Chapter 259: Getting the First Target Book!
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Lin Sanjiu could not remember the exact sequence of what happened next.
"We only have 5 seconds left, let's retreat!" Reno yelled. Meanwhile, she grabbed the book and sped toward the books section. At the same time, Siri's monotonous voice announced, "Progress report: two books have been found". Suddenly, there was a shout from the west wing. This was quickly followed by a bright flash behind her...
Everything happened at the same time around her. Lin Sanjiu found herself overloaded by a whirl of information.
Her mind came to a blank. She couldn't even hear the noise around her clearly, as if she was underwater and the sounds were far away. She saw Reno and Rena's back and the tall bookshelves just in front of her.
Suddenly, a loud explosion broke through Lin Sanjiu's zoned-out state, piercing right through to her higher consciousness. This time, the attack was different. It scrapped past her heel and hit the ground. The floor tiles, tables, and chairs were instantly pulverized. Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth and flew up, finally dashing into the walkway between two bookshelves.
The attacks outside stopped abruptly.
Lin Sanjiu could hear the siblings' labored breaths. Lin Sanjiu looked at them and realized that there was a long gash on Reno's arm. It was so deep that she could see his flesh and half his body was covered with blood. However, the teenager seemed to be ignoring his pain. Even though he had a wincing expression due to his wound, he sounded very excited, "Did you grab it? Which book is it?"
Lin Sanjiu slid to the ground as she leaned against a bookshelf. She smacked the "A Girl's Sorrow" book on the ground. She couldn't help let out a long sigh of relief in her mind. When the two kids saw the cover of the book, they immediately made many "Oohs and Aahs".
It sure wasn't easy to get their hands on this one book!
However, they still couldn't let their guard down.
After resting for five to six seconds, Lin Sanjiu was the first to leap up.
"That last attack scrapped past my heel…" She looked down at the kids. "The west wing was right behind me. Their attacks can't hit at that angle. Did you see where the attack originated from?"
Rena was looking for a few medical books on emergency treatment for her brother. When she heard Lin Sanjiu, she stopped and tried to remember what had happened. She held on to a book and replied a little hesitatingly, "At that time, the situation was very tense. It was too chaotic so I didn't notice… But, judging from that angle, it should be from the east wing or the south wing, I guess?"
The east wing and south wing relatively far from the multimedia section. Yet, there was a large book section between the north wing and the multimedia section so they could eliminate the North wing first.
"It came from the south wing," Reno replied, still panting. He took a few books from his sister. They had titles like "First aid for External Wounds", "Recovery and Treatment", etc.
"I got this wound from the people in the south wing. When the team from the west wing discovered us, the one in the south also started attacking us."
Rena's face turned white with anger, "Are they taking advantage of us just because of our position? Everyone just attacked us randomly! We can't take this lying down!"
Lin Sanjiu wasn't worried about that. She contemplated for a moment. Before she could say something, a cold woman's voice suddenly interrupted her:
"You, missus from the central hall, did you guys find a target book just a minute ago?"
The person who spoke was the woman from the south wing. It was actually very difficult for Lin Sanjiu's team to deny this.
From the other teams' perspectives, they had left the books section unexpectedly. Braving significant risks, they hid themselves in the multimedia section using some sort of method. Next, when they ran back to the books section, Siri suddenly made an announcement. Everyone around them wasn't stupid enough to believe them even if they denied that they found that book.
Just when Lin Sanjiu was nervously trying to think of the best way to word her answer, Silvan suddenly spoke with his low, nice-sounding voice. However, his words were not as pleasing.
"I think we can discuss about the two books that were found later. Instead, right now, I hope that you can give us a clue about how we can find the other target books… After all, you wouldn't want to be enemies with all four wings." His spoke with a calm demeanor and it did not sound like a threat at all. Though he sounded very sincere, Lin Sanjiu really wanted to curse him!
With Silvan's words enforcing everyone's impression of them, it seemed as though their team had found two books!
Lin Sanjiu figured that Silvan probably was aware that they had discovered his secret when he saw them running from the multimedia section. In order to hinder and get rid of his competition, the first step he took was to just set them up as a target for everyone else.
"You sure act fast," Lin Sanjiu cursed softly. Despite how disgruntled she felt, she had to admit that she had to applaud Silvan's quick thinking. She could feel the siblings looking at her; they seemed at a loss as to what to do. Lin Sanjiu weighed their options in her mind quickly and felt that they did not have much choice. She clenched her teeth and spoke out loudly.
"Honestly speaking, we don't mind sharing the clue we have." When she said that, the kids were shocked. "We actually found this book by chance."
She stressed the word "this book", hoping that someone would understand what she meant.
"There are so many bookshelves and over a hundred thousand books. We just had a massive headache after searching for such a long time. Thus, we decided to search around the areas without books first, trying to eliminate those areas before finally searching the bookshelves again. Lo and behold, we actually found a target book." Lin Sanjiu tried to make her words sound as truthful and sincere as possible, "We only know that much."
The people around them might not necessarily believe her words. In any case, admitting that they found a target book in a non-book section was more than sufficient!
When the library erupted into a flurry of murmurs, Rena couldn't help tugging Lin Sanjiu's sleeve, "Why did you admit that we found a book?" the girl was a little anxious, "You even told them so much!"
"We don't have any other choice," Lin Sanjiu sighed softly. "If I don't say that, the other teams would think that we are holding some important clue. By then, with Silvan fanning the flames, we will have to deal with enemies attacking us non-stop. If I give them a clue now, we will have a chance to prepare ourselves while they try to find the other books."
Reno's wound had stopped bleeding after he used the healing effect of a book. When he heard Lin Sanjiu's explanation, he quickly asked, "Prepare ourselves? What are we going to do next?"
Lin Sanjiu did not answer him, she stared at Siri's work desk which was some distance from them.
"I have an idea…"
The light from the rising sun poured through the window clearly illuminating the muscles at the back of Lin Sanjiu's neck. Rena suddenly noticed a honey-colored piece of skin at the back of Lin Sanjiu's ear.
" Huh! " Rena exclaimed in her mind.
She saw Lin Sanjiu suddenly reaching to touch the small patch of skin before laughing softly. "I think we made the right decision to choose the central hall," Lin Sanjiu said.