Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian wasn’t surprised by Xu Liyan’s question at all. She laughed inwardly and said, “Councilor Zhao had some problems in the manors he has outside First City and wants us to resolve them.”

Shang Jianyao helped by adding, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but it sounds very bizarre.”

Although he had always felt that Zhang Qubing was a pure lunatic, Xu Liyan miraculously believed that he wouldn’t lie to him about such matters because this fellow was very proper. Therefore, he felt relieved and asked, “It’s not like you rely on the Ruin Hunter occupation for a living. Why do you need to take on missions?”

Jiang Baimian knew that Xu Liyan was trying to get information out of her by beating around the bush, so she explained simply, “We just want to earn some extra money in passing.”

This was the truth.

In the beginning, the Old Task Force only wanted to get an additional sum of money for their activities in First City and make use of the Zhao family’s connections there. It could barely be considered as making some extra money on the side. Lehman’s telegram had prompted them to earn extra money.

“In passing? Do you want to go to First City?” Xu Liyan asked thoughtfully.

“No,” Jiang Baimian replied before Shang Jianyao could. Without changing her expression, she said, “Didn’t a white wolf with strange abilities appear in the mountains on the north bank of the Red River? The one that can bewitch humans. As you know, our company mainly studies biological creatures. With such a sample appearing, how can we let it go?”

Her words implied that they were targeting the white wolf, but in fact, she didn’t spell it out.

Is Pangu Biology interested in the white wolf? It has to be!

After receiving the Old Task Force’s telegram and knowing that such a thing had happened, would Pangu Biology send a team to attempt capturing it? Definitely!

But what does the team they send have to do with the Old Task Force?

Long Yuehong was stunned when he heard that while standing behind Bai Chen. He felt that if he switched positions with Xu Liyan, he would also be misled in that direction.

What a scam… If we didn’t hear about the white wolf last night, what excuse would Team Leader come up with? No, what reason? Yes, we can’t reveal our plan to go to First City to Xu Liyan. Although he has already secretly cooperated with the company, he still hasn’t left First City’s sphere of influence and is inextricably linked to them… Long Yuehong glanced at Xu Liyan—who revealed a look of enlightenment—and muttered inwardly to express his sympathy.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian’s left hand secretly gripped the back of Shang Jianyao’s clothes, hinting at him not to spout nonsense and undermine her.

“I’ve heard of that mission.” Xu Liyan nodded and said, “My two consultants and Zen Master Jingnian agree that the white wolf is very dangerous. Even if an Advanced Hunter takes action, they might lose their lives if they aren’t careful. Haha, but with your team’s strength, it won’t be a problem.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t want to continue the topic and tugged at Shang Jianyao, hinting at him to use his unconstrained train of thought to change the topic.

Shang Jianyao asked a question he had previously asked. “Which Zen Master is giving the sermon now? Why do I feel that mechanical monks look the same and wear similar clothes? Can’t they learn from smart bots and have some characteristics to stand out for themselves? For example, they can sharpen their metal chins a little. They could even use it as a weapon in close combat…”

He expressed his opinion incessantly.

Bai Chen agreed with this and couldn’t help but nod.

As the team moved, they became much closer to the wooden platform. As Xu Liyan looked at the mechanical monk, he smiled bitterly. “To be honest, I can’t tell either. If he introduces himself as Zen Master Jingnian, I’ll treat him as Zen Master Jingnian. If he introduces himself as another Zen Master, I’ll treat him as another Zen Master as long as he doesn’t ‘act up’ in Weed City. Uh, Zen Master Jingnian is the one preaching the scriptures.”

Long Yuehong became curious and couldn’t help but interject. “Then, how do the mechanical monks distinguish each other and accurately recognize each other?”

Jiang Baimian tried to provide an answer from the perspective of machinery and electronic products. “Launch radio signals, special verifiable keys, etc.”

As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something. “Did Zen Master Jingnian say what not to trigger him?”

It was widely known that mechanical monks had a sore spot that made them go crazy when touched. Some came from the price they had paid, and some came from the imperfect consciousness uploading technology.

Xu Liyan shook his head. “He didn’t say.”

“This means that his trigger point won’t appear under normal circumstances.” Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it and gave up on probing.

As they spoke, they continued following the crowd and moved toward the wooden platform.

At this moment, many people had already obtained steamed buns. They were either squatting or standing around and eating the porridge.

Shang Jianyao looked envious.

They didn’t leave because the only requirement for the Monks Conclave’s food distribution was to finish listening to the sermon.

It was fine if one left after getting the porridge and steamed buns. Nobody would stop them. However, they would be blacklisted in the future and wouldn’t get anything.

Mechanical monks could scan faces and store large amounts of data.

After chatting for a while, Xu Liyan looked at the sky and smiled. “My butler recently harvested a batch of animals that were hunted in the wilderness. Are you interested in coming to a barbecue party at night?”

Shang Jianyao’s eyes lit up. He then sincerely suggested, “Some ingredients aren’t suitable for roasting.”

Jiang Baimian smiled as if in thought. “Castellan Xu, aren’t you afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings in First City?”

Xu Liyan laughed. “With the previous incident, I reorganized Castellan Manor and replaced many people. First City can only know the information I want them to know.”

“Then, we’ll do as you say.” Jiang Baimian released her left hand from Shang Jianyao’s clothes.

Shang Jianyao was very happy, but the questions he asked were as different as chalk and cheese. “How’s the fake Father now?”

Xu Liyan’s expression sank. “He’s been dealt with. I originally wanted to recruit him, but his abilities are too dangerous. I’m afraid that I won’t know when I’ll become his puppet.”

This was also applicable to Zhang Qubing, but he couldn’t deal with him.

“Yes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Jiang Baimian expressed her understanding.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong also felt that this was the best solution. Only Shang Jianyao was a little disappointed.

Xu Liyan was just about to say something when Shang Jianyao smiled. “It’s our turn!”

Xu Liyan turned around in confusion and realized that he had already arrived in front of the iron pots.

Jingnian—who was preaching on the wooden platform—and the human servants, who were distributing food, simultaneously cast their gazes at him.

They all knew Castellan Xu. Xu Liyan had been the one who lent the servants to Zen Master Jingnian.

They were clearly surprised that Castellan Xu was lining up here.

Xu Liyan’s face flushed red. He was so embarrassed that he wanted to dig a hole nearby and bury himself.

A servant woodenly handed over a bowl and two buns. Xu Liyan received them blankly and watched the other servant scoop a ladleful of porridge into his bowl.

It was quite a lot.

…

The next afternoon, outside Weed City.

The modified military-green jeep sped through the wilderness.

The person in charge of driving was Genava—who had blue-light emitting eyes and a shiny metal skeleton in a military uniform. He had already rushed over from Redstone Collection and had charged up the high-performance batteries.

For this, Jiang Baimian made Bai Chen compensate Auntie Nan with a lot of Oray.

In the passenger seat was Shang Jianyao. From left to right were Jiang Baimian, the cramped Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen.

They all leaned back in their chairs, looking lazy.

“What’s wrong with all of you?” Genava was a little confused.

As his slightly synthetic male voice echoed, Shang Jianyao burped in satisfaction.

“The barbecue party last night was pretty good.” He gave Xu Liyan a high evaluation of his hospitality, looking like their ‘brotherly love ran deep.’

Jiang Baimian laughed as well. “He also got us to bring some raw meat and condiments, but we can’t keep them for too long. We have to finish it in the next two days.”

Genava had a good understanding of humans’ love for food and asked, “Are we heading to First City next?”

Jiang Baimian replied, “Yes, let’s go straight to First City!”