Embers Ad Infinitum

Bai Chen slowed down her driving, allowing Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao on the other side to continue observing Building 4.

The area had completely collapsed, but it didn’t affect the surroundings at all. There wasn’t even much of a dust cloud.

It was as if an invisible hand was restraining all of this, creating a phenomenon that violated the laws of physics.

Jiang Baimian observed for a while before saying, “Building 4 collapsed because we took away the small jade Buddha?”

Shang Jianyao didn’t stick his face to the window this time and stroked his chin with his left hand. “In theory, yes. It can’t be a problem with the two phones, right?”

“Besides, this is one of Buddhism’s Holy Lands,” added Bai Chen.

The small jade Buddha’s relationship with Buddhism was clearly closer and more direct than other things.

As the car turned, Long Yuehong saw Building 4’s situation and hesitantly said, “But isn’t this collapse too strange? Shouldn’t it crumble and cause an earthquake after losing the ability to maintain itself?”

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and replied, “Maybe this is the original state of Building 4. The small jade Buddha maintained it for more than 60 years in violation of the norm. It’s only returning to its original state, so it’s not collapsing and there’s not much of a stir…

“This is one explanation. Another explanation is that the person using the small jade Buddha to maintain Room 302’s uniqueness is still watching Building 4. In order to prevent the corpses from being damaged and the situation turning into a sorry state, he chose to exert his force remotely, making the collapse orderly and quiet. It’s like building a large tomb.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped.

Long Yuehong thought for a moment and found the latter explanation more acceptable. After all, the concepts of ‘past state,’ ‘current state,’ and ‘return’ were too advanced. Even if the Awakened had very special powers, it didn’t seem possible.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Long Yuehong saw Shang Jianyao reach into his pocket and take out the small jade Buddha.

“Wait! Wait!” His eyes widened, and he almost stammered. It’s better to take out a strange item obtained from a strange place after leaving the steelworks factory ruins! Otherwise, who knows what accidents will occur!

“It doesn’t contain any aura or power.” Shang Jianyao didn’t mind Long Yuehong’s fear at all and waved the small, lake-green jade Buddha that acted as a pendant.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and made a guess. “Its aura or power dissipated the moment you held it? This resulted in the collapse of Building 4?”

“Even earlier.” Shang Jianyao recalled the various details. “It was already an ordinary jade accessory when I touched it.”

Long Yuehong looked it up and down and heaved a sigh of relief when he didn’t discover anything abnormal. He then joined the discussion.

He looked at Shang Jianyao and said, “The corresponding power probably began depleting the moment you activated the Six Senses Beads’ aura and resolved the anomaly in the master bedroom.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Chen raised a question in confusion. “Was Room 302’s master bedroom blanketed in an illusion?”

“No, it didn’t seem so,” replied Long Yuehong. He quickly explained, “I clearly saw Shang Jianyao touch the small jade Buddha, but he didn’t feel anything. If it’s an illusion, it can’t erase the existence of matter, right?”

Jiang Baimian shook her head. “A particularly powerful illusion should be able to affect touch.”

“Won’t that be too terrifying?” Long Yuehong thought for a moment and found such a matter abnormally terrifying. “Think about it. If what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch are all affected by illusions, we won’t be able to distinguish reality from illusion!”

Just as he said that, Shang Jianyao had already spread his hands and raised his body slightly. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

Jiang Baimian laughed as well. “The various religions in the Shattered Mirror domain probably have similar beliefs—it’s difficult to determine what’s real. Sigh, let’s not discuss this problem. We have too little knowledge and information, so thinking about it now will only give us a headache. It’s better to live seriously and live in the moment.”

After ending the philosophical discussion, she asked Shang Jianyao, “Do you think it’s an illusion?”

Shang Jianyao’s expression turned solemn. He raised his left palm and solemnly said, “It should be the legendary Alaya-vijnana—storehouse consciousness?”

“Why?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen quietly pricked up their ears.

“Nothing.” Shang Jianyao insisted in a manner as though he was right. “Intuition.”

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and the others to speak, he added, “From my point of view, Room 302’s situation is like two overlapping worlds that have a certain level of connection with each other. However, they don’t affect each other in the eyes of those who haven’t opened up the door to Alaya-vijnana.”

“Have you watched too much Old World entertainment?” Long Yuehong couldn’t help but criticize.

“Advice from others may help one overcome their shortcomings.” Shang Jianyao didn’t deny it and even smiled.

As they spoke, the jeep had already returned to the road leading to the steelworks factory ruins.

Jiang Baimian didn’t interject. After a while, she slowly said, “The state that Hey described reminds me of something.”

“What is it?” Bai Chen—who was driving—asked curiously. Unlike in the previous missions, there was clearly more expression in her face and emotions in her words.

Jiang Baimian replied in a deep voice, “New World.”

There was a sudden silence in the jeep.

“Team Leader, you mean that the New World actually overlaps with the Ashlands and has a certain connection but that most people can’t see it?” Long Yuehong knew what Jiang Baimian wanted to say, but he subconsciously sought confirmation.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “Perhaps only people who have explored the Mind Corridor to a certain extent can sense it. Therefore, a door to the New World will appear in the corresponding room.”

“Then, what’s with the door that leads to the New World in reality? It exists, right?” Bai Chen raised a new question.

“I don’t know.” Jiang Baimian shook her head. “At least Teacher Du Heng and many others believe it exists.”

In the Ashlands, almost everyone believed that there was a door leading to the New World deep in a ruin. This allowed them to escape the threat of the Heartless disease, famine, mutation, and monsters.

Every Ruin Hunter had similar hopes of finding it when entering ruins—it wasn’t solely to gather resources.

“Maybe that’s a node?” Shang Jianyao expressed his opinion.

Nobody agreed with him, nor did they refute him because they couldn’t prove its veracity for the time being.

Upon seeing that the steelworks factory ruins’ exit was at hand, Jiang Baimian decided to end the topic. “Hey, put away the small jade Buddha. We’ll study it carefully later. Yes… Make a four-layer package with tin foil, plastic, paper, and rubber bags.”

After Shang Jianyao finished dealing with the small jade Buddha, Jiang Baimian deliberated for a moment and said, “Let’s head to Redstone Collection now. On the way, send a telegram to Old Ge and get him to buy tools to recover the damaged phones’ data. He will rendezvous with us there. Before entering Iron Mountain City’s ruins, I hope to find some useful information or clues from those two phones to reduce the risk of our subsequent operations.”

“Alright.” Long Yuehong and Bai Chen had no objections.

Shang Jianyao took out his small speaker and wondered what song to listen to next.

…

Three days after the Old Task Force left the steelworks factory ruins, a team of strange-looking people arrived.

Six to seven of them wore gray, patched clothes. Their hair was shaved very short, leaving only a thin layer. From a distance, they looked almost bald.

These people prostrated themselves every seven steps. They faced the blast furnaces in the steelworks factory ruins and kowtowed with abnormally pious expressions.

They entered the steelworks factory ruins and circled the factory area in such a manner, walking and kowtowing just like the outside.

After a while, these people came to Residential Zone 2 and arrived not far from Building 4.

The leader was not young. There weren’t many wrinkles on his face, but they were obvious. The thin hair on his head was white.

He was a Red Coaster, and his expression was staid.

Red Coasters were a branch of Ashlandics that had migrated to the Red River Zone. Their skin was browner, and their hair had natural curls.

Looking at the collapsed Building 4, these people stopped walking and stared blankly without moving for a long time.

After an unknown period of time, the elder in the lead let out a long sigh. “The omen has appeared. A great calamity is imminent…”

He spoke in Ashlandic with a dialect.

…

It kept pouring in the evening, making it so dark that it seemed like it was already midnight.

Bai Chen looked at the moving rain and suggested, “I remember a small city ruin nearby. We can camp there.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian expressed her absolute trust. She then lowered her head and continued studying the two maps in her hand.

They were maps of Redstone Collection and the Iron Mountain City ruins. Jiang Baimian wanted to memorize them through repeated perusal to reduce the possibility of getting lost during an operation.

The jeep drove for a while before black figures finally appeared in the rainy night ahead.

Bai Chen was just about to navigate and search for a relatively sturdy building to get shelter from the rain when Shang Jianyao—who was in the back row—suddenly said, “There are people over there. Nearly 20.”