Chapter 252: Librarian
“Woo…”
Beneath the huge bookshelf, Zhang Qian couldn’t help but cover his head and gently retreat half a step.
He had just been thinking about how to exit, but unexpectedly, right after Yue Linhai finished speaking, before he could make any other move, this book forcibly threw him out.
He didn’t know how much time it would take for Yue Linhai to rush over…
Rubbing his somewhat swollen left hand, Zhang Qian thought this.
Raising his eyes to scan the surrounding environment, there didn’t seem to be any different places.
The surroundings were still those bookshelves reaching straight to the ceiling, a few ghost hands quietly crouching at the aisle, occasionally lazily moving their fingers a few times.
“Where to go… Hmm?”
Zhang Qian was thinking about where to wait for Yue Linhai when suddenly an unusual feeling came from his right hand.
That book named 《Yue Family Chronicles》 was now undergoing some eerie changes; the pitch black book cover slowly faded, climbing with some mottled traces.
If the book had looked somewhat mysteriously antique at the start, now it was no different from an ordinary old book.
The supernatural power was disappearing; could a single book only be viewed once?
Before Zhang Qian could pick up the book to examine it closely, the weight in his hand suddenly lightened again.
At the same time, rustling dust began to sprinkle from the book’s layers, as if the pages inside had all weathered away completely, turning into a pile of grayish-white remnants.
With a gentle pinch, the previously somewhat hard cover immediately caved in, and then starting from this dent, the entire book suddenly fell apart.
As if crossing over a hundred years of time in an instant, the book suddenly became fragile as if it couldn’t withstand the wind.
“Puff…”
Zhang Qian didn’t reach out to catch those remnants; after a muffled sound, several fragments of the book smashed onto the carpet, completely turning into a pile of dust.
The swirling dust danced lightly under the dim white light; he didn’t dare inhale it rashly and immediately covered his mouth and nose while starting to retreat.
Fortunately, this thing seemed to be just ordinary dust, quietly piling up on the ground and floating in the air, with no apparent harm.
Waving the air in front of him, Zhang Qian checked his right hand that had contacted the book; the skin was still pale, with no other corrosion traces besides those eerie blood-red patterns.
“Good thing; it seems like just a simple accident.”
Zhang Qian didn’t go far, leaning nearby in a corner somewhat helplessly.
That book was broken, and he didn’t know the situation inside; Luo Wensong hadn’t left yet, and he didn’t know if he would be affected.
Which seller’s books had such poor quality, breaking after just being opened once? Did the captain place it up there never thinking anyone would come to read it?
While inwardly complaining, his ears twitched, as if he heard some somewhat hurried footsteps.
Was it Yue Linhai?
No, if it were him, he should appear directly in front of me.
Zhang Qian denied his inner guess and instead thought of another name—the librarian.
A person wandering in the library, responsible for helping visitors search for books.
But given the ghost ship’s current situation, he had probably turned into a fierce ghost by now?
“I thought this library would be safer than those previous places, but after all this, we’re still targeted…”
Yue Linhai still didn’t know how long it would take to enter, so he couldn’t pin his hopes on him; he had to prepare for confrontation.
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Zhang Qian lowered his eyes, staring unblinkingly at the two aisles in front of him.
The library’s terrain was complex, with these aisles twisting and turning; before the owner of those footsteps appeared, he couldn’t determine which direction they came from.
But there were two aisles here; even if he couldn’t win, he could still escape, so it was a way out.
Coming…
The footsteps grew closer; Zhang Qian gripped the wooden stick, mustering all his spirit.
But the next instant, his expression suddenly became somewhat strange.
The footsteps actually split into two?
Two figures emerged simultaneously from the left and right aisles; their builds weren’t tall, instead somewhat slim. It wore a black jacket that seemed soaked in water, and on its face was a pair of glasses.
Such attire seemed somewhat outdated today, but if placed in the ghost ship’s era, it would undoubtedly be very “fashionable.”
If ignoring that dried-corpse-like face, these two figures looked just like twin brothers studying abroad.
But Zhang Qian currently had no mood to appreciate these two brothers’ outfits; as he watched the gradually approaching figures, his mood sank deeper.
They had already met but hadn’t launched an attack, meaning its ability likely required close contact to activate; though he didn’t know the supernatural strength, it wasn’t wise to clash head-on.
His eyes scanned back and forth; Zhang Qian first targeted the figure on his left side.
Because the aisle on the left was relatively short, though they appeared in his line of sight at the same time, the figure on the left was closer to Zhang Qian.
True Qi surged; just as Zhang Qian was about to mobilize the ghost mask, he suddenly spotted the ghost hand lying on the ground.
Might as well test the waters first.
So he changed his action; the ghost mask merely gathered power without releasing, while with a thought, he controlled the ghost hand on the ground to rush forward.
The ghost hand, which had been lazy moments ago, jolted upon receiving the command; several fingers quickly tapped on the carpet, almost skimming over the short distance without touching the ground, then its five fingers slightly bent and it bounced up.
“Pa!”
The palm solidly slapped onto the figure’s face, issuing a crisp sound like slapping someone.
Immediately after, the figure’s head jerked back, seemingly unable to withstand the force, retreating a few steps before thudding to the ground.
Zhang Qian’s originally serious expression instantly froze.
Playing me?
But from the feeling transmitted by the ghost hand, this thing indeed had only negligible faint supernatural power inside, overall not even matching a healthy ordinary person.
Hmm… maybe it’s just an illusion; the other figure is the crucial point.
Zhang Qian turned to look at the aisle on the other side, only to find this figure’s pace still unhurried, as if it hadn’t noticed its good brother had already fallen to the ground.
“Playing tricks…”
Without seeing Zhang Qian make any move, several white remnants rapidly rushed over.
Strangely, after coming out of that illusion, his body seemed to have undergone some changes; the ghost hand’s intensity appeared to have increased, but more details couldn’t be confirmed yet.
After this matter ends, go ask Old Luo…
“Thud—”
While Zhang Qian was still thinking, a sudden sound of someone falling came to his ears.
Looking up, the figure in the right aisle had also fallen down.
