You said you would tell fortunes, so you can catch ghosts and exterminate zombies easily?

Su Chen followed the sound.

Between the rows of bookshelves, I suddenly saw a gray shadow desperately pulling out a book.

She muttered to herself as she strained.

"The more books you take, the better. It's okay if you don't understand them. You'll understand them when you're reborn."

"This one is a bit heavy, change it, this one is thin..."

"Why do you clamp the books so tightly? Can't you just stack them one by one? It's embarrassing for an old woman like me!"

……

As he got closer, Su Chen could see clearly.

She was an old lady in her seventies or eighties, naturally she was already dead, she was wearing a funeral shroud, her face was gray and her hair was silver.

"Huh, I finally pulled it out. I'll give it to Qiao'er."

The gray shadow floated towards the door and skillfully stuffed the book under the crack of the door.

"Why buy so many locks? You locked all the windows. What a lunatic! Now the books have no choice but to come here."

"It's a bit thick, how about tearing it apart?"

"I can't seem to tear it apart... I'd better keep stuffing it in."

Su Chen: "..."

Looking at the old lady's clumsy movements, he shook his head helplessly.

She is a nagging old lady.

Not too smart, not too clever.

If a thief like this wasn't a soul, he would have been caught eight or ten times already.

But...who is Qiao'er to her?

Did you steal the book for her to read?

With doubts, Su Chen did not disturb the old lady.

The old lady took a long time to pull the book out from the crack of the door, and then she staggered out with the book in her hands. As soon as she left the library, she bumped into a drunk.

The drunk staggered with an empty bottle in his hand. He tilted his head back and poured the wine into his mouth. When he looked down, he saw a book floating in the air.

He was stunned for a moment and tilted his head.

Just as Su Chen was about to step forward to block his view, he heard the drunkard chuckle: "Hallucination, it must be an illusion."

"I'm not drunk. Even if it's an illusion, I'm not drunk!"

The old lady said "What a sin", holding the book, she walked a few steps away from the drunkard, but she couldn't help but look back.

"Drinking every day will kill you sooner or later."

"No, it's better to die tonight!"

Su Chen: “!!!”

"Poor Qiao'er, you haven't met any kind-hearted people. If I were rich, I would definitely send Qiao'er to school to learn how to read and write. Once she becomes a university student, she'll have a stable job, no longer have to make matchboxes, and won't be harassed by drunkards in the middle of the night. Qiao'er will be able to marry a good man..."

So this old lady really stole the book and brought it back for Qiaoer to read?

But Qiaoer has never read the book. Can she understand these?

Just like that, listening to the old lady muttering all the way, Su Chen followed the old lady to an alley behind the library.

That was a storage room expanded from the alley corridor.

The door was crooked and had a big gap.

The old lady skillfully stuffed the book into the gap and took it through the door. Su Chen hesitated for a moment and did not go in, but looked inside through the gap.

There was indeed a simple small bed in the utility room. The bed board was made of several wooden strips, covered with a broken mat, and on top of that was spliced ​​cardboard. On the cardboard, a girl of fifteen or sixteen was curled up.

The girl was wrapped in a tattered quilt, with an old cotton coat on top, and a quilt made of a mess of old clothes on top of that.

The old lady placed the book next to the girl's pillow, reached out to touch it, and soon began to mutter again.

"You can't touch it. You can't touch Qiao'er."

"If you touch Qiao'er, you will get sick. If you get sick, you can't work and you won't have money to buy food."

"Poor Qiao'er!"

The old lady muttered as she stepped back towards the door and became happy again.

"Qiao'er, can grandma come to your dream?"

Falling asleep?

Su Chen raised his eyebrows and saw a small wisp of gray gas coming out of the old woman's body and entering Qiao'er's head. The girl in her sleep muttered and turned over.

"This kid is kicking the quilt again!"

The old lady said something and stopped moving.

Su Chen knew that she must have fallen asleep, so he simply glanced around the storage room.

Soon his brow furrowed.

If all the books were stolen by the old lady for Qiao'er to read, they should all be here. How come... there isn't a single one?

strange!

Su Chen was afraid that he didn't see it clearly, so he took advantage of the old lady's sleep and went into the storage room. He searched inside and out, but still couldn't find it.

Could it be that Qiaoer took him somewhere else to see it?

It is possible.

After all, the old lady just said that Qiaoer needs to make money, so maybe she can be taken to a job. She has no education, so maybe there is someone there who can teach her?

Su Chen returned to the outside of the grocery room.

After about ten minutes, the old lady started to move.

"Qiao'er is awake?"

Su Chen: “???”

Sure enough, the girl on the bed wiped her eyes dazedly and sat up. When she saw the book beside the pillow, she was stunned and her eyes turned red instantly.

"Grandma~ woo woo woo~"

The old lady hurriedly comforted her: "Don't cry, Qiao'er, don't cry, grandma is here, grandma is here..."

She wanted to go up and wipe the girl's tears, but took two steps and then stepped back, stamping her feet anxiously.

"Qiao'er, don't cry. Crying brings bad luck."

"If you have runny nose and tears, you'll catch a cold."

"Don't cry, why aren't you listening~"

……

The girl sobbed for a while, picked up the book, put it close to her face, closed her eyes to feel it, and quickly put it down in disappointment.

She got out of bed and put on the old cotton coat.

The cotton coat is too big for her figure.

The patches on the cotton coat were also crooked.

The girl wrapped herself tightly in her cotton coat, stuffed the book into her arms, opened the door of the old cabinet at the door, and took out a box...

matches?

Su Chen looked at the girl in confusion as she opened the door.

He stepped away and watched the girl walk to the end of the alley.

The old lady was following her about two meters behind.

Still couldn't stop mumbling.

"Qiao'er, what are you doing out here on such a cold night?"

"Don't go out at night anymore. There are a lot of drunks out there."

"Kid, are you thinking of making more matchboxes again? Hey~"

……

The girl stopped.

The old lady's mumbling also stopped.

Su Chen looked carefully and found that there was a tower of words in front of the girl.

The so-called "Word Preservation Tower" is a place used to burn items with writing on them.

The ancients believed that words were very sacred, and anything with words on it could not be desecrated casually. Even if it was useless, it had to be burned sincerely, which led to the creation of the Word Preserving Tower.

This custom has been passed down from generation to generation, and no one knows when it started, but the custom of burning items with writing on them in the Pagoda of Preserving Words has been around. This will not only allow one to be able to read and write in the next life, but also bring endless blessings and fortune.

Therefore, not only are there many towers for preserving words in Cuicheng City, there is also one at the end of Niuwei Village.

After a brief moment of doubt, Su Chen recalled the old lady's words and said, "!!!"

Case solved!

Seeing the girl take out a match, strike it, and light it, and was about to put it under the book, Su Chen strode over and snatched the book away.

The old lady exclaimed: "Hey, another drunkard! I'm going to scratch you to death!"

She wanted to pounce and grab Su Chen, but was stopped by Su Chen with a power net.

The old lady was stunned and looked at Su Chen in disbelief.

"You, you're not a drunk?"

The girl was also surprised.

He subconsciously retreated to the wall, ran two steps forward, and found that Su Chen did not catch up with him. Then he stopped and turned around, looking at him vigilantly.

"you you……"

Su Chen shook the book in his hand.

"Your grandmother stole this book from the library."

The girl was stunned: "No, my grandma wouldn't steal anything."

The old lady also reacted now.

She was annoyed: "Nonsense!"

Su Chen: “???”

"I saw you sneak out of the library and follow me here."

The old woman insisted, "Everyone in the library knows that stealing books doesn't count as stealing!"