Embers Ad Infinitum

"Neatly and symmetrically?" Jiang Baimian asked in confirmation.

Lauris pointed to the coffee table with certainty:

"right.

"Look..."

Well, if Xiaohong were here and heard these words, she would have post-traumatic stress disorder again... Such a thought flashed through Jiang Baimian's mind.

Of course it was impossible for Lauris to hear her murmur, so she continued on her own:

“There was supposed to be a vase, a wooden box for tissues, and two cups for drinking water.

"But he said the vase and wooden box were not symmetrical and had to be removed."

Following Lauris's words, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao turned their attention to the coffee table and found that there were only four ceramic drinking cups left on it - two of which were added because they came to visit.

Symmetry obsession? When Jiang Baimian withdrew his gaze, he glanced at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao nodded to her.

However, Jiang Baimian couldn't decipher what he meant by nodding now.

Do you agree with what Lauris said, or did you hear my voice?

Lauris didn't notice the secret interaction between the two, and sighed and said:

"It's actually okay, but I'm a little tired. I have to always pay attention to the placement of things, as well as my clothes and hairstyle.

"Well, Odik won't be angry about it. He will just silently make these things look the way he wants, very persistently."

This reminded Jiang Baimian of the sentence "One eye is big and the other is small. He is not a good person. I will dig them out for you."

It is also a manifestation of symmetry obsessive-compulsive disorder, only more violent and crazy.

After Shang Jianyao finished listening, he rubbed his chin:

"What else is there besides this?"

"It's nothing." Lauris slowly shook her head, as if she was still recalling all the details of her interactions with Odik in the past two days.

She was silent for a moment and said hesitantly:

"One more thing, I don't know if it counts..."

"Although, it is up to the therapist to determine whether it counts." Shang Jianyao, who loves novelty and novelty and loves acting, said in the tone of a senior psychiatrist.

Lauris was very grateful to him for initially curing Odik, and she believed in his medical skills. She no longer hesitated after hearing this:

“He seems to be timid and weaker than before.

"Before going out to the Hunter's Guild today, he looked in the mirror and talked to himself for a while before he plucked up the courage."

Dr. Shang Jianyao nodded:

“This is a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"To put it simply, the tragic result of his previous fight against the 'Nightmare' left a psychological shadow on him. He is no longer as confident as before, is prone to fear of things with certain risks, and tends to appear weak in front of powerful people.

"This requires long-term treatment to resolve, but it is not a big problem, so don't worry too much."

"I understand." Lauris breathed a sigh of relief. "No wonder I insisted that he stay at home and not see those church members these two days, but he actually agreed. This is impossible in normal times. Well, besides cleaning up, he I was very insistent on the arrangement and arrangement, but chose to listen to me on other matters.”

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao asked again and again, and finally confirmed that there was nothing unusual about Odik.

Because they were worried about something unexpected happening to Bai Chen, Long Yuehong and Gnawa, they did not wait for Odik to go home. They took the initiative to say goodbye, went down to the first floor, and sat back in the rented car.

In order not to implicate the Odic family, they drove the vehicle into several deserted alleys around them, and after twists and turns, they took the correct road back to the Green Olive District.

——After more citizens joined the army, the First City became increasingly quiet during the day. There were many secluded places with no shops and it often took ten or twenty minutes for someone to pass by.

"Currently, it seems that Odik has four more abnormalities: mania, symmetrical obsessive-compulsive disorder, timidity and weakness, and insanity." Jiang Baimian, who was in the co-pilot position, summarized the results of this visit.

"It's so miserable..." the compassionate Zen Master Pudu sighed sincerely.

Anyone who has one of them will affect their normal life, and Odik got four at once.

Before Zen Master Pudu finished speaking, Shang Jianyao, who hated evil and hated evil, added:

"So we can't just let it go!"

Shang Jianyao, who values ​​emotions, then said:

"If we can solve the minions of 'Nightmare' and find clues to deal with 'it', it might help Odik truly recover."

While Shang Jianyao was talking to each other, Jiang Baimian couldn't get a word in.

After the sound echoing in the car calmed down, she breathed out and said:

"A person who goes crazy due to the influence of a 'nightmare' will have so many problems in one breath?"

In her opinion, there should only be one who is insane or manic.

Although symmetry obsessive-compulsive disorder is serious enough to be considered a mental illness, it is often not linked to going crazy.

Being timid and weak is not even considered a mental illness.

Moreover, there is no necessary connection between these four abnormalities. In the field of mental illness, only mania and disorder often appear together.

Jiang Baimian initially suspected that timidity and weakness were indeed the psychological shadow left by Odik after encountering a "nightmare" as Shang Jianyao said.

At this time, Shang Jianyao had become calm:

"It seems that Xiaobai's guess at that time was correct:

"One eye is big and the other is small. This is what Odik saw in his 'nightmare'. 'He is not a good person, I will dig it out for you' is what Odik added after he developed symmetry obsessive-compulsive disorder."

After hearing these two sentences, Jiang Baimian muttered to himself:

"Appear……"

She pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned sideways and looked at Shang Jianyao:

“Why can’t it be an infection?

"Before we set out to visit Odick and Lauris, we had speculated that the abnormalities on Odick might be due to him imitating some of the things he sensed at the time, or they might be traces left after being infected by 'madness'."

Shang Jianyao slowed down the car, took his right hand off the steering wheel, and rubbed his chin:

"If it is infection or imitation, there must be a source or reference object."

"There is a person on the left, a person on the right, and a small photo frame in the middle. This is very symmetrical in itself. I said it at the time." Jiang Baimian was active in thinking and calm in expression.

Shang Jianyao thought for a while and said:

“You mean, ‘Picture Frame’ or another person, has symmetry OCD?

"Through the 'Nightmare', they 'infected' this problem to Odik?"

"Maybe..." Jiang Baimian replied uncertainly at first, then sat upright suddenly, "If this is the case, the reason why the target we are tracking always wears sunglasses is probably not because of photophobia or wanting to cover up. Physical characteristics, but because his companion has symmetry obsessive-compulsive disorder, if he does not do this, it will inevitably lead to internal strife!

"When he asks for directions at night, his companions are lurking around!"

…………

Green olive area.

Gnawa sat in the room, paying attention to replacing the high-performance batteries that needed to be recharged. While idle, he directly used all the cameras as "eyes" to start real-time monitoring.

Diagonally opposite this rental house, separated by a corridor, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were quietly lurking in the room near the stairs.

No one lives here, and the tables, chairs, and benches are obviously covered in dust. Bai Chen and Long Yuehong took advantage of the fact that the corridor was quiet and no one was passing by, so they opened the door and hid in.

Here, they can see the situation at the stairwell through keyholes and peepholes, and with the help of cameras installed in hidden locations, they can observe whether there is anything abnormal in the rental house where Gnawa is staying.

Long Yuehong went through the several situations listed previously in his mind over and over again, lest he forget the corresponding plan.

"Don't be too nervous. The more nervous you are, the easier it is to forget details that you shouldn't forget and make mistakes that you shouldn't make." Bai Chen comforted Long Yuehong while looking outside through the peephole.

Yes, I can't be nervous. I have to make Xiaobai feel that I am calm and reliable... Long Yuehong took in a breath and slowly exhaled it to calm down her mood.

I don't know how long it took, but Bai Chen suddenly lowered his voice and said:

"Someone come up."

Long Yuehong subconsciously leaned towards the door.

Bai Chen looked back at him and lowered his voice:

“You watch it on the computer.

"Don't crowd together at the door. That will be very suspicious in the senses of the awakened ones."

"Okay..." Long Yuehong quietly retracted to the arranged table.

Bai Chen's portable computer was always on, using the temporary base station of Gnawa as the signal source, displaying the images captured by the surveillance camera at the door.

Long Yuehong glanced around and saw a man in ordinary clothes and the same appearance entering this floor and turning to the right.

It is currently noon, and many people who work not far away will choose to go home for dinner. It is not something worth making a fuss about.

However, the man stopped at the door of the rental house where Gennava was.

He reached out and patted the door, and the sound was so loud that it directly reached Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:

"Open the door! I'm back!"

He patted it for a few seconds and then tried to untie the key from his waist.

At this moment, Gnawa's voice deliberately imitating a human came from behind the door:

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?" The man was surprised.

He then looked around, patted his forehead and said:

"Dry!

"Wrong floor!"

He didn't apologize, turned around, and walked quickly to the stairs, as if he wanted to escape this embarrassing scene.

This seems to be just a random incident.

But Bai Chen was not careless and whispered to himself:

"Has your memory been affected by someone?"

"If this is really the case..." Long Yuehong agreed habitually.

Then, he was shocked:

"As neighbors on the same floor as the target, will our memories be quietly reviewed?"