The Path Toward Heaven Chapter 784 - The October Water Festival Begins

Chapter 784: The October Water Festival Begins
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zong Lizi was not used to repeating those words in her brain in the beginning and faltered; but as time went by, the “memories” in the deep end of her awareness continued coming up, and she could speak increasingly more fluently and more clearly.
The atmosphere in the classroom had changed again, as the students wondered what had happened as they stared at her in bewilderment.
The female professor also didn’t expect her to remember such unusual knowledge about an incident in history. “Very good. Please sit down,” said she, a slightly changed expression showing on her face.
Zong Lizi had no idea what had just happened to her. She was still at a loss until she sat down. She couldn’t help but scratch her head a few times.
Jiang Yuxia said to her with a faint smile, “Looks like you’ve been studying hard…I have more confidence in you now.”
Zong Lizi didn’t know how to explain to her. Though she had been studying hard lately, she had never had a chance to study this episode of history.
“Have you checked the information I gave you yesterday? There is a large amount there. If you wish to learn them all before the October Water Festival, you must hurry up,” Jiang Yuxia said to her softly.
The lights were turned on in the buildings on campus as the ear-pleasing music chimed, illuminating the forest and lawn in the drizzle.
Zong Lizi placed the briefcase with the computer inside over her head and headed to the lawn. Thinking of the contents in the memory chip during the class, she felt puzzled and even astounded.
The materials Jiang Yuxia gave her were indeed plenty and detailed, including the information on every subject required of a female priest…
However, she somehow thought she had seen them before; and this feeling grew increasingly stronger. She even felt that she had known them all her life.
What was going on?
Jing Jiu walked out from the lawn and waiting for her on the road. He didn’t use the umbrella, instead c his face with the hoodie.
She came before him and looked at his eyes, which were the only part she could see, for a long time.
Jing Jiu uttered “hmm”.
“Nothing,” said Zong Lizi. Then, she changed the topic awkwardly, “You told me not to bring the computer to school; but I forgot. Why didn’t you remind me?”
“I’m in the same boat” said Jing Jiu.
The unremitting drizzles nourished things imperceptibly until the arrival of October.
Zong Lizi had been engaged in special training according to the requests in the materials provided by Jiang Yuxia during this period. But she didn’t slacken in her regular study.
Jing Jiu lay on the lawn in the rain as usual, waiting for the battleship to attack him. In the evening, he would work on the mathematical questions or read the theses collection of the Science Academy while bathing in the starlight. As far as Jing Jiu was concerned, doing the mathematical questions and reading the theses were similar to playing the game of piling up the sand grains in Chaotian; it was relaxing and meanwhile a mental exercise doing the mathematicalal calculations. However, he had no idea what he was calculating.
One day, the rain grew heavier and more chaotic. It was probably because more flying devices were leaving Shou’er City all at once.
It was the October Water Festival that day; a new female priest would be selected soon.
Thousands of flying devices took off from the ground and flew against the rain. At the guidance of the spaceship controllers, they traveled along the temporary routes, which were applied and obtained on the spot, in the direction of the magnificent mountain range.
Most of the residents had started their trips early in the morning. They took the floating trains and many other public transportation to the vertical elevators, after they were brought to the ground by the elevators, they took the equator trains to the praying hall.
There were seven large cities similar to Shou’er City on this planet, not to mention the neighborhoods on many levels. Tens of thousands of people had already gathered on that patch of prairie during daytime. It was unclear if the people realized there were many marks left from the last brutal war in the soil with severe desertification problem under their feet.
The magnificent building of the praying hall in the deep part of the prairie was crowded by a sea of people.
Many flying devices of a high-grade were descending one after the other after dusk; it was a marvelous scene.
And yet the most marvelous scene was unfolding in the sky. Several battleships hovered in the sky about three thousand meters above the ground, illuminating the patch of prairie with hundreds of bright light beams.
The praying hall under the spotlight of a dozen light beams looked exceedingly clear and more magnificent and solemn.
The appointment of the female priest was the only occasion when the lights of the battleships were used for illumination.
Jing Jiu rode on the floating train along with the students of the university. After being scanned several times, he arrived outside the praying hall, waiting in the queue to enter the hall.
The important figures like the president of the University of Stargate and councillors were conversing with the others on the square in front of the praying hall.
Usually, few people would come to the praying hall because no one dared disturb the meditation of the female priests, and yet many important figures on this planet came to this place that day.
Standing on the square were the head of the army base, the leaders of the government, the heads of a few major clans, the CEOs of a few large companies, and a dozen main preachers with high status. Some high-level officials of the government and the representatives like Mr. Xia from the priest clan were talking to them.
Yet, the attention of everybody was drawn to the girls numbered more than one hundred standing on the stone steps of the praying platform rather than those important figures.
There were many strict regulations regarding the requirements of the candidates for the female priest; some of them were not known by the public, like being under the age of eighteen, and…
These girls all had a beautiful appearance and a serene bearing. They wore a white graying robe, the black hair evenly behind their backs, giving off a sacred aura.
The girls stood on the stone steps quietly, and were not affected by the noises of the crowd and the battleships in the sky.
Only one girl was different from the others; she was Zong Lizi.
Her hair was dyed red. It was striking among a group of girls with black hair, resembling a burning flame.
Some people paid attention to her peculiarity. A few main preachers furrowed their brows, showing their displeasure. And some high-level officials jeered about her appearance.
Zong Lizi felt nervous, probably because of the attention; she had almost fallen down the stone steps after she slipped.
Fortunately, Jiang Yuxia stood right beside her. She reached out her hands and pulled Zong Lizi up imperceptibly.
…
…
“Why is she standing there?”
Mr. Xia asked a subordinate next to him with a lightly furrowed brows when he saw the scene.
The position of Jiang Yuxia was specially arranged by him, and was the most noticeable position. She would be able to draw a great deal of attention due to her serene personality and beautiful appearance.
Why did the girl named Zong Lizi stand by her? And she had dyed her hair with such a strange color. Who had arranged this?
“By request of the mistress,” the subordinate replied in a low voice.
Mr. Xia furrowed his brows even more now, wondering how Jiang Yuxia could do so since the other girl was also a candidate for the female priest.
The next moment, he grew more baffled when he saw a scene in the distance, wondering who the youth in blue tracksuits was.
…
…
Everybody, including those high-level officials and the heads of the clans, was looking at the girls on the stone steps.
Only three of them would be selected for the final list and eventually designated by the female priest as her successor. But those who were eliminated from the selection would be the best candidates for their daughters-in-law. Those male students of various universities and colleges and the representatives of various regions stared at the girls in a stupor; they couldn’t move their gazes away from them for a moment.
Jing Jiu stared at Zong Lizi after shooting Jiang Yuxia a glance. He didn’t take a glance at other girls with black hair.
He was satisfied with the hair color he chose for this little girl; the redness was as bright as the sword light of the Thoughtless Sword.
The teachers and students of the University of Stargate began to enter the arena. Jing Jiu followed behind the group imperceptibly.
Those students who had come to the praying hall the first time couldn’t help but utter a barrage of surprised cries while looking at the vast grand hall, wondering how long it would take for them to find their seats.
The surprised cries drew the attention of the important figures before the graying hall. After finding out that they were the young people from the University of Stargate, they let loose an amiable and forgivable smile.
Seeing Jing Jiu, the main preacher of Shou’er City changed his expression slightly. Though he couldn’t see the face of the youth, there was no way he could forget the blue tracksuit. The preacher’s feet moved quickly inside the preaching robe that reached the ground. As he came before Jing Jiu, he said in a reverential tone while hiding in the shadow behind the stone pillar, “You came.”
Jing Jiu didn’t expect him to be recognized by somebody, uttering “hmm”.
“Where would you like to sit?” the main preacher asked with lowered head.
The few battleships were only several thousand meters from the ground; and the gravitational field emanated from them made Jing Jiu feel uncomfortable. He pointed to a place above, where he thought he could mount an effective counterattack in the shortest time.
The main preacher didn’t dare to offer any contrary opinion. He led Jing Jiu heading to a hidden corridor behind the stone pillars.
This was the scene Mr. Xia had seen.
As the head of the priest clan, he was fully aware that this main preacher of Shou’er City was the person trusted by the female priest the most and aware of the relationship between Zong Lizi and this youth in a blue tracksuit…He suddenly had a feeling of uneasiness and caution. His clan had prepared for more than one hundred years to wait for an outstanding descendant like Jiang Yuxia to come along. He wished that nothing would go wrong that day.
…
…
The October Water Festival had started in the daytime. The event taking place was the selection of female priest.
A main preacher stood in the vast grand hall along with the sound of flowing spring water, and welcomed all the dignified guests and the crowd. Next, the leaders of the government and the leaders of the base had given speeches. Mr. Xia, representing the priest clan, made a brief introduction.
A dozen main preachers clad with black robes led more preachers and female caretakers walking out from the hidden corridors on both sides and knelt on the floor.
Thousands of representatives of the residents and the dignitaries, including the officials of the government and the leaders of the base, left their seats.
A bright light beam shone on the gray screen in the deep end of the praying hall.
The gray screen hung from the roof of the praying hall to the floor, enormously large. Anyone at the front gate of the praying hall several thousand meters away could see it clearly.
It was said that this screen was made from the nano material of second level, devoid of any crease on its surface, and was as smooth as that in an illusionary realm; and it also looked like a real sky.
A slim figure appeared on the screen.
It was the female priest of the Stargate.
Everybody knelt down toward the figure behind the gray screen. The preachers began to recite the praying scripts, praising god for saving the humans from the clutches of destruction.
In the meantime, the scene inside the praying hall was projected by the battleships onto the night sky.
Tens of thousands of residents knelt down like tides on the prairie, looking spectacular.
…
…
The whole of world had knelt before god and his representative.
Jing Jiu didn’t kneel down of course; nobody could see him anyway.
He was at the highest spot of the praying hall, right by the edge of the gray screen, lying on a chair that he had dragged there undetected.
This place was the highest point and the best position, closest to the real sky and the sky-like screen. The light beam shone on the screen, turning the air into something like water. He turned his head and looked down. He couldn’t help but feel startled when he saw a young woman in military uniform kneeling by a stone pillar behind the screen.