(a)

When Alice arrives in the library, it is crowded with fairy maids. The little winged ones carried books that were too large and heavy for them, and hurried through the shelves as tall as the buildings, like industrious worker bees. They were busy sorting the new books into categories and stuffing them into the corresponding shelves.

Alice made her way through the rows of bookshelves and the busy leprechauns to the long table where Pache Noreki was. At this time, Patchouli was standing at the table with her waist crossed, giving orders to the little goblins in front of her. Behind her, several carts full of books were parked.

"Hey, Patchoule!" Alice greeted with a smile, "have you dug up King Solomon's treasure?"

"Almost, right?"

Pache took the fairy maids away, turned to Alice, and said:

"These are the books I scavenged from Radu III's lair, and they are quite good in terms of quality and quantity. ”

"Huh, that guy's book......"

Alice thought for a moment, and then said:

"Speaking of which, you have counted all the books one by one?"

"Of course. ”

With that, Patchouli picked up a notebook from the table and handed it to Alice.

"Here's the list of books, sorted by category. She added, "I wouldn't add a book to my collection that I didn't fully understand." ”

"It's a 'big library that doesn't move'......"

Alice nodded and sighed as she flipped through the neatly written and clearly entered list. Based on the small print on the index bookmark, Alice quickly found a sub-directory under the category "Magic Books", "Spiritism Magic Books".

She glanced quickly at the dense bibliography, and finally locked her gaze on one of them.

"The Book of Soul Transfer Techniques;"

"Category: Spellbook/Psychic/Forbidden Spell/Implantable;"

"Author: unknown;"

"Synopsis: A magic book that records the magic of soul transfer, and all the knowledge in the book is forcibly implanted in the brain when reading, regardless of whether the reader can accept it or not. Therefore, reading this book has a certain risk of mental injury and physical brain injury, and special attention should be paid to it. The magic itself is the author's own magic, which has not been fully experimented and adjusted, and the magic that involves manipulating, modifying, erasing, and creating souls is not allowed, so you must learn and use the magic in this book at your own risk. ”

"That's it. ”

Alice tapped the paper of the list with the knuckle of her index finger, and a hint of joy rose between her eyebrows.

Now, she's really looking for the right person.

After returning to Gensokyo from this life, the contents of the magic book she read on the yacht on Sado Island always appeared in front of her from time to time, lingering. At the time, though, the feeling of consciousness being forcibly tampered with by the power of magic was really uncomfortable and confusing. The magical knowledge floated in her mind like a broken puzzle, and although she had memorized it completely, she could never understand the mystery of it.

She thought she would never be able to comprehend the knowledge, but as time went on, she gradually sorted it out and digested it. From a few nouns, to a few concepts, to key theories, the chaotic puzzle pieces were put together by her piece by piece. In the end, what was presented to her was a ......

Mutilated images.

The truth is that while on the boat, she was interrupted by Reimu and was unable to read the entire book. This was a kind of luck in her eyes at the time, but now it is a pity.

During this time, the second half of the book that she could not read was always entangled in her heart, making her think about it all night and night, and she could not sleep peacefully. So she came here, to this great underground library, to inquire about the origin and whereabouts of the unfinished magic book. She didn't expect to find it directly, but the reality was always unexpected.

"This book," Alice said, pressing the title with her thumb, handing the notebook back to Patchouli, "can you lend it to me?"

Patchouli took the notebook and glanced down at the name of the book she was referring to, frowning subconsciously.

"Fifth District, fifth row of bookshelf 17, do you need help?" she said, looking up at Alice.

"Don't bother you, I'll just pick it up myself. ”

Alice looked overjoyed and smiled brightly. Seeing her like this, Pachuary's brow tightened even deeper.

"I have no intention of ruining your interest, Alice. But, as your friend, I need to say a few more words. "It's good to be inquisitive, but not everything should be learned. Some things are better buried deep so that they never see the light of day. ”

"Hehe," Alice laughed, "you're overthinking, Patchouli. ”

"I knew what I was going to touch. She continued, "I'm also very aware of the price I'm going to pay, and the risks I might take, and to be honest, I'm not afraid. ”

"Hey—"

Hearing her say this, Patchui sighed, and her furrowed brow slowly relaxed.

"Since you say so, then I'm embarrassed to stop you anymore. "Good luck!" said Patchouli.

"Lend you good words. ”

Alice tugged at the corners of her skirt, bowed her head, and then turned around and stepped into the sea of books.

Pache watched her disappear behind the bookshelf, turned her back, and sighed softly.

(b)

"The whole world, by and large, can be divided into two parts, the part that exists, and the part that does not exist. Simply put, your body belongs to the former and your soul belongs to the latter. ”

"The spells described in this book are forbidden spells that separate the soul from the body and store it in different containers. There is no mandatory requirement that the living thing can be used as a container, but it is important to pay special attention to the fact that the soul that is stripped out must be the soul of the living in its entirety. ”

Alice strolled leisurely through the Enchanted Forest, enjoying the quiet and beautiful afternoon, the light, which had lost its temperature and sprinkled on her hair, gleaming with dazzling golden light.

She was mentally reviewing what she had learned from that book in the past few days. Unlike the time she was on the ship, this time, her reading and comprehension progressed quickly, safely, and exceptionally smoothly, probably because the foundation had been laid.

As a magician, Alice can devote herself to her studies without sleep, food or drink when necessary, and in fact, she does just that. It took her a few days to thoroughly absorb and digest this knowledge, and the moment she closed the book, she only felt enlightened and enlightened.

"The anonymous man who wrote this book, whoever he is...... Alice thought to herself, "he's a genius, a super genius." ”

"As long as the soul is transferred to a new vessel before death, one can transcend the cycle of birth and death and reach the state of immortality. Moreover, as long as this spell is used, it seems that the 'perfect puppet', which only exists in theory, can be expected. ”

Alice thought happily, and took a look at the doll she had brought with her today—it was her favorite of all the dolls.

The little guy was about the size of two palms, with waist-length blond hair, a blue coat and a white apron, and a big bow tied at the back of his head. Its delicate and delicate facial features look like Alice in her childhood, but unfortunately, there is no life in its eyes, and at a glance it is a dead thing without a soul.

More specifically, "dead things" are its basic attributes, while "soullessness" is only a temporary state.

"The 'perfect container' is ready to go. Alice thought to herself, "So where do you get the 'complete soul of the living'?"

At this time, a figure came into her eyes, which made her immediately give up thinking and walk up quickly.

"It's really time to hit the big luck, even God is looking after you!" Alice thought to herself, the corners of her mouth rose and she smiled.

It was a thin, pale girl with slear, shriveled black hair. She wears an out-of-world costume called a "school uniform", which Alice has heard of. At this time, she was kneeling on the mud floor of the Enchanted Forest, her body was dirty, but she didn't know it.

Alice came up to her, crouched down, and looked her straight in the eye. The guy's eyes were hollow, like the pupils of a dead man, and Alice also noticed that there were several blood-red scars on her wrists.

"Well, it looks like that's why she's here. Alice thought so, and couldn't help but sigh, "To be honest, I can't sympathize......"

Gensokyo will accept those who are not needed in the outside world, who are not remembered, and who no one cares about even if they are dead. However, this is not a paradise for ordinary humans who are weak-willed.

They will randomly appear all over Gensokyo, meet all kinds of yokai at random, and then ...... "whoever sees it will belong to whomever it is" - this is the consensus of the yokai.

Most of them will eventually become food for the monsters. Only a few lucky ones will happen to be picked up by the shrine maiden, or they will accidentally enter the human house and be sheltered.

"This is not the place for you to come," said Alice, standing up and condescending to the girl, "but you are lucky to have met me. ”

At the same time, it was also Alice Margotroyd's luck.

The girl slowly raised her head and looked up at Alice's face with her dull eyes. Alice looked at her with a smile on her face and continued:

"Tell me, little friend, where are you from?"

"Up...... Shanghai ......" The girl spoke, her voice hoarse and weak.

"Shanghai......," Alice sighed, "I like that place, it's the Aurora Magic Capital of the East......

"Anyway, come with me first, to my house. I'm going to make you beautiful and give you a new lease of life. ”

With that, Alice bent down and held out her hand to the girl. She squinted her eyes and smiled warmly and brightly, like the warm sun of winter. But her shadow covered the girl completely.

"Good...... Ok ......"

The girl had no choice but to hold the cold hand.