture was the most unrestrained.
They stared at the blackboard intently and their movements were very synchronized.
This snow-covered frontier land is a regular circle, with the women's high school in the middle, adjacent to a river called "Moon River" that flows from southwest to northeast, crossing the entire snowy forest.
Zhalama not only surrounds the girls' high school, but also the surrounding towns. There are about four or five such towns. Every year, the children born are registered and divided into those with and without monthly power, and sent to the girls' high school and those who stay in the town. Most of the materials for the girls' high school are provided by the town. In turn, students can return to the town after graduation and act as protectors with their abilities.
Jiang Yuelu asked: "How long will it take to graduate?"
Zhu Ling explained, "It depends on the person. Some take one year, some take three years, but no one takes more than five years. I haven't seen any students over seventeen years old in the girls' high school."
Jiang Yuelu said: "Okay. I have another question."
Zhu Ling nodded, "You go ahead."
"As a school, what is the point of keeping the girls' high school students confined to the school?"
Xie Xiaoya interrupted, "Protect them. We almost saw a monster that night, and we could smell the ominous smell from a long distance away. I'm afraid it's a tricky guy."
Jiang Yuelu said, "Then I can't understand it even more. Xiaochun easily dealt with the three ghosts that Xuelin brought back that night. What's wrong with these ghosts? They are feared outside the school, but inside the school they are like three weak chickens that can be slaughtered at will?"
Xia Yi laughed.
Fu Mengru said disdainfully: "How stupid! Of course it's because they crossed Zhalama and their strength was weakened!"
Jiang Yuelu looked at Zhu Ling, "Is that so?"
Zhu Ling shook her head, "No."
Xie Xiaoya reminded: "Meng Ru will lose one point."
"What are you deducting? Who is competing with you?" Fu Mengru was speechless: "Why else? Tell me, you are so long-winded."
Zhu Ling had always been a little afraid of her, and when she was urged by the slamming on the table, her voice became louder and more urgent, "Because besides the ghosts that were attracted, there is another thing!"
"Thing?" Jiang Yuelu caught this slightly strange name, "It's not a ghost or a monster, what kind of thing is it?"
Zhu Ling shook her head. "I don't know either... Xiaochun is the only one who has seen that thing. I only saw it from a distance. It is said that..."
"It is said that it recognizes each of our faces. It is said that it is very picky about its taste and that it is very particular about what it eats. It will first look for a lone person in the vast snow forest, mark her, and then take her back after a few nights..."
Zhu Ling whispered: "We call this kind of legend 'The Tree Man Marries the Snow Ghost'."
"The Tree Man is a female high school student, and the Snow Ghost is a monster in the forest. Plus, the foreshadowing in the early stages is very similar to the process before getting married." Jiang Yuelu said, "Well, very imaginative. Who came up with this name?"
Zhu Ling said: "He is a student in our class who reads a lot of books."
Xie Xiaoya exclaimed, and seeing that everyone was looking at her, she touched the tip of her nose and said, "I think I know who it is..."
She and Zhu Ling looked at Xia Yi at the same time, and both remembered the new storm that the literary master Luo Qingqing had created in the school. They had to admit that Luo Qingqing was really talented in this area.
Jiang Yuelu couldn't understand why they were like this.
Why are you all looking at Xia Yi?
Looking at the girl sitting obediently next to him, he pulled her desk back and reminded her: "Don't spread your legs so wide."
Xia Yi took it in and said, "How about this."
"Much better." Although it's still not very elegant, it's barely acceptable.
Xia Yi complained, "The posture is uncomfortable."
Jiang Yuelu said: "Just bear with it for a while."
The rest of the people who knew their rumors and had heard even more incredible versions: “…………” Silence is Cambridge tonight.
Xu Li coughed hard, Xie Xiaoya glanced out the window, Zhu Ling blushed, and only Lihua was like a wooden man who was half a beat slower. "What's wrong?"
Fu Mengru, who was about to go blind, slammed the table and said, "I'm so annoyed. If you keep dawdling, it will be dawn soon!"
Zhu Ling hurriedly said, "Where were we just talking about, um... the tree man married the snow ghost, okay. Thank you Lihua, I'm fine, let's continue."
A few weeks ago, Xiaochun's temperament suddenly changed. She usually didn't talk much and didn't like to get close to people, but on that day, she grabbed everyone who saw her, shook their shoulders violently, and asked the same question over and over again.
"Where is Maidong? Maidong is missing!"
The crying girl finally said in despair: "None of you remember her. What Mai Dong said is true! You will forget me too in the future!"
Then Teacher Yu talked to her, and after returning from the stewardship building, Xiaochun calmed down.
Teacher Yu told us that Xiaochun's menstrual energy was out of control. We were all relieved to know that this was the reason, but I felt that she was hiding something from us. In the evening, I called Lihua to go find Xiaochun together, wanting to ask her what happened when no one was around.
But when I went to her room, I found it empty, the window was open, and she was gone.
Jiang Yuelu suddenly remembered, "Has anyone been in Xiaochun's room before?"
Zhu Ling was surprised that he cared about this. "No, no one. Our rooms are all single dormitories. Teacher Yu changed Xiaochun's room after the accident."
"As for why we changed to that house, I don't know the reason."
Xie Xiaoya also nodded, "We also have a single dormitory, one group is downstairs, and the other group is upstairs. It's quite troublesome. I have to climb the stairs to find them."
Xu Li, who lived upstairs, frowned for some reason and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Jiang Yuelu glanced at her expression and asked Zhu Ling to continue: "There's no one in the room. Is it because Xiaochun secretly went out of school?"
Zhu Ling said: "She always felt that Maidong... was the girl she imagined, calling her name outside the school. But we think that it was 'that thing' who saw Xiaochun and marked her. The so-called calling of the name was actually to lure her to sneak across Zala Ma at night... just like the tree man marrying the snow ghost."
Fu Mengru asked, "No. You have to see her first, then mark her. Where can you meet her?"
Zhu Ling was certain: "That night must not have been Xiaochun's first time out of school, because she was very familiar with the road outside the school and did not stop along the way. I almost lost her, but luckily there was Lihua."
Jiang Yuelu asked, "Did you follow?"
Zhu Ling nodded and her face slowly turned red.
She still couldn't accept herself for violating school rules, even though Lihua told her again and again that it was the girls' high school who lied first. If Teacher Yu could explain the doubts in her heart, would she choose to turn around and go to sleep instead of climbing over the open window and following Xiaochun who was walking at night?
Jiang Yuelu only had one question, "Have you crossed Zhalama?"
Zhu Ling shook her head repeatedly, "How is that possible? I can't do that."
"I guess so." Jiang Yuelu thought, "Otherwise you would have been taken to the Moon Altar like Xiaochun."
"What happened that night?"
Xiaochun is back, but her condition is worse than before. The Fat Lady has stopped her studies, and I heard that she will not take part in the midterm exam.
"That night..."
That night I followed Xiaochun across the snow, the moonlight shining on the white snow, my eyes began to hurt, but she seemed to have a clear destination, and her speed never slowed down. I heard her repeatedly calling out the name "library" and "Maidong", repeating it every few seconds.
I always feel like she is reminding myself.
Through her chaotic and disordered words, I gradually pieced together the previous dream - yes, I think the Maidong mentioned by Xiaochun was a dream distorted by her out-of-control moon power. You are also wizards, you should know, right? The power of the gods is actually very dangerous. In essence, it is approaching a world that humans do not understand at all.
That's why Xiaochun fell into a twisted dream and heard weird and evil noises all around.
As for Maidong... maybe she is too quiet and lonely, so she created an imaginary friend.
In this dream, she and Maidong seemed to be walking in the snow under the moonlight just like that night. It was a night adventure for them alone.
They agreed to find the missing library of the girls' high school. I don't know how they knew the word library. I was unfamiliar with it at the time and thought she had misnamed the book corner.
But Lihua heard it too.
Then I heard about the library from her. A building that can hold thousands or tens of thousands of books is like a dream, isn't it? Is there really a place that can hold so much knowledge? It also contains maps, languages, and technologies from various places... Most importantly, history.
What is history? We have never learned history. Is there such a thing?
For a moment, I was haunted by what I heard, but I soon realized that this was the terrifying part of "that thing". It marked Xiaochun and fed her a sweet dream, and the paralyzing effect of this sweet dream could indirectly affect me, which is why it was able to steal students one after another from the girls' high school guarded by Zalama!
...I'm sorry, I lost my composure.
Jiang Yuelu waved her hand, "It's okay."
Zhu Ling slowed down and continued, "At that time, I followed her up the river and saw something. I soon knew from her reaction that this was the library, the palace of knowledge she mentioned."
Jiang Yuelu captured an asymmetrical quantifier, "The place where I used to be was just called a library, a room, a library." Because it was a building with a foundation and made up of rooms.
"But ours is not." Zhu Ling said solemnly, "It is one."
"Because it's a living creature."
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