Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 786: Back then

Translator: CKtalon

Jiang Baimian had seen many abnormalities in the past, so other than the slightly dilated pupils, she managed to maintain her calm.

She suppressed her voice and said to Shang Jianyao and the others, “Look over there.”

Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao followed the hint and turned to look at Linhe Village.

The tiny lights reflected in their eyes at the same time.

This looked very warm, like a person waiting for a loved one to return at night. But placed in contrast to the entire environment and the dead silence from before, it was terrifying.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Shang Jianyao clapped—

This dispersed the various fears that surfaced in Long Yuehong’s heart.

“So we have to make the corpse complete and bury it in peace to trigger the anomaly,” Shang Jianyao said in a tone of enlightenment. He then muttered to himself in confusion, “But doesn’t Buddhism preach that it’s best to burn one’s mortal coils clean? Why does Lokesvara~Tathagata want the remains

buried intact?”

“After all, He’ is Daoism’s Master Zhuang,” Jiang Baimian replied simply.

Bai Chen looked at the lit Linhe Village and instinctively assumed a defensive posture. She then deliberated and said, “Does the occurrence of an anomaly mean that this skeleton really belongs to Du Shaochong and that it belongs to Master Zhuang’s body of descent?”

“Not necessarily,” Shang Jianyao replied honestly. “What if this skeleton comes from Subhuti’s body of descent? It can also trigger abnormalities in Buddhist Holy Lands.”

Jiang Baimian nodded. “Although there are other possibilities, the matter has developed to the point that the probability that this skeleton belongs to Du Shaochong and is Master Zhuang’s body of descent is more than 90%.”

This basically confirmed two things: First, this complete skeleton belonged to Du Shaochong.

Second, Du Shaochong was indeed Master Zhuang’s body of descent.

In the dreamscape at Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School previously, the Old Task Force couldn’t be completely sure that Du Shaochong was Master Zhuang’s body of descent because everyone was a manifestation of a certain personality of Master Zhuang and had the same past. After all, he might be a

former classmate played by one of Master Zhuang’s personalities.

‘The reason the Old Task Force tried to equate Du Shaochong with Master Zhuang’s body of descent was that he was indeed a trigger point. Furthermore, they had previously encountered a person named Xiaochong.

As Swamp Ruin 1 was confirmed to be Dajiang City, and Elite Middle School was on the street beside the City Intelligence Network Control Center, Du Shaochong being an adult Xiaochong increased the possibility of the former being Master Zhuang’s body of descent.

It was even more so now.

‘As his teammates conversed, Shang Jianyao looked at the tiny lights in Linhe Village and eagerly said, “Shall we explore?”

“It’s too dangerous.” Long Yuehong immediately objected. “If it’s like Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, where we fall into Master Zhuang’s dream and begin acting as someone after entering... We don’t have Old Ge to save us this time.”

Shang Jianyao confidently suggested a plan. “Two people will go in, and two will stay outside. Once they discover that something is amiss, they will immediately go to Weed City to get Old Ge to save the day.”

“It will normally take up to half a month for a round trip. The ones who fall into the dreamscape definitely won’t be able to last that long.” Bai Chen chose to side with Long Yuehong.

Jiang Baimian tersely grunted. “No rush; let’s take a look from afar. This isn’t like Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. Everything looks normal from the outside; we can discover that something is wrong even from standing here.”

As she spoke, Jiang Baimian picked up the binoculars and brought them in front of her eyes.

Shang Jianyao and the others followed suit.

With the help of the yellowish or pure white lights, they saw figures in many houses in Linhe Village. It was very lively.

‘There were people of all ages and genders. Some were watching TV, others were on their phones, and some gathered at a table, playing cards or mahjong. The scenes presented by each window were different.

“Is this a scene from before the Old World was destroyed?” Long Yuehong muttered to himself.

‘There was no doubt about this. The focus was only on how many days, months, and years it was before the Old World was destroyed.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “This should be Linhe Village around Lunar New Year.”

“Why do you say that?” Long Yuehong blurted out a question.

Jiang Baimian casually explained, “I’ve studied a lot of the Old World’s human culture and countryside folklore. Many of them mention one thing: Most Ashlandic villages have fewer and fewer young people because of the draw from cities. Only before and after the Lunar New Year can there be such a lively

scene of a family reunion.”

Clap! Clap! Clap! Shang Jianyao clapped—

That makes sense... Long Yuehong increasingly felt the gap between him and his team leader.

For the same scene, the team leader could identify more details and infer more information.

Bai Chen thought for a moment and said, “I remember that the Old World was destroyed a few days before the Lunar New Year.”

This was the verdict of the masses, and the memories of Moat Town’s Tian Erhe confirmed this.

Jiang Baimian was just about to nod when she suddenly saw many children walk out of a shop on the largest and only street in Linhe Village. They held sparklers and excitedly played.

‘They were all young, and all they could buy was the safest kinds. Sparks weakly spewed out bit by bit, but they still brought about a dreamy scene.

“Xiaochong!” Shang Jianyao suddenly shouted.

Long Yuehong and the others saw that the leader of the group of children resembled Xiaochong. His face was chubby, and he was wrapped in a black cotton coat.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian deliberated and said, “It does resemble Xiaochong, but he seems younger. He’s only about five or six years old.”

The Xiaochong the Old Task Force knew was about seven or eight years old. Sometimes, he sounded like he was above ten years old.

“I get it!” Shang Jianyao held the binoculars in one hand and slapped his face with the other. “This was when Xiaochong was young!”

When Xiaochong was young... Xiaochong is equivalent to Du Shaochong. Du Shaochong studied in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. This scene happened many years before the Old World was destroyed... Jiang Baimian made a new judgment based on this.

Similar thoughts flashed across Long Yuehong and Bai Chen’s minds almost at the same time.

They continued observing the situation in Linhe Village through the binoculars and focused on the children.

The child suspected to be Xiaochong led his companions, running and skipping to the village entrance. He was very happy setting off fireworks along the way.

He suddenly muttered and turned to walk into the darkness of the village’s wilderness.

Jiang Baimian determined that Xiaochong was likely heading elsewhere to ‘pee.’ Of course, she couldn’t lip-read, so she couldn’t be sure.

Back when her hearing was poor, she habitually used lips, body language, and environmental factors to determine the exact meaning when faced with a situation where she couldn’t hear the other person clearly and was embarrassed to ask.

Xiaochong quickly found a spot, unzipped his pants, and peed.

This confirmed Jiang Baimian’s judgment.

Xiaochong’s companions followed—be it boy or girl—they lined up with him. They stood, squatted, unzipped, or pulled down their pants to pee.

“Isn’t this too orderly?” Long Yuehong muttered to himself in confusion.

Shang Jianyao laughed. “It’s very normal to use the bathroom together at this time. Only by being together can one have courage.”

Normal my ass! Jiang Baimian criticized inwardly.

Even if those children really wanted to head to the bathroom together to boost each other’s courage, it was impossible for all of them to go together. There would always be a few who didn’t want to pee. Furthermore, there were a few little girls among them.

Bai Chen said, “It’s quite normal if there are only three or four people, but there are about a dozen of them.”

During the Old Task Force’s discussion, Xiaochong finished peeing and started zipping it. He then shouted at his companions.

As it was relatively loud this time and they had already walked out of the village entrance, they weren’t too far from the old pagoda tree. Therefore, Jiang Baimian and the others heard him clearly: Why do you keep mimicking me? None of you wanted to do so previously, but the moment I said I wanted to

pee, all of you became urgent.”

The other children replied in a cacophony, “It suddenly came to mind.”

“It’s all your fault for mentioning the word ‘pee!

Jiang Baimian gradually frowned as she listened.

After the group of children finished arguing, she pondered for a moment and said, “Does it ring a bell?”

Before Long Yuehong could think, Shang Jianyao whistled.

That’s right! Long Yuchong instantly understood what his team leader wanted to ask.

At this moment, Bai Chen replied, “It reminds me of Xiaochong’s whistling in First City. It made people who hear it want to pee.”

Jiang Baimian slowly nodded. “Could the current situation be the same? The word ‘pee’ that Xiaochong unconsciously said and his actions have a similar effect as Thought Guidance.”

“Very similar.” The more Long Yuehong thought about it, the more he felt that this was the reason.

Shang Jianyao was ‘surprised and delighted’ as he asked for confirmation, “Xiaochong had Awakened abilities since he was young?”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were stunned for a moment before they realized that this scene had revealed an abnormally important piece of information.

Although it was very reasonable for Master Zhuang’s body of descent to be a little abnormal since he was young, this situation gave an answer to a question on many people’s minds for the first time: Awakened existed before the Old World was destroyed!