Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she looked elsewhere on the island.

Unlike before, figures appeared on the jagged rocks one after another. Some of them hung from protruding stone pillars, their tongues hanging out from being strangled. Some of them had been shot several times, and their flesh was mangled. Some of their heads seemed to have been smashed by something hard, causing them to cave in and bleed red blood and white brain matter.

There were all kinds of situations, but one thing they had in common was that their faces belonged to Jiang Baimian.

My own fear of death? Jiang Baimian muttered to herself silently.

Frankly speaking, she was accustomed to death. Be it the tragic situation Blackrat Town suffered from bandits or the corpses strewn across Weed City’s riots, they weren’t much better than the current scene. However, she still felt her heart palpitate when she saw the tragic deaths of figures sharing her face and figure.

Normal people would have such a reaction, apart from unconventional people like Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian subconsciously took a deep breath and felt the strong stench of blood fill her mouth and nose.

She resisted the discomfort and took a passive stance. She didn’t make any additional attempts and only walked around the island slowly, trying her best not to miss a single corner. During this process, she would occasionally see her head being blown up by a bullet like a bursting watermelon. Sometimes, she would discover that her body was tattered and thrown into the grass. The body had clearly suffered terrifying destruction when she was alive.

These scenes were so realistic that Jiang Baimian suspected that she would have nightmares for days after leaving the Sea of Origins.

Finally, she couldn’t help but mutter, “I’m fine with dying, but why must the deaths be so strange…”

At the same time, she began to think of a way to clear this island of fear.

It was obvious that it was impossible to clear it by adapting to such scenes. Otherwise, with Jiang Baimian’s mental fortitude, she would be able to face her dead ‘selves’ calmly every day for a week or two while admiring the bloody scene and conjure some snacks to watch.

The key to defeating this island of fear lies in reality? But who would put themselves in danger for no reason? In such cases, 90% of people will really die… Besides, many people will be scared out of their wits after experiencing a life-and-death danger, leaving behind even more serious psychological trauma… Jiang Baimian left the Sea of Origins when she saw that she was almost mentally exhausted and opened her eyes in the jeep.

She gently sat up and cast her gaze at the backseat, planning to ask Shang Jianyao about the result of him clearing Room 522’s cruise trauma tonight.

With the moonlight shining in from the window, a scene reflected in Jiang Baimian’s eyes: Shang Jianyao had already woken up at some point in time. He was pressing his face against the car window on the right as if he had become a statue.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Baimian asked with a frown.

Shang Jianyao turned his head and gestured for her not to speak. He then turned his head again and continued pressing his face against the glass surface to look out the window.

Jiang Baimian suspiciously crawled to the driver’s seat and followed Shang Jianyao’s gaze to size up the situation outside.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were holding their weapons and patrolling around the bonfire and the jeep. Genava sat cross-legged between the fire and the vehicle as if he had entered sleep mode.

“What’s wrong with that?” Jiang Baimian muttered. Just as she said that, she saw Long Yuehong and Bai Chen look at each other. After a brief moment of eye contact, they slowly looked away with respective faint and bright smiles.

Jiang Baimian unconsciously smiled like a satisfied elder. She then turned her head and suppressed her voice as she said to Shang Jianyao, “So you’re eating dog food.”

Old World entertainment was harmful.

Shang Jianyao pulled his face away from the car window and looked back at Jiang Baimian before opening his mouth. “Woof, woof, woof.”

“…” Jiang Baimian really couldn’t swallow her pride—or rather, lower herself to argue with Shang Jianyao.

This was equivalent to lying on the ground!

“Ahem.” Jiang Baimian cleared her throat and inquired, “Have you cleared Room 522’s cruise trauma? Any progress?”

“It’s cleared.” Shang Jianyao quickly became serious. “Another cluster of Chaotic aura was obtained. Furthermore, it can be fused into your Chaotic Right Hand and enhance its usage.”

“You actually obtained more Chaotic aura…” Jiang Baimian frowned. “Although I also know that everyone’s mind world and psychological trauma are independent of each other and that an exploration of the same scene in Room 912 won’t affect Room 522’s situation, the aura that involves the New World and can be melted into the mind is actually non-unique…”

“This is called being impartial.” Shang Jianyao didn’t mind at all and stretched out his left palm. “Give me your Chaotic Right Hand.”

A cold shiver quickly spread between the two of them. Shang Jianyao trembled as he said, “This is simply a godsend when used in summer.”

He transferred the newly obtained Chaotic aura into the glove. The two perfectly fused because the source was clearly the same.

“You… make it sound… like you’ve been through many summers.” Jiang Baimian quickly stuffed Chaotic Right Hand back into her tactical backpack.

Pangu Biology was located underground. The difference between spring, summer, autumn, and winter was that it was cooler at night, cold, or colder.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, Jiang Baimian mentioned her third island of fear.

Shang Jianyao’s eyes gradually lit up. “Sounds interesting.”

He—who sought novelty—was eager to make the other Shang Jianyaos make different death poses.

“Therefore, you don’t have such islands of fear.” Jiang Baimian sighed helplessly.

Shang Jianyao had a look of regret. “There’s also one among us who’s afraid of death.”

This referred to the timid one.

“What are your thoughts on defeating this fear?” Jiang Baimian skillfully steered the topic back on track.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, “Everyone has fear of death. Apart from a few people who are overwhelmed by life’s troubles or have mental disorders, we are all afraid of death. It’s like we would yearn to borrow from the heavens another 500 years of lifespan…”

As Shang Jianyao’s voice gradually rose, Jiang Baimian calmly stopped him. “Don’t sing it!”

Shang Jianyao took more than ten seconds to gather his original thoughts. “Find the value of life and understand the meaning of death. Only then can we face it more frankly.”

“For example, the way Elder Zhang, Commissioner Huang, and the others did?” Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully.

Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly.

…

Thanks to the few roads that the Salvation Army had repaired and the settlements and rest stops along the way, the Old Task Force arrived at Icefield in less than three days.

It was midsummer, and this place was relatively south. Jiang Baimian and the others didn’t see any frozen soil. All they saw were long or short weeds and patches of black-green forests.

After replenishing their supplies, they entered Icefield. The road gradually became dilapidated, and the intervals between their encounters with settlements became longer and longer.

After two to three days, they rarely encountered Ruin Hunters. The land was vast, and there were more animal encounters.

Just like that, the Old Task Force headed for Tai City according to a map that wasn’t too precise or hardly had any landmarks to use as a reference.

Several days later, a large lake appeared in front of them; this wasn’t smaller than the Lake of Wrath near Redstone Collection. Long Yuehong couldn’t see the end of the water body.

The lake’s water was clear, reflecting the blue sky without any impurities. It was as beautiful as a fairyland.

“How beautiful.” Long Yuehong held it in for a long time but couldn’t think of a suitable poem.

Bai Chen echoed, “The weather is good too.”

“We’ll rest early today and camp by the lake.” Jiang Baimian knew that she and her team needed some time to relax during their long journey; they couldn’t stay tense all the time.

As the jeep stopped, Shang Jianyao pushed open the door and went straight to the lake. He had his eye on an Old World swing and eagerly sat on it.

This Shang Jianyao was the one who valued relationships but was mentally young.

Bang!

The swing collapsed, and Shang Jianyao fell, covering him in dirt.

Long Yuehong forced himself not to laugh to prevent Little White from believing that he had a dark side.

Bai Chen and Jiang Baimian smiled, but they didn’t gloat.

“Why didn’t you check it first?” the honest Genava asked in concern.

Shang Jianyao didn’t show any shame. “I can’t let Little Red beat me to it!”

I’m not a child! Long Yuehong muttered inwardly.

Shang Jianyao continued, “He will definitely offer it to Little White and have her sit with him.”

Uh… Long Yuehong suddenly felt like he had really missed something.

In order to hide his embarrassment, he walked to the lake and looked at the clear, blue water surface. He muttered to himself, “I wonder how the fish meat here is…”

Just as he said that, the fish underwater opened their mouths at him, revealing two rows of white teeth.

Smack!

Several black tentacles streaked out of another relatively large fish and slapped the water as if they wanted to drag Long Yuehong down.

Long Yuehong quickly took a few steps back. “This?”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “This place doesn’t belong to the Old World’s Icefield in the true sense of the word. It’s a product of Icefield’s expansion after the Old World was destroyed and climate change. I believe the reason for climate change in this area is related to the bombardment of various high-energy weapons. The pollution left behind must be very serious.”

She was explaining why mutated fish appeared in the fairyland-like lake.

“No wonder there aren’t any settlements around such a large lake.” Bai Chen nodded.

According to her understanding, if there really was such a lake with good water quality and a large number of fish, it would definitely attract a number of wilderness nomads to migrate over in spring; they would only head south during autumn.

Settlements popped out near water and prey.

As she spoke, Bai Chen looked around. Suddenly, she realized that there were a few black spots along the horizon.

They seemed to be boats.