novelhk Chapter 277 Poetry is the Words of God
Chapter 277 Poetry is the Words of God
"Mr. Mei Dan, what is the name of this ancient book on the top shelf?"
Zhu Lan looked up, staring at the particularly conspicuous damaged book on the bookshelf, her attention completely drawn to the object before her.
Any researcher with even a slight understanding of ancient books and scrolls would be able to see the extraordinary nature of this material.
It was a small, thin booklet with a bare spine. The two hardwood panels serving as the cover were damaged, but there were clear signs of waxing. The binding thread, though as old as the cover panels, was resilient and unbroken, seemingly made from Bug-type Pokémon thread using some special method. Because of the bare spine, the pages inside were visible from the outside of the bookshelf. The sides had oxidized and yellowed to almost black, but compared to the ancient books Cynthia had seen before, each page was unusually thick, suggesting it might have been laminated. All of this indicated that the person who bound this book must have valued its contents very much…
"You mean that booklet on the bookshelf with the wooden cover?" Meidan's voice interrupted the Sinnoh champion's thoughts. "It's a strange collection of poems, apparently found in the attic when the mansion was being renovated."
"Does this mansion also have an attic?" Officer Jenny asked curiously.
“It’s the spot below the black spire,” A-Ying answered the policewoman on behalf of Mei-Dan.
"The loft space was originally part of the design of this Forest Mansion, and it was originally a bedroom. However, with the current interior design concept, it is difficult to create a comfortable resting space in such a small area. So when we were rebuilding, we simply turned that place into a storage room, and the passage was changed from a spiral staircase to the only entrance that comes in horizontally from the back of the roof."
“Yes, we usually store the ingredients we need for cooking there,” Zina added.
"May I take a look at this book?"
Zhu Lan turned around, her gaze sweeping between Hayden and Mei Dan, unsure whether to make the request to the mansion owner or the investor who acquired the mansion.
"Please feel free to look around, Cynthia Champion of the Sinnoh region."
Mr. Hayden, leaning on his cane, was the first to nod in agreement, while Professor Medan crossed his arms indifferently and sneered sarcastically—
"That was an extremely boring pamphlet, one that was exceptionally pale and uninteresting even among the clichés of religious superstitionists. The content was fragmented, unremarkable, and utterly devoid of any literary merit."
Zhu Lan ignored this. Eagerly approaching the bookshelf, she tiptoed and carefully took down this relic forgotten in the corner of time.
Opening the hard wooden cover, the smell of degraded fibers fills the air. Some book lovers might call it the scent of books or vanilla, but Zhu Lan thinks it's closer to a musty smell with wood chips.
As she had expected, the book contained a hidden compartment—or rather, a special binding to protect the internal documents.
The person who made this book first used a layer of hollowed-out paper to extend the original length and width of the tattered pages, making it a neat rectangle that could be bound into a book. Then, they completely covered it front and back with a completely transparent veil. This not only prevented the bookbinding from damaging the paper, but also greatly reduced the oxidation of the original documents inside.
Amidst the yellow pages, pale pink paper of unknown material is embedded, resembling a piece of amber containing knowledge.
The moment Zhu Lan saw the words on the pink note, her gray eyes widened involuntarily—
"In ancient times, two statues coexisted."
"Firstly, one observes the passage of time,"
"Firstly, the land is vast and the sky is wide."
"In order to seek the future after the future,
"To explore the ends of the earth and the heavens."
"The two masters each went their own way."
"Always accompanied by the Divine Lord."
This is not some unprecedented mythological material; on the contrary, this short, poetic ballad has long been widely circulated in the mythological research community of the Sinnoh region.
Although the author is unknown, this nameless ballad was already widely circulated long before the Pokémon League was established. At least dozens of similar ancient documents can be found in the Waterloo City Museum alone.
This short essay, from the perspective of Sinnoh mythology, concisely and profoundly elucidates the birth and origin of time and space in the eyes of ancient people, and unequivocally predicts the existence of Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus, the legendary creator of the world. It contains extremely important archaeological value for the Sinnoh research community today.
Of course, in the eyes of the museum owner, this short article with its strange handwriting contained only well-known religious content, and was therefore utterly devoid of any originality.
However, as a professional mythologist, Zhu Lan saw great value in it.
The evidence at present is not sufficient. This ancient book sealed in the attic of the Mori Mansion may just be a fake meticulously crafted by a busybody.
However, however...
Judging from the ancient book's weathered cover, its tattered wooden frame, the interlayered pages, the yellowing of its spine, the ink smudges on the pink paper, and the text on the first page—the concise narrative between the lines—Zhu Lan, a scholar of mythology, was now compelled to construct an even more horrifying possibility in her mind.
What if?
This damaged collection of poems before us may well be the original text of all the same mythological ballads.
A dark gray teardrop-shaped pendant swayed gently on the Sinnoh champion's chest, as if hinting at her wavering and shock.
At this moment, the most convincing evidence for Zhu Lan's conjecture is the text used by the author of this note on the first page of the poetry collection.
The rounded, full handwritten characters, arranged in blocks of black lines, form poems of varying lengths. The style of the characters immediately evokes the image of the super-powered Pokémon—Unknown Totems—attached to the murals of the grottoes.
In reality, this is not the symbolic script used when humans first created writing, but rather the script used about two thousand years ago, when humans had just invented paper and pen. A closer look reveals that this script, based on unknown totemistic symbols, underwent numerous changes, simultaneously showing both the simplification of pictographic strokes and the evolution into alphabetic words.
Given how ancient these characters are, could the curator of the Meidan Museum truly decipher their meaning? No, if it were merely a matter of identifying ancient scripts, one could simply consult the comparison tables in publicly available archaeological papers to gain a general understanding of the text's content... In any case, Meidan, this atheist, is not as dismissive of metaphysical existence as he appears; he also has considerable expertise in the field of mythology.
Just as Zhu Lan was about to continue turning the pages to confirm or refute her own conjecture—
"Alright, it's about time now. What's the point of everyone gathering in my cramped master's room?"
The speaker was Professor Medan, who shrugged exaggeratedly.
"Champion Bamboo Orchid, you can keep this strange collection of poems with you and look at it as you please. I don't think it has any particularly significant value. Besides..."
Mei Dan's eyes, brimming with mockery, rolled like those of a cunning celestial dog, turning towards the maid, Zina—
"It's getting late, shouldn't we eat?"