Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian immediately sensed that something in the building had been triggered thanks to her abnormally sharp senses. She then saw the small jade Buddha in Shang Jianyao’s palm disappear inch by inch, just like how it had been swallowed by the darkness in the Vigilance Cathedral’s main hall.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she turned her head to look outside. She realized that thick white fog had risen outside the window at some point in time, making Long Yuehong’s figure—which was sprawled on the wall nearby—appear to be hundreds of meters away.

Jiang Baimian turned around and informed Shang Jianyao in a deep voice, “Something happened.”

As she spoke, her gaze gradually froze. This was because the wall behind Shang Jianyao—which originally contained the employee introduction board—was no longer as tattered as before. It had become very complete.

In the much dimmer light, there were photos stuck to it. Under the photos were textual introductions.

Jiang Baimian looked over and quickly confirmed something.

Among the food company employees represented by those photos was a sales manager named Liu Lu. This was identical to what Shang Jianyao had seen in the psychological trauma of Room 522’s owner.

Shang Jianyao also turned around at that very moment and clicked his tongue. “We’ve gone back in time?”

Jiang Baimian didn’t respond and instead cast her gaze at the four corners of the employee introduction board.

Her pupils dilated again.

There were no missing photos in those four corners!

Jiang Baimian composed herself and quickly asked Shang Jianyao, “Where was the missing photo?”

As Shang Jianyao had used words to describe the situation back then and hadn’t hand-drawn the entire employee introduction board to confirm the situation, Jiang Baimian couldn’t determine the location due to the use of relative terms—whether it was from his perspective, the wall, or the bulletin board.

The bottom left corner of the employee introduction board could either be the bottom left corner of the noticeboard or Shang Jianyao’s left. The two were diametrically opposite.

Shang Jianyao sighed. “We’ve really gone back in time!”

He raised his hand and pointed at a spot. “There.”

Jiang Baimian was just about to look over and distinguish the images and words when she suddenly felt a figure flash at the door. She then sensed a certain electric signal, but she didn’t sense any human consciousness.

As Jiang Baimian prepared Spatial Hallucination, she cast her gaze at the door. The next second, she saw a figure.

It was a woman with short black hair that just reached past her ears. She wore a white shirt inside and a blue suit outside. She looked young and beautiful—identical to the person in a photo.

“Liu Lu?” Jiang Baimian asked in a deep voice. Of course, she was asking Shang Jianyao, not the woman at the door.

Shang Jianyao nodded. “She has been made young again.”

“Pui, you call that young?” The honest Shang Jianyao retorted himself. “It’s more appropriate to use the term ‘returning to the age when she was younger.'”

Jiang Baimian carefully examined Liu Lu’s face for a while and realized that she was indeed not in her thirties or older like Shang Jianyao had previously said. Upon careful inspection, she looked like a young girl who had just graduated three to four years ago and desperately wanted to use her hairstyle and clothing to show her maturity and professionalism.

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian’s conversation didn’t affect Liu Lu. This girl with plenty of blood vessels in her eyes but was rather clear-headed ignored them and walked to the employee introduction board step by step.

Liu Lu stopped in front of the wall and seriously looked at the photos and introductions.

The Shang Jianyao—who had a cheerful personality and liked socializing—stood beside her and admired her.

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment before walking over. She looked at the photo that was supposed to be missing.

In the photo was a young man in his mid-twenties; he was younger than Liu Lu. He looked well-built and had short, tidy hair. He didn’t have any characteristics that were worth probing.

Jiang Baimian’s gaze moved down and landed on the corresponding introduction. “Ge Junfei, sales manager, Iron Mountain City resident…”

Not from Long River City… Jiang Baimian sighed inwardly.

Long River City’s United Steel Plant was the original name of the steelworks factory ruins. It was the place where Shang Jianyao found the original medical record; it was one of Buddhism’s Five Great Holy Lands.

The Old Task Force had previously guessed that the missing photo corresponded to Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong’s son, who had become a vegetable after getting into an accident.

Although Long Yuehong had conclusively proven that it was impossible back then, Jiang Baimian was still disappointed to see confirmation.

She didn’t waste any time and cast her gaze at the other photos and text introductions, hoping to memorize them and analyze them in detail later.

In the dark environment, Jiang Baimian only scanned the area and realized some details. Although Iron Mountain City was a large city with many out-of-state residents living in it, nearly half of the food company’s sales department employees were locals.

“This means that the remuneration is stable and that it’s suitable for those without much ambition?” As Jiang Baimian muttered silently, Liu Lu—who was standing beside Shang Jianyao—did something new.

As her gaze moved to a corner, the expression on her face gradually warped. Liu Lu then took a step forward, stretched out her right hand, and pulled off Ge Junfei’s photo and the whiteboard with the textual introduction.

Liu Lu’s hands moved violently as she tore the photo into pieces.

Shang Jianyao was ‘dumbfounded.’ He raised his hands, but he forgot to clap.

Liu Lu then shattered the whiteboard piece.

“A jerk?” Shang Jianyao asked excitedly.

Liu Lu ignored him and left the room with the fragments.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she quickly followed.

The light in the corridor was very dim at this moment. It didn’t seem like it was only four in the afternoon; it looked like it was six or seven in the evening. All that was left from the sun was only a sliver of light.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao followed behind Liu Lu and came to the middle of the corridor with her before she turned left.

Shang Jianyao looked at the label and took the initiative to stop.

This was a public bathroom; Liu Lu had entered the female bathroom.

The polite Shang Jianyao naturally couldn’t barge in.

Jiang Baimian didn’t attempt to persuade him and entered by herself. She then saw Liu Lu throw the fragments in her hand into a squatting urinal and step on the flush.

With splashing sounds, everything entered the sewers.

After the Old World was destroyed, the electricity and water supply in a city that wasn’t attacked seemed to be maintained for a period of time… Jiang Baimian casually thought as she watched Liu Lu stand in front of the squatting urinal. The latter looked down as her chest heaved violently.

She was breathing heavily.

“Why bother? The air here isn’t good.” Jiang Baimian thought that she had been corrupted by Shang Jianyao and had actually developed such a baffling thought. However, she realized that Hey had walked in at some point in time and was standing beside her as he pointed here and there.

“Where are your manners?” Jiang Baimian turned her head and asked in exasperation and amusement.

Shang Jianyao glanced at her. “Pedantic! Is it still the time to care about such matters?”

…Which Shang Jianyao is this? The timid but ruthless one? Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth.

At this moment, Liu Lu stabilized her breathing, turned around, left the bathroom, and walked back to the employee introduction board. When she passed by Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, she didn’t even glance at them as if they didn’t exist.

After returning to the original room, Jiang Baimian looked around and planned on taking a photo of the employee introduction board for documentation.

She could tell that Shang Jianyao was already eager to test Liu Lu.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian realized that Liu Lu’s figure seemed to become a little transparent.

This… Just as this thought flashed through Jiang Baimian’s mind, the light around her quickly lit up. Liu Lu’s figure and the complete employee introduction board melted like thin snow that had caught the sun.

Jiang Baimian then looked at the window and saw that the thick fog was indeed dissipating.

She immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and asked, “Did anything happen just now?”

Long Yuehong quickly replied, “Yes. The room became very dark, and your figures became very blurry. I tried to contact you through the walkie-talkie, but it was completely useless.”

Bai Chen recalled and said, “The entire building seemed to darken a little.”

“What about Old Ge? What’s the situation on your side?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Genava’s slightly synthetic voice sounded. “I’m summarizing the data. Done; the preliminary conclusion is that there was a strong magnetic field change in the building just now.”

“Why didn’t I sense anything…” Jiang Baimian’s voice gradually softened.

An unknown Shang Jianyao laughed. “It’s fated to only happen here.”

At this moment, the small jade Buddha appeared in his hand again.

Jiang Baimian composed herself and looked out the window. “It’s almost five. Do a final search and see if there’s anything extra here; then, evacuate this ruin before it turns dark. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Shang Jianyao replied very loudly. It was unknown which screw went loose.

After half an hour of hard work, the Old Task Force confirmed that the situation in the Second Food Company was no different from before Shang Jianyao used the small jade Buddha. They then returned to the car and headed to the edge of the city.

On the way, they didn’t discuss anything. They planned on having a brainstorming session after setting up camp.

As they drove, Bai Chen said, thanks to her sharp eyesight: “The Salvation Army’s car.”

The dark car driving over from another direction was Xu Datong, Li Shouyi, and the others’ car.

Shang Jianyao rolled down the window and waved his arm. “You guys are finally here!”

In the dark car’s passenger seat, Xu Datong stuck his head out. “We’ve already been to Second Food Company and didn’t discover anything. We even encountered a strange Superior Heartless’s attack. We destroyed the building’s door.”

Ah? Long Yuehong couldn’t help but tilt his head. He suspected that he had heard wrong.

The Old Task Force had just left Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company not long ago. Although the door was open, it was intact!