Embers Ad Infinitum

Hearing Shang Jianyao's question, Jiang Baimian said "uh":

“I don’t know that.

“He is still somewhat different from the people you used the ‘Mystery Clown’ on before.

"It just produced an effect and broke the illusion. I thought it was an unexpected surprise."

Illusion interaction is more similar to a conscious artificial intelligence mechanism. Shang Jianyao has no experience and Jiang Baimian cannot reason out what specific effects it can achieve.

"There's no need to make friends, it's enough to keep him from targeting us." Long Yuehong couldn't help but say.

What if Shang Jianyao became friends with such a powerful "high-level unintentional person"? Wouldn't it be possible to walk sideways in Tarnan, bullying whoever you want, and playing pranks on whomever you want?

She just wet her pants in front of other members of the group, which left a certain psychological shadow on Long Yuehong.

"I hope so." Jiang Baimian looked around the dark night and the lights dotting it and said, "Continue to be on duty."

Hearing this, Shang Jianyao leaned on the jeep slightly disappointed.

Time passed by minute by minute, and Bai Chen suddenly said:

"Look over there."

Jiang Baimian and others adhered to the preset plan and looked at the area monitored by Bai Chen with a "think before you act" attitude.

I don't know when there were buildings that were not too tall.

These buildings form what the old world called "communities," "communities," or "blocks," and are surrounded by green trees.

At this time, the night makes everything there seem unclear, and only the lights coming from behind the glass windows can bring a feeling of peace of mind and warmth.

"This must be an illusion, right?" Long Yuehong said hesitantly to himself.

"Except for hallucinations, no one can build such a community in just a few seconds." Jiang Baimian replied in the affirmative.

"There are also dreams." Shang Jianyao "helped" her improve her words.

They were all extremely sure that the community ahead did not belong to Tarnan.

It appears out of nowhere.

"What did that 'higher unintentional person' do to create an illusion that we can see through at a glance?" Jiang Baimian looked at the quiet community and expressed his doubts.

Shang Jianyao nodded "thoughtfully":

"Say hello to us?

"He thinks I'm a friend already?"

Jiang Baimian wanted to refute, but he swallowed the words again.

"It's possible." Bai Chen actually supported Shang Jianyao's statement.

After all, she has also seen the magic of "Mystery Clown".

"Then how should I respond?" Shang Jianyao was in a dilemma.

"Let's wait and see what happens." Jiang Baimian decided to adopt a prudent strategy.

As soon as she finished speaking, all the lights in the neighborhood went out at the same time.

No, there is still one light on, like a lone boat on a vast lake.

It bloomed quietly with a yellowish light, becoming the most eye-catching focus in the dark night.

"Which room does that 'Higher Unintentional' want us to enter?" Jiang Baimian speculated on the meaning of this change.

She pointed to the room corresponding to the remaining light.

"Oh..." Shang Jianyao suddenly realized, "He wants to invite us to his home."

"Don't move." Jiang Baimian stopped Shang Jianyao's imminent move, "If you are affected by such a simple illusion and step on a landmine, I will definitely write on your epitaph, 'This person was stupid to death' .”

The "Old Tune Team" has many mines and traps arranged around it, but in the illusion, no one knows whether the direction and distance are correct.

"I feel like he doesn't mean any harm." Shang Jianyao said sincerely.

After speaking, he glanced sideways at Long Yuehong.

"If you want to be a spy, do it yourself!" Long Yuehong responded vigilantly.

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao seemed to be waiting for this answer, and then he was grabbed by Jiang Baimian.

Is there still this kind of routine? Long Yuehong was a little dumbfounded.

At this moment, the neighborhood deep in the night enlarged in front of their eyes, and the distance between them shortened instantly.

In just a few seconds, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao and others were in the community, located downstairs under the only light that was on.

"It's so enthusiastic..." Shang Jianyao admired sincerely.

As he spoke, he sighed:

"It's a pity that he wants to eat people, and he eats a lot of people, otherwise I really could be friends with him."

You still have a bottom line... Jiang Baimian muttered in his heart and then reminded:

"Don't move yet. If we should be allowed in, he will take the initiative to let us in. If we should be allowed to see, he will take the initiative to let us see."

"Yeah." Long Yuehong felt that this was exactly what she thought.

Jiang Baimian's words were quickly confirmed, and the four members of the "old tune team" were directly "transferred" into that building.

During this process, they felt as if they were climbing stairs and taking an elevator.

Not long after, they reached the top floor, the 11th floor.

There is only one house here, and the door is wide, long and vermilion.

A faint light shone in from the window high up in the corridor, making the figures stand out.

They are all human beings, male and female, old and young, dressed in different ways but reflecting the style of the old world.

At this time, they were crowding at the door, peering into the room from all the cracks like madmen.

"What are you doing?" Long Yuehong looked confused.

"Is this a manifestation of the crazy instinct in the subconscious of the 'higher unintentional person'?" Jiang Baimian tried to explain from a psychological perspective.

Shang Jianyao shook his head and said seriously:

"This shows that something is going on inside..."

Before he finished speaking, the four members of the "Old Tune Group" "passed" through the unrealistic vermilion door and entered.

Subconsciously, Long Yuehong looked back.

There seemed to be pairs of eyes looking inside at the cracks in the door.

Hiss... Long Yuehong felt a creepy feeling inexplicably.

At this time, Jiang Baimian and the others looked across the surprisingly spacious living room and towards a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were immersed in darkness, with human faces clinging to them.

Their expressions were distorted, and their eyes shone with unknown light.

It was like there was a platform outside the window, and these people were crowded there, peering through the window into the house.

On the other side, at an open glass window, a figure was sitting on the railing.

She is a slender woman with long black hair disheveled and her face is obscured by the darkness, making it difficult to see clearly.

At this time, the woman was crying and repeating one sentence:

"Are you going to force me to death...Are you going to force me to death..."

"No." Shang Jianyao answered.

But the woman turned a deaf ear and suddenly stood up and jumped out of the window.

Shang Jianyao stretched out his hand, but because the distance was too far, he couldn't reach it.

At this time, Jiang Baimian, who knew this was an illusion, was looking around.

She saw a tablet thrown on the ground not far away.

The computer was on, flashing, with photos and text on it.

The photo appears to be of a woman wearing a hat getting into a car, and the text reads:

"The popular idol Jiang Xiaoyue travels with a middle-aged rich man"

Snapped!

The woman who jumped out of the window fell heavily to the ground.

The entire illusion was instantly distorted. Long Yuehong, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Bai Chen and others all felt as if their thoughts were being sucked away by the vortex, and their souls seemed to be leaving their bodies.

There was uncontrollable panic in their hearts, as if they were facing a darkness that could swallow their own lives.

Gradually, their consciousness began to blur.

Huh... Jiang Baimian struggled to "wake up" and found that he was still next to the jeep. The surroundings were dark, with only the light bulbs illuminating the mirrors and wooden signs on.

She subconsciously looked at Shang Jianyao and found that this guy seemed to be about to push her.

"Are you out of the illusion?" Jiang Baimian asked, taking two steps and trying to wake up Bai Chen who was not far away.

"Yeah." Shang Jianyao turned his body sideways and shook Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong woke up quickly and felt that her head was very dizzy.

After a few seconds, he suddenly realized:

"stop!

"Stop shaking!"

"Are you awake?" Shang Jianyao asked regretfully, as if he still had several plans left unused.

Long Yuehong replied in a dazed manner:

"right."

Seeing that all the members of the team were fine, Jiang Baimian breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself:

"What did that illusion just now represent?"

"That should be a scene from the old world." Bai Chen said thoughtfully, "Is that 'Higher Unintentional' related to the popular idol Jiang Xiaoyue?"

"Did you also see the news on the computer?" Jiang Baimian asked in confirmation, "But that 'Higher Unintentional Person' is eighty or ninety years old? It doesn't look like... Well, there is currently no precedent to show that, 'Higher Heartless People' can live longer, at most they can live longer than ordinary 'Heartless People', uh, except for Xiao Chong."

After humans became "careless", life expectancy has undoubtedly dropped significantly due to changes in living environment, physical condition and other aspects.

After Jiang Baimian described what he saw, Shang Jianyao nodded and said:

"Maybe he is Jiang Xiaoyue's son."

"..." Jiang Baimian asked, "Then why is he obsessed with entering Tarnan?"

"This is Jiang Xiaoyue's hometown, the place where he grew up." Shang Jianyao suddenly sighed.

"...I almost believed it." Jiang Baimian said amusingly, "Did you get inspiration from the cases of murlocs, mountain monsters, and those 'unintentional people' in the ruins of Swamp No. 1?"

"It's not impossible." Long Yuehong supported Shang Jianyao this time.

Jiang Baimian shook his head:

"But it's such a coincidence. It's impossible for most of the things we encounter to be based on the same reason, right?"

Without enough clues, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were unable to answer this question.

After intense discussion, the "Old Tune Group" finally decided to report this matter to see what the major sects and "Mechanical Heaven" had in mind.

Maybe Zhou Yue, the master of Nanke Temple, can analyze something.

After a long time, the sky gradually became brighter and morning came.

After ten minutes, a member of the robot guard and two humans came from the direction of Tarnan with a number of auxiliary robots, preparing for the handover.

When they approached, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao:

"superior."