Embers Ad Infinitum

Long Yuehong slowly sat up and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he picked up the waterskin beside him. During this process, he used the faint moonlight shining in from the window to see Shang Jianyao—who was on night duty—sizing him up.

“Were you jolted awake by fear?” Shang Jianyao asked with a smile.

Long Yuehong was alarmed and blurted out, “You had that nightmare too?”

Just as he said that, Long Yuehong realized that something was wrong. Hey was clearly still on night duty and hadn’t slept at all. How could he be dreaming?

Shang Jianyao smiled—just as he expected. “What kind of nightmare did you have?”

Their conversation attracted the attention of another night duty personnel—Bai Chen. Even the sleeping Jiang Baimian was roused.

In the entire room, only Giuseppe, aka Garibaldi—who had been exhausted from cold turkey—was still sleeping soundly.

Long Yuehong deliberated for a moment and said, “I dreamed of the Chief that passed on. I dreamed that when his body was carried into the cremation furnace, he showed a ferocious expression and even screamed tragically.”

After a simple description, Long Yuehong looked at Jiang Baimian. “Team Leader, did you have a similar nightmare?”

Jiang Baimian shook her head. “I slept very well.”

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief and analyzed himself in disappointment. “Perhaps the scene of the Chief committing suicide by jumping off a building was too shocking. It left a deep impression on me, so much so that I combined it with the funeral ritual. I ended up scaring myself.”

“From the looks of it now, that might not be the case.” Shang Jianyao raised his hand and stroked his chin. “Since you said so, that’s most likely not the reason.”

“Hey.” Long Yuehong didn’t have the strength to stop this fellow’s nonsense.

Jiang Baimian yawned, picked up a waterskin, and took a sip. “Go back to sleep. Anyway, that Chief has already turned into ashes—uh, relic. Even if there’s really a problem, it won’t be a problem.”

“Ghosts exist in this world…” Shang Jianyao suppressed his voice and said ethereally.

Long Yuehong was about to retort when Shang Jianyao gave an example: “DiMarco.”

Jiang Baimian and the others were momentarily speechless.

After DiMarco’s body was destroyed by the Old Task Force, he had indeed existed in the form of a ghost for a long time.

He was an Awakened of the Subhuti domain, and so was the Chief. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have mastered the Heavenly Eye.

In other words, there was a high chance that the Chief’s consciousness could survive outside of his body for a period of time. In layman’s terms, that was a ‘ghost.’

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, “Without a physical body, DiMarco couldn’t survive for long. That Chief died last night—uh, entered the New World.”

“He’s definitely stronger than DiMarco,” Shang Jianyao retorted.

“But it’s impossible for such a huge qualitative change to happen unless he can still move around in the Ashlands after entering the New World.” Jiang Baimian turned her body and looked out the window at the night sky. “Sleep. Why are we discussing ghosts in the middle of the night?”

Shang Jianyao didn’t continue the topic and said, “I’m wondering…”

“Stop wondering,” Jiang Baimian replied in disdain. But her attitude wasn’t too harsh, and there were hints of a joke.

“I’m wondering if Master Zennaga needs to sleep…” Shang Jianyao seemed to be facing an eternal problem.

In other words, how much did Mind Corridor-level Awakened need to sleep?

Bai Chen—who was near the door—immediately replied, “He likely has to. At least DiMarco needed sleep.”

If not for this, the Old Task Force wouldn’t have had the chance to destroy DiMarco’s body back then.

Shang Jianyao then said, “Then, is Master Zennaga sleeping now?

“I don’t think he’s the kind of person who’s a night owl.”

Uh… If Master Zennaga is sleeping now, there’s no way to use his Mind Reading to monitor us and prevent us from escaping? Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s question, such thoughts instantly flashed through Long Yuehong’s mind.

It was the same for Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen.

This was what Shang Jianyao wanted to express.

“Zen Master, are you asleep?” Shang Jianyao posed his question to the air.

Nobody answered him.

Upon seeing this, Bai Chen deliberated and said, “You want to suggest running away now?”

“Just because Master Zennaga isn’t watching us doesn’t mean that there aren’t other monks watching.” Jiang Baimian shook her head. “This is the Crystal Consciousness Church’s headquarters. There are many powerhouses here.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Long Yuehong strongly agreed.

If it weren’t for the series of bizarre events and miraculous coincidences that had occurred since last night, he would think that staying obediently in Sikhara Temple was the best choice.

In any case, the Old Task Force’s plan was to wait for turmoil to happen in First City. Was there any difference waiting elsewhere?

If chaos were to happen in First City within ten days, the Crystal Consciousness Church probably wouldn’t have the time and manpower to watch them.

“How will we know if we don’t try?” Shang Jianyao encouraged his companion.

“Dying after trying?” Jiang Baimian reflexively used a sentence she had learned from the Old World’s entertainment. She then said, “Besides, Master Zennaga is good at Prophecy. Perhaps he predicted that we wouldn’t be able to escape tonight, so he boldly went to sleep.”

“There are always errors and ambiguity in a prophecy.” Shang Jianyao relied on his rich knowledge of Old World entertainment to raise an example. “Perhaps the prophecy means that we won’t escape through the door, but we can climb through the window and climb down floor by floor.”

“That’s a little dangerous,” Long Yuehong said truthfully. He was mainly referring to himself.

Shang Jianyao’s genetic enhancement was effective, and he had great balance. He wasn’t much worse than an ape. Back in Redstone Collection, he could walk on collapsed buildings as if they were flat ground.

As for Zennaga, although he was very lenient when watching over the Old Task Force, he didn’t allow them to bring the military exoskeletons into the room. He only allowed them to hold light weapons.

“It’s also possible that Master Zennaga hasn’t slept at all and has been secretly watching us. He wants to grasp our escape plan and figure out what abilities we are hiding.” Jiang Baimian urged angrily, “Go to sleep.”

Mind Reading wasn’t omnipotent. If the Old Task Force members didn’t think about a particular ability, Zennaga wouldn’t know.

Shang Jianyao sighed in disappointment when he saw his team leader remain adamant.

Long Yuehong had long calmed down from the nightmare. He lay down again, pulled up the blanket, and prepared to continue sleeping.

At this moment, a ‘dong’ sound came from their door.

Someone seemed to be knocking on the door.

Dong!

Another knock echoed.

Jiang Baimian—who had yet to lie down—had an abnormally solemn expression.

Shang Jianyao turned to look at the wooden door and said sinisterly, “The ghost is here…”

Bai Chen originally wanted to open the door and see who had come to them in the middle of the night, but she noticed Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s unusual reactions as she swept her gaze across the room.

“What ghost…” Long Yuehong muttered and sat up.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian asked Shang Jianyao in a deep voice, “Is there nobody?”

Nobody… Long Yuehong’s expression froze.

“There’s no human consciousness outside.” Shang Jianyao no longer used his ghost-story tone and instead answered seriously. With the knocking on the door—a form of ‘interaction’—even an Awakened who could hide their consciousness couldn’t hide from his senses.

This made Long Yuehong and Bai Chen even more afraid and tense.

From Jiang Baimian’s reaction and the question she raised, they could tell that their team leader also believed that nobody was outside!

The next second, there was another knock.

“Open the door and take a look.” Jiang Baimian pulled out her Ice Moss pistol.

Shang Jianyao had long wanted to do this. He suddenly reached out and opened the door.

The corridor outside was dark and quiet, and there were lamps affixed at long intervals. The warm night breeze passed through freely without encountering any obstruction.

Indeed, there was nobody.

Long Yuehong got off the bed and picked up his pistol.

“There’s nobody.” Shang Jianyao stuck his upper body out into the corridor and looked around. He dragged out his voice and inquired, “Who’s knocking?”

Nobody answered him.

This mental fortitude… Long Yuehong thought enviously after he finally calmed down.

“Wait a little longer,” Jiang Baimian instructed Shang Jianyao.

She wasn’t too nervous. This was the Crystal Consciousness Church’s headquarters after all, and Zennaga was a benevolent monk.

As long as this Zen Master didn’t turn evil autonomously, the probability of a severe problem arising wouldn’t be high.

The Old Task Force waited for a while, but they didn’t hear another knock.

“Lame…” Shang Jianyao shook his head and closed the door.

Dong!

Shang Jianyao had just closed the door when another knock sounded.

Long Yuehong almost jumped up in fright.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Let’s see how long ‘he’ will knock.”

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao became excited again.

Dong! Dong!

The sound rang out from time to time, and it stopped for a long time after the seventh knock.

This caused Giuseppe to wake up dazedly.

“Seven knocks,” Jiang Baimian concluded. She looked at Bai Chen and the others and pondered for a moment. “What do you think is going on?”

Shang Jianyao had already prepared what to say as he directly replied, “Soul Returning Night! The Chief’s Soul Returning Night!”

“Then, why did he knock on our door?” Long Yuehong asked in horror.

“Because he left us the note!” At times like this, Shang Jianyao’s logic was always very clear.

“Then, why seven? No more, no less?” Long Yuehong asked again.

Shang Jianyao laughed. “Seven-story stupa! Seven is the lucky number of the Crystal Consciousness Church.”

“But nothing happened after we opened the door…” Long Yuehong refused to give in.

“Nothing will happen until we open the door after the seventh knock.” Shang Jianyao put on a stance that said, “If you don’t believe me, I’ll open the door for you now.”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian cleared her throat and said, “I remember that Awakened in the Subhuti domain can interfere with matter after entering the Mind Corridor. Could it be that someone manipulated the air and changed the wind pressure to create a sound similar to door knocking?”

Just as she finished speaking, another sound came from the door.

Dong!