A comic book, but a librarian

Uesugi Cheng put the old book in his hand, which looked a bit old, on the table. It took some effort to pan for gold in the sand and extract blood from the water, but the integration of this historic campus now revealed part of its true face to him, buried in those old versions of school history books that should no longer exist in the world.

"Ah, I have to sigh, Uesugi Cheng, maybe you are born to attract events, but I think you also know that even if those things are true, for high school students, it is almost like facing a terrifying existence with no chance of survival. Although I can't see it, although I don't want to believe it, but when death is in front of me..."

The old principal closed his eyes and thought. It seemed that he also had many stories. However, Uesugi Cheng was not interested in these stories. It was obvious that the principal was the kind of person who could not see spirits, but his expression now explained a lot.

"I understand, but this is still too dangerous. Isn't there a more official force?"

“Have you ever encountered official power?”

The old principal was speechless. He seemed to have suddenly aged a little, and his breathing was no longer so steady.

"I can't let my students be in such danger..."

Uesugi Cheng thought that the old principal wanted to refuse, so he began to think about what to do next.

"So, Uesugi-san, if possible, please let me see why you are so confident in helping Yotsuya-san. As long as you can prove it, I, Murakami Seiichiro, am willing to provide you with assistance!"

The old man looked at Uesugi Sumire with sharp eyes, expecting Uesugi Sumire to give him the answer he wanted.

Uesugi Sumiko breathed a sigh of relief after coming out of the principal's office. The relationship between the concealed events in the school history and the principal was just his guess. The conversation with the principal was not only to reduce the school's resistance in this incident, but also out of his own selfish motives.

[Murakami Seiichiro's assistance]: Scholar, educator, witness of tragedy, he may still be regretting. (2 lights 2 winter 2 dome)

This was the first assistant with the dome-like aspect that Uesugi Cheng had ever seen. He had once again made the right choice. The top floor of the Colorful Tower was now about to open to him again, including the books sleeping inside.

"Hey, bro, I'm going out, so I might not be able to contact you these few days."

Uesugi Sumiko returned to his room and packed up the canvases and painting tools. The worst outcome for him was to escape to the Silent Bookstore in the waking world, but the necessary notifications still had to be made.

"Where to go?"

"To solve something that shouldn't have happened... maybe I'm asking for trouble..."

"It's okay, just do it, you used to do it this way."

Uesugi Cheng was speechless in the face of Uesugi Nobuyuki's casual words.

"No objection at all."

"What's there to refute?" If it wasn't like that, how could your sister and I trust you so much...

Uesugi Nobuyuki smiled self-deprecatingly and did not say the second half of the sentence. However, he would always remember the little figure that stood between him and his father that day.

"Things That Don't Bark": Alexander Probst mentions the "Root Crown" cautiously in this book - a law, principle or organization used to prevent the spread of dangerous knowledge.

Uesugi Cheng was holding the book in his hand. He knew more about the existence of the Root Crown than the author of this book. They were a group of gods existing in another world, commonly known as the Sichen. The Root Crown was composed of three Sichen, and they hoped to cut off the spread of knowledge in order to maintain their rule. After a long battle with their opponents, they reached an agreement called the Night Watchman Tree. Most of the dangerous knowledge would be preserved and disseminated in the nine libraries that had signed a contract with the Night Watchman Tree, and Silent Books happened to be one of them.

What was even more coincidental was that Silent Bookstore had suffered a fire before he arrived, at least that was what he heard, so he was the only person with power in the entire bookstore. In other words, Silent Bookstore, one of the nine major libraries, was a place where he had the final say.

"Although this person's understanding and guess about the root crown are a bit biased, his understanding of the pardon is quite thorough."

[Lv1 Absolution of Non-Invasion]: The commandment of concealment and dissolution; ensuring its absolute execution is the nature of the Root Crown. (2 hearts, 1 month)

Uesugi Cheng put down the book tiredly. Although the Root Crown and the Night Watchman Tree were incompatible, their power was used equally by Uesugi Cheng. Just like the Threshold Pardon, the Non-Invasion Pardon represented his understanding and application of another rule.

"I hope this ability can help me in the future." Uesugi Cheng put down the book. He was now lying in a room called Regensburg on the top of the colorful tower. This room once belonged to a doctor named Natan, but now it has become Uesugi Cheng's temporary residence.

The next day, Yotsuya Miko, wearing casual clothes that were convenient for appearance and carrying a large bag, met Uesugi Sumire at the train station.

"What do your family members say?"

"I told them that I would stay at a friend's house for two days to study for the upcoming exams... Although my mother seemed a little confused, I managed to fool her."

"Okay, let's go, hopefully we can find the source and resolve the matter."

The two of them got on the tram and watched the bustling city gradually move away from them. The time on the tram was long and boring. Yotsuya Miko could only look at the scenery outside the window to distract herself. She was still haunted by nightmares last night, but it seemed to be the power of the glass of water, or maybe it was her psychological effect, this time she did not see that scary eyeball again.

"You're here... You're here!!!!" The voice was distorted due to excitement

Yotsuya Miko opened her eyes and was shocked to find herself standing at the intersection of the small town. The creepy voice was still ringing in her ears. What made her even more uneasy was that Uesugi Sumiko was nowhere to be found at the moment. When she looked up at the sky, the setting sun seemed to be giving her a final warning to stay away from the dark night of this desolate town. Humans were not the only ones who appeared in the town at night.

Chapter 25: The Unwelcome Visitor

Uesugi Sumire sat in the empty carriage, looking out the window at the dusk and sighing. The power of the mountain god was indeed very strong, so much so that it temporarily confused him and Yotsuya Miko and lured Yotsuya Miko to where it wanted her to go. However, he was not unprepared. Yotsuya Miko had several pardons on her body that he had just drawn with the ashes left after the evil spirits were dispelled. The defense line formed by the Threshold Pardon and the Inviolability Pardon should be enough to help Yotsuya Miko resist and confuse most of the evil spirits.

"Come to think of it, you are really lucky. This is the last bus to town. If it is any later, you will have to stay in the city for one night."

The elderly driver did not look that old. He held the steering wheel and seemed to be unaware of the abnormality of this place. He just drove the car to its destination silently.

"That town..."

"Oh, it used to be very prosperous, with a dedicated commercial district. But now people are moving to big cities, and even the commercial streets have to be demolished and renovated. But compared to the town next door, this place is actually pretty good."

"next door......?"

"Sorry, sorry, just think of it as an old man who wants to find someone to chat with. The town is called next door, but it's actually just separated by a bridge... It's not peaceful over there, and many places have been abandoned."

"Is that so? Is there anything strange happening in this town recently?"

"......." After hearing this, the driver fell silent, as if he was observing Uesugi Cheng's expression through the mirror. He sighed helplessly.

"Young man, if you are here to visit relatives or travel, the only advice I can give you is to never go out at night. No matter what happens, just stay inside the house."

After saying that, the driver fell silent. Uesugi Cheng could see that he was no longer willing to say anything more, so he could only remain silent. Only the old bus was making noise while driving.

"As long as we pass this tunnel, we will be..."

The sound suddenly stopped as if a movie was paused. When Uesugi Cheng opened his eyes again, he was standing outside the tunnel. The pitch-black tunnel seemed to swallow up everyone who walked in. Uesugi Cheng sighed.

"Are you really that unwelcome to me? Isn't it a bit too much to not even let me in the door?"

There was still no light in the empty tunnel. What was very abnormal was that in the wilderness in the evening in midsummer, no animal sounds could be heard. Only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees reminded Uesugi Cheng that this was still the wilderness.

"But even if you don't welcome me in, I still have to find out what's going on today. A bad guest is still a guest, right?"

Uesugi Cheng stepped into the pitch-black tunnel, lit up his mind, and took in the entire dark tunnel.

-----------------

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous... It's okay. There is actually a normal signal. That's great."

Yotsuya Miko touched her cell phone. It was too dangerous to stand in the middle of the intersection. Although she didn't see any suspicious signs, her sudden appearance here already meant a big problem. So Yotsuya Miko immediately took out her cell phone and tried to contact Uesugi Sumire. Then she was surprised to find that Uesugi Sumire was not in the service area.

"Calm down, calm down. Cheng said that even if we can't contact him, the things he left for me are enough to stop those guys... The most urgent thing is to find a place to stay. It's great that the bag is still there."

Yotsuya Miko touched the big bag on her back with relief. She had just opened it and taken a look, and the things inside were all intact and in the places where they should be. She decided to find a hotel or restaurant in this small town. As long as she could find a place to stay or fill her stomach first, she could think more calmly about what to do next.

But something that made her feel uneasy still happened. Although the town looked big, it seemed particularly desolate. It was still dusk, and there were no pedestrians on the street. Not even a single store was open. Only the lit street lights and vending machines on the roadside reminded her that she was still in an area populated by people.

"Tsk, this is really scary...even the stores are closed? When did Japan have a town like this? Even in the village there would be a few convenience stores open at night, right?"

Yotsuya Miko took out a power bank and connected it to her cell phone. She was no longer brave enough to use the precious power of her cell phone. She walked for about half an hour and went around the town. Apart from the creepy missing and accident reminders on the boards, she didn't see anything valuable. However, there seemed to be quite a few ten-yuan coins on the ground. She wondered if they were deliberately abandoned on the roadside.

“Ka-ka-ka-ka…”

At the moment when the sun completely set, Yotsuya Miko thought she heard a very ominous sound. She turned her head and saw a dark evil spirit that looked like a matchstick man walking towards her crookedly. However, what she didn't expect was that after her eyes met the evil spirit's body that seemed to be emitting black smoke, it actually stopped moving straight, as if it was playing a game of "statue" with her.

"Ah, I knew it wasn't that simple."

Yotsuya Miko was not afraid. She picked up her bag and started jogging. Fortunately, Uesugi Sumiko reminded her that she not only brought two extra sets of clothes when she went out, but also that they were all suitable for sports. At least now she didn't feel any discomfort when running.

When Yotsuya Miko raised her head again, she found that she had run into the residential area, and right in front of her, the lights of a house were on. In this uneasy and dead darkness, there was a house with the lights still on.

"What is this, a candy house?"

Yotsuya Miko curled up the corner of her mouth and looked at the mobile phone in her hand. The map showed that she seemed to be in the southern direction of the entire town, a bit far away from the only tunnel leading into the town.

"..."

Yotsuya Miko raised her head and saw a cute little blonde girl poking her head out from the bushes not far away and looking at her. When their eyes met, the little girl immediately ran out of the bushes like a frightened rabbit.

"Wait! Little friend! I want to ask you something!"

The little blonde girl, who was almost in elementary school, was naturally no match for Yotsuya Miko in terms of physical strength and was quickly stopped.

"My sister said that we can't talk to strangers."

The little blonde girl with a red headband just looked at Yotsuya Miko and didn't want to talk to her.

"Did your sister tell you... that you shouldn't go out at night?"

Chapter 26 The Eve

"In that case, you are going to look for the sister who helped you find your dog but hasn't come back yet?" Yotsuya Miko looked around the small room. The bunk beds were covered with very warm pink sheets. The whole room looked like a pair of sisters' room. But what surprised her was that the girl who brought her back was still unwilling to reveal her and her sister's names, but was willing to bring Yotsuya Miko to her home.

The little blonde girl nodded, the red bow on her hairpin swaying with her movements. She even mentioned that the missing dog was called 'Paul', but no matter how Yotsuya Miko tried to ask, she couldn't get her name, so she had to use "little sister" instead of her name.

"Little sister, you should be able to see it, right? Those things..."

Hearing what Yotsuya Miko said, the little girl seemed a little panicked, but still nodded. She was silent for a while and then spoke.

"It's very dangerous. Don't touch them."

"Then your sister..."

"Nothing will happen to my sister!! So I'm going to go out and look for her now. If my sister wants to find a place to rest, my house will be fine!"

The little girl suddenly became excited. Yotsuya Miko was stunned for a moment and glanced at the battery level of her cell phone.

"No, it's too dangerous. You... forget it, I'll go with you."

Yotsuya Miko sighed. Shouldn't she be here to solve the problem that the mountain god was targeting? Why did she choose to accompany a little girl to find her sister on such a dangerous night? What about her parents? Countless questions still lingered in Yotsuya Miko's mind, but she knew one thing. The spirits here were completely different from those in the city. They didn't care whether humans could see them, or they seemed to attack all humans outside indiscriminately, as if they were born with malice towards humans.

"Thank you, big sister..." The little girl raised her head and thanked her sincerely. Yotsuya Miko just sighed and hoped that she could protect the child at night in this small town full of evil spirits.

-------------

"In the end, I didn't see anything. There was no ambush, no persuasion, they just made me walk through a dark tunnel. I thought some small truck that violated the rules and didn't turn on the night lights would hit me."

Uesugi Cheng sighed in disappointment. He didn't understand what attitude the mountain god had towards his arrival. Did he go to so much trouble to kick him off the car just to make him walk a few more steps to waste his energy?

"But the fact that my cell phone has no signal really disgusts me."

Uesugi Cheng sighed as he looked at his phone which had finally restored signal. Then he looked up and saw a pool of blood on the ground.

"What is this? Isn't it too late to show your power to me now?"

Uesugi Sumire turned around as if he suddenly sensed something. The dark tunnel seemed to reveal its true appearance at this moment, which was completely different from the feeling he had just walked through. A foul odor filled the air, and along with it there seemed to be some scent that only the dead could emit.

"Tsk, this is difficult."

Calls kept popping up on Uesugi Sumiko's phone. It seemed that during this period when he could not be contacted, Yotsuya Miko used the chat bar between him and herself as a place to record information. The last valuable message was from ten minutes ago.

"We found her sister in the park, but she asked us to hide... Cheng-san, hiding in the bushes actually worked when facing those monsters..."

Then there was a burst of garbled text, as if the send button had been pressed in a panic. Uesugi Cheng replied to her several messages, but they all showed as unreplied.

"The phone's location... is moving?! She just said she was in the park and now it's suddenly moving? And she's not replying to me?"

Uesugi Sumire looked at the positioning software on his mobile phone. After obtaining the consent of Yotsuya Miko, they installed locators and monitoring software on each other's mobile phones, so that no matter which party lost contact, the other party could respond immediately.

"Forget it, let's find him first."

Several dark humanoid evil spirits came over, and then slowly stopped moving amid Uesugi Cheng's soft humming.

[Music and Remembrance LV1]: Talk to the dead; bother the living; praise both. (2nd Winter January)

The emotions of these spirits were unstable, and they attacked humans indiscriminately as if they were instilled with malice. However, under Uesugi Cheng's gentle humming and guidance, they soon decided to help Uesugi Cheng.

"That black-haired girl was taken away by Ye Hui?"

Yamaki is a legendary monster in Japan that will take away children who walk alone at night, but the reason is unknown. It seems that Yotsuya Miko was put into its bag. At least when the eyeless ghosts described it with their weak rationality, they probably said that she was put into the bag while screaming and struggling.

"Where will she be taken?"

When asked this question, those dark, eyeless undead spirits all expressed that they knew nothing at all and could only look at Uesugi Cheng in silence.

"Then please rest for a while."

The ancient song slowly guided these undead souls. Compared to those malicious spirits, these confused undead souls who followed the malicious actions instilled in them were easier to guide. Under the not-so-pleasant song, the figures of the undead souls gradually faded away.

"In that case, we still have to track down the location of the phone... Was it taken away so the phone is moving with it, or is the little girl she mentioned holding her phone?"

Uesugi Cheng touched his head helplessly. If he was smart enough, he might be able to think of more things, but it was obvious that he was not a smart person.

"Let's catch up first. That place seems to be... a field in the town? Running into a field with a cell phone? How bold of you to do that?"

Uesugi Cheng complained that the town late at night was almost full of strange things, from monsters to ghosts. Pale arms suddenly stretched out from the wall, and huge monster lice occupied the entire intersection. When they saw people, their eyes would turn into big mouths and bite their eyeballs. Uesugi Cheng killed several of the attacking eyeballs with the short knife in his hand. However, most of the ghosts did not seem to have deep hostility towards humans, but their existence itself would cause irreparable damage to humans.

"Hello!! Is anyone there? Can you hear me?"

Uesugi Sumire came to the vicinity of the field and started shouting. If the little girl could hear him, she would probably respond soon.

However, the one who responded to him first was a female ghost with disheveled hair rather than the little girl. She revealed an eye full of hatred, stared at Uesugi Cheng, and pounced towards him.