The Library of Damp Universes and the Scream of the Laughing God

The Sea That Reads Itself

After seven days sailing through cloud seas, their ghost ship plunged into an ocean of blue ink. Waves carried fragmented words:

"And rain... washes... sins...

...but mud... remains..."

Yi Bao leapt onto the ship's edge: "The Tianlu Water Library! Realm of Taoist harmony! Here the cosmos stores its manuscripts!"

Suddenly, a gigantic hand-shaped cloud seized them! The ship shattered. They fell into the ink-ocean... yet didn't drown. The ink carried them like floating pages.

Yue Yan touched the "water": "Words... are seeping into my skin!"

Blue Chinese characters crawled up her arm: "Madness is the gateway... Wisdom the prison."

Lin Xiu dunked his head in the ink and emerged laughing:

"Knowledge tastes... salty as a forgotten author's tears!"

Spirits of Shifting Shelves

They materialized in an endless hall. Floating wooden shelves stretched to the horizon, holding:

Scrolls breathing like living creatures

Books rewriting their titles every second

Stones carved with gods' dreams

Paper creatures made of rice paper swept the floor with water-hands. One halted:

"You... lack entry permits." Its voice rustled like turning pages.

Before they could respond, the shelves moved! Forming labyrinthine tiers. From the stacks emerged a man in robes of dried leaves, his eyes glass lenses.

"I am Liang, the 47th Librarian. The Library rejects you... because one of you bears seeds of discord."

He stared at Lin Xiu's pocket where the madness seeds hid.

The Liquid Diamond Book

Liang pushed his hands forward. A massive book of liquid diamond unfolded mid-air. Its pages revealed:

Yue Yan as a child weeping over a frost-phoenix corpse

Yi Bao as a celestial priest signing a contract in blood

Lin Xiu in a golden cage while a three-eyed monk was slain outside

Yue Yan attacked! An icy gale surged... but the book swallowed it, transforming it into text: "Cold fury deepens thirst."

Yi Bao jumped: "That's the 'Chronicle of Drawn Fates'! It reads our destinies!"

Liang turned a page: "Merely proving your existence... is a typographical error!"

The next page showed Zu Lan in a dark tower, tearing open his chest to reveal a black hole-shaped seal.

"The final gambit... 'Sky Sundering'! He's freeing the primordial Guiyi!" Yue Yan cried.

Forbidden Seeds of Madness

Lin Xiu crouched on the "floor" of floating words. He drew out two madness seeds:

Heavenly Seal Seed (glowing black)

Frost-Phoenix Seed (frozen blue)

"You claimed the Library rejects seeds?" Liang smiled. "Let's test that."

He pushed the diamond book toward the seeds.

Suddenly, the seeds exploded!

The black seed sprouted a forest of shadows speaking with Zu Lan's voice

The blue seed birthed an ice ocean screaming with Yue Yan's mother's voice

The Library trembled. Shelves aligned like soldiers. Liang shouted: "Cease! You shatter order!"

But Lin Xiu leapt into the shadow-forest:

"Madness is the only tongue chaos understands!"

Battle of Logic and Chaos

Liang raised his hands. Flying books formed missile barrages:

"Laws of Eternal Taoism" → shattered against Zu Lan's shadow

"Hymns of Discipline" → melted into the ice sea

Yi Bao vaulted onto a high shelf: "Look closer, Librarian! This isn't chaos—it's unfettered truth!"

Golden light burst from his eyes, revealing Zu Lan's shadow as a thread tethered to the Library's far wall!

Yue Yan followed the thread with her ice-sword. She severed it!

The shadow collapsed... revealing a hidden door engraved: "Hall of Forbidden Tomes."

Liang fell to his knees: "How... how did the ape see that?!"

Lin Xiu wiped ink from his brow: "Because he remembers being a scribe!"

Hall of Primal Illusions

They entered. Here, books were chained with starlight. At the center sat a giant spinning wheel weaving liquid-gold threads.

At the wheel sat a three-eyed elder nun transcribing scrolls—the very priestess from Lin Xiu's memories!

"Matron Qing!" Yi Bao cried. "High priestess of the temple where Lin Xiu was stolen!"

Matron Qing lifted her head. Her third eye opened:

"At last... you return, my mad child." She gazed at Lin Xiu. "And Zu Lan... nears the cage's breaking."

She pointed to a heavily chained book: "The Cosmos' Original Records."

"This tome hides Guiyi's secret... and why Tiangu was cast from heaven."

Forbidden Dance of Shattered Chains

Suddenly, the wheel's threads snapped! Darkness seeped from corners. Zu Lan's voice echoed:

"Thank you... for guiding me to order's heart!"

A shadow-hand erupted to seize the book!

Yue Yan attacked with frost... but darkness devoured her energy.

Yi Bao leapt... yet the Tiangu Seal on his chest dimmed.

Lin Xiu stepped forward. Not with blade or seal—but with a dance.

He spun around the wheel, footsteps etching mad symbols:

Hopping on one foot

Whirling like a typhoon

Singing of chickens flying to the moon

Matron Qing laughed and joined him! Her movements flowed like ancient ritual.

"The Chain-Shattering Dance!" Yi Bao shouted. "Legends say gods were born from this chaos!"

The book's chains began cracking!

Who Is Yi Bao?

Golden light blazed from Yi Bao's eyes. The book opened itself!

Its page showed:

Tiangu (Heavenly Devil) enthroned in fire

Gods dragging him to prison with chains

A small monkey-tailed god tossing a flower to Tiangu... whose tears smiled

Matron Qing nodded:

"That small god... is Yi Bao. Deity of humor and creative chaos. His laughter was Tiangu's last sight before imprisonment... becoming part of his seal!"

Yi Bao trembled: "I forgot myself... to help those who forgot laughter!"

Zu Lan materialized, grabbing the book: "But the seal is broken now... and chaos freed!"

He tore the page!

Crumbling Walls of Reality

The torn page became a rift in reality:

Books burned into talking ash

Floor melted into convulsing letters

Ceiling collapsed as shredded pages

Zu Lan levitated, half his body now a horned beast:

"The Sixth Gambit completes! Now... I sunder heaven itself!"

Yue Yan tried freezing him... but her powers vaporized.

Lin Xiu lunged at the rift, clutching his last madness seed:

"If you break heaven... who'll laugh at your awful jokes?"

He hurled the seed into the rift.

A colossal tree erupted:

Roots of darkness

Trunk of moonlight

Fruit of... tiny clocks ticking random rhythms!

The rift began healing around the tree!

Zu Lan screamed: "No!!" and tried uprooting it...

But Yi Bao leapt onto a branch. Golden light engulfed the tree:

"Fool! Chaos isn't defeated by order... but by lovelier chaos!"

His light struck Zu Lan... triggering hysterical laughter!

"What... did you do?!" Zu Lan choked between laughs.

"That's Tiangu's laughter! His final gift!"

Zu Lan fell through the melting floor.

The Library Without Walls

The collapse ceased. The great tree anchored the "floor" of letters.

Matron Qing wiped away tears: "The Library is destroyed... but knowledge is freed."

Burnt books flew like ash-phoenixes.

Yue Yan asked: "Where did Zu Lan go?"

Liang lifted a charred book: "He fell into the 'Gap Between Lines'... where no laws exist."

Lin Xiu sat on a root, scribbling on paper:

"Now... the Library is everywhere!"

The page flew to join the book-flock.

Yi Bao studied his hands. His golden light faded... but he felt an ancient memory:

"Once... I was a small god afraid of silence."

Matron Qing beckoned: "Come... the world needs new chaos-keepers."

They walked toward horizon-light...

But Lin Xiu paused. On the trunk he saw childish graffiti:

"Lin Xiu was here... with his master."

Below it: a three-eyed monk playing with a child and broom.

"Finally... I remember your face." Lin Xiu whispered.

And the broken Library breathed around them like a newborn creature.