Embers Ad Infinitum

Nanke Convent.

The Old Task Force—which had reached a preliminary agreement with Genava and was waiting for the Source Brain’s response—came here again. This was because, according to Genava, Abbess Zhou Yue still had some instructions for the people involved in the operation.

Zhou Yue was still wearing the white robe with a hemp rope around her waist. Her raven-black hair simply draped over her shoulders.

Behind her were the simple, solemn shrine and the dragon symbol formed from embedded mirror shards. On both sides were rows of black armchairs.

There were many believers praying at this moment, but none of them were sitting. All of them stood in a gap, spread their arms slightly, raised their bodies, and chanted.

As she scanned the area, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao nodded.

There’s quite a number of real humans this time… The chaos last night made many fair-weather townsfolk and outsiders turn to god in a pinch. They each pray to the Kalendaria of their faith, hoping to receive blessings? Jiang Baimian—who received confirmation—sighed inwardly.

As soon as she entered, she realized that many of the believers in the temple had bioelectric signals. This was completely different from the last time she was here. Of course, she couldn’t guarantee if Shang Jianyao’s nod meant the same thing she was looking for.

“May you please the deity!” Zhou Yue spread her arms and raised her body.

Although she’s face-blind, she still has the bearing of a charlatan… Just as this thought flashed through Jiang Baimian’s mind, she heard Shang Jianyao ask, “Why aren’t you singing?”

He had previously participated in the Clam Dragon Church’s choir.

Zhou Yue wanted to get straight to the point, but she was immediately silenced by such a question. However, she was a pious believer in ‘everything is but a dream; why so serious.’ She quickly composed herself and replied with a smile, “Singing is a way to please the deity, not an etiquette between believers.”

Shang Jianyao seemed to have been waiting for a similar answer. He then said, “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

“That’s true…” Zhou Yue thought for a moment and nodded.

After receiving confirmation, Shang Jianyao immediately suggested, “I know a song that suits you very well.”

As he spoke, he sang: “We are forever the heirs to the dragon[1]…”

“It’s ‘descendants,'” Zhou Yue corrected.

Jiang Baimian—who couldn’t bear to see the topic gradually deviate to the ends of the world—interrupted their conversation and forced a smile. “Abbess Zhou, Mayor Genava said that you have something to tell us.”

“Oh…” Zhou Yue came to a realization. “Are you the Ruin Hunter team that dealt with the Superior Heartless last night? Have you decided to participate in Tarnan’s defense operation?”

Did you take this long to recognize us? You actually had such a nice chat… Jiang Baimian almost coughed up blood.

Similar criticisms flashed across Long Yuehong and Bai Chen’s minds, but their emotions were different.

Phew… Jiang Baimian exhaled and answered Zhou Yue’s question.

“It’s only temporary. We’re still waiting for Officer Genava to give us an answer. Of course, we will shoulder the defense of a certain area no matter what. This is also to protect ourselves.”

If the Source Brain wasn’t even willing to communicate over the phone, Jiang Baimian definitely wouldn’t have gotten the Old Task Force members to take the initiative. She felt that there was no need to take the risk. After all, Tarnan was filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. With so many religions, there was definitely no lack of powerhouses.

“Understood,” Zhou Yue replied with an expression that said: “I didn’t understand anything.”

She then smiled and narrowed her eyes. “I mainly want to tell you two things.”

“Pray, do tell.” This time, it was the polite Shang Jianyao.

Zhou Yue tersely acknowledged his words. “After returning last night, I thought about it and finally confirmed something: The Superior Heartless is afraid of looking into mirrors.”

“Looking into the mirror?” Although Jiang Baimian had already guessed that the target’s weakness was related to mirrors, she was still a little surprised.

She originally imagined that the Superior Heartless was afraid of shiny items, but she didn’t expect it to be the act of ‘looking in the mirror.’

Is he afraid of seeing his reflection? Some guesses quickly flashed through Jiang Baimian’s mind.

Long Yuehong criticized Zhou Yue inwardly. She clearly knew about it long ago, yet she still said that she thought deeply about it before finally confirming it… She didn’t even stutter while lying. Oh right, everything is but a dream. Why so serious…

“Yes,” Zhou Yue replied firmly. “Therefore, it’s best if you prepare a few more mirrors on you. When you encounter an illusion, take the mirrors out and sweep them around.”

“Like this?” Shang Jianyao turned his back before turning back. A palm-sized mirror was already tied to his forehead.

On the way to Nanke Convent, the Old Task Force had bought many mirrors.

“…” Zhou Yue was stunned by the other party’s appearance and momentarily forgot how to speak.

Just as Jiang Baimian and the others thought that this was another case of Shang Jianyao stunning the other party, Zhou Yue widened her eyes. “Why didn’t I think of wearing it on my forehead? I was twisting my waist so much last night; it was backbreaking!”

It was Jiang Baimian and the others’ turn to be speechless.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian reminded her, “If you wear it on your head, your neck will be sore, and your head will be dizzy.”

“That’s true…” Zhou Yue thought about it and felt that it was better to have a sore back. She then said, “There’s one more thing—you absolutely can’t measure the Superior Heartless based on last night’s performance. There are too many mirror-like objects in Tarnan at night. The strength he could exert was definitely reduced significantly.”

After a moment of silence, she added, “There might be something special about a Superior Heartless at this level. In short, you have to be careful.”

“Thank you,” Shang Jianyao replied sincerely on behalf of the entire team.

Jiang Baimian laughed as well. “We won’t joke with our lives.”

“That’s good.” Zhou Yue tersely acknowledged her words. “There’s no need for you to take the risk to search the surroundings; just take precautions. A Dream Protector from our Church is on the way.”

Will he get lost? Long Yuehong recalled Zhou Yue’s words and felt that their religion had the words ‘unreliable’ written all over them.

Shang Jianyao ‘asked’ the question Long Yuehong was embarrassed to ask in his place. “What if he gets lost?”

Zhou Yue immediately laughed dryly. “The one who’s coming is definitely the kind who won’t get lost.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t continue the topic that exposed their shortcomings and asked again, “Abbess Zhou, do you have any solutions or ideas to crack the Superior Heartless’s illusion?”

Zhou Yue thoughtfully replied, “The more you do, the more mistakes you make. The less you do, the fewer mistakes you make.”

“Then, wouldn’t we make no mistakes if we don’t do anything?” Shang Jianyao asked cooperatively.

“No.” Zhou Yue shook her head. “Illusions emphasize the fact that there’s something real in the fake and something fake in the real. If you don’t do anything, they will blend in with the illusion and walk in front of you to shoot you in the head.”

After chatting about illusions for a while, the Old Task Force bade farewell and left Nanke Convent for Tarnan General Hospital.

They wanted to see the survivors from last night—the remaining members of the Mountain Fox bandits.

After obtaining the robot guard’s approval with the warrant that Genava had given them, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others met Panania.

The Mountain Fox bandit leader had his long blond hair shaved off. His head was wrapped in countless white bandages, and he looked dispirited as if he doubted life.

In just a few days, the originally powerful Mountain Fox bandits were about to collapse. Furthermore, each matter they encountered was increasingly bizarre.

The powerful Ruin Hunter team from before was still understandable, but everything that happened last night had exceeded Panania’s imagination.

Upon hearing the door open and close, Panania looked up. His pupils suddenly dilated as he sat up and stammered, “I-I didn’t do anything. It’s not that I want to stay here.”

“Relax.” Jiang Baimian smiled and calmed him down.

“We’ll beat you up at most, but we won’t kill you,” Shang Jianyao echoed.

Long Yuehong was a little curious about the logical foothold in Shang Jianyao’s words, so he asked, “Why?”

This bandit boss had done many bad things. Killing him was equivalent to enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “Private fights are prohibited in Tarnan, and it’s forbidden to harm others beyond the limits.”

I thought you had compassion… Long Yuehong realized that he was still relatively naive.

Their harmonious chiming successfully calmed Panania’s fear. He swept his gaze around and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“We want to ask about your encounter last night.” Jiang Baimian went straight to the point.

Panania’s face revealed unconcealed fear again. “W-we wanted to go to Green Grapes across the road after we left Wild Pigeon. On the way, Johnny suddenly needed to pee and wanted to find a corner to relieve himself. We stopped in the middle of the road and waited for him.”

“Why didn’t you wait inside Green Grapes?” Bai Chen questioned. She had a good understanding of how such teams acted during their corresponding activities.

Normally speaking, Panania would’ve said to Johnny, “Come over quickly after you’re done,” instead of waiting in the middle of the road with a large group of people.

Panania’s tone softened a little. “I-I was afraid that you would chase after us. It’s safer with more people.”

“Then?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Panania recalled and said, “Johnny didn’t return. We searched the entire way, but we encountered many beasts. Some were mutated, some were starving, and there were Heartless among them. We fought a great battle with them, and several people died. Finally, a robot guard came, and we were escorted back to our rooms. Back then, we were all exhausted. We thought that the robot guards would handle the subsequent matters, so we took off our clothes and slept in peace…”

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao took turns asking about some details from normal and abnormal angles. They then released the bandit leader from his anxiety and left the ward.

Before they left, Panania reflexively raised his right hand and waved it. “Goodbye.”

Shang Jianyao smiled and politely replied, “Goodbye.”

After questioning the remaining bandits and returning to the jeep, Jiang Baimian suddenly said, “Abbess Zhou still hid certain things from us…”

[1] [Annotation text missing]