Embers Ad Infinitum

"Grandma, thank you." Shang Jianyao waved goodbye to the old lady who was enjoying the shade under the tree.

He skillfully switched identities, greeted people of different ages and statuses, and chatted about various things in order to figure out what this place was.

In this way, he continued chatting until his mouth was dry and his spirit was exhausted, and he roughly confirmed that he was currently in the family area of ​​the Fourth Research Institute.

This research institute is located deep in an uninhabited wasteland, with its main body underground, similar to "Pangaea Creatures".

After the destruction of the old world, several of their affiliated farms and pastures were not affected and survived until the 21st year of the new calendar.

Yes, in the memory of the room owner, it is now the 21st year of the new calendar.

The people Shang Jianyao currently meets in this psychological shadow seem to be smart, can chat, and have their own memories, but they are not as good as those passengers in the shadow of the cruise ship, because once his mind jumps, the topic will be pulled far away. People here not only can't answer the questions, but they also talk nonsense and don't tell the truth.

Based on this, Shang Jianyao judged that the reason why they were able to answer questions and chat like normal chatting was because the owner of the room had been getting along with them for a long time and had various conversations from time to time, involving many things.

After these memories are mobilized subconsciously, the corresponding characters seem quite real.

"I still haven't encountered any danger. I feel as comfortable as returning home." The honest Shang Jianyao did not hide his doubts.

The calm and rational Shang Jianyao thought about it and said:

"Perhaps the focus of this psychological shadow is not the courage to face danger directly. Naturally, there is no danger on the surface."

The current psychological shadow does not exist in the guide given by "Pangu Creatures". After all, in order not to affect the owner of "506" room, this is used as a place for newly awakened people who enter the corridor to adapt to exploration. Everyone strictly abides by " "Rule", you will evacuate after breaking through at most two psychological shadows, and Shang Jianyao suspected that he skipped the second psychological shadow because he took an unusual path in the first psychological shadow.

"What should we do?" the reckless Shang Jianyao blurted out, "We have been chatting for a while, but apart from getting some information, there are no clues."

He was referring to the clues that lead through this psychological shadow.

Zen Master Pudu was quite calm about this:

“Forget it if you can’t find it.

"The worst thing is to find another room with a guide."

During the discussion, Shang Jianyao did not forget to observe his surroundings.

Combining some of the details he noticed in previous chats, he gradually discovered an anomaly:

No one in this family area has ever been close to the exit gate!

No matter how complex and varied their action trajectories were, they did not involve that area.

"Is it because the owner of the room's psychological shadow is at the exit that everyone here 'subconsciously' avoids it, or does the family area of ​​the Fourth Research Institute indeed have a rule not to approach that area?" Shang Jianyao, a calm and rational person, asked. Lift your chin.

He didn't wait for other colleagues to join the discussion, and suddenly handed over his body to the reckless one.

The reckless Shang Jianyao immediately turned around and walked towards the exit door.

The other Shang Jianyao wanted to give it a try to see if they could inspire beneficial changes, so they all chose to acquiesce one after another. Only the vicious one controlled his mouth and kept talking:

“Don’t have the bold mentality of a skilled artist!

"Don't think that all the psychological shadows related to Zhi Sui have come over. How could such a simple room capsize in the gutter?

"This has something to do with the Nine Research Institutes of the Old World. It's better to be cautious!"

While rambling, Shang Jianyao slowly approached the gate area.

Calm and calm.

He turned around and looked at the people in the family area, finding that no one paid attention to him.

Shang Jianyao kept his current posture unchanged and moved step by step towards the iron gate with the sentry guard.

Suddenly, the people in the family area who were enjoying the cool air, busy or coming and going all looked at him at the same time.

The white-haired old lady sitting on the bench under the tree then showed a horrified expression.

Some of the others were panicked, some were nervous, some were angry, as if Shang Jianyao had offended them, and some were full of hatred and hatred, as if they were saying with their eyes, "Why do you dare to do what we don't dare to do?"

Boom!

There was a sudden explosion in the gate area, and a ball of flames rose up with smoke and dust, turning into a huge mushroom.

Shang Jianyao jumped out in advance, with a military exoskeleton device "materialized" on his body.

With the help of this thing, he jumped dozens of meters and was not enveloped by the explosion, but his back was still hit by the air waves.

Bang, even with a military exoskeleton device, Shang Jianyao couldn't maintain his balance. He fell so dizzy that he felt like several bones were broken.

At the same time, the expressions of those in the family area changed again.

Their expressions were cold, the muscles on their faces were stiff, and there was no emotion in their eyes. They seemed to have died long ago, but they all looked at the intruder who was trying to break the stable life of themselves and others.

When Shang Jianyao saw this, he immediately shouted:

"Don't even move!"

Wherever his voice reached, everyone stopped moving, as if they were playing the game of one, two, three wooden figures.

Kick-kick, Shang Jianyao, who was wearing a military exoskeleton device, started running wildly, with thorns on his back and jumping from time to time.

Finally, he ran to the building where he first appeared.

With one step, he left room "506" and rushed to the corridor. Then he lay imagelessly on the dark yellow thick carpet, spread out his limbs, and gasped for air.

After a while, the honest Shang Jianyao said twice:

"Don't talk about martial ethics!

“Why not warn first, then shoot, and then bomb?

"How could a normal person lay such a mine at the door? There are people guarding it there!"

The vicious Shang Jianyao sneered:

"This is a psychological shadow, and it is not strictly based on reality.

"As long as the owner of the room has encountered it before, or even just seen it, the corresponding things may be piled up in the same place.

"I told you, be careful, you don't believe me!"

"Namo Ayodoro Samyak Sambodhi was just injured by the bomb and his spirit was a little traumatized. It's not a big problem." Zen Master Pudu replied calmly.

The calm and rational Shang Jianyao said thoughtfully:

“I suspect that there is not only a problem with the gate area, but also that anyone who tries to leave the family area will encounter various dangers.

"This is a reflection of the corresponding fear of the room owner."

"So, facing these dangers head-on is considered to have overcome the psychological shadow?" The reckless Shang Jianyao controlled his body and stood up on the ground, looking like "Go back now and get bombed a few more times."

He was forcibly restrained.

The calm and rational Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin:

“I always thought it wouldn’t be that simple.

"The fear corresponding to each psychological shadow is different. Simply avoiding danger and escaping from a certain place has been experienced before.

"I think it will be safer to explore more and clarify this issue."

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao, who had no opinion, agreed.

The vicious Shang Jianyao sided with his most hated colleague this time.

Since everyone was bombed, injured, and in need of mental recovery, Shang Jianyao and the others exited the "soul corridor" and fell asleep.

…………

Floor 349, Area C, No. 12.

Because his parents were visiting a colleague's house, Jiang Baimian stayed leisurely in the study alone, browsing some public news using his father Jiang Wenfeng's account.

Not finding anything interesting, she took out the pattern on the talisman of many children and grandchildren that she copied, opened the old world folklore database she had established, and tried to search and compare.

To this end, she also specially used a drawing tablet to sketch out the corresponding patterns.

"There is no exact consistency." Jiang Baimian was busy for a while, looking at the computer screen, muttering silently to himself, "I can only say that it looks similar at first glance, but in fact it does not follow the corresponding rules. Of course, it may be that my database is not perfect enough. , due to many deficiencies.”

After pondering for a long time, Jiang Baimian disassembled the pattern.

After dismantling and reassembling it again and again, she frowned slightly.

From the simplest point of view, the pattern is composed of a woman and a baby, both of which have a hint of hieroglyphs, but Jiang Baimian is very sure that they are not real hieroglyphs.

"A woman and a baby are enough in meaning, but it seems not attentive enough and too simple..." Jiang Baimian shook his head and planned to hear the results of Long Yuehong's inquiry tomorrow.

…………

The next morning, floor 647, room 14.

Long Yuehong recounted the information she obtained from her grandma and the corresponding feedback.

"Is it my turn to appear next?" Shang Jianyao, although his face was a little pale, was still very excited.

"It should be so." Long Yuehong suddenly hesitated.

Will it make the problem bigger if I let this guy test it?

He is very good at this!

"Yes." Bai Chen answered firmly.

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao:

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"Something happened when I was in the psychological shadow of room 506. Fortunately, the headache recovered after two or three days, and it did not affect my daily ability." Shang Jianyao was quite honest.

Jiang Baimian said "ha":

"Room 506, which is considered to be the simplest one, can you still do anything?"

"More trouble will help you master more information." The calm and rational Shang Jianyao skillfully changed the subject, "I have confirmed that the owner of room '506' is from the Fourth Research Institute."

Jiang Baimian suddenly became interested:

"Yeah?"

After communicating on this issue for a while, Jiang Baimian thought about it and said:

"I suspect that the key to this psychological shadow is not to break out, but something else.

"It doesn't appear to be primarily dangerous. It probably represents another kind of fear."

Shang Jianyao nodded happily:

"I think so too!"

Bang bang bang, he applauded himself and Jiang Baimian.

It was an uneventful day, and when it was almost time to get off work, the four members of the "Old Diao Group" got together again and discussed Shang Jianyao's request for more children and grandchildren.