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Chapter 39: Thirty-Nine Treasures?

Xu Zhen was taken aback. "In a time like this, why would they go there?!"

"The rain is too heavy!" the student replied. "The precious books inside got drenched, and the students have been called to help!"

Hearing this, Xu Zhen hurriedly headed toward their hiding place.

Internally, she cursed, Xu Qianchun, you villain! Why choose this moment to play the hero? While I do need to save people to earn merit points, I'm not so kind-hearted as to prioritize protecting a bunch of books!

Distant rumblings of thunder echoed.

Flashes of lightning flickered incessantly.

Broken branches littered the ground, washed away by the rushing water.

Xu Zhen looked towards the hazy mountains and ran in that direction. When she got closer, she saw a towering structure, which must be the hiding place.

The wind was too strong, and it continually buffeted Xu Zhen's oil-paper umbrella, making her hands ache from holding on tightly.

She decided to fold up the umbrella and run forward.

Suddenly, two figures in white clothing approached, waving at Xu Zhen and shouting, "Where are you going?!"

Xu Zhen wiped her eyes and mouth, which were smeared with water. As soon as she opened her eyes, droplets hit her eyelids painfully.

She strained to shout, "I'm going to the archive!"

Her voice was quickly swept away by the wind.

The two figures approached and called out loudly, "Don't go over there!"

Xu Zhen shouted back, "Why?!"

They replied, "There's a tree blocking the way!!"

Puzzled, Xu Zhen raised her hand to shield herself from the wind and asked, "What?!"

The two explained, "A tree has fallen! The people inside can't get out!"

Hearing this nearly caused Xu Zhen to have a heart attack. "You need to tell the Supervisor to hurry!"

They nodded and dashed off.

Xu Zhen continued running forward, feeling as if the raging winds were conspiring against her, with the thunder rumbling continuously and the lightning flashing more frequently.

After a hard struggle, she finally reached the foot of the mountain.

Finding a spot that blocked the wind, Xu Zhen saw that a towering ancient tree had fallen, crushing the entrance to the hiding place. The trunk was so wide that it blocked the first two floors, and its dense branches nearly covered the entire building.

Fine rain poured down, smashing against the walls, while several windows on the east side were completely obstructed by the tree, preventing anyone from seeing inside. The west side, however, was exposed to a torrent; in addition to the rainwater, splashes from the waterfall were flooding the space.

Xu Zhen stood at the entrance and yelled upward, "Xu Qianchun! Xu Qianchun!!"

The sound of the rain muffled her voice.

She called out again, "Xu Qianchun, are you there?!"

A figure moved behind the branches of one of the windows, and after some time, a voice faintly replied, "I'm here!"

Xu Zhen moved closer and shouted, "Xu Qianchun!"

The responding voice came from another side. Following the sound, Xu Zhen made her way to the south side and spotted Xu Qianchun at a grid window.