Chapter 63 Shugao Girls’ High School 23
"As you can see, the content on the wooden slip is in the ancient language of Xuecun, which is rarely used nowadays. We spent a long time deciphering it and found that it talked about something extremely important to us."
The priest paused and said, "Before that, I need to explain everything that happened here ten years ago... After you listen to it, you will understand the meaning of the word "Deer Moon" to us."
Jiang Yuelu curled her lips, "I'm all ears."
The priest asked again: "My narration is based on your understanding, so I would like to ask first, how much do you know about us?"
Jiang Yuelu said: "Okay, okay. How about I start by telling you?"
The priest said politely: "I would like to hear more about it."
"Then let me start with what I discovered tonight." Jiang Yuelu quickly got into the role.
"Tonight, Xia Yi and I went to the funeral grounds and found that the coffins that were supposed to contain human bones only contained remnants of clothing and sunstone circles. Where did the people in the coffins go? I'll talk about that later. Now let's talk about the sunstone circle. I've been interested in it for a long time."
"The Sunstone Circle. Also known as the Frost Maiden Circle. The Girls' High School says that a priest named Frost found the sacred stone in order to restrain the students' powerful moon power. The records found in the tree man's skull record that a teacher named Zhu Xinghua found it ten years ago. The similarities between the two are that the sacred stone was found in the southwest of the Moon River, and the purpose of the sacred stone is to restrain the students' moon power. The details are slightly different, for example, Teacher Yu said there is an everlasting spring in the southwest of the Moon River, but the records do not have it."
"The former has priests and springs that never dry up, which reminds people of legends; the latter has scholars and papers, which reminds people of professional research. After the two viewpoints collided, the legend remained in the girls' high school, while the research was sealed in the tree man's skull and no one was allowed to approach it. I always believe that the one that is concealed is more credible."
"I see." The priest thought: "So you think the truth is that Zhu Xinghua discovered the sacred stone, not that priest?"
"No." Jiang Yuelu replied: "I think there is no truth, it's all fake. Whether it's Zhu Xinghua or Shuangnv, they are all lies."
The priest paused, "…How do you know?"
Jiang Yuelu avoided the question and said, "Let's take a look at the similarities again. There is indeed a magic stone in the southwest of Yuehe River. Xia Yi and I have confirmed this tonight." He was still frightened when he thought of that rough tree. The gray-white bone pieces all over its body were extremely similar to the material of the sunstone circle. Even if Xiaochun lost the original one, he could still hide the truth by relying on the bone circles that were scraped off.
"Another similarity is the moon power that restrains students. This is what I want to say, Priest, I doubt that the students of the girls' high school have any moon power at all. They are all ordinary people."
The priest said cryptically, "...but they did show their abilities. You saw it on the day of the midterm exam."
"Yes. That's right. I saw it." Jiang Yuelu said, "I also believe that no one cheated that day. It is very difficult to make thousands of people in the whole school have divine power at the same time."
"But this does not contradict what I said about them being ordinary people. They can float in the air, dive into the sea, run fast in the snow, and kill little ghosts with just a flick of their fingers. This is because of the thing on their necks and the effect of the sunstone circle." Jiang Yuelu paused, "The sunstone circle is the thing that really has the power to communicate with gods, Master Priest, am I right?"
"Have you discovered so much inside information by yourself? I am becoming more and more interested in you, Teacher Lu Yue." The priest's sigh echoed in the hall, giving people the feeling that a hidden dragon entrenched inside was sneezing softly, and the vibrations and echoes came layer by layer.
"What do you think Sunstone is?"
"Bones." Jiang Yuelu said without hesitation, "Human bones."
There was no echo in the empty Moon Altar for a long time. The High Priest remained silent. Only his voice resounded throughout the hall: "I am a wizard who started my career halfway. Unlike the students of the Girls' High School, I was not told until I was 27 that I had the power of the gods. It is a taboo to step into a new field without knowing it, High Priest. So before I came here, I took the time to learn some things."
The priest asked hoarsely, "What?"
"I learned that wizards have different bodies from ordinary people. Their bodies must be buried in specific places after death, and they must be subjected to specific rituals. It is extremely scary for wizards to become ghosts, and this is done to prevent it. In addition to preventing the corpse itself from becoming a ghost, it is also necessary to prevent outsiders from coveting the bones."
"After all this talk, it actually means the same thing." Jiang Yuelu simply said: "After the wizard dies, the power of the gods is transferred to their bones."
He made his judgment expressionlessly: "I believe that all the students of the girls' high school are ordinary people who do not possess divine powers. They cannot communicate with gods or borrow the power of gods. Their moon power comes from the sunstone circle around their necks. It is a circle made of the bones of dead wizards, which brings them another fate."
"Who are the dead witches, and whose fate do they carry around their necks?"
"I knew nothing about this. Walking in the snow, my thoughts seemed to be assimilated into the vastness of white, until I crossed Zhalama and went to Yuehe Cemetery. I saw the nameplates under each tree, corresponding to each student in the girls' high school."
The priest whispered, "You are insulting us, Teacher Lu Yue. We will not covet their corpses. Never. What is the power of the gods? Can it compare to appreciating the stars after dinner, to holding hands with your lover and growing old together, to the ordinary spring, summer, autumn and winter of ordinary people?"
Jiang Yuelu did not answer him immediately. Unconsciously, he had walked along the water to the other end of the circular hall. When the priest said "hold your hand and grow old together", he happened to look at Xia Yi, who was leaning against the wall with his elbows folded and his eyes closed, seemingly not interested in participating in this conversation.
When he looked away, he saw two pieces of ground separated by the water. He was vaguely thinking of something, but was interrupted by the priest's voice. He had already put away the emotion of asking three questions in a row, and the complex emotions that could not be concealed returned like an hourglass hanging upside down.
The priest said calmly, "Tell me your other opinions."
"Insights. Hmm." Jiang Yuelu turned around and walked back along the same path, his thoughts flowing out with his steps. "After talking about the Sunstone Circle, let's talk about Zala Ma."
The priest asked, "Oh, do you have any opinion on the auspicious objects we use to protect the high school girls?"
"Guard? No, no. You are wrong. Zala Ma has no function of guarding."
The voice in the air stopped again. Jiang Yuelu glanced at it and asked, "Should I continue?"
"Yes. You must continue."
Jiang Yuelu cleared her throat. "If Zalama can block all evil spirits and turn the girls' high school into a peaceful place without disasters or harm, then why are there so many eyes watching the students in the school?"
The priest said calmly: "I said, this is to find out in time if there is anything wrong with their words and deeds. To correct them."
"Okay." Jiang Yuelu made a gesture of surrender. "That makes sense. I'm convinced by you."
"I originally wanted to say that there is a distance between the girls' high school and Zala Ma, but you will probably use the same reason to evade me, so I won't ask, let's talk about something else."
He changed the subject, "Let's summarize what the dangers are in the Snow Village and what the harms of the Zala Ma barrier are."
"First, there are ghosts that are common in the mortal world, which are divided into four categories: gray, yellow, red, and blue. What Xiaochun brought back that day were three yellow-clothed ghosts. They are lingering in this snowy forest. These ghosts are transformed from dead people, so the question is, where do people come from, and why do they die?"
"Master Priest, I don't seem to have seen anyone other than the girls' high school. Can you tell me why? Are there other living people here besides the teachers and students of the girls' high school?"
The priest was about to speak, "Because——"
"Don't answer in a hurry, just listen to me first." Jiang Yuelu said, "On the first night when I brought my students here, I saw the three ghosts that Xiaochun brought back. She easily dealt with them. The strange noises and ominous auras that my students and I heard in the snowy forest were probably also caused by them."
Priest: "You are very sure."
"Yes. I am sure of it."
"Why aren't you sure? The tree man skull is full of murderous intentions towards the students, but it is imprisoned and can't get out. The same goes for the tree monster in the Yuehe Cemetery. It has a lot of hatred, but it can't move because it is rooted underground. If you hadn't sent the students, they wouldn't have had any flesh and blood to eat." Jiang Yuelu thought of the torn body of Maidong and snorted coldly.
"What's the point of Zalama existing if we can't protect it?" The High Priest ignored his emotions and said, "We don't need to do anything unnecessary."
"Yeah. There's no need for that." Jiang Yuelu murmured, "It's a rope that's only for show, and it's also a piece of colored paper that makes people believe in it devoutly."
He thought of Zhu Ling. On the first night he came here, the girl lowered her eyes and chanted to Zalama peacefully and devoutly: Blue sky. Yellow earth. Green life. Red flame. White holiness. Protect the safe Zalama, bless our Zalama, and bless those who come after us. Thank you.
She deeply trusted Zalama, and linked her safety, happiness, and all the good things in the future to it. Not only her, but all the students in the girls' high school were instilled with the awareness that "Zalama can bring us peace and happiness". Their piety was like fireflies floating on ordinary five-color paper, making the colors vivid and the knots ignite fire.
"Let Zalama also return their piety."
The priest chuckled: "In case you don't remember, you just said that Zalama has no power--"
"The feedback I'm talking about is not that it's alive, but that it has a soul."
Jiang Yuelu spoke word by word, "You know best what I am talking about. Zalama gave back to the girls' high school a beautiful dream, a dream that lasted for ten years, right?"
"They are very safe, they help each other, and as long as they don't leave Zalama, no danger will come. But who would have known that outside their beautiful dreams, there are pairs of silent eyes watching them, and they are you. You distinguish, you choose, and you designate the offerings to be sent to the cemetery."
The priest said anxiously: "That's because..."
"Ophiopogon japonicus was torn into pieces, Master Priest." He suddenly said.
The priest was silent.
"She was torn into pieces. It was so painful, a teenage girl." Jiang Yuelu seemed to see her sitting alone in the tree hole. She was like the only burning candle there, using the weak flame to calm the anger of the tree monster.
"There are two types of students sent to the cemetery. The first type is those who make mistakes and are punished. The second type is those who die suddenly under the guise of losing control of their moon power. By the way, Xia Yi and I also looked at the iron box in the funeral ground tonight. There is a mechanism under the box used to burn corpses. Guess what it is?"
"A hole. Just big enough for a person to fall in. The unconscious students were transferred to the cemetery and sent into the tree monster's stomach without knowing anything. Should I say they were lucky? At least they died in a coma?"
Jiang Yuelu didn't wait for the priest's reply, he seemed to be hit hard by these words.
He could only slowly say: "What will happen if you don't send the students to the tree monster? There will definitely be consequences that you cannot bear, and it will definitely shake you to your core."
"So what is your core?"
"It's a beautiful dream, Master Priest. No one can affect this beautiful dream."
"Students learn courses targeting moon power, but without moon power, it is of no help to them, and they have no future at all. The confidential content is sealed in the tree man's skull. One seal comes from the seal, and the other seal comes from the teachers' teachings - 'That is something you cannot get close to!' Their memories are also sealed."
"Except for curious students like Xiaochun Maidong, who would risk getting close to Zalama? Everyone in the girls' high school is completing unnecessary courses and unnecessary lives day after day."
After a long time, the priest's voice resounded in the air again. He suppressed his excitement and said, "Very wonderful analysis."
"So what is the purpose of these ten years of beautiful dreams?"
"So your test isn't over yet?" Jiang Yuelu smiled. "I heard the tree man scold Zhu Ling and Li Hua as aliens. He doesn't seem to be the same kind of person as you. Different tribe? Different descendants?"
The priest suddenly roared: "Who is of the same generation as that disgusting guy?"
As the rubble fell, a figure suddenly flashed before Jiang Yuelu's eyes. He didn't know how Xia Yi did it. Wasn't he resting his eyes? He actually flashed in front of him so quickly.
His red eyes were calm despite his full murderous aura, and there was no storm in his eyes. "Stay away from him."
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