Chapter 27：The Library

It was night-time.

The hall of the geology center had been cleaned, leaving only a chair in the middle.

In the dim light, Huai Shi held a candle in his hand, feeling like he was engaging in some occultic activity.

"Is it really alright to do this?"

"Probably?"

Crow shrugged calmly. "I know you want to search for clues in Old Yang's record in the Book of Destiny, but I need to remind you that, although the idea is well and good, in practice, you may not necessarily find anything useful through regular reading. After all, the most important thing to him was obviously his wife. Of course, if you want to become the third wheel in their relationship, then pretend I didn't say anything... "

Huai Shi sighed. "Get straight to the point. Can you not beat around the bush like this?"

"I'm being wary of you not being mentally prepared." The crow whistled. "To find something useful, you must use some... not very secure methods, you know?"

"You mean challenges and risks, right?" Huai Shi sighed. He sat firmly on the chair.

"I won't speak much of those theories. You know psychics, right?"

"Nonsense, do you want Old Yang to possess me?"

"Something of the sort."

Crow stretched her "shoulders" very anthropomorphically. "In simple words, you can understand it like this——the Book of Destiny itself is the controller to a certain important item, and the thing you have been reading thus far was only the table of contents.

"It's as if you have a computer and are going to commit some cybercrime. All you have to do now is use Old Yang's records as the account password and quietly go around the firewall to carry out inquiries in the dangerous, prohibited server. Then, you need to look for Old Yang's browsing records... In addition to the internet monitoring network, there is also a danger of being attacked by trojans and viruses. Do you understand? "

"Will I die?"

"It's unlikely. After all, Old Yang himself was just an ordinary person while the records after his death are just a pile of old files that will be naturally overlaid."

Crow patted his shoulder. "Worse comes to worst, it's possible that living is no better than dying."

"Oh, isn't that what I usually do?"

Huai Shi accepted this calmly. He was even willing to poke fun at himself. "Let's not waste time and quickly do this."

"I'm so relieved that you had this epiphany. Take out the Book of Destiny."

Crow glanced at him and suddenly turned into a small clump of green smoke. The smoke dissipated, revealing something like a worn quill pen. Huai Shi's palms opened, and the Book of Destiny that had already been elementiumized and fused with him appeared in his hands.

The cover page was flipped open. Through her guidance, countless records of Huai Shi's pasts disappeared. Then, a hand-drawn old computer internet login interface appeared.

"Fortunately, I have retained quite some elementium in Old Pond Town, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to pay the dialing fee."

The elementium of a few dozen people flowed out from the nib and turned into ink. As she sketched, the dial progress bar slowly increased.

"Remember, after entering, you can only stay on the outskirts. You should under no circumstance go deep inside. You are not allowed to simply do as you please; you are not allowed to simply look around; you are not allowed to randomly touch things… In other words, don't do anything aside from what you're going in for. The candle is in your hand. Once the light from the candle extinguishes, come back immediately. Do you understand? "

Crow reminded him one final time.

The moment Huai Shi nodded, he felt as if everything in front of him had darkened. The ink on the page suddenly twisted into a vortex, pulling him into it.

He seemed to have fallen for thousands of years. At the same time, it seemed like only a second had passed.

Huai Shi seemed to have experienced many things during the process. However, when he stood firm in the dark, he quickly forgot everything once again.

"Don't look left and right as I've already erased those memories. If you don't want to have a nightmare, don't think about it again. There are only three minutes, little brother. Hurry up!"

Crow's urging voice awoke him from his trance.

The candle in his hand was burning fast, illuminating the surrounding scene.

Like a dilapidated library, a musty smell filled the air. In the dead silence, Huai Shi stood between countless bookshelves. He looked around uncomfortably.

He was alone in the eerie darkness; the atmosphere would have been able to melt away death itself.

If not for the candlelight in his hands, he would have gone crazy.

There was a horrific scream from afar, which was quickly followed by a loud noise. Due to the roar, countless dust particles quickly fell from the beam.

Without knowing what had happened, Huai Shi wanted to pull up the curtains to take a look. However, when he looked through the hole in the torn curtain, he saw a dreadful white pupil outside the window staring at him. He then wisely dismissed the idea.

"There are two minutes and forty seconds left! What are you wasting time for?"

Crow scolded, "Helping you by keeping a lookout is very dangerous too! What do you think it sounded like? You were almost discovered by the Predator! Hurry up!"

Huai Shi did not dare to waste any more time. He looked down at the candle in his hand. After getting into the Old Yang's broken records, the light of the candle pointed to the deepest part of the darkness, guiding him forward.

It seemed that there were other things in the darkness. Although some noises occasionally cut through the dead silence, nothing could be seen in the dim light.

There was only the sound of water droplets and light movement.

It seemed to be waiting for something.

Huai Shi sped up. The sharp noise of the old floor being trampled on rang continuously, reaching the depths of the darkness. After a long time, he heard Crow's voice call out

"This is the bookshelf. The book is on the third row, second one from the left! Hurry up! Hurry up! One minute left!"

Following her instructions, Huai Shi located the book she specified from the identical row of book spines that were lined up on the bookshelf.

It seemed that all the books here were indistinguishable. Even the spine and the cover did not have any markings, as if they were randomly placed there. No one seemed to care about it.

However, the moment Huai Shi opened it, he suddenly felt an unsettling chill. The premonition of death resurfaced. Something was staring at him!

With an unearthly shriek, the floor, bookshelf, and even the ceiling trembled. Rays of pitch-blackness stretched out from it. Like dark running water, it extended in all directions, touching and feeling everything, searching for its prey.

With the candlelight, he barely made out its appearance. However, he could not believe it; it was all hair. They were individual tendrils, clumped up together as they convulsed and twitched like snakes! The dry, cold hair greedily groped everything around it. The sounds of struggling and hissing coming from the darkness were followed by a disturbing chew.

Munch, munch, munch. 

Huai Shi swallowed his saliva. He carefully moved out of the way. The dark hair rushed past his feet like a wave of snakes, flowing into the depths of the darkness.

"Did you come here to see the animal world! Ignore the librarian who was assimilated by hell, she can't find you until the candle goes out!"

Huai Shi took a nervous breath. "What the hell is this place?"

"Isn't it a bit too late to ask this?" Crow felt annoyed. "You still have fifty seconds."

Huai Shi did not dare to delay any further. He opened the cover. Through the light, he saw the densely packed handwriting on the page. However, it seemed that the handwriting did not need to be read. The moment the light illuminated it, it seemed to come alive. It seeped into his consciousness through his eyes, turning into countless blurry reflections and shadows.

At first glance, Huai Shi saw Old Yang's grandson squatting on the toilet to cheer himself up.

"My eyes…"

Huai Shi wilfully tolerated the experience, quickly turning over the paragraph.

All the records seemed to be small and fragmented, so he could only turn the pages indiscriminately. There were very few large fragments, and most of them contained trivial memories. There were even memories from the third grade of elementary school, where he confessed to his art teacher after getting some red flowers.

"Old Yang, you are quite precocious..."

Huai Shi sighed. Seeing that there was only a bit of the candle left, he quickly turned over to the next section. He continued to search deeper.

Soon, he saw his pale-looking wife in the ward. Beside the bed, Old Yang was sitting there lively and full of energy.

"Don't worry, my wife! I have money now! At the end of the month, we will go to the provincial hospital. I have already identified the experts." He gently covered her slightly pale palm. "After two years, when you are in good health again, you will give birth to a big fat boy, a daughter will do too, I like both... "

Looking at her smile, Old Yang laughed.

He looked like he felt redeemed.

Huai Shi turned the page sadly.

He kept searching deeper, through the cuts and discontinuations in the fragments of memory. There was a series of broken thoughts, all of which were full of pain, fear, and uneasiness. In the end, the silhouette of a person emerged.

A sneering smile, withered hair, and those red gloves that Huai Shi would never forget.

"Then, it's a deal."

Five fingers spread out, covering Old Yang's face.

A chill ran down his spine.

The following sections of the book were continuous nightmares and stupor. There were more and more cuts of fragments coming out. It was as if he had been going about life while being constantly drunk. He gradually deteriorated into a kind of walking dead, to the point where he did not even know what he was doing anymore.

"Huai Shi, can you make it? There are only twenty seconds left!" Crow urged.

"Almost, almost!"

Huai Shi looked at the candle that was burning fast. Then, he frantically turned the pages. Fragments, fragments, and fragments. Going to the hospital to deliver food, going to the bank to transfer money, called to expedite payments, then, receiving a call...

"The Li Hua Enterprise's welcome party lacks a cellist, doesn't it? You can count on me... Haven't you seen the boy, Huai Shi? There's no problem with that right? Oh, yes, then the deal is sealed."

After hanging up the phone, Old Yang crossed his legs proudly. Then, he took out his notebook to record some notes. After that, he sent a text message to Huai Shi. "If the kid knew about this, he would start jumping happily."

However, when he wrote down the address, his expression stiffened suddenly.

The given address was very different from the one he had just noted.

Then, he dialed an unknown number. He stiffly reported, "Transporter No. 4, get in place."

"Very good, come to me."

There was hoarse laughter over the phone.

Old Yang got up and picked up the key. At that moment, a gust of wind blew. The candle flame shook.

The light dimmed further.

A strand of black hair quietly wrapped around Huai Shi's ankle. It was deathly cold, as if it was ice... It inched upward, searching…

In a flash, Huai Shi's body became numb.

"Damn it, how can the waves of the White Silver Sea get here... Huai Shi, come back, immediately!" Crow's voice sounded out angrily. "You have been entangled!"

"Almost, almost! I almost found it..."

Huai Shi could not focus on responding to her. He sped up as he flipped through the pages, whilst the countless hairs inched closer faster and faster. Avoiding the light of the candle, it stretched out behind Huai Shi, spreading and entangling his limbs. Its grip was getting tighter and tighter.

While Old Yang was driving, he went east along the road. Then, he turned left onto Binhai Boulevard... Huai Shi sped up again. He heard the sound of the tides in the distance.

The black hair wrapped and tightened around his neck. He could not breathe.

The candle trembled. The last ray of light was about to go out.

Old Yang stopped the car. He walked out of the underground parking lot, slowly, in a way that made Huai Shi lose his mind. He walked forward, turned left, and went up the stairs.

Huai Shi felt his spine cry out. The hair slithered up along his face, ready to drill into his eyes, nose, and mouth.

The premonition of death washed over him like a sea of ice.

His entire body felt cold.

At that very moment, he saw Old Yang pushing open a door. In the darkness behind the door, a familiar face appeared.

However, suddenly, the candle went out, and darkness engulfed him.

At the last moment, an invisible force pulled him upward. He suddenly broke through the dark fog as if riding a roller coaster upside down, swiftly heading upward. However, a strand of black hair shot up through the air like a rope. It wrapped around his ankle, trying to yank him down.

"Go away!"

Huai Shi exhausted his last bit of strength as an invisible ax was swung, cutting off the black hair.

At that moment, he lost consciousness. He only heard an infuriating shriek from the darkness before his vision went dark.

When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the familiar living room. Bending down, he frantically vomited out the last bits of food that were in his stomach. He heard Crow scolding him.

"Are you f*cking crazy! Almost! Almost! You were that close to getting assimilated in there! And then you would have forever remained in the 27-depth of hell with that group of ghosts!"

She glared at Huai Shi. "That thing is going to remember you! Before you break through the fifth stage and become a coronated, don't ever think about going back there again!"

"I found it…"

Huai Shi panted hard. Although there were saliva and tears flowing madly down his face, his eyes were scarily bright, like the high beam of a car on the highway of hell.

"I found him..."

He murmured hoarsely. "I found him!"