Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 733: Guess

Translator: CKtalon

Regarding Jiang Baimian’s guess, the red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered as usual.

“When Buddhism talks about Lokeśvara-Tathāgata, it always says that this world is ‘His’ dream. In many of the books related to Daoism, there is also the saying that Master Zhuang dreamed of a butterfly… Therefore, I think it’s a relatively reasonable deduction to associate Master Zhuang with dreams.”

This was different from the Dawn domain’s ability to make people dream. It was to materialize one’s dream and affect others.

Coupled with the information that Master Zhuang was Buddha Lokeśvara-Tathāgata and that this was one of Buddhism’s Holy Lands, Jiang Baimian’s guess that the Old Task Force had entered Master Zhuang’s dream after entering Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School had a relatively high probability.

Shang Jianyao’s expression gradually became excited. “Master Zhuang’s dream has its own rules. People who don’t conform to the rules will be forcefully modified and have their corresponding thoughts implanted. This is so that they can have a suitable identity in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School in the Old World, allowing the dream’s plot to continue. As for silicon-based humans like Old Ge, he’s in a loophole in the dreamscape’s rules. It’s equivalent to him escaping the Three Realms and not being bound by the Five Elements…”

Although it sounds mystical, it seems to make sense… Jiang Baimian nodded and said to Genava, “To be safe, Old Ge, bring Little Red and Little White out as soon as possible…”

As she spoke, her expression suddenly turned strange.

The honest Genava sincerely suggested, “Relieve yourself if you need to.”

“…” Jiang Baimian rubbed her head. “What method did you use to bring me out?”

“That’s a long story,” Shang Jianyao—who liked to joke—replied before Genava could. “In short, drink more water.”

Jiang Baimian’s eyes flickered as she vaguely guessed what she had encountered, and she secretly gritted her teeth. “Old Ge, enter the school. Don’t waste any more time. The exact plan will be as you previously formulated. Oh right, don’t use too many diuretics. Their physiques are inferior to mine.”

When discussing serious matters, she was open and didn’t hide anything.

After Genava entered Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School again and walked straight to the teaching building ahead, Shang Jianyao suddenly jumped back a few feet.

“Am I such a petty person?” Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes at him. “I still know the principle of expediency. Keep a look out; I’ll relieve myself.”

She briskly ran toward an abandoned building nearby.

“Wait!” Shang Jianyao shouted.

“What?” Jiang Baimian had an expression that said: “I’ll kill you if you can’t come up with a good reason.”

Shang Jianyao explained seriously, “According to the team’s tactical rules, we can’t act alone in a city ruin unless there are special circumstances.”

Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled. “I was too urgent. Yes… I’ll find a place nearby. You’re in charge of guarding the area.”

The subsequent matters went relatively smoothly. Genava followed the plan and led Bai Chen and Long Yuehong out of Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School one after another, finding a way to wake them up.

“So we entered Master Zhuang’s dream.” Bai Chen firmly believed Jiang Baimian’s guess. She felt that it couldn’t be anything else.

Long Yuehong—who was beside her—remained silent.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao waved his hand in front of him. “What are you thinking about? You still think you’re that student?”

Jiang Baimian’s expression became a little solemn when she heard that. This was because if a normal person couldn’t completely escape their implanted thoughts, they would be confused about whether Master Zhuang had dreamed of the butterfly or whether the butterfly had dreamed of Master Zhuang. Over time, they would definitely contract a mental illness.

Long Yuehong shook his head and secretly glanced at Bai Chen. “I’m just wondering how nice it would be if I knew Little White from high school and studied with her…”

Jiang Baimian’s mouth opened slightly as a thought flashed across her mind. Have I really done something bad recently to suffer such punishment?

1

“Woof, woof, woof,” Shang Jianyao replied expressionlessly.

The honest Genava pointed out Long Yuehong’s mistake. “That might not be a good thing. Only by encountering the right person at the right time can there be a good follow-up. Meeting them too early or too late might result in a tragedy.”

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but cough.

Bai Chen gazed at the distant Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School and said, “The problem now is how to resolve the anomaly in this Buddhist Holy Land.”

“Then, we have to figure out why this place is enveloped by Master Zhuang’s dream,” Long Yuehong quickly echoed.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “The Crystal Consciousness Church said that the Five Great Holy Lands of Buddhism are related to Subhuti and Lokeśvara-Tathāgata. Some are where ‘They’ passed on, some are where ‘They’ descended, and some are where ‘They’ preached in the Old World’s ancient times. Which type is Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School?”

Smack!

Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. “I get it. The reason why this place is abnormally corporeal and clearly stronger than other Buddhist Holy Lands is that it’s a trinity!”

“What trinity?” Long Yuehong asked in confusion.

Shang Jianyao explained smugly, “This is the place where Master Zhuang descended, the place ‘He’ passed on, and the place where ‘His’ preaching was held.”

“Such a high school can barely be connected to preaching.” Long Yuehong thought for a moment and objected.

Shang Jianyao explained sincerely, “Haven’t you seen the news in the Old World’s entertainment? Students giving birth in bathrooms and teachers spreading extremism. Some people jump off a building due to excessive pressure. Doesn’t this match a place of descent, where the preachings were made, and where they passed on? Uh, why did you guys take two steps back?”

Aren’t we worried that we’d be implicated when Master Zhuang smites you with lightning? Jiang Baimian cleared her throat and said, “Maybe Master Zhuang studied in this high school or was a teacher after the descent. Therefore, the scene from back then replayed in the dream.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Genava clapped this time.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao added gloomily, “There’s another possibility. Since Master Zhuang descended into this world, ‘He’ must have been to many places. Why did he only dream of this place? Maybe ‘His’ corpse is buried somewhere in this high school.”

Hiss… Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated as he felt inexplicably scared. He gulped and said, “Why don’t we come here later? It seems very dangerous.”

In order to show that he wasn’t just a coward, he quickly added, “We investigate the Five Great Holy Lands of Buddhism to figure out the reason for the Old World’s destruction and the Heartless disease’s origins. It’s not to figure out the anomaly or destroy the target. We can’t put the cart before the horse.”

“That makes sense.” Jiang Baimian smiled. “But how can we figure out what happened in the Old World if we don’t resolve the anomaly? Don’t worry. We’ll take it one step at a time. If we really feel that it involves the Kalendaria’s secret and can’t deal with it, we’ll stop immediately. We’ll do it again when we have the ability in the future.”

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “Back in Ubei, did a certain existence go through all the trouble to get us a nuclear warhead because it wanted us to blow up this place?”

There was no need to bring the nuclear bomb in. It could still destroy the entire Tai City’s First High School by leaving it by the gates.

“Maybe.” Bai Chen nodded slightly.

The Old Task Force members fell silent.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian suddenly smiled. “First, we have to retrieve the nuclear warhead.”

Their jeep was still parked in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. Once a carbon-based human entered, they would lose their senses. When a silicon-based human entered, they would be affected by the ‘dream’ and be unable to find the vehicle.

Jiang Baimian looked at the jeep parked not far behind the automatic extendable gate and deliberated before saying, “Old Ge, Little Red, think of a way to fire grappling hooks and suction cups in and drag the car out with a rope.”

The core of this plan was that they wouldn’t enter Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School.

After a series of attempts, Genava and Long Yuehong dragged the jeep out of the school.

Everything was normal.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “From the looks of it, one can do certain things in this dream as long as they follow the rules.”

The operation just now was not only to ‘save’ the team’s jeep but also to verify some of her guesses.

She then said to Genava seriously, “Old Ge, we can’t go in for the time being. Sorry to trouble you next. You need to do two things: First, go to the principal or the dean’s office, turn on their computers, and scan and memorize all the students and teachers. Since you can touch us and slap our backs, you can theoretically use a computer.

“Second, if you really can’t operate the computer, you’ll have to get your hands dirty. Go to each classroom and office and memorize the appearances and names of every student, teacher, and school employee. Yes, the latter can be found in workbooks, employee passes, and documents that require signatures.”

As a smart bot, Genava’s ‘memorization’ was equivalent to taking photos.

After giving Genava instructions, Jiang Baimian looked around and said, “Then, let’s compare the names we gathered from the previous Buddhist Holy Lands and see if there are any matches.”

This included but wasn’t limited to the names on Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company’s employee board and the names of the academic lecturers at the Holm Fertility Center.. Once they overlapped, it meant that the corresponding person might be the Kalendaria—Master Zhuang—that symbolized the entire year.