After emerging from the book world, as expected, Qin Yue had already returned.
He sat beside Gu Zhan with two books in hand, looking a bit flustered.
The sky had completely darkened. Seeing Gu Zhan come out, Qin Yue finally relaxed. “Why did you take so long?”
Gu Zhan’s experience went smoothly; he had just spent some time waiting at the adoption agency for someone to adopt the child.
“Not much. How about you?” he replied.
Qin Yue had gone to the same world where Gu Zhan had saved the little birds. He shook his head. “What a terrible school! They wouldn’t even let me skip class and locked me in a detention room. Luckily, that little girl had a conscience and rescued me. I followed your plan to save the nest of little birds, but how could those tiny things survive? The school wouldn’t let us keep them, so I ended up scaling the wall and breaking out with the birds. We met a kind old man on the way, and I handed the birds over to him. My mission was complete.”
Gu Zhan: “…”
This kid’s way of completing his tasks was truly creative.
But it also indicated that the focal point of that story world was indeed saving little birds.
But why was there such a strong desire to do so?
Gu Zhan stood up. “We still lack too much information. All we know now is that his life in the orphanage is undesirable and that he doesn’t want to be adopted from there. But after he grows up, there’s that unexplained war… everything remains unclear.”
“What? What?” Qin Yue, who hadn’t followed Gu Zhan’s train of thought, hurriedly pressed for details. “What exactly did you discover?”
Gu Zhan had spent too long in the story world, and waking up now was nearly midnight.
As he walked toward the library entrance, he said, “Everything in the book reflects Ferdinand’s own experiences, but they are also things he regrets. If we help him change his life, we can exit the story world. Right now, we know two things: first, life in the orphanage is bad, and second, he doesn’t want to be adopted from the orphanage.”
"Ah?" Gu Zhan's viewpoint was too broad, and Qin Yue couldn't keep up at all.
However, he also knew that no matter how long he pondered with his own brain, he wouldn't come up with any effective results. So, he decided to just go along with whatever Gu Zhan said.
Following Gu Zhan's train of thought, Qin Yue said, "It seems like I remember things from childhood clearly, but things from adulthood are pretty blank... So, should we find some books from his adult years to look at?"
"Yeah." Gu Zhan nodded.
But while this sounded simple, it was difficult to execute.
The covers of each book were hidden, and before opening them, no one knew which period they belonged to for Ferdinand.
As midnight approached, more and more people gathered at the library entrance.
Just like last time, the library's main door was shrouded in thick fog before it opened.
Suddenly, light appeared inside the glass doors, and then the main door slowly opened.
This time, however, the content on the announcement wall had changed.
It was no longer a lengthy set of rules but a line of red text.
"Please return all borrowed books before entering the library in order."
Gu Zhan immediately turned to Qin Yue and went to find An Heyan and the others.
Fortunately, An Heyan and Xu Ke were also looking for them.
"We need to return the books," An Heyan said to Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan had no intention of making things difficult for them, and they quickly exchanged their books, heading to queue up to return them.
A long line formed quickly at the library entrance.
When it was Gu Zhan's turn, he saw the librarian crossing out the name he had written in the borrowing log with a red pen. That motion was similar to Yama crossing off names from the Book of Life and Death.
Once the name was crossed out, it gradually disappeared from the log, and the book in Gu Zhan's hands also vanished into thin air.
After returning the book, they were allowed to re-enter the library.
The previous announcement filled with rules was back.
Gu Zhan examined it carefully and noticed something seemed to have been added.
Qin Yue stood under the announcement and read the words aloud: "…Borrowers are not allowed to open books for reading in the library… Ah?"
He seemed a bit confused: "This is a library! How can we not be allowed to read books?"
With the titles and covers of the books changed, how could anyone know what content was inside without opening them?
Gu Zhan also had no idea what trick the library was playing and said, "Let’s go inside first."
As they passed by the librarian's desk, Gu Zhan suddenly felt a mocking gaze. He quickly turned around but found the librarian completely concealed in a black cloak, head bowed, making it impossible to see their expression.
They couldn't possibly be looking at Gu Zhan.
It might have just been an illusion.
Gu Zhan turned back and continued into the library.
With a loud "bang," the library's main door closed behind them. When he looked back, the librarian along with their desk had vanished.
"What do we do now?" Qin Yue seemed confused.
Gu Zhan said, "Let's take a look first."
They walked toward a corner of the library, with most of the others having the same idea.
Everyone stayed still inside the library, observing one another.
As time passed, someone couldn't hold their composure and picked up a book from the shelf.
Just like yesterday, all the book covers here had been changed, making it impossible to tell which book was related to Ferdinand.
As time went by, someone finally reached their limit.
"Ah!"
A scream suddenly rang out from a corner of the library.
That place was too far from Gu Zhan, hidden behind heavy bookshelves, making it impossible to see what had happened.
Qin Yue quickly ran in that direction and soon returned to report to Gu Zhan: "Someone opened a book, and a long knife shot out from it! It stabbed him! Oh my God, the book can kill people!"
Books could kill people.
Those who opened books yesterday and ended up on the floor must have died in the world of the books.
Only yesterday's killing method was relatively "gentle," so people didn't notice.
Gu Zhan said, "Open a book."
"What?" Qin Yue exclaimed: "Are you trying to get yourself killed? That’s… such a long and wide knife, coming down from above! There’s no chance to dodge!"
But Gu Zhan had already walked toward the bookshelf.
He was observing others, wanting to see what would happen after a book was opened.
As for whether to open a book or not…
It was definitely necessary.
If they couldn’t find Ferdinand's books, they wouldn’t even have a chance to argue and would be declared dead by the dungeon directly.
Opening a book, which dropped a weapon and injured the reader, still sounded like there was a glimmer of hope.
Behind them, Qin Yue continued to shout, drawing attention from several people.
Everyone's emotions were highly sensitive.
Gu Zhan didn’t want to be the center of attention, so he said to Qin Yue, "Don’t shout. I have an idea; let’s try it first."
Once Qin Yue heard Gu Zhan had an idea, he immediately fell silent.
The experiences they had gone through together had taught him to trust Gu Zhan.
The two walked a bit further inside the library and stopped by a row of bookshelves. Gu Zhan said, "Since you said that opening a book will result in a weapon appearing, what if we don’t open it ourselves…"
Saying this, he let one book fall to the ground. The book tumbled in the air, and when it hit the ground, it naturally opened with the pages facing down.
Nothing happened around them; it was very quiet.
Gu Zhan bent down to pick up the book.
The cover read "Collection of Poems by Angel," and upon opening it, it was indeed a poetry collection.
Qin Yue curiously leaned over: "So, there wasn’t a weapon that appeared just now because this isn’t Ferdinand’s book?"
"Not quite." Listening to the screams echoing in the library, Gu Zhan said, "Opening any book will result in a punishment; it’s just that this book isn’t Ferdinand’s."
A flicker of joy crossed Qin Yue’s face: "So that means your method works! As long as the book isn’t opened by the person themselves, it won’t trigger the punishment."
He quickly said, “Then let’s hurry! The sooner we can borrow the books, the sooner we can leave this horrible place!”
Gu Zhan responded, but internally he felt less than optimistic.
Previously, they had determined whether the books were related to Ferdinand by checking if the book contained the world of the story. But now?
If there was no author or title on the cover, how could they judge whether this book was written by Ferdinand?
With no better options, Gu Zhan could only search through the books with Qin Yue.
After flipping through for a while, Qin Yue exclaimed, “Ah!” Gu Zhan looked over in response to the sound and saw a very familiar black book on the shelf in front of him.
Qin Yue said, “Isn’t this the book The Forest Spring?”
He sighed regretfully, “After searching for so long, we finally found one that resembles it, but it’s already been borrowed.”
Gu Zhan thought for a moment, then walked over and let the book fall to the ground.
The book naturally opened, and Gu Zhan picked it up.
Unlike yesterday, today’s book had words inside.
Gu Zhan began to read the romance novel.
As he had seen before, the protagonists of the book were indeed Mike and Jane. Mike was indeed a reserved lawyer who, especially in front of Jane, could not express his feelings.
The characters in the story loved each other, but due to Mike’s personality, they faced many setbacks. However, in the end, with the help of a nameless passerby, they ended up together...
As Gu Zhan read on, he frowned.
Was this the original content of the book?
Wasn’t this modified content from their entry into the story world?
The last person to enter this book should have been An Heyan. It seemed he hadn’t used his own name, so his character in the book was a nameless passerby.
Qin Yue, watching nearby, noticed Gu Zhan’s increasingly grave expression and began to panic, asking, “What’s wrong? What did you see?”
Gu Zhan handed the book to Qin Yue and said, “Take a look at the content.”
Qin Yue was still wary of this book that could shoot blades and axes. He tentatively reached out to touch the edge of the book. After confirming there was no problem, he sighed in relief and took it.
He read slowly, and while Qin Yue was engrossed in the book, Gu Zhan searched through the nearby cabinet.
Other people in the library gradually realized this point: as long as someone else didn’t open the book—whether it fell from the shelf or was blown open by the wind—they wouldn’t trigger any penalties.
But this meant they had added another step before opening the books.
It was really time-consuming.
So far, no one had found a book that could be borrowed.
After searching for a while, Gu Zhan returned to Qin Yue’s side just as he finished reading.
Gu Zhan asked, “What kind of story did you see?”
Qin Yue replied, “It’s just a pathetic guy in a relationship, and in the end, it’s a bad ending.”
“Bad ending?” Gu Zhan asked.
“Yeah, in the end, Mike went to the battlefield, so he didn’t end up with Jane. By the time he returned from the war, he found that Jane had already died... It’s so frustrating. Why wouldn’t a big man just confess his feelings? He’s going to war anyway; he could at least say something before he leaves!”
Gu Zhan said, “The content you saw isn’t the same as what I saw.”
“Ah?” Qin Yue looked confused.
Gu Zhan replied, “If I’m not mistaken, a single person can’t borrow the same book twice. You haven’t gone for this one, so you take it.”
Qin Yue didn’t expect to get the book before Gu Zhan again.
It felt like he was taking someone else’s reward for free.
“Is it... appropriate for me to take this?” He hesitated.
Gu Zhan said, “I’ve already read this book, so I can’t use it. Besides, you found it in the first place.”
Qin Yue was quite an interesting character; although he seemed like an unremarkable chubby guy, his luck was always exceptional.
Reluctantly, Qin Yue accepted the book, but he didn’t plan to leave just yet. Instead, he followed Gu Zhan, saying, “I’ll help you look for more.”
Gu Zhan glanced at him and teased, “Aren’t you afraid that another An Heyan will show up and snatch your book away?”
Mentioning An Heyan made Qin Yue bare his teeth in frustration. “That’s impossible! There are two of us, and there are also two of them! Last time, I wasn’t prepared... I was still too conservative and naïve, just coming out of a well-regulated society, I hadn’t adapted to the survival-of-the-fittest mentality here. But I’ve reflected on it! If they come again today, I’ll definitely make them regret it!”
Comments