Embers Ad Infinitum

At that moment, Shang Jianyao seemed to have sunk into the deep sea, his body was under heavy pressure, his eyes were dark, and his ears were silent.

They had already accumulated strength and shouted at this critical moment:

"Xiao Chong!"

After a brief pause, the feeling of being suppressed by the seawater disappeared, and Shang Jianyao could see the light again.

What appeared in front of him was a place similar to a "soul corridor" with rooms everywhere.

But there is more than one aisle here, criss-crossing and twisting back and forth, as if building a maze.

The walls, ceilings and paths of the "maze" are all painted with white paint, and the doors are of various colors, with no rules.

"There is a 'Zhuangsheng' living in every room?" Shang Jianyao started to guess excitedly.

He knew that "Zhuang Sheng" had a split personality, and each personality seemed to act independently.

This can be glimpsed from the dream in Taicheng No. 1 Senior High School. The brightly lit buildings around the tower also provide side proof.

Shang Jianyao looked back at where he came from and saw no corresponding gap. Only a white wall blocked his way back and eliminated the previous danger.

He jogged nonchalantly, opening rooms on both sides of the corridor.

Bang, bang, bang, like a child playing a prank, Shang Jianyao just glanced inside through the open door and whizzed past.

There were no residents or furniture in those rooms, and they looked as empty as if they had just been built.

Bang!

Another door was opened by Shang Jianyao.

He glanced around and saw an LCD screen, a black game console, and a child sitting on the ground holding a controller.

"Xiao Chong!" Shang Jianyao stopped the car excitedly and happily.

That was his good friend Xiao Chong.

Xiao Chong, who was wearing a green sweater, ignored Shang Jianyao and still sat there, playing the game.

Shang Jianyao was not surprised. He came closer and patted Xiao Chong on the shoulder:

"My level is not good today."

On the LCD screen, the tank controlled by Xiao Chong had just been blown up by a shot.

Xiao Chong still didn't respond, and Shang Jianyao's right hand passed through Xiao Chong's shoulder and fell down.

He didn't touch anything.

The dash in this room is just an apparition.

Shang Jianyao said "Uh" and checked the black game console, LCD screen and the white low cabinet where the screen was placed, and found that they were all phantoms.

"Holographic projection?" The calm and rational Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and turned his body.

His eyes were cast on the snow-white ceiling, where a very advanced projector hung.

"Who shot this video, Xiao Chong's parents?" Shang Jianyao has read a lot of old world entertainment materials, his ideas are jumping, and his thinking is always broad, "Record the growth of children?"

He immediately squatted next to "Xiao Chong" and watched him play games.

In less than a minute, Xiao Chong's tank was bombed again, exactly the same as the scene just now.

The video is playing in a loop.

"It's boring..." Shang Jianyao muttered and stood up.

He left the room and continued walking the maze and playing door-opening games.

Amidst the clanging sound, the doors opened one after another, revealing the empty interior.

It wasn't until he turned into another aisle that Shang Jianyao saw a room with a single bed.

The single bed was covered with a white four-piece set, the frame was made of metal, and wheels were installed at the bottom for pushability.

It also appears to be able to raise the back area via certain buttons, allowing the person on it to recline and sit.

Shang Jianyao is no stranger to similar single beds. This is a hospital bed.

The room where the hospital bed is located is very small, giving people an obvious feeling of being cramped and depressing.

Shang Jianyao walked into the room, touching left and right to confirm that there was really no person or animal lying on the bed.

"This is the spiritual world of 'Zhuang Sheng'. Is this one of his memories?" Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin while looking at the low log-colored cabinet next to the hospital bed.

There was a stack of disposable paper cups on the low cabinet, but there was no water in them.

Shang Jianyao bent down and opened the drawer on the low cabinet.

Inside the drawer are darker wooden partitions, but other than that, there aren't even any snacks.

Shang Jianyao couldn't help but shake his head.

He then opened the lower drawer.

Here is a white piece of paper.

Shang Jianyao picked up the piece of paper and saw many inspection items listed in gray on it, and a line of bold text was printed at the header of these items:

"Observation subject No. 1, Du Shaochong."

"Oh." Shang Jianyao showed an expression of sudden realization.

As for what he understood, he himself didn't know. He just felt that he should suddenly realize it after reading this passage.

Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin again:

"The term 'observation subject' is very interesting. This is neither a volunteer nor an experimental subject..."

"Is it because Xiao Chong is the reincarnation of 'Zhuang Sheng', who has been awakened since he was a child and has abilities?"

The "past scenes" seen by the "Old Tune Team" in Linhe Village, Dajiang City showed that Xiao Chong was suspected of having the ability to implant thoughts into others in his childhood.

Shang Jianyao felt uncomfortable in this cramped and depressing room. Seeing that there was nothing else to gain, he turned around and walked out.

Bang! Bang!

He recovered quickly and opened the door to the passageway.

Going around and around, Shang Jianyao didn't know where he was going. He just opened the door by inertia and saw a spacious living room behind the door he just opened.

There are dark coffee tables and sofas in the living room, and a person is sitting on the sofa.

It was a middle-aged man, wearing an ordinary black jacket, his dark brown hair was a bit messy, his beard was obviously shaved, but there were still some roots visible to the naked eye.

After seeing Shang Jianyao, the man showed a simple and honest smile, but his deep blue and almost black eyes were quite lively.

"Sorry to bother you." Shang Jianyao hurriedly bowed and apologized for opening the door indiscriminately.

It's like being caught red-handed playing a prank.

The next second, Shang Jianyao straightened up, looked at the middle-aged man's face, and asked with slight confusion:

"Have we met before? Why do I think you look familiar?"

Because the other party was from Honghe, he spoke Honghe dialect.

The man picked up a bag of biscuits with a bear pattern on the coffee table, picked one and stuffed it into his mouth.

He kept the smile he had just now, looked at Shang Jianyao and said:

"My name is Winster Garland."

…………

In the whirlpool-shaped building, Jiang Baimian went up to the second floor and saw a signboard written in two languages:

"administrative district"

There should be no confidential research results involved here... Jiang Baimian thought to himself and planned to pass through this place quickly.

Wearing a military exoskeleton device, she jogged against the clock.

While running, she suddenly stopped.

This wasn't because she found another body. Along the way, she had discovered seven or eight skeletons scattered in this area.

She just glanced at a room sign:

"Director's Office"

Is it the office of Mr. Du Heng, the dean, in the second research area, or is it the office of the administrative director? Jiang Baimian showed a thoughtful expression.

Because there was a possibility like the previous one, she turned sideways and entered the office.

The room is not small but not big either. Apart from the desk and the chair behind it, there are only two file cabinets, a paper shredder, a trash can and a conversation area composed of a sofa, a small coffee table and two chairs. They are very close to each other and appear very compact.

At this time, a corpse turned into white bones sat in the supervisor's position.

This corpse was wearing a white female shirt and corresponding black business attire. If it was not a transvestite during its lifetime, it should be a woman.

There is also a black metal nameplate hanging on her right breast, which reads in gray vernacular and Honghe dialect:

"Administrative Supervisor: Zhao Danlin"

Jiang Baimian recalled it and confirmed that the name was very unfamiliar.

She turned her attention to what was on her desk.

The most obvious ones are a computer screen and a few books, the latter being:

"How to Raise a Dog", "Love Animals", "In-depth Analysis of Nonsensical Movies", "Chu Di Culture"...

Jiang Baimian picked up these books and flipped them randomly to see if there were any notes or other things mixed with them, while scanning other items on the table.

There is no valuable information here. The paper shredder next to it may be one of the answers. Jiang Baimian only found documents such as meeting arrangements, canteen subsidies, and exchange applications for other research institutes.

As for the meeting arrangement, there is only which meeting room belongs to which group at what time, and there is no explanation of what meeting will be held.

Jiang Baimian took a general look and confirmed that there were only three research groups here, numbered "1", "2" and "3", and they seemed to be very closely connected with each other. Two or three groups of people often used the large conference room together.

As a last resort, Jiang Baimian returned his focus to those books.

While flipping through the pages quickly, she suddenly spotted two nouns.

They all come from the "Chu Di Culture", they are:

"Da Siming" and "Shao Siming".