Embers Ad Infinitum

Merrick—who was hiding under the table—saw Xu Liyan’s situation clearly. He scrambled out and ran to the corner where Zhao Zhengqi was. During this process, he shouted, “Explosives! He has a ring of explosives tied to him!”

Since Zhao Zhengqi and the others were relatively far away and had tables blocking them, they couldn’t see Xu Liyan’s situation in detail. They could only anxiously ask, “What explosives?”

“What’s wrong?”

“What happened?”

Frankly speaking, if it weren’t for the fact that the situation seemed to be under control, they definitely wouldn’t hesitate to let the bodyguards lead the way, rush out of the room, and rendezvous with their other guards.

“Little Mushrooms! Xu Liyan has a circle of Little Mushrooms tied to him!” Merrick quickly shared his knowledge of the situation.

These explosives originated from the Orange Company, and the model was H404. As they were very powerful, they were nicknamed ‘Little Mushroom.’

“Dogsh*t!” Francesco—another member of the Aristocratic Council with Red River blood in him—couldn’t help but curse.

If a circle of ‘Little Mushrooms’ exploded, it meant that nobody in the meeting chamber or the corresponding area outside would be spared—abnormal people excluded.

After a brief moment of chaos, Zhao Zhengqi looked at Oudick, Uncle Liu, and the hooded mystery man. He then asked loudly, “What’s going on? Also, r-remove the explosives first.”

This conversation made his liver tremble.

“This Penniless Monk will do it.” Under the chip’s control, Jingnian’s five metal fingers slowly removed the explosives tied to Xu Liyan’s body with maximum precision.

Jingnian now felt a little vexed because he had actually made the mistake of being blindsided.

In order to come to Weed City as a bodyguard, he had clearly installed some modules that he usually didn’t use. He had also specially used these modules to check if the nobles and their guards carried explosives that exceeded a certain threshold. Unexpectedly, he had neglected his employer.

Oudick didn’t put on a brave front. He looked at Zhao Zhengqi and simply explained, “Not long ago, the Anti-intellectualism Church’s Father attacked Castellan Xu and was stopped. But his goal wasn’t to assassinate him; it was to close the distance and make eye contact.

“Father hypnotized Castellan Xu and primed him to carry out a suicidal attack when all the nobles had gathered for a meeting. He would then wipe out Weed City’s top brass in one fell swoop.”

At this moment in time, Oudick was only certain of the latter half of the sentence.

Father had no need to put on such a show just to assassinate Xu Liyan. His real goal was very grand and very difficult to achieve.

His goal was to kill all the nobles in Weed City!

It had to be known that Xu Liyan had the mechanical monk, Jingnian, guarding him. Any method of contact or secret hypnosis through normal channels could be foiled by Clairvoyance. Furthermore, under the Eternal’s constant gaze, any attempt at hypnotizing was relatively easy to discover.

When the time came, the culprit might not even be able to escape.

At the same time, everyone had to undergo strict inspection at any gathering that Xu Liyan attended, regardless of the format. They could only bring light firearms like pistols that could be hidden on them.

Under all the different restrictions, it was almost impossible to kill all the nobles in Weed City in one go.

There were still sufficient security measures here.

As for what Father’s motive was to aim for such a grand goal, it was temporarily unknown.

The mechanical monk, Jingnian, chanted a Buddhist proclamation in a low voice. “So that’s how it is, Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti…”

Jingnian finally understood the entire sequence of events and the details involved. He also found the true source of the danger that he had foreseen—he imagined that there would be a second round of assassination.

“Impressive!” Shang Jianyao was not stingy with his praise. If not for the fact that he was holding an Ice Moss pistol and facing dozens of guards alone, he definitely wouldn’t have skipped on applauding.

Although Jiang Baimian didn’t turn around, she could imagine the admiration on Shang Jianyao’s face.

Shang Jianyao was impressed by how grand Father’s scheme was.

Zhao Zhengqi, Francesco, and the others had barely figured out the truth. They didn’t care about the baffling words coming out from Oudick’s subordinate and heaved sighs of relief.

They had more or less gathered information on the arrival of such an Advanced Hunter in Weed City, so they were no strangers to Oudick. They cast their gazes over one after another to express their thanks.

“Mr. Oudick, right? It’s all thanks to you; otherwise, we would’ve been blown up.”

“We’ll definitely prepare some thank-you gifts later.”

“F*ck, I’ve experienced countless storms in my life. To think that I almost died here today without even knowing who killed me! Mr. Oudick, let’s get to know one another. When this matter is over, you must come to my manor as a guest.”

“When order in the city is restored, capture the Anti-intellectualism Church’s believers immediately and burn them at the stake in Central Square!”

As they spoke, Jingnian had already removed the H404 explosives from Xu Liyan’s body and grabbed the black remote control.

Originally, he wanted to move these high-risk items elsewhere personally to distance them from the Council Chamber. However, he gave up on the idea after looking at Xu Liyan.

A qualified bodyguard couldn’t be more than three meters away from their employer.

Jingnian raised his arm and asked in an electronic voice, “Who will take them out?”

Weed City was located at the edge of the Monk Wastelands. Everyone present was no stranger to mechanical monks. At this moment, they could roughly guess Jingnian’s identity. However, they chose to remain silent after looking at the string of explosives and the remote control.

It was obvious that no noble would lower themselves to do such a thing. Sending their bodyguards would also weaken the defenses around them.

As for summoning the other guards in, it wasn’t in line with the rules and could easily trigger an unnecessary chain reaction—it could make the other nobles think that someone was taking the opportunity to start a gunfight.

Besides, who knew if there was another remote control for that pile of explosives? What if Father or his accomplices were hiding in Castellan Manor and pressed the switch when the time came?

When the time came, whoever carried the explosives would be blasted to nothingness!

Of course, it was also their consensus to move dangerous items away as soon as possible.

With such thoughts in mind, they looked at Oudick again, hoping that he could get his subordinate to do the deed.

Without waiting for them to speak, Shang Jianyao volunteered. “Let me do it!”

He was rather interested in the large string of ‘Little Mushrooms.’

“Good!”

“Courageous!”

All the nobles present agreed unanimously and signaled the guards to lower their weapons and stop the confrontation.

Shang Jianyao quickly walked to Jingnian and stretched out his left hand to take the pile of items.

He then stretched out his right palm and assumed a handshake posture.

Jingnian was stunned for a moment before he dazedly stretched out his metallic right hand and shook Shang Jianyao’s hand.

“Zen Master, I’ll play you a song later. You’ll definitely like it,” Shang Jianyao said enthusiastically.

If not for the fact that the situation was rather serious, Jiang Baimian really wanted to raise her hand to cover her face.

Jingnian was momentarily at a loss for an answer.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhengqi helped him out. “We can wake the Castellan up now. There are some details that only he knows.”

Oudick had no objections and nodded at Jingnian.

Jingnian immediately grabbed Xu Liyan’s shoulder and shook him.

Shang Jianyao was originally watching excitedly, but he was unanimously requested to leave quickly because he was holding dangerous items. Thus, he could only move his feet and inch toward the door.

Two to three seconds later, Xu Liyan woke up.

He was confused at first, but he quickly lowered his head and looked at his waist.

“Castellan Xu, you were hypnotized by Father,” Oudick reminded him.

Xu Liyan’s expression repeatedly changed as he leaned back in his chair. “I remember… When I was cleaning up, the voices of ‘blow them up’ kept sounding in my head. I then found a pile of explosives at the secret arsenal in the room…”

After his attempt failed, and he was told the truth, the effects of Hypnosis were removed.

“Castellan, it’s not that I’m taking advantage of my seniority, but you ought to be more careful in the future. Don’t keep going to the Hunter’s Guild.” After Zhao Zhengqi heard that, he lectured Xu Liyan in an ambiguous manner.

Xu Liyan pulled himself together and ignored Zhao Zhengqi. He looked at the guard outside the door and spoke with killing intent. “Tell Sun Xuefeng that, as soon as the team is organized, we will immediately counterattack and push the wilderness nomads out of the city within an hour.”

Upon seeing that the alarm had been lifted, Merrick and the others relaxed. They walked back to the long table and voiced their opinions.

“That’s right! I don’t know how many things those damn bastards have damaged. I only hope they didn’t ruin the supplies too badly.”

“Our food was painstakingly planted. Why should we let them have it easy? It’s already too benevolent of us to give some of them a chance to be slaves.”

“Can’t they just stay outside the city quietly and wait for the other slave hunters in First City to rush over?”

“It’s their fault for not saving up food. Who can they blame for starving to death?”

“I don’t think we should just push them out of the city. If we don’t teach them a cruel lesson, they will still dare to do something similar in the future!”

“It’s troublesome to keep them. It’s better to find a way to finish them off without wasting bullets.”

As everyone discussed the matter, Zhao Zhengqi and the others steered the conversation toward Xu Liyan’s plans for the aftermath.

“Castellan, you can’t be soft-hearted.”

“Even if we want to give aid, we can’t do it for free. Don’t those citizens still have property, shops, and furniture? They can exchange them for food…”

“With so many people dead, there shouldn’t be a lack of food, right?”

“We have to urge them to bury the people as soon as possible. It will be troublesome if a plague breaks out.”

“They can be saved for a while, but they can’t be saved for the entire winter. We still have to consider a more appropriate solution. Why don’t you step forward to borrow some food and supplies from First City?”

“At most, we can recruit new citizens. There’s plenty of people anyway.”

“In this world, food is more valuable than humans…”

“Everyone, everyone. Harmony is most precious. Harmony is most precious.”

All kinds of sounds entered his ears, making Xu Liyan’s head buzz again.

Bang!

At this moment, another gunshot sounded.

The broken crystal chandelier fell and smashed onto the long table.

Merrick—who spoke and did things slowly—slid to the bottom of the table again. The fat Zhao Zhengqi left his seat like a cat and jumped to a sheltered corner. This time, he was in such a rush that he didn’t even have time to pull his eldest son along.

As the nobles dispersed, Oudick hid at the head of the long table while looking at the door with Jingnian.

Shang Jianyao stood there, holding the string of ‘Little Mushrooms’ in one hand and the black remote control in the other. He held the Ice Moss in the other hand and aimed it at the long table.

Noticing everyone’s gazes, Shang Jianyao smiled brightly and asked, “If I press this button, will these bombs explode with a bang?”

Upon hearing this question, especially the heavy bang, all the nobles’ hearts stopped beating, including Xu Liyan’s.

Oudick blurted out, “Are you crazy?”

Shang Jianyao looked at him with a smile and replied, “You just realized that?”

Beside him, Jiang Baimian sighed helplessly. She turned around, raised her pistol, and helped guard Shang Jianyao’s back.