Chapter 917 - 33: Read the Script?
Time quietly flows by.
The morning sun gradually tilts, its rays no longer fierce or scorching, but rather weak and feeble, casting long shadows on the earth.
The school bell rings to signal the end of classes.
People start to leave the school gates one after another, as if a day has unknowingly passed. They seem oblivious to this, perhaps feeling that everything is mundane and uneventful, or perhaps eager to leave school and go home, or to nearby places to have fun.
Only when looking back on these days in the future might they be somewhat startled and disappointed to find that those ordinary days are rare, glowing pearls in the warmth of memories...
Chased by something once grown up, trudging through each day, only then does one increasingly value those days.
However, not everyone rushes out of school immediately after classes end; even though the Return Home Club is powerful, it hasn’t reached that level. There are still many other students who remain in school after classes to participate in club activities or take care of their own tasks.
In any case, it’s still far from school closing time, allowing a lot of leeway for freedom in arranging plans.
Yatsugaya Miko politely declined her friend’s invitation, sitting at her desk as she was preoccupied today. Such worries include concern over a potential conflict between the Demon Exorcist and the teacher, although she thought the teacher appeared to be calm and wouldn’t be a problem...
But what if?
What if?
No matter how one looks at it, feeling greatly aided and benefitted by the teacher, Yatsugaya Miko couldn’t remain indifferent, nor could she, after considering these possibilities, comfortably choose to protect herself with indifference.
Not wanting to get involved is indeed easy, but her conscience wouldn’t let her, so she used the excuse of having some club-related work to refuse her friend’s invitation to go out.
"Club... oh, it’s that thing you mentioned before, right, what was it called again?"
Yurikawa Hana tilted her head back, seriously trying to recall: "Seems like it was called Boli Shrine, or maybe it was Shimotsuki Shrine? I can’t quite remember."
"It’s Boli Shrine..." The black, long-straight-haired girl exhaled softly, "At first, it seemed somewhat against the rules, but I don’t know what the teacher did, later the review went through... Um, I’m preparing club materials today to show the teacher later."
"Oh, this sounds great too! Is the plan to have Gu Mo sensei directly act as the club advisor?" Yurikawa Hana nodded repeatedly, seemingly understanding.
"Yeah..."
Miko forced a smile.
After parting with her friend, watching Xiao Hua’s silhouette disappearing down the hallway, sensing that she indeed went down the stairs, left the teaching building heading towards the school gate, Yatsugaya Miko breathed softly and then glanced at the back of the classroom.
A few students were writing something at their desks or gazing out the window, daydreaming.
While the two new transfer students were nowhere to be found.
Her heart constricted, and she quickly stood up, clutching those materials heading towards the office, fearing that just after her brief distraction, those two Demon Exorcist girls might seize the after-school opportunity to make a move... This can’t be happening, it’s truly a misunderstanding, and they must be stopped!
The Fox Immortal must not be threatened!
...
...
In Yatsugaya Miko’s imagination, the vicious perpetrators are indeed inside the office at this moment.
But they appear as if they are facing a powerful enemy, standing near the door several meters away without sitting down, as if ready to flee at any moment... Kenshan Yellow Springs instinctively protecting Togami Kagura behind her...
The scene thus naturally appeared exceptionally strange.
— The time is after school...
— The place is inside the office...
— The frozen image is of the girls confronting the teacher, instinctively protecting her timid sister, showing a vigilant, guarded expression...
Isn’t this a skewed storyline?! Gu Mo raised an eyebrow, showing a peculiar expression, then sighed and said, "You should sit down, I’m afraid someone might misunderstand... Moreover, if you are so frightened, why force yourselves to come over, wouldn’t it be better not to come at all?"
He thought Miss Yellow Springs had a lot of confidence, given their coming so proactively, seemingly ready to negotiate.
Kenshan Yellow Springs was slightly embarrassed, speaking with forced composure, "There are some things that need someone to do them, we can’t just watch helplessly... I don’t deny that we’ll feel afraid during this process, after all, we are human at the end of the day..."
Trying to be as humble as possible, without forcing too much formal speech, simply speaking the truth.
After all, whether this guy is a suspected Type A or a suspected Tamamo no Mae avatar, it’s an extremely urgent situation. The Ministry of Environment’s first-level readiness has been sounding for over half a month, like a high-intensity air raid alarm ringing non-stop, day and night.
For this reason, quite a few staff members and Demon Exorcists have exhausted themselves on the job, completely worn out.
The good news is there hasn’t been a major paranormal incident, causing people to go blind and needing countless experts to explain the truth, requiring politicians to take turns bowing in apology, and even resigning at such a level.
The bad news is the suspected Evil Spirit is extremely cunning, although he didn’t cause a spirit disaster immediately, he similarly entrenched himself in a major city, brazenly placing himself in a densely populated area.
No disguise whatsoever, she even inexplicably applied to a certain school for a teaching job, and found work there — quite dedicated and competently so —
This was truly perplexing.
Yet, faced with such a massive threat, it seemed no one could keep their calm.
Just the thought of such a potentially super evil spirit existing, entrenched in the city center, blatantly appearing in the most crowded places, openly interacting with humans, bewitching unwary citizens... How many people felt their hearts almost stop at that realization?
There’s hardly any way to deal with it, but also no way to just do nothing and watch on.
Miss Yellow Springs was well aware of this, she didn’t hide her fear, knowing that any bold words would be futile under such circumstances, nor could she conceal herself from this bizarre entity in front of her. It would only serve as fodder for amusement, so she decided might as well be forthright, expressing her intentions and determination —
No matter how terrifying it might be, there are always things that someone needs to do.
"Some realization, yet not everyone is like you..." Gu Mo tapped the table lightly, speaking casually.
The mind field that had been consistently dispersing and disturbing the surrounding information environment quietly shifted its focus, the soothing frequency of calming intelligence like an invisible hand gently caressing the entire space, unknowingly relaxing people’s moods.
"We’ve tried our best, but some people don’t necessarily agree with our current methods... "
Miss Yellow Springs didn’t notice her own subtle psychological changes, but upon hearing these words, she felt a sense of resonance and whispered.
Some people are indeed here to cooperate with the Strategy Room’s proposal, but some are simply driven by selfish motives... The power of the Killing Stone, this ancient legend, is enough to make them lose their reason, making erroneous judgments.
If it’s merely greed, it would be easier to handle. As her father said, it can be solved with the righteous act of killing.
But the implication is not an evil force, it’s also a demon-exorcising clan or some similarly ancient legacy, frequently helping maintain order, and maintaining cooperative relationships with the official sphere... That’s hard to handle.
Even their starting point might be good, perhaps idealistic, like wanting to completely solve the problem of the Killing Stone, thoroughly eradicate the root of evil spirits, rather than continuing the passive approach of leaving the troubles to future generations each time.
On this point, one can only say there’s a difference in ideology, feeling the other’s ideas are somewhat radical.
"It’s not easy for you either..." Gu Mo nodded with understanding, but showed no intention to help, "Then just say it straight, what do you want to obtain from me? First of all, don’t bother asking repetitive questions, I won’t change my statement just because you ask multiple times... "
He had no intention of accepting those ignoble titles, nor did he acknowledge he was truly an evil spirit.
Joking around with Yatsugaya Miko was fine, but with these hypersensitive demon exorcists, he certainly couldn’t say such things; it would further aggravate their paranoia, leading to unnecessary chaotic actions.
"I... We want to confirm, what exactly are you doing in this school... "
Miss Yellow Springs pursed her lips, and directly asked, while tightly gripping Kagura’s soft hand, comforting the somewhat anxious girl behind her.
"...Teaching, of course."
The young man on the opposite side frowned, looking at her with a gaze that questioned her intelligence, what am I doing at this school? Isn’t it quite obvious?
"You... "
The black-haired girl was momentarily stumped, the answer seemed unimpeachable, but it seemed that wasn’t what she intended to ask?
She clenched her teeth: "Is it because of Yatsugaya Miko? You have some scheme toward her, right?" After all these days, if the organization behind her had found out nothing, that would be peculiar, so she’s vaguely speculating as well.
"What schemes could I possibly have..." Gu Mo flatly denied.
Though Miko had black, long, and straight hair, had now become a witch, even her name was literally "Mikko"... Nevertheless, there were absolutely no strange associations simply because of this!
"The Killing Stone! Are you cultivating a host for the Killing Stone?!"
Miss Yellow Springs took a deep breath, clearly incredulous, after all, this fellow wouldn’t make a move directly, so she straightforwardly voiced her speculation, throwing them into the arena with the leader’s conjectures. If not, it would be the best, but if true, then the Mind Industry must stop this!
"Only when the Killing Stone is completely revived, can the Nine-tailed truly resurrect, that’s what you’re pursuing now, right?"
"I’ve heard the Killing Stone isn’t suitable for everyone, it requires extremely intense hatred, are you trying to use means to let that girl suffer in misery through repeated blows, ultimately completely despair, transform into a suitable host for the Killing Stone... "
No one believes this person truly came just to be a teacher, neither do they believe his actions carry no deeper meaning.
So, making inferences based on current informational clues naturally could lead to such a conclusion — whether this is the manifestation of the Nine-tailed’s consciousness or some bizarre existence bewitched by the Nine-tailed, there’s a high likelihood they are deliberately searching for a suitable subject for the implanting of the Killing Stone.
"..."
"..."
Gu Mo felt slightly silent, glancing at Miss Yellow Springs with a rather eccentric expression.
Did she... happen to get hold of her original script?
How does this sound so familiar?
Getting hit to despair, ultimately becoming the host of the Killing Stone, losing sanity, degenerating into an evil spirit, killing over seventy members of the Mind Industry, nearly killing Kagura’s father, and finally voluntarily dying at Kagura’s hand... Such a love-hate storyline, shouldn’t this be her own story?