Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 732: Doesn’t Feel Right

Translator: CKtalon

In Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, Genava easily crossed the automatic extendable gate and returned to the cement-paved square.

Dark clouds covered the sky again. The classrooms were lit up, and the windows reflected the figures listening to the lectures.

After confirming Grade 12 Class 5’s location, Genava entered the teaching building in front of him and walked along the stairs to his designated spot.

Previously, Zen Master Redemption Shang Jianyao and the Shang Jianyao that abhorred evil and was responsible for saving all of humanity had teamed up to suppress the sinister and ruthless one and rejected his suggestion of setting fire to the building to create chaos.

However, the best reason for not doing it wasn’t suggested by the two of them but the calm and rational Shang Jianyao. He hit the nail on the head and said, “The fire Old Ge produces in the illusion will definitely reflect in reality. It’s equivalent to setting fire to Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, a Buddhist Holy Land.

“In a situation where the anomaly hasn’t been discovered and eliminated, such stimulation will most likely bring about negative changes and create dangerous accidents. When the time comes, not only will Big White, Little White, and Little Red—who are playing different roles—be in an illusion, but they might also be affected outside.”

Due to this, Genava didn’t consider the method of ‘arson.’ He drafted a series of plans from different angles, planning to try them one by one going from the easiest to the most difficult.

After finding Grade 12 Class 5 and ‘openly’ walking into the classroom, Genava went straight to Jiang Baimian’s seat.

He observed the classmates and the teacher on the podium and carefully picked up the rollerball pen that Jiang Baimian had placed beside her right hand.

Jiang Baimian’s peripheral vision froze—she saw the pen stand up shakily!

There’s a ghost! Jiang Baimian was first shocked before she recalled the baffling slap. She subconsciously looked out the window and realized that although the sky was relatively dark, it was still morning. What kind of ghost will act so brazenly in broad daylight?

After calming down, she saw the rollerball pen float to her open book as if it wanted to write something. However, no traces of ink appeared.

Through Jiang Baimian’s reaction, Genava confirmed that she couldn’t see the content he had written at all. In other words, he couldn’t tell Jiang Baimian the truth through this method and wake her memories that had been ‘sealed’ in her subconscious to help her escape her acting.

Changing to the second option… As a smart bot, Genava calmly stopped this attempt and placed the rollerball pen back in its original spot.

Hey had once said that this was politeness.

The invisible existence that previously patted my back wants to tell me something through writing or impart some cultivation method to me, but it hasn’t succeeded? Jiang Baimian fell into deep thought.

Genava tried to write on Jiang Baimian’s back, and Jiang Baimian seemed to realize something as she worked hard to restore the strokes.

But no matter how Genava chose simple words, she always deviated midway through the replication as if a certain force was interfering with the communications between two different ‘worlds.’

After deducing this, Genava gave up on the plan.

To Jiang Baimian, everything seemed to have returned to normal. In order not to show any abnormalities, she cast her gaze at the blackboard and nodded from time to time as the teacher explained.

Genava took the opportunity to take out a small white pill from his black military uniform.

This was a synthetic drug that Shang Jianyao had taken out of his tactical backpack. It was produced by Pangu Biology and was used to treat certain diseases brought about by mosquito bites in the wilderness.

It had a relatively obvious side effect: diuresis.

Genava quietly unscrewed the thermos that Jiang Baimian had placed in the drawer and accurately reduced one-fifth of the small tablet to powder before scattering it into the thermos by crushing it with his metal palm.

He believed that such a drug couldn’t affect Jiang Baimian’s health given her physique.

After doing this, Genava recalled his actions and inexplicably felt that something was amiss.

Jiang Baimian didn’t discover any subsequent paranormal developments after waiting for a long time. She heaved a sigh of relief and lifted the thermos in disappointment, unscrewing the cap and gulping down a mouthful.

Genava began to wait patiently, but Jiang Baimian still had no intention of going to the bathroom after waiting for nearly 15 minutes. Furthermore, she didn’t show any signs of urgency.

He decided to follow the plan and change to another method.

He took out the waterskin he had borrowed from Shang Jianyao and poured a lot of water into the porcelain cup he carried. He then crushed one-fifth of the previous pill and let the powder mix into the cup.

After completing his preparations, Genava entered a waiting state again.

After another five minutes, Jiang Baimian—who had just stood up to answer the teacher’s question—habitually picked up the thermos, unscrewed the cap, and planned on taking a sip.

Before she could tilt the thermos and bring the edge to her mouth, Genava quickly poured about 10 ml of the liquid in his cup into her mouth.

Jiang Baimian felt something strange, but she didn’t think too much of it. She gulped down the warm water.

This time, she couldn’t hold it in any longer after six to seven minutes.

There were still more than ten minutes before class ended.

Jiang Baimian held it in until she couldn’t take it any longer. She raised her hand and signaled to the teacher that she wanted to use the bathroom.

She was considered a top student in the entire grade, so the teacher smiled and agreed to her request.

Genava followed Jiang Baimian out of the classroom.

Classes were still being held, so nobody walked along the corridors.

After arriving outside the female bathroom, Genava hesitated for a moment before following her in. He remembered that he had a conversation with Hey back then.

“Old Ge, you’re a smart bot. Why are you concerned about this?”

“No, my preset gender is male. Rushing into the female bathroom is an act of perverted, vulgar, and ungentlemanly behavior.”

“Is that so… Old Ge, do you have a program to install a virtual machine?”

“That’s basic.”

“Then, you can temporarily virtualize a female personality. You can call her Genadale. Won’t the problem be resolved?”

“It still feels strange. It feels like I’m lying to myself.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. After all, there are cubicles in the women’s bathroom.”

In order to save his companions, Genava finally entered the female bathroom.

After confirming that Jiang Baimian was the only one inside, he chose to wait near the sink.

Before long, Jiang Baimian walked over. She turned on the tap, bent down, and washed her hands.

A previous scene instantly appeared in Genava’s main chip: Shang Jianyao eagerly said, “When you find an opportunity, give Big White a Golden Millet Dream punch. Pay attention to your strength. Her physique is so strong that it’s impossible to knock her out if it’s too light, but having it too heavy won’t work either. Aren’t you usually gathering information on our conditions and building a model? Figure out the most suitable strength and choose the best spot. I trust you!”

For Genava, such a calculation only needed some fraction of a second. He suddenly swung his bowl-sized iron fist.

Bang!

Jiang Baimian fainted.

After checking her physical condition and finding that not much damage was dealt to her, Genava carried his companion, left the female bathroom, and crawled along the corridor.

He had to avoid the gazes that occasionally cast out from the classroom windows.

Genava was like a lizard as he quickly carried Jiang Baimian to the side of the current teaching building. Below him was a corner that few people usually passed.

He easily jumped to the ground and prepared to sneak out like how he had brought Shang Jianyao out. He stuck close to the outer walls of the teaching building and the office building.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared from a window in front of him—it was a male student in a blue and white school uniform.

The male student immediately stared at Genava.

No, he couldn’t see Genava. He could only see Jiang Baimian—who was standing awkwardly.

Oh no! I’ve been discovered! Genava predicted what accidents would happen and how to respond by calculating an unknown amount of data every second. He had no confidence in facing this strange Buddhist Holy Land.

At this moment, Genava extracted the scene reflected in the male student’s eyes and realized that he only saw Jiang Baimian with her head lowered and a strange ‘standing posture.’

In a flash, Genava had a plan. He gripped Jiang Baimian’s wrist and strode forward, allowing his companion’s ‘fist’ to swing under the target’s ear.

This looked like Jiang Baimian had suddenly lunged forward and struck the other party.

Bang!

The boy fainted.

Genava warily observed his surroundings and realized that nothing had changed.

After resolving this accident, he repeated his previous route and sneaked to the automatic extendable gate with Jiang Baimian. He then used a diversion strategy to jump out and disappear from the school entrance in a few jumps.

Genava quickly met up with Shang Jianyao, woke Jiang Baimian up, and helped her regain her self-awareness.

Jiang Baimian rubbed her head, turned around, and looked at Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. “This is stranger and more dangerous than the three Buddhist Holy Lands we previously encountered…”

She had already roughly learned of their encounter from Shang Jianyao and Genava.

Without waiting for her two companions’ response, she thoughtfully continued, “I recalled a saying.”

“It’s never too late for revenge?” Shang Jianyao tried to answer.

Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes at him, and her expression gradually turned solemn. “Master Zhuang’s dream of being a butterfly.”

Genava immediately analyzed the situation. “You mean that this Buddhist Holy Land is essentially Master Zhuang’s dream?”

Jiang Baimian nodded.. “I suspect that we broke into Master Zhuang’s dream as if we opened the door that represents Master Zhuang in the Mind Corridor.”