Girls' Wishing Tree

Gao Mu shook his head, ready to scare her with the contents of the dialog box to prevent her from coming to him to pick the bark again.

"I didn't bother with you last time, but you dare to come here and deceive my miko?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The girl lay on the ground, and her whole body almost turned into a set of wild snakes. Gao Mu began to doubt who was the monster between him and the girl.

"I... I took a piece of bark last time and used it as a pick. It felt surprisingly good... I... just wanted to use some bark as a pick. Please don't eat me! I can play the guitar for you! Please let me go, Master Youkai!"

Gao Mu walked up to the girl and looked down at her: "Trees are living things, so don't hurt them casually."

"Ahahaha... Please forgive me, I was wrong!"

Such a timid guy, who would come here just for a pick, must be a guy who really likes guitar, and must be different from the pink-haired girl named Chihaya Aine. Gao Mu used the chat box again: "You teach my miko guitar twice a week, so I'll let you go this time."

Goto Ichiri quickly agreed: "Master Tree Monster, please don't eat me, I promise!"

"You can talk to my witch yourself." Gao Mu typed this sentence in the chat box.

Goto Ichiri stood up shakily and took the hand Gao Mu extended to her: "Um... Miss Miko, can... I teach you guitar?"

"Come in and talk." Gao Mu pulled the girl into the training room.

What’s amazing is that when she got indoors, the girl’s reservedness dissipated a lot, and she even ran to the guitar speaker and touched it actively.

"I can't use tube speakers at home, so I can only use a portable speaker for practicing and recording." The girl turned her gaze to the guitar hanging on the wall. "Ah, it's an ST-type guitar. I use an LP-type guitar. It's said that the high-position ones are easier to play—"

Gao Mu patted her shoulder and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Gao Muying. I am the shrine maiden of this shrine. Sometimes I also play music here."

"Um... I'm Goto Ichiri, a student. I'm here to teach you guitar."

Gao Mu pulled off Goto Ichiri's hood: "You'd better take this off, it looks a bit weird."

When the hood was removed, Goto Ichiri's bangs were lifted up, and Gao Mu saw her face clearly for the first time.

Honestly, it's cute.

But the girl immediately curled up into a ball, as if she had practiced the art of shrinking bones.

"Uh... I'll just call you Ichiri. Are you okay?" Gao Mu stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Goto Ichiri.

"Master Yokai Tree is so scary! Master Yokai Tree's shrine maiden is also so scary!" Goto Ichiri kept straightening his messy bangs with his hands, and didn't dare to make too much eye contact with Gao Mu.

In this situation, comfort is useless. Only by bringing up topics that the other person is really interested in and cares about can you help the other person calm down.

Gao Mu then turned around and took down the guitar hanging on the wall, plugged it into the tube speaker, and handed the guitar to Goto Ichiri: "Didn't you say you wanted to teach me guitar? Then you have to play a piece for me first, right?"

Goto Ichiri took the guitar with trembling hands.

She plucked the strings lightly, and the stiffness in her hands was finally less noticeable.

Gao Mu handed her a custom-made pick from Space: "Do you need a capo?"

"No...no need." Although Goto Ichiri was still a little flustered, he no longer felt like he didn't know where to put his hands.

She plucked the strings gently, first playing the C scale, then tried a few chords, and then briefly climbed the frets in the high position.

"The high positions of the ST model are indeed easier to play..." Goto Ichiri's voice was very low, but one could clearly hear what he was saying.

But her piano sound was not small.

She was playing a popular song, and she played the main melody and simple chords by herself, which gave people a very stable and refreshing feeling. The crisp sound of the single-coil pickup on the neck was displayed very well.

Gao Mu took the bass down from the wall and joined the ensemble following the sound of Goto Ichiri's piano.

With the support of the bass, Goto Ichiri's performance became more layered, and allowed Gao Mu to feel her playing level more intuitively.

It’s hard to say whether it’s an advanced level of guitar playing, but it’s definitely above intermediate level.

"...Ms. Gao Mu, you can play the bass." After playing a song, Goto Ichiri looked at Gao Mu a little embarrassedly: "The tree monster asked me to teach you guitar, let me try."

The system sounded a notification: "Special mission released! Under the guidance of Goto Ichiri, improve your guitar playing to an intermediate level within six months. The sooner you complete it, the more Shining Points you'll earn. If you don't complete it by then, 100 guitarists will come and peel the bark off the tree to make picks."

"Just call me Ying - do you live far from here?" Gao Mu looked at Goto Ichiri: "If it's far, we can add each other's contact information and teach me to play guitar through video. If you want to learn bass or violin, I can also teach you."

"Well, we live quite far away, so it would be a real help if we could communicate online."

Gao Mu stood up, opened the door, walked into the yard, and reached out to touch the tree.

She let her body shed several pieces of bark the size of picks. This amount of bark would grow back in a few days, and the damage caused by voluntary shedding would be minimal.

What she was afraid of was that a group of people would come and do this.

"Here, the bark you requested. I've already asked the God, and as long as you don't advertise it and just use it for yourself, I can give you some. When you get back, remember to change the video description that says the shrine bark is suitable for making picks."

"Oh... Thank you! I'll definitely cherish it!" Goto Ichiri carefully put the bark away. "Can I go home now?"

Gao Mu shook his phone: "Add your contact information, and... remember to teach me guitar."

Chapter 30: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 30, PasPale's New Opportunity

I have to serve as PasPale's temporary bassist for rehearsals and be responsible for the daily maintenance of the shrine. I spend half of the remaining time practicing guitar and half practicing violin.

Even if Gao Mu only needs to sleep about 4 hours a day, his life is still extremely fulfilling.

Fortunately, the members of PasPale all have good talent in musical instruments, and Goto Ichiri did not break his promise and carefully arranged guitar lessons for himself on the video software.

During this period, the old priest's visits to the shrine became longer and longer, and each time he came, his condition was obviously worse than the last time.

Gao Mu always said that she hoped he could hold on until the Harvest Festival or even the New Year, but the old priest always just asked Gao Mu to put on the shrine maiden costume and stand in front of the ema frame or under the cherry tree, looking at her silently, as if he was reminiscing about his past.

Finally, one afternoon, Gao Mu helped the old priest call the emergency number and notified his granddaughter, Goddess Kokusaka Ayame.

When the doctor arrived, he announced the old priest's death on the spot.

Before the doctor arrived, his last words were "Don't rescue me."

It can be considered as a wish come true.

After traveling through time, the old priest was the person she spent the most time with, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was her elder in this life.

After discussing with Kagurazaka Ayame, she officially inherited the shrine, but she couldn't help feeling depressed.

She hung a sign at the shrine to temporarily refuse visitors, and according to Chinese custom, she pinned a piece of black cloth on her sleeve with a pin, preparing to wait a month and a half before reopening the shrine to visitors.

Of course, the communication with the girls recognized by the system did not stop.

[Wakamiya Eve: Sakura, we don't have rehearsal today, but I came here to tell you something.]

Looking at the message on the mobile phone screen, Gao Mu put down the violin and stood under the tree waiting for Wakamiya Eve to arrive.

The departure of the old priest still disturbed her mind. Both Miyazono Kaoru and Goto Ichiri noticed that her piano practice in recent days was very problematic.

Since you are not in good shape, the best thing to do is to stop.

Gao Mu closed his eyes, leaned against the cherry tree, and hummed a little tune in his throat.

This feeling of relaxation and connection with the earth was something she absolutely could not experience in her previous life. It seemed that the body still had an impact on consciousness - no, apart from plants, only super radio wave systems could experience the feeling of being connected to the earth.

After all, this world doesn't have the shamans like in a certain game in the previous life.

Thinking of this, Gao Mu's heart was somewhat relieved. She looked up at the sky and saw a few birds flying away from the branches of the cherry tree.

Looking at the birds flying away, Gao Mu suddenly wanted to have a big meal.

Gao Mu, the "tree", does not need to eat, she absorbs nutrients from the earth.

But the tree demon's body can also eat, but it won't feel hungry even if it doesn't eat.

In my previous life, on social platforms where there were more girls, there were always people saying things like "a big meal can dispel all worries." Now that I am a girl myself, maybe this will be useful?

She picked up her phone and typed a message: [Eve, if possible, could you buy me a bag of snacks at the convenience store? I'll give you the money when I get over.]

Before I could press "Send", Wakamiya Eve's voice came over: "Sakura!"

Gao Mu quickly deleted the message and forced a smile: "Eve, you're here."

Wakamiya Eve sensed Gao Mu was a little out of character, but she knew Gao Mu was grieving over the death of the old priest, so she didn't pay much attention to it. She just consoled him: "Xiaoying, according to Nordic sayings, the dead will turn into stars. According to the temple, they will be in paradise. No matter where you are, they will watch you go."

"Thank you." Gao Mu walked towards the training room: "Let's talk in the training room. The current topic is a bit heavy. Let's change it."

Eve quickly followed, "Sakura, PasPale...there's a performance opportunity."

"That's great news. Congratulations." Gao Mu opened the door to the training room. "How is it? Where is it?"

"It's a regular performance, and each episode invites a different idol to perform. We got the chance to perform on the eighth episode." Eve clasped her hands together. "So, the agency asked us to concentrate on training. During this period, PasPale will not come to the shrine. I'm sorry."

Gao Mu was a little confused. He didn't know why PasPale didn't come to the shrine to rehearse and apologize to him.

However, she didn't ask directly, but just followed the other party's words and said: "Don't be so polite, just come back if you need anything, we are friends."

"Well, of course it's just friends!" Eve said here, as if remembering something: "Xiaoying, I came here to invite you to witness our second performance. It's only eleven days away."

"Hmm... I'm afraid I can't go this time." Gao Mu saw the disappointment in Eve's expression and quickly explained, "I'll have a chance to go in the future. This time, after the old priest passed away, I wanted to follow the traditional Chinese way of keeping vigil for him... Well, according to their saying, it's 49 days. During this time, I won't leave the shrine."

"Forty-nine days? Uh... Sakura is a half-blood like me?"

Ying didn't want to casually label herself as a "mixed-blood," but she did offer an explanation for her Chinese proficiency: "When I was little, my guardian was assigned to work in China, so I went along. I've learned a few customs there, so consider it my way of showing my appreciation to the old priest."

"Is that so?" Eve was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Then I'll go talk to the other people at PasPale. If there's a performance later, I'll ask Sakura to watch it."

"You must not be nervous during this performance." Among the pink-haired girls, Gao Mu was most worried about Maruyama Aya.

She could see that although Maruyama Aya always presented herself as a cheerful person, she was actually under a lot of pressure. After being an idol trainee for a long time, she finally got the chance to perform, but she was left dizzy by a combination of the agency's requirement for lip-syncing and equipment failure.

If this performance was still unsuccessful, Gao Mu didn't dare to imagine what the situation would be like.

So, uncharacteristically, she added a few more words: "There will be no problem with the performance. I'm most worried about Cai. You should pay attention to Xiao Cai's mentality and try your best to help her perform at the level she's been in training. She will definitely be fine. The confidence you give her will also become her motivation."

Eve moved her lips twice, but no words came out. In the end, she only uttered a pale and weak word: "Okay."

She was not as calm in her heart as she looked - how did Sakura at the shrine guess that there was some conflict between Qiansheng and Cai?

Chapter 31: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 31. Is this a fight with the bassist?

After seeing off Wakamiya Eve, Gao Mu started a video call with Goto Ichiri, used a shaved piece of ema as a phone holder, and aimed the front camera of the phone at the position of the guitar speaker.

"Hello, Yili." Gao Mu greeted Goto Yili while tuning her guitar. The headstock knob of her inexpensive guitar had no string locks, and if left there for two days, it would go out of tune, so she had to do this every time before practicing.

Although guitars with locking strings should be tuned every time, they generally won't go out of tune too much if they are not tuned.

"Hello...Miko Takagi Sakura." Goto Ichiri appeared on the phone screen holding a guitar. The light was a little dim and the way she greeted him was a little strange.

She originally wanted to call herself "Takagi Miko", but considering that Gao Mu asked her to call herself "Ying", she added her name.

This actually seems even stranger.

Goto Ichiri realized this and added in a low voice: "Sakura Miko-sama."

"Just call me Xiaoying." Gao Mu shook his head helplessly. "I can almost play the piece you asked me to practice last time, but there are a few places where I still need your guidance. The first is that when I slide here, I will touch another string. Is my hand shape wrong?"

"You want to guard the upper string. It would be more appropriate to use your right hand to guard the string here..." Goto Ichiri picked up the guitar and began to explain and demonstrate to Sakura.

After she did it once, Gao Mu immediately realized that she had asked a rather "stupid" question.

Her brain really hasn't been very sharp these days, and she feels a bit "blockheaded" - no, should it be "cherry-wood head"?

She went over the questions she was going to ask next in her mind, trying to make sure that nothing "stupid" would happen again, but her head felt a little dizzy.

Having finished his demonstration, Goto Ichiri asked tentatively, "Sakura, do you need me to do it again?"

"Ah... that... that's not necessary." Gao Mu looked at the screen in front of him: "Some of it is due to my own proficiency. For example, when jumping from the 3rd to the 11th grade here, I sometimes can't press it accurately."

"When you can't press the notes correctly, you can look at the side of the fingerboard. There are two dots marked on the side of the fingerboard, which is the 12th fret. Just press up one fret." Goto Ichiri instructed Gao Mu.

Gao Mu realized that she had asked another stupid question, so she had to turn the topic to the other party to ease her embarrassment: "Haha, although Goto Ichiri was very timid at the shrine, he behaved very well when talking to me. Ichiri must be very popular in school, right?"

Upon hearing this question, Goto Ichiri's face turned ugly, as if he had turned into a wild snake wrapped around a guitar, but he still said stubbornly: "Of course... Of course, I'm a very popular star in school, hahahaha..."

Perhaps Yili also realized that his performance was completely unconvincing: "Well, I... don't have many friends at school."

"We are already friends." Gao Mu said sincerely.

She had already forgiven Goto Ichiri. As for the bark-peeling incident, it could be said that ignorance was not to blame. After all, most people wouldn't think a tree had any consciousness.

Since the other party is willing to teach her guitar honestly and provide her with shining points, it would be better to use a softer way to build a relationship.

"Ah...thank you! I'm also willing to be Sakura's friend!" Goto Ichiri recovered a little.

Gao Mu was surprised to find that an option box popped up next to Goto Ichiri's head across the screen.

[Under your guidance, the girl embarked on the path of becoming popular. Please select the specific direction of guidance:]

[A. The girl will become a popular guitarist, but will be ripped off by the band's bassist for the rest of her life.]

[B. The girl will become a popular guitarist, but will have to work part-time as a support musician alongside the band's bassist for the rest of her life.]

[C. The girl will become a popular guitarist, but will be captured by the band's bassist, Gravity, for the rest of her life.]

So, you can actually display system options through the screen? And...are you arguing with the bassist?