The Great Book Parade

[Forbidden Fruit Bestiary] flew in a circle around Withered Poetry: “It really is you. You can still shed leaves now? How impressive.”

Withered Poetry was puzzled. “Have we met?”

“Not yet, but we’re good friends.”

Withered Poetry ignored [Forbidden Fruit Bestiary] and turned toward the strange entities blocking the door.

“Please clear the way. We need to leave.”

Qinghua and Loop exchanged glances. They actually had no reason to stop them, but if so many book-type strange entities were allowed outside, something major would surely happen.

The situation had arisen so suddenly that Chen Miemie had given them no instructions. They could only make the decision for themselves.

Withered Poetry noticed their hesitation.

“Everyone, this should be your nest, correct? There are so many of us book-type strange entities, and our passive effects are gradually beginning to take effect. With nearly a thousand layers of passive effects stacking together, not only will we harm one another, we may also destroy this place. Please let us pass.”

As expected of a book-type strange entity—even though it had only just been born, it was already full of wisdom. Its words had struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Qinghua waved her hand and stepped aside. “The exit is that way.”

There were simply too many books. Even if their individual strengths varied, their combined power was still overwhelming.

Besides, in the logic of Qinghua and the other strange entities, protecting this room came first.

If the room were destroyed, it would not merely mean the loss of the shop. More importantly, if the room were gone and Chen Miemie could not find his way back, he might become stranded in history. That would truly be disastrous.

Led by Withered Poetry, the various books formed a torrent of books in midair and flew toward the outside of the shop.

Even though the books moved quickly, there were simply too many of them. It took a full five minutes for them all to leave.

Only after the books had flown away did the strange entities in the shop finally breathe a sigh of relief and begin discussing the situation.

Loop raised the first question.

“We can’t follow Miemie outside, so what era will these book-type strange entities appear in? The first year of the Eighth Epoch, or Year 120 of the Seventh Epoch?”

Pure Water considered the matter carefully, but still could not reach a conclusion. “Hard to say. The shop is mysterious, and Chen Miemie is extraordinary. Everything is full of uncertainty. It might not be either of those two points in time. They could appear in any era.”

Qinghua had begun thinking about problems very differently than before. She now tried to consider things from Chen Miemie’s perspective.

“No matter what era they appear in, the location should be the Sealed Book Pavilion. If so many newly born strange entities suddenly appear, could it lead to rivers of blood? If Miemie found out, he’d probably feel rather troubled. After all, they escaped from the shop.”

The strange entities all nodded.

After spending so much time together, they understood Chen Miemie’s way of doing things very well. Chen Miemie was not a saint who pitied all living things. His position was somewhat detached from the world. He did not care whether strange entities killed humans or humans killed strange entities to harvest their materials—but there was one prerequisite: the cause could not be him.

The book-type strange entities that had flown out of the shop were like wild horses that had broken free of their reins, soaring recklessly through the [Grand Library].

Their appearance quickly attracted the attention of the city’s administrative and public-security personnel.

The city authorities reacted swiftly. Before long, piercing alarm sirens echoed throughout the entire city.

[Juzi] waved a hand, dismissing the intelligence officer who had come to report the emergency.

“[Shopkeeper], it seems our tea party will have to end here for now. I have an urgent situation to deal with. Please excuse me.”

“Go ahead.”

Watching [Juzi] hurry away, Chen Miemie was puzzled. “What happened? Why is she in such a rush?”

Chen Miemie had temporarily lost contact with the strange entities in the shop, so he had no idea what was happening. Since this was his only chance to leave, he had not planned on returning early that night.

He flew into the air and immediately noticed something strange.

Looking down from above, he could see that the entire city had seemingly “come alive.”

Everywhere he looked, there were books.

The streets had become rivers, and the countless books flowing along them were like water, filling his entire field of vision.

And it was not only the streets.

The exits of every building, the rooftops, the gaps between structures—countless books seemed to possess lives of their own, occupying every corner.

Books walked across the ground, flew through the air, tumbled from the tops of skyscrapers, and crushed against one another. The entire city had become an ocean of books.

Chen Miemie had barely descended when a huge ring of books surrounded him. They did not attack. Instead, they all asked the same question:

“Do you read?”

Chen Miemie did not answer immediately. The books repeated the question, their voices growing louder and the emotions in their tones increasingly agitated.

“Do you read?” “Do you read?” “Do you read?”

Chen Miemie cautiously tested them. “I’d like to read a comic book.”

The books immediately stopped asking questions. They began waving and dancing about, looking extremely happy.

Before long, a comic book titled The Complete Fairy-Tale Collection leaped into his arms and automatically opened to the first page.

“Read.” “Read.”

Chen Miemie pretended to start reading. The books immediately stopped paying attention to him and let him do as he pleased.

The emergency response efficiency of the [Grand Library] was astonishing. A special loudspeaker began broadcasting an announcement throughout the city:

“All citizens, please take note. This is an emergency. A large number of book-type strange entities have suddenly appeared throughout the city, and all ordinary books have instantly become animate as well. Please do not panic when you encounter them, and do not attack recklessly. Begin reading. Reading will prevent you from being attacked.”

No matter how little attention Chen Miemie paid to history, after spending more than two months in the Sealed Book Pavilion, he could still guess that this was probably the origin of the later [Reading Day].

The First Year of the Eighth Epoch.

[Sealed Library].

Alarms suddenly rang out above the city.

The citizens discovered that all the books in their homes had “come alive.”

The seals throughout the city lost their effectiveness, and book-type strange entities flew out of their containment.

The streets and alleys became oceans of books.

Piercing alarms and citywide broadcasts echoed through every corner:

“[Reading Day] status is now in effect. Citizens are requested to put aside everything they are doing and begin reading!”

At the Scholars’ Institute, in a secret chamber used to imprison major criminals—

[Stone Speaker] suddenly opened his eyes and sprang to his feet.

“How is this possible? How could [Reading Day] arrive early?”

Mortar Granny did not seem particularly surprised. “What difference does two days make?”

“What do you know?” [Stone Speaker] was extremely agitated. “This [Reading Day] is different from the others. No, I have to get out immediately!”

“Really? The righteous [Stone Speaker] turned himself in, and now he wants to escape from prison?”

[Stone Speaker] took a deep breath and did his best to calm himself. “Mortar Granny, it isn’t just me who needs to get out. We all need to leave. I need your help.”

“How interesting, [Stone Speaker]. You wanted to pass judgment on me and kill me, and now you’re asking for my help?”

[Stone Speaker] tapped the lock once. It broke with a click, and he stepped out of his cell.

He stared earnestly into Mortar Granny’s eyes.

“Granny, according to the original plan, my people were going to destroy some of the seals on [Reading Day], two days from now. Under the immense pressure that would follow, humans and witches would have to work together to deal with the crisis.”

But for some unknown reason, [Reading Day] has come early. If I don’t show up and unite the strength of the two races as planned, then even after [Reading Day] passes, the seal will no longer take effect.

The people outside still think this year will be the same as all the others—that they just need to read for a day and wait it out. They don’t know that this time, reading alone won’t be enough. They must also repair the damage caused by human hands.

If we do nothing today, we’ll lose our only chance to restore it.”

Mortar Granny frowned.

“Create pressure to force the two races to unite? Heh, interesting. Even so, why come to me for help?”

“I destroyed the most important core seal—the one beneath the city library, where the Withering Canticle is located. I need to convince the witches to trust me and repair it in the shortest time possible.”

“What? Have you gone mad?” Mortar Granny cried out for the first time. “The Withering Canticle is the leader of the book anomalies. If it is completely unsealed, every book in the city will run wild! Are you trying to destroy the Book-Sealing Library?”

“What’s done is done. There’s no point saying more. Granny, please help me.”

The judge, Stone Speaker, bowed ninety degrees to Mortar Granny, the “criminal.”

“Snap~”

The lock on Mortar Granny’s cell door broke as well, and she stepped out.

“I’m not helping you. This is my city too.”