Ji Zhixun stood motionless in the pouring rain as the old man walked towards her. She couldn't even react and activate the black cane mechanism when he walked past her.
It wasn't that she didn't want to do it, but an invisible force enveloped her, making her body tense up. Cold sweat never stopped trickling down her back.
The old man was dressed in an old-fashioned western-style suit topped with a gentleman's hat. His gaze was strangely attracted by the book that Ji Zhixue was holding.
"This is a book... Lucky Girl," he muttered in a hoarse, squeaky voice.
Under the cover of the umbrella, Ji Zhixue vaguely saw an ancient black iron mask covering the old man's face. She could only see his beady, snake-like eyes peeking out from under the mask, staring at her with a razor-sharp gaze. It looked strangely dissonant with his exquisite appearance.
Ji Zhixue only managed to catch a glimpse of the red words on the cover of his black book as the old man walked past her - Extinguishing the Abyss.
A frightening, eerie feeling ran across her bare skin.
"Ugh..."
Ji Zhixue heaved a heavy sigh of relief before slowly turning her head back towards the bookstore.
As the door slowly closed, muffled voices could be heard.
"Welcome... Huh? Old Wil, it's you! Have you come to return your book?"
"...It still sounds a bit strange, even though you told me that this nickname symbolizes our friendship. Mr. Lin, would you like to call me by my first name instead?
"Of course, Mr. Wilde."
''Ugh... That sounds much more comfortable. Do you have a new customer, Mr. Lin?"
"Uh-huh, old Wil."
"My name is... Forget it. I noticed you lent the book you always seem to be reading to a new customer. You must really love her. Anyway, here's the book I borrowed."
"A book often read remains a book. This book seemed just right for her. If I remember correctly, our rate was 30 days. You'll be back in 20 days, which means it's my win. You just won't believe it when I told you that this book is too difficult for the elderly."
...My apologies for doubting your words, I admit my loss. This book is too deep. It is like a vast world filled with mystical and magical unknowns beyond space, time, birth, life and death. With my lack of knowledge, I can only imagine that whoever wrote such a monumental work must be a great being."
"Of course! He was a giant of the literary world that has since passed away."
"A giant? No wonder...." - Old Wil's voice trailed off.
...
Ji Zhixue's attention fell on the book and the umbrella in her hands.
The conversation between the owner and his regular customer was indeed casual, probably the result of a deep friendship that had developed over the years.
However, Ji Zhixue was covered in cold sweat when she recalled her previous encounter with this old man.
"A faceless man with black scales, Frank Wilde, a black mage of destructive rank.
His distinguishing features were his dark green snake eyes that came from his half-snake blood, and his black iron mask.
Despite his kind appearance, this old man had an intimidating reputation. He was known as a brutal killer whose hands were drenched in the blood of thousands.
He had once clashed with the Ten Great Shining Knights of the Secret Rite Tower and destroyed an area thousands of kilometers in diameter, causing others to recognize him as a black mage of Destruction rank.
But after this incident, for some unknown reason, he disappeared from the public eye.
According to a decree of the Truth Union in 1788, unusual creatures were divided into four classes, and this was known as the APDS Classification Act. From then on, the Truth Union would publish a register of unusual creatures as well as changes in their ranks every year.
The APDS classification was as follows:
Anomalous
Pandemonium
Destructive
Supreme
Although Wilde's name in the registry had since been tagged with 'location unknown' and 'Secret Rite Tower offering a reward for his location', his Destruction status had never changed.
One should know that there were less than ten Destruction rank creatures in the upper level of Norzin's capital city, in fact, there weren't even a hundred of them in all of Azira!
Why did a ruthless black mage who had long since disappeared appear here! On top of that, he seems to be on friendly terms with this young man!
Ji Zhixue took a deep breath before hurriedly leaving.
The owner is indeed an incredibly powerful and mysterious magician! Perhaps, similar to Wilde, he could be a Destruction rank! It looks like I've found some impressive support for myself this time....
...
Lin Jie picked up the 100 Years of Solitude book and returned it to the shelf. "Old Wil, you seem to be a bit depressed today."
Wilde could be considered a regular here. Lin Jie's shabby bookstore rarely saw customers, and the number of regulars could easily be counted on the fingers of his hand. However, Lin Jie made sure to establish a deeper connection with each of them through his heartfelt engagement, making them visit out of habit.
Wilde had first entered this bookstore two years ago. Since then, he has stopped by a total of five times to pick up new books. At first glance this may seem infrequent, but it should be noted that Wilde's usual borrowing period was a month. In other words, he devoted 4 of the 24 months of a two-year period here, equal to one-sixth of his time!
This was sincerity!
In Lin Jie's three years of running this bookstore, he had hardly seen any business. Therefore, Wilde was considered a veteran, a regular at his humble place.
At the same time, he was someone to whom Teacher Lin often gave guidance and advice.
Sigh. Old people, especially empty nesters, were indeed prone to mental and psychological problems.
Old Wil was definitely one such old empty nester.
From what Lin Jie had heard, Old Wil had two separated children and a departed lover. He was rejected by his peers and feared by others because of his appearance, leaving him to live a lonely life in the vast Norzin City.
Old Wil had no lack of food or clothing, but there was a deep hole in the spiritual aspect of his life.
This deficiency was not only due to lack of care from friends and family, most importantly, he lacked peer acceptance.
Old Wil was an expert linguist and scholar with a keen interest in the study of all kinds of rare languages. Those who worked in this field had gotten used to loneliness over time, but the pain of not being understood by others was still hard to bear.
Thus, Lin Jie decided to act from this point of view!
From the first time they met, Lin Jie tried to look Old Wil in the eye and treat him with respect to win his favor. From the books Old Wil had brought to sell, he had managed to deduce quite a bit of information.
In the end, he carelessly recommended a book - The Wenzhou .
Wenzhou, dubbed the "Devil Language", was considered one of the most difficult languages in China . There were more than 12 different variants of this language in Wenzhou Prefecture itself. Furthermore, during the war, Wenzhou was even used as a secret code that the enemies couldn't decipher!
Old Wil's facial expression changed from dull to skeptical and frightened before he was overcome with ecstasy as he exclaimed: "Demonic, this is truly demonic!" Such a scene made Lin Jie feel the significance of his chicken soup.
A mentor's happiness could be so simple and boring.
But since there was no Wenzhou or China in this land known as Azir, Lin Jie could only explain that this book came from a long lost place and time.