【Good Leaf】Eclipse of the Crimson Moon

Chapter 43 Broken Chapter

【one】

Every thought is a scar that goes deep into the bone marrow

Every call is an oath to the soul

The sky was shrouded in a layerless gray, while Luoxue emerged from the endless gray, fluttering and falling continuously.

The fine ice crystals melted before they touched the earth, seeping into the equally dark and cold earth.

In this brief process, it is impossible to trace its beginning, and it is impossible to see its end.

This was just an ordinary first snow, however, it came earlier than in previous years.

The streams in Dafeng Mountain are about to freeze, and the branches of the deciduous trees are already decayed.The people in the field were doing the finishing touches, and the sudden drop in temperature caught them by surprise.It should be noted that in this season, in addition to ending daily work, many townspeople will be assigned to work related to sacrifices, which can be regarded as the busiest period of the year.

Tsukimi City, behind Oki Island, holds a Shinto festival called "Tsutsuki Matsuri" every year in the early winter to worship the god of Tsukiyomi and pray for disaster relief.The scale of the festival is grand, and almost thousands of residents on the entire island will participate. This is a tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years in Tsukimi.However, this peaceful scene before us has not always been the case.

Seeing the moon, it has imprisoned its people for thousands of years in the past.The natural and dangerous reefs and strange rocks on the outskirts of the island are not a scenic spot for Yue Jianren, but a prison.Since the earthquake 22 years ago, islanders have moved out of Tsukimi one after another, and started their lives in the world across the strait.Although relocation is just a common phenomenon in the eyes of ordinary people, for people in Tsukimi, it is a miracle like waking up from a long nightmare and regaining a new life.

A priest once said worryingly that since he had the opportunity to leave this closed and inauspicious island, it would probably be a waste of time in a few years.

It turns out that his worries were overblown.

Not only the elderly, but also many young people have never planned to leave.In this isolated town, as if thrown out of time, people who found a sense of belonging stayed with the priests of the Yuwu Family to witness its history and changes.

The snow continued to fall, making the field of vision even more confused, and the shuttle figure that was still visible just now has now merged into the swaying paleness.

The woman kneeling on the inside of the open sliding door looked dignified, she withdrew her gaze from staring at the royal garden outside, and looked at everyone in the room.

In the side hall of the Kokubun Shrine, the priests in charge of arranging the ceremony are reporting the preparations for the ceremony to the chief priest.The head priest of the Asakura family, Anna Osore, who is in charge of checking the preparations for the festival today, is also the only female head priest of the Gogo family.

She is a woman with a beautiful face that makes people unable to tell her age.The dazzling blond hair hanging down to her waist, and the scarlet windmill pattern kimono, but the most impressive thing should be her pair of clear and proud light brown eyes, who dare to look at her for a few seconds, never Few years ago so far.Under the pressure of that extremely cold aura, even the dim Xueguang stopped around her, and the eyes of the people around her also tremblingly avoided meeting those eyes.

Anna of Mount Osore has always treated people like ice, and everyone has already understood.But everyone present could feel that the unusually chilling atmosphere today was not ordinary. It seemed that she was in a bad mood.

"Master Osore Mountain, may I ask... is there any incompleteness in the preparation of the festival?" The leading priest tried to ask.

"No. That's it. The snow came too early this year, and there may be bad weather that will affect the festival in the future. You should pay more attention."

After seeing off the inspecting priest, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.It seems that it's not that there is something dissatisfied with the preparation work, but something else...

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've encountered such unusually bad weather." Someone suddenly interrupted, bringing everyone into deep thought.The oldest priest recalled for a moment, and couldn't help but look outside.

"It wasn't snowing at that time, but it was raining for several months, right?" How could they not remember it? For most of the people present, it was an experience that would never be forgotten.

More than 22 years have passed since the last Siyue Festival Zheng (Li) Festival.

In that ceremony, Yuwujia paid a huge sacrifice to finally rescue Yuejian from the thousand-year-long curse.It was confirmed that there was no need to hold the main festival again, and it was the seventh year after that that the situation in the spiritual path was considered to have finally stabilized.So far, this piece of land can finally be said to have avoided the catastrophe of destruction.

Before the final festival, from the end of the previous year until the New Year of the next year, there was continuous heavy rain in Tsukimi, and the pouring of landslides cut off communication and traffic.In the eyes of ordinary people, it was just a natural disaster, but the priests all knew that it was because the passage to the underworld was about to open, and the accumulated spiritual power had an impact on the present world.

"Could it be... this snow will..." The young priest changed his face and blurted out.

"Shut up!" His words were immediately cut off by the elder.He also flinched and bowed his head repeatedly to apologize.

Linguistic.

The most basic taboo that a priest must understand.You can't speak, hear, or think about things in the dark, because words and thoughts are filled with incredible power, and they are closely connected with that world.Once some ominous words are spoken, it may really become a "disaster".

"Don't think too much." The elder stared at the snow that had not weakened, and sighed intently, "Don't forget your mission. The priests of the Yuwu Family can't let Yuejian repeat the same mistakes, so this time the sacrifice must be done well. .”

"Yes."

After leaving the Kokubun Shrine in the city, Anna Osore immediately drove to Mount Omine in the western suburbs.

The mountain road that is about to be frozen is not easy for vehicles to drive, and that road only ends at an open space at the foot of the mountain.Further on, there are five priests stationed in the area of ​​the Forbidden Forest, where ordinary townspeople are strictly prohibited from entering.There is only one stone road in the forest, and at the end is a shrine called "Tsukiyomi".

Her footsteps were in a hurry, and the road surface was splashed with fine ice.Several accompanying priests followed closely behind silently, and the figures of a group of people walking swiftly were interrupted by hundreds of tall scarlet torii gates in the path from time to time.Through the cascading forest tops, the blurred silhouette of the shrine gradually emerges from the pale.

Many priests were sacrificed in the last main sacrifice, and the one who suffered the most was the Asakang family who served as the chief priest at that time.During the two consecutive main sacrifices, almost all the important members of the family were killed, leaving only the current patriarch Ma Cangye.Yue Jian, who had just broken free from the curse, was covered with scars, and the head of the family was also seriously injured, and there was no one to deal with the mountain of affairs.In that case, even though she was an outsider, Anna still served as the acting priest as the best disciple of Asakura Kino, taking charge of most of the affairs of the Asakura family.

Officially becoming the head priest of the Asakura family was the eighth year after the main festival.At that time, Asakura Kino, the last elder in the family, died of illness.Anna accepted the old man's final request, she stepped down from the priesthood of guarding Osoran's spiritual path, and officially became the priest of the Asakura family, staying behind at Tsukimi to assist the head of the family.

In order to repay Mu Nai's mother-in-law's kindness in raising her, an orphan who was abandoned by her parents since she was a child, Anna originally planned to spend the rest of her life on this isolated island.However, on the day she decided to become the official head priest, she still hesitated after all.

This is definitely not the fear of fully integrating herself into this cursed family. All Anna's hesitation comes from that person, the last survivor of the Ma Cang family.

She hides that encounter in her girlhood deep in her heart, the frozen Xiabei, the snow all over the sky, and the bright smile of her youth are all memories that she will never show to others.I used to think that according to the agreement with my mother-in-law, after the main festival of the Sumakura family is completed, I can put aside all the troubles and return to Mount Osore for the rest of my life, but I still can't let go.

Quickly pass through the front hall of Tsukiyomi Shrine, and go straight to the simple and elegant worship hall beside the imperial garden.When stepping up the steps, Anna did not forget to slow down.Raising her hand to signal the servant in front of the door not to communicate, she gently opened the sliding door and entered the room.

There are no extra furnishings in the worship hall, and there is no shrine. From the layout, it looks more like a sleeping hall.

Because of the cold weather, the paper doors on all four sides have been closed, leaving only the two doors facing the center of the imperial garden, which still maintain maximum unobstructed access.Outside the door, snow flakes fell, covering the square stone torii gate in the middle of the open space.

The snow flakes blown into the room by the cold wind from time to time disappeared in the air not far from the sliding door, because there was a brazier lit there.The soft and dancing tongues of fire slightly blocked the invasion of the cold air, but it couldn't change the fact that it was still not warm here.

On one side of the brazier is a set of screens, and a young man is sleeping soundly in the quilt spread out next to it.

The quiet side face is as delicate and soft as it was many years ago.That is the face of a 14-year-old boy, a face that has never changed.On both sides of the bare forehead, dark brown hair hangs close to the edge of the cheeks and hangs on the plain white quilt, like strands of silk, giving people the illusion that he is floating on the water.

Anna walked into the hall slowly, while being careful not to let her footsteps make too loud noises on the wooden floor, because even the tiniest sound might disturb the person's deep sleep.

It's still too cold here, no matter what, it's better to have someone set up the barrier... There must be a way...

"Is it... Anna?"

Startled by the soft voice that came out suddenly, he pulled his gaze back from the outside, only to notice that the young man in the couch had woken up at some point, looking at her with half-opened amber eyes.

Seeing that he was slowly raising his body, Anna immediately stepped forward and pressed his shoulders, and said unceremoniously, "Don't get up, you must have a good rest."

"Huh?" The boy who was pushed back into the quilt had an aggrieved expression on his face, "But...I've been asleep for a long time..."

"It's a doctor's order." The woman's words became a little cold again, "Do you want to cause us trouble?"

"Hmm..." The young man was shocked by these words and obediently shut up, with a look of guilt on his face.

The only one who would come to this worship hall without notification was Anna Osore, so when he was awakened by the faint noise, he immediately knew that it was her who had come.Anna has been very careful not to disturb him, but for him who has received priest education and sword practice since childhood, he is much more sensitive than ordinary people.After losing vision, the rest of the senses became much clearer.

"So...how are the preparations for the ceremony going?" He asked, turning his gaze towards the direction of the woman.

"Everything is going well, don't worry about it." Anna reduced today's work report to one sentence, but the boy didn't answer him with a smile like usual, "Thanks for your hard work", but showed a hint of doubt.

"Is it... is there really no accident?"

She was startled.

Are you... acting so obvious?Although there is indeed an incident that disturbs her right now, she has deliberately covered it up in front of this young man. Could it be that he also noticed it...

"Master Ye...the snow hasn't stopped yet."

After hesitating for a while, he still said this sentence.

If it was the young man in front of him, no matter how he concealed it, he would have noticed it;

If it was the young man in front of him, no matter how he concealed it, he would eventually tell him the truth;

If it was the young man in front of him, he must have already anticipated everything that was about to happen.

"Is that so..." The boy blinked, and turned his head to the side where the chill came.

The left arm slowly stretched out from under the quilt, raised in the bitter air.The arms wrapped in plain white sleeves were slender and slender, and the fingers stretched against the cold wind trembled slightly, and the thorn-like torn scar on the back of the hand was still clear.

"It's the same as that time." He smiled lightly.

How much time has passed, still being drawn and manipulated by invisible silk threads;

A puppet bound by an endless dream, responding to the call from the abyss;

Finally the time has come to end all hesitation and make a final decision.

If time can be turned back, if everything can be restarted——