Embers Ad Infinitum

Long Yuehong resisted the urge to punch himself with his mechanical arm to see if he could wake up because it was what he was using to cling onto the wall. Of course, with his physique, reaction speed, and ability to adjust, it might not be a problem for him to fall from the third floor. However, one could never be too careful.

“Team Leader, I see them from my side.” Long Yuehong carefully observed for about ten seconds and realized that every detail matched.

Upon hearing his report, Jiang Baimian—who was standing at Room 302’s door—frowned slightly.

She couldn’t enter according to the plan because it was to prevent the two of them from being trapped inside without being able to inform and warn Bai Chen and Long Yuehong about the situation. However, Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but tip-toe and try her best to peek into Room 302.

Standing there with a distorted stance thanks to her powerful balance, she saw Shang Jianyao standing at the master bedroom’s entrance.

As an Awakened with illusory abilities in the Shattered Mirror domain, she didn’t sense anything abnormal.

Having the ability to create illusions didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be affected by such effects. It was just that they would be more sensitive to such situations and found it easier to discover something amiss compared to other Awakened and ordinary people.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Baimian maintained her current posture and said to Shang Jianyao, “Go in and take a look.”

Shang Jianyao was waiting for that. He first pulled off the Six Senses Beads from his wrist and spun the prayer beads in his hand one by one before entering the master bedroom through the empty door frame.

He sniffed and looked around. “I still can’t see the red blanket or the human skulls, but there’s indeed a problem here. The smell of dust isn’t strong, and there are no traces of rainwater entering and dried water stains.”

The glass windows had long shattered, and the remaining parts had become dirty from the elements. They were gray and turbid.

In comparison, the area by the window appeared too clean.

Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s description, Jiang Baimian deliberated for a few seconds. “Go to the bed and try to touch the plastic film. Touch it only once. Little Red, see if there are any changes.”

Shang Jianyao—who had been replaced by an unknown Shang Jianyao—was delighted when he heard that. He quickly came to the derelict bed and then blew at his right hand—which was holding the original medical record.

After completing the preliminary ritual, Shang Jianyao bent his back at lightning speed, stretched out his palm, and touched the plastic film covered in holes on the bed.

Long Yuehong—who was leaning against the window outside—saw: Shang Jianyao pressing down on the red blanket with the dragon and phoenix embroidering! Apart from that, there was no problem.

He quickly shared what he had seen with Jiang Baimian and the others.

The scene seen from the outside is very different from what is seen in the room, but it also has certain commonalities… Jiang Baimian was thinking about the subsequent plan when the rash and bold Shang Jianyao suddenly escaped the others’ restraints and ‘decisively’ took new actions.

He used his right hand—which was holding the medical record—to lift the plastic film!

Long Yuehong’s eyes almost popped out when he saw this.

It had been less than half a year since Shang Jianyao’s advancement. The other three Old Task Force members had long figured out which ten personalities this fellow had. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult for Long Yuehong to guess that the one in control of the body was the rash and bold one.

Isn’t this too rash and bold? If our team really encounters danger in the future, this fellow’s recklessness will definitely be one of the main factors! As these thoughts raced through his mind, Long Yuehong didn’t forget to observe the situation in the master bedroom.

The scene he saw was: Shang Jianyao pulling away the red blanket with the dragon and phoenix embroidering!

Just as he had expected, there were two skeletons under the blanket.

The two skeletons were lustrous. One wore a green down jacket, and the other wore a black cotton jacket. Their legs were covered in thick dark pants, and their soles were bare. They had no shoes or socks.

From a cursory glance, one couldn’t find any imprints of time, nor were they stained with any signs of flesh decay.

Long Yuehong scanned the area with full attention twice and suddenly felt light flash from one skeleton as the clouds in the sky moved.

He focused his gaze and realized that a jade pendant hung from the green down jacket-wearing skeleton’s chest.

The jade pendant was a faint lake-green in color and very transparent. It was carved into a fat Buddha.

Buddha! Long Yuehong’s pupils dilated rapidly. He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and told Jiang Baimian and the others what he had observed in detail.

Small jade Buddha… Something related to Buddhism has appeared… What Little Red sees shouldn’t be an illusion. Without anyone presiding over the situation, it’s impossible for an illusion to be played out in real-time while producing such details… Yes, it’s possible that someone is presiding over the area… Jiang Baimian thought for a few seconds and asked Bai Chen, “Little White, is there anything abnormal about Little Red to you?”

“No,” Bai Chen replied calmly.

At this moment, she was standing behind Building 4 and looking up at Long Yuehong—who was clinging to Room 302’s outer wall.

Jiang Baimian confirmed with Shang Jianyao that there was nothing in front of him and that there was only a derelict bed and a plastic film covered in holes.

After some thought, Jiang Baimian ordered, “Little Red, tell Hey the exact location of the small jade Buddha and guide him to the right place. This might be a switch. Also, be vigilant and guard against any accidents.”

Long Yuehong took a deep breath. Through the window, he used the bed’s four corners and the red blanket’s current position as a reference. He ‘directed’ Shang Jianyao to narrow the scope bit by bit.

The Shang Jianyao currently in control of the body didn’t resist at all. According to Long Yuehong’s description, he made his palm—which was holding the medical record—move up, down, left, and right at times.

Finally, Long Yuehong saw Shang Jianyao’s finger touch the small jade Buddha.

“How’s it? Do you feel anything?” he asked anxiously.

Shang Jianyao shook his head. “There’s nothing but air.”

“Could it be that I’m really hallucinating…” Long Yuehong muttered.

Before Jiang Baimian could issue a new order, Shang Jianyao’s eyes flickered slightly as he revealed an eager expression.

The Six Senses Beads in his other hand suddenly emitted a green glow. He didn’t use any abilities and only activated the item’s aura.

As the green light landed on the bed, Shang Jianyao’s right hand gently moved a few times. He touched something hard!

Long Yuehong saw Shang Jianyao suddenly grab the small jade Buddha with his right hand.

Suddenly, the scene in front of Shang Jianyao became completely different.

On the derelict bed were red bedsheets, and on the surface lay two skeletons in different clothes. A small, green jade Buddha of lake-green color appeared in Shang Jianyao’s hand.

“Impressive!” He sighed with emotion.

“What happened?” Jiang Baimian immediately asked through the walkie-talkie.

The Shang Jianyaos and Long Yuehong recounted what had happened.

“After triggering the Six Senses Beads’ aura, one can touch the small jade Buddha. By holding the small jade Buddha, one can remove the illusion…” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself as she extracted the crux of the matter. “Yes, the Six Senses Beads’ current aura has fused some of the abnormality hidden in Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company.”

That was one of Buddhism’s Holy Lands!

They were currently in one of Buddhism’s Holy Lands as well!

Jiang Baimian—who had come to a realization—immediately said, “Don’t be in a rush to take away the small jade Buddha. Search the two skeletons’ clothes and see if there are any clues. We’ll take the small jade Buddha away after we confirm that we are evacuating.”

Shang Jianyao didn’t act rashly this time. He touched the two skeletons’ pockets with his left hand that was holding the Six Senses Beads.

After a while, he completed the search and only found a few things: Two cell phones produced by the Old World, some bills that were neither old nor new, a wallet, and two identification documents.

Shang Jianyao looked at the front and back of the identity cards and said regretfully, “Fan Wensi, Li Jinlong. The target should’ve died not long after the Old World was destroyed.”

“It seems like it…” Long Yuehong echoed from outside the window.

From the current situation, one could infer that the corpse in the long green down jacket belonged to the Old Task Force’s target, Fan Wensi.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before saying, “Then, don’t disturb their slumber. Only take away the small jade Buddha and the two phones.”

She wanted to try extracting and restoring the data in the phones.

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao removed the small jade Buddha and stuffed it and the two phones into the pocket of his gray camouflage clothes.

After doing this, he became an Arbiter of Fate believer and covered the two skeletons with the large red blanket again.

One bow; two bows; three bows…

After the ritual, Shang Jianyao had just walked out of the master bedroom when he suddenly felt the entire building shake.

“Retreat!” Jiang Baimian also realized that something was amiss.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shang Jianyao ran while Jiang Baimian stood at the door without retreating first. On the one hand, she was worried that Shang Jianyao would encounter an accident while leaving Room 302. By staying where she was, she could provide him with timely help. On the other hand, she was afraid that with nobody to lead the way while she ran, she would only get herself lost in a more dangerous place.

Outside Room 302’s master bedroom window, Long Yuehong exerted strength with his palm and jumped out, landing on the edge of the second-floor balcony.

He jumped back to the ground and ran toward the front of Building 4 with Bai Chen.

Almost at the same time, Shang Jianyao didn’t encounter any abnormalities and ran out of Room 302.

Jiang Baimian—who had her right hand ‘paralyzed’—heaved a sigh of relief. She followed Shang Jianyao downstairs amidst the building’s increasingly obvious shaking and the constantly falling dust.

The four of them returned to the jeep one after another and nimbly got into the car.

As the car drove, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen saw Building 4 collapse bit by bit.

This collapse was very strange. It did so at an abnormally slow speed and didn’t cause a huge commotion.

After the jeep rushed out of Residential Zone 2, the Old Task Force members looked back. Only then did the building collapse completely.

Piece after piece of concrete was quietly piled there like a large tomb.

Room 302 was buried inside.