Departure

Watching Chen Miemie's back as she walked out of the [Court of the Silver Moon] holding the mission documents.

Fina stood motionless for a long time, her heart far from calm.

"Keyuan, what exactly did you see? Why did your last dying wish insist on completing this mission? Is sending Chen Miemie the right choice? I hope I haven't misunderstood your intentions."

Chen Miemie rarely rode in her palanquin in the city nowadays.

Direct teleportation was much faster.

Returning to the [Fat Orange Hotel], a discussion meeting was held in the room.

A circle of anomalies gathered around, looking at the mission brief:

In an alleyway of the [Sealed Library], there is a dilapidated little shop. It is a consulting firm. The old manager passed away, leaving no successor.

The task requires arriving at the shop within 15 days to take the old manager's place and guard the shop for three months.

After the three months are up, write down everything that happened during the guarding period in a letter and mail it out to complete the mission.

"This mission is a bit strange. Everyone, speak up. What are your thoughts?"

Qinghua began to analyze:

"It's a very rare mission. It's not an escort or assassination, nor is it intelligence or trading. Surprisingly, it's helping to guard a shop.

The first strange point is, why look across cities for someone to guard the shop? Furthermore, the person issuing the mission didn't set any specific requirements. Since they aren't looking for a specific candidate, couldn't they just find someone in the same city to guard it?"

The points Qinghua raised were obvious, and Loop delved deeper:

"There must be a problem with this shop.

From the perspective of a three-month cross-city mission, the reward isn't considered high. However, for guarding a small shop, it's an incredibly exaggerated price, enough to buy over a dozen shops.

I'm guessing that while 'guarding the shop', we will encounter trouble or even danger."

Baibai, a new member of the think tank, added, "There's also the final part: mailing out the recorded contents without stating who to send it to. The underlying requirement is that we need to find the recipient within those three months."

It was easy for everyone to point out the problems, but without even seeing the shop yet, it was hard to make any reliable deductions.

Bobo jumped up. "Did you guys forget the time? It says here we need to arrive within 15 days. It's already been 14 days; at most, we only have a day and a half left."

Everyone was instantly stunned.

Not because they were shocked by the tight schedule, but because Bobo had actually spotted a serious problem.

"Not bad, Bobo. You've grown again."

"Hmph, I, Bobo, am just that amazing."

"How did you notice this point?"

"Hehe, 15 days is a very sensitive timeframe." Bobo drew everyone's attention.

"How is it sensitive?"

"Hehehe, I have been researching how to store roast chicken long-term. After continuous breakthroughs, I discovered that through quick-freezing technology, roast chicken can be preserved for exactly 15 days!"

Seeing that the conversation was going off-topic.

Pure Water hurriedly pulled the topic back. "Then shouldn't we set off? The [Sealed Library] is quite far away. I've been there before. If tonight isn't an Eternal Moon, it will take a whole day to get there."

"Alright, let's go!"

Chen Miemie was already staying at the hotel, and her belongings were all on her origami paper. She could leave at a moment's notice without any delay.

Among all the anomalies, Little White and Yarn Ball found it hard to leave, so they stayed behind as the rear guard in Sixiang City.

Haomiao was at the [Everlasting like the Moon] base and wouldn't move either.

Joker wasn't cut out to be a mere accessory, so he was left in Sixiang City to consolidate the underground forces.

Of the two palanquins, one was taken along, and the remaining one was left for Dawn and Cassan as a long-term companion.

The rest of the anomalies, including Road Rage, set off together.

After exiting the east city gate, the palanquin teamed up with Road Rage and began to accelerate.

As expected, the night did not feature an Eternal Moon, so the group traveled according to their original plan.

The interior of the palanquin was very stable, and Chen Miemie dozed off inside.

Unknowingly, Road Rage and the palanquin traversed countless mountains, rivers, and fogs.

Over half a day later.

The palanquin stopped.

Every so often, they would stop for a short break. This should be the final rest before reaching their destination.

On a deserted hill, a palanquin was parked in the middle of the road.

"Hold on, little sister. We will definitely make it back to the city." A young man's voice appeared.

"Mhm," the young girl's response was very soft.

A man and a woman, wearing dark blue long robes, supported each other as they emerged from the nearby woods.

Their clothes were covered in tears, and they had quite a few scrapes on their bodies.

Due to fleeing in a panic, their faces were covered in dirt, making it only possible to make out their rough features.

Just from these rough facial outlines, one could tell that this brother and sister pair must be quite good-looking.

The two ran headlong over the hill. Just after crossing the highest point and starting their descent, they ran straight into the palanquin sitting in the middle of the road.

From the siblings' perspective.

Two faceless palanquin bearers in yellow riding jackets and an antique-style palanquin that only existed in books quietly blocked the road, exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression.

"We're doomed." The young man was almost in despair.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

"Little sister, ahead... we've run into another anomaly."

In the brief moment of delay, a flying broom appeared behind the siblings.

Advancing meant death, and retreating meant death. Caught in a pincer attack, the siblings were driven into a desperate corner.

The broom was extremely excited upon catching up to its prey: "Haha, you can't escape now! Don't make pointless struggles. Honestly cooperate with me, Rebel Broom. As long as you can successfully hold on for 10 minutes, I promise I won't chase you anymore."

"Hmph." The young man scoffed coldly. "Everyone who cooperated with you fell to their deaths. Rather than being toyed with and smashed into a bloody pulp, we might as well die at the hands of this new anomaly. Little sister, run with me."

The young man grabbed his sister's hand and charged straight toward the palanquin.

He wasn't just running past it; even if the palanquin didn't kill them, the broom would catch them. He led his sister to dive right into the palanquin!

Chen Miemie was just watching the show.

Having received no attack orders from Chen Miemie, the bearers didn't strike, and the siblings actually managed to rush inside.

Inside the palanquin.

Chen Miemie and the young man stared at each other wide-eyed.

It wasn't that she didn't want to stare at the girl too, but the girl was wearing a blindfold and was blind.

After a long moment, Chen Miemie muffledly declared her sovereignty: "This is my palanquin."

Seeing that this "anomaly" Chen Miemie could communicate, the young man hastily pleaded:

"Could you please take us away? As long as you let my sister go afterward, I promise to place myself entirely at your disposal!"

"Are you people from the [Sealed Library]?"

"Yes, our family has lived in the [Sealed Library] for generations."

Chen Miemie was delighted. "So that means you are very familiar with the [Sealed Library]?"

"Of course. There isn't a single street or alleyway that I don't know."

"Excellent. I'm in need of a guide."

Through this brief exchange and seeing Chen Miemie's appearance clearly, the young man realized that the person in front of him might not be an anomaly, but a high-level foreign mystic.

The young man felt wild joy in his heart: They were saved!

"Hello! Whether it's being a guide or anything else, as long as you can save us, we will definitely repay you."

Chen Miemie nodded in satisfaction.

Just as an agreement was reached inside the palanquin, the broom outside grew impatient.

"Hey, palanquin anomaly! These two are my prey. Show some manners and hand them over."

Hearing that someone wanted to snatch away the guide he had already secured, the smile vanished from Chen Miemie's face.

With a cold expression, he lifted the curtain of the sedan.

"Rules? It just so happens that I am about to clean the shop and am short a broom. Step inside the sedan, and let us have a proper chat about these rules."