Gossipy Books

The bookstore isn't big, but it has a lot of stuff.

The Rules say it's free, and it's an unmanned bookstore. But there's a cashier and a counter inside, and some bookshelves have signs advertising limited-time discounts.

The books here are in every language; it's impossible to tell which country this is.

The books were all crammed together. An Ying walked through the exam question section and passed the novel section, she suddenly heard a "thud".

He turned around and saw a book lying on the ground, struggling to prop itself up with its pages, waving them at An Ying.

An Ying immediately turned her head back, pretending not to see it.

This was just the beginning. From behind this book, another song came from the shelf not far away, a DJ version.

An Ying closed her eyes, calmed her breathing, and tried to make her face look more serene.

These strange occurrences are too bizarre.

Fortunately, he had experience in controlling his emotions, so he didn't break his composure. If he showed signs of seeing or hearing anything unusual about the books, he would have triggered the Rules.

An Ying picked up a book and opened it to look at it, but then she heard the rustling of several other books in her ears.

"Oh dear, have you heard? The little girl who came to borrow books the other day died!"

"How did he die? How did he die?"

"They're addicted to Heaven and can't get out."

"Oh dear, what a pity. The young man who lent me the money last time hasn't come for several days. He volunteered to be a 'Card Box' to pay off his debts and made a lot of money. I wonder if he's alive or dead now."

"How can someone survive being used as Card Box? Probably not."

"Look, isn't that kid listening to us?"

An Ying was startled and quickly pretended to frantically search for her books. Gossip can ruin everything!

It seems there aren't any left.

These books seem even more gossipy than I am!

[HHHH, lol, this bookstore is actually kind of funny to me.]

[A really crazy book, just like me right now, going crazy at work]

They gossip too, and they know quite a bit!

[These books are making me so nervous! Do they say anything useful?]

Ignore those two, they're obviously new here.

"I wonder how long these new recruits can last. Those kids from last time were all dealt with; it was pretty tragic."

"She's out of her mind, giving birth here, seeking revenge."

"There's nothing we can do about it. The customer is always right, even if..."

As he listened, An Ying suddenly felt a buzzing in his head, and the words on the book in front of him seemed to be rapidly distorting and jumping. He quickly shook his head and silently recited the Mind- Clear Mind Mantra in his mind.

I recited it more than ten times in a row before the sound in my ears gradually disappeared and my heavy, dizzy head began to slowly recover.

He opened his eyes, and the book in front of him had returned to normal. There were no talking books around him at all; it was as if nothing had ever happened.

An Ying breathed a sigh of relief; he had been listening so intently that he almost triggered the Rules.

It's a pity I didn't hear what those later books said. They knew a lot of information, and every sentence they uttered was crucial.

The addiction to Heaven —this addiction likely refers to gambling, but it's unclear whether it's a metaphor here; it could also be drugs. All of this is still undecided.

The key point was the "Card Box" mentioned in these books, which reminded him of the Playing Cards hidden in the strange body in his game. If it really was as he thought, then wouldn't these Card Boxes be exactly what he imagined...?

"An Ying, have you discovered anything?" Tao Yuan asked as she finished reading the newspapers beside her.

An Ying out of her reverie and shook her head. "I didn't see anything useful, but I heard some things."

Tao Yuan paused for a moment, then lowered his voice knowingly, "We've been delayed a bit. I just saw that most of the strange creatures have returned. Let's go."

"Good."

The two turned and walked towards the door. Just as they reached the Counter, a strange figure suddenly appeared in front of the Counter.

Reading time: 5 minutes, 100 points per person.

A dark, eerie hand reached out and blocked their path.

They all simultaneously recalled that Rules.

[Second: There is no owner in the bookstore; it's an unmanned bookstore. If someone asks you for money, don't give it to them.]

Rules is known to be contaminated, meaning it may be wrong, but we don't know which statement is wrong.

Should we give it to them, or not?

Tao Yuan blinked, a bright smile spreading across her face. "Oh, right, I forgot. Wait a minute."

"Honey, let the children go."

An Ying:...

With a stiff expression, he went to the door and untied the strange child.

Tao Yuan smiled and said to the person collecting the money, "I'm sorry, boss, we have a lot of kids in our family, and we were worried they would disturb you, so we left them at the door. Hope we didn't bother you?"

The man collecting the money gave the six children a strange look, then nodded sincerely. "It's not easy, but it's alright, we won't bother you."

If you're willing to speak up, there's hope.

Tao Yuan's hand slowed down as she reached for her money, and she said with a smile, "That's right, look, his dad's hair has turned white from working so hard for these kids."

An Ying:...

"Yes, it must have been tough. But looking at you..." He looked at Tao Yuan's pretty pink hair with a strange expression, full of suspicion.

"I'm anxious too!" Tao Yuan finally pulled out four Fama, but she wouldn't give them to the dog. She said excitedly, "Boss, you don't know, I can't even afford to keep them. Sigh, it's hard being a mother to them. I don't even want to go to Heaven."

An Ying, holding the six children's hands, followed along expressionlessly, adding to the charade, "If all else fails, I'll be the Card Box."

Although Tao Yuan didn't know what the Card Box he was talking about was, he knew it wasn't anything good, and a look of astonishment immediately appeared on his face.

"That won't do."

"I can't let you and the children suffer."

Tao Yuan said anxiously, "Boss, please help me persuade him!"

The man who collected the money added, "Don't do anything rash, that Card Box is gone and won't come back."

"Yeah, yeah, sigh, I can't talk about it anymore, it just makes me feel worse!" As she spoke, Tao Yuan covered her face as if she was about to have an emotional breakdown, and casually slammed the Fama on the Counter. The Fama spun around on the table a few times before rolling to the ground.

He paused for a moment, bewildered, before looking up to find the two men and six children already far away.

If the two of them were to look back now, they would see the bookstore behind them barely visible before it was quickly engulfed in flames.

The two rushed out of the bookstore, one of them carrying three children on his back, talking in hushed tones as they ran.

"What just happened?" An Ying asked.

"The first half of the second Rules is wrong," Tao Yuan said. "I called it 'boss' several times and it didn't argue. That place is owned. Normally, bookstores with owners charge for reading, but the Rules says that if someone asks for money, you shouldn't give it to them."

"The Rules weren't completely corrupted; the second half of the sentence is definitely the true Rules. But if I didn't pay, the boss would go crazy, so I threw the money on the ground and found a loophole."

An Ying understood. "Sister Tao is amazing."

Tao Yuan smiled and asked, "Where did that guy Sheng Qingqiao go?"

"Look at the light spot, it hasn't moved for a while, it's a few dozen meters away from us, I guess it's around here."

As soon as they finished speaking, the two saw three large, brightly lit characters in the distance.

Security Guard Room.