Sealed

Cicada was forced to drink all of the water, and before he could even shout, “I already agreed—you have no honor!”

He unconsciously smacked his lips, only to realize the water in his mouth tasted ordinary, with no hair inside it.

At that moment, the spiderwebs binding him loosened. He turned his head and saw a small patch of black specks on the ground. The clipped strands of hair had not fallen into the cup after all.

“I will shut down this project. I’m not making excuses, but once an interest chain forms, sometimes things are no longer up to a single person—even if I hold the highest position.”

“That’s not my problem. If you can’t solve the issue, we’ll solve you.” Chen Miemie adhered firmly to the principle of “targeting people, not problems.”

Ten minutes later, having obtained the desired result, Chen Miemie stepped out of the Scholars’ Academy alone.

He twirled a porcelain cicada in his hand. The porcelain surface was smooth, every last detail exquisitely rendered—so lifelike it seemed almost real.

As he reached the main gate of the Academy, he spotted a familiar object.

It was a mailbox that looked somewhat ancient.

The mailbox wasn’t worn or shabby; clearly, it had been well-maintained. A small fence surrounded it, as if reminding passersby that it was for gazing from afar, not touching.

“Isn’t this the same model as the mailbox outside my shop? Except this one looks better cared for, with much nicer coloring.”

Chen Miemie’s lingering drew the attention of a nearby official guard.

“Sir, hello. This is the Scholars’ Academy’s private mailbox. It’s not for public use.”

Chen Miemie put on the air of a newcomer: “I just arrived in this city. Isn’t this just an ordinary mailbox? Why is it so specially protected?”

“This is no ordinary mailbox. It’s the Five-Light Mailbox, over a thousand years old—more ancient than most buildings in the city. It’s a key cultural relic under protection.”

“You just said it’s for the Academy’s exclusive use. Does it have other functions besides being a relic?”

“A mailbox is always for mailing things, of course. All right, please move along.”

Chen Miemie walked along the streets, taking in all the unfamiliar sights. It felt just like when he had first woken up in Siyang City.

He had originally acquired two guides.

But ever since Yi Zhu turned into a guest, he was reluctant to boss them around so freely.

In Chen Miemie’s eyes, the city of Fengshuguan was somewhat contradictory.

It was more bustling than Siyang City, yet the people here moved at a slower pace.

More than once, he had seen pedestrians suddenly stop in the middle of the street, find a bench, and leisurely read a book—as if everyone carried a book in their bag.

Strolling in no particular hurry, he eventually reached the city gate.

A man with an afro blocked his way.

“Leaving the city alone? Please show your student ID or scholar’s certificate.”

Chen Miemie’s head seemed to sprout a question mark. “I have neither.”

“Then I’m sorry. For your safety, you cannot leave without an escort.”

What kind of rule was that? Siyang City had no such regulation.

“I’ll take responsibility for my own safety.”

The afro-haired man seemed to catch on:

“Sorry, you must have just arrived from another city. I may not have explained clearly. The area surrounding Fengshuguan City is extremely dangerous—full of anomalies. Without the proper credentials, you’d be easily attacked. This has nothing to do with how strong you are personally.”

Chen Miemie perked up at that.

“Buddy, what’s your name? That hairstyle of yours is pretty cool.”

The afro-haired man beamed with joy when he heard someone praising his hairstyle. "Call me Lao Wang. I'm in charge of the security near the city gate and I'm from the Scholars' Academy."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Chen Miemie, with the code name [Night Ruler]."

"Hiss~ I'm also impressed. You're so young and already have a code name. That's remarkable!"

"Thank you for the compliment. I'm really new here. Lao Wang, you said there are many strange beings around. How come? Isn't it usually that the farther away from the city, the more strange beings there are?"

Lao Wang stroked his sexy curly hair.

"You're right, but the Sealed Library is special.

Our city wasn't originally called the Sealed Library. In the first six epochs, with the progress of civilization, the accumulation of history, and the increase of books and knowledge, it evolved from a [Pocket Library] to a [Library], and then to a [Grand Library].

At the beginning of the seventh epoch, when it reached its peak of prosperity, something went wrong.

The thoughts, wisdom, languages, and words that had been accumulated for countless years underwent a qualitative change.

In this city, this giant library, the books gave birth to wisdom.

We're all book lovers, and our way of expression might be a bit more reserved. To put it bluntly, a large number of book - related strange beings were born.

There was a huge upheaval at that time. God knows how many people died. Knowledge and books began to fight back against humans. This event is historically known as the [Book Rebellion].

In the end, no one knows what price was paid, but humans finally quelled the event."

Chen Miemie nodded continuously as he listened and found Lao Wang more and more likable.

"So, were the book - related strange beings all dealt with later?"

Lao Wang shook his head.

"No, it's not a 'solution' in the conventional sense.

Getting rid of them would mean getting rid of their carriers at the same time, which are countless books.

If that happened, countless inheritances would be cut off, and a library without books would just be an empty shell, existing in name only.

I'm not clear about the specific situation. All I know is that they didn't die but were sealed up. Since then, our city has been renamed the Sealed Library."

"What does this have to do with the strange beings outside the city?"

"Every city has its core, and every core has its function.

Our city can seal strange beings related to knowledge. You can even occasionally see books, pens, scrolls, ink bottles, brooms, etc. moving freely in the city. These are the results of them occasionally escaping from the seal.

These specific strange beings have a hard time attacking humans in the city. However, since they have an 'evil' nature and passive traits, they will move around the city and attack people leaving the city.

This kind of strange beings loves knowledge and people with knowledge, so their priority targets will be those without identification."

At this point, Chen Miemie finally understood why Lao Wang asked him for a student ID or a scholar's certificate.

"According to what you said, Lao Wang, doesn't it mean that non - scholars can't leave the city?"

"Indeed. If you really have to go out, you can hire a few scholars to take you with them. And you can dress up as a scholar and blend in with them, which can greatly reduce the chance of being attacked."

"I met two graduates before, and they were still attacked by strange beings."

"Of course. People aren't supposed to leave the city casually. A low chance of being attacked doesn't mean you won't be attacked at all. Moreover, there are a few special strange beings that don't respect knowledge as much."

"Like [Rebellious Broom]?"

"Hmm? You actually know about [Rebellious Broom]. Yes, that guy is one of the few who likes to cause trouble. When it rebels, even scholars can't do anything about it."

"Thanks for the explanation, Brother Wang. I've learned a lot. I'll treat you to a meal when I'm free."

"Haha, it's a small thing. What I said are just common knowledge here and don't involve any secrets. But it'd be great to have a drink together when we have time."

Chen Miemie nodded and prepared to move on. He wanted to go out and check the small woods where Yi Xian had an incident.

"Hey, Brother Chen, why are you still going outside?" Lao Wang called out to Chen Miemie.

Chen Miemie patted Lao Wang on the arm.

"Brother Wang, don't worry. What's more reliable than a scholar's certificate is one's own ability. I know what I'm doing."

Lao Wang had explained the stakes and tried to persuade him. Since there's no law in the city prohibiting people from leaving, he watched Chen Miemie's back fade away.

"This young man seems to be quite extraordinary."

After Chen Miemie left the city gate and hadn't walked even a thousand meters, a "roadblock" appeared in front of him.

It was a book with small wings of its own.

The book cover was extremely gorgeous, with a golden lock, and the edges of the book emitted an alternating glow of cyan and red.

"Boy, stop. You're not very lucky. I just got out of the seal last night, and you're the first poor soul to cross my path."

Chen Miemie stopped in his tracks and looked at the book floating in mid - air. "Who are you?"

"I'm the [Forbidden Fruit Bestiary], a taboo existence even among the book clan."