Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon

Jiang Baimian didn’t answer Shang Jianyao’s question. Instead, she looked at Long Yuehong and gave him the opportunity to analyze the situation.

Long Yuehong thought for a moment before saying, “Excluding the possibility that the surveillance footage back then was faked, the murderer should be hiding in a room around that route. If he’s only at the Sea of Origins level, just searching the rooms on both sides of the route would suffice. If he had entered the Mind Corridor, we’d have to include the rooms on the other nearby streets in our search range.”

The route referred to the route Mu Qingqing’s father—Mu Renjie—took from home to the nearest public bathroom. It started with his house and ended at the spot where he fell to the ground.

“Why must we eliminate the possibility that the surveillance footage is faked?” Shang Jianyao asked in an unconventional manner.

Long Yuehong frowned. “The risk of being discovered while doing so is too high. The Life Ritual parish didn’t do so back when they executed their divine punishment either. From a path dependence perspective, if they had used this method to modify the surveillance footage and it was effective, they would’ve done the same back then.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped

Bai Chen smiled with a nod.

This inflated Long Yuehong’s confidence, and he quickly added, “Besides, the surveillance footage has been deleted. There’s no way to confirm its authenticity. The original surveillance department’s PIC also hanged himself because it involved the Life Ritual parish. The dead can’t testify, so there’s no way to investigate. We can only temporarily treat the surveillance footage as real.”

“Then, why don’t you include the rooms on the same route on the floors above and below?” Shang Jianyao asked. “The range of Awakened abilities isn’t solely two-dimensional.”

Long Yuehong organized his words and said, “I just think that the probability of a precise lock is unlikely when there’s a floor in between them, resulting in vision obstruction. Due to the same reason, the probability of the murderer hiding in other rooms on other streets isn’t high either. What if it was Mu Renjie’s wife who went to the public bathroom that night?”

“Then, she might be the one dying.” Shang Jianyao sneered.

Hiss… A few words suddenly appeared in Long Yuehong’s mind: indiscriminate killing!

“Wait!” He suddenly snapped to his senses. “We associate Mu Renjie’s death with the Life Ritual parish because he died of myocardial infarction. Furthermore, he had inherited the Old World’s talisman tradition and had drawn many Babymaker talismans. His wife doesn’t meet the conditions at all.”

If it was indiscriminate killing, all the Old Task Force’s previous inferences would be wrong. They wouldn’t be able to connect it to the Life Ritual parish at all.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. Just as she was about to comment, Shang Jianyao raised another possibility. “Maybe someone implanted the corresponding thoughts in Mu Renjie in advance, so he will definitely go to the public bathroom at that time. That way, it will be very easy to lock onto him. It’s impossible that his wife happened to go to the public bathroom at the same time, right?”

“Isn’t this too complicated?” Long Yuehong expressed his doubts.

It wasn’t like Mu Renjie was a powerful character.

“It’s not complicated.” Shang Jianyao laughed. “When you lived in Little White’s room that day, you woke up at three in the morning and went to the public bathroom. It was because I implanted the corresponding thoughts in you.”

The one—who liked to joke and prank—appeared smug.

“…” Long Yuehong gaped. “So it’s you! Didn’t you say that you couldn’t be bothered to use your Awakened abilities on me?”

Shang Jianyao shrugged. “We definitely won’t do anything when it’s something serious, but it’s fine for pulling your leg.”

Bai Chen joined the discussion. “I think you’re wrong. If one can implant a certain thought into Mu Renjie in advance, there are more and better ways to make him die silently without creating any suspicion.”

“Yes, it can be completely done. For example, he might accidentally electrocute himself to death while fixing the light bulb at home,” Shang Jianyao replied without stuttering as if he wasn’t the one who had suggested the possibility of Thought Implantation.

Long Yuehong was confused. “Then, why did you say that Mu Renjie might’ve had the corresponding thoughts implanted in him in advance?”

“Isn’t this to lure out the fact that I once implanted a thought in you so that you can go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?” Shang Jianyao replied righteously. “It would be boring if the target didn’t know that I had pulled a prank!”

The Hey that is cheerful and likes to joke is essentially a nasty fellow… Jiang Baimian commented. She then concluded, “As long as letting the target die from a heart problem isn’t a ritual insisted by the Life Ritual parish, the problem is that the rooms on both sides of the corresponding route are most likely the problem.

“This involves dozens to a hundred people. Some of them later changed rooms and went to other floors because of their marriage. It’s very difficult to investigate them one by one. It needs to be done in concert with the company.”

Once they reported it to the company, the hidden Life Ritual parish members might intercept the information in advance and eliminate any clues.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. “Why don’t I invade the radio station, disguise myself as Hou Yi, and implant Thought Guidance in a piece of news? I can currently affect more than 100 targets at the same time. It’s just enough to investigate everyone along that route.”

The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth twitched. “How much do you want to invade the radio station?”

How many times has this been suggested!?

She then doused Shang Jianyao’s enthusiasm. “Also, how do you disguise yourself as Hou Yi?”

Shang Jianyao was stunned for a few seconds before sighing. “It would be good if Old Ge were here. We can get him to handcraft a voice changer.”

Can Old Ge’s handcrafted work really be considered handcrafted? Long Yuehong suddenly had this question.

Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, “The easiest solution is to request a meeting with Director Su when you submit the report and have a chat with him about Mu Renjie so that he can organize the subsequent investigations. If the Board of Directors really has Life Ritual parishioners, we don’t have to put in any more effort. Let’s just baptize ourselves and wait to believe in the Arbiter of Fate.”

Shang Jianyao nodded, stretched out his hands, and gently rocked a baby in his arms. He then said loudly, “The End will belong to the Arbiter of Fate!”

Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes at him before asking in amusement, “I remember you saying that the End will belong to the Arbiter of Fate when life passes on. Isn’t this inauspicious?”

“Don’t mind such details.” Shang Jianyao quickly changed the topic. “I’ll begin writing the report when the computers are back.”

As he temporarily didn’t have to get a phone installed in his room, he slacked off again.

In the afternoon, the items that the Old Task Force had previously obtained completed the review and were distributed. They also received their rewards.

Jiang Baimian remained a D9 and had yet to enter management. However, the higher-ups hinted that she would be promoted to M1 when she finished exploring the last Buddhist Holy Land, found the Eighth Research Institute’s true location, or the whereabouts of Shang Jianyao’s father’s Old Task Force. She would then be on the same level as her father, Jiang Wenfeng.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong both reached D8, and Bai Chen was D7.

In addition to the promotion of their rank and their field allowance, each of them received a reward of 30,000 contribution points.

My basic salary now is 5,300 points a month, and my allowance is 1,300 points. Little White’s basic salary is 4,800 points, and her allowance is 1,100 points. Together, we can receive 12,500 contribution points a month… Long Yuehong instinctively calculated in his heart.

This income was about seven times that of when he first started working. It was enough to support a family of four that had meat every meal with frequent opportunities to eat fruits and snacks.

Coupled with the large room that was definitely assigned to him and Bai Chen based on their ranks, Long Yuehong couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth when he thought of the future.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian smiled and teased, “It’s Sunday in two days. Do you want to practice the parent-meeting session in advance?”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Shang Jianyao was excited.

“Uh…” Although Long Yuehong didn’t think it required practice, he still wasn’t confident. After all, this was the first time he brought his future wife home.

“Alright,” Bai Chen replied very seriously.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “There’s no need for practice, but I can tell you of things to take note of.”

“Okay, okay.” Bai Chen didn’t refuse.

Shang Jianyao immediately had a look of disappointment and regret.

“What’s with that expression?” Jiang Baimian glared at him.

Shang Jianyao sighed. “If we really want to practice, we definitely have to find someone to act as Little Red’s father.”

Long Yuehong suddenly felt like he had escaped disaster.

…

495th floor, Zone B, Room 196.

Shang Jianyao returned home. Upon seeing that it was still early, he lay on the bed and entered the Mind Corridor.

He pushed open Room 506’s door and walked in.

The Fourth Research Institute’s residential area surfaced in front of him.

There were many buildings here, and trees were everywhere. Most of the people coming and going knew each other and often stopped to chat. The atmosphere was serene and peaceful.

Shang Jianyao casually walked and realized that this psychological trauma had returned to the state he was in when he first entered. This was the most normal situation, an extremely special example like the cruise ship trauma.

After circling around and meeting many people, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and muttered to himself, “How should I face painful memories?”

“It’s very simple. Fall out with the people here first!” The rash Shang Jianyao suggested.

After a round of ‘discussion,’ the Shang Jianyaos decided to give it a try first.

He slowly walked to the main gates, just a meter away from the spot where he had been injured from the explosion. Shang Jianyao then conjured a military exoskeleton and prepared himself.

He jumped into the danger zone and suddenly jumped back as though swinging himself on the edge of the ‘cliff.’

A dull boom instantly sounded.

This time, it wasn’t an explosion. The entire ground cracked, and crimson magma surged out.

Shang Jianyao barely dodged it and rolled back to safety. He then shouted excitedly, “The room owner has seen a volcanic eruption before!”

At this moment, the expressions of the people in the residential area turned cold like emotionless corpses.

Shang Jianyao straightened his body and walked over with a smile.

He wanted to see how the painful memories affected him!