"Mysticism..." Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment, finding the term quite fitting.

Yuan Xiaoyi, still with her naive demeanor, nodded to herself and said, "That's exactly what Xiaohui said."

With Jiang Cheng's gentle prompting, Yuan Xiaoyi gradually calmed down, reorganized her thoughts, and began to recount the entire story.

"The Jiangtan University library has long been associated with strange tales. Some of the younger teachers also whisper about it, saying the library's feng shui isn't good."

"But there are all sorts of rumors, some of which are just absurd."

"Because Xiaohui spends so much time in the library, we asked her to keep an eye out."

"Unexpectedly, after a while, we almost forgot about it. Then, one evening, we suddenly received a message from Xiaohui, asking us to meet her at the old place later..."

At this point, Yuan Xiaoyi paused abruptly. After a moment, she quietly explained, "It's... it's the abandoned warehouse in the activity center, senior. I told you about it."

"That place..." Jiang Cheng nodded, indicating he understood.

"Right. When we got there, Xiaohui was already inside. She excitedly told us that she had contacted a graduated senior, and she had learned a strange tale about the school library from her."

"She emphasized that this tale was absolutely true because it happened to the senior's classmate."

After a few seconds' pause, Yuan Xiaoyi seemed to be organizing her thoughts before continuing, "The senior's classmate was called Xiaoyao. She lived in the dorm room next to the senior's, was very kind, and always willing to help others. At the time, the school library was holding a book donation and appreciation event, and Xiaoyao volunteered to help."

"The event was a great success, and even the city's TV station came to report on it. Everyone was very enthusiastic, and the event lasted until evening."

"Xiaoyao was mainly responsible for registering the book lists of students, teachers, and members of the public who donated books, and then helping the library staff to classify the books."

"After the event, everyone worked together to move the books to the warehouse on the third floor of the library, and then they all left."

"After dinner, when she returned to her dorm room and opened her bag, Xiaoyao suddenly realized that her notebook was missing. She only opened her bag in the library warehouse, so it must have fallen out there."

"She looked at the time, and it was already 8:30."

"Normally, the library closes at 9:00, but Xiaoyao thought that since there was an event today, the library staff probably wouldn't close so early."

"The notebook was very important to her, and she needed it tonight, so Xiaoyao left the dorm room and ran towards the library."

"When she reached the library gate, it was already closed, but strangely, there seemed to be lights on far inside."

"Xiaoyao, hoping for the best, tried to walk to the library gate and gently pushed it open. The gate actually opened in front of her."

"The door wasn't locked."

"Xiaoyao breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she was in luck. There were still people inside who hadn't left yet, probably the teachers tidying up."

"She first walked towards the light on the first floor, thinking she should say hello to the teachers, so she wouldn't get locked in the library later without anyone knowing she was there."

"As she approached, she realized that the light was coming from the first-floor restroom, the men's restroom. There was also the sound of running water, as if a faucet had been left on."

"She was too embarrassed to get too close, so she just stood at a distance, vaguely seeing someone squatting inside the restroom door, with their back to her."

"Because the light was dim, she couldn't tell which teacher it was. After calling out a few times, the person didn't respond."

"Xiaoyao quickly told the teacher the reason she was there, and then saw the person's neck move, as if nodding, indicating they understood."

Xiaoyao felt rebuffed and wanted to quickly go upstairs, get her notebook, and leave. She also felt that something was strange tonight.

"Arriving at the warehouse, she turned on her phone's flashlight, found the light switch inside the warehouse, and turned it on. She immediately saw her notebook on the floor."

"It was in a very conspicuous place. Xiaoyao picked up the notebook and felt very strange, because the location was too obvious, it didn't seem like it had fallen out, but rather like someone had deliberately placed it there."

"Xiaoyao was startled by the sudden feeling that arose in her heart. She put away her notebook, thinking about leaving immediately."

"But as soon as she walked out of the warehouse, a gust of cold wind made her shiver. The temperature seemed to drop to freezing in an instant."

"Even more terrifying was that she had turned on all the lights along the way as she walked, but now, it was completely dark outside."

"All the lights in the corridor... had gone out."

"The entire library was eerily silent."

"Her first reaction was that it was the teacher, that the teacher had done it, perhaps thinking she had left, and then turned off the lights."

"Just as she was lost in thought, a different sound came from a direction."

"It was at the end of the corridor."

"It sounded like... someone was flipping through a book, the sound of pages rubbing together, but the sound was very slow, making people feel very uncomfortable."

"Moreover, after looking at it for a long time, Xiaoyao actually noticed light coming from there."

"There was the sound of flipping pages, and there was light, there must be someone there!"

"Xiaoyao perked up and immediately ran in that direction, going upstairs along the stairs. She finally found the location where the light was coming from."

"It was an old-looking place, like a bar, at least Xiaoyao had never seen it before. It was surrounded by a circle of glass, forming a semi-enclosed space. A large black table held an oil lamp."

"As the flame flickered inside, the whole scene was dim and bright."

"But it could be clearly seen that there was no one behind the table, only a dark red wooden chair with badly worn armrests, giving the first impression that the person who had once sat on it was a dying old man."

"On the translucent glass, the three words 'Information Desk' were written crookedly."

"Not far from the information desk, there were several tables, close to the wall, with people sitting at them in twos and threes."

"There were about a dozen people."

"There were young men and women wearing black trench coats, and middle-aged men wearing overalls with mud on their shoes."

"Each table had an oil lamp on it, and everyone was looking down at the books in their hands, their postures were surprisingly consistent."

"The world seemed to be filled only with the sound of turning pages."

"The next second, Xiaoyao's entire body began to move uncontrollably, walking towards the people reading. Then, she actually sat down next to a young man."

"Then, she took out her notebook, spread it on the table, and looked down at it."