Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-737

Chapter 737: Answer

Translator: CKtalon

Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, Grade 12, Class 5.

Jiang Baimian sat in her seat and watched her classmates laughing and joking around her. However, she couldn’t seem to blend in. It was as if she was in a world that only had her; she felt stifled.

At this moment, she had the urge to cover her ears and scream in the classroom.

She had self-control and didn’t let her urges become a reality. She stood up and planned on finding a place to breathe some fresh air.

As for where she was going, she had yet to figure it out. She only felt uncomfortable staying in the classroom.

After arriving at the corridor, Jiang Baimian’s gaze swept across the students chatting and laughing as they leaned against the railings. She swept her gaze across the people chasing after each other and bantering from time to time and felt that this wasn’t the place she wanted to stay.

Where should I go? She hesitated.

Soon, a place flashed across her mind: Rooftop.

Before starting Grade 12, she still had time to watch television dramas and read novels during weekends. And in stories with schools, regardless of whether one was the main character, they would go to the rooftop for a breather from time to time.

Of course, before she had this urge today, Jiang Baimian felt that it was all cooked up by novels. Who would go to the rooftop at a normal school?

The principal would definitely get people to guard the area tightly and prevent students from going to such a dangerous place!

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Baimian strode toward the stairwell.

At this moment, she saw her deskmate, Chen Shenshen, walking over. She had just finished using the bathroom.

Although she didn’t consider her deskmate to be a good friend or a bestie, they had been sitting together for almost a year. They still chatted a little every day, and her relationship with her was better compared to the other classmates.

In other words, if Chen Shenshen saw her, she would definitely ask where she was going. She didn’t want anyone in her class to know that she planned on going to the rooftop to enjoy the breeze.

Should I say that I’m going to the bathroom? Maybe I should skip the rooftop? Jiang Baimian hesitated.

At this moment, the two male students chasing each other in the corridor slipped and fell to the ground. Chen Shenshen heard the commotion and turned her head to watch this scene. She first checked if the sorry fellow was injured before laughing until she couldn’t straighten her back after confirming that nothing had happened.

Upon seeing that she had completely ignored her, Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief and quickened her pace, walking past Chen Shenshen’s back. She went straight to the stairwell and went up.

As she walked, Jiang Baimian realized that her form teacher was walking down the stairs.

Two Grade 12 Class 10 students walked behind him, each carrying a stack of workbooks.

Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but frown. She wasn’t surprised by this encounter at all because her form teacher was also a physics teacher for Grade 12 Class 10. She was worried that her form teacher would ask why she was walking upstairs for no reason once she saw her.

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As the top seeded candidate of the class and an outstanding student with great competitiveness in the cohort, Jiang Baimian was inevitably thought of highly by her form teacher and even the teachers of the various subjects.

Being quiet and reserved, she wouldn’t leave her class for no special reason, and her form teacher attached great importance to a student’s mental health.

Jiang Baimian had second thoughts again when she suddenly heard a crashing sound. She saw that the two students behind the form teacher didn’t seem to have neatly stacked the homework.

At this moment, their flailing hands were useless; all they could do was watch the books scatter all over the stairs.

They hurriedly bent down to pick the homework up.

Jiang Baimian’s form teacher didn’t choose to stand by and watch. She also bent her back and tried to pick up a few workbooks by her feet.

Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and walked past them without causing a stir.

Afraid of encountering someone she knew again, she walked faster. Before long, she arrived on the sixth floor.

Beyond that was the door to the rooftop.

As she swept her gaze, Jiang Baimian saw a roguish figure walking over.

He was a very famous delinquent in school. His name was Deng Tong, and he committed all kinds of crimes such as fighting. If not for his family’s connections, he would’ve long been expelled.

“Let’s head to the rooftop to get some air!” Deng Tong shouted at the classroom closest to the stairwell.

Inside were his bunch of riffraff.

Jiang Baimian stopped walking. She didn’t want to share a deserted rooftop with such a delinquent.

This was a person’s most basic instinct for self-preservation or to avoid harm.

For a moment, Jiang Baimian’s depression worsened. Why am I so unlucky today? I just want to go to the rooftop to enjoy the breeze, but I keep encountering so many things!

Just as she was about to turn around and return to her class, a blackboard eraser flew out of the nearest classroom’s door and smashed into Deng Tong’s face, making him see stars and dizzy.

“Who is it? Who the f*ck threw it at me!?” Deng Tong roared as he recovered slightly and rushed into the classroom.

It immediately became chaotic.

Jiang Baimian flipped her wrist and looked at her watch. She realized that there were only five minutes left before class started.

She was certain that Deng Tong didn’t have time to enjoy the breeze on the rooftop before class started.

She only planned on taking three minutes of fresh air on the rooftop. From the looks of it, it was unlikely that she would encounter the likes of Deng Tong.

Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief and jogged to the door that led to the rooftop—its lock had been broken.

Jiang Baimian tried to open the door and walk to the rooftop. As the cold wind blew, she felt much more refreshed and less down.

When she identified her bearings, she was surprised to see a student—a sloppy male—standing by the parapet facing the school gates.

Du Shaochong… Jiang Baimian knew him and knew that he was a classmate with a contradictory reputation.

His grades were clearly very good, and he could sometimes threaten her ranking. He was also very sporty—he was good at everything, be it running, long jumping, street dancing, or basketball. However, he didn’t look like a good student at all; he always hung out with Deng Tong and the others. It was said that he even participated in gang fights.

What a strange person… Jiang Baimian muttered silently and walked to the parapet beside Du Shaochong.

Upon seeing this, Genava—who was behind her—suddenly felt like he could finally heave a sigh of relief. Although it was very simple and easy for ‘Xu Qiao’—who was also Jiang Baimian—to reach the rooftop, Genava had racked his brains and had done a lot of work ‘secretly.’

He tripped the running student and attracted Xu Qiao’s deskmate’s attention to prevent her from interfering with Jiang Baimian’s sudden urge to head to the rooftop to enjoy the breeze.

He pushed the workbooks in the hands of the two students and prevented Xu Qiao’s form teacher from stopping Jiang Baimian for a heart-to-heart talk.

He quickly entered the nearest classroom, found a chalk eraser, and smashed it at Deng Tong to lure the delinquent away to prevent him from affecting Jiang Baimian’s mood for a breeze at the rooftop.

All the calmness and serenity couldn’t have happened without the hard work of the person behind the scenes!

After arriving by the parapet, looking at the distant scenery, and inhaling the cold wind, Jiang Baimian realized that this could really make her forget a lot of her worries. It opened her up.

Yes, it was spring when we came in yesterday, and it’s late autumn today. Xu Qiao and Du Shaochong are still in their third year of high school… Genava took the opportunity to organize his previous observations.

As Xu Qiao and Du Shaochong were very outstanding students, it was unlikely that they would be retained even if they got into an early relationship. Therefore, there was only one answer: Time had reversed.

In other words, time in the ‘dreamscape’ was jumpy and chaotic. This matched the concept of a dreamscape very well.

After a while, Jiang Baimian turned her head and looked at Du Shaochong—who wasn’t far away.

The other party wasn’t surprised that she had come to the rooftop to enjoy the breeze!

What kind of person is he? Jiang Baimian suddenly felt intense curiosity. This made her do something she usually wouldn’t do.

She actually mustered her courage to speak to him. “Hey!”

Shang Jianyao—who was acting as Du Shaochong—turned to glance at her. “My name isn’t Hey.”

Jiang Baimian blushed and paused. “I know you—you’re Du Shaochong. I heard that you were transferred to our school during your second year in high school?”

“In the second semester of the first year,” Du Shaochong replied expressionlessly.

Jiang Baimian asked, “Where did you study previously?”

“Why do you have so many questions…” Du Shaochong muttered. He replied reluctantly, “I transferred here from Dajiang City.”

Dajiang City… Genava recorded this keyword. At the same time, he matched the relevant information: Dajiang City, Linhe Village, under the old pagoda tree at the village entrance.

This was another Buddhist Holy Land!

The red light in Genava’s eyes suddenly lit up as he came to a preliminary conclusion: Du Shaochong—who was related to the two Holy Lands—might really be the Kalendaria, Master Zhuang’s body of descent!

But why didn’t this ‘dreamscape’ produce any changes when I grabbed Du Shaochong and jumped off the building with him? This doesn’t make sense! Genava immediately felt intense confusion as if he had encountered a bug.

At this moment, someone entered the rooftop.

It was the delinquent, Deng Tong, who had been hit by the blackboard eraser. He seemed to have already beaten up the person who had ambushed him and planned on taking a breather on the rooftop.

Upon seeing Xu Qiao standing beside Du Shaochong, Deng Tong whistled. “Yo, she’s your chick?”

“I chanced upon her,” Du Shaochong explained simply.

Deng Tong chuckled. “Then, what were you guys talking about?”

Du Shaochong glanced at Jiang Baimian. “She asked me where I studied previously.”

“Tsk, why did she only ask you and not me?” Deng Tong wore an expression that said: “Don’t explain; explaining is only a cover.”

Jiang Baimian’s face flushed red. In order to prove her innocence, she quickly asked, “Where did you study previously?”

Deng Tong thought for a moment and said seriously, “Dajiang City.”

Dajiang City… The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered even more. Why is there another one from Dajiang City?

At this moment, Deng Tong casually asked, “What about you? Which middle school did you graduate from?”

Xu Qiao—who was acting as Jiang Baimian—was confused for a second before answering seriously, “Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School.”

What? Genava began to suspect that something had happened to his audio capture device.

The next second, Du Shaochong and Deng Tong looked at Xu Qiao and smiled. “Me too.”

“I also graduated from Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School.”