Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 573: “Returning” to the Beginning

The cyborg monk Shang Jianyao directed his blinking red eyes to a corner of the employee introduction board and carefully observed it.

He quickly realized that there were traces of adhesion here—scattered in five places.

When these five places were combined, they were about the size of the other photos. In other words, there was once a photo in the corner of the employee introduction board. However, it was unknown if it had been torn off or if the glue had gradually failed after so many years, causing it to fall and be carried away by the wind.

Shang Jianyao stood up, held the flashlight, and shone it on the floor. He searched seriously, but he didn’t find the missing photo.

Based on the traces left behind, he preliminarily determined that the photo in the blank spot had been torn off.

“Why was it taken away? Is it related to the hidden gaze?” Shang Jianyao looked around and felt that this wasn’t caused by the Heartless.

Ignoring the fact that the Heartless were interested in things other than food, clothes, and weapons, it was unlikely that they didn’t leave behind any clues given their lack of intelligence.

“No, we can’t rule out that possibility.” Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and retorted himself. “Do you still remember the situation after Swamp Ruin 1 lit up? That old lady was clearly a Heartless, but she had memories of home, would flip through her photo album, tidy up her room, and clear out the trash. This is one of the Buddhist faith’s five Great Holy Lands. It’s very normal for there to be a similar uniqueness.”

There was no effective conclusion coming from an empty confrontation. The Shang Jianyaos didn’t waste too much time on this matter, and they shone the flashlight beam at the Heartless—who had their limbs restricted and had difficulty moving.

He scanned their faces one by one and compared them to the employee photos on the wall. However, none of them matched.

This meant that the existence of the professional woman wasn’t a common phenomenon but a special situation. This made the problem with her and the missing photo even more confusing.

The cyborg monk Shang Jianyao considered for a moment and decided to be benevolent. He gave up on killing the Heartless and walked back to the aisle with his flashlight and silencer-equipped Ice Moss.

He was just about to observe his surroundings and decide where to go next when his body suddenly turned cold and stiff. It was as if a cold wind from the depths of Icefield blew over, freezing him in place.

It wasn’t only his body that was frozen—his thoughts were also frozen!

Shang Jianyao stared blankly ahead and allowed his body to spin half a circle before facing the wall. He then abruptly exerted strength and slammed his forehead into the wall.

Thud!

Shang Jianyao lost consciousness and fainted.

After an unknown period of time, he slowly woke up and realized that he had returned to the entrance of the psychological trauma—the place where he had smashed a Heartless to death with a billboard.

“A bug?” Shang Jianyao expressed his confusion.

He believed that he had been attacked and was almost defenseless. The consequences of such a situation couldn’t be anything but two: One, his ‘death’ here was equivalent to having his mind trapped in this psychological trauma. In reality, he would become a vegetable or die on the spot.

Two, his injuries weren’t fatal. He barely recovered and relied on the items on him and his Awakened abilities to escape Room 522. However, he would be left with serious mental problems.

Of course, this was considered normal development. Considering that he had ten of himself, Shang Jianyao believed that there was another outcome: One of the Shang Jianyaos died on the spot, creating an opportunity for the remaining nine Shang Jianyaos. They sacrificed a few after that, and the rest finally escaped Room 522 and returned to the corridor. This would cast an indelible psychological trauma on him in reality, producing almost incurable repercussions.

None of the situations happened. After the Shang Jianyaos fainted, they returned to Room 522’s entrance safely. Apart from having a slight headache and a swollen forehead, there was nothing special.

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “This matter is filled with bizarreness. Let’s end it here today. We’ll discuss it with Big White tomorrow.”

The calm and rational him felt that his previous encounter seemed more like… a warning?

…

495th floor, Zone C, Room 11.

In the dead of night, the wide-eyed Long Yuehong had difficulty sleeping.

After being in bed for quite some time, he felt a little thirsty. He got off the bed, picked up his porcelain cup, lifted the lid, and gulped it down.

Coldness spread from his throat, turning into streams that drilled into his stomach.

This made him even more awake.

Pangu Biology’s nights were especially cold. It was inevitable that the water would cool down if it was left there for too long. Therefore, thermos mugs were an integral part of many families. Of course, it was also a choice to drink as and when from a thermos bottle when one couldn’t afford or obtain a thermos mug. However, Long Yuehong still developed the habit of drinking cold water—even at night—due to his youth and vigor.

Upon seeing that there was no more water in the mug, Long Yuehong walked out of the room with the porcelain mug and headed for the green plastic thermos bottle on the dining table. At this moment, he saw his father—Long Dayong—come out of their small bathroom.

“Still awake?” Long Dayong yawned.

Long Yuehong tersely acknowledged it and hesitated for a moment. “I’m thinking about something.”

“What is it?” Long Dayong asked.

Long Yuehong opened his mouth and hesitantly replied, “Dad, if you encounter something that’s very valuable but is also accompanied by certain risks, will you choose to do it or give up and lead a stable life?”

Long Dayong instinctively replied, “I’ll listen to your mother.”

“…” Long Yuehong didn’t know whether to be envious or speechless.

Upon seeing his son remain silent, Long Dayong thought for a moment and said, “Our current life can also be considered stable. But I remember your grandfather telling me that when he was young, he didn’t feel safe even when hiding in this underground building because Heartless might appear around him at any moment. Only half of his friends—who were about his age—survived.

“Also, after you joined the Security Department, your mother specially went to get to know the female family members of those at the front line. She learned a lot from them. Right, the number of deaths on the front line is much higher than the number of people in the company who contract the Heartless disease.

“She never mentioned this to you because she’s afraid that it would worry you and that you would worry about us having negative emotions. All we can do is let you relax and be happy every time you return.” At this point, Long Dayong said with emotion, “We really have to thank you and the other employees on the front line for our stable lives.”

Long Yuehong felt mixed emotions when he heard that, but he couldn’t help but criticize inwardly. Dad, you keep going round and about. One moment it’s good, and it’s bad the next. I can’t tell what your suggestion is…

Long Dayong glanced at him. “In any case, we will support your decision. Yes… If the risk of that matter is especially high, it’s better to give up. If you think you can still handle it, give it a try. Don’t leave yourself any regrets.”

Long Yuehong fell silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll consider it.”

…

The next morning, Room 14 on the 647th floor.

Shang Jianyao told Jiang Baimian—who had arrived at the office early—about what happened last night.

“What do you have in mind?” Jiang Baimian didn’t help with the analysis immediately. Instead, she asked Shang Jianyao about his thoughts.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, “It felt like it was a death in a cutscene. I had no way of resisting.”

Have you played too many games? Long Yuehong scoffed at Shang Jianyao’s words. Of course, he didn’t dare to say it out loud.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and thought for a moment before saying, “Could the room owner have encountered such a thing back then? Otherwise, your experience wouldn’t be so clear. Besides, if he didn’t encounter anything in the food company, the psychological trauma brought about by the large number of Heartless should’ve ended long after he entered the ‘safe zone.'”

Long Yuehong joined the discussion and made a guess based on Jiang Baimian’s words. “The room owner scared away the woman on the third floor. After seeing those photos, his thoughts suddenly froze. He couldn’t control his body and knocked his head against the wall, knocking himself out?”

Shang Jianyao followed this train of thought. “What happened after the room owner fainted? Was he also ‘sent’ back to the starting point?”

Jiang Baimian slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Upon seeing Long Yuehong’s puzzlement, Jiang Baimian further explained, “Shang Jianyao has explored the psychological trauma for several days and only found one complete route. In other words, the room owner will still choose the same path to the Second Food Company if he were sent back to the starting point. Logically, this is very contradictory. If it were you, would you still have gone to the Second Food Company to wade into trouble after encountering such a strange and terrifying matter? The room owner wasn’t an Awakened back then!”

“Indeed.” Long Yuehong agreed.

Shang Jianyao didn’t answer. It was unknown which him it was.

Jiang Baimian continued, “I speculate that the room owner was ‘sent’ to another place in Iron Mountain City’s ruins after he fainted. When he woke up, he discovered a safe route. Therefore, he left the area. This encounter left a psychological trauma in him. As these subsequent situations aren’t in the psychological trauma, Shang Jianyao returned to the starting point.”

Long Yuehong nodded and felt that this possibility wasn’t low. He then frowned as he glanced at Shang Jianyao. “Doesn’t this mean that the psychological trauma can’t be cleared?”

The room owner was helpless back then.

Shang Jianyao didn’t respond and seemed to be in deep thought.

Jiang Baimian laughed. “No, no, no. It’s still possible. Have you forgotten that the room owner wasn’t an Awakened back then? He definitely had to face this matter if he wanted to cross the islands of fear. He’s now a Mind Corridor-level Awakened, so this means that he has successfully defeated this psychological trauma.”

As Long Yuehong’s thoughts raced, Jiang Baimian pointed out the key point. “Then, how did he defeat it? For such a matter, there’s no way to defeat it without returning to the scene and facing the fear from back then. Therefore, he should’ve entered Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company again. Hey, if you can find the areas which the room owner didn’t encounter during their first exploration, it’s very likely to squeeze into their subconscious and get it to review their second experience to perfect the scene. There’s most likely an opportunity hidden inside.”

How complicated… However, it does make sense… Long Yuehong was convinced.

“We’ll give it a try next time.” Shang Jianyao had an eager expression.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “This is only one possibility. Another possibility is that the psychological trauma is dynamic—some things are connected to something even more terrifying. When an explorer makes contact with it, it will attract additional trouble. This was something the room owner didn’t encounter back then. No, it’s not that he didn’t encounter it, but there’s a high chance that he didn’t sense it. However, this doesn’t explain how he later became a Mind Corridor-level Awakened.”