Ten Thousand Books, But Only One You

07 The book Floating Lanterns, Autumn Moon

Chapter 7: The book Floating Lanterns, Autumn Moon

It was dark when the boat arrived back at the Garden. The boatman skilfully moored the boat to the side of the small jetty and helped me out. The night was still with the fresh scent of earth and grass. Loud chirping of crickets resounded around me, seeming to be welcoming me back. I peeled off the thick winter cloak wrapped around me and an additional layer of outerwear. As soon as my feet landed on dry ground, I darted down the stone path that led from the lake to the Garden, careful not to slip on the uneven wet ground. At this late hour, everyone should be at the residence. Even if Han Dong had already retired for the night, I planned to disturb his rest so I could share my findings with him.

From a distance, I could see an orange glow spilling out from the front of the house. Wu-momo was sitting at the side of the main hall, embroidering a piece of clothing with intense concentration. She did not notice me entering through the door and creeping up beside her.

"I've returned."

Wu-momo whipped her head around to look at me with startled eyes. Upon seeing me, her face quickly broke out into an excited smile. "Xiaoyu, you're back!"

"You're not asleep yet? Are the others still awake?" I searched around the empty hall, hearing only the sound of crickets coming from the Garden outside.

"I was waiting for you. Xiao Dong said that you are returning today," she said as she took my cloak and bag. "When night fell and you were not back yet, I started to worry that something had happened to you!"

"Nothing bad happened to me when I was in the book," I said with a reassuring smile, "but I met someone like your Young Master. If it really is Ji Kai, then something did happen to him."

"Really?" Wu-momo gasped, blood draining from her face. "Did something bad happen to him?"

I shook my head quickly. "He's fine, but things are a little complicated. Is Han Dong still awake?"

"Yes, he's in the study waiting for you to return. I'll take you there."

Barely a few steps out from the main hall into the corridor, Wu-momo suddenly halted and turned back to question me anxiously. "Do you think that the person you met is really Young Master?"

"Maybe?" I said doubtfully before forcing a smile. My rational brain tried to process everything that had happened, but there were many gaps in whatever logical scenarios I attempted to conjure. Maybe everything would be easier if I just plug all these holes with fictional logic. "Has such a thing happened before—to Ji Kai or another Librarian?"

"Librarians getting stuck in books are very rare," she said and leaned her head toward me, voice lowering into a soft whisper. "But it usually happens to apprentices."

"Apprentices? You mean like Han Dong, Pan Yi and the rest?"

"No, they are just assistants. I'm talking about real apprentices training to become librarians. In the past, when the Ji family's main library was not hidden from the world, the skill of Librarians could be learnt by people who become students of the Master here. It used to be rather festive here, but now all the rooms are empty."

I inclined my head. "Are there no more apprentices here?"

"A few generations ago, when the then-Master Ji hid the main library because of a serial arsonist, he sent all the apprentices to the branch libraries. But I'm not sure if the Ji family still accepts apprentices today in the branch libraries because I don't have the chance to visit the outside world anymore."

Wu-momo stared down at the ground with a forlorn expression but feeling my gaze upon her, she turned to me with a smile. "But it's all a thing of the past now," she said before walking down the corridor towards the study room.