Embers Ad Infinitum

Seeing Jiang Baimian and others looking over, Du Heng pointed to the shadow of the trees in front of him and said in a soft voice:

"Don't move yet, wait until this abnormality passes."

At this moment, throughout the ruins of the city, roars were heard one after another and never subsided.

Jiang Baimian stared at Du Heng for a few seconds, then nodded to Long Yuehong and others.

Before she could move over, Shang Jianyao had already jumped to Du Heng's side and squatted down very naturally.

This scene made Long Yuehong inexplicably familiar, as if she had returned to the inside of "Pangu Creatures" - every time after dinner, there would often be people squatting and chatting like this at the door of the "Activity Center".

Jiang Baimian was a little hesitant at first, but she didn't care after seeing this. She squatted next to her, looked around, and said sincerely:

"Thank you for saving us just now."

"It's not about saving, I just restored you to normal in advance. As long as you are not attacked before the abnormality subsides, you will be able to recover sooner or later." Du Heng responded with a smile.

"This must be considered a rescue." Jiang Baimian pretended to be casual and sighed, "You are not affected by that fear at all."

At this time, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong also squatted in the shadows, each holding weapons and guarding different directions.

Hearing Jiang Baimian's emotion, Du Heng laughed:

"How can I, an antiquities scholar and historical researcher who works alone most of the time, survive until now with no support?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao asked abruptly:

"Are you actually an awakened person?"

Du Heng glanced at him and smiled nonchalantly:

"Strictly speaking, it does count."

"Then what should I do after entering the 'Sea of ​​Origin'?" Shang Jianyao was very direct and had no worries that the current situation was wrong.

Du Heng smiled:

"Under normal circumstances, no awakened person will tell others this knowledge unless they have a pretty good relationship. Isn't this creating rivals for yourself and your friends?

"But, haha, I've always had a bad habit: the trouble with people is that I like to be a teacher.

"Okay, let me tell you briefly:

“When you enter the ‘Sea of ​​Origin’, you will encounter various ‘islands’ for you to rest, and there will be different monsters and different harsh situations on the ‘islands’ that you need to face and overcome.

"They often correspond to fears hidden in your heart, or certain memories from the past."

Speaking of which, Du Heng explained from the beginning:

"Based on my personal experience and guess, my personal guess does not mean it is correct:

"The power of the awakened comes from the soul, from his own consciousness. The so-called 'Hall of Stars' and 'Sea of ​​Origin' are just a concrete manifestation of the subconscious.

"As we move forward, the essence is to tap into our inner strength, which requires overcoming all the shadows in the soul."

Shang Jianyao politely waited until Du Heng finished speaking before asking:

"Why does every awakened person see the same 'Hall of Stars'?"

Du Heng's whole face seemed to wrinkle, and he said with a wry smile:

“That’s it for me, I really can’t explain it.

"But I've heard some speculation:

“First, similar scenes are hidden in our subconscious. They are the common memory of mankind and are certain experiences experienced by the common ancestors of mankind in an era older than the old world;

"The second is that the awakened ones are the apostles of the gods and the ones who have received divine grace. The thirteen executors jointly created the 'Hall of Stars' and other places to help their loved ones grow and enter the new world. This can be The awakened person's abilities are roughly divided into thirteen categories, corresponding to the fields of different ages, and produce certain associations.

"So, in those religions that believe in the Sui Sui, the proportion of awakened people is higher than that of other groups. Of course, it will not be too high, and the number is still limited."

Jiang Baimian listened very carefully, nodded gently and said:

"Perhaps many awakened people believe that their abilities come from God's gift and actively join different religions, which leads to a higher proportion."

Instead of caring for those who believe in you, let them wake up more.

"Without investigation or experiments, I can't give you a definite answer." Du Heng sighed, "Unfortunately, it has been nearly seventy years since the old world was destroyed, and large-scale wars continued for almost twenty to thirty years in the middle, resulting in There are many things that cannot be traced. Otherwise, we can look for the origin of Jusui beliefs step by step and see whether their domain and authority were intentionally added by some awakened people during the dissemination process, thus evolving into What it is like now, or rather, it has never changed from the beginning, can even be traced back to before the destruction of the old world. This is exactly the responsibility of our historical researchers."

Jiang Baimian feels the same way:

"Yes, this is also the source of motivation that drives me forward."

Du Heng didn't say more about this matter and continued the topic:

"From the 'Hall of Stars' to the 'Sea of ​​Origin', what is needed is a deep exploration and mastery of one's own abilities."

He paused, glanced at Shang Jianyao, and said with a smile:

"You should be almost done with this step, otherwise you wouldn't have asked the question just now.

“When you enter the ‘Sea of ​​Origin’ and defeat all the shadows in your heart, you will have the opportunity to find yourself, accept him, accommodate him, and your soul will be completed.

“This will bring about a certain qualitative change in your ability, both the boundary of the effect and the scope of influence will be improved.

“However, in this process, the price you pay will also deepen step by step, making your problem more serious.

"As the old saying goes, there is no free lunch."

Having said this, Du Heng kindly reminded:

"For every awakened person, the price he has paid needs to be kept secret.

"On the one hand, the price itself is a weakness, which can be easily exploited and targeted. On the other hand, different prices will vaguely map different fields, allowing familiar people to make preliminary guesses about your abilities. Among awakened people, In the battle between time, it is very dangerous for someone to know the characteristics of the ability in advance."

Shang Jianyao listened quietly and nodded seriously:

"Thanks."

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and smiled slightly:

"I thought you were going to clap."

At this time, the surroundings around them were very quiet, and it seemed that as Du Heng said, as long as they didn't move much or stand in a conspicuous place, they wouldn't be targeted by "abnormalities".

"Thank you goes further than applause." Shang Jianyao explained sincerely.

Du Heng laughed silently:

“When you find yourself, you can cross the ‘Sea of ​​Origin’ and enter the ‘Corridor of the Soul’.

"Okay, I've said so much, is it time for you to give me some information back?"

Shang Jianyao did not answer directly, but looked sideways at Jiang Baimian.

"What do you want to know?" Jiang Baimian asked.

Du Heng looked around and took out a yellowed photo:

"Have you ever seen this child?

"His name is Xiao Chong."

In the photo, the little boy has a chubby face and looks very cute wearing a monster costume.

He is exactly the Xiao Chong that Shang Jianyao and others met just now!

Xiao Chong... Long Yuehong felt like his scalp was numb when he heard this name.

He had no idea that Du Heng entered the ruins to look for someone.

And I’m looking for that extremely weird boy Xiao Chong!

Jiang Baimian couldn't help but pursed his lips, turned around and pointed at the position just now and said:

“We met him near the underground computer room, and he came out with us, saying he was looking for someone to play games with him.

"But after we came out, he disappeared on the pretext of peeing."

Du Heng nodded slightly with a solemn expression:

"That's it..."

"Why are you looking for Xiao Chong?" Shang Jianyao looked away from where he was just now.

Du Heng smiled dumbly and said:

"This involves a lot of important information, and you definitely can't pay the equivalent now.

"When we have the opportunity to meet again in the future, and you have other key information or clues, we will trade again."

Seeing that Du Heng obviously didn't want to talk, Jiang Baimian said to Shang Jianyao:

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Du Heng said before Shang Jianyao could speak:

"As for the 'soul corridor', let's wait until you actually enter it. I can't explain it clearly now."

Shang Jianyao thought for a while and then asked:

"Have you heard of the Eighth Research Institute?"

Du Heng was a little surprised:

"Have you met its special commissioner?"

Seeing Jiang Baimian and others nodding, he said thoughtfully:

"The Eighth Research Institute is a very mysterious organization. It basically has no contact with other forces. It seems to be self-sufficient. It only occasionally obtains some special items through smugglers.

"But their special agents often show up in the dust, and they don't know what mission they are performing."

Having said this, Du Heng paused:

"Everyone thinks that this organization is a remnant of the old world. Some people think that they are collecting various information to build a new world. Some people suspect that they are destroying clues and burying the real reason for the destruction of the old world.

"That's all I know."

After listening to this, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked:

"Which area does the charm ability belong to?"

"Your thinking is very exciting." Du Heng joked and replied thoughtfully, "You should be the 'supervisor' in charge of May."

Before Shang Jianyao and others could speak, Du Heng said first:

"Is it my turn to ask?"

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao nodded "obediently".

"Which big force do you belong to?" Du Heng asked confidently.

Jiang Baimian answered calmly:

"Pangaea."

"Pangaea... I met your project team in the ice field, and recruited a team of volunteers to conduct experiments on the impact of cold environments on human physique and spirit. Those people were freezing, tsk tsk, it was a bit miserable."

Jiang Baimian burst into tears:

"At least it's enough."

"Yes." Du Heng nodded.

He was about to continue asking questions when he suddenly saw the surrounding buildings light up layer by layer.

The ruins of the entire city, at least half of the buildings, emitted light in different states at the same time, lighting up window after window.

The darkness and silence that enveloped the place quickly receded to the edge of the ruins.

Power was restored throughout the city.

This was the first time for Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong and others to see such a scene, as if they were witnessing the galaxy in the textbook being moved to the surface.

For Jiang Baimian, the scene in front of her gave her the same shock as the first time she saw the real starry sky, the real blue sky, and the real sun.

Du Heng looked at the scene with appreciation for two seconds, stood up, and said to Shang Jianyao and others:

"The abnormality has subsided. You can leave over the wall from here."

PS: Please vote for recommendation~

PS2: Recommend a book, "Rebirth of the Supernatural Dawn", a pseudo-sci-fi, in which spiritual power runs rampant on the earth, and things that people "believe" will exist. Cultivate your spirit, conquer the dungeon, and finally use your spirit to intervene in the world, create things in the void, rub nuclear bombs with your hands, launch plasma, and travel in space. The protagonist is reborn into the early stages of the advent of the spiritual world, before his soul is shattered.