The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

Seeing Lü Wenjun's puzzled look, she smiled wryly and said, "It's really hot lately, isn't it?"

"It's alright, it's similar to my hometown," said Lü Wenjun.

"But it's already mid-October."

Ling Gong wiped the sweat from her forehead, while the cicadas chirped incessantly in their ears.

It was a long, drawn-out cry, as if soaked in the summer sun.

"The temperature in October is just... ah." Lü Wenjun realized, "I see."

Those weren't hints, they were explicit statements. Only someone like me, who lives in the southern part of the ancient kingdom, would fail to see the problem.

It's the third to last month of the year now, and autumn should have arrived long ago.

The forest was still lush and green, and the temperature remained hot as if it were the height of summer.

Summer is not over.

The sweltering heat continues.

Amidst the endless chirping of cicadas—

The story of life, seasons, and God begins.

Chapter 55 Autumn God's Troubles

Two days later, Faris complained, "When will this summer ever end?"

In the sweltering heat of midsummer, the deep green leaves swayed in the hot breeze, and the students fanned themselves. The building's automatic temperature control system barely provided any warmth; everyone could still feel the power of nature.

Ariel lay sprawled on the table like a dead dog, her snake-like hair rolled back in all directions, looking as if she was about to ascend to heaven.

“Eriel seems to be a little dead…” said the female ghost Momo.

"After all, she's a cold-blooded animal. It's too much to ask of her in this heat..."

Ariel stammered, "Ice...give me ice..."

The red and blue demon brothers, ever the helpful ones, immediately used magic to create some ice and brought it over. Ariel lay amidst the table full of ice, a frozen, blissful smile on her face.

“She’s hibernating,” Momo announced.

"What a hassle! Are snakes really such troublesome animals?!"

"She's really delicate and frail." The tree spirit Tia picked her up. "I'll take Ariel back first."

"Has your height changed a bit too much...?"

"There's nothing we can do about it, this weather is perfect for trees to grow!"

Tia's height had increased dramatically to 2.5 meters, surpassing the Red and Blue Ghost brothers and Vilsa to become the tallest member of the first year. She wove a net from vines to scoop up Eriel, and she and Momo carried her out the door one in front and one behind, like two tribal warriors preparing for a barbecue party.

“I’ve been looking through the school calendars from previous years, and October is usually the golden autumn season. Even if there’s still some heat in the air, it shouldn’t be like this,” said Lü Wenjun. “Either the Great Mystery is also affected by global warming, or there’s a problem with the changing seasons.”

“Perhaps the seasons are just being lazy,” Velsa said.

Faris asked curiously, "What is a seasonal god? Do we have to offer special sacrifices to a god in our secret realm when autumn arrives?"

"?"

Velsa looked at him with a puzzled expression, while Faris returned his gaze with a simple, honest look. Lu Wenjun reminded him, "Don't forget we're from the outside world."

“Oh, no wonder.” Vilsa thought for a moment. “How do you experience the changing of the seasons in the outside world?”

"What, how to proceed..."

“It just happened naturally,” Lü Wenjun said.

“I understand. Seasons are part of nature. The environment itself changes over time. That’s how outsiders should see it.”

Versa wrote the word "nature" in his notebook and drew a human figure next to it.

“However, from a magician’s perspective, gods and nature are equivalent concepts,” Vilsa said. “The sun god appeared, and so the sun rose. The thunder god was angry, and so thunder roared. The winter god caused snow and wind, and the summer god brought heat. This is the ‘natural order’ in the secret realm.”

"Ah..." Faris scratched his head, "I get it, I get it. My worldview has been polluted by science!"

Ultimately, this is a difference in the world and worldview.

The external world operates according to our worldview, and people use natural science to explain environmental changes. Changes in the atmosphere, magnetic field, geothermal energy, and ecosystem—such objective factors influence the planet and thus trigger weather patterns.

The operation of the secret realm relies on a different logic. The "atmosphere" of the secret realm is the wind god, the "geothermal energy" is the earth mother god, and the "seasonal alternation" is naturally the work of the seasonal god. The subjective collaboration between the gods and nature influences the secret realm, thereby triggering the weather.

While people on the outside world insisted that the sun was nothing more than a giant fireball, the sun gods on the inside were whistling from their golden chariots. Different races offered different explanations for the same phenomenon, and if those explanations worked consistently in their respective worlds, then those theories were, of course, the "science" of those worlds.

Natural science still exists in the secret realm, only the magicians call it "natural theology".

"The earliest gods and monsters originated from the worship of nature, that is, they were personifications of nature. From this perspective, the gods themselves are nature..."

Lu Wenjun recalled the forest guardian deity Lacey and gained a better understanding of this theory. He asked, "So, the changing seasons in the secret realm also depend entirely on the gods of the four seasons?"

“It depends on the specific secret realm,” Versa explained. “Generally speaking, seasons are a lower-level concept, often held by powerful nature gods. For example, the god of harvest often governs autumn, while the god of fire or the god of blacksmithing governs summer.”

"When the seasons change, the gods of the adjacent seasons must hold a meeting in advance to hand over their work. If one side is lazy and doesn't go, or if one side is being temperamental and wants to play for more time, the season in the secret realm will be extended."

Faris exclaimed in amazement, "How do you know everything...?"

“Because I am a frost giant, we are in charge of the winter in the Nine Realms,” Vilsa said. “Last year, our chieftain was dissatisfied with the business agreement and extended the winter by an extra month. He made a lot of money from this, but afterwards he got a good beating from Thor.”

"The mythological war sounds so ugly in your mouth. Thanks for successfully demystifying it, bro."

Lu Wenjun seemed to be deep in thought: "Then there must be a problem with the academy's Autumn God or Summer God..."

"Why do you want to do that? If something really happens, the teachers will take care of it. It's not our place to worry about it," Faris said dismissively. "I think we should focus on reviewing. The midterm exams are just around the corner, and I'm getting a little nervous..."

“It feels like school just started not long ago,” Virsa agreed.

"You're awake! It'll be two months into the new semester at the end of the month, and the semester is almost halfway over!"

The academy's midterm exams are always held on the last Thursday and Friday of October, without fail. Now, more than a month into the semester, the students' progress is exactly as Bill predicted in his lectures: most freshmen have mastered one spell, and a few enthusiastic learners are already working towards their second.

It's no wonder Faris is nervous. Even muscle-bound idiots like Red and Blue Ghost have learned hand hockey. The "geniuses" who initially came with their own special abilities are gradually falling behind the rest of the group. Influenced by two certain inexplicable geniuses, everyone has been working hard lately, not aiming for top rankings, but at least not to embarrass themselves too much in the exams.

Lü Wenjun desperately needed to get first place in this exam because he was still thinking about sending letters home. Logically, he shouldn't be worrying about the climate in the secret realm, but…

There's always a faint sense of crisis.

He took out the jade pendant and saw the message sent by Ling Gong.

-Linggong: We're planning to investigate further, shall we do it together?

-Lü Wenjun: Wait until I finish my part-time job.

·

"Lord Huyser! I have failed to deliver the offerings on time this year; I have been utterly disrespectful!"

The tavern was unusually noisy today. A petite girl in a red and yellow dress was bowing and scraping to Huise, so nervous that she almost wanted to kneel down and kowtow.

Huise held a bunch of grapes and looked at her helplessly.

"Don't be nervous. I know you never neglect your duties, and this is not your fault."

The girl nervously clutched her skirt: "But I failed to complete my assigned task, and I can't escape blame no matter what... What should I do..."

“Let’s have a glass of iced wine first!” Cabone said.

The girl took the glass, almost bursting into tears: "Thank you so much—how could I trouble you, Lord Cabone, to deliver wine?!"

The girl in the red and yellow dress turned around and almost spilled her drink in fright. Cabone, with a mischievous whistle, beckoned Lü Wenjun over.

"Don't be nervous, this is our restaurant's new sous chef. You can talk to him if you have any difficulties."

"Didn't they say during the recruitment that the sous chef would be a jack-of-all-trades?" said Lü Wenjun.

“She’s our autumn supplier, how can the chef not handle the ingredients?” Cabone said seriously.

The girl in the red and yellow dress was petite, like a child, yet possessed the face of a young girl. She carried a willow basket woven from willow branches, filled with various unripe fruits and vegetables. A golden maple leaf was tucked into her hair, like a natural hair clip.

Upon seeing the girl's attire, Lü Wenjun immediately guessed her identity. He pulled up a chair for her to sit down and asked, "I suppose you are the Autumn Goddess of this secret realm?"

“Ah, yes!” The girl in the red and yellow dress nodded hurriedly. “My name is Opola, I am a servant of Lord Caboni and Lord Huther, an insignificant, nameless goddess of autumn…”

Lu Wenjun recalled for a moment: "Was it the one who encountered Sirius?"

"You actually knew that! You're so knowledgeable!" Oprah covered her cheeks shyly. "That was a long time ago. We didn't even know each other before. The poets' offhand remarks made us so embarrassed..."

Opola is an insignificant goddess in Greek mythology. Legend has it that she was one of the attendants of Dionysus, the god of wine, and was in charge of the harvest and autumn.

There are few stories featuring her as the protagonist, one of which is her romance with Sirius. Legend has it that Sirius fell in love with her at first sight, and because his love was unrequited, he continued to burn, causing the earth to become extremely hot. The North Wind God had no choice but to send Ophala to meet him, thus calming the turmoil.

The story unfolds in a way that mirrors the sweltering heat of the day, but judging from Opola's tone, this time it's probably not because she had a fight with her boyfriend... otherwise, given her personality, she would probably have come to the tavern to apologize long ago.

Lu Wenjun said gently, "Ms. Huise said you are very conscientious, so I don't think the current high temperature is your fault. Could it be that there is a problem with the Summer God?"

“I just went to Frost Smoke Lake to say hello. Summer Goddess has shrunk quite a bit this year.” Opola shook her head vigorously. “Don’t even mention Summer, I even asked Winter Goddess. I even went to the Palace of All Spirits yesterday… but no one played any pranks! My rituals keep failing, and I really don’t know what to do.”

Lü Wenjun grasped the key point: "Perhaps we can talk about the ceremony in detail."

“You’re interested in such trivial things…” Opola said softly. “It’s called a ceremony, but it’s really just painting.”

She added quietly, "Paint the leaves yellow."

Lu Wenjun listened politely, feeling a huge question mark appear above his head.

“This is because the earth is slow to react; without a clear reminder, it won’t feel the passage of time,” Opola said. “It is the duty of the seasonal gods to remind the earth of the changing seasons. Specifically, for our autumn god, it is to paint the leaves yellow one by one at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.”

She showed the fruits in the basket: "By making pigment from the juice of the first ripe fruits in early autumn and using the branches of late summer as paintbrushes, we can create the golden color of early autumn. When the earth sees the forest turn golden, it knows it is time for harvest, so the earth regulates the temperature and gives nutrients to life on the ground, and the secret realm can successfully welcome autumn."

Lu Wenjun pressed his temples repeatedly, quite certain that he heard Caboni chuckling behind the counter.

"I... let me confirm. You mean the leaves turn yellow because you, an autumnal deity, paint them stroke by stroke?"

“How could I possibly finish this all by myself?” Opola corrected her earnestly. “It’s the result of many fairies working together with me!”

"Well..." Lü Wenjun waved his hand haphazardly, "What about evergreen trees? Some trees don't turn yellow in autumn, right!"

“That’s because some of the older gentlemen are quite stubborn and don’t like changing colors…” Opola sighed. “In such cases, we have to use special paints to carefully depict the color changes that adapt to the seasons. It’s a lot of trouble for the older gentlemen every year.”

Lu Wenjun raised his hand and then lowered it again, hesitating several times as if he wanted to say something, finally clutching his head and groaning. O'Pola was startled: "Did I say something strange?!"

"No, you're very dedicated... What's strange is me... it's my way of thinking..."

Thank you for your hard work, Autumn Gods of all the secret realms.

Coloring countless millions of leaves while listening to the complaints of evergreen trees—just from the description, it's a hellish task surpassing even the work of a neighborhood committee member or a grassroots civil servant. It's truly unfair not to give them a divine status after all this hard work…

Lu Wenjun tried to adapt to the mindset of the secret realm: "So this year... have the evergreens started forming cliques? Or has the paint expired?"

“I don’t know!” Opola shook her head vigorously. “I finished painting the leaves as usual and checked the progress with my own eyes before going to sleep. But when I woke up the next morning, the leaves I had just painted had turned green again.”

"Even if I repaint it later, the colors will disappear overnight. It's almost as if I've been infected by the magic of Evergreen..."

The autumn chill has vanished.

The fallen yellow leaves have turned a vibrant green again. The earth has failed to receive the signal, and so summer lingers on.

"Have you tried keeping them under observation?" Lü Wenjun asked.

A hint of fear appeared in Qiu Shen's eyes.

"I……"

·

"She sensed danger and therefore dared not explore the forest alone. That's what Miss Opola said."

Ling Gong had an expression that said, "I knew it all along."

"The Autumn God is a minor deity, like someone among eight million gods in my hometown. Such a deity is not known for its fighting prowess, so this judgment is understandable."

Lu Wenjun turned on the flashlight function on his phone, and the beam of light formed a long line, illuminating the dark forest.

Tonight's exploration went deeper than the last time, crossing the outer boundary of the Four Seasons Forest. The man-made paths were gone, replaced only by narrow trails trodden by small animals. Ling Gong wore an excited expression, yet obediently followed behind him. They both knew that moving quickly through the forest was extremely dangerous; a slight misstep could lead to disorientation.

"However, Wenjun's judgment surprised me."

"Too reckless, isn't it?"

“I think Wenjun is a very rational magician. He only chooses to take risks when necessary, and never puts himself in real danger otherwise.” Linggong blinked. “Taking risks over something like seasonal changes, which you can ignore, doesn’t seem to fit your style at all.”

"From a rational perspective, that's certainly true. However..."

Lu Wenjun remained silent for a few seconds.

“I’ve been feeling uneasy ever since last time,” he said.