Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-141

Looking at the Advanced Hunter in front of her, Jiang Baimian raised her hand and scratched her ear. “Ah, what did you say?

The words that the Advanced Hunter had prepared were immediately stuck in his throat.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao turned around and helped translate. “He asked us what we found in that woman’s room.”

Jiang Baimian looked enlightened and smiled. “The clues we found have been submitted to the guild. When they are done reviewing and announcing it, you will know what was found.”

The black-haired, blue-eyed Advanced Hunter gave them a deep glance and didn’t ask any further. He turned around and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly said, “How rude.”

“How is he rude?” Jiang Baimian asked cooperatively.

“Isn’t it common sense to introduce yourself before asking questions?” Shang Jianyao replied seriously. He didn’t seem to have any fear of being dragged out and beaten up.

The Advanced Hunter paused and didn’t turn around. He sullenly said, “Oudick.”

“His Ashlandic is pretty good.” Shang Jianyao was already chatting with Jiang Baimian about something else.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “He looks to be of mixed heritage. Maybe Ashlandic is his mother tongue.”

With his back facing them, Oudick fell silent for a few seconds before finally walking away.

After the Advanced Hunter left the seating area at the edge of the lobby, Jiang Baimian chuckled and said, “You sure know how to do it. Your taunting skills are pretty good. Haha, you also don’t introduce yourself when you question others.”

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “Brothers don’t need to introduce themselves.”

“…” Jiang Baimian had no retort. She pretended not to have conversed with Shang Jianyao about this matter. Bored, she shook her legs and waited for the review to be completed.

Suddenly, she looked up at the lobby’s ceiling.

After a few seconds, she said in confusion, “A group of people passed by… One of them has an electric signal pattern that’s different from humans. It doesn’t even appear to be that of an animal… A robot?”

Shang Jianyao also looked up at the ceiling and said, “It’s all human consciousness.”

Jiang Baimian turned her head and looked at Shang Jianyao. “They’re all humans?”

“I can make them corny at this distance.” Shang Jianyao didn’t answer her question.

Jiang Baimian easily understood what he meant and frowned. “Human consciousness… Inhuman electric signals…”

After combining these two descriptions, there seemed to be only one answer—an Eternal! Or rather, a mechanical monk from the Monks Conclave!

“Could it be an old friend?” Jiang Baimian asked herself. “No, Jingfa would’ve long gone crazy in such an environment.”

There were a large number of female employees in the Hunter’s Guild.

“You can go up and ask.” Shang Jianyao suggested.

Jiang Baimian shot him a glance and couldn’t be bothered to answer.

She tersely acknowledged it and thought for a moment. “It’s not necessarily a mechanical monk. Back then, not all Eternals were converted to the conclave’s faith. There were exceptions…”

At this moment, the group of people upstairs had already gone beyond their perception range.

Due to the lack of information, Jiang Baimian stopped discussing this matter. She observed the coming and going of Ruin Hunters, attempting to summarize some of the local customs.

After about ten minutes, a voice sounded from the loudspeakers in the lobby.

“May the Hunter—who submitted new clues to Liu Dazhuang’s mission—please head to Counter 11’s Su Xiaoman to receive your payment.”

Jiang Baimian stood up, took out her Hunter’s Badge, and quickly walked to the circular platform.

“How much do I get?” she asked Su Xiaoman with a smile.

Su Xiaoman smiled and replied, “100 Oray. Each person in your two-man team will then receive 100 credits. Congratulations on becoming Official Hunters!”

Jiang Baimian did not hide her smile. “Not bad.”

For the four of them, it would cost about 4 Oray a day just to eat. Adding on rent, it cost them nearly 5 Oray a day. 100 Oray was enough to sustain them for another three weeks.

After handing the Hunter’s Badge to Su Xiaoman and letting her swipe it, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao became Official Hunters.

They then took a receipt and their Hunter’s Badges from Su Xiaoman before heading to a finance kiosk on the first floor, where they received a thick stack of notes.

Oray was dark green in color, with 10 being the highest denomination. However, they were also given some notes with denominations of 5 and 1.

After returning to the mission area, Jiang Baimian realized that the clues she had submitted had been publicly released. There were even Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and the others’ names.

Jiang Baimian was just about to sigh at Shang Jianyao when she suddenly saw the Advanced Hunter walk over.

Oudick—who was wearing a thick, black coat—stopped in front of them and asked, “You didn’t discover anything in that woman’s room?”

Jiang Baimian didn’t pretend not to hear him this time because his voice was rather loud. She smiled and said, “The corresponding payment is needed to obtain any clues of value. Isn’t this common knowledge among Ruin Hunters?”

Without waiting for Oudick’s response, she added with a smile, “I’ve already received 100 Oray as a reward. I’ll only accept equivalent clues as payment in the future.”

Oudick fell silent and didn’t speak.

“It seems like you haven’t thought it through. Come find us after you’ve thought it through.” Jiang Baimian smiled as she walked past him.

Shang Jianyao followed behind her and left the Hunter’s Guild with her.

On the street, Jiang Baimian looked back and thoughtfully said, “Before the new clues were released, this Advanced Hunter knew of Lin Feifei’s existence. He also confirmed that we went to Lin Feifei’s room… He has a good relationship with the local Hunter’s Guild’s higher-ups and knew about the clues we submitted in advance?

“No, if that were the case, he should’ve already known that we only mentioned the gunman’s accomplices and not our subsequent search… It seems like he knows something? Or did he discover clues that allowed him to quickly determine that the gunman had a female accomplice?”

As she muttered to herself, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao and realized that he was staring at her.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Baimian felt that she shouldn’t have asked.

Shang Jianyao sighed. “You just said what I wanted to say.”

“I’ll give you a chance to speak next time,” said Jiang Baimian perfunctorily before smiling. “You actually didn’t ask me why I didn’t report the pamphlet in Lin Feifei’s room.”

Shang Jianyao glanced at Jiang Baimian curiously. “I’m not Long Yuehong.”

Jiang Baimian was first stunned before she walked to Central Square and asked with a smile, “…Didn’t I say that it’s not nice to speak ill of friends behind their backs?”

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “I’m only describing his usual behavior truthfully.”

“Sigh, I’m only 1.75 meters tall after genetic enhancement…” Jiang Baimian added cooperatively after hearing that. She couldn’t help but laugh midway.

They soon returned to South Street and found Bai Chen and Long Yuehong.

After exchanging looks, Jiang Baimian led them to the alley opposite the slave market and rendezvoused with them in a quiet corner.

She took out the stack of notes and showed them. “100 Oray!”

“We have money now.” Long Yuehong was sincerely happy.

“Also, Shang Jianyao and I obtained 100 credits and became Official Hunters,” Jiang Baimian added with a smile.

Long Yuehong said in disappointment, “Only I’m still a rookie.”

“It’s your turn to hand in the next clue with Bai Chen.” Jiang Baimian smiled and consoled him. She then fully described the information she had submitted.

Long Yuehong was rather confused when he heard that. “Team Leader, why didn’t you report the matter regarding the pamphlet? This way, the Ruin Hunters will be activated to find the organization as soon as possible.”

“As expected…” Shang Jianyao suddenly said something baffling.

Jiang Baimian held in her laughter and looked at the confused Long Yuehong.

She silently took a deep breath and exhaled. She then explained, “We still aren’t sure if Lin Feifei deliberately left that pamphlet behind. But even if it was intentional, the reason for doing so can also be divided into two situations. The first is to mislead the subsequent investigators, and the second is to provide clues and save herself.

“If it’s the latter, Lin Feifei will be in danger when the news spreads.”

“I see…” Long Yuehong sighed with emotion at his team leader’s meticulousness.

Jiang Baimian continued, “After the company replies and we have a grasp of the organization’s exact situation, we will consider submitting this clue based on the facts on the ground.”

“Okay, okay.” Long Yuehong was convinced.

Jiang Baimian looked at Bai Chen and thought for a moment. “Did you guys discover anything? We encountered an Advanced Hunter at the guild. He directly asked us what we found in Lin Feifei’s room…”

When sharing this matter, Jiang Baimian described Oudick’s general appearance, hoping that Long Yuehong and Bai Chen would pay attention to this person in the future.

Long Yuehong became more and more surprised. “I’ve seen him! He was buying clothes at Old Clothing Bazaar in Red Silk Alley.”

Shang Jianyao immediately asked, “Anything abnormal back then?”

“Nothing abnormal…” Long Yuehong recalled and said, “Only, the boss of that store was dozing off and was woken up by him.”

“The boss was napping while she had customers?” Jiang Baimian repeated this detail in a questioning tone.

“I found it a little strange too, but we have no way of knowing if the boss slept well last night.” Long Yuehong voiced his thoughts. “Besides, the person didn’t do anything back then. He even woke the boss up and paid for the clothes.”

Jiang Baimian listened seriously and laughed. She turned her head to Shang Jianyao and said, “Ask the boss later. If she slept well last night but suddenly felt sleepy and couldn’t control herself, things will be interesting.”

At this point, Jiang Baimian looked around and smiled. “I suspect that the Advanced Hunter named Oudick is an Awakened. He has abilities similar to Slumber Cat and Nightmare Horse.”