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On the entire stretch of Fairy Tale Road, Old Man Yu and Qiu Tian were the only people he could consider truly familiar with.

As for the others—the owner of the barbecue shop, Boss Guan; Old Zhang from the candle shop; the old man at the pawnshop; and so on—at most, they were acquaintances. They had no real friendship, so there was no need to make a special farewell.

Just as Chen Miemie was about to leave the street, he unexpectedly noticed that the door of No. 3 Fairy Tale Road had opened a crack again.

Chen Miemie went over and squeezed through the gap.

Inside, a broom was bustling around.

More than a dozen brooms had been piled on the floor, bound tightly together with a rope like a bundle of firewood.

“Rebel Broom, what are you doing?”

Chen Miemie’s sudden appearance gave Rebel Broom quite a scare.

It turned around and, upon seeing that it was an old acquaintance, said, “Oh, it’s you. I’m packing up and getting out of here.”

“Why are you running?”

“Someone wants to deal with me. I have no choice but to run.”

“Weren’t you incredibly arrogant before? You said you could move freely between all the brooms in the city and weren’t afraid of anyone.”

Rebel Broom sounded listless today.

“That was then, and this is now. Back then, I was one of the few anomalies able to move around the city, so of course I was impressive. But now the whole city is full of book anomalies. They’re a new species, and they all stick together. I haven’t found a way to join them yet, so they’re ostracizing me. They say I’m a freak and won’t play with me.”

Chen Miemie listened for a long while but still failed to understand.

“Even if they won’t play with you, that doesn’t mean they’d bully you. Which book is trying to deal with you?”

“The one trying to deal with me isn’t a book. It’s that hateful Chenpi. She wants to capture me and take me back.”

“What right does she have to capture you?”

“I used to stay with her for a very long time.”

“No, I mean, what ability does a little girl like Chenpi have to capture you?”

“That was a few days ago. Chenpi has just recovered the power scattered throughout the various seals in the city. She has become a powerful being again.”

“So you’re packing up your belongings and running away? Where can you even go?”

That question left Rebel Broom silent.

It had lived in the Moon Book Hall for more than three thousand years. This place was its home.

“No matter where I go, I refuse to go back to sweeping floors! I’m going to find As the Moon Endures. I want to join them!”

“Do you know how to join?”

“I asked the book anomalies. They said I need the approval of their leader, Huangyi. But no one can get in touch with Huangyi. Still, I found out that As the Moon Endures has a legendary secret headquarters. If I can find it, I might be able to find Huangyi too.”

Chen Miemie stared at Rebel Broom for a long while.

“If you don’t sweep floors, then what use are you?”

“Hmph. I can carry people through the air.”

“But everyone you’ve carried has fallen to their death.”

“That’s because the people were incompetent. Don’t blame the broom. When I was with the witches, every one of them flew wonderfully.”

“So only witches can ride you through the air?”

“Not exactly. Any high-ranking mystic I find agreeable and am willing to cooperate with can do it.”

Chen Miemie thought for a moment.

“How about this? You were the first anomaly I met after coming to the Moon Book Hall. Today, before I leave, you’re also the last one I’ve encountered. That means we’re fated to meet, so I’ll give you a chance.”

Rebel Broom flew two circles around Chen Miemie.

“You? You’re going to give me a chance? What kind of chance? I’m not interested.”

“Oh, fine. Take your time, then. I’ll be leaving.”

As Chen Miemie reached the door, he muttered to himself, “This broom’s information network is terrible. I’m the head of recruitment for As the Moon Endures, yet it actually looked down on me. Hmph.”

Although Chen Miemie had spoken very quietly, the room was silent enough for Rebel Broom to hear every word.

Rebel Broom immediately accelerated, flew around Chen Miemie, and blocked the exit.

“You’re the head of recruitment for As the Moon Endures?”

“Of course. Every book in the city knows it. You’re the only one who doesn’t. Looks like you really are being ostracized.”

“Then you can represent As the Moon Endures and recruit anomalies?”

“Of course. That’s my job.”

“Brother Miemie, Brother Miemie, don’t leave! Come in and sit down. I have some thousand-year-old Chenpi tea. I’ll brew you a cup right away.”

Chen Miemie’s face went pale.

“Is it made from hair shed by Chenpi again?”

“You know about it? Then I don’t need to explain. It smells wonderful.”

“Stop! I’m not drinking her hair.”

“Then let me give you a back rub. My technique is second to none.”

Rebel Broom flew behind Chen Miemie and lightly tapped his back with its handle.

“All right, stop. There’s no point in putting on this act. If you want to join, I’ll judge you on two things: character and ability.”

Chen Miemie had just taken in several hundred books, whose abilities could be described as bizarre and varied. He had not originally intended to recruit anyone new so soon, and in the future, his requirements for new companions would only become stricter.

But he had run into Rebel Broom again today, and it had taken the initiative to pledge itself to him. Their connection was not insignificant, so Chen Miemie decided to give it a chance.

“My character is pure and kind, and my abilities are powerful. I’m incredibly useful.”

Chen Miemie paced back and forth across the room twice.

“I’ll tell you the two requirements I have for the broom at my home.

“First, you are not allowed to clean unless I give you permission.

“Second, anyone I assign you to carry through the air must not fall off.”

Rebel Broom was taken aback.

“Why am I not allowed to clean?”

“There are a lot of spiderwebs on the ceiling at my house. They belong to a powerful anomaly—a precious treasure. If you sweep them away, she’ll dismantle you.”

“Oh, oh. No problem at all. That suits me perfectly.”

“Good. Stay here and wait for my message. I’m heading to the library now. I’ll ask Chenpi what she thinks. You two have been together for several thousand years, and I don’t want to poach you without asking her. If she has no objections, I’ll take you in.”

Chen Miemie left Fairy Tale Road and went to the city library.

The top floor.

Chen Miemie hadn’t expected Chenpi to be in Silence’s office as well—and occupying his small sofa.

Chen Miemie stared at Chenpi for a long while.

“Hey, Chenpi, that’s my sofa.”

The little green-haired girl looked no different from before, but after regaining her strength, she had considerably more energy.

“Your sofa? Does it have your name on it?”

“It’s mine. Before I came here, this sofa wasn’t here. Move. If you want one, go get one yourself.”

“I’m not moving. Whoever gets here first gets to sit.”

“Move.”

“No.”

“Then don’t blame me.”

Chen Miemie shoved Chenpi aside and dropped himself onto more than half of the sofa.

“Bold of you. I’m squeezing in too.”

Chenpi and Chen Miemie were like two children in kindergarten, crammed onto a single sofa and using all their strength to push each other aside.

Silence disliked people making a racket in front of her, but there was nothing she could do about either of these two. All she could do was remain silent.

After making a fuss for quite a while, the matter finally reached a conclusion.

They ended up sharing the sofa.

At last, they got down to business.

“I’m leaving. I’ll return to Sixiang City tomorrow.”

Silence showed little reaction. She had known for a long time that Chen Miemie had only come to the Moon Book Hall to “play.” Sooner or later, he would leave.

[Chenpi] reacted strongly, and the little girl instantly bristled. “Then what about my commission?”

“I already asked [Huangyi] about it. He’s working on it too, but it won’t be resolved anytime soon. If there’s any news, I’ll contact you through my watch.”

After saying everything he needed to say, Chen Miemie prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, [Silence] and [Chenpi] suddenly dropped a difficult request on him.

“Chen Miemie, we’d like to ask you for a favor.”

“Given our relationship, do you really need to say ‘please’? I’m not helping.” Chen Miemie refused decisively. He knew that whenever they were this polite, trouble was sure to follow.

[Chenpi] acted as though he hadn’t heard him. “Since you agreed, that makes things easy.”

“Wait, are you hearing things? I said I’m not helping. [Silence], back me up.”

[Silence] honestly testified, “Third Seat Descendant Chen Miemie just agreed to help.”

Chen Miemie: …

He was utterly exasperated. “Fine. What is it?”

“Now that your identity as a representative of the new anomalous race is out in the open, I imagine Sixiang City has already been infiltrated by anomalies. With you there to look after things, we’d like to send a group of witches over and replicate the Moon Library’s model, allowing the three races to coexist peacefully.”

“That’s not impossible, but what would the witches gain by going there? Sixiang City is a purely human city with no history of humans and witches living together. Knowledge of other races barely circulates there. If the witches force their way in, it’ll create all sorts of conflicts and do more harm than good.”

[Silence] nodded, agreeing with Chen Miemie’s assessment.

“The witches we’re sending aren’t going there to compete for resources. They’re being assigned to the Seventh Seat. We want to help her expand her influence and grow stronger as quickly as possible.”