Embers Ad Infinitum

"'Truth'? How come I have never heard of such an official?" After returning to the second floor of the Cliff Village Office, Long Yuehong said while closing the door.

They didn't chat with Lao He for long about the issue of faith, because the "truth" in the other person's mouth touched the blind spot of their knowledge. Even intelligent robots like Gnawa who store a large amount of information and knowledgeable journalists like Jiang Baimian The "folklorist" is also unclear.

At that time, Shang Jianyao asked him who he was, what his characteristics were, and what rituals he needed to complete if he wanted to believe in him. However, Lao He did not answer, but just smiled and made some perfunctory remarks.

Due to the obvious weirdness of the gods that the other party believed in, and the fact that Suimo City is related to the "command" of holding Sui Sui, and there are some abnormalities, the calm and rational Shang Jianyao did not forcefully make friends, and let the target say something that speaks to his heart. I plan to observe it for a while.

This was affirmed and appreciated by Jiang Baimian.

Bai Chen pursed his lips and said:

"It may be another name for 'The Last Man', or an incarnation, just like the relationship between 'The Tathagata of the World' and 'Zhuang Sheng'."

Jiang Baimian then said:

"The puppet on Lao He's pendant is indeed very similar to the symbols representing gods in the anti-intellectual religion."

They are all people without facial features.

In anti-intellectual teachings, this is a symbol of the "last man".

"The abilities of the awakened ones described by the village chief are also suspected to belong to the 'last man' field." Gnawa, still wearing a burqa, helped to supplement the evidence.

"Lao He denies this speculation." Shang Jianyao said with an expression of "I will believe whatever he says".

After he saw clearly the pendant that Lao He pulled out, he asked on the spot, "The last person?"

Lao He shook his head without hesitation, saying that "truth" is not "the last man".

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"Theoretically speaking, the god you believe in is something that a certain person can be proud of, and there is no need to deny it, just like several major Buddhist sects frankly admit that the Tathagata is Zhuang Sheng.

"But, 'The Last Man', who is in charge of memory, is quite mysterious. The 'Anti-Intellectual Cult' that believes in him has also inherited this characteristic. His acting style is crazy but cautious, and arrogant but cautious..."

What she meant was that the "last man" might be like this, with layers of false identities and multiple incarnations that no one knew about.

In this way, it is normal for believers in one of his incarnations not to know that their own deity is the "last man" of the year.

"But there is also the possibility that the 'truth' is another Zhi Sui, or not Zhi Sui." Jiang Baimian added, "Do you remember Yan Hu? Before he fell asleep, he interacted with believers as a god on the island in the middle of the lake. We live together. Similar situations can be found in many places on the earth, and they are not too uncommon in the chaotic era and the early days of the New Calendar."

Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist with his left palm and said:

"I see.

"'Truth' is a 'New World' strongman in the 'End Man' field in Suimo City, and is even the only 'New World' strongman, so he has gained the faith of some residents."

Bai Chen thought for a while and said:

"But why would he make the symbol that symbolizes himself almost the same as that of the 'Last Man'? Aren't he afraid that his followers will be cognitively confused after encountering someone who is an 'anti-intellectual religion'?"

"It's possible that the symbols of the 'last man' realm are fixed. This starts with the origin of mysticism..." Shang Jianyao glanced at Jiang Baimian and forcibly assumed the posture of a folklorist.

Jiang Baimian rolled his eyes and said:

“The symbol corresponding to a Zhi Sui is actually not fixed.

"Do you still remember the Vigilant Cult, the Dread Cult, and the Friendly Hand who also believe in 'Yugu'?"

These are the three sects that the "Old Diao Group" encountered in Hongshiji. They all believe in "Yugu", but they have different ideas and symbols.

At that time, folklorist Jiang Baimian found time to do some research.

This was not something too important. It took Long Yuehong a while to recall:

"The symbol of the Vigilance Sect is a half-open door, with a female figure vaguely hidden in the darkness behind the door..."

He was most impressed by this, and sometimes had nightmares based on it.

“The symbol of the Order of Dread is the black female shadow, and the Friendly Hand is the slightly glowing hand in the depths of darkness.

"What they all have in common is that they all have dark and gloomy meanings. Well, when these three sects were debating, they never criticized each other's symbols for not representing Zhi Sui's 'Yougu'."

"It seems like this..." Shang Jianyao was quite frustrated and not too willing to admit it.

Gennava made a slightly synthetic voice:

"Each Zhi Sui controls multiple areas. Perhaps those symbols do not directly represent Zhi Sui, but symbolize a certain area below.

“For example, the woman behind the door corresponds to ‘vigilance’, the black female shadow corresponds to ‘fear’, and the glowing hands in the dark correspond to ‘friendliness’.”

Jiang Baimian nodded:

“This is common in folklore, religion, and mysticism.

"So, as the strong man of the 'New World', 'Truth' masters the field related to memory. Does this correspond to the symbol of 'anti-intellectual religion'?"

Bai Chen, Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao all agreed with this speculation.

Just when Jiang Baimian was about to turn to the next topic, Shang Jianyao suddenly laughed and said in a lowered voice:

"I thought of another possibility."

"What's possible?" The honest Gnawa was very cooperative.

Shang Jianyao looked around and said:

"Replacement!

"'Truth' uses the symbol of 'the last man' in order to one day replace the other party."

"Have you read too much old world entertainment materials?" Jiang Baimian's first reaction was angry and funny.

Then, she began to think thoughtfully:

"This is not impossible. After all, we don't know much about the existence of the Executioners and the specific conditions of the 'New World'."

"If the Zhi Sui will also be weak, fall, and be replaced, many things will be explained." Bai Chen thought of the destruction of the Fourth Research Institute and the thirteen Zhi Sui Zhan mentioned by Shang Jianyao. What will happen when a new zodiac is born when each month is over.

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands, but Long Yuehong felt inexplicably heavy in her heart.

Jiang Baimian exhaled slowly and said:

“This is just speculation for now.

“What deserves our more concern now is why the ‘Si Ming’ sect in Suimo City allowed ‘Truth’ to preach and develop believers?

"Moreover, both parties get along quite harmoniously."

"Isn't the big boss always indifferent to believers and doesn't like to get along with humans as a Zhi Sui?" Long Yuehong replied reflexively.

"The big boss is the big boss, and the senior leaders of the 'Si Ming' sect are the senior leaders of the 'Si Ming' sect. The two cannot be completely equated." Jiang Baimian explained, "Since Suimo City has disclosed its views on the big boss, Faith, the elders there should not allow other sects to appear unless they cannot be defeated or there are some practical considerations."

This is determined by the characteristics of religions themselves. They will instinctively exclude other faiths, and will not consider integration or coexistence until they are restricted by reality.

Except, of course, the odd one out like Friendly Hands.

"Maybe I really can't beat him." Shang Jianyao looked gloating, "The big boss doesn't care about real things. There are relatively few strong people in the 'New World' who believe in 'Si Ming' in Suimo City, so they can't do anything about 'truth'. We can only compromise.”

Long Yuehong muttered:

"Perhaps the cost of simply eradicating 'truth' is too high, so we might as well cooperate."

Bai Chen glanced at Jiang Baimian:

"Another possibility is:

"'Truth' has a close relationship with the big boss and is an ally of a certain camp in the 'New World'."

"Well..." Jiang Baimian nodded slowly.

Everyone else didn't know what to say for a moment. Even Shang Jianyao just said to himself:

"The relationship between the big boss and the Last Man is not very good?"

No one answered him.

After a while, Jiang Baimian glanced at the team members and said:

“While the people in the city haven’t left yet at the end of the year, I’ll have more contact with them in the past few days.

"Afterwards, if there is a chance, I can ask you to find out the specific location of Suimo City and go there to visit. Forget it, let's not consider this matter for the time being."

"Why?" Long Yuehong asked confused.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"Are you going to play around under the big boss's nose? That might be a place that the big boss focuses on."

"That's right." Long Yuehong woke up.

The guiding spirit of the "Old Tune Group" in formulating this plan has been to look for clues from various marginalized experiments and urban ruins that do not belong to "Si Ming".

…………

In the evening, Shang Jianyao entered the "soul corridor" again and opened the door of room '506'.

As soon as he entered the dreamland, he saw the vague female figure sitting on the single sofa in the living room, got up and came over.

"You're finally here!" The female figure said in a hysterical tone, "Ask, ask! I'll tell you everything!"

"Are you sick?" Shang Jianyao asked with concern.

"No!" the female figure shouted, "I want to get rid of this nightmare completely! Don't look for me again!"

Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and said to himself:

"The psychological pressure accumulated in reality leads to thoughts and dreams every day and night, and in the dream state, the mentality is completely broken, and there is an urgent need to vent it out?"

Without waiting for the other party to respond, he turned to ask:

"Who is that executive deep in the laboratory?"

While speaking, Shang Jianyao took two steps back, ready to escape from this dream at any time.

The female figure was silent for a while and replied in a slightly erratic tone:

"'dawn'……"