Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2623 Mountain of Corpses
Ji Jiashu stayed at the Jixia Academy from the age of five to fifteen, and only heard such a bell sound once.

It was around the time when the previous headmaster of the Jixia Academy passed away.

The old palace master was the teacher of the previous academy's headmaster, Mr. Mengyang. He passed away more than ten years after stepping down as headmaster, at an advanced age. At that time, the academy's disciples were not particularly grieved.

But things are different now. The current Jixia Academy Chancellor, Mr. Haoran, has only been in office for less than a year since he took over from Mr. Mengyang. He is also young and it is impossible for him to suddenly die.

Was it an accident, or was someone launching a large-scale attack on the Jixia Academy?
Ji Jiashu and Jiang Yuanyuan exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and fear in each other's eyes.

No matter what high a position they hold now, they are all disciples who came from the Jixia Academy. In the eyes of the elders at the academy, no matter how old they are, they are still juniors. If they encounter any problems outside, they can always return to the academy to ask their teachers for help.

For them, Jixia Academy was like home during their childhood.

But now, something has happened at the Jixia Academy.

Both of their hands were trembling slightly.

Jiang Yuanyuan was, after all, the ruler of a country, and he knew that no matter what happened, he could not act rashly.

"country……"

He pretended to be calm and sat back down at his desk. He was about to call for the Imperial Advisor when he remembered that Ji Mo had already left.

“Since your father has already gone ahead of time, he should be safe and sound no matter what happens,” Jiang Yuanyuan coughed and looked up at Ji Jiashu. “Like father, like son. Chunhua, I order you to go to Jixia Academy immediately to help your father.”

“This is a token for traveling to the Imperial Prayer Province,” Jiang Yuanyuan said, taking out a gold token and placing it on the table. “You can take as many people as you want.”

"I will give you as many people as you want."

Ji Jiashu grasped the gold medal. "Your Majesty, if there were truly capable people, my father would have already taken them. I'm afraid I wouldn't be needed."

“That’s true,” Jiang Yuanyuan said, taken aback. “You’re new here, how would you know who’s reliable?”

He said with annoyance, "It was because I was too hasty."

“It’s alright, Your Majesty,” Ji Jiashu stepped forward and grasped Jiang Yuanyuan’s hand. “Baoyue sent me to Southern Chu at this time, probably because she had already anticipated this move.”

“Chunhua,” Jiang Yuanyuan looked back into Ji Jiashu’s eyes and gripped his hand tightly.

"I'm counting on you for everything."

……

……

"Jiashu, if you have the chance, please help me confirm the safety of my teachers and senior brothers."

The last words Jiang Yuanyuan spoke before he left echoed in his ears. Ji Jiashu recalled the pleading look in Jiang Yuanyuan's eyes when she said those words, and he exhaled as he moved at high speed.

We've arrived at Zihua Mountain.

Ji Jiashu stopped in front of Zihua Mountain, when suddenly a thunderclap resounded in the sky.

"Boom!"

Following the thunder came large raindrops.

It's raining.

It's the height of summer, so a sudden thunderstorm is normal. But as he watched the torrential rain pouring down from the sky, Ji Jiashu became increasingly uneasy.

As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, he discovered that the protective formation of Zihua Mountain had been broken.

This is a formation jointly set up by the heads of the twelve Heavenly Palaces within the Jixia Academy, and even a divine child cannot break it from the outside by a single person.

"In the end what happened?"

Ji Jiashu lowered his head to search, but there were no messy footprints on the mountain path at the foot of the mountain and in the distance, nor any traces of heavily armored soldiers going up the mountain.

All indications suggest that no foreign enemy has invaded the Jixia Academy.

"Could it be a cultivator?"

High-level cultivators leave no footprints when they pass over the ground.

However, if an unfamiliar Heavenly Realm cultivator were to enter Southern Chu, his father would surely notice. If only Earthly Realm cultivators were to invade, no matter how many came, they wouldn't be able to threaten the Jixia Academy.

Before leaving the palace, Ji Mo took twelve Earth-rank cultivators from the Imperial Prayer Department, but did not take any Heaven-rank cultivators with him.

This was because all the Heavenly Rank cultivators within the Southern Chu territory, except for his father and himself, were the academy's headmasters. In other words, the strongest Heavenly Rank cultivators in Southern Chu were all originally from the Jixia Academy.

The Jixia Academy gathers the highest military strength in the entire Southern Chu. If something happens inside, there's really no one outside who can help.

Ji Jiashu stared intently at the mountain path leading into the mountains.

He did not encounter a single practitioner on his journey.

This is clearly abnormal. If something serious had really happened at the Jixia Academy, he should at least have encountered disciples on their way to report to the Southern Chu King's Palace and the Imperial Prayer Bureau.

Along the way, Ji Jiashu didn't encounter a single ordinary person or carrier pigeon, let alone any cultivators.

The world was vast and boundless, as if he were the only cultivator left.

The rain washed away all the scents around Zihua Mountain, and Ji Jiashu could smell nothing.

He took a step toward the mountain path, then suddenly stopped.

Ji Jiashu stood frozen in place, unable to move.

He saw blood.

A winding trail of blood flowed down the mountain path, growing longer and thicker with each passing moment, eventually reaching his feet with the rainwater.

The heavy rain continued to fall, and the dark red blood flowed into a small river.

For the past six months, Ji Jiashu has been adventuring everywhere with Ying Baoyue after leaving Southern Chu. He has been on many battlefields and witnessed countless unpredictable battles between cultivators.

But this was the first time he had ever seen so much... the blood of cultivators.

There was blood everywhere.

The heavy rain continued to fall.

Ji Jiashu lifted his feet, which were stuck together by blood and rain, and walked toward the mountain path leading to the Jixia Academy as if he were in a meditative state.

When he was five years old, he took his father's hand and went up the mountain to become an apprentice; this was the path he took.

At this moment, no one was holding his hand, and the road he was walking on was no longer the same as the one he had seen before.

A year ago, Ji Jiashu remembered that when Ying Baoyue first went to Zihua Mountain to participate in the selection of the Upper Four Palaces, it was also raining heavily.

Blood and rainwater mixed together, making the bluestone steps unusually sticky.

The heavy rain washed blood everywhere, leaving almost no place to step.

As Ji Jiashu stepped onto the mountain path and passed the first bend, he understood why there was so much blood.

He saw the body.

Countless corpses of Jixia Academy disciples lay along the mountain path.

Corpses littered the roadside.

Judging from the sacrificial robes they wore, disciples from all twelve palaces of the Heavenly Dao were represented. The majority were disciples from the upper four palaces, mainly from the Fire, Thunder, and Wind departments, with no one from the Water department.

Because the only two disciples of the Water Academy are both outside.

Back when he was by the Great Wall of Eternal Night, Ji Jiashu had seen scenes of corpses strewn across the battlefield, but most of them were soldiers he didn't recognize.

The feeling is completely different when you see those young people who once spent every day with you, who once studied and learned together under the same roof, die in front of you.

In the heavy rain, Ji Jiashu felt as if all the blood in his body had turned cold.

He could barely move his legs, and just stiffly walked uphill.

Almost every few steps, there was a body lying on the roadside, each body still in the posture of running wildly down the mountain.

But none of them managed to escape the mountain.

Ji Jiashu finally understood why he hadn't encountered any academy disciples on the way.

Because they are all dead.

They died on their way to seek help from the outside world.

It kept freezing at crucial moments, I'll make up for it tomorrow. Sorry, the second chapter will be updated tomorrow morning.