Chapter 37: The Unveiling and a New Friendship

On the second floor of the library, at the corner of the East Wing staircase, Ziyuan leaned against the window, her brow furrowed slightly as she gazed at the sky outside.

It was not yet half past five in the afternoon.

Being summer, Jiangcheng at this hour should still be bathed in bright daylight. Even with a few days of poor weather, the sky shouldn’t be this dark.

She pulled out her phone, opened the weather app, and checked today’s sunset time. It was still hours away.

Yet, the sky beyond the window already looked as if it were seven in the evening.

She then switched to the group chat. The latest messages were there, but no official alert from “Diting” had appeared, nor had Diting gathered any new intelligence.

‘Something is amiss,’ she thought.

Ziyuan put away her phone and turned, walking towards the staff lounge.

Pushing open the lounge door, she found the room empty. She locked the door behind her, leaned against it, and closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath.

When her eyes reopened, something flickered within their half-lidded depths.

“Slumbering wisdom, manifest in silence. Answer me—Ziyuan.”

Her voice was soft, like a whispered dream.

The next second, a deep violet light surged from her body, flowing over her like the night itself. The radiance was gentle yet resolute, enveloping her entirely.

Within the light, her dark work vest and shirt slowly dissolved, replaced by a deep violet off-the-shoulder gown. The skirt spread out like the night, adorned with specks of dark golden starlight and faint patterns of aster flowers that shimmered gently with her every breath.

A translucent, dark golden chiffon shawl draped from her shoulders, flowing around her like a thin mist.

Her previously tied black hair lost its color in the glow, transforming into long, light violet strands, loosely gathered into a languid chignon. A quill-shaped hairpin was tucked diagonally into her hair, with a few wisps falling by her temples, lending her an air of intellectual elegance tinged with languor.

The light receded.

The reflection in the mirror was no longer that of an ordinary librarian, but a magical girl exuding an aura of mystery and tranquility.

Ziyuan opened her eyes.

They remained half-closed, carrying a sleepy languor, yet something profound quietly swirled within their depths.

She raised her hand, and a thick magic book, its cover inlaid with deep violet gems, materialized from thin air and settled into her palm. Its pages turned themselves, their edges glowing with a faint, dark golden magical light.

*Whispered Notes: Ziyuan’s Tome.*

Ziyuan lowered her gaze to the pages; the intel Daisy had sent earlier was already displayed there.

She closed the book and looked up at the window.

Indeed.

Outside the window, something was spreading. It was an extremely faint, almost transparent darkness, slowly enveloping the space around the library.

This was no ordinary nightfall.

It was a domain.

Someone—or something—was isolating this area from the outside world.

Such a distortion of reality was most likely the work of an “Erosion” of SR-rank or higher.

Or perhaps… a fallen magical girl—a Witch.

Ziyuan let out a soft sigh.

She instructed her spiritual familiar to send the information to the group chat, then put away her magic book. With a hint of weariness and resignation, she pushed open the door and stepped out.

‘Ah… it seems I’ll have to take an impromptu leave of absence, and my salary will be docked again,’ she thought. ‘After all, the librarian I was before transforming has already abandoned her post.’

She walked towards the stairs.

****

On the fourth floor, Gentian had already ascended.

Gentian stood at the entrance of the foreign language periodical section, her gaze sweeping over the silent rows of bookshelves.

Her magical senses were severely suppressed.

The aura of that “Gathering Form” was indistinct, like a deliberate lure. And another peculiar scent, unlike an “Erosion,” flickered in and out, seemingly a taunt.

She curved her lips into a smile.

“Quite good at hiding.”

She conjured her vintage staff once more, tapped it lightly on the ground, and stepped into the silent darkness.

Outside the window, night had completely engulfed the library. The streetlights, the distant city lights, all became strangely blurred and distant, as if viewed through a thin curtain of water.

Something was slowly opening its eyes within this encroaching night.

****

Meanwhile, Su Xinxin was already standing by the elevator on the third floor, West Wing.

Her gaze unconsciously swept over the people emerging from the elevator—the fourth floor and above were closing soon, and a stream of people were descending.

She was waiting for Jasmine.

The person who had asked her to wait here.

“Jasmin?”

A voice came from behind her, tinged with uncertain inquiry.

She turned.

A few steps away, a girl in a light blue checkered dress stood. She hadn’t come down the stairs but from the direction of the rest area—she must have been sitting there moments ago.

Lin Mo looked at her, her gaze shifting from confusion to surprise, then to a sudden realization.

‘A vintage checkered dress, off-white ruffled trim, a dark brown satin bow. Standing where she told me to wait. So it was you. You were the one who helped me get the book from the shelf. You were the one crying by the window. You were the one I’d secretly observed for so long, the one I’d muttered countless times about having such a unique aura—it was you.’

Su Xinxin was also watching her.

The girl who had messaged her to wait here now stood before her, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Su Xinxin. In her gaze was surprise, realization, and something else Su Xinxin couldn’t quite decipher.

“You…” Lin Mo began, her voice so soft it seemed afraid to shatter the moment, “You’re Jasmin, aren’t you?”

It wasn’t a question, but a confirmation.

Su Xinxin’s heart skipped a beat.

“You are…” She looked into those sparkling eyes, “Jasmine?”

Lin Mo nodded.

In that instant, the thin, invisible barrier between them suddenly broke.

Lin Mo took two steps forward, stopping before her. She looked up—only then realizing Su Xinxin was slightly taller than her—then pursed her lips and suddenly smiled.

“So it was you,” she said, her eyes curving into beautiful crescents.

Su Xinxin looked at her and smiled too.

“So it was you.”

The surrounding broadcast continued to announce the impending closure of the fourth floor and above. Readers walked past, their footsteps and conversations blending into a blurred background.

“I’ve been looking for you all morning,” Lin Mo said, a faint, unnatural blush rising on her cheeks. “I can’t believe you were right under my nose.”

Su Xinxin watched her, a hint of amusement rippling in her eyes.

Lin Mo also looked at her, at those calm eyes, and suddenly recalled her own thoughts from their first meeting:

‘This newcomer has such a strange aura.’

Now she understood.

It wasn’t strange.

It was simply that this person was truly special.

“Then…” Lin Mo took a deep breath, trying to appear more serious, though the smile in her eyes couldn’t be hidden, “Are we… officially acquainted now?”

“Mm,” Su Xinxin nodded.

“Not like a mentor and student,” Lin Mo added, her eyes bright. “More like… friends. Is… is that okay?”

*Friends.*

The word settled in Su Xinxin’s heart, trembling ever so slightly.

It had been a very long time since she had made a new friend.

She looked at the sparkling-eyed girl before her, a warm, long-missed feeling welling up inside her.

“Good,” she said, her voice gentle. “Friends it is.”

Lin Mo pressed her lips together again, her undisguised happiness radiating from her face.

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