Embers Ad Infinitum

The dull knocking echoed in the small room as if it were striking everyone’s hearts.

It’s here again… Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated.

There was no end to this!

Jiang Baimian frowned and thought for a few seconds before saying to Shang Jianyao, “Loudly ask who it is.”

She wanted to use this method to attract the attention of the monks on the same floor so that the Enlightened could use whatever abilities they had to resolve this very peculiar matter.

Shang Jianyao—who was beside the door—shouted without inhibitions, “Who is it?”

His voice spread out, but nobody responded. It was as if there was an endless abyss outside.

Dong!

The same knocking sounded again, and the wooden door seemed to tremble a little.

If they didn’t open the door or sense it, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao could naturally imagine a person standing outside just based on this outcome.

He was only one door away from Shang Jianyao.

“Sounds don’t seem to be able to travel too far.” Bai Chen—who was also by the door—shared her feelings.

“We’ve been isolated and cut off?” Long Yuehong’s heart tightened.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “If there is indeed someone who uses the ability to interfere with matter to manipulate the air, change the wind pressure, and simulate the sound of knocking on the door, then they can naturally limit any sounds to the vicinity.”

Dong!

Just as Jiang Baimian said that, the door trembled again. The person outside the door appeared impatient about entering.

“Should we open the door?” Shang Jianyao sought his team leader’s opinion.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before saying, “Wait a little longer.”

After waiting for nearly half an hour, there was complete silence outside the door.

The person at the door seemed to have completely given up after the bitter wait.

Jiang Baimian got off the bed and walked to the door. She seriously sensed for a while and said, “I’ll try to open the door. Be prepared.”

Bai Chen took two steps back and aimed the gun in her hand at the wooden door. Long Yuehong did the same, but he was in front of the bed that was further away from the door.

Shang Jianyao took off the flashlight hanging from his belt and took out a mirror.

Upon seeing Jiang Baimian look at him, he explained seriously, “I learned this from Abbess Zhou. What if it’s really a ghost?”

But Abbess Zhou’s tricks aren’t meant to deal with ghosts… Jiang Baimian slowly took a deep breath and exhaled. She then raised her left hand in the air and twisted the doorknob with her right palm that was holding the Ice Moss, pulling it open.

The light from the distant corridor lamps gushed into the room through the gradually expanding gap, illuminating the Old Task Force members’ faces.

Nobody passed through the corridor. Even the shadows in places where the corridor lamps couldn’t reach seemed to be in silence.

“There’s indeed nobody.” Jiang Baimian carefully observed for a while and came to this conclusion. She then carefully closed the door again to see if there were any more knocks.

The Old Task Force waited for more than half an hour, but there were no more thuds. This made their previous experience seem like an illusory dream.

If not for Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen still waiting there, Long Yuehong would definitely think that there was no knocking and that everything was just his illusion.

“It seems like it has stopped…” Jiang Baimian gave a terse grunt.

Bai Chen frowned and said, “Why did that ‘person’ knock on the door? He ‘left’ without doing anything… Could it be that something bad would’ve happened to us if we opened the door after three thuds?”

Shang Jianyao laughed. “What gives you the illusion that we didn’t encounter anything bad? Perhaps we have been unknowingly affected, but it hasn’t acted up, just like when we were in Wasteland Ruin 13.”

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but shiver when he thought of the three Hunters who had committed suicide because of Wu Meng’s surreptitious influence. “No way…”

“We can’t rule out this possibility.” Jiang Baimian didn’t dare to be careless. “Anyway, we shall take turns for night duty and watch each other. Once we discover anything abnormal, we’ll immediately warn each other.”

They had some experience in this aspect.

Giuseppe—who was still tied up and had been enjoying the treatment of being fed—interrupted, “I don’t think there’s a need to worry too much. This is the Crystal Consciousness Church’s headquarters. No ghosts can cause trouble here. When there are ‘hauntings’ in certain places in First City, they often invite monks from the Crystal Consciousness Church to exorcise them.”

“I’m just afraid it’s not a ghost.” Jiang Baimian sighed. She didn’t explain further to Giuseppe as she muttered to herself, “If there’s anything abnormal, we can indeed inform the Crystal Consciousness Church monks and seek their help. If there’s no surreptitious influence, then the main point of what happened just now is the act of ‘door knocking.’ Yes, this doesn’t conflict with any surreptitious influence. Since Wu Meng can use radio waves to transmit his powers, it’s not too unacceptable for that person to rely on knocking to exert influence.

“Apart from this, ‘door knocking’ might be to pass us some information, just like the paper in the scriptures.” Jiang Baimian associated the ‘door knocking’ incident with the previous Holy Land catalog. After all, this happened after they entered Sikhara Temple and witnessed the death of the Chief.

“Passing of information…” Bai Chen’s eyes darted around slightly. “The first set of knocks happened seven times, and the second set had three knocks. What does this mean?”

The Old Task Force had special classes to train in secret codes and passwords.

“From a simple and direct perspective, it represents the two numbers ‘seven’ and ‘three,'” Jiang Baimian replied. “Since the person wants to pass a message to us as an outsider, it won’t be too complicated.”

“Seven, three…” Long Yuehong began to think about the meaning of the two numbers.

“In addition, it’s early in the morning.” Shang Jianyao ‘confidently’ gave his thoughts. “The answer is that we have to meet them seven days later at three in the morning.”

“Do you think they struck your head three times?” Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but laugh.

She had already shared the corresponding story about the three strikes on the Monkey King’s head with the Old Task Force.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, she asked, “So, where should we meet?”

“I don’t know,” Shang Jianyao replied very bluntly.

Long Yuehong helped think of a reason. “Maybe seven days later, at three in the morning, they will come here to find us again?”

“Then, why didn’t they come in directly just now? Why wait seven days?” Jiang Baimian skillfully found a loophole.

Long Yuehong was tongue-tied and couldn’t answer.

“But according to your logic,” Bai Chen joined the discussion, “they can just enter directly if they want to pass any message. Why leave a secret message by knocking?”

“That’s indeed a problem.” Jiang Baimian nodded. “Perhaps the person who knocked on the door can’t communicate with us directly and can only use this method. Uh, so we can’t rule out the possibility that they can talk to us seven days later and will visit us at three in the morning. But why did they knock on the door in advance? Why not wait patiently until then?”

“A ritual!” Shang Jianyao rushed to answer. “They are in a special condition, so they have to complete the knocking before they can communicate with us seven days later.”

Bai Chen raised another possibility. “Maybe they’re afraid that we’ll escape from Sikhara Temple in the next few days.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “Both explanations are reasonable. The only way to verify them is to wait seven days.”

At this point, Jiang Baimian looked up at the ceiling. “Seven and three might have other meanings. From the Crystal Consciousness Church’s point of view, ‘seven’ represents the seven-storied stupa and also represents the seven-storied Sikhara Temple—which represents the floor above us.”

This is very reasonable… Long Yuehong nodded indiscernibly.

Compared to Shang Jianyao’s seemingly empty guess, Jiang Baimian’s guess based on the Buddhist organization’s characteristics was more reliable.

Jiang Baimian continued, “If ‘seven’ represents Sikhara Temple’s seventh story, then ‘three’ might be the number of a room there. The person knocking on the door wants us to look for them there?”

This… Long Yuehong and Bai Chen looked at each other and felt that this explanation was indeed highly possible.

“Shall we go now?” Shang Jianyao asked eagerly.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a while before saying, “There’s no rush. What if it’s a trap? It’s currently impossible to determine if that person is good or bad. Perhaps… it’s not good for them to directly fight against Master Zennaga and vie for the Chief position. They can use this method to lure us over and accuse us of violating the temple’s rules to implicate Master Zennaga…

“Perhaps their strength is limited to that room, and only a small portion of it can leak out. They have to lure us in to be of use…”

Upon hearing his team leader’s hypotheses, Long Yuehong felt that it was better to be cautious.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian looked around and said, “I’ll find an opportunity to find out what’s on the temple’s seventh story at dawn and who’s staying in Room 3 before making a decision. Okay, go to sleep. The people on night duty will watch each other and guard against any abnormalities.”

The discussion ended there. The Old Task Force didn’t encounter anything strange that night.

…

In the morning, the young monk from before delivered oatmeal porridge and toast.

Jiang Baimian casually asked, “Who lives in the rooms on the top floor of your temple? There seemed to be movement last night.”

The young monk said with a puzzled look, “Nobody lives there.”

“…” Long Yuehong really experienced what a ghost story was at that moment.

“Is it a place where the scriptures are stored?” Jiang Baimian asked further.

The young monk nodded. “There’s also a small hall that worships our Buddha Subhuti.”

“There’s no Lokeśvara-Tathāgata?” Shang Jianyao interrupted curiously.

“We mainly worship Buddha Subhuti.” The young monk didn’t hide the fact that could be learned anywhere.

Jiang Baimian began to beat around the bush. “What else? What other rooms are there on the seventh floor? Perhaps a rat entered?”

The young monk thought for a moment. “That’s impossible. The security is very strict… There’s also a room with magical artifacts and…”

His expression suddenly turned solemn. “And the meditation room where Buddha’s Nirmanakaya sleeps.”