The Library of the Otherworld

Chapter 6: The Angel’s Betrayal

At that moment, the school library—which had once been filled with the scent of knowledge—was now suffused with an oppressive atmosphere. A sense of dread and death washed over her, and a thick, nauseating stench of blood hung in the air! The camera’s gaze pierced through layer upon layer of darkness. Upon spotting a door bearing a “Library” sign, it seemed to pass right through it as if seeing through solid matter. The bookshelves and books receding on either side appeared to signal the camera’s steady advance, until it finally came to rest on a young man crouched in the corner, intently reading a book. Ye Shenle sat in the corner holding a copy of *The Library of Lost Souls*, repeatedly reading through the entire book. Although it was labeled as a “complete book,” its actual content consisted only of an introduction, the author’s byline, and a list of characters. The more Ye Shenle read, the more deeply he furrowed his brow. Was the author, named “Wanghun,” just joking? At first, Ye Shenle hadn’t paid much attention, but the more he read, the more he felt this was a premeditated scheme: first using the name “Wanghun” to create a psychological suggestion, then employing some method to build upon that initial suggestion? But that didn’t seem right either. No matter how weak a person’s mental resolve might be, it’s impossible to go completely mad just from a psychological suggestion—at most, one might become paranoid. Chen Shu’s death clearly didn’t fall into that category. The strangest thing was that neither Xu Changpeng nor Lei Aotian made a sound when they died. It was almost certain that “the lights going out” was a signal the killer gave before committing the murder; the killer didn’t want anyone to know his true identity—or even his method! Could it be that Chen Shu really did see something before he died? But this library is completely sealed off. It’s neither very large nor very small. They had already conducted a thorough search of the entire library beforehand, so how could there possibly be anyone else here? Rather than illogical paranormal phenomena, Ye Shenle clearly leaned more toward the possibility of human involvement. If that were the case, given this “Blizzard Manor”-style sealed environment where only two people remained—and since he wasn’t the killer—the only other possibility was Wu Xiaoya! But given Wu Xiaoya’s mental state, she clearly didn’t fit the profile of a killer capable of such cruelty—unless she’d been putting on an act from the very beginning! But Wu Xiaoya had no grudge against them; in fact, they didn’t even know each other. Nor had anyone ever heard of her having a falling-out with anyone. So what could her motive be? Ye Shenle was still flipping through the book over and over again when, just then, someone suddenly began walking slowly toward him. Wu Xiaoya！ Sensing something, Ye Shenle looked up in confusion. He stared at Wu Xiaoya in surprise and said, “Huh? Xiaoya, what are you doing here?” “It’s just the two of us left here now. I’m a little scared, and the time until the killer strikes again is fast approaching.” Wu Xiaoya said, her face pale and filled with worry. Ye Shenle nodded as if he understood. The events of tonight had completely taken him by surprise; even his own heart was still racing, let alone someone as timid as Wu Xiaoya. As she spoke, Wu Xiaoya walked toward Ye Shenle with a blank expression. “You seem really brave. Most people in this situation would be lucky not to be scared out of their wits, but you’re actually thinking of ways to fight back against the killer.” Wu Xiaoya stepped out from behind the bookshelf, drawing closer and closer to the corner of the room. Ye Shenle didn’t think much of it, assuming she was just curious. He scratched his head and gave a nervous laugh. “Maybe I’ve read too many horror novels in the past.” Wu Xiaoya stopped suddenly less than a meter away from Ye Shenle. “So who do you think is most likely the killer?” “Well…” He lowered his head slightly to think it over. To put Wu Xiaoya’s mind at ease a little,he voiced his own suspicion: “At first, I thought Xu Changpeng was the killer. After all, a living person suddenly vanished, leaving only a pool of blood. And if he really were dead, why wouldn’t there have been a single sound? So I’m inclined to believe he deliberately spilled someone else’s blood on the floor—blood of unknown origin—and then hid himself. Only he would’ve had the chance to put the dagger and that talisman back in place while we were all away.” But after seeing Xu Changpeng’s actual body, I dismissed that suspicion. Then Lei Aotian died as well,so I had no choice but to direct all my suspicions toward Chen Shu. He was the one who deliberately provoked a conflict with Lei Aotian, and at the time, he was the only one with the opportunity to kill Lei Aotian. Yet I still harbored a vague doubt: judging by the killer’s method—who didn’t even let the victim utter a sound and could so easily shatter the trust between us with just a few daggers—which suggests the killer’s mental fortitude and behavior are those of a highly intelligent criminal. But then Chen Shu died as well, and I couldn’t help but doubt my own reasoning—that’s why I wanted to be alone for a while. After Ye Shenle finished speaking, Wu Xiaoya took two more steps forward. With her hands clasped behind her back, a flash of cold steel suddenly gleamed from inside her sleeve. She replied earnestly, “I see. I think your reasoning is excellent, but there’s one fatal flaw.” “What flaw?” Ye Shenle asked curiously after hearing this. Everything he’d just said was nothing more than his own subjective speculation; there were simply too many things he hadn’t considered. It was an utterly pitch-black place. In the silent darkness, the sound of pages being turned suddenly echoed. A man, his face indistinguishable in the darkness, sat in a chair, smiling as he leafed through a book. When he turned to a certain page, he suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. “Hahahaha, interesting, really interesting. This person named Wu Xiaoya is right up my alley. If someone threatens her safety, she’ll stop at nothing to eliminate them—just like me!” If there had been even the faintest glimmer of light at that moment, one would surely have seen that the man sitting in the darkness was holding a book with a dark green cover. The cover featured an image of a library, and in the center of the upper-left corner were the words “Library of the Dead” written in large characters. However, unlike the book Ye Shenle was holding, the back of this book wasn’t covered in blood-red “Death” characters; instead, like a normal novel, it was filled with continuous text. “Yao Cui, look how happily you’re smiling, hehe.” Another voice drifted from the other side of the darkness, though this one sounded distinctly lecherous. “What mischief are you up to now? “I just found a nice little toy. By the way, could you look up which library Wu Xiaoya belongs to? I’ve got some business to take care of…” “Wu Xiaoya, you…” Ye Shenle felt a sudden, stabbing pain in his abdomen. Just as he had curiously lifted his head, Wu Xiaoya had suddenly charged at him with a dagger. Now she was crouched in front of him, one hand holding a sharp dagger pressed against his abdomen, from which a crimson, viscous fluid was oozing. “Your biggest mistake was leaving me here. With only two of us, it’s easy to figure out who the killer is.” Wu Xiaoya coldly pulled out the dagger and took a few steps back. “You’re not the real Ye Shenle!” However, at that very moment, in a spot neither of them could see—near the entrance at the very front of the library—an utterly terrifying scene unfolded. The corpse of Xu Changpeng, who had been lying on the ground without a heart, suddenly sat up straight. Then, with a deathly pale face, he turned his head toward us and flashed an incredibly eerie smile!