Chapter 20 – Bookworm

Yun Xiguang emphasized time for two reasons.

Firstly, it was to stabilize everyone’s emotions and prevent panic, which could be exploited by their enemies.

Secondly, it was a message directed at Ruan Shu.

He wanted to inform Ruan Shu that within six hours, someone would discover their situation and powerful reinforcements would arrive. He was curious to see how Ruan Shu would react to this information.

Yun Xiguang hoped that this would put pressure on Ruan Shu, accelerating his growth or prompting him to urgently break through the door of the confidential archive room, thereby exposing a weakness.

However, Ruan Shu showed no reaction. Even the frequency of the “tapping” sounds within the archive room remained unchanged, steady and rhythmic.

Yun Xiguang felt a slight sinking in his heart.

This indicated that Ruan Shu had ample time and was not intimidated by the six-hour deadline. Alternatively, Ruan Shu might have extreme confidence in the enclosed space he created, believing that no matter how powerful the reinforcements were, they could not breach this barrier.

Regardless of the reason, their situation was grim.

They needed to devise a countermeasure promptly and could not allow Ruan Shu to grow stronger unchecked.

Yun Xiguang gazed at the blank notebook in his hand, carefully recalling his observations of Ruan Shu over the past few days.

Ruan Shu was a man who adhered to ancient etiquette. When Zhao Yu called out names during roll call, everyone else responded with “Present,” but Ruan Shu bowed and referred to himself as “Your humble servant,” responding in accordance with ancient customs.

Ruan Shu’s method of countering “Tiger Roars Mountains Shake” likely mirrored Yun Xiguang’s strategy. Both prevented Zhao Yu from executing his skill rather than waiting for him to activate it and then defending against it. Yun Xiguang had blocked the White Tiger’s roar by covering the Spiritbond Master’s mouth; Ruan Shu’s skill seemed even more peculiar, as if he directly severed the path for Zhao Yu’s one-on-one attacks.

During these days at the archive department, Ruan Shu was the most diligent intern. He completed the tasks assigned by Zhao Yu in less than a day and even voluntarily helped Ji Sisi, also from the Spiritbond Academy, and Lian Gu, who typed slowly, inputting records.

Ruan Shu had wanted to assist Xue Lan and Yun Xiguang as well, but Xue Lan typed at an extraordinary speed, leaving no opportunity for Ruan Shu to offer help. Meanwhile, Yun Xiguang firmly rejected assistance from everyone, except for Wu Ailang, the shameless fellow who managed to penetrate the defenses Yun Xiguang had built around himself.

After Ruan Shu tapped his fingers on the archive cabinets, the text within the records vanished.

The field team had been investigating abnormal incidents related to text, and Li Zheng instructed Zhao Yu to screen historical archives associated with text.

Everything revolved around text.

Considering the significance of “text,” Yun Xiguang recalled Ruan Shu’s behavior on his first day and said, “I understand how Ruan Shu blocked the ‘Tiger Roars Mountains Shake’ attack.”

“How?” Zhao Yu, who was secretly analyzing Ruan Shu’s spirit beast and abilities, clearly had not arrived at the conclusion as quickly as Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang explained, “In order not to harm others, you established a one-on-one attack channel through the roll call and responses. The essential conditions for constructing this channel were ‘calling out names’ and ‘responses.’ Ruan Shu’s abilities are linked to text, so he likely swallowed the name you called out or his own response, thereby cutting off your attack path.”

Zhao Yu also noticed the blank notebook Yun Xiguang had been holding and remembered the disappearance of the text from the records. Nodding, he said, “He can erase text — not just written text, but also spoken words, meaning language and sound.”

“No, it’s not ‘erasing’ text, but ‘swallowing’ or ‘eating’ text,” Yun Xiguang corrected.

“Why specifically use these two terms?” Zhao Yu asked, finding them somewhat peculiar.

Yun Xiguang explained, “If Ruan Shu’s ability merely involved ‘erasing’ text, it wouldn’t explain how he trapped us in the archive room.

“We can’t leave the archive room; we encounter phenomena similar to getting lost or walking in circles, reminiscent of being trapped in a ghostly maze. This could either be an illusionary attack targeting our minds or a spatial ability, neither of which are directly related to ‘text.’ How does he possess such an ability?”

Zhao Yu suddenly realized, “He has a way to…”

Before he could finish the word “enhance,” Wu Ailang, who finally understood something, interrupted, “He has an accomplice who can use illusions! There’s a mole among us!”

With that, Wu Ailang clenched his fists and glared straight at Ji Sisi, whose spirit beast was the Phantom Butterfly.

Ji Sisi, utterly bewildered, protested, “It’s not me. Ruan Shu and I are just ordinary classmates; we’re not close!”

Zhao Yu rubbed his temples, vexed by Wu Ailang’s foolishness!

While Ji Sisi could indeed create illusions, she lacked the capability to control so many people simultaneously. During the roll call on the first day, Zhao Yu had already assessed everyone’s strengths, and Ji Sisi was undoubtedly the weakest among them — she could not bewitch anyone.

Zhao Yu wanted to speak up in defense of Ji Sisi, but Yun Xiguang intervened.

The young man, significantly younger than him, remained calm and shook his head slightly, signaling Zhao Yu not to interrupt Wu Ailang.

Wu Ailang continued to jump around, baring his sharp teeth in a threatening manner. “Tell the truth, or I’ll bite you, and there’s a chance you’ll contract rabies.”

At the mention of rabies, Ji Sisi turned pale. She hurriedly said, “It really isn’t me. How can I convince you?”

“Reveal some intelligence about Ruan Shu,” Yun Xiguang interjected appropriately.

“Yes!” Wu Ailang chimed in.

Ji Sisi was not familiar with Ruan Shu and could not provide much information. However, now that she was under suspicion and faced with Wu Ailang’s wolf fangs, she strained her brain to recall anything about Ruan Shu, almost exhausting her mental capacity.

She spoke rapidly, “I only know two things. First, before Ruan Shu formed a contract with his spirit beast, his personality was not like this. He was carefree, his handwriting was terrible, and his speech was coarse. He enjoyed sports and rarely read books. Second, although I don’t know what his spirit beast is, the Youying Spiritbond Academy is backed by the Ten Thousand Insect Valley, and most of the spirit beasts we form contracts with are insect-type spirit beasts. Ruan Shu is probably no exception.”

Insects, text, swallowing text!

These three points combined conjured the name of a spirit beast in Yun Xiguang’s mind.

“Bookworm!” Yun Xiguang and Zhao Yu exclaimed simultaneously.

The surrounding “tapping” sounds paused momentarily before accelerating, seemingly increasing the rate of consumption.

This change confirmed Yun Xiguang’s suspicion that they had guessed correctly.

“What is a bookworm?” Wu Ailang asked.

Seeing that the other interns were also unfamiliar, Yun Xiguang explained, “A bookworm feeds on adhesive substances. In ancient times, it often gnawed on books, clothes, and calligraphy and paintings, earning it the alternative names of book lice or cloth lice.

“A bookworm is similar to wolves and white tigers in that it exists in reality. Although the bookworm in the spirit beast realm shares the same name, it possesses remarkable powers.

“It can consume certain texts, causing its opponents to temporarily forget the content recorded in those texts. For example, eating the words ‘speaking’ would render the opponent unable to speak for a short period. Ruan Shu used this method to cut off the ‘Tiger Roars Mountains Shake’ attack.”

“This ability is terrifying. Isn’t this bookworm a divine beast?” Xue Lan asked in shock.

Yun Xiguang shook his head. “The ability is indeed unique, but the duration is too brief, lasting at most three to five seconds. Moreover, it can only consume texts representing a single concept at a time, and there are numerous restrictions on the types of texts it can consume. For instance, powerful words like ‘death,’ ‘alive,’ and ‘healthy’ are beyond its capabilities to consume.

“Therefore, most Spiritbond Masters who form contracts with bookworms become support-type Spiritbond Masters, unable to fight independently but capable of assisting teammates in controlling the enemy during battles.”

The Yun family cultivated some children with average talents, pairing them with bookworms to serve as auxiliary forces for the family.

Yun Xiguang added, “A bookworm has another ability — it can briefly manifest the texts it consumes. For example, if it consumes a book describing a courtyard, that courtyard can briefly appear.”

“That ability is also terrifying. If it consumed a word like ‘Mount Tai,’ even for an instant, it could crush its enemies,” Lian Gu commented.

Zhao Yu said, “That will not happen. Spirit beasts have inherent limitations. Bookworms are weak insects; the textual content they can manifest is very limited. A word like ‘Mount Tai,’ which carries immense weight, is beyond their capacity to manifest. Unless it encounters a rare opportunity that alters the nature of its species, this situation will not occur.”

Wu Ailang, stroking the Snow Wolf’s head thoughtfully, said, “What if Ruan Shu has hundreds or thousands of bookworms? These bookworms continuously consume concepts related to the confidential archive room. Would we forget about protecting the confidential archive room altogether? Or perhaps, if these bookworms continually consume the concept of ‘archive room,’ the people outside would not know we are trapped here.”

Zhao Yu explained, “Your imagination is rich, but that’s unlikely. A Spiritbond Master can only form a contract with one spirit beast. Ruan Shu could not possibly have too many bookworms. Unless…”

At this point, Zhao Yu’s expression changed.

“Unless what?” Wu Ailang pressed.

Yun Xiguang said, “Unless the bookworm Ruan Shu formed a contract with possesses the ability to reproduce, able to produce thousands of bookworms in a short time. Then, these offspring bookworms would be controlled by Ruan Shu.”

Everyone recalled Ruan Shu’s repeated utterance of “not enough, not enough” before displaying his unusual behavior. Was he referring to the insufficient number of bookworms, which prevented them from completely losing their memories?

Was the “tapping” sound surrounding them now the result of Ruan Shu reproducing bookworms?

Ji Sisi imagined the scene and felt physically uncomfortable. She said, verging on despair, “There must be limits to reproduction, right?”

Zhao Yu said, “A bookworm’s reproduction requires meeting three conditions. First, the Spiritbond Master must reach the level of Beast Avatar. Second, the bookworm must have inexhaustible spiritual energy as the energy source for reproduction. Third, there must be an abundance of texts containing different concepts and stories.”

“The third condition is already met,” Lian Gu pointed out, gesturing to the massive archive cabinets.

“He has been in a contract for less than a month; it’s impossible for him to have reached the level of Beast Avatar,” Xue Lan said, unwilling to believe it. Like Ji Sisi, she could not accept the disturbing image.

“In fact, it does not necessarily require reaching the Beast Avatar level,” Yun Xiguang said. “The Yun family once conducted research and discovered that if a spirit beast completely dominates a Spiritbond Master, it can unleash the full power of the spirit beast. Ruan Shu’s personality drastically changed before and after forming a contract with the bookworm. The person we see now is probably not the real Ruan Shu, but rather a puppet completely dominated by the bookworm.”

“It seems he found a way to solve the problem of insufficient spiritual energy,” Zhao Yu remarked.

“So he wants to prolong time more than us, to breed enough bookworms and completely manipulate our brains,” Yun Xiguang sighed.

The incessant “tapping” sounds reverberating around them echoed like the sound of Death knocking on the door, sending chills down everyone’s spines.

“But why did he have to come to the archive room just for reproduction? Would not the library be better? There are more stories and concepts there, allowing for the birth of even more offspring!” Ji Sisi wondered aloud.

Zhao Yu said sternly, “Do not forget the second ability of the bookworm — it can manifest the texts it consumes. The confidential archive room contains records of cases involving powerful spirit beasts. The bookworm we are facing is far more formidable than the average one. If this bookworm gains the power to manifest these spirit beasts, the consequences would be unimaginable. I’d rather activate the mechanism and destroy the information inside than allow Ruan Shu to enter the confidential archive room!”

Upon hearing that Zhao Yu intended to destroy the contents of the confidential archive room, Yun Xiguang subconsciously bit his lip.

“I have a wild idea, just a crazy thought,” Wu Ailang suddenly said. “What if there were enough bookworms to devour all the books in the world? Would that make everyone forget all the knowledge humans have ever acquired?”

“The number of bookworms required would be astronomical,” Lian Gu tried calculating but gave up when the figure became too large.

Zhao Yu said, “If there were truly that many bookworms, human civilization as a whole would cease to exist.”

“I am just speculating; there certainly are not that many bookworms. But even forgetting a specific person or event would be unbearable. It’s despicable to target people’s memories.” Wu Ailang fell into a rare depression and sighed. “How do we deal with this thing?”

Hearing Wu Ailang’s words, Yun Xiguang finally made up his mind.

The feeling of forgetting was too agonizing. Even if it meant temporarily losing an opportunity to access the archives, he did not want to experience any more loss of memory.