Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

Liu Xingmo was extremely disappointed. After searching carefully, he couldn't find any more information and was about to take another look at the illustration.

Unexpectedly, the illustration was also covered in ink marks, making the monster completely black and obscuring its original appearance.

That's strange. When I first opened it, it was perfectly clear...

Liu Xingmo broke out in a cold sweat. He put down his book and looked around.

The growth rings on the wooden wall spread out in circles of varying depths, like countless eyes, quietly watching the passersby.

Liu Xingmo took off running, leaving the deeper levels of the library and returning to the bustling main entrance.

He sat down on the curator's huge cushion, still shaken, and opened the book again. The pages were still blacked out, and the original contents were illegible.

Just then, Su Mali and Liu San Niang also came in.

"Xingmo, have you found the information?" Su Mali asked.

"I'd rather have seen nothing..." Liu Xingmo opened the book, showing the illustrated pages. "Look what this is!"

Sumali's gaze sharpened, then she seemed lost in thought, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

Liu San Niang also came over: "What the hell is this? I think I'm seeing things. I'm mistaking this blob of ink for yesterday's monster."

"Me too, I just saw that thing." Liu Xingmo gently patted his wife's hand. "Mary, how are you?"

"Me?" Sumari was unusually stunned, then said stiffly, "My eyesight is better; even with ink covering it, I can still see the original appearance of the drawing. Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't; it must be a matter of lighting and angle."

"Oh! I see." Liu Xingmo took a breath of the cold winter air. "What about the writing here? Can you read it?"

Sumali took a deep breath and carefully examined the contents of the thick ink marks:

"The Nian beast, ferocious and greedy, will emerge from the cracks of time to devour all living things. Only the weapon of will can drive this monster away."

"There are various types of Nian beasts, the most common being Yin and Yang. The Yin type resembles a fat rabbit with black fur and long claws. The Yang type... sorry, I can't see clearly from here."

Liu Xingmo reached out and rubbed his chin, thinking carefully.

A gap in time? Does it refer to the Lunar New Year? A weapon of will? Could it be firecrackers?

In short, this allows us to roughly confirm the accuracy of the book.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the Nian monster might not appear after the first month of the lunar calendar. As long as there are firecrackers, this monster can be driven away.

Liu Xingmo breathed a sigh of relief.

If we proceed with caution, we can ensure our safety. In all these years, we haven't heard of any place experiencing any Nian beast disasters.

Panicking won't help; just keep doing what you need to do.

The library was bustling with people.

People kept borrowing and returning books, and asking the librarian for information about the books.

Liu Xingmo returned to his work and answered the questions one by one.

During his eight years working there, he read through the summaries of every book and even read some of the most important ones.

He managed the entire library with ease. To put it bluntly, he was the one who came up with the methods for classifying and managing these books.

Bored while waiting, Su Mali took a book from the bookshelf and went to the reading area to read quietly.

Liu San Niang then sat down directly next to Su Mali: "What's written in the book? Read it to me, will you?"

"You don't understand," Su Mali said coldly, continuing to quickly turn the pages of her book.

Liu San Niang covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled softly, "Hehehe, you hypocrite! You're not looking at something shady, are you?"

Sumali raised her eyelids slightly: "What do you mean? A detailed description of human organs? Or the specific methods of human pairing?"

Liu Sanniang shrank her neck: "What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't you ashamed! How could such a thing be in a book?"

"You haven't seen enough. Much more exciting content is common," Su Mali said, before immersing herself back in her book.

Helpless, Liu San Niang took a book with many pictures from the bookshelf and went to the front desk: "Hey! I'd like to look at this book."

"Then go ahead and watch," Liu Xingmo said without looking up.

"Please read it for me~ I'm not as learned as you," Liu San Niang said sweetly.

"I'm busy." Liu Xingmo continued to immerse himself in his book.

The book "The Compendium of Strange Beasts" describes many strange and unusual things. Many of them are things I've never heard of before.

I used to think that the world only contained common insects, fish, birds, and beasts, as well as less common dinosaurs. As for exotic beasts, they were nothing more than transformed wild animals.

I never imagined that real, fantastical creatures existed, but they are so rare that most people can hardly see them.

However, much of the content in this book is a collection of rumors and legends from various places, making it difficult to determine their authenticity.

In short, there's no harm in reading it.

……

Time passed slowly, and the library was both quiet and bustling.

"Hey, I'm here to return the book!" a childish female voice rang out.

Liu Xingmo looked up and saw a blonde, blue-eyed girl dressed in a black and white dress, holding a thick book in her arms, "The Secret History of the Magpie Dynasty".

"Sister Setia, what kind of nonsense are you looking at?"

"Appreciation of Traditional Culture in the Central Plains Region"

"Bullshit! Do you think I don't know what's written in there? Sexual relations are one thing, but what the hell is this about an emperor and a eunuch being paired up?"

"Oh, you know a lot!"

"What do you know? Put this disgusting thing down and you can leave."

"Hmph! Utterly tasteless."

At this moment, Liu Xingmo suddenly remembered something and spread out the section about the Nian beast in the "Compendium of Strange Beasts": "By the way, look, what does it say here?"

"Are you kidding me? It's just a blob of ink, how am I supposed to see that!"

"It's fine if your eyesight is bad."

At this moment, Su Mali noticed the situation and put down her book to come over.

Setia exclaimed in surprise, "Mary, you're here too!"

"Miss Setia, I have some questions for you." Sumari pulled a rolled-up handkerchief from her bosom, unfolded it, and a strand of black hair lay on the cloth. "Take a look at this."

Setia's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints, and she murmured in a daze, "This feeling! How is this possible..."

Liu Xingmo looked up: "What did you find?"

"This eerie feeling is like werewolf fur." ​​Setia's golden eyebrows furrowed tightly.

"You're getting more and more ridiculous. You should just shut up." Liu Xingmo curled his lip in disdain.

"Miss Setia, tell me everything you know, this is very important." Sumali bent down and held the blonde, blue-eyed girl with both hands.

Setia closed her eyes and said slowly, "I don't know much about werewolves either. Mary, you must have heard the saying that there are no werewolves in this world. Even for us nobility of the night."

Sumali nodded.

Liu Xingmo was even more puzzled and asked, "What? There are no werewolves in this world? Explain this to me properly."