Almost at the same time that the beam of light lit the duoluozhong's featureless face, a strong gust of wind stirred in the second floor of the north wing. As a figure flew down to the central hall, it was almost as if her speed sliced through the air. With a whoosh, a rush of air spread out in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Sanjiu had already landed beside Reno. This was quickly followed by the sound of Rena racing down the stairs. She quickly stood behind her brother. With his companions by his side, the teenage boy felt a slight sense of relief.
"Why are there duoluozhongs here?" a voice filled with confusion came from the second floor of the west wing. This was the same question which puzzled everyone. A light flashed from the west wing as if the people there couldn't believe their own eyes. The item that the team used was far brighter than the flashlight that Silvan had found randomly. Half the library was instantly flooded with a white light, illuminating everything. Under this new lighting, the creature standing before them looked even stranger than before.
The duoluozhongs that crossed Lin Sanjiu's path, while she was there in Kisaragi Station, were more or less translucent. Some of them were so faint that even the edges of their body seemed to be foggy and vague. However, the duoluozhong before them certainly looked terrifyingly tangible.
The clear outline of its body, its solid pale white face, and its undeniable feeling of it being a "matter taking up space" clearly proved that it was different from the spirit-like duoluozhongs in this world. It was like a living, breathing person. The difference was that someone had removed the skin from his or her face, erased all facial features, sewn its eyes and mouth, and finally painted that face white.
Though it did have a much lesser creepy "ghostly" factor, at first glance, its appearance certainly was hair-raising.
As the weird creature stood still in its original spot, Lin Sanjiu decided not to make any sudden movements for the time being. Snatching this opportunity, Rena quickly examined her brother's injuries. He had just accidentally torn his previous wounds so it wasn't that serious.
"Why is there only one?" Silvan raised his voice as he searched the central hall with his flashlight while standing on the second floor of the east wing. He frowned slightly. His eyelashes lowered, and a threatening aura seeped from his emerald green eyes.
When Lin Sanjiu heard his words, she didn't know why she suddenly looked up at the east wing involuntarily. The next second, she spotted Silvan's expression changing suddenly. As if he had remembered something, he turned and ran toward the stair.
"You're too late. Hehehehehe!"
A crisp, repetitive toddler's giggle reverberated through the central hall out of nowhere. After they heard that sound, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings noticed the duoluozhong in front of them shrugging its shoulders a couple of times. It was almost as if it was laughing soundlessly. Following that, the people from the west wing repositioned the light slightly upward. It was then that Lin Sanjiu and the siblings discovered that the source of the toddler's laughter was actually from the stairs leading to the second floor of the east wing.
A naked baby crawled rapidly down the stairs. His overly large head seemed like it was almost falling off. Its pair of eyes, which were practically two black holes on top of its forehead, had curved into a very awkward angle and were almost touching its mouth. There was a rectangular item in its mouth. It was a book.
The featureless duoluozhong suddenly let out a screeching laughter. It left Lin Sanjiu and the siblings and ran toward the baby. Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to chase after the duoluozhong, a furious, thunderous roar exploded. The sound was so loud that the entire library even shook a little. Rena almost fell as she lost her balance. A figure suddenly leaped down directly from the second floor of the east wing and landed with a thud. Aggression leaked from the person as he landed directly in front of the two duoluozhongs. For a second, the floorboards even hummed from the vibration of the impact.
Everything happened too fast. No one could anticipate this situation.
When Lin Sanjiu heard Silvan's angry roar, a violent, whistling gust of wind swept through the central hall as Silvan moved. The wind, along with the poor lighting, made it almost impossible for them, being on the first floor, to clearly see what was happening. Lin Sanjiu and the siblings only heard a sudden screech from the baby and the sound of falling items and bookshelves as the wind whistled. They did not know what the people in the west wing saw, but the light from their item trembled a few times.
After ten seconds, the wind stopped. Lin Sanjiu turned around and realized that only Silvan and herself were still standing.
The duoluozhong that had the appearance of a baby had already been shredded. It became a few columns of smoke which finally dissipated into the air. Suddenly, there was some slight commotion from the south wing. Shortly after, a pale white figure trembled as it rushed back to the south wing. Silvan looked up and watched as the duoluozhong escaped. He did not move.
In a rather embarrassing manner, Rena and Reno crawled up from the floor and stood up. Silvan turned to look at Lin Sanjiu and the siblings. Then, he said softly, as if explaining to someone, "Peach is dead."
He turned back and picked up the book on the floor before striding toward them. Lin Sanjiu sensed the shock from the siblings behind her. However, as he walked closer to them, his expression grew clearer in the light. The two teens eventually relaxed a little.
Lin Sanjiu let out a silent sigh.
"Here. This is for you."
When Silvan was just a few steps away from Lin Sanjiu, he had already regained his composure. As he raised his hand offering Lin Sanjiu the book, he looked into her eyes. His shadow moved along with his gesture, and the light moved across his face in an eye-catching manner.
Lin Sanjiu looked at the book in his hand. It was the "A Detailed Guide to Forensic Reconstruction of Dinosaur Fossils" book. It was one of the target books. Lin Sanjiu immediately took the book from him without any hesitation but asked, "Why?"
"Did you forget what you said?" A faint bitter smile appeared on Silvan's face. This was the first time Lin Sanjiu had seen such an expression. "I came to join your team," he said.
The siblings behind Lin Sanjiu gasped.
"I am sure that Siri's rules don't include mergers between two teams…" Lin Sanjiu found herself in a difficult position. She tried to decline him, but Silvan interrupted her with a hard stance. "The number of lives doesn't matter to me."
"He doesn't want 25 lives?" Lin Sanjiu wanted to say more but, unexpectedly, the two teens behind her suddenly became very excited.
"Let him come with us!"
"He is a good person."
They said repeatedly. Considering this situation, Lin Sanjiu wasn't in the position to reject Silvan.
The verbal exchanges between the two and Silvan were just very unusual. Lin Sanjiu did not really know how to deal with the man, so she simply responded with a stiff expression and said coldly, "You better not act alone."
Silvan drew his golden hair together and gave a casual grin. His seemingly carefree attitude was ironically very charismatic.
"You… you were so angry just a few minutes ago…" Rena suddenly questioned. Her eyes were sparkling and she used an oddly cautious tone, "Is Peach your, uh, girlfriend?"
"I met her outside the library," Silvan patted Rena's head gently. Surprisingly, she stood still and let him pat her. The sight was simply astonishing. "I promised her that we would earn some lives here… I couldn't keep my promise."
"Does he act like that to all women?" Lin Sanju couldn't help thinking.
However, when Silvan talked to her now, his previous strange attitude had fully disappeared. If it didn't make such a strong impression on her previously, she would have thought that she was imagining things. However, these were all unimportant, because when Silvan handed Lin Sanjiu that book, they all knew that they had to get away from the west wing's line of sight. Perhaps, the people from the west wing were too startled, so escaping their line of sight was easier than they thought. When all of them had successfully hidden among the bookshelves in the central hall, they started planning their next step.
"From what I know about the mushroom heads from the west wing," Silvan said lazily as he leaned on a bookshelf with his arms crossed, "considering the circumstances, they will choose to just wait and see. The most annoying thing about them is that they will always support the winning side."
"The third book had also been found. Who is it with?" Reno asked hurriedly. "South wing?"
"That's my guess," Silvan nodded. "I was wondering, what did you guys manage to find out from Siri?" he asked with a smile.
Almost at the same time that the beam of light lit the duoluozhong's featureless face, a strong gust of wind stirred in the second floor of the north wing. As a figure flew down to the central hall, it was almost as if her speed sliced through the air. With a whoosh, a rush of air spread out in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Sanjiu had already landed beside Reno. This was quickly followed by the sound of Rena racing down the stairs. She quickly stood behind her brother. With his companions by his side, the teenage boy felt a slight sense of relief.
"Why are there duoluozhongs here?" a voice filled with confusion came from the second floor of the west wing. This was the same question which puzzled everyone. A light flashed from the west wing as if the people there couldn't believe their own eyes. The item that the team used was far brighter than the flashlight that Silvan had found randomly. Half the library was instantly flooded with a white light, illuminating everything. Under this new lighting, the creature standing before them looked even stranger than before.
The duoluozhongs that crossed Lin Sanjiu's path, while she was there in Kisaragi Station, were more or less translucent. Some of them were so faint that even the edges of their body seemed to be foggy and vague. However, the duoluozhong before them certainly looked terrifyingly tangible.
The clear outline of its body, its solid pale white face, and its undeniable feeling of it being a "matter taking up space" clearly proved that it was different from the spirit-like duoluozhongs in this world. It was like a living, breathing person. The difference was that someone had removed the skin from his or her face, erased all facial features, sewn its eyes and mouth, and finally painted that face white.
Though it did have a much lesser creepy "ghostly" factor, at first glance, its appearance certainly was hair-raising.
As the weird creature stood still in its original spot, Lin Sanjiu decided not to make any sudden movements for the time being. Snatching this opportunity, Rena quickly examined her brother's injuries. He had just accidentally torn his previous wounds so it wasn't that serious.
"Why is there only one?" Silvan raised his voice as he searched the central hall with his flashlight while standing on the second floor of the east wing. He frowned slightly. His eyelashes lowered, and a threatening aura seeped from his emerald green eyes.
When Lin Sanjiu heard his words, she didn't know why she suddenly looked up at the east wing involuntarily. The next second, she spotted Silvan's expression changing suddenly. As if he had remembered something, he turned and ran toward the stair.
"You're too late. Hehehehehe!"
A crisp, repetitive toddler's giggle reverberated through the central hall out of nowhere. After they heard that sound, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings noticed the duoluozhong in front of them shrugging its shoulders a couple of times. It was almost as if it was laughing soundlessly. Following that, the people from the west wing repositioned the light slightly upward. It was then that Lin Sanjiu and the siblings discovered that the source of the toddler's laughter was actually from the stairs leading to the second floor of the east wing.
A naked baby crawled rapidly down the stairs. His overly large head seemed like it was almost falling off. Its pair of eyes, which were practically two black holes on top of its forehead, had curved into a very awkward angle and were almost touching its mouth. There was a rectangular item in its mouth. It was a book.
The featureless duoluozhong suddenly let out a screeching laughter. It left Lin Sanjiu and the siblings and ran toward the baby. Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to chase after the duoluozhong, a furious, thunderous roar exploded. The sound was so loud that the entire library even shook a little. Rena almost fell as she lost her balance. A figure suddenly leaped down directly from the second floor of the east wing and landed with a thud. Aggression leaked from the person as he landed directly in front of the two duoluozhongs. For a second, the floorboards even hummed from the vibration of the impact.
Everything happened too fast. No one could anticipate this situation.
When Lin Sanjiu heard Silvan's angry roar, a violent, whistling gust of wind swept through the central hall as Silvan moved. The wind, along with the poor lighting, made it almost impossible for them, being on the first floor, to clearly see what was happening. Lin Sanjiu and the siblings only heard a sudden screech from the baby and the sound of falling items and bookshelves as the wind whistled. They did not know what the people in the west wing saw, but the light from their item trembled a few times.
After ten seconds, the wind stopped. Lin Sanjiu turned around and realized that only Silvan and herself were still standing.
The duoluozhong that had the appearance of a baby had already been shredded. It became a few columns of smoke which finally dissipated into the air. Suddenly, there was some slight commotion from the south wing. Shortly after, a pale white figure trembled as it rushed back to the south wing. Silvan looked up and watched as the duoluozhong escaped. He did not move.
In a rather embarrassing manner, Rena and Reno crawled up from the floor and stood up. Silvan turned to look at Lin Sanjiu and the siblings. Then, he said softly, as if explaining to someone, "Peach is dead."
He turned back and picked up the book on the floor before striding toward them. Lin Sanjiu sensed the shock from the siblings behind her. However, as he walked closer to them, his expression grew clearer in the light. The two teens eventually relaxed a little.
Lin Sanjiu let out a silent sigh.
"Here. This is for you."
When Silvan was just a few steps away from Lin Sanjiu, he had already regained his composure. As he raised his hand offering Lin Sanjiu the book, he looked into her eyes. His shadow moved along with his gesture, and the light moved across his face in an eye-catching manner.
Lin Sanjiu looked at the book in his hand. It was the "A Detailed Guide to Forensic Reconstruction of Dinosaur Fossils" book. It was one of the target books. Lin Sanjiu immediately took the book from him without any hesitation but asked, "Why?"
"Did you forget what you said?" A faint bitter smile appeared on Silvan's face. This was the first time Lin Sanjiu had seen such an expression. "I came to join your team," he said.
The siblings behind Lin Sanjiu gasped.
"I am sure that Siri's rules don't include mergers between two teams…" Lin Sanjiu found herself in a difficult position. She tried to decline him, but Silvan interrupted her with a hard stance. "The number of lives doesn't matter to me."
"He doesn't want 25 lives?" Lin Sanjiu wanted to say more but, unexpectedly, the two teens behind her suddenly became very excited.
"Let him come with us!"
"He is a good person."
They said repeatedly. Considering this situation, Lin Sanjiu wasn't in the position to reject Silvan.
The verbal exchanges between the two and Silvan were just very unusual. Lin Sanjiu did not really know how to deal with the man, so she simply responded with a stiff expression and said coldly, "You better not act alone."
Silvan drew his golden hair together and gave a casual grin. His seemingly carefree attitude was ironically very charismatic.
"You… you were so angry just a few minutes ago…" Rena suddenly questioned. Her eyes were sparkling and she used an oddly cautious tone, "Is Peach your, uh, girlfriend?"
"I met her outside the library," Silvan patted Rena's head gently. Surprisingly, she stood still and let him pat her. The sight was simply astonishing. "I promised her that we would earn some lives here… I couldn't keep my promise."
"Does he act like that to all women?" Lin Sanju couldn't help thinking.
However, when Silvan talked to her now, his previous strange attitude had fully disappeared. If it didn't make such a strong impression on her previously, she would have thought that she was imagining things. However, these were all unimportant, because when Silvan handed Lin Sanjiu that book, they all knew that they had to get away from the west wing's line of sight. Perhaps, the people from the west wing were too startled, so escaping their line of sight was easier than they thought. When all of them had successfully hidden among the bookshelves in the central hall, they started planning their next step.
"From what I know about the mushroom heads from the west wing," Silvan said lazily as he leaned on a bookshelf with his arms crossed, "considering the circumstances, they will choose to just wait and see. The most annoying thing about them is that they will always support the winning side."
"The third book had also been found. Who is it with?" Reno asked hurriedly. "South wing?"
"That's my guess," Silvan nodded. "I was wondering, what did you guys manage to find out from Siri?" he asked with a smile.
