Bao Ruirui and the Endless Bookcase

The three wild dogs in the alley lay lazily on the ground, two yellow and one half black and half white. They were separated by a distance to ensure that they did not disturb each other and could see each other. In the early hours of the morning, the sun had yet to shine on this curved alley in the corner of the city. In the alley, the night's worth of collection slowly dissipated. In another hour, there would be the sound of the carriage. It was like the alarm for the wild dogs to wake up. A new day would only begin at that time.

However, today was different. A rather discordant sound of destruction rang out as they collided against the walls of the alley as they advanced recklessly. One of the wild dogs managed to open its eyes and looked ahead. A rusty circular iron net rolled on the stone road like a wheel. The road was rugged, and the iron net fell down after rolling three to five times. Then, a child's cough followed. The dogs opened their eyes. The sound was very unfamiliar.

The three wild dogs didn't say a word. They only looked at each other and reached a tacit understanding. The half-black and half-white one trailed at the back, while the other two walked in front, one on the left and one on the right, slowly approaching the shadows in the dark alley. Their claws made a limited sound on the ground.

The encounter between the two sides seemed inevitable. A Chinese youth stood at the end of the alley. If there was a sun, his shadow would be stretched long. Our main character, Bao Ruirui, has arrived. He was 13 years old this year. When he woke up, he entered a story world that he had seen before. Before he came here, he had just helped Holmes and Watson deal with the real Hound of the Baskervilles. In the swamp behind Baskerville Manor, the swamp holes became the entrance of a black pipe that led to somewhere. He jumped down.

After gliding through the dark tunnel for a while, they arrived here. When he saw the iron net in front of him, he subconsciously kicked it away and crawled out. Bao Ruirui had read in a mystery novel that there was a mental illness called claustrophobia. It was said that if a person was locked in a closed room, even if there was light, the patient would not be able to stand the feeling. Bao Ruirui thought of the feeling he had in the dark tunnel. It was indeed not good.

He was overlooked by a circle of three-story wooden buildings. With the help of the dim light, he tried to look forward. The camera not far away was chaotic. If it wasn't for the feedback from the cobblestone ground telling him that he was still in the human world, he would even suspect that it was the entrance to hell. Bao Ruirui stood there, looking at the three dogs in front of him. A low growl came out of one of the wild dogs 'throat. He ran towards the back of the wild dog and ran. At this moment, a thought popped up in his mind. After he left the oppressive tunnel space, he would come to a new place. The danger might be even greater than it.

The survival instinct of running toward space led Bao Ruirui to shuttle left and right in the narrow alley. This alley was different from the ones he had seen in Jiangnan. It turned one after another, alternating between sharp and obtuse angles. There were several times when he almost knocked into various piles of things in the corner. The wild dog was still chasing after him. Bao Ruirui had heard of the motive of dogs chasing people, and there were also reasons that dogs just wanted to play, but he was not willing to test this theory with the risk of being bitten.

The panting of the wild dogs was getting closer and closer. It was unknown which one of them had its teeth hanging on Bao Ruirui's pants. It looked like it was about to succeed. Bao Ruirui clenched his fists and prepared to turn around and face the enemy head-on. He slammed on the brakes, turned around, and raised his right foot, ready to attack. However, the three wild dogs tilted their heads and turned to his side, causing Bao Ruirui to be dumbfounded.

At the critical moment, three muffled collisions sounded. Accompanying it was the dog's whining from the pain. Three more times, puffing sounds echoed from the wild dog's body.

"Why are you still standing there? Quickly move aside!" A shout came from above Bao Ruirui. He looked up in the direction of the voice. A boy was standing high up, probably the window of the top floor of the three-story building. The boy leaned forward with his left hand in front of him and his right hand in front of his chest, holding a tree branch.

" Oh," Bao Ruirui replied and jumped to the side. A few figures appeared out of nowhere. They were on the second and third floors. With a series of slaps, the three wild dogs became targets and fled in different directions. This time, Bao Ruirui saw clearly that there was a group of children above him, attacking the wild dogs with weapons that looked like slingshots. A few bullets hit his face, but he couldn't dodge them in time. He didn't feel any pain or itchiness. He picked it up from the ground and saw that it was a paper bullet. He picked one and opened it. The smell of ink on it assailed his nose.

"Why didn't you say thank you? You're too arrogant!" A voice came from behind him. Bao Ruirui put down the paper in his hand and looked at the speaker.

Three to five lights lit up on the first floor of the wooden house around Bao Ruirui. More accurately, the light source came from candles. The children held it in their hands and gathered together. One of them said something, and the others blew out their candles. They followed behind the child in the lead and walked toward Bao Ruirui. Bao Ruirui walked closer and compared their heights. He realized that the person was not tall, only reaching his collarbone.

" Ah... thank you, thank you..." Bao Ruirui said," Do you understand... what I'm saying?" Facing a group of foreign children, he heard that he was still speaking Chinese, so he confirmed it in advance. However, I regretted it as soon as I said it. They had blonde hair and blue eyes, so what they said to me was also Chinese.

"Nonsense! Who doesn't understand thanks?" The leader of the children shouted," Do you still expect us to say you're welcome? Let me tell you, newcomer, there is no help here for no reason!" His voice was not soft. Bao Ruirui subconsciously glanced at the rooms in the alley. If it was in his era, his voice would be loud enough to light up every light in the corridor.

"I mean... I came from the last story... Holmes, you know? Bao Ruirui paused and looked at the children in front of him. Judging from the fierce battle between the wild dogs just now, most of them were boys." All boys should know!"

"What are you talking about?" The leader of the children said something, and his followers echoed. The aggressive aura surrounded Bao Ruirui.

"I'm talking about books, books." Bao Ruirui pretended to flip through a book.

"Heavens! It's already good enough that we can recognize a few words. Why are we still reading?" " I don't know anything except 1832 and my own name," the child said in an exaggerated tone that he had found out of nowhere.

" 1832 and his name, nothing else…1832 and his name, nothing else!" The jeering became more and more lively.

"Slow down…slow down…what's 1832? Could it be…1832?" Bao Ruirui pointed at the child in the lead and asked.

"What else could it be? You're really strange!" The leading child put his hands on his hips and frowned.

No wonder they didn't know Sherlock Holmes. In 1832, the Sherlock Holmes in the story would not be born for another 20 years. Where…am I now?

"Where is this place?" Bao Ruirui asked.

"My territory." the leader said.

The sunlight broke through the clouds and finally reached this alley. The child standing in front of Bao Ruirui had curly blond hair and black spots on his face. He was wearing a pair of overalls with many patches. He wiped his nose with his sleeve and turned to ask the child behind him if there was anything on his face.

"1832…you can't be…Gavroche?" Bao Ruirui asked in surprise.

"It's been a long time since someone called me by my name. It's me." Gavroche replied confidently.

Oh my god…I'm in the tragic world.

Helplessly, he dragged Bao Ruirui and sat on the ground.