[Oil Pot]

The next day, Chen Miemie got up unusually early.

Having acquired a great deal of information the day before, he now had plenty of new leads pointing toward the group known as the Book Chasers. Chen Miemie was preparing to investigate them more thoroughly.

At present, he wanted to learn more about the Book-Sealing Hall. Aside from going out and looking into it himself, he had three possible avenues: Bridge Princess, the witch Silence, and the Mist Church.

Lady Scab had reopened her dry-cleaning shop. Near noon, Chen Miemie came looking for her.

“Mr. Chen.” Lady Scab was caught off guard. She hurried out from behind the counter and was about to bow.

Chen Miemie waved a hand. “We don’t need any of that here. No more bowing in the future. I just have something I’d like to ask you about.”

“Please, ask.”

“Tell me about the Book Chasers.”

For Lady Scab, this was hardly a secret.

“Officially, the Book Chasers belong to the Scholars’ Academy. In practice, aside from being financially connected, their internal administration is independent and rather loose.

“There aren’t that many books that need to be hunted down, so the work is fairly relaxed. Many Book Chasers are part-timers. In their everyday lives, they might be members of societies, scholars, Sun and Moon Church believers, or ordinary people. Every time they successfully retrieve a book, they receive a payment.”

“Ordinary people dare to hunt books? Aren’t they afraid of getting hurt?”

“Usually, there’s no need to worry. The anomalous books in the city are far less dangerous than one might imagine. Many of them only run away and don’t fight back. Of course, that particularly dangerous minority still requires mystics to deal with.”

Chen Miemie thought to himself: No wonder the Bag dared to attack the Book Chasers. They’re an organization with strong professional skills, but only average combat power.

Seeing that Chen Miemie had no further questions, Lady Scab continued.

“The number of Book Chasers is a matter of public record. There are currently around twenty registered members, though at their peak there were thirty. They don’t distinguish between core and peripheral members, nor between mystics and ordinary people. Everyone has the same status.

“Their current leader is Mr. Kong, the Book Chaser with both the greatest achievements and the highest success rate.”

“Give me a detailed introduction to this Mr. Kong.”

“Certainly. Mr. Kong’s real name is Kong Rong. He looks like a middle-aged man, but he’s actually over seventy years old.

“He was already the leader of the Book Chasers before I became head of this district.

“According to the information we’ve gathered, he came from a school, and his Mystery is roughly the Word Ant.

“In battle, he can turn the words inside books into ants. Each word becomes a single ant. As long as he has a book nearby, it’s equivalent to carrying an entire army of ants with him. Wherever they pass, not a blade of grass remains.

“Mr. Kong appears mild-mannered, upright, uninterested in fame or wealth, and reluctant to fight with others. But once a real battle begins, he hardly ever leaves survivors. Not even bone fragments remain.”

“Excellent. Your intelligence work is certainly thorough. Are there any other members of the Book Chasers I should pay attention to?”

“The Book Chasers’ permanent office is located inside the Scholars’ Academy. Mr. Kong usually doesn’t involve himself in day-to-day matters. The person you need to watch out for is actually the one responsible for distributing payments, codename Oilpot. He’s the organization’s de facto manager.

“Oilpot also has another identity. He’s a senior scholar in the Scholars’ Academy’s Finance Department and a direct subordinate of the Grand Scholar known as the ‘Logic Collateralist.’”

Chen Miemie now had a general understanding of the Book Chasers.

Their structure was extremely loose. The relationship between each member and the organization was more like that between a hired worker and an employer: retrieve one book, receive one payment.

With that in mind, Chen Miemie went to the Book Chasers’ office.

It was on the first floor of a backstreet building behind the Scholars’ Academy. The entrance was easy to miss. A sign hung outside, its lettering tiny and somewhat faded after years of exposure to wind and rain.

The place was deserted. There was only one person inside.

He was a somewhat portly middle-aged man with a bit of stubble. Perhaps it was because it was around lunchtime, but he was sitting there nodding off.

Even when Chen Miemie walked up to him and sat down across a small table, the man showed no reaction whatsoever.

Chen Miemie lightly tapped the table.

There was no response after the first two knocks.

On the third, the man finally opened his eyes a crack.

The portly man, who had nearly drooled in his sleep, suddenly opened his eyes wide. “Who’s there? Kid, who are you? You’re pretty good! You actually managed to sneak right up to me!”

Chen Miemie: “...”

Anyone could do that. The man had fallen asleep sitting up, and he had slept like a log.

“My name is Chen Miemie. I’m here to apply to join the Book Chasers.”

Oilpot’s expression changed as quickly as Chen Miemie’s. The moment he heard that a fresh recruit had arrived, he immediately became enthusiastic.

“So you’re a man of ambition, one who cares deeply about the city and its books! The Book Chasers welcome you. I’m Oilpot. From now on, I’ve got your back. I guarantee you’ll be able to walk around the Book-Sealing Hall with impunity. If anything happens, come to me.”

Chen Miemie was a little suspicious. “The benefits are really that good? I’m a newcomer, and I get the organization’s protection the moment I arrive?”

The smile vanished from Oilpot’s face. “You do know what a polite expression is, right? You can walk around without a problem, and you can come to me if something happens. It’s just that no one will actually solve the problem for you.”

Chen Miemie felt that this organization was a bit of a scam. The people here also seemed rather unreliable.

Next, Oilpot began registering him.

“Chen Miemie, what are your special skills?”

“You don’t recognize me?”

Oilpot’s eyes shifted. “Are you famous?”

“I’m not considered famous in the Book-Sealing Hall.”

“Then why would I recognize you?”

“Anyone with a certain level of status should know who I am—or at least have heard my name. I thought you were some big shot too. Turns out you’re not.”

Oilpot had just been defined as “not a big shot,” and an expression of disbelief immediately appeared on his face.

“I am the second-in-command of the Book Chasers, an absolute big shot in this city! I don’t mind telling you that I’ve drunk with several Grand Scholars in the same private room!”

“Oh.” Chen Miemie didn’t argue.

His silent, superior disdain cut Oilpot deeply.

“Kid, you know President Yu of the Society Alliance?”

“Yes.”

“She’s a distant relative of mine. In terms of seniority, she’s my eldest female cousin. I can speak to her directly.”

“I didn’t realize you had such wild connections.”

“Of course I do! In the Scholars’ Academy and the Society Alliance, who doesn’t call me ‘Brother Oilpot’ when they see me? By the way, have you eaten lunch?”

Chen Miemie shook his head. “Not yet.”

“It’s lunchtime anyway. We can eat while we talk. Let me tell you, back in the day...”

As he spoke, Oilpot pulled a large pot out from beneath the table. It was filled with a potful of clear liquid, which he placed directly into a fixed recess in the tabletop. The two fit together perfectly.

Oilpot twisted a small mechanism, and the table gave a faint shudder.

“Haha, this table is specially made. There’s a heating device underneath that can heat my oil pot.”

So the pot was filled with oil.

Oilpot then brought out a complete set of wine flasks and cups, followed by stacks of prepared ingredients, all from beneath the table.

The office desk instantly transformed into a hotpot table!

Before long, wisps of smoke began rising from the oil.

Oilpot poured wine for both of them. “The temperature’s just right.”

Then he dumped all the ingredients into the oil.

This whole routine was carried out with such smoothness and ease that it was clear he had been practicing for quite some time.

Chen Miemie praised him inwardly: What a talent. He really knows how to work a room.

“Drinking on the clock—isn’t that a little…”

[Oilpot] waved a hand dismissively. “What’s there to worry about? Mr. Kong isn’t here, so I call the shots. Relax and have a drink.”

A few sentences later, the food in the wok was fried to perfection.

Chen Miemie stared at [Oilpot], curious to see how he would retrieve the fried food without a skimmer or any other tool.

[Oilpot] brought his palms together and clapped them hard, then shouted, “Get in the bowl!”

The ingredients in the wok—lotus-root sandwiches, meatballs, spring rolls, chicken tenders, and the like—all suddenly sprouted tiny arms and legs, as if they had come to life. They “swam” from the middle of the wok to its edge, climbed out, and then “walked” straight into the small bowl in front of Chen Miemie.

“Come on, bottoms up.” [Oilpot] wore a broad smile. He simply loved seeing the stunned expressions on newcomers’ faces.

“Brother, you’ve got some tricks.”

“Haha, you’re too kind. From now on, if you run into any of these little things outside, don’t panic. They’re just a little method I’ve devised to stay in touch with you.”

“They can talk?”

“Not exactly. But I’ve created a system of code words.

“For example, if something tastes a little too salty, that means danger—retreat immediately.

“If it tastes sweet, that means everything’s going well and reinforcements will arrive soon, so you can act quickly.

“Sour, spicy, and all the other flavors have their own corresponding intelligence as well.

“But remember, there’s one flavor that’s especially important. If something tastes foul, stay on high alert!”

“What does foul mean?” Chen Miemie asked as he blocked the “shepherd’s-purse spring-roll spirit” from leaping into his mouth.

“It means the ingredient has gone bad. Spit it out immediately. Don’t eat it.”