Chapter 283: 279 Night Wanderer Notes (Two-in-One)

Creak!

Wang Zheng pushed open a secret door hidden behind a bookshelf in the Yanping University Tushuguan. After turning on the flashlight in his hand, he looked at Fang Mu with a gloomy expression, "Follow me."

Fang Mu followed closely behind.

Once Fang Mu also entered the secret passage, Wang Zheng skillfully tapped the wall on his right, and the secret door that had opened behind them automatically closed shut with the mechanism.

"I didn't expect there to be a secret passage here." Fang Mu was very surprised; Yanping University was even more unusual than he had imagined.

Wang Zheng glanced at him sideways and said calmly, "During the war, this was a secret stronghold for a special agency. After the war ended, no one knew about this place anymore."

"Then how did you know about it?" Fang Mu asked curiously.

"Before I became a teacher at the university, I worked here as a librarian for a long time. It was also during a cleaning session that I accidentally found the school's architectural blueprints. Without being modest, I have a bit of a talent for spatial geometry. I sensitively sensed that the data regarding the Tushuguan was a bit strange. I got interested, measured it a little, and discovered the hidden passage here." Wang Zheng's mouth curled up, and his chin lifted.

Fang Mu could tell that Teacher Wang's mood when he discovered the secret passage back then was indeed quite smug, and the emotion had lasted until today.

"So, you didn't plan to report your discovery here?" Fang Mu said meaningfully, "You should know, if this place is discovered by someone one day, it will be very difficult for you to clear your name."

Wang Zheng's breathing became a bit heavier. He was silent for a few seconds before speaking hoarsely: "If one wants to hide something, this is an excellent hiding spot."

He looked back at Fang Mu, "Most people outside are already crazy now. Before understanding true science, they blindly pursue 'scientific advancement' and 'social development,' then completely negate all history, extremely wanting to cut everything down with one stroke. If there weren't people like me insisting on guarding the traces of time, those past artifacts and cultures would all be gone. I don't want to wait until people wake up and regret it too late.

Look, didn't I just wait for someone like you to come? You want to know the past history of this land of Yanping."

Hearing this, Fang Mu's expression became complicated. What he wanted to seek was not ordinary history and culture; it was the dregs of dregs, the taboo of taboos. If possible, he also didn't want anyone to seek taboo knowledge like he did.

When Fang Mu told Wang Zheng his true intentions, Wang Zheng appeared very shocked, even doubting for a time if Fang Mu was sent by that side to fish for information. But after communicating with Fang Mu and carefully observing Fang Mu's words and actions, he felt that the other party shouldn't be a person from that side. This "scholar," who looked seemingly well-behaved, actually had a "rebellious" heart just like him.

The two were somewhat similar, but this was not the reason Wang Zheng was willing to risk taking Fang Mu to his "secret base."

The main thing was that Wang Zheng felt an unusual temperament in Fang Mu. Behind the gentle facade was madness and danger. The other party always seemed calm and unhurried, but every question raised was pressing step by step, urgently wanting to find an answer.

Wang Zheng didn't know what answer Fang Mu was chasing, but he thought it must be something linked to the other party's life and quite dangerous.

After walking down a rather deep flight of stairs, the two arrived at a secret chamber. Wang Zheng took out matches and lit all the oil lamps around, and the full view of the secret chamber was revealed as the light enveloped it.

Ancient Books, artifacts, and other things regarded as contraband by the outside world were all placed here. Fang Mu stood in front of one of the bookshelves and discovered that there were even some manuscripts written by Wang Zheng himself on it.

He took one down, flipped through it casually, and quickly put it back. These were all articles unsuitable for publication at the moment.

"Find whatever you want to find yourself, but you can't stay too long. I'll give you at most one hour." Wang Zheng said seriously to Fang Mu, "If I disappear for too long, people outside will get suspicious."

"I understand." Fang Mu nodded and searched carefully on every bookshelf in the secret chamber. Wang Zheng pulled out a chair, sat down at the desk, picked up the open, unclosed book on the table to continue reading, and looked up at the movement on Fang Mu's side from time to time.

Thanks to Wang Zheng's classification of the books, it became very simple for Fang Mu to find books related to local folklore, religious culture, and the like. He took all the books he wanted to find from the bookshelves, then sat down next to Wang Zheng holding a stack nearly half a meter high, and began to flip through the books by the light of the kerosene lamp.

Wang Zheng glanced at the books Fang Mu had taken down, feeling a bit surprised, but he didn't ask, only offering a suggestion: "If you are interested in occultism, I recommend you look at the book called 'Night Wanderer Notes' near the far left of the third row of the second-to-last bookshelf."

Fang Mu was stunned, immediately thanked him, and then ran off to get the book.

After getting that "Night Wanderer Notes," Fang Mu flipped through a few pages and discovered that this was a translated manuscript, not the original. The person who translated the original called himself "Ye Gong," and was also an ancient person from several hundred years ago.

The original author of "Night Wanderer Notes" is unknown. It is said to have been written by a wandering Daoist based on his own experiences. It mainly recorded some magical things from all over the world, similar in nature to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" - Classic of Regions Within the Seas, only the content was more heterodox, ghostly, and mysterious.

This book might have harbored some kind of mysterious power. When Fang Mu touched it, he only felt a chill coming from the fingertips that touched the book. When he immersed himself in reading it, all his senses seemed to be frozen and numb.

Fang Mu flipped through it page by page. The first Abnormal thing recorded in the opening made Fang Mu shudder.

Zhao Nv, calling herself Zhao, name unknown. Her appearance varies from person to person, but she is always beautiful and stunning. She loves to eat all things and is keen on eating humans. She is not human; she is actually a monster of gluttony. It is rumored that she is the Daughter of Evolution and Mother Earth.

"Daughter of Evolution, Mother Earth..." Fang Mu remembered the "Goddess" mentioned by that group of unidentified people a few days ago. When he saw a special symbol depicted in the book when introducing the Abnormal thing "Zhao Nv," he immediately thought of the eerie rune on that little goat.

He confirmed it; this Zhao Nv was that "Goddess."

"This book... is the real deal." Fang Mu's heart went cold. He looked at the thickness of the book and suddenly felt incomparably desperate.

One-third the thickness of a Xinhua Dictionary... how many more terrifying secrets does this world hide?

Fang Mu continued to flip through it, getting to know one Abnormal thing after another.

East Sea Mermen, Human-Rats, Child-Snatching Bird, Maggot-Man, Yellow Sand God...

Some of the things inside Fang Mu recognized and had seen elsewhere, while others he didn't recognize, but he discovered that those "things" had actually appeared in human society.

"Found it!" Fang Mu was freezing cold from flipping through the book and exhaled a breath of cold air. When he turned to the next page, his eyes finally lit up.

Frog God, God of Weather, God of Harvest. The common people often worship and pray for favorable weather and a good harvest every year. In reality, it is one body with two sides with the Toad God...

Toad God, God of Sleep, God of Darkness, God of Wealth, God of Fertility. Resides under the mountains in the southwest, Deep Abyss Water Palace, shares a body with the Frog God...

Fang Mu greedily absorbed the text knowledge on it, hoping to find out more about them. It would be best if he could find a way to get rid of their Blessing.

"Those who receive the Blessing of the Toad-Frog God must offer sacrifices and worship with their own possessions daily. The toads and frogs of the world will supervise the Blessed Person as Toad-Frog Messengers. Those who do not offer sacrifices and worship on time will suffer the wrath of the Toad-Frog..." Fang Mu read silently in his heart, and suddenly felt a pair of eyes appear within his field of vision.

Glancing over, Fang Mu realized that Wang Zheng had somehow leaned his face over, his eyes staring straight at Fang Mu.

"Teacher... Teacher Wang, what are you looking at?" Fang Mu moved away from the other party a bit and gave a dry laugh.

Wang Zheng did not answer this question. Watching Fang Mu's strange expression, he said, "You are looking for information about the Frog God, aren't you?"

"... Yes." Fang Mu did not deny it.

Wang Zheng was thoughtful, "I also know some things about the Frog God that are not in this book. Do you want to hear them?"

"Please speak." Fang Mu nodded.

Wang Zheng said: "Legend has it that the Frog God's true form came from Zhenxing, and then split into two bodies. The side symbolizing desire resides in the place of the deep abyss, called the Toad God, while the other side wanders between dreams, called the Frog God. Since the Toad God and the Frog God share one body, in fact, when you pray for a Blessing from the Frog God, you are also worshipping the Toad God at the same time. By the same token, when you offer sacrifices to the Toad God, you are actually also seeking a Blessing from the Frog God."

Hearing this, Fang Mu's face immediately stiffened. No wonder in his previous life he clearly stayed away from the Toad God and stayed away from areas prone to flooding, yet he still couldn't escape the flood in the end. It turned out that when he angered the Toad God, he had also angered the Frog God at the same time.

Twenty years later, that flood that swept through Yanping City... was it actually brought on by him? Fang Mu felt heavy in his heart.

"Almost every period of time, a 'Blessed Person' will appear. Because this Blessed Person receives the attention of the Toad-Frog God, the Blessed Person's prayers to them are more easily heard by them, and thus more easily realized." The look in Wang Zheng's eyes as he looked at Fang Mu gradually became a bit strange. It was the kind of look Fang Mu had seen in the old village chief of Wenya Tun in his previous life; it had a sense of respect, but also greedy desire.

Wang Zheng narrowed his eyes and said: "Therefore, the 'Blessed Person' is called a God's Messenger by us. At the annual worship ceremony, we will push the God's Messenger onto the altar to preside, and he will act as our representative to pray to the Toad-Frog God. Almost as long as the God's Messenger is willing, almost any wish can be realized, even such eerie things as a virgin birth can be achieved."

Speaking of this, Wang Zheng suddenly revealed a somewhat eerie smile, "Fang Sen, is there a reason you are so concerned about the Blessing of the Toad-Frog God?"

Hearing the other party's words, Fang Mu also grinned a fake smile, "Such a good thing as having wishes realized, I want that too. I really hope to meet one. I wonder if Teacher Wang knows how to distinguish whether a person has received the Blessing of the Toad-Frog God?"

"People who have received the Blessing of the Toad-Frog God all have one common characteristic: they are easily favored by toad and frog-like creatures. The places they frequent will always have those toads and frogs appearing." Wang Zheng laughed.

Fang Mu fell silent. No wonder in his previous life, in the vegetable markets near every place he lived, there would always be inexplicably many more people selling toads and frogs, which directly led to the price of toads and frogs on the market falling again and again. So it turns out this was also sent by him.

Croak...

Fang Mu's muscles tensed all over; while locking eyes with Wang Zheng, he heard a frog croak, and the source of that sound was right behind Fang Mu.

Fang Mu turned his head to look, only to be shocked to discover that, at some unknown time, a toad covered in bumps and protrusions had crawled out into the secret room, and the toad's eyes, which were extremely human-like, were staring straight at him.

"Hehe... how could there be a toad here?" Fang Mu asked with a dry laugh.

Wang Zheng: "I don't know either, hehe."

Fang Mu fell silent, then stood up, took this copy of "Night Wanderer Notes," and said, "I would like to borrow this book for a while." He secretly reached toward his waist; he had long since tucked a wrench into his waistband in advance, having already prepared the thought of knocking the person unconscious at any moment and snatching the book away.

As long as Wang Zheng did not agree, he would not hesitate to pull out the wrench and smash it down onto the other person's head.

"Of course you can." Unexpectedly, Wang Zheng agreed so readily, then stood up and said, "It just so happens that the time is about right; we should head out."

Fang Mu did not know what Wang Zheng was thinking at this moment, but he still thanked the other party.

Leaving the secret room and returning to the Yanping University Tushuguan, under Wang Zheng's lead, the two of them successfully left the school.

"Fang Sen, where are you staying tonight?" Wang Zheng suddenly became hospitable, and after exiting the school gate, he had no intention of letting Fang Mu go immediately.

Fang Mu was extremely vigilant and lied, "No need, I already have a place to stay around here."

"Do you want me to take you?"

"Big Brother, you don't even have a car, how are you going to take me?" Fang Mu felt a chill; could it be that this Teacher Wang wanted to escort him on foot? This was the kind of thing only couples in the heat of love would do.

Wang Zheng: "It's fine, I don't mind the trouble."

"Thanks, but I do, so there's no need." Fang Mu directly rejected Wang Zheng's proposal.

Wang Zheng felt a bit regretful, but his ulterior motives remained, "Where are you staying?"

Of course, it was impossible for Fang Mu to tell the other party where he was staying; he directly blurted out a random hotel he had seen on the way to Yanping University, along with a room number. Wang Zheng seemed to actually believe it and even indicated that he would come to visit if he had the time.

Fang Mu outwardly gave a warm welcome, but inwardly he was pondering whether he should just leave Yanping City while it was dark today.

After spending quite a bit of effort making excuses, Fang Mu finally found an opportunity to shake off Wang Zheng's pestering.

He thought that Wang Zheng had likely guessed that he was a Blessed Person and was very certain that the rumors about those Blessed Persons' wishes coming true were all real, and perhaps the other party wanted to use him to achieve some wish.

Fang Mu did not believe that those wishes came without a price; there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, especially in the hands of Alien Gods like the Toad God.