Embers Ad Infinitum

At that moment, Shang Jianyao seemed to sink to the bottom of a deep ocean. His body experienced intense pressure, and his vision turned dark. His ears heard nothing.

They had long gathered their strength and shouted at this critical moment, "Xiaochong!"

After a brief pause, the feeling of being pressed down by the sea vanished, and Shang Jianyao saw light again.

What appeared in front of him was a place similar to the Mind Corridor. There were rooms everywhere, but there was more than one aisle here. It was crisscrossed and winding as if a maze had been built.

The walls, ceiling, and roads in the maze were painted white. The doors were of all colors, and there was no pattern whatsoever.

"A Master Zhuang lives in every room?" Shang Jianyao guessed excitedly.

He knew that Master Zhuang had split personalities, and every personality seemed to act independently. This could be seen from the dream in Tai City's No. 1 Senior High School. The brightly lit buildings around the tower also provided proof.

Shang Jianyao looked back and didn't see the corresponding rift. Only a white wall blocked his return, but it also eliminated the prior dangers.

He jogged casually and constantly opened the rooms on both sides of the aisle.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Shang Jianyao was like a child playing a prank. He only looked in through the open door before shuttling past.

There was nobody in those rooms, nor was there any furniture. They were empty as if they had just been built.

Thud!

Another door was opened by Shang Jianyao.

He swept his gaze and saw an LCD screen, a black game console, and a child sitting on the ground holding a controller.

"Xiaochong!" Shang Jianyao excitedly and happily braked.

That was his good friend, Xiaochong.

Xiaochong—who was wearing a green hoodie—ignored Shang Jianyao and continued sitting there, playing games.

Shang Jianyao didn't mind. He approached and patted Xiaochong's shoulder. "You aren't on form today."

On the LCD screen, the tank controlled by Xiaochong had just been blown up.

Xiaochong still didn't respond, and Shang Jianyao's right hand passed right through Xiaochong's shoulder.

He didn't touch anything. Xiaochong in this room was only an illusion.

Shang Jianyao tersely acknowledged it and checked the black game console, the LCD screen, and the short white cabinet under the screen. He realized that they were all illusions.

"Holographic projections?" The calm and rational Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and turned around.

He cast his gaze at the snow-white ceiling, where a very advanced projector hung.

"Who took this video? Xiaochong's parents?" Shang Jianyao was well-read in the Old World's entertainment, and his thoughts were jumpy. His train of thought had always spanned broadly. "Recording a child's growth?"

He then squatted beside Xiaochong and watched him play games.

In less than a minute, Xiaochong's tank was blown up again, identical to the scene from before.

The recording was playing on loop.

"Lame…" Shang Jianyao muttered as he stood up. Then, he left the room and continued walking the maze and playing the door-opening game.

With a clang, the doors opened, revealing empty interiors.

It was only when he turned into another aisle that Shang Jianyao saw a single bed in a room.

The single bed was laid out with a white four-piece bedding set. The frame was made of metal, and there were wheels at the bottom that allowed it to be pushed.

It also seemed to be able to raise the back area through certain buttons, allowing the people above to sit up.

Shang Jianyao was no stranger to such single beds—these were hospital beds.

The room where the bed was located was very small, giving off a clearly oppressive feeling.

Shang Jianyao entered the room and touched it left and right. He confirmed that there was really nobody lying on the bed, nor were there any animals.

"This is Master Zhuang's mind world. Is this one of 'His' memories?" Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and cast his gaze at the short wooden cabinet beside the bed.

On the short cabinet was a stack of disposable paper cups, but there was no water inside.

Shang Jianyao bent down and pulled open the drawer above the short cabinet.

Inside the drawer was a slightly darker wooden partition. Apart from that, there were no snacks.

Shang Jianyao couldn't help but shake his head. He then opened the drawer below.

There was a piece of white paper here.

Shang Jianyao picked up the piece of paper and saw many items for inspection listed in Ashlandic. A line of black text was printed at the top of these items: "Observation Target 1: Du Shaochong."

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao revealed a look of enlightenment.

As for what he understood, he didn't know either. He only felt that he should come to a realization after reading this sentence.

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin again. "The term 'observation target' is very interesting. This doesn't imply a volunteer or an experimental subject… Could it be because Xiaochong is Master Zhuang's body of descent and had Awakened since he was young, giving him abilities?"

The 'past scenes' that the Old Task Force had seen in Dajiang City's Linhe Village indicated that Xiaochong was suspected of having the ability to implant thoughts into others during his childhood.

In this cramped and oppressive room, Shang Jianyao felt very uncomfortable. Upon seeing that he had gained nothing else, he turned around and walked out.

Clang! Clang!

He quickly recovered from his emotions and opened the doors of the other rooms in the aisle.

He kept circling. When Shang Jianyao didn't know where he had circled to and only habitually opened the door, he saw a spacious living room behind the door he had just opened.

There was a dark coffee table and sofa in the living room, and a person sat on the sofa.

It was a middle-aged man wearing an ordinary black jacket. His dark-brown hair was a little messy, and his beard had clearly been shaved. However, there were still some visible strands.

After seeing Shang Jianyao, this person revealed an honest smile, but his dark-blue eyes were rather spirited.

"Sorry to disturb you." Shang Jianyao quickly bowed and apologized for brazenly opening the door. This was like being caught red-handed while pulling a prank.

The next second, Shang Jianyao straightened his body and looked at the middle-aged man's face. He asked in confusion, "Have we met? Why do I find you a little familiar?"

As the other party looked to be of Red River ethnicity, he spoke in the Red River language.

The person picked up a bag of biscuits with a bear symbol on it from the coffee table, picked one out, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He maintained his smile and looked at Shang Jianyao. "My name is Winst Garland."

1

…

In the vortex-like building, Jiang Baimian went to the second floor and saw a signboard with two languages written on it: "Administrative Zone."

This area shouldn't involve confidential research results… Jiang Baimian thought to herself and planned on quickly passing through.

Wearing the military exoskeleton, she ran as fast as she could.

She suddenly stopped running. This wasn't because she had found another corpse—along the way, she had already discovered seven to eight skeletons scattered in this area.

She only saw a room sign: "Administrator's Office."

Is it Teacher Du Heng's office in the Second Research Zone or the administrator's? Jiang Baimian revealed a thoughtful expression.

As there was the possibility of the former, she turned around and entered the office.

The room wasn't small, but it wasn't large either. Apart from the desk and the chair behind it, there were only two filing cabinets, a paper shredder, a trash can, a sofa, a small coffee table, and two chairs. They were very close to each other, making them appear abnormally compact.

At this moment, a corpse—which had turned to bones—was sitting in the administrator's seat.

This skeleton was wearing a white female blouse and the corresponding black professional suit. If it wasn't a cross-dresser when it was alive, it should've been a woman.

On her right chest was also a black metal name tag. On it were words in Ashlandic and Red River language: "Administrator: Zhao Danlin."

Jiang Baimian recalled and confirmed that the name was very unfamiliar. She then cast her gaze at the items on the desk.

The most obvious were the computer screen and a few books. The latter were: How to Raise Dogs, Love and Care for Animals, Deep Analysis of Random Movies, and Ancient Chu Culture…

As Jiang Baimian picked up these books and casually flipped through them to see if there were any notes or other items mixed in, she scanned the other items on the table.

There was no valuable information here. The paper shredder beside her might provide the answers.

Jiang Baimian only discovered the meeting schedule, the cafeteria allowance, and other research institute applications. As for the meeting schedule, there was only an explanation of which meeting room was used and when.

Jiang Baimian roughly looked around and confirmed that there were only three research teams here. Their numbers were 1, 2, and 3. They seemed closely connected to each other, and they often used the large meeting room together in groups of two to three.

She had no choice but to focus on the books.

As she quickly flipped through the pages, she suddenly saw two terms. They all came from the book, Ancient Chu Culture. They were: "Arbiter of Fate," "Arbitress of Fate."