Embers Ad Infinitum

Room 14, where the "Old Tune Group" was located, returned to a frozen silence, with only the sound of one's own breathing faintly audible.

Shang Jianyao had already experienced this situation last time, but at that time Jiang Baimian said that he would always stay next door and would not leave.

In the darkness where he couldn't even see his fingers, Shang Jianyao seemed to have adapted a lot, and he didn't have any fear at all.

He thought for a moment, left his seat, walked around the corner of the table in his memory, and came to the relatively empty sofa area.

Then, he slowly sat down on the cold ground and crossed his legs.

In the solid darkness, Shang Jianyao maintained this posture, raised his right hand, and pinched his temples.

Soon, his head hung down and he fell asleep sitting like this.

It was definitely impossible to maintain balance. His body tilted to the side little by little, leaning on the sofa, and his head leaned on the armrest.

…………

In the illusory sea of ​​flowing shimmering light, Shang Jianyao once again saw the island with dark brown soil and rugged rocks.

——As long as he can't hold on and wakes up due to fear, the next time he enters, it will definitely not be on the island, but in the "Sea of ​​Origin" next to it.

Shang Jianyao had long been accustomed to the current environment. He quickly lowered his head and looked at his blurred self reflected in the illusory water waves.

He spoke in a low voice:

“It’s dark on the island, and it’s dark in room 14;

“There is no sound from outside me on the island, and there is no sound from outside me in Room 14;

"so?"

Shang Jianyao paused and answered his question:

"So, the island is room 14."

As soon as he finished speaking, his dark eyes grasped the edge of the island and turned it up.

Without any surprise, his eyes became dark again, and all sounds other than his own were lost in his ears.

Shang Jianyao sat down without hesitation, sitting on the cold ground and crossing his legs.

This was exactly the same position he had been in before falling asleep.

The surrounding darkness and silence suddenly felt familiar to him. He seemed to be able to point out that there was a single sofa on the right, a coffee table diagonally in front of it, a back chair, a bench and a low stool.

Next door, Jiang Baimian was waiting for him to shout if anyone was there.

Shang Jianyao's mood calmed down instantly. Just like the previous two nights, he thought about various things he had encountered recently and guessed what types of Holy Communion other religious organizations had.

This made him raise his right hand from time to time and wipe the corner of his mouth. Only when he thought that the Holy Communion of the Monk Order was probably motor oil and batteries, he shook his head and expressed deep regret.

Time flew by, and Shang Jianyao wanted to stand up several times, sing loudly or ask if anyone was there, but he controlled himself.

Anyway, Jiang Baimian is next door.

When he controlled himself again and again, and no other accidents happened, he began to feel that such darkness and silence were nothing special and could not destroy him at all.

He even sang softly, happily and contentedly.

After an unknown amount of time, Shang Jianyao felt really sleepy, so he closed his eyes indifferently and recuperated his energy.

Then he actually fell asleep.

Suddenly, a pure light shone here, making his eyes a fiery red.

Shang Jianyao opened his eyes and saw the darkness around him being quickly dispersed, and heard a slight splash from the illusory sea.

Large areas of dark brown soil and rugged rocks on the island are revealed.

The light immediately pierced his eyes, causing him to subconsciously raise his right hand to block it in front of him.

After closing and opening his eyes, Shang Jianyao saw the glowing fluorescent lamp and the white and gray ceiling.

Only then did he realize that he was leaning on the armrest of the single sofa, sleeping in a messy posture.

Because room 14 had lights and no longer met the preset conditions, his "reasoning clown" failed.

Shang Jianyao immediately turned his wrist and looked at his watch.

The pointer above shows that it is 6:30.

This is when power is restored to street lights.

Shang Jianyao closed his eyes again, wondering what he was feeling.

Then, he leaned on the armrest and looked sideways at the door.

In just a few seconds, slight footsteps approached, and Jiang Baimian appeared at the door in rumpled clothes.

While rubbing her eyes, she looked at Shang Jianyao on the ground, and asked curiously and amusedly:

"What is this doing?"

"Keep the internal and external postures unified." Shang Jianyao said the truth that most people couldn't understand.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses:

"Are you trying to face the fear in the Sea of ​​Origin again?

"Did you win?"

"It's considered a win. Although it didn't admit defeat, it didn't appear again." Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said.

Jiang Baimian suddenly became very interested:

"Then what changes have happened to your abilities?"

After saying that, she quickly added:

"You don't have to answer if it's not convenient for you."

Shang Jianyao said calmly:

“This time it seems that only the scope has changed.

“It’s improved a bit from before, but not too much.

"When you are twelve or thirteen meters away, I can detect your presence, and I feel like I can make your hands miss a movement."

"The hands are missing... what was the range of this ability before?" Jiang Baimian asked.

"Ten meters." Shang Jianyao didn't hide anything.

"That's an improvement of almost 30%... This is the first fear. After you have defeated it a lot, and then find yourself, your ability may be doubled, or even three or four times." Jiang Baimian was thoughtful. He smiled and said, "It turns out that the range of your induction is the range of your ability."

"According to the ability with the largest scope." Shang Jianyao pointed out the imprecision in Jiang Baimian's statement.

Jiang Baimian asked curiously:

"The range of other abilities is less than ten meters?"

"The 'reasoning clown' was originally three meters, and the 'hypocritical person' was originally five meters." Shang Jianyao answered seriously.

Jiang Baimian suddenly felt a little embarrassed:

"Stop, stop, stop, this is your secret, you can't tell it in such detail."

Shang Jianyao glanced at her and said in a deep voice:

"The four of us can be regarded as companions who have experienced life and death several times together. In most cases, I think we can all be trusted. We can protect each other's flanks and backs, and we can charge together..."

"Stop! Your repeater!" Jiang Baimian couldn't help laughing and scolding.

This was the rhetoric she used to calm Shang Jianyao's inner fear last night.

Without giving this guy a chance to think, Jiang Baimian quickly asked:

"Since we have won, why don't you get up? Is it comfortable to sit cross-legged on the ground?"

Shang Jianyao replied sincerely:

"Because my legs are numb."

"..." Jiang Baimian laughed, "Do you need my help?"

"No need." Shang Jianyao responded without caring at all.

Just as Jiang Baimian was about to say not to be brave, he saw Shang Jianyao put his hands on his hands, turned his body, and stood upside down.

Standing on my head...

Then, Shang Jianyao walked to the door easily and happily, using his hands as his feet.

"..." Jiang Baimian was speechless.

…………

Another day passed, at nine o'clock in the morning, in the parking lot of the "Pangaea Creatures" surface area.

"Still the same old partner." Jiang Baimian pointed at the gray-green Jeep with plenty of space. "It has been repaired."

She glanced at the excited Shang Jianyao, the quiet Bai Chen, and the depressed Long Yuehong in turn, and asked:

"Have you read the mission plan?

"Any questions about our route?"

"No!" Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen responded loudly.

The latter has lost most of his restraint when he first joined the "Old Tune Group".

"No." Long Yuehong was a little out of breath today.

Jiang Baimian ignored him, opened the trunk, pointed at the items inside and said:

"It's still the same weapons as before, the 'Ice Moss' pistol, 'United 202', 'Orange' rifle, 'Berserker' assault rifle and 'Tyrant' grenade gun. Well, in order to make up for the lack of heavy firepower, I can apply this time. An anti-armor shoulder-mounted personal rocket launcher, its nickname is 'Reaper'.

“The corresponding ammunition is sufficient, and some common specifications of bullets are also prepared.

"There is more food than we prepared before. After we go to Shuiwei Town, we have to rush to Weedao City as soon as possible. It's best not to delay on the way. Although there are intelligence personnel there who are investigating all the time, and there is no big problem without us, but we still have to Do your best, saving people is like putting out fire.

"Besides, winter is coming soon, and it's hard to find enough food in the wild..."

After explaining various matters, Jiang Baimian asked:

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

When Bai Chen and Long Yuehong shook their heads, Shang Jianyao took a step forward and asked a question:

"When to set off?"

"...Now." Jiang Baimian gritted his teeth.

Just like before, they each entered the jeep, driven by Jiang Baimian. After passing various inspections, they exited the heavy metal gate and entered the dust.

Unlike last time, they all put on sunglasses in advance and were not pierced by the morning sun.

While the team members were admiring the surrounding scenery, Jiang Baimian drove quietly.

After leaving the company's actual control, she suddenly turned the steering wheel and changed her route.

"Team leader, did you go the wrong way?" Long Yuehong glanced at the sun and determined the direction.

"No." Jiang Baimian responded with a smile.

Long Yuehong said doubtfully:

"But, this is different from what's in the mission plan."

Jiang Baimian raised the corners of his mouth and smiled proudly:

"That's to lie to the deputy minister and others."

"Why?" Long Yuehong became increasingly puzzled.

Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao through the rearview mirror:

"There must be other members of the 'Life Ritual' cult on the earth. After all, they came from outside. I'm worried that the cultists lurking inside the company will secretly get our mission plan and find a way to inform their companions on the surface. Let them set up an ambush to stop us.

"So, from the beginning, I had no intention of executing the route on the mission plan. Haha, I asked you to be more truthful."

Bai Chen, who was in the passenger seat, listened thoughtfully:

"Team leader, you are actually still worried that there are people from the 'Sacrifice of Life' cult at the top. Is this mission a trap?"

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Be prepared and be prepared. The more you calculate, the less likely you are."

Long Yuehong unconsciously began to look at the team leader's back with admiration, while Shang Jianyao hummed a song, seemingly not caring at all.

Under the bright sunshine, the Jeep turned another corner and continued to run through the wilderness.

…………

"Pangu Creature", in a deserted room.

Yue Qifan, who had the ability to "erasure fragmented memories", wore a peaked cap and quietly opened the door and walked in.

There is no light here, but it is not dark, because there are small LCD screens one after another on the surrounding walls. They are connected together to display the conditions of different areas on different floors.

As the light changed, Yue Qifan lowered his head and shouted to the machine that occupied at least one-third of the space here:

"Holy Master."

An emotionless electronic synthesized sound sounded through the speakers:

"You tell the non-exposed members not to do anything for three months."

"Yes, Holy Master." Yue Qifan replied without hesitation.

Then he raised his head.

Suddenly, he saw countless LCD screens on the surrounding walls jumping, showing his own figure.

There is him wearing a peaked cap and coming into contact with Xiong Ming; there is him taking the elevator to the 495th floor; there is him confronting Shang Jianyao; there is him humming a song and pretending to be normal; there is him escaping in a hurry; there is him sneaking in. Somewhere, he made the call...

Yue Qifan's pupils suddenly dilated, and his whole body was so tense that he seemed to explode. He actually forgot to say a few words in retort.

A few seconds later, many more merchants appeared on those LCD screens:

Some of them are testing their abilities, some are making faces at the camera, some are shining their flashlights upward, some are chatting with Xiong Ming in the corner, some are making indecent gestures, some are walking upside down in the corridor...

"Holy Master..." Yue Qifan shouted in a low voice as his scalp went numb.

The cold, emotionless voice sounded again, echoing throughout the room:

"I told you, I'm always watching you."

(End of this part)