CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: LORD OF UNDERGROUND_1

Lu Yuan was closing his eyes, intently filtering information in his mind.

At this moment, he heard someone calling him again.

"Hello, hello..."

Lu Yuan opened his eyes to find it was the slim girl from before who claimed to be a librarian.

"What’s up?" Lu Yuan asked.

"There’s a free machine over there now. You can use it again," the girl kindly reminded him.

Lu Yuan glanced towards the book search station. Sure enough, it was vacant. He thanked the girl and was about to head over and occupy it again.

However, just as he got up and before he had taken even two steps, the slim girl stopped him.

"Excuse me, are you looking for books related to religion?" the girl asked, a little awkwardly. "I was standing next to you just now and unintentionally saw your search."

Lu Yuan was taken aback. Considering the girl was a librarian, she might be able to help him sort things out. So, he didn’t hide anything and simply nodded. "Yes, I want to find some information about a religion. But I’ve forgotten its exact name. I only remember a few keywords..."

A look of helplessness crossed Lu Yuan’s face.

"Can you tell me roughly what they are?" A hint of curiosity glinted in the girl’s eyes.

This was just what Lu Yuan had hoped for. He told the girl all the clues he knew.

"It starts with a word sounding like ’Fan’ or related to Sanskrit, it’s connected to rats, and it’s likely an ancient religion with evil-leaning doctrines..."

The slim girl murmured the key points Lu Yuan had mentioned, nodded, and quickly said, "Wait a moment, let me ask my senior. He majors in ancient religion research and is familiar with this library. Maybe he’ll know..."

Then, her cheeks reddening slightly, she added, "Actually, I’m just filling in for someone today..."

Without waiting for Lu Yuan to thank her, she took out her phone and quickly ran off to the side to send a message.

Lu Yuan didn’t dwell on it and continued his filtering work at the book search station.

He was still in the midst of this needle-in-a-haystack search when the slim girl who had offered to help returned, running back hastily to report good news.

"My senior replied! Look!" With bright eyes, the girl handed him her phone.

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then took the phone.

On the screen was a series of chat messages. He focused on one particular reply from her senior:

"...I can only think of three that meet your requirements right now. Show these to him and see which one he’s looking for..."

Below that, a large amount of information was listed.

Lu Yuan was stunned and quite surprised. He hadn’t expected the slim girl to actually find something helpful.

Judging by this response from her senior, he seems quite professional, Lu Yuan thought. With such a professional narrowing down the search, his efficiency would undoubtedly be much higher.

Lu Yuan felt revitalized. Wasting no time, he immediately began searching on the book search station for the names of the three sects her senior had sent.

The first religious name that met Lu Yuan’s criteria was—the "Brahman-leading Sect."

It was an evil sect active last century in a small country in the central part of the Northern Hemisphere. It had once caused a massive rat plague that spread across several countries.

Lu Yuan found research books related to the Brahman-leading Sect. Before he could even speak, the slim girl proactively ran off to fetch these books for him one by one.

His only task then was to flip through the materials and perform the follow-up confirmation.

This step was actually quite simple, relying on one main method—language!

Lu Yuan compared the pronunciation of the languages used by these sects at the time with the speech patterns of the rat man from his memory to determine if he had found his target.

After nearly twenty minutes of work, Lu Yuan closed the last relevant book.

"How is it? Is this the one?" the slim girl asked, her gaze hopeful.

Under her expectant gaze, Lu Yuan shook his head in disappointment. "No, it’s not."

"Ah..." A look of deep disappointment also crossed the girl’s face.

Lu Yuan noticed the girl’s bangs were damp with sweat, her usually airy fringe now clumped together. He then recalled that in the past twenty minutes, she had run back and forth to the borrowing area at least seven or eight times. The stack of books piled beside him had mostly been brought by her.

These books were not light; most of them were thick, heavy volumes.

For a girl, it must have been incredibly exhausting, he thought, feeling a pang of guilt. He quickly tried to console her, "It’s okay. If we can’t find it, we can’t find it."

"How about... I help you ask some other people later?" The girl tilted her head, pondering for a moment, then said, "You can record the pronunciation of those words you know and send it to me. I also know a few seniors who major in ancient languages... Let’s exchange contact information. My name is Cheng Yue. What’s yours?"

With that, she casually took her phone out of her pocket.

Although surprised by the extent of her kindness, Lu Yuan found no reason to refuse.

"My name is Lu Yuan. I’ll scan yours..."

Just as Lu Yuan was about to scan to add her contact information, BEEP—

A new message notification popped up on her phone screen.

Cheng Yue picked it up, took a look, and exclaimed, "Oh!"

"My senior texted me again! He said he just thought of another one that fits your criteria... But it’s not a sect, it’s a person." Cheng Yue read aloud while handing her phone to Lu Yuan.

"A person?" Lu Yuan blinked and took Cheng Yue’s phone.

The screen displayed a newly received message which read:

"...There’s another one that fits all the criteria he mentioned. But it’s a person... or more precisely, the name of a God. Passed down since the White Mountain Era, an ancient Evil God once widely worshipped by the early inhabitants of the Ancient Donglunsa region, now the eastern part of the Distant Star League—the Lord of Underground. Fantuyas!"

Lu Yuan gazed at the message, momentarily struck still, a glint flickering in his eyes.

After a moment, he returned the phone to Cheng Yue and said calmly, "I think this time, it should be correct."

...

"Dad, now that you’ve recovered, don’t go back. Just stay here with us. In a couple of days, let Xinghua take you to get your things..."

When Lu Yuan arrived home with a stack of books, he found that his grandfather, Lu Yueping, had already been discharged from the hospital. He was sitting in the shop, chatting with Lu Yuan’s mother.

"Grandpa!" Lu Yuan called out, a hint of joy in his voice.

Lu Yueping quickly stood up, smiling, and waved him over. "Yuan is back! Come, come, we were just waiting for you for dinner."

Lu Yueping seemed very sprightly today. Lu Yuan could clearly feel that his grandfather’s grip on his arm was much stronger than last time.

He seemed to be recovering well.

"It’s only been a few days since I last saw you, and you’ve grown so much sturdier! Good, good..." Lu Yueping said, looking Lu Yuan up and down with a broad smile, as if he couldn’t get enough of the sight.

After exchanging a few words, his mother, Zheng Qiuling, urged the grandfather and grandson upstairs for dinner.

Lunch was naturally cooked by Lu Xinghua. Eight dishes and one soup.

Though it was supposedly to celebrate Lu Yueping’s discharge from the hospital, most of it ended up in Lu Yuan’s stomach. At the table, Lu Yueping kept piling food onto Lu Yuan’s plate, eating very little himself.

After lunch, Lu Xinghua received a call and hurried out.

Lu Yuan stayed in the living room, watching TV and chatting with Lu Yueping, until his grandfather felt drowsy and went to his room for an afternoon nap. Only then did Lu Yuan finally get the chance to retreat to his room and properly study the books he had borrowed from the library that morning.

"Exploring Medieval Mysteries: The Lord of Underground, Fantuyas"

"Self-learning Introduction to Ancient Dudor Language"

"A Comprehensive Dictionary of Ten Ancient Minor Languages"

...