Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 882: Baited

Lawton ultimately didn’t enter 131. He wasn’t a three-year-old child, so he wouldn’t believe it just because the paper wrote that it was a home for Awakened in End Year City.

According to his experience, the probability of this being a trap was higher.

After leaving the Mind Corridor, he opened his eyes and looked at the pale ceiling and the chandelier that resembled letters. He then fell into deep thought.

He remembered that Room 131’s owner should have a relatively serious mental illness; the greatest possibility was a split personality. It was perfectly normal for such a person to post a piece of paper outside his Mind Room with the words ‘Home of End Year City’s Awakened.’ There was no need for others to understand, nor could they.

Lawton cared about two other things: The first was that paper and words could be pasted outside the Mind Room—this was something he had never imagined.

Second, the owner of Room 131 actually knew about End Year City. Furthermore, no matter what kind of attitude or thoughts he had, it clearly showed that he was very interested in End Year City.

Lawton’s experience and intuition told him that the first point was impossible under normal circumstances. It wasn’t like End Year City didn’t have Mind Corridor-level Awakened with abnormal mental disorders. They had tried many times, including drawing graffiti outside the door, but they had failed.

Lawton suspected that Room 131’s owner was able to post the paper and write the words because he had come into contact with certain Kalendarium and obtained a certain level of favor. This was in line with proof that the Kalendarium could change the Mind Corridor’s order.

Lawton didn’t have much doubt about this matter. He only confirmed that Room 131 was really dangerous.

The fact that Room 131’s owner was interested in End Year City made him feel like a cat was scratching his heart. He couldn’t calm down.

If the other party had a request, there was room for negotiation!

Lawton thought about it and felt that he could try to make contact with Room 131’s owner.

If the other party didn’t want much and it didn’t involve the safety of End Year City, he could cooperate to a certain extent in exchange for the other party to restrain his memories and control the trauma so that he could quickly clear the level and find the New World’s door.

Of course, this was definitely an abnormally dangerous matter. If the other party had malicious intentions toward End Year City, Lawton would be like a lamb entering a tiger’s den once he entered Room 131. He would only be at the mercy of the other. After all, that person had some relationship with the Kalendarium.

The mind world was strange and varied. A little trick could make him wish he were dead.

If it were twenty years ago, ten years ago, or even five years ago, Lawton wouldn’t have taken this risk. But now, he hesitated. This was because his illness was getting worse and worse, and his stomach was getting worse. He didn’t seem like he could last another two to three years.

He wanted to enter the New World before that, escape the shackles of his body, and obtain eternal life.

After thinking for a long time, Lawton made up his mind. Give it a try!

However, trying was completely different from doing it blindly and rashly. Just as Lawton made up his mind, a corresponding plan appeared in his mind: He wanted to find another elder and borrow an item from him.

…

The next afternoon, Lawton—who was prepared—entered the Mind Corridor again.

After arriving outside Room 131, he took out a green leaf that had been made into a specimen. This was formed when the item’s aura was transferred in.

The next second, the leaf lit up with a blurry green glow.

Amidst the green light, Lawton’s body—which had been formed from his consciousness—twisted and stretched in all directions. Soon, it split into two, becoming two Lawtons.

Divine Mirror Connection!

The item Lawton borrowed had the Subhuti domain’s Divine Mirror Connection. It could split Lawton’s consciousness and turn one into many.

Lawton’s plan was very simple: leave one of himself outside. This way, even if the person who entered suffered serious damage and was trapped inside or directly died, it would only bring long-term mental trauma and negative effects to his body to a certain extent. It wouldn’t cause him to become a vegetable on the spot.

This was having hope despite suffering serious repercussions.

Lawton found it acceptable. After all, time didn’t wait for him!

One of the split Lawtons reached out to grab the door handle of Room 131. He took a deep look at the name ‘Home of the Awakened in End Year City’ before gently turning it and pushing open the door.

As the vermilion door opened, Lawton walked in.

What he saw was a corridor, but it wasn’t the corridor that belonged to the hospital in his memories.

“From the looks of it, I’ve cleared the first psychological trauma?” Lawton looked around and muttered to himself.

Although he had undergone surgery and suffered mental abnormalities that took him a long time to recover from, it was a good thing as long as he could clear the psychological trauma.

At the end of the corridor illuminated by street lamps, Lawton saw a door.

The door was silver-white in color. It wasn’t tightly shut, revealing some cracks.

Lawton couldn’t help but tremble when he recalled the terrifying gaze he suffered when he pushed open the door.

He was afraid that he would encounter such a thing again. He didn’t want to experience that indescribable fear again.

After mentally preparing himself, Lawton mustered his courage and pushed open the silver-white door.

Behind the door was a deep darkness, very similar to the scene in Lawton’s nightmare. Fortunately, there was no indistinct female figure, nor was there any gaze from the other party.

Lawton composed himself and walked into the darkness. He couldn’t see anything in front of him or hear anything as if he had been abandoned by the world. This brought about a kind of fear and a suffocating feeling that made one go crazy.

Lawton gradually had the urge to roar and sing. He wanted to break this dead and still darkness.

Left with no choice, he forced himself to divert his attention and think about something else. How should I make contact with the room owner next? Under normal circumstances, he will often have nightmares and feel uneasy after I explore the depths of his mind world. He will then know that someone is about to approach his Sea of Origins and lock onto me to give me a warning until the battle begins…

The problem is that if I can clear two more psychological traumas and explore the room’s depths, why should I make contact with him? When the time comes, I would’ve already found the New World’s door.

Yes, the deeper I go, the more certain I am that the New World door which belongs to me is in this room… The problem now is how to make the room owner sense that I’m exploring his psychological trauma in advance and take the initiative to make contact with me…

As Lawton’s thoughts raced, he saw a ball of light in the distance.

This ball of light didn’t dispel the surrounding darkness; one had to be very close to discover it.

It came from an item that looked like a tablet computer. This item was placed above a silver-white pillar, level with Lawton’s shoulder.

Lawton gathered his thoughts and approached. He saw the item’s screen emit a gentle glow, and two lines of words appeared on it.

The two lines of words were in Ashlandic, and the other line was in the Red River language. The meaning was identical—they were asking: “Where are you from?”

Under this question was a long, blank text box that allowed inputs.

Lawton spent nearly a minute digesting the scene he saw. He then thoughtfully stretched out his right palm and chose to input it manually. Following that, he solemnly filled in the answer: “End Year City.”

Finally, he clicked submit.

…

Shang Jianyao—who was checking the supplies in the jeep’s trunk—suddenly paused. He abruptly turned around and said to Jiang Baimian and the others, “The fish has taken the bait!”

Without waiting for a response, he got into the car, leaned back in his chair, and massaged his temples.

…

Lawton waited for a while before he finally saw the words on the screen change.

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

Colorful fireworks bloomed on the screen, and the sound was clearly festive. Amidst the fireworks, a string of Ashlandic text appeared: “Welcome to Home of the Awakened in End Year City. Is there anything I can help you with?”

As ‘End Year City’ was written in Ashlandic, there was no Red River language.

Lawton slowly exhaled and said in a highly vigilant state, “What do you want?”

The string of words changed again. “The exact location of End Year City.”

“What do you want to do in End Year City? Maybe I can satisfy your needs without you being there.” Lawton deliberated and said, “Besides, you won’t be able to confirm it even if I give you fake coordinates.”

There was a high chance that a person entering the Home of the Awakened in End Year City would fill in ‘End Year City’ when answering the question. However, they might not be from End Year City.

Two hands appeared on the screen. One of them clenched into a fist and struck the other palm.

“That’s right. How can you prove that what you said is true?” The room owner expressed his doubts in words.

Lawton had a plan in mind. “I hope to explore your room to a certain extent and see if the New World’s door is here. This is what I want, and it will take quite some time to complete. During this period of time, you can verify whether I’m telling the truth. If I lie, I won’t be able to escape your punishment.”

“Not bad. Tell me the exact location of End Year City.” The words on the screen changed again.

Lawton felt that the problem had circled back. He took a deep breath and said, “Maybe you can replace it with other questions.”

In a situation where it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, he didn’t want to betray End Year City. His descendants lived there.