Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 576: Once Again

According to the plan, Shang Jianyao didn’t stay on the third floor for long. He went straight to the fourth floor that the room owner’s first exploration didn’t cover.

When he walked down the stairs that seemed to be copied and pasted and reached his destination, he realized that the light shining in from the windows facing outside on both sides of the room had dimmed significantly.

This seemed very logical because dusk was approaching when the psychological trauma began. Darkness had already enveloped the land, so it was logical for the night to thicken.

However, Shang Jianyao realized that not only was the moon not high in the night sky outside, but there were no stars either. It was pitch-black.

Logically speaking, such an environment should be pitch-black. It was close to Pangu Biology after lights-out at night. But in fact, a little light still shone into the food company from somewhere, vaguely illuminating the different objects’ silhouettes in the darkness.

“It seems like some details went wrong when the room owner’s subconscious tried to complete this scene...” Shang Jianyao took out a pipe from somewhere, brought it to his mouth, and sniffed it.

The pipe vanished as he slowly walked along the corridor with the flashlight.

The discovery indicated that he was in the room owner’s memories of his second exploration of the food company.

After walking a distance, Shang Jianyao suddenly felt something and shone the flashlight beam at a room beside him.

There was a figure in the room, wearing a white female shirt and a blue suit. It was the professional woman who was supposed to be on the second floor.

Under the light, Shang Jianyao realized that she seemed to be a little older than before. Although her black hair remained the same at first glance and she still looked to be in her twenties, the muscles on her cheeks had drooped to a certain extent, and the wrinkles on her face had deepened.

Just as Shang Jianyao tried to ‘persuade’ the other party to stay and prevent her from escaping in a panic, the professional woman’s bloodshot eyes darted around as she cast her gaze at Shang Jianyao.

Unlike the previous two encounters, the horror, fear, panic, and confusion she showed were different. At this moment, she was calm, silent, and wooden.

“That’s more like it!” Shang Jianyao slapped the side of the flashlight with his left palm, producing a clang.

This was in line with his imagination of a final boss.

The next second, the professional woman opened her mouth and spoke in a drake-like voice. “Leave this place.”

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao’s vision turned pitch-black. He couldn’t see anything, hear anything, sense anything, or even think.

He completely fainted, not even having a dream.

After an unknown period of time, Shang Jianyao slowly woke up. He saw the car that had its front door open and the billboard on the ground not far away.

He had returned to the starting point.

“The room owner failed his second exploration as well...” Shang Jianyao muttered to himself.

His previous experience should be the same as when the room owner explored Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company again. Otherwise, the experience wouldn’t be so clear and completely different from the first time.

If it were only subconscious self-completion and not because the room owner had the corresponding experience, Shang Jianyao believed that he would definitely repeat his previous encounter. His body would stiffen, his thoughts would freeze, and he would collide into the wall because this was the most natural, easiest, and energy-conserving ‘completion.’

Shang Jianyao took in his physical condition and realized there were no problems. In no rush to leave Room 522 and return to reality, he sneaked toward Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company again.

Not only did he skip the first three floors in one go, but he also didn’t stay on the fourth floor for long. He went straight to the fifth floor.

He wanted to see if the room owner had explored this place a third time.

The layout of the fifth floor wasn’t much different from the second, third, and fourth floors. However, the glow that seeped in from the window seemed to be a little brighter as if it were the last bout of brilliance.

With the help of such an environment, Shang Jianyao switched off the flashlight and relied solely on the natural light to observe the rooms on both sides of the corridor.

They had signs hanging from them—each belonging to different companies. Shang Jianyao—who was familiar with the Old World’s entertainment—wasn’t surprised by this and easily understood the situation.

Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company clearly didn’t occupy the entire building that belonged to them. Therefore, they rented out the fifth floor and above to others.

Skyglow Technology, White Sea Oil’s Iron Mountain City Branch... In order to identify the companies’ names, Shang Jianyao switched on the flashlight.

As the yellowish beam of light flickered, he saw a skeleton in a room in front of him from the corner of his eye.

The bones shone brightly without any rotten flesh hanging from it, making it appear very strange. At the same time, it wore a white shirt and a small blue suit.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao spun the Six Senses Beads and chanted a Buddhist proclamation. “Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti. Even a beauty eventually becomes a skeleton. All things are illusory; only the consciousness is real.”

With that said, Zen Master Redemption bowed seriously and slowly approached.

After careful observation, he found an employee pass wrapped in a plastic case hanging from her white shirt under her suit.

There was a photo, name, and position on it: “Liu Lu

“Sales manager

“Work ID: 100482.”

Shang Jianyao squatted down and tried to search the pockets of the blue suit. The red light in his eyes dyed the bones red.

Suddenly, a black figure flashed in front of him. It was a thick, slippery tentacle with evil-looking patterns.

This tentacle extended out from the pile of bones!

Almost at the same time, Shang Jianyao felt the lurking gaze intensify from all directions.

He instinctively looked around and saw black holes on the wall. There seemed to be all kinds of eyeballs staring at him from the holes.

Shang Jianyao exerted strength with his knees and jumped up, running toward the window near the room without looking back.

During this process, he saw the changes in the skeleton from the corner of his eye.

It had pulled out human skin from somewhere and wore it. It then returned to its previous professional female form. The only difference was that her current clothes seemed to be drawn on her skin.

Black tentacles constantly drilled out from below and extended toward Shang Jianyao.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shang Jianyao ran with heavy clanking sounds like he was metal. He leaped, slammed through the window, and jumped down from the fifth floor.

As a cyborg monk, he accurately landed on a narrow windowsill on the fourth floor. He then jumped down one floor after another and quickly landed in the alley behind the food company.

Before he could stand firmly, he looked up and had the feeling that the entire building had come to life. It swayed and creaked as windows opened as if mouths were opening.

Amidst the chomping sounds, Shang Jianyao couldn’t find any human consciousness at all. He also didn’t have a target to use the items or Awakened abilities on. He could only open his stride and continue sprinting.

He circled around and returned to the starting point by taking his original route.

Huff, huff, huff...

After all this, even the cyborg monk Shang Jianyao panted heavily.

The calm and rational him quickly made a decision. “Retreat first. Come again after we have rested up.”

...

The grayish-green jeep was parked beside a burning bonfire, and the window reflected the flickering flames.

Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong—who were highly vigilant—saw Shang Jianyao push open the door and get out of the car.

“How was it?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief. Seems like nothing terrible happened...

Shang Jianyao walked to the bonfire, came to his companion’s side, and described his experience.

“It seems like the room owner has explored the Food Company more than three times...” Jiang Baimian said with emotion after hearing that.

He fainted the second time and returned to the starting point when he woke up. The third time, he ran away from the anomaly in fear.

Long Yuehong frowned and felt that something was amiss. After a few seconds, he raised an idea with uncertainty. “The anomaly in the food company doesn’t seem to have any ill intentions toward the room owner?”

Otherwise, the room owner wouldn’t have had the chance to explore a second, third, or even fourth time. He would’ve long died.

The idea was very simple. His body was stiff, and his thoughts were frozen. When he slammed his head against the wall, he probably wouldn’t wake up if he had exerted a little more strength. Or perhaps, the hidden force wouldn’t have thrown him back to the original spot after he fainted but might instead throw him into an area where the Heartless gathered. That would be his end.

“It seems so.” Jiang Baimian nodded. “The room owner probably discovered this later. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to explore it again and again.”

Shang Jianyao smiled. “That’s why I dared to return to the Food Company as soon as I woke up.”

Jiang Baimian continued analyzing. “From the details you observed, there was a considerable gap between the room owner’s first, second, and third explorations. The strange woman named Liu Lu aged with time before she died and became bones. What will happen next?”

“She... revived?” Shang Jianyao’s train of thought was always abnormal.

“That’s terrifying.” Jiang Baimian had never evaluated this ‘possibility’ before and said, “You fainted during your first exploration today. Doesn’t this resemble Consciousness Deprivation? You encountered a ghost-like scene during your second exploration. Doesn’t this resemble an application of the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence?”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped.

Long Yuehong sighed with emotion. “As expected of one of the Buddhist Holy Lands...”

Shang Jianyao then pointed at the jeep. “I’ll go get some sleep. I’ll try again later.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Try going to the sixth and seventh floors.”

...

When it was almost midnight, Shang Jianyao woke up and entered the Mind Corridor again.