Embers Ad Infinitum

This… Jiang Baimian restrained her smile and asked, “Why do you think the Superior Heartless is insistent on entering Tarnan?”

Long Yuehong subconsciously replied, “To hunt…”

Before he could finish speaking, he realized that something was amiss.

There were clearly still prey in the mountains, such as Bai Xiao’s team. However, the Superior Heartless didn’t attack them. Instead, he ran all the way to Tarnan to kill people.

Even if he felt that the prey here were weaker and less vigilant, making it a better place to hunt for food, he shouldn’t have attacked again so quickly after eating his fill and retreating in fear last night.

It had to be known that the Heartless disease was known as Atavism. It was a form of human degeneration in which they lost their rationality and thoughts and became creatures that resembled beasts.

However, even wild beasts would definitely temporarily leave an area after suffering a shock and discovering their greatest fear. They would only take the risk to try again when they were hungry to a certain extent and had no other food.

Beasts acted this way; what’s more Heartless?

“That doesn’t make sense…” Bai Chen helped Long Yuehong finish his sentence.

Shang Jianyao made a thoughtful expression. “Maybe he thinks the human meat here is better… For the sake of food, he chose to take risks.”

Is he judging others by using his own standards? Jiang Baimian muttered and looked back at the small city in Tarnan. She thought for a moment and said, “Could it be that something here is attracting him?”

Just as she said that, she suddenly realized that her meaning was abnormally similar to Shang Jianyao’s words. She quickly added, “Something other than food.”

“What else can a Superior Heartless pursue?” Long Yuehong muttered to himself in confusion.

“Courtship,” Shang Jianyao replied. He then explained in all seriousness, “In Tarnan, there’s an old lady. She’s his former lover, a companion that he experienced life and death with. Even though he has contracted the Heartless disease and has forgotten everything, he still remembers to find her and protect her so that she would never be harmed.”

I’m actually a little touched hearing this… Long Yuehong followed Shang Jianyao’s train of thought and realized that this was a touching story. Most importantly, he couldn’t find the original version in his memories of the radio stories.

This meant that Shang Jianyao had already developed from a reader to someone who weaved their own stories.

“It’s quite reasonable…” Jiang Baimian imagined the situation Shang Jianyao described and found it tragic and beautiful.

If the Superior Heartless didn’t treat humans as prey and munch on them until their flesh turned mangled, the imagined scene would be even more beautiful.

Bai Chen pursed her lips and didn’t say anything.

Without giving Shang Jianyao a chance to continue, Jiang Baimian continued, “This is a possibility. Another possibility is that something is attracting him.”

After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Baimian picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Hello, is this Abbess Zhou?”

Zhou Yue’s voice sounded from the other end of the line. “Haha, I recognize you this time. You’re October Xue from the Qian Bai Team!”

Her tone was filled with pride.

The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth twitched as she replied, “My name should be in your contacts…”

Zhou Yue coughed. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

Without giving Jiang Baimian a chance to continue the topic, she asked, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s this…” Jiang Baimian roughly described Bai Xiao, Lin Tong, and their team’s situation. “They’re heading toward you now. ”

“Alright, I’ll carefully distinguish their authenticity,” Zhou Yue replied firmly.

Jiang Baimian then inquired, “Abbess Zhou, why is that Superior Heartless bent on attacking Tarnan? It’s not like there’s only one human settlement in Mount Chilar.”

Zhou Yue fell silent for a moment before saying, “We might have to ask him.”

Abbess Zhou, you might have something in common with Shang Jianyao… Upon seeing that she couldn’t get an answer, Jiang Baimian politely said a few words before hanging up.

…

At the northeast intersection of Tarnan.

Zhou Yue was wearing a white robe with a hemp rope tied around her. She was sitting cross-legged on a mat and looking toward Mount Chilar.

An Eight Trigrams Mirror hung from her waist, and a dressing mirror was tied to her forehead. On each side stood a non-smart combat robot.

Unlike the Old Task Force’s impenetrable fortifications, Zhou Yue didn’t make any arrangements. She only erected a wooden sign behind her.

On the wooden sign was a dragon symbol created from mirror shards. This was the Sacred Emblem of Shattered Mirror.

After putting down her phone, Zhou Yue muttered to herself in confusion, “Strange, why does he have to enter Tarnan…”

…

In the northwest of Tarnan, by the Moville River.

Jiang Baimian looked at the slowly setting sun and said to Shang Jianyao and the others, “Take this opportunity to get a bite, and take turns doing so.”

Long Yuehong tersely acknowledged it. “I’ll go take a piss.”

With that said, he took a plastic bottle that he had prepared in advance and took a few steps. Using the jeep hood as cover, he unzipped his pants and relieved his bladder.

This was a plan that they had discussed in advance. Their goal was not to walk too much to prevent themselves from being affected by the illusion—they might misjudge their direction and distance and step on land mines or fall into their traps.

As for the problem of embarrassment, its importance ranked very low. Of course, in order not to make the area they stood guard stink, the Old Task Force had gathered a batch of plastic bottles from various stalls and robot guards’ warehouses.

Long Yuehong narrowed his eyes in comfort amidst the whooshing sound.

He suddenly realized that Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen were all looking at him with strange gazes.

This… Long Yuehong was a little confounded.

Wait, didn’t I go to the front of the car? Long Yuehong came to a realization and quickly looked down at his crotch.

It was already wet.

The plastic bottle in his hand had yet to be unscrewed.

The series of actions he had just done was only an illusion!

This was like completely relaxing oneself after a successful search for a bathroom in a dream.

At that moment, Long Yuehong didn’t know how to react.

“That’s pretty embarrassing.” Jiang Baimian evaluated the effects of the hallucination. This was also an indirect way of consoling Long Yuehong.

Shang Jianyao restrained his expression and said to Long Yuehong seriously, “We need to do an identification test. When was the last time you peed your pants?”

“F*ck off!” Long Yuehong flew into a rage out of humiliation.

“The correct reaction.” Shang Jianyao didn’t feel like he had been scolded at all.

Just as he said that, he suddenly saw Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen raise their hands and aim their guns at him.

Their expressions looked like they had seen a monster—a Heartless.

Shang Jianyao’s hands moved slightly before maintaining their original posture as if the scene in front of him was just a play.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen fired.

Shang Jianyao stood there motionless as if he was in a battle of courage. Almost at the same time, he felt intense pain as his entire body involuntarily curled up.

In just a second or two, Shang Jianyao gradually lost consciousness due to the unbearable pain and the rapid loss of his life. His vision turned pitch black.

In the pitch-black silence, a lively debate slowly echoed and became louder.

“It’s fake!”

“It must be fake.”

“Don’t scare me!”

“I think we should be more careful. We should gather more clues and make conclusions only after we have sufficient evidence.”

“Why are you arguing? Have a rational discussion.”

“You need to say please.”

…

Amidst the argument, a hole slowly opened in the darkness, illuminating a dazzling light.

Shang Jianyao opened his eyes and saw Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen looking at him with concern.

“What happened to you?” Jiang Baimian asked seriously.

She had just seen Shang Jianyao convulse. His bioelectric signals had turned chaotic, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

“I was almost killed by an illusion,” Shang Jianyao said solemnly before reminiscing. “I miss the Nightmare Horse a little. Its Real Dreamscape gave a deeper impression than that illusion of death.”

“What happened?” Long Yuehong had a guess.

Shang Jianyao described his ‘experience’ and said, “It’s probably because he hasn’t really died and can’t simulate the most realistic feelings.”

“How can it be the same?” Jiang Baimian exhaled. “Real Dreamscape is directly related to your consciousness, so the effects will definitely be greater. Yes, no matter what, such usage of illusions is indeed different from Real Dreamscape. It’s also very similar to Extreme Terror in Eidolon Nun’s domain. You have to be careful not to be scared to death.”

Long Yuehong felt apprehensive and uneasy again. This was the strongest enemy he had faced so far.

“We can’t keep enduring it passively.” He exhaled and voiced his thoughts.

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded and looked at Shang Jianyao. “Plan 5.”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao picked up the loudspeaker on the jeep’s roof. At this moment, he sniffed and said to Long Yuehong, “So your peeing wasn’t an illusion.”

“…F*ck off!” Long Yuehong replied angrily, his fear greatly reduced.

Shang Jianyao smiled, raised the loudspeaker, and aimed at the road leading to Mount Chilar.

This was one of their plans. By using a loudspeaker to extend Inference Clowning’s range, he could remotely influence the enemy like Redstone Collection’s Tan Jie.

Although the Superior Heartless was closer to a beast and might not understand human language, and Inference Clowning didn’t seem to be effective, Jiang Baimian recalled the questions and answers from Bai Xiao’s team in the illusion. She also felt to a certain extent that perhaps in the depths of its subconscious, the enemy still has some facet of human intelligence that could be exploited to exert a similar influence.

Therefore, after watching the real Bai Xiao’s team leave, she discussed this additional plan with Shang Jianyao, Bai Chen, and the others for a while.

As for whether it would be effective in the end, she couldn’t be sure.

Phew, I hope this fellow can choose some words that are easy to understand and acceptable for a Superior Heartless… As Jiang Baimian expressed her anticipation, she also helped Shang Jianyao think of the rhetoric to use.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao used the loudspeaker to project into the distance. “Howl!”