Chapter 90
The appearance of Yu Tu attracted the attention of this group of "dancers". A round frame with a pointed bottom came to Yu Tu, spinning like a top.
Yu Tu only saw a shadow that was getting bigger and bigger leaning over. After it tilted to a certain angle, a hand reached out silently from the side and forcibly pushed the round cabinet back to 90 degrees.
"Are you a student who comes here to read?" The owner of the hand was wearing a white robe with wide sleeves and black edges, and a vertical crown on his head. In the middle of the crown was a ruby the size of half a fist. He looked elegant, but his tone was full of gloom, which complemented the dark circles under his eyes.
He was not idle while talking to Yu Tu. He blew away a bookshelf that was dancing ballet with his sleeve. The bookshelf did a graceful 360-degree turn in the air and landed on the ground. Some books were also pulled out, flew around the cabinet, and returned to the shelf.
Yu Tu: “…”
What a chaotic dance of demons.
"I'm the librarian on the second floor." The self-proclaimed librarian gracefully patted down a pair of waltzing bookshelves. "What book are you looking for?"
This sinister tone sounds as if it is saying "How do you want to die?"
Yu Tu: “…”
He took a cautious step back before asking, "Is this what all libraries in Millerker look like?"
"The second floor is a special case." The gloomy administrator raised his hand to calm the bookshelf that came over, "Those stupid fourth-grade students wrote a paper called 'Giving Tangible Objects Intangible Life'. The easiest things to be given life are paper and wood, so they used the bookshelf on the second floor to do an experiment—"
The administrator took a deep breath and said, “This is the result of their experiment.”
Yu Tu looked at the round, square and diamond-shaped bookshelves that filled the room freely and unrestrainedly, and sincerely realized that being a librarian was not an easy job.
"Then let them——" Yu Tu quickly moved aside to avoid a bookcase that was demonstrating a flower gun show, "...will it always be like this?!"
"Boom!!!"
The librarian on the second floor raised his hand and slapped a bookshelf apart. The books were protected by a film-like aperture, and the wood scattered to the ground. There was no more movement.
"After breaking up and then reorganizing, we can temporarily manage for a day or two."
Yu Tu: “…”
He seemed to know where the administrator's gloomy expression and dark circles under his eyes came from.
The manager, with a gloomy face, produced a hammer, picked up two wooden boards from the ground and began to hammer them. Without any nails or glue, the two wooden boards automatically merged into one after being hammered together.
In just ten minutes, the administrator had fixed the bookshelf. The books that were suspended around him by the film were all put back in place with a wave of his hand, and the bookshelf became completely quiet.
but---
Yu Tu raised his head and looked at the front, where there were at least thirty dancing bookshelves, and felt tired for the administrator.
The administrator raised his hand and slapped away three or four more of them, and the dancing bookshelves finally made way for the two of them.
"It will take a while to clean up. Let me find you a book first." The dark circles under the administrator's eyes were particularly conspicuous on his fair face. "Do you have a title?"
Yu Tu shook his head: "I want to find some books about spirits and monsters. Do you have any recommendations?"
“Before or after the founding of the People’s Republic of China?”
Yu Tu: “…Ah?”
"There were more 'refined' things before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and more 'weird' things after the founding of the People's Republic of China." The administrator said, "You always have to have a focus."
Yu Tu thought for a moment and said, "Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, thank you———"
He was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled backwards by the administrator.
A piece of wood just narrowly passed over the back of his head—the bookshelf was performing the difficult Zhezhi dance. On its two sides were two slender bookshelves, one on the left and the other on the right, performing the Huxuan dance and the Huteng dance.
Although the bookshelf is made of wooden boards, the rigid boards are tossed back and forth, and in the eyes of the viewer they are surprisingly soft like sleeves. Every time the boards touch the ground, there is a rhythmic beat.
Their dancing moves are sometimes strong and lively, and sometimes graceful and elegant. It seems that every part of the bookshelf can be disassembled and assembled at will. Dancing with so many books on it can surprisingly create a light and lively feeling.
Yu Tu's pupils trembled: "As you step on the festival, you turn into a phoenix, and the shadow of a phoenix is so embarrassing from behind?"
He could actually feel the exact reproduction of the Zhezhi Dance from the dancing posture of the bookshelf!
"It's over." He suddenly heard the manager who was pulling his collar mutter to himself, and then a handsome face with dark circles under the eyes enlarged in front of him, "Don't praise them!"
Yu Tu's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong?"
The administrator let out a long sigh and said, "You can't leave."
He pulled Yu Tu by the collar and led him to a safe corner: "See for yourself."
A few seconds later, Yu Tu suddenly heard a rumbling sound, as if something heavy was running towards this side. After a while, more bookshelves appeared in his sight. These bookshelves were standing in twos and threes, but they were clearly divided into two camps on the left and right.
In such a confusing atmosphere, Yu Tu lowered his voice and asked, "What are they doing?"
The librarian looked at him incomprehensiblely, then suddenly tiptoed and flew out. A thin mist rose up, and in an instant he turned into a red-crowned crane. The red-crowned crane flapped its wings, and its wingtips swept over some books on the three bookshelves. The three books then left the bookshelves, floated beside him, and followed him back.
After landing, the red-crowned crane instantly turned back into a manager with fluttering sleeves and a jewel crown on his head. He stuffed two books into Yu Tu's hands: "One is a famous Western book translated into Chinese, one is a collection of Chinese poems, and one is a book about 'essence'."
He looked gloomily at the two camps, east and west. On one side of the two camps, a bookshelf was lined up, and the two bookshelves had already begun to jump towards each other.
Yu Tu looked at the two dancing bookshelves, then at the three books in his hand, and an outrageous guess emerged in his mind: "... Fighting Dance?"
The administrator nodded to him gravely.
"Once they start dancing, it will take at least half a day. No matter which side wins, you have to give at least 500 words of praise for the winning dance style." The administrator looked a little sad. "You don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and find the bookshelves standing at the head of your bed, do you?"
Yu Tu: “…”
Yu Tu nodded and said, "...Okay."
"But you don't have to be too nervous. I'll remind you which dance style will win in the end." The manager said in a tone of someone who has experienced it. "As the initiator of this dance battle, you can't leave now, so just sit on the ground and read a book for a while."
Whoever praises the dancing posture of these bookshelves will be the initiator of this dance battle.
Don't expect to have tables and chairs to sit on during the battle dance. The tables and chairs have chosen their own camps. Some serve as musical instruments, and some serve as props. In short, everyone is busy and has no time to perform their own functions.
Yu Tu sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at these bookshelves of various shapes dancing earnestly. In the west, there were some dancing the Four Little Swans, some doing the ghost step dance, some doing Kathak, and even some doing belly dance... God knows how he felt when he saw a bookshelf standing on the ground and shaking flexibly.
The East is richer than the West. There are people dancing the plate drum dance (tables and chairs play the roles of plates and drums), the long-sleeved dance (books serve as long dancing sleeves), the Bayu dance, and even the dance of Sixteen Heavenly Demons.
Yu Tu's expression had changed from shock to dullness.
"Giving invisible life to tangible objects..." Yu Tu murmured, "Is every life so lively?"
"No, this is their topic." The administrator who was sitting cross-legged next to him said gloomily, "'Giving invisible life to tangible objects' is the thesis direction, and 'Dance types from ancient times to the present' is their topic."
Yu Tu looked at the pits on the ground and the smooth parts that had been rubbed, and asked in a low voice: "Has this been going on for a long time?"
When this question came up, the administrator was furious: "It's been almost three months."
When will these idiot fourth graders be able to make the potion to remove the evil spirit? He must be tired from watching the bookshelves dance and repairing the second floor every day!
The worst thing is that this is a collaboration between the Eastern and Western films. Those who were sprinkled with magic potions all danced Western dances, and those who were sprayed with elixir all danced Eastern dances. Anyone who boasted would be forced to accept a battle dance that would last at least half a day. No one could stand it!
Yu Tu glanced at the almost tangible black aura of the administrator, closed his mouth silently, and opened the book.
In addition to the two books that he used as references for flattery, there was another book called "The Hypothesis of Being a Spirit", the preface of which was written in a particularly improper way.
[I would like to state in advance that this book is all my guesswork. I just read it for fun, and I don’t guarantee its authenticity.]
"Although the preface is not written seriously, the conjectures in it are quite interesting. If the monster you are looking for is unheard of, it is worth a read." Seeing Yu Tu's eyes lingering on the preface, the administrator kindly reminded, "Although the content is a bit fanciful, many of them are accompanied by evidence that can withstand scrutiny."
After thanking the administrator, Yu Tu opened the first page amid the clattering sound of the bookshelves. The content of the book was very different from the preface, and even a little serious:
【In the beginning, the Tao was established as one, creating the heaven and earth and transforming all things. 】
【All things have spirits.】