"No," the old man said as he slammed the book on the table. "Do you guys even know how dangerous it is? How am I going to face your parents if something happens to you guys"
We all stood in line, looking at each other. "But it's important for us to go," Wen said with a calm and sweet voice.
"But you all know it's dangerous; it is an inescapable maze."
"We need to go," Lili said with a firm voice. She is a girl who always smiles, but when she gets serious, it's definitely an important matter.
"Don't be stubborn." The old man answered.
"Grandfather, we know you care about us, but we really need to go," Wen said, looking directly into the old man's eyes with a pitiful look.
Lili thought for a second then spoke up, "And thinking about it, you, grandmother, and grandfather, have also gone to one of these kinds of places. And I remember clearly you were also teenagers." She hit his nerve.
The old man took a sip of his tea, sighed, and then looked at us. "I will give you guys one week to rethink your decision and to prepare yourselves for all the challenges that are going to come. Remember, this is no easy task, so think carefully before you all make any decision."
Everyone smiled happily and looked at each other.
"But when we went to that place, we had a leader to lead us, so in your team who is going to be the leader?" the old man asked as he sat on the couch.
"Hun?" the three of them said together in unison.
The leader, the one who will take the responsibility for this mission, will be held accountable. If something happens, that person will be responsible and will have to explain it to your parents.
I was silent and was reading the book that the old man had thrown on the table. I was waiting for Wen to take a step ahead for this responsibility, but suddenly, I felt many people's gaze boring into me.
When I looked up, I found that all my teammates had taken a step back, putting me in front—betrayers.
"So, YuYu is going to be the leader," the old man said as he sipped his tea.
"No, I am not," I said firmly.
"Why is that? Any particular reason?"
"Because I don't think I am suitable to be the leader, Wen is a better choice than me."
"Who said that?" Lili said with a sulking voice.
The old man stood up and walked towards me.
"I don't know why you think that you are not suitable for this, but just look around you. They all trust you, and you should respect that. Don't you trust them?"
"I don't even trust myself."
"Hey!?" they all said together and suddenly started laughing. Strange human beings.
"At a time like this, you should say, 'I trust them more than anyone like this,'" Yi said, making an unrealistic voice. I don't sound like that.
"That's the truth," I said, and they all sighed together.
"Anyways, you will be the leader," Wen said as he put his hand on my shoulder. His eyes were sparkling and shining, just like Mother's.
"I have a way by which you will know if you're suitable for this job or not."
"What way?"
"You need to go to Qingzhi's house library and read books from there. They will be beneficial for you guys. Read as much as possible. And after leaving from here, distribute the work between each other, remember to do it properly.
Even if that old thug lets you read one page from his library, that solely proves that you're reliable for this role."
I don't know what he wanted to say, but I was sure there was definitely some particular reason for him sending me to the enemy territory. We discussed it with each other, then distributed the work among each other. And we came to one conclusion: that I would get all the information from the library, and the three of them would get material and equipment.
"Why should I let you read my books?" Mr. Qingzhi said as he closed the book he was reading.
Mr. Qingzhi's libraries were famous for their books, but the most famous one was the library in his own house. The books here contain confidential information and knowledge. Everything we want to know can be provided here.
"What do you want from us in exchange?" Yi said as he was looking around the library.
"What can you guys even offer?" he scoffed.
Wen smiled and answered, "Whatever you want."
Mr. Qingzhi thought for a second, then walked towards us, "Let's see... Zhengyu, why don't you call me 'grandpa'?"
Lili frowned and asked, "Call you what?"
"Grandpa," he said again with a smile.
It has been twelve years since I have called anyone grandfather. After that incident, I have never called anyone by that title, not even my own grandfather.
"You used to call me that when you were a child; just call me it again."
Everyone turned towards me. There was no other way. Only books from this library can tell us about that village. Otherwise, we might get into a dangerous situation if we enter that village without any knowledge.
"27th March, hotel blue wave room no. 420 times 12-" "Do whatever you guys want to do," he interrupted me. "Remember, books from that shelf might be enough. You have one week to read as much as you can and forget about that thing. It's already late. I'm going to my room so I don't disturb my rest."
He quickly left from there without even looking back. I turned to look for the book until Lili stopped me.
"What was that? What's that secret that he let us take all the authority for the library?"
"I guess it's not important for now, let's get back to work. We don't have much time." They didn't pressure me to answer and got to work. Because the equipment and some material were hard to get, that's why Lili, Wen, and Yi had to leave to purchase them. They all left for different places.
I also started reading books as much as I could. The more I read, the more things I got to know. The things were more dangerous than we thought.
One week passed in the blink of an eye.
"You read all of this?" As soon as I heard a familiar voice, I looked down from the ladder to see Mr. Qingzhi standing near it. I just nodded at the question.
"I told you to read only that shelf's books, but it looks like you're planning to read all the books in this library."
As I heard his comment, I looked around. I have already read half the library books. "They were interesting." I answered.
"In just seven days you have already read so many books, isn't that abnormal, to you Zheng?"
"There are 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, and 604,800 seconds in a week, so it's quite a lot of time, Sir."
He just simply smiled like a maniac who just found something interesting.
"Zhengyu, have you ever wondered why only you were the one who is alive or safe and sound here today, but everyone else from that day has died or has disappeared?"
"Make it short, will you?"
"As expected from you, always to the point, just like your-" he stopped himself and put on a gentle smile. "Anyways, the only thing I can say is think before you go for this mission. Once you enter this puzzle you can't walk away from this, finishing it is the only way out."