[Grand Library].
[Juzi] arrived at the emergency command center with a grim expression.
“City Lord, we’ve discovered more than five hundred book anomalies so far. At present, they aren’t very aggressive. As long as people are willing to read, they won’t attack of their own accord,” a senior scholar reported.
“What’s the casualty count?” [Juzi] waved a hand, stopping him from bowing.
“Not serious for now. The book anomalies seem to have only just been born, and their passive effects haven’t fully manifested yet. However, judging by the trend, the situation is gradually worsening.
“There are about ten particularly dangerous ones.
“In the eastern part of the city, there’s a book called The Final Seven Seconds. Every page depicts the last seven seconds before someone’s death. Anyone who reads it will experience those seven seconds, then become unable to tell whether they’re alive or dead.
“In the south, there’s The Last Desire. After reading it, people lose all their desires—including the desire to go on living.
“In the west, there’s a book called The Book of Darkness. It says that it may only be read during the day, but it’s nighttime now. Anyone who has read it will see mysterious eyes appear in the darkness. Every one of them will stare at the reader, driving them insane.
“In the north, there’s The Tearstain Register, which records the origin of every tear. Anyone who reads it will cry for every person who sheds tears, until their tears run dry and they go blind.”
“That’s enough.” [Juzi] interrupted him. “They’re anomalies, so naturally they come in all shapes and forms. All of that is normal. Do we have any solutions?”
The scholar moved his lips but said nothing.
Wisdom was not omnipotent. Faced with more than five hundred anomalies and a city full of living books, solving the problem would require strength.
Qiu Shizi was also part of the emergency response team.
She was hiding in a corner, secretly eating persimmons.
[Juzi] noticed her. “Persimmon, are you still eating? Tell us what you think.”
Persimmon hurriedly wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
“On my way here, I released my power. From what I observed, the book anomalies have a leader called The Withering Poems. We could try talking to it and see whether there’s a chance of resolving this peacefully.”
The scholar was pessimistic about the idea. “Would negotiating with an anomaly just be a waste of time?”
Persimmon did not deny what the scholar had said.
“We can prepare for both possibilities and act at the same time. If negotiations succeed, all the better. If they fail, we’ll have no choice but to fight.
“However, given the number of book anomalies, our chances of winning aren’t high. The casualties would be terrible.”
[Juzi] made the decision without hesitation, bringing her fist down as she gave the final word.
“Persimmon, you’ll be in charge of negotiations. Everyone else, prepare for battle. Our goal isn’t to destroy the book anomalies. We only need to drive them out of the city. Move out immediately. Persimmon, stay behind for a moment.”
The situation was urgent. Every minute of delay could result in casualties, so everyone immediately got to work.
Soon, only [Juzi] and Persimmon remained in the room.
[Juzi] got straight to the point. “You know [Shopkeeper]? What kind of anomaly is it?”
“I don’t know either. He wraps himself in a yellow robe, and I’ve only seen that his head is made up of points of light. Why?”
“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but he arrived, and then the book anomalies appeared right after. Could there be some kind of connection? He said you helped him with something before. What did you do?”
“I gave him an idea and helped him open a storybook of his own.”
[Juzi] nodded. “It sounds unrelated to the book anomalies. I hope I’m just overthinking it. [Shopkeeper] is very powerful, and I don’t want to make an enemy of it either.”
“Even Big Sis Orange says he’s strong. He must be amazing.”
“All right. The situation is urgent. Go negotiate with The Withering Poems. Find out what they want, and if possible, try to learn where they came from.”
“Got it. I’m on my way.”
Persimmon left the room.
Chen Miemie floated through the air above the street, holding a storybook of fairy tales in his hands. He wasn’t reading it at all; he was only putting on an act.
At the moment, he was [Huangyi]. His aura was intimidating enough to fool people, and since he appeared to be holding a book, the books generally left him alone.
“Huh? That one up ahead looks familiar.”
Chen Miemie followed it.
They went on for about a thousand meters.
Chen Miemie had yet to reveal himself when someone stopped the book first.
It was Persimmon, blocking the path of The Withering Poems.
“Mr. Book? May I call you that?” Persimmon asked in a gentle voice.
“We books have no gender, so ‘Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’ aren’t particularly appropriate. You can simply call me by my title, The Withering Poems.”
“All right, The Withering Poems. You’re the leader of the book anomalies, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m merely one of the more powerful among them. Since I was the first to be born, the others acknowledge me to some extent, but I can’t command the other books.”
“Fine, then. My name is Qiu Shizi, though I also go by Persimmon.”
“Persimmon, why have you stopped me?”
“This is our city. What are you book anomalies here for?”
The Withering Poems thought for a moment. “We were born here as well. This is the City of Books, and we want to live here.”
“But your passive effects can hurt people.”
“We can’t help that. All we can promise is not to harm anyone intentionally. Once each of us finds a place to settle, we’ll stay there. You can keep your distance and avoid entering the effective range of our passive abilities.”
Persimmon looked troubled. “The city is only so large. There are too many of you; there simply isn’t enough room.”
The Withering Poems was not an unreasonable book.
“How about this? There are certain commonalities among book anomalies. I’ll try to arrange those whose passive effects don’t interfere with one another as close together as possible. That should save quite a bit of space.”
“But even with that, you’d still need most of the city.”
“That should be the case.”
Persimmon sighed softly. “Then this will be difficult. This is a city where witches and humans live. If we give up more than half of it and turn that area into a restricted zone, the only response I can bring back is that we’ll have to fight. I don’t want to fight.”
The Withering Poems shook its little wings, scattering several withered leaves. “I don’t want to fight either. But we’re books by nature, and we can’t live without all the books here. Even if we don’t want to fight, we’ll have no choice.”
Chen Miemie, watching from hiding, also found the situation difficult.
He had already tried on the way here. Outside Chen Miemie’s own domain of time and space, he couldn’t form contracts with anomalies from history. Both sides were fighting for survival, and in the end, conflict would most likely be unavoidable.
Persimmon was a little genius at coming up with solutions.
“Do the book anomalies only need to stay in one place without moving?”
“Yes. Preferably somewhere with lots of books.”
“I have an idea.”
After Persimmon and The Withering Poems whispered together for a while, the two sides went their separate ways.
Persimmon went to find [Juzi] again.
The Withering Poems, meanwhile, went to discuss the matter with the other book anomalies.
Chen Miemie, who had been eavesdropping nearby, was a little astonished. “That works too? Book anomalies really are easy to reason with.”
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
