Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-607

Silently, the Vigilance Cathedral’s hall seemed to be enveloped in darkness. The yellowish light emitted by the wall lamps remained, but it gave off the feeling that they were so distant that they only provided enough illumination for one to see the person beside them.

Jiang Baimian’s body involuntarily trembled. Her limbs turned cold, and her heart raced.

She seemed to have arrived in front of a cliff with a boulder hanging above her, tottering on the verge of collapse. She didn’t have the time to dodge in any direction.

Intense fear arose as an ear-piercing alarm echoed crazily in her mind.

Jiang Baimian—who had experienced such a situation—naturally understood what had happened without thinking. October’s Eidolon Nun had cast her gaze over from the New World again!

At this moment, not only did Jiang Baimian sense something, but Long Yuehong and the others also felt as though they had reached the edge of a cliff. If they took another half a step forward, they would fall into an endless abyss and be smashed to pieces.

The fear stemming from human genetics firmly gripped their hearts.

The Vigilance Church, Terror Church, and Friendly Hand parishioners prostrated at the same time, pressing their cheeks against the cold floor. None of them dared to move.

Among them, the Terror Church members were trembling.

The dignified and indifferent gaze seemed to come from an infinite height, making everyone who felt it feel abnormally insignificant.

Jiang Baimian also lowered her head, with cold sweat crazily seeping out of her forehead. For some reason, she felt that Eidolon Nun was focused on them and not ‘Her’ believers.

Long Yuehong gritted his teeth noisily.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian saw Shang Jianyao—who was beside her—throw down the melon seeds from the corner of her eye and lift his tactical backpack in front of him with difficulty.

He reached into his backpack and slowly searched for something amidst his trembling.

Shang Jianyao finally retracted his right hand and opened his palm. A small, lake-green jade Buddha lay quietly there.

Rich darkness instantly ‘surged’ over and swallowed the small jade Buddha.

The small jade Buddha seemed to lose its corporeal form and became abnormally illusory. It was wiped away inch by inch or had entered the New World that wasn’t completely connected to reality.

Two to three seconds later, the darkness slowly retreated like a receding tide. The small jade Buddha appeared in front of Shang Jianyao inch by inch again, becoming textured and malleable once more.

Almost at the same time, Jiang Baimian felt the indistinct female figure behind the white door move ‘Her’ gaze elsewhere in the endless darkness.

After a few seconds, the darkness finally dissipated, and the light from the wall lamps filled the hall again.

Everything returned to normal.

The Kalendaria’s gaze came and went in a strange manner.

Huff… Huff… Long Yuehong finally dared to breathe heavily. He looked at Bai Chen beside him and saw that her body was still trembling slightly. Therefore, he forced himself to say, “Is this the Kalendaria’s gaze?”

“Yes.” Having experienced it before, Jiang Baimian gave an affirmative answer.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao had already closed his fingers and gripped the small jade Buddha again. He began picking up the melon seeds that had fallen to the ground.

Jiang Baimian didn’t know whether to praise him for being thrifty or for being bold.

Long Yuehong glanced at the three Churches’ parishioners still prostrating on the ground and once again sighed with emotion at Bai Chen. “Eidolon Nun has directly stared at this place and given them a warning. They probably won’t argue about those trivial problems anymore.”

Just as he said that, the archbishop in front of the cathedral’s Vigilance Sacred Emblem—Antonella—stood up. Wearing an extremely simple white mask, he excitedly said, “The Kalendaria has cast ‘Her’ gaze over! This means that our debate is meaningful and that we are being watched by the Kalendaria! Everyone, please continue!”

Uh… As Long Yuehong retracted his gaze, he happened to see Bai Chen’s friend—Chu Ge—sit up.

Helplessness was also written all over his face.

It can be interpreted that way?

These people are really…

What the heck are y’all talking about!?

For a moment, Long Yuehong felt that he shared a tacit understanding with Chu Ge. They seemed to share weal and woe together.

Pui, why should we be sharing weal and woe together? He even had designs on Little White back then! Long Yuehong quickly regained his rationality.

In the subsequent debate, Jiang Baimian became less focused and often zoned out. On the other hand, Shang Jianyao clapped as he munched on the melon seeds, fully immersed.

After the parish assembly ended for the day and the five Old Task Force members returned to the reception room at basement two, Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao and asked, “What changes did the small jade Buddha undergo?”

Ah? Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were too terrified back then. The back of their clothes was soaked, so they didn’t notice Shang Jianyao’s situation.

As a smart bot, Genava actually didn’t have fear. But after analyzing the data around him, his core module told him that he had to adopt a ‘cowardly’ strategy at that moment. Only then could he ensure his and his teammates’ safety to the greatest extent.

Acting scared in such a situation would appear more human-like. Therefore, despite clearly vibrating his metal skeleton and producing grinding sounds, he didn’t forget to observe his surroundings. He was similar to the relatively calm Jiang Baimian thanks to her experience.

Shang Jianyao took out the small jade Buddha in his pocket and said in all seriousness, “The texture, luster, clarity, and feel in the hand haven’t changed. It doesn’t have any additional abilities either.”

At this point, he took the initiative to pause. “But I keep having the feeling that it’s a little different from before. A little.”

“What happened?” Long Yuehong took the initiative to ask. He could tell that Bai Chen was very curious as well.

Shang Jianyao recounted the situation in detail.

“A bestowment from Eidolon Nun?” Bai Chen guessed.

“Don’t mention the word ‘bestowment.’ It’s unknown what price we’ll have to pay in the future.” Jiang Baimian had recently read an Old World biography novel and had a psychological trauma toward ‘bestowment.’

“Maybe it’s a mark.” Shang Jianyao deliberately lowered his voice to scare his teammates.

Long Yuehong held his breath as he subconsciously changed the topic. “What were you thinking back then? Why did you take out the small jade Buddha?”

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “I felt it stir a little.”

“…” Long Yuehong didn’t know if Shang Jianyao was telling the truth or if he was showing off a mental patient’s unique train of thought.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian—who had restrained her emotions—flipped her wrist to look at the time. “Since Hey is temporarily unable to determine what’s odd about the small jade Buddha, leave it with Old Ge. He can do a comprehensive inspection using his instruments. After the inspection, we’ll return to our rooms to rest. We’ll set off for Iron Mountain City’s ruins tomorrow morning.”

“Get some rest first. I don’t get exhausted while inspecting and charging.” Genava was very considerate of his teammates.

“No, what if something happens?” Shang Jianyao said sincerely.

“That’s right.” Bai Chen agreed.

At 11 p.m., Genava completed every inspection. He held the small jade Buddha and said, “Apart from having a slightly different magnetic field than other pieces of jade, everything else is very normal.”

He didn’t have the corresponding data model, so he couldn’t calculate the difference to several significant figures.

“There’s indeed something different.” Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief.

“Will this small jade Buddha bring about an anomaly somewhere?” Bai Chen guessed.

The ‘somewhere’ she was referring to was one of Buddhism’s Five Great Holy Lands, including the Old Task Force’s destination—Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company.

“Maybe.” Long Yuehong was rather solemn.

“Hopefully!” Shang Jianyao had an excited expression. “There will only be clues if there’s an anomaly.”

That’s under the premise that we can handle it… Long Yuehong was just about to reply when Jiang Baimian clapped her hands.

“There’s nothing we can discuss now. Alright, let’s return to our rooms to rest.”

…

After entering his own double room, Shang Jianyao made a request to Jiang Baimian. “Since I’ve already recovered, I want to enter that cruise ship again tonight to take a look.”

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and replied, “Try determining the situation today. Don’t make any further attempts to prevent any accidents from affecting your mind again. We won’t be able to go to Iron Mountain City’s ruins tomorrow if that were to happen.”

“I swear!” Shang Jianyao raised three fingers and agreed. This was the Shang Jianyao with the youngest mental age and cared most about relationships.

Mind Corridor, Room 912.

After Shang Jianyao entered again, he realized that he was in a guest room of a cabin on the cruise ship.

At this moment, the sky outside the window was bright. The blue sky and white clouds reflected each other.

Time didn’t stop when I wasn’t around? Shang Jianyao stroked his chin, pushed open the door, and walked back to the aisle. He then saw a person pass in front of him and burp.

There was a black mole at the end of this person’s right eyebrow.

Shang Jianyao recognized this person—he was one of the three men Shang Jianyao had previously encountered. He had gone from being ordinary the first time they met to a madman the second time they met.

Now, he was clear-headed and had normal actions. It was no different from the first time.

No, there was still a slight difference. His two companions had disappeared.