Embers Ad Infinitum

“Let me out! Let me out!” Oudick slammed the iron door and shouted. He used the Red River language that he was more accustomed to, a language that came naturally to him.

“See, he’s proving what I said.” The doctor in the white coat and blue surgical mask shrugged. “Carry on. Come to my office if you have any questions.”

He didn’t exhort them further because he felt that it was impossible for them to communicate with Oudick in any other way other than having the iron door stand in between them since he hadn’t given them the key.

Laurice wiped her eyes and said to Jiang Baimian and the others, “You can ask Oudick now. If you need me gone, just tell me.”

Jiang Baimian made a terse grunt. “Then, please leave for the time being. Don’t worry; we’ll be fast.”

After Laurice—who was wearing dark culottes—turned into the stairwell and disappeared from the Old Task Force members’ field of view, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao and sighed. “Go. Try communicating.”

Shang Jianyao walked to the room enclosing Oudick with a serious expression.

The iron door to the room was blue-green in color. There was a small hole at the height of a person. In front and behind the hole were welded metal bars for isolation.

Through the hole, Oudick saw Shang Jianyao approach. He immediately became excited, stretched out his hands, grabbed the metal bars, and shook them forcefully. “Let me out! Let me out!”

His face—which couldn’t be considered handsome but proper—flushed red. His warped expression made it seem as if he wanted to devour someone.

Shang Jianyao glanced at his extremely fragile nose that wasn’t obvious. He then asked seriously, “Do you still remember us?”

“Let me out! Let me out!” Oudick slammed the iron door crazily, making it clang repeatedly.

“Oh, I apologize.” Shang Jianyao suddenly came to a realization and politely apologized. “We disguised ourselves, so it’s normal for you not to recognize us. Do you still remember October Xue and Zhang Qubing?”

Oudick glanced at him fiercely, and his expression turned a little adrift. He shouted agitatedly, “A person on the left, a person on the right, with a small picture frame in the middle! One of your eyes is big, and the other is small. You’re not a good person. I’ll help you dig them all out!”

Jiang Baimian exhaled silently when she heard that.

It was obvious from their communication that Oudick had gone mad. If he had faked this, Jiang Baimian could only praise him for his flawless acting.

Shang Jianyao sighed and said, “Look, we resisted the fake Father together. Together, we controlled Weed City’s nobles. So…”

At the Mind Corridor level, Shang Jianyao didn’t need to follow a strict Inference Clowning format. However, he was a ritualistic person—if he remembered.

Oudick fell silent as he brought his face to the hole in the door and allowed the metal bars to press against his skin. He then smiled, suppressed his voice, and carefully said, “Let me out! Let me out!”

As he spoke, he became agitated again, and his voice rose again. “Let me out if we’re friends!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He crazily slammed the iron door.

Shang Jianyao quietly listened and watched. After he calmed down, he asked, “What did you discover in that nightmare?”

Oudick’s warped expression relaxed, revealing some confusion and stupidity. “A person on the left, a person on the right, with a small picture frame in the middle! One of your eyes is big, and the other is small. You’re not a good person. I’ll help you dig them all out!”

He widened his slightly vacant blue eyes and repeated his previous words in a mutter.

Shang Jianyao stared fixedly. He suddenly spread his arms, raised his head slightly, and closed his eyes. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

He then turned around and looked at Jiang Baimian. “He can understand my words to a certain extent and can be affected by abilities similar to Inference Clowning, but he can’t communicate effectively.”

Shang Jianyao was certain that his Inference Clowning had taken effect. As for how effective it was, he couldn’t determine from the current feedback.

Jiang Baimian looked around and confirmed that nobody else was in the corridor; there were no patients living in the nearby rooms either. Only far into the distance could she hear muttering, intermittent singing, loud laughter, and loud cries.

Looking at Oudick behind the iron door, Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “The two sentences he keeps repeating are the information he obtained using his abilities in the nightmare? A person on the left, a person on the right, with a small picture frame in the middle… One eye is big, and the other is small. Not a good person. Hoping to dig them all out with excessive agitation…

“The former is very symmetrical, and the latter is asymmetrical… Is this some OCD? But that’s not the price Oudick paid… Also, why doesn’t he use his abilities when he’s agitated and desperately trying to escape?”

Long Yuehong was a little confused and couldn’t help but ask, “Team Leader, there doesn’t seem to be a necessary connection between your first sentence and the subsequent three sentences.”

Could it be that the information Oudick obtained is OCD?

Jiang Baimian immediately smiled bitterly. “The first sentence was a guess of the meaning behind the two sentences. The subsequent sentence is an analysis of the information they might hide.”

Bai Chen thought for a moment and said, “Maybe Oudick is just describing the scene he saw in the nightmare before he went crazy. A person on the left, a person on the right, with a small picture frame in the middle, one eye is big, and the other is small. ‘Doesn’t seem like a good person’ and ‘help dig them out’—I think Oudick added those lines after he went crazy. It should be treated as noise that needs to be eliminated.”

“That makes sense.” Jiang Baimian agreed. She then laughed and shook her head. “Oudick now suffers from OCD after going mad? He likely didn’t have such a problem when we interacted with him previously.”

Jiang Baimian’s smile carried obvious wistfulness. “The most important thing is still the question you just asked. It’s impossible for a crazy Awakened to be imprisoned so easily.”

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “Could it be that he subconsciously doesn’t want to harm the innocent?”

Just as he said that, Oudick—who had been muttering words like ‘a person on the left, a person on the right’—flew into a rage again. He shook the metal bars around the hole and shouted, “Let me out! Let me out!”

After the Advanced Hunter calmed down a little, Jiang Baimian sighed and said, “Unfortunately, the Destiny Pearl has long been used up, and it’s not like I chose Last Man domain abilities.”

Otherwise, they could directly flip through Oudick’s memories to search for clues.

After a short silence, Long Yuehong asked, “What should we do now?”

“Oudick has Dawn’s Morning Star backing him. They will definitely continue investigating.” Jiang Baimian returned to her staid state. “Even if we want to interfere and avenge him, it’s best to cooperate with the True Self Church to prevent more people from dying or going crazy.”

They had established basic cooperations with the True Self Church, but they had almost no dealings with Dawn’s Morning Star. Their partnership with Oudick originated from the Hunter’s Guild.

Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava agreed with their team leader’s suggestion.

Shang Jianyao looked at the doctor’s office near the stairwell. “I want to ask if Oudick can be treated.”

“Okay.” Jiang Baimian didn’t object.

Shang Jianyao had always been a man of action. He knocked on the door and entered the doctor’s office to find the person from before.

He had already taken off his mask, revealing a slightly thin face.

After hearing Shang Jianyao’s question, the doctor said with a serious expression, “Your friend’s condition is rather serious. If he’s just agitated, short-tempered, has violent tendencies, and can’t control himself a little, it’s still considered simple. He can be controlled with drugs, but it’s obvious that he has already treated his fantasies as reality and lives in his world. He keeps repeating words that we can’t understand and can’t communicate effectively. As to the extent of the treatment’s results, it will require long-term observation and constant refinements.”

Doesn’t this mean that it’s very difficult to treat him? Long Yuehong muttered inwardly.

In the Ashlands, people who couldn’t be treated within a certain period of time would definitely be abandoned unless they were truly rich; otherwise, it would be a waste of resources.

Shang Jianyao didn’t say anything else and nodded calmly. “I got it.”

The five of them left the doctor’s office and walked to the stairwell.

Jiang Baimian sharply spotted Oudick’s wife, Laurice, squatting in the shadows at the bend and burying her face in her arms, which were on her knees.

Upon sensing the commotion, Laurice suddenly stood up. Perhaps it was because she was too fast, but she staggered and almost lost her balance.

“Are you done? Did you find out anything?” she asked anxiously, her eyes red.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “The words he repeats might be clues, but further investigation and confirmation are needed.”

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly took a step forward and said, “I can relieve Oudick’s condition slightly. Do you want to give it a try?”

Ah? Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao in surprise and realized that his expression and eyes were serious.

“Really?” Laurice was excited.

Shang Jianyao nodded sincerely. “I have sufficient experience and unique solutions when it comes to treating mental disorders, but this can’t resolve Oudick’s problem completely. He will still show abnormalities from time to time, and he requires long-term observation and treatment. But most of the time, he will still be that husband you remember.”

Laurice would’ve doubted Shang Jianyao if he had promised to fully treat Oudick. But after hearing that it was only to relieve his symptoms, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful. “I have no problem with that. You can give it a try.”

In any case, it couldn’t get any worse.

The corners of Shang Jianyao’s mouth curled up as he revealed an indescribable smile. “My treatment plan is relatively special. I need you to tell me in detail what kind of person Oudick is. The more detailed you are, the higher the chances of the symptoms being alleviated.”

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong remained confused when they heard this, but Jiang Baimian had a guess. Her eyes revealed unconcealed grief.

Laurice didn’t notice her performance. She looked at Shang Jianyao and excitedly said, “Do you want to wake Oudick up bit by bit using details from his daily life? Alright, I’ll tell you!”

She then looked around and smiled apologetically. “I think it will take some time. W-we should find a place where we can sit down and chat.”