On the third floor, amidst rows of bookshelves, there was a solitary lamp made of Sandalwood Gold Flame Energy.

Shi Chun, flipping through the book in his hand, felt deeply anxious, thus he read somewhat absentmindedly. The problem of how to safely escape from here was one he had to face over and over again.

That expert demon cultivator had escaped, could he be hiding nearby waiting for him? He couldn't gamble on that, nor did he dare to.

If the distance was slightly far, his right eye superpower couldn't clearly see the Demon Essence within a human body, plus with so many people around, it was difficult to make effective observations.

Moreover, Wu Shanshan had the Demon Eye, and that previous expert possessed it too. Could it be that only the two of them in the Demon Path had such abilities? Again, he didn't dare to gamble on that.

The previous ambushes against him were clearly premeditated, and who knows how many demon path's came around this time.

Wu Jinliang, after receiving the message, went outside the city to prepare for a response, but the problem was how he could leave the city. With such expert guards from the Demon Path stationed, trying to use the Earth Escape Technique to sneak out without being discovered was almost impossible. Again, he couldn't dare to gamble on it.

If not using the Earth Escape Technique, disguising himself and sneaking out in a box would both be difficult.

Under the threat of the Demon Eye, even getting out of this Book Collection Pavilion was a problem.

The Demon Path could organize such a lineup against him, clearly aiming to win at all costs. How could he not be extremely cautious?

It's a pity the City Guard was also after him; otherwise, he could have used them somewhat.

The method of escaping through the Netherworld, he hadn't had time to try yet, and now there was no condition to test it.

If he could persuade the scholarly gentleman downstairs to take him away, it would be a good way out, but he knew nothing about the other's identity or background, couldn't find a point of contact. Such an expert was not someone he could casually trouble; it could be more dangerous than the Demon Path. At least the Demon Path wouldn't be in a rush to kill him.

If all else fails, when it involves the Demon Path, he could only pass on a message to Xiang Laner, asking another faction of the Demon Path to rescue him.

Actually, he didn't want to use this method; once the other faction was deeply involved, he would be passive.

However, thinking over and over, at present, this seemed the safest approach.

He considered whether to have personnel from the Mingshan Sect near the Xun Gate send a message out through the Xun Gate, fearing the messenger being recognized was dangerous.

Then he considered whether to hire someone casually to deliver a message to Xiang Laner. At this moment, his right eye superpower spotted someone approaching the entrance of the stairs on the third floor. He immediately extinguished the Sandal Gold Flame Energy, plunging the scene back into darkness, with a dim light from outside filtering through the window.

This was the reason for his absent-minded reading, thinking of ways to escape while using his right eye superpower to observe the surroundings.

Familiar with the environment, he quickly and silently stepped into the darkness, hiding in a small dead corner at the top of a bookshelf, a spot occasionally used for storing odds and ends.

Through the right eye superpower's observation, he could see who was coming. In the library, there were only a few people, just one demon cultivator.

The Red-clothed Woman produced Sandal Gold Flame Energy for illumination, step by step climbing the third floor, holding the flame to wander between the rows of bookshelves, occasionally pausing to extract a book with a protruding spine to read.

No clue was found.

Until after flipping through several volumes, she gradually noticed something, finding that the books she pulled out seemed all related to the Netherworld.

Having extracted a few more books to confirm, she displayed some confusion in her expression, unable to understand or grasp it.

After putting the books back without further searching, she continued wandering among the third-floor shelves, holding the Sandal Gold Flame Energy, probing each row of shelves.

No idea what she was looking for, but her searching made Shi Chun feel quite uneasy.

With no other choice, his right eye superpower detected the Red-clothed Woman approaching him.

The problem was, she neither overshot nor turned away early. She turned into the narrow passageway that led directly to the hidden corner where he was, making it hard to change position or peep out, as he'd be discovered if he did.

Shi Chun could only hold his breath behind the corner, secretly hoping, don't come any closer, don't come any closer, as long as she didn't reach the end, she wouldn't see him.

Reason told him that late at night, nobody would venture to this corner. Stay calm, stay calm, it's going to be alright.

As the Red-clothed Woman approached the corner, she seemed unaware of an additional corner space at the end, holding the Sandal Gold Flame Energy to thoroughly search the bookshelf, muttering, "How could it go missing."

Shi Chun had no clue what she was looking for, but the near-discovery induced a nervous itch, making him ponder how to keep her quiet if discovered, or at least prevent her from shouting for help.

Triggering the whole family wouldn't be easy to deal with; Dong Wenshu, that old stick-in-the-mud, wasn't as easy to talk to as Dong Liangyu.

The thought of silencing her didn't dare cross his mind now, as the expert downstairs was clearly acquainted with Dong Wenshu—not thrilling enough?

To his relief, the unfruitful Red-clothed Woman muttered and turned away.

Shi Chun silently waited for her to leave.

But who would have thought the Red-clothed Woman circled to the front row of bookshelves again, continuing her search, able to see this way through the gaps, forcing Shi Chun to remain stiffly in the corner, not daring to move.

After a while, still finding nothing, the Red-clothed Woman mumbled and left again.

Shi Chun sighed with relief once more.

He thought the other party should probably have given up and left this time. However, what you hope won't happen is often what comes, and the Red-clothed Woman surprisingly circled back to this passageway and continued to search along the shelves.

Shi Chun's lips twitched as he silently cursed her ancestors.

It didn't feel right; if the other's cultivation wasn't so low, rendering her incapable of causing trouble, he would have suspected she was doing it on purpose.

Soon, the light of the Flame Energy flickered at the corner, forcing him to hold his breath.

The Red-clothed Woman's muttering voice came again, "Second Miss said the person was right up here, how could they have disappeared..."

"..." Shi Chun paused, bewildered, looking for someone? Not something? Looking for me?

He really wanted to ask her, why the hell are you looking for a person on the bookshelves? I thought you were looking for a book. Am I supposed to lie horizontally on the bookshelf?

Just as he felt it was a false alarm, the muttering voice and the shadows visibly turned away.

Apparently, she went to search another row back and forth again.

Should I continue hiding? Shi Chun thought for a moment, and since it was Dong Liangyu who sent someone to search for him, there was no need to hide anymore. So he quietly slipped out and moved ahead of where they were searching, quickly sitting down cross-legged for meditation.

As expected, the result was as predictable; he was soon illuminated clearly by the approaching Red-clothed Woman.

Shi Chun opened his eyes, just about to greet her, but the Red-clothed Woman straightaway asked, "Hey, who are you? The place is closed, why are you still inside the Book Collection Pavilion?"

"..." Shi Chun was momentarily stunned into speechlessness, then quickly got up and reminded her, "I know your Second Miss."

The Red-clothed Woman adjusted the red flower at her temple, giving him a sidelong glance, "Stop with the act, our Second Miss doesn't have male friends."

No, Shi Chun quickly retorted, "Didn't your Second Miss ask you to come find me?"

The Red-clothed Woman scoffed, "Our Second Miss told me to find Mr. Fu in the Book Collection Pavilion, who the hell are you, honestly, are you here to steal something?"

"..." Shi Chun was left speechless with a mix of emotions, Mr. Fu? So the Second Miss she was mumbling about wasn't referring to him.

Could it be the one downstairs? No, didn't his right eye superpower see that the person was quite close to the one downstairs too? Distance-wise, there seemed to be no bookshelves between them, how come they didn't see each other? Did that scholar in blue read without a lamp?

However, there seemed to be no sign of interaction, so what was the point of him jumping out and presenting himself then?

He was instantly frustrated, since they had already left, had he stayed hidden at the corner for a bit longer, it would have been fine. But no, he just had to stupidly pop out and approach. First time doing such a dumb thing in his life.

Now wasn't the time for regrets, he quickly explained, "I'm the Second Miss's friend."

The Red-clothed Woman: "Shouldn't I ask the Second Miss? Let's go, we need to verify this with the curator."

Shi Chun couldn't possibly go see Dong Wenshu, he quickly said, "Go ask the Second Miss, she'll tell you."

The Red-clothed Woman: "If I leave, it will be easier for you to escape, right? I'm telling you, if you don't go with me, I'll call for backup."

Shi Chun bared his teeth; if he weren't temporarily unable to escape here, he would seriously consider silencing her. Fortunately, help arrived, his right eye superpower saw someone quickly entering the Book Collection Pavilion, and from their appearance, recognized Dong Liangyu.

He quickly said, "Alright, alright, I'll go with you."

First, placate her and make her shut up.

Under her gestured indication, he obediently walked in front to be supervised.

In fact, Dongliang Ying had come precisely to prevent Shi Chun from being discovered by the Red-clothed Woman. Yet ironically, what she feared happened. She quickly reached the third-floor stairway with a lantern and blocked the two coming down, her face showing panic, silently blaming Shi Chun for being discovered so quickly.

Shi Chun leaned against the railing and gestured to both people on the stairs, "Second Miss, tell her, am I a thief? Didn't you permit me to read overnight?"

The Red-clothed Woman asked, "Is that so?"

Dong Liangyu quickly nodded repeatedly, "Jun, he's not a thief. He loves reading, so I allowed him to stay overnight."

The Red-clothed Woman raised her eyebrows slightly, evaluating both of them, touched the red flower at her temple, and slowly said, "Second Miss, something doesn't feel right. When did you get a male friend?"

Dong Liangyu was about to explain when the Red-clothed Woman gestured at Shi Chun, who was neither fully up nor down the stairs, "Second Miss, you've been cooped up in the Book Collection Pavilion; people can be deceitful. Let me question him thoroughly to be sure he's not deceiving you."

"No need, cough cough..." Dong Liangyu quickly waved her hands, coughing in urgency.

The Red-clothed Woman: "Then I'll call the curator, or I can't take responsibility if anything happens."

Shi Chun quickly said, "Second Miss, let her question me, we have nothing to hide."

All the while winking at Dong Liangyu below with his steps heading upstairs.

The perturbed Dong Liangyu bit her lip, watching the two disappear at the stairway landing.

Following the Red-clothed Woman adorned in a red dress, Shi Chun hesitated a bit when they reached the staircase to the fourth floor. He realized this woman's cultivation was not high, yet she was rather bold, leading a stranger to a secluded place, showing no fear of being silenced.

While ascending, he was curious about the earlier scene. Dong Liangyu was at least one of the library's owners, yet this Red-clothed Woman had the audacity to make decisions as if it were her place. Thus, he tried asking, "Jun, why does it seem like the Second Miss is instead afraid of you, the Book Collection Pavilion's assistant?"

The Red-clothed Woman swayed her hips as she ascended the stairs, nonchalantly replied, "My uncle is a trusted aide by the Demon Queen's side."

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