Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian instinctively believed that the person who had sent the Nightmare Horse over wasn’t Xiaochong. Her reason was that a fellow like Xiaochong—who was too lazy to go out and only wanted to game—wouldn’t personally busy himself with such matters apart from the occasional need to relax and get some exercise.

Shang Jianyao clearly felt the same.

“What does that person look like?” Jiang Baimian asked.

The hotel owner recalled and said, “He’s about the same height as me. His hair was black, knotted, and greasy… He looked very muscular. He wore a white singlet inside and a thin black coat outside… His beard was thick and dense, and the hair on the back of his hand was very long. He wore a pair of sunglasses that covered his eyes…

“He’s very introverted, reticent, and very quiet. Uh, I don’t think he spoke much. I offered 10 Oray, but he directly shook his head. I offered 15 Oray, and he nodded and left the horse behind. Then, he came over and took the horse away according to the date I gave him…”

The more Jiang Baimian listened, the more she felt that something was amiss. Relying on the auxiliary chip in the biological prosthetic limb, she quickly recalled a person with a similar image.

It wasn’t a normal human, but a Heartless!

In the basement of Swamp Ruin 1’s City Intelligence Network Control Center, near the room where Xiaochong was playing games, the Old Task Force had once encountered a woman—a Superior Heartless—giving birth. The male Heartless guarding her was rather similar to the hotel owner’s description, be it in terms of appearance or clothes.

Could it be that the hotel owner completed the transaction with a Superior Heartless? Although that person can’t speak or understand overly complicated sentences, he seems to understand prices… Was this knowledge specially instilled in him by Xiaochong? Jiang Baimian’s eyes flickered as she felt that this matter was extremely ridiculous and terrifying.

What happened around Xiaochong was always incredulous.

After some thought, Jiang Baimian decided not to tell the boss the truth. First, there was no need. Second, she might scare him.

Normal humans couldn’t accept the fact that they had made a deal with a Heartless face-to-face.

She deliberated for a moment and said, “That’s not Xiaochong. Xiaochong is a child.”

The hotel owner revealed a look of enlightenment. “Did that person rent out the horse to pay for the child’s rent, electricity, water, and food?”

Although that’s true, it’s much more complicated than you imagine… Jiang Baimian muttered and nodded. “We’ll ask other Hunters to see if anyone has seen the person and the horse.”

The hotel owner was stunned for a moment before saying, “He’s missing? Could it be that white wolf?”

He imagined that Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao were searching for friends who had yet to return home.

“Something like that,” Jiang Baimian replied perfunctorily before walking out of the hotel.

In the following period of time, the Old Task Force got similar answers from the Ruin Hunters and camp personnel.

Some people had seen a creature like the Nightmare Horse carrying supplies and walking on the mountain roads.

Someone had seen it eat grass in the castle’s main building where livestock were reared. It maintained a certain distance from other oxen and horses.

Someone had encountered the man in a white singlet and black sunglasses. He was in a rush, and it was unknown where he was heading…

Although Long Yuehong had already corroborated this indirectly and felt that it should be the case, he still wore an incredulous expression. “A powerful mutated creature actually works for money by moving supplies to the camp…”

If all the mutated creatures, Superior Heartless, and even the powerful Awakened and genetically modified could be so down-to-earth and obedient, the situation in the Ashlands would be many times better.

At that time, the dawn of the New World should appear.

Yes, Long Yuehong still believed that the New World was a fable—a symbol. It represented the point when humans completely walked out of the shadows of the Old World’s destruction, established order and civilization, and had a new home.

Bai Chen pursed her lips and said, “If it wasn’t happening to Xiaochong’s pet, I would’ve thought that someone was joking.”

When she was still a wilderness nomad and Ruin Hunter, she had also seen some mutated creatures. They were rather terrifying and aggressive. They were completely incompatible with human society and would never work to earn a living.

Back when she encountered the Nightmare Horse for the first time and heard Qiao Chu mention the corresponding matter, Bai Chen also felt that this mutated creature was abnormally dangerous. It was the kind that she had to hide from as far as possible and not antagonize it for no reason.

Today, the Nightmare Horse’s mysterious and terrifying image had mostly collapsed in her heart.

Shang Jianyao nodded in relief. “This means that Xiaochong is a law-abiding person. He just doesn’t like to go out and only likes to play games.”

You really treat Xiaochong as a friend… Don’t forget that the Heartless disease epidemic in First City might be related to Xiaochong… Jiang Baimian didn’t finish her sentence and tersely acknowledged it. “15 Oray won’t last long in First City. Could Nightmare Horse and the Superior Heartless be working in some settlements and advance base camps in the mountains?”

The Slumber Cat’s image was too terrifying and unsuitable for human contact.

“Maybe.” Long Yuehong couldn’t deny this guess.

Bai Chen recalled and said, “We’ll expand the scope of our inquiries then.”

In any case, the Old Task Force would have to search for other cave entrances in the future. It was very likely that they would pass by other wilderness nomad settlements that led to the advance base camp.

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded. “Actually, there’s another train of thought.”

“What?” Genava tried his best to gather data in an attempt to establish Jiang Baimian’s analysis pattern.

Jiang Baimian said, “From the looks of it, apart from Nightmare Horse and Slumber Cat, a batch of Superior Heartless followed Xiaochong when he left Swamp Ruin 1. Where do you think these Superior Heartless are?”

“Working for money!” Shang Jianyao replied without hesitation. Without waiting for Jiang Baimian to glare at him, he continued, “From the situation back then, a portion of the Superior Heartless will stay by Xiaochong’s side to guard and protect him. The other portion will go out to search for food and control the ordinary Heartless in the city ruin.”

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian exhaled. “Therefore, there should be a few Superior Heartless around Xiaochong now. Although they have a certain level of intelligence, their level of intelligence is clearly not high. Most of the time, they will still be controlled by instinct. When we return to First City, we can attempt to use this point to fish them out and find Xiaochong.”

This… Team Leader even wants to deceive Superior Heartless… Long Yuehong was secretly speechless, but he felt that this plan was very feasible.

Shang Jianyao then smiled. “Maybe there’s no need to go through so much trouble. Maybe Nightmare Horse and Slumber Cat will tell Xiaochong that I’m looking for him, and then he will come to see me personally.”

“I hope so,” Jiang Baimian replied perfunctorily. She then revealed a thoughtful expression. “From last night’s situation, the range of Slumber Cat’s abilities isn’t much larger than Shang Jianyao’s. The Nightmare Horse’s abilities aren’t as terrifying as we imagined…”

After discussing this topic for a while, Genava and Shang Jianyao continued studying the various electronic components they could currently gather.

This was something they had exchanged for with their previous war spoils.

Long Yuehong busied himself for a while before standing up in boredom. He had always said that his results were ordinary—it was the truth.

He had always been middle of the road in university, and he didn’t like his major much. The reason he chose to apply for it was that it was relatively easier to be assigned a better job.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and smiled. “There’s no need for so many people, and there’s no point in you staying here. Why don’t you go around the camp? Who knows, you might be able to obtain some information.”

“Alright.” Long Yuehong happened to be entertaining the idea of walking about, so he quickly agreed.

Due to the principle of not letting any of her team members be alone, she got Bai Chen to go with him.

When they entered the castle’s main building, a young man with flaxen hair and eyes of the same color walked out and brushed past them.

At this moment, Long Yuehong seemed to sense a gaze filled with hatred. He subconsciously turned his head to look at the other party, who lowered his head and quickly left.

As Long Yuehong wore a confused expression, Bai Chen whispered, “I remember him. His companion died at our hands.”

“Is that so…” Long Yuehong came to a realization.

Bai Chen looked back and calmly asked, “Should we find an opportunity to kill him?”

“Uh… No, there’s no need.” Long Yuehong quickly shook his head. He felt that the Old Task Force didn’t need to be afraid of such a level of hatred. They had enough strength to protect themselves, so there was no need to engage in further slaughtering.

Bai Chen didn’t say anything else and took the lead to enter the castle’s main building.

…

When Waite returned from First City a few days later, Roen and the other survivors’ injuries were almost healed. They split up and led the Old Task Force and the lone Hunters to search for other cave entrances in the forest.

In the afternoon, a deep cave appeared in front of them.

Waite immediately took out a remote-controlled car from his backpack and sent it into the cave.

“We purposely got him to get this from First City.” Wang Fugui turned his head and smiled at Jiang Baimian and the others.

Just as he said that, Shang Jianyao also took off his tactical backpack and took out a simple but industrial-looking black remote-controlled car.

“We made this ourselves.” Shang Jianyao looked at Wang Fugui and smiled.

“…” Wang Fugui opened his mouth but didn’t say a word.