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nAfter sending away Wilde, Lin Jie pulled out a book from the shelves, The Interpretation of Dreams, and began to browse through it.

nThis book was one of Freud’s famous works as well as a groundbreaking piece on psychoanalysis.

nAs an unorthodox work published in an era way behind its time, many of the theories were discredited by scientists and caused a great deal of dispute.

nNow, he was rereading this book to view it from a different line of thought and reasoning.

nThe theory in this book suggests that dreams were the unconscious desires and stimuli from childhood memories.

nDreams were also a truthful exchange between a person and his heart as well as the process of learning from himself.

nLin Jie had read this book before but he now wanted to do a little revision because of the recent dream he had.

nAs he browsed for a bit, Lin Jie felt idle and wondered if he should grab other relevant books to read as well.

nAt this time, the door to the bookstore was pushed open.

nHmm? Are there winds of fortune blowing? Why are customers coming one after another?

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nBut thinking of it, this change seemed to occur on the day Old Wil gave me that stone gargoyle.

nCould it be that besides warding away ill-fortune and evil, it also has fengshui properties of inviting wealth?

nTL note: Fengshui is the practice of Chinese geomancy. It claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with surrounding environment

nTsk, just borrowing books would do. Why give me a local specialty?

nThis makes me even busier than before and I’m even frequently being interrupted from my reading.

nThis… this is simply un…refusable! Bring on more troubles!

nLin Jie put down the book in his hand and put on his professional smile as he glanced over. “Welcome! Would you be borrowing, reading, or buying books? Also, feel free to ask if you have any queries.”

n“Can I really ask any question?” The lady that entered had a voice that was both gentle and pleasant.

nFrom what Lin Jie saw, this new customer’s nice and gentle appearance matched her voice.

nFair skin, blueish jade eyes, and a head of luxuriant gold hair gave her an air of astounding beauty. The entire gloomy bookstore seemed to light up with her appearance.

nLin Jie’s gaze lingered on her ear. The pair of sharp, long ears definitely captured his attention.

nHis eyes continued downwards and noticed she was wearing a lengthy and white gown, its many layers of creases reminding Lin Jie of the togas that ancient Romans wore.

nOn a whole, she seemed just like a beautiful and graceful elf that had mistakenly wandered into a mundane world.

nCould… could this be…

nA cosplay with a high degree of originality?

nLin Jie was pleasantly surprised and even felt a wave of ‘nostalgia’.

nThe activity of cosplaying was very common back on Earth that dated back to the times of ancient wandering minstrels putting on plays for the public.

nAnd in the current era, cosplay thrived thanks to anime, movies, and games.

nHowever, in Azir, this aspect wasn’t really developed despite there being a television and entertainment industry. Furthermore, it lacked an even more important hub for subculture nor leaders.

nCosplay here was still stuck in the primitive stage of ‘masquerades and costumes.’

nWanting to see accomplished levels of cosplay was really difficult. However, this customer before Lin Jie actually had a rather excellent standard.

nHer makeup was on point and she even had the remarkable air of nobility that an elf ought to have.

nFor a moment, Lin Jie even thought that an actual elf was standing in front of him. Moreover, in this heavy rainstorm, a beautiful, blue-eyed, golden-haired elf entering the bookstore was like a scene from a fairytale.

nImpressive indeed, young miss.

nBut of course, it was life-like and that was all to it.

nA normal person like Lin Jie definitely wouldn’t think that it was an actual elf standing before him.

nAfter all, would an actual elf strut around a large city like Norzin without any worries about being captured and put on display as a rare specimen?

nNevertheless, Lin Jie found the type of question posed by this young miss somewhat familiar.

nUpon further pondering, Lin Jie realized that this seemed like the sort of question asked by Melissa… the zealous bratty kid whom he had recommended a half-set of Five-Threes not too long ago.

nAt that time, Melissa had asked, “Can you really help with anything?” In the end, that kid’s suggestion made Lin Jie understand that there were some customers that were indeed unruly and wanting to cause trouble.

nThat was also the reason why Lin Jie changed from asking “Can I help you with anything”, to “Feel free to ask if you have any queries”.

nDon’t tell me I’ve to reapply the same trick again today?

nPreviously, that brat contentedly left with half a set of Five-Threes. I wonder what sort of harvest will I get today?

nLin Jie carried a budding sense of anticipation as he maintained his smile. “Of course. As long as it is within the bookstore’s operations.”

nDuring this time, Doris had also been scrutinizing Lin Jie.

nDoris didn’t have on any disguise but she had concealed her presence beforehand.

nIn her opinion, since this bookstore owner was omniscient, he would certainly be aware that she was coming over to seek him out. And he would at least know that an elf was coming.

nIf he revealed any shock in his expression and didn’t even know this, it would mean that he wasn’t truly omniscient but a mere swindler.

nPrior to this, Doris had expected the bookstore owner’s reaction to be either one of calm or astonishment.

nHowever, she never imagined that the look in his eyes would be one of pleasant surprise, admiration as well as… reminiscence and affirmation?

nBeing pleasantly surprised and revealing admiration was still somewhat reasonable.

nSince he didn’t seem much too astonished at the arrival of an elf, it had to be said that he had already anticipated this.

nBack then, even a hunter like Ji Zhixiu was astonished when she opened her eyes and saw Doris.

nHowever, what was strange were the sentiments of reminiscence and recognition.

nDoris was rather familiar with this sort of reminiscence because only beings with longevity would have such deep sense of reminiscence that transcended time.

nHowever, the one before her was clearly a human.

nEven more dubious was the affirmation… As if it was the affirmation an elder had towards young ones.

nWhat could make a human gaze at an elf in such a manner?

nDoris surveyed the surroundings, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary besides the stone gargoyle sculpture. Thus, she continued using the aether to probe out the entire bookstore, including the bookstore owner himself.

nHe was practically just an ordinary person…

nBut as Doris smiled sweetly and made her way to the counter while still harboring doubts, her pupils suddenly contracted as she got close and saw the owner’s appearance.

nEven though he looked ordinary, if one was sharp enough, they would realize that this young man had teeth that were more tightly packed than most people.

nWithout a doubt.

nDoris believed that she hadn’t perceived wrongly.

nAccording to the degree of density, this bookstore owner had full forty teeth.

nThis wasn’t a disease nor was it fabricated. This was definitely something that violated the physiology of humankind.

nHe was definitely human!

nBut she had no way of determining what sort of entity he was at the moment…

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n“As long as it’s within the bookstore’s operations…”

nDoris repeated this once and suddenly felt enlightened.

nIf the bookstore owner really possessed an all-knowing power as what that hunter mentioned, then perhaps being confined to the bookstore was the price he had to pay?

nAn unknown and ancient entity with the appearance of a human, possessing longevity and great power. However he was trapped in a small corner and hidden beneath the ordinary.

nThen, surely, someone like him would have once known a certain entity of the Iris Clan?

nWhile deep in thought, Doris suddenly sensed an aetheric flow. There was a primordial aura coming from the second floor of the bookstore!

nThis was…

nPrimordial Witch Lady Silver’s aura! The name etched into the soul of the Iris Clan was shaking!

nHer dream realm is here!

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