Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 35: Library

The setting sun poured over everything, coating the distant chimneys in red, but at this moment Zhang Wenda had no time to admire any of it, as he was still digesting what Ouyang had just said.

“There are clues I want in the library, I definitely need to go.”

“It’s very dangerous there, I need to be well prepared before going.”

“No, I need to go home first, then head over after six.”

As Zhang Wenda spoke, his gaze shifted to Song Jianguo, who wore a sour expression.

“Today’s money.”

Song Jianguo handed over some bills and coins with her calloused hands.

“Three yuan and sixty cents? That’s it? Didn’t you work hard today?” Zhang Wenda asked in surprise.

Hearing this, a flame rose in Song Jianguo’s heart.

Through gritted teeth, she said, “Mice are animals! Living creatures! They know danger, they run! They hide! So many cats went out yesterday, mice and sparrows aren’t stupid!”

“Look at you getting upset again, I wasn’t blaming you.”

Zhang Wenda casually tossed his backpack over, letting her carry it for him.

“Don’t work tonight, come out with me.”

“I wasn’t planning on working tonight anyway!!”

Seeing the frustration nearly oozing out of her, Zhang Wenda dragged her toward the small eatery beside the school.

Soon, two bowls of fried rice, a bowl of braised meat, and a bowl of vegetable soup were served.

Song Jianguo was clearly starving, grabbing a bowl and wolfing down the food.

The cats weren’t hungry; they had eaten mice all day.

“Use your chopsticks, use your chopsticks! Put your feet down.” Zhang Wenda said tirelessly.

“Tonight, bring everything with you, including those trashy traps of yours.”

With her mouth stuffed, Song Jianguo gave him a glance and kept eating ravenously.

“Is that enough? Should we order more?” Zhang Wenda asked with concern.

This person was his main enforcer for the night, after all—they needed to be full to work well.

“Is it dangerous?”

“It’s not dangerous.”

“If it’s not dangerous, why don’t you just go yourself? Why bring me?” Song Jianguo seemed to see through Zhang Wenda’s thoughts.

“Hey, if you help me properly tonight, I’ll let you have one day off each week.”

Hearing this, Song Jianguo was tempted. “You said it.”

After returning to the treehouse with Song Jianguo and packing their things, Zhang Wenda timed it to return home at exactly six.

Once it was past six, he cautiously took a few steps outside with Song Jianguo.

After confirming there was no issue, he headed toward the school.

The pitch-black school looked a bit eerie.

Even though Zhang Wenda knew this concrete and steel school had no real issues, he still felt a bit uneasy.

“You go first.”

Zhang Wenda naturally said to Song Jianguo.

Carefully hiding behind her, he slowly walked forward while thinking about the library, the library.

As time passed, the moon rose high in the sky.

Just when Zhang Wenda began to doubt whether what Ouyang had said was true, a door slowly emerged on the smooth floor.

“Found it! Look, the library!”

Song Jianguo pointed at the plaque on the door with her sharp fingernails.

Zhang Wenda looked at her in surprise. “Wow, didn’t think you could read!”

Seeing Song Jianguo shaking with anger, Zhang Wenda reached out and patted her head. “Alright, enough messing around. Let’s get serious—we’re going in.”

Saying that, Zhang Wenda pulled out a flashlight, held it in his hand, then slowly squatted and cautiously pushed open the door on the ground.

With a creaking sound, a vast space full of books appeared upside-down before Zhang Wenda.

Zhang Wenda and Song Jianguo grabbed the rope formed by black cats and carefully descended.

As soon as Zhang Wenda entered the space, gravity flipped upside-down.

The door that had been on the floor became the ceiling.

Holding the cat rope, Zhang Wenda looked down at the entire space.

It was packed with bookshelves and cabinets, and even the ground was covered with paper figures—stretching out like a sea of books.

Faced with so many books, Zhang Wenda was momentarily overwhelmed—how was he supposed to search through all this?

“Hey! Are you coming down or not?” Song Jianguo urged from above.

When Zhang Wenda stepped onto the soft paper, he realized the ground held clear water up to his waist.

All the paper he had seen before was actually submerged.

“What is this place?” Song Jianguo stood in the water, angrily shaking her wet sleeves.

“Cut the chatter. Get all your cats to spread out. If there’s any danger, sound the alarm immediately.”

At Zhang Wenda’s command, the black cats stretched their necks and paddled their paws, swimming outward in all directions.

Seeing the bizarre scene in front of him, Zhang Wenda thought for a moment and decided to follow the method Ouyang had previously described to find the book he wanted.

“A book that explains the rules, a book that explains the rules…”

Zhang Wenda kept muttering as he continued walking forward, still hiding behind Song Jianguo.

They had been walking for about half an hour without anything happening, and Zhang Wenda started to grow anxious.

Just as he continued forward, his attention was suddenly caught by a book on the nearby shelf: “Analysis and Understanding of Advanced Special Abilities.”

Just as he was about to reach out, Ouyang’s earlier warning exploded in his mind.

“You’ll turn into an adult.”

Zhang Wenda broke into a cold sweat and immediately stepped back a few times.

What was wrong with him?

Why had he acted like he was under some kind of spell?

Still shaken, he looked around again.

The previously quiet library suddenly appeared to him as a place full of hostility.

This place definitely wasn’t as harmless as it looked on the surface.

Just as Zhang Wenda was hesitating about whether to continue searching, he saw a small cat leap from a nearby bookshelf toward Song Jianguo.

Song Jianguo caught the cat with one hand and meowed softly at it twice.

She turned to look at Zhang Wenda. “There’s an adult not far to the left.”

“An adult? Are you sure?” Zhang Wenda froze.

He remembered Ouyang had said that adults weren’t supposed to be able to enter this place.

How could there be an adult here?

Zhang Wenda thought it over, taking the rabbit as a hypothetical enemy and estimating the strength on both sides.

After ensuring they had an escape route, he cautiously moved closer.

Even if the so-called “adult” was a monster, at least it would be a monster they could communicate with.

Even if it tried to attack them, he wasn’t made of mud.

As they gradually approached, Zhang Wenda began to feel a subtle movement—like the faint tremors deep underground caused by a distant passing subway.

But when he carefully observed again, he couldn’t detect anything unusual.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head, trying to dispel the faint unease.

“Mouse, something doesn’t feel right,” Song Jianguo said, the fur on her ears standing straight up.

“Have your cats move to the front. We’ll go check it out. If anything’s off, we retreat immediately.”

Zhang Wenda gripped his flashlight tightly and continued in the direction.

Gradually, the tremor was no longer just an occasional, vague pulse.

It had become a deep, nearly imperceptible hum.

The water on the ground began to ripple with faint, nearly invisible concentric circles.

Zhang Wenda held his breath, his body nearly crawling over the water as he crept forward.

After ten long minutes, Zhang Wenda finally saw it through several bookshelves.

Dozens of meters away was a massive, writhing creature.

Each of its heavy breaths stirred the air like waves, generating that deep humming sound.

The moment Zhang Wenda saw the thing, he almost whispered at the lowest volume possible.

“Jianguo, pull your cats back. We need to leave—”

“That’s not an adult. That’s… an elder!”