Embers Ad Infinitum

Ding ring ring!

The telephone in Room 14 on the 647th floor rang.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao was sitting on Jiang Baimian’s high-back chair without any reservation. He fidgeted around or spun in the chair at random.

He reached out to pick up the receiver, brought it to his ear, and said eloquently, “Hello, this is the Security Department’s Room 14 on the 647th floor. Exact operation teams are confidential. Is there anything?”

On the other end of the line, Jiang Baimian cursed in exasperation and amusement. “You’re just making it obvious that you are hiding something!”

“That’s right, that’s right. You’re right.” Shang Jianyao readily agreed.

Jiang Baimian didn’t waste her breath and restrained her expression. “Then, I’ll get to work.”

Due to the fact that phones could also be monitored, Jiang Baimian had repeatedly reminded Shang Jianyao not to chat or mention that they were investigating the death of Mu Qingqing’s father when they discussed it face-to-face in the office. When he heard the word ‘work,’ he needed to provide help based on the original agreement.

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao focused and spread his psyche. With the phone’s structure and electromagnetic spread, he affected the environment around Jiang Baimian.

Of course, this influence was very weak; it was only effective if the nearby targets simultaneously heard Shang Jianyao’s words. This was how Thought Guidance could be used in its state. On the other hand, Corny Person, Literary Hipster, and Limbs Immobility couldn’t be used.

With this weak influence, Shang Jianyao could still sense human consciousness up to a certain range. If anything happened to Jiang Baimian, he could provide help immediately.

After an intense discussion by the Shang Jianyao Democratic Association, they had already thought of a way to help: It was to beg for mercy loudly and sincerely on Jiang Baimian’s behalf.

“I was wrong. I won’t do it again. Spare me!”

If it were anyone else, such an apology would definitely be useless and would instead waste the precious time they had to save Jiang Baimian. However, Shang Jianyao was different. Under Thought Guidance, the enemy would sincerely accept the apology and believe that they would never dare to do so again. The other party would believe that they had accomplished the same silencing effect and not pursue the matter.

Jiang Baimian’s evaluation when she heard of this solution was: Although this was a little ridiculous, comical, and funny, it was fine as long as it was useful!

Of course, ‘begging’ was a backup plan. It was closer to a joke because a timely solution was to shout simple words like ‘stop.’

Shang Jianyao would only consider ‘begging’ unless Thought Guidance—which lacked the prerequisites—wasn’t effective.

Jiang Baimian held the receiver in one hand and listened to Shang Jianyao’s breathing. She didn’t miss any warning that might be transmitted as she controlled the mouse with the other hand and clicked open the saved document.

This was a list of people who had died from cardiac complications in Pangu Biology over the past decade. Behind each person was a preliminary report and investigation conclusion.

There were relatively few people with the surname ‘Mu.’ Among those with the surname ‘Mu,’ there were even fewer people who had a heart problem and couldn’t be resuscitated in the past decade. There was only one person, and Jiang Baimian easily found the target by scanning with her finger: Mu Renjie.

This person’s age and the year of the death matched Mu Qingqing’s father’s identity.

Jiang Baimian clicked on the corresponding preliminary report and investigation results.

The preliminary report showed that on September 30, five years ago, Mu Renjie—who lived in Zone A on the 417th floor—woke up in the middle of the night and headed to the nearest public bathroom. On the way, he suddenly fell to the ground and shouted for help to no avail.

It was late at night, and nobody sensed this. By the time the other neighbors passed by en route to the public bathroom, they found Mu Renjie already dead.

After an autopsy, the cause of death was confirmed to be myocardial infarction.

The preliminary report also mentioned that the Order Supervisory Department had sent people to investigate the surveillance cameras back then and didn’t discover any attack on Mu Renjie.

Nobody passed by the surrounding area when he fainted.

This preliminary report was written more than five years ago, and the surveillance footage in Pangu Biology was stored for only three years. The last investigation was nearly two years ago. Therefore, there was footage to be reviewed. They could only determine that there was nothing wrong with the report, the subsequent summary of social connections, and the cardiac problems on the corresponding floor.

The summary of the social connections during the last investigation was that Mu Renjie didn’t have any major conflicts with anyone when he was alive. Apart from Mu Renjie, nobody on the 417th floor died from a cardiac disease that year.

After Jiang Baimian finished reading it, she held the receiver and muttered to herself, “There aren’t any problems.”

If one only looked at the preliminary report and the investigation results, Mu Renjie’s death was purely an accident or a result of fate.

“The biggest problem is that there’s nothing wrong,” Shang Jianyao replied seriously on the other end of the line.

Jiang Baimian chuckled. “What’s the reason?”

“There’s no reason.” Shang Jianyao spoke firmly despite being very unconvincing.

After answering, he lowered his voice and weakly said, “I just find it a little coincidental.”

“Why don’t you say that he suffered such a fate because he didn’t have a good name, a sad life, or had done something that involves fate?” Jiang Baimian deliberately changed the topic, planning to have a detailed chat in the office tomorrow in the event the phone was being monitored.

Smack! 

Shang Jianyao slapped his thigh. “That’s indeed a possibility!”

Jiang Baimian didn’t give him a chance to think before saying, “Are you still going to explore Room 506’s psychological trauma tonight?”

“I’ll take a break for one day. My head hurts a little,” Shang Jianyao replied honestly.

He had previously been injured by an explosion in the psychological trauma and needed to recover from the mental damage. However, it wasn’t serious. A day or two of good sleep could resolve it.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “Tell me more about the psychological trauma. Let’s figure out where the key lies.”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao readily agreed.

After he recounted his experience in the psychological trauma in detail and she gave him some guesses, Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and said, “You’re right about one thing. The room owner should’ve lived in the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area for a long time. This resulted in him interacting with most of the people there and chatting about all kinds of things.”

It was only in this way that Shang Jianyao and the others would appear very real when chatting with those people. They could ask and answer questions. Once they exceeded a certain range, they became incongruous; they wouldn’t even know what they were saying.

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao agreed.

Jiang Baimian continued, “Besides, this psychological trauma has a very calm, peaceful, and peaceful surface. As long as you don’t approach the door, you won’t be attacked. Coupled with our previous guess, can we believe that the room owner has feelings for the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area?”

“No wonder I feel like I’m home.” Shang Jianyao stroked his chin.

“That’s… pretty direct.” Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but laugh. She then exhaled and asked, “Then, what’s your greatest fear for your home?”

“Losing it,” Shang Jianyao replied without hesitation.

Jiang Baimian held the receiver and nodded slightly. “When you rushed through the main entrance, the expressions of the people in the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area changed. Their cold and merciless attitude after the explosion gave me a guess: The psychological trauma of the room owner is that he did something, lost his hometown, and was unanimously abandoned by the people who formed his hometown. Charging out the door is a symbol of such an action. Therefore, the explosion is sudden, chaotic, and filled with destructive tendencies.”

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

Shang Jianyao clapped by slamming the desk. He then seriously asked, “How should I clear such a psychological trauma? I’m afraid that facing danger with courage won’t do.”

Jiang Baimian deliberated for a moment and said, “Try having the courage to face painful memories? This matches the personality displayed by the room owner in other psychological traumas.”

“I understand.” Shang Jianyao wasn’t excited. Instead, he was filled with emotion. “Some things can only be resolved by tearing open that wound and looking at the bloody situation directly, cleaning up the pus inside.”

How philosophical… Jiang Baimian was just about to elaborate when she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” she asked as she turned her body.

“Who do you think it is? There are only a few people at home!” Jiang Baimian’s mother, Xue Sumei, pushed open the door. “I sliced you some apples.”

She held a small plate with sliced apples and a small fork.

I didn’t say I wanted to eat it… Jiang Baimian muttered inwardly and smiled. “A mother knows her daughter best. How did you know that I happened to want to eat fruits?”

“Do you think I don’t understand you?” After Xue Sumei put down the plate, she casually asked, “Who were you on the call with? And for so long?”

Jiang Baimian frankly replied, “A colleague; I was asking about something.”

“Oh.” Xue Sumei didn’t ask any further. She turned around and walked out of the study.

…

The next morning, Jiang Baimian—who was the last to arrive at the office despite setting off early—recounted what she had found out last night and asked, “Any thoughts?”

“I think we can bring the matter to a close.” Bai Chen pursed her lips and said, “Since it doesn’t involve Little Red’s grandparents, we’ll pretend that nothing happened. On the one hand, this might very well be a coincidence. On the other hand, even if it really involves the Life Ritual parish, it won’t affect us if we hide away and don’t involve ourselves. If they really wanted revenge, they would’ve long taken action.”

“With a precedent, it’s quite difficult for such a secret religion to expand under the company’s nose,” echoed Long Yuehong.

Shang Jianyao laughed and didn’t comment.. He stroked his chin and said, “I’m wondering where the murderer would’ve been if Mu Qingqing’s father’s death was really artificial.”