Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon

Long Yuehong jolted to his senses and used the Blackmarsh Iron Snake bionic artificial intelligence armor’s power to jump out of the hole and hand the name tag to Jiang Baimian. “Team Leader, look!”

His abnormal behavior attracted the attention of Bai Chen and Shang Jianyao. But due to the presence of outsiders and the fact that this place might not be safe, they could only continue monitoring the people and things around them. They couldn’t leave their posts.

Jiang Baimian took the name tag, focused, and raised her eyebrows.

The Old Task Force was no stranger to the name ‘Du Shaochong.’ They had once seen him in Master Zhuang’s dream, and Shang Jianyao had ‘acted’ the role. This was suspected to be Master Zhuang’s identity during a descent!

Now, the incomplete corpse in front of the Old Task Force belonged to Du Shaochong—Master Zhuang’s body of descent?

However, the entire matter exuded an indescribable bizarreness.

A certain fellow hired three Ruin Hunters and gave them parts of Du Shaochong’s remains and a name tag indicating his identity, commissioning them to bring these things into Swamp Ruin 1 according to a location on a map and bury everything at the edge of the secret laboratory.

This looked like it was to mislead subsequent excavators. Therefore, the burial ground was fake, and the corpse might also be fake. They couldn’t rule out the possibility that the name tag was also fake.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian lowered her right hand and placed the name tag in the darkness that the starlight couldn’t reach. She then calmly said to the three Ruin Hunters, “Anything else the client gave you?”

“Nope.”

“There’s nothing else.”

“Just the bones and the tag,” the three people replied one after another.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “It’s already so late, and this place isn’t too safe. It’s better if you leave early.”

Shang Jianyao knew what she was getting at and immediately said to the three Ruin Hunters, “Don’t mention us when you get back; just pretend that nothing happened. Think about it. You did complete the mission and buried the remains and name tag at the edge of this ruin. You also took photos to

prove this matter. Then, you left. You didn’t encounter anyone on the way, and nothing unexpected happened.”

“Got it.” The three Ruin Hunters smiled in understanding.

They brought their backpacks, carried their shovels, waved at the Old Task Force, and walked in another direction out of Swamp Ruin 1.

After leaving the laboratory ruins, the tallest person suddenly shook his head. He said in confusion, “Why do I feel like something’s missing?”

“No?”

“Everything is very normal,” his two companions replied.

They all indicated that things had gone smoothly. They had successfully buried the bones and tag at the designated spot and completed the mission. Nothing had gone wrong during this process.

“It seems like I’m a little suspicious.” The tallest Ruin Hunter heaved a long sigh of relief.

After they left, Long Yuehong—who had restrained his thoughts—asked Shang Jianyao curiously, “Is this equivalent to hypnotizing them to forget what just happened?”

“It can’t be considered forgotten; it’s just neglected. Furthermore, they found a reason to deceive themselves,” Shang Jianyao explained seriously. “Memory Erasure involves the deleting of the corresponding content in the physical sense. Forgetting through Hypnosis involves hiding the corresponding

memories and burying them in places that aren’t easy to be discovered. Forgetting under Thought Guidance is probably equivalent to requiring someone to right their bearings, allowing the keywords that can stir this memory to point toward other content.”

The more he spoke, the more esoteric it sounded. He sounded very professional.

Fortunately, Long Yuehong had learned this before and could understand.

“Team Leader, what was wrong with the item from before?” Bai Chen paid more attention to the item Long Yuehong had picked up from the hole.

Jiang Baimian raised her right hand and showed the name tag to Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen. “See for yourselves.”

Shang Jianyao looked over and suddenly wailed. “Xiaochong, you died a tragic death!”

Xiaochong says, “don’t curse me…” Jiang Baimian sometimes found Shang Jianyao very gullible.

Of course, this depended on which personality presided over the body.

“How can Xiaochong’s corpse be that large?” She chose the most direct reason to patronize the fellow.

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm.

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but criticize inwardly. An existence with a mysterious background like Xiaochong that might involve Master Zhuang might not even have a normal skeleton

Bai Chen looked at the incomplete corpse on the ground and pursed her lips. “Why did someone want these bones buried here and make later generations believe that they belong to Du Shaochong?”

Shang Jianyao ‘recovered’ from his outbreak of emotions and excitedly said, “I get i

You get it again… Jiang Baimian didn’t interrupt his wandering thoughts.

Shang Jianyao explained excitedly, “This is a ritual—a form of evil-warding. They buried Du Shaochong’s corpse and the name tag somewhere in the city where he had studied middle school or even primary school. They used the corresponding principle to suppress the other party’s resentment and

hatred. The reason the corpse is incomplete is that the rest are buried elsewhere for the same reason.”

You make it sound like it’s real… If Long Yuehong hadn’t watched a large amount of Old World entertainment, he might’ve been convinced by Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian followed Shang Jianyao’s train of thought and asked with a smile, “Then, who killed Du Shaochong? Or rather, who made him have overwhelming resentment and hatred?”

Shang Jianyao shook his head. “I don’t know. It will require further investigation.”

Bai Chen remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, “We can’t be sure that this skeleton really belongs to Du Shaochong. Maybe even the name tag is fake and was forged later.”

“Besides, there’s no way to conduct a DNA test. Without a sample for comparison, we can’t find Du Shaochong’s descendants for the time being.” Jiang Baimian exhaled. “I don’t sense any power from these bones.”

She deliberated for a moment and said, “I’m more willing to believe that this skeleton and name tag were buried here to mislead subsequent excavators. For example, people like us who pursue the truth behind the Old World’s destruction.”

“I we believe that this is Du Shaochong and that he died in this laboratory, what will happen?” Long Yuehong boldly hypothesized based on Jiang Baimian’s suspicions and raised a question.

Bai Chen tried to analyze the situation. “At most, we’d believe that Master Zhuang is already dead. But after ‘He’ returned to the New World, isn’t it normal for ‘His’ body to die?”

Jiang Baimian stared at the pile of remains for a while. “We don’t have any clues for the time being. Let’s store away the remains and name tag first. We’ll study them later.”

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao was very enthusiastic.

After wrapping up the remains and putting them into their backpacks, they searched the laboratory ruins for a while but didn’t find any other clues.

Upon seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Baimian made the order to return.

Just as the Old Task Force returned to the room in the building of the previous estate, Shang Jianyao suddenly said, “Quick, give me the remains!”

His eyes lit up as if he had thought of something interesting.

“What do you want it for?” Jiang Baimian asked suspiciously.

With a beaming smile, Shang Jianyao replied, “I plan on piecing together these bones, carrying the corpse, and wearing the name tag to enter my Sea of Origins to see how Xiaochong’s rift reacts. If it reacts, it means that this corpse is indeed related to him!”

Jiang Baimian deliberated and asked, “Won’t you worried that it’s really Xiaochong’s corpse?”

Shang Jianyao chuckled. “I’ve thought it through.”

Everyone dies? Long Yuehong replied inwardly.

Shang Jianyao continued, “It doesn’t matter even if it’s Xiaochong’s corpse. The fact that the rift still exists means that Xiaochong is still alive and that nothing serious has happened. Think about it. Don’t mechanical monks have corresponding corpses?”

Long Yuehong wanted to say, “You call this nothing serious has happened” but he realized that it seemed to be the case when he heard the latter sentence.

The existence of mechanical monks proved that humans could already escape their mortal coils.

“Then, give it a try.” Jiang Baimian had no other options anyway.

Shang Jianyao happily pieced together the bones. Then, they realized that this skeleton was missing a head and half a body.

Without hesitation, Shang Jianyao put on the name tag, lay beside the skeleton, and hugged it. He then massaged his temples and quickly fell asleep.

In the Sea of Origins, Shang Jianyao’s figure appeared.

He simultaneously conjured a name tag and the skeleton. He used his two selves as wings and flew into the air toward the deep rift that represented Xiaochong.

However, nothing had changed.

Ever since it fused with the aura from the Holm Fertility Center, Xiaochong’s rift seemed to have frozen.

“Sigh…” Shang Jianyao sighed and tried throwing a bone into the rift.

The bone was a non-corporeal item he had conjured. Once it left his Sea of Origins, it immediately disappeared without causing any ripples.

After many attempts failed, Shang Jianyao muttered to himself regretfully, “It’s not Xiaochong’s?”

He then left his Sea of Origins and returned to the real world.

Somewhere in a valley in Icefield where green grass grew over fertile lands, the temperature was like the south.

End Year City’s Elder Lawton lay on his bed and entered the Mind Corridor.

He was an Awakened who had explored the depths and was currently searching for the door that led to the New World.

He had already been to the rooms that End Year City knew of. With nothing he was familiar with, he could only attempt unfamiliar rooms that he had never come into contact with.

After walking along the aisle covered in thick, dark-yellow carpet for a while, Lawton finally saw a new room: 131..