Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 134: Gunshot

Long Yuehong was just about to read the information a few more times when the lights in the room suddenly turned off.

“It’s already lights out?” Jiang Baimian flipped her wrist and looked at her electronic watch. She realized that it was already past 8:40 p.m.

She immediately laughed. “This is much more humane than the company.”

Inside Pangu Biology, the street lamps were switched off at 9:00 p.m., not one minute late. It was nothing like Weed City, which switched off the lights more than ten minutes late.

“Does it being humane mean that management is relatively loose?” Bai Chen tried her best to understand her team leader’s hidden meaning.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “There’s good and bad, I suppose? The exact situation needs to be analyzed.”

“It’s equivalent to not saying anything,” Shang Jianyao evaluated solemnly. He then added, “I’m afraid Bai Chen will be embarrassed to say that.”

“Whoa, you’re pretty enthusiastic.” Jiang Baimian was already accustomed to such behavior from Shang Jianyao and only rolled her eyes at him. She then said, “Have a rest. We’ve been busy from morning to night today. We have business to do tomorrow.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Long Yuehong subconsciously replied loudly.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian smiled helplessly. “There’s no need to be so formal. Do you want the entire building to know that we’re together and that we have a team leader? Heh heh, it’s fine. Just be careful. Different environments have different requirements.”

Fortunately, the power had just stopped. It brought a considerable amount of noise with it, completely drowning out the small commotion here.

According to their previous arrangement, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong entered the room by the courtyard.

This way, if anything really happened, Bai Chen could jump into the courtyard with Long Yuehong and return to the jeep immediately. Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao—who both had abnormal perception abilities—could effectively prevent accidents from happening on the street.

After watching Bai Chen and Long Yuehong leave, Jiang Baimian pointed at the bunk bed in the room. “Who’s taking the top bunk? You or me?”

“You,” Shang Jianyao replied without hesitation.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “Are you worried that waking up at night will affect me?”

“I ate quite a bit today,” Shang Jianyao said sincerely.

“That works too.” Jiang Baimian suddenly thought of something. “Don’t challenge the Island of Diseases tonight. We have to do serious business tomorrow, so conserve your energy.”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao wasn’t in a dilemma.

Jiang Baimian smiled and praised, “You still know the severity of the matters.”

As she spoke, she walked to the table by the window and looked out.

The entirety of South Street and East Street was pitch black. Even the street lamps no longer emitted light.

A portion of West Street still emitted a glow like a lighthouse in the darkness. North Street was brightly lit as if the galaxy had fallen to the ground.

“What a clear distinction…” Jiang Baimian sighed. She took off her coat and climbed onto the top bunk.

Not long after she and Shang Jianyao lay down, they suddenly heard a few clear gunshots. The sounds came from West Street.

After a few shots, the night quietened down again. The lively music continued coming from West Street without being affected.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao suddenly clapped.

Jiang Baimian couldn’t be bothered to guess what Shang Jianyao wanted to express and directly asked, “Why are you clapping?”

“They are really spirited,” Shang Jianyao replied with some yearning.

“Maybe this is Weed City.” Jiang Baimian closed her eyes and slowly prepared to drift off into slumber land.

Before long, a commotion broke out around the city gates not far from them, mixed with a few gunshots.

Long Yuehong—who was sleeping in the lower bunk—asked Bai Chen worriedly and curiously, “Why are people firing their guns over here?”

He chose to sleep in the lower bunk because Bai Chen was good at sniping. She could better monitor any activity in the courtyard from a higher vantage point.

“The nomads who couldn’t enter the city during the day are probably trying to break in at night.” Bai Chen guessed based on her knowledge and current environment. “Then, the guards fired.”

Long Yuehong felt mixed emotions when he heard that. He pitied the nomads who were waiting to die in the cold winter night, but he also felt that it was a justified act for the guards to fire. They weren’t in the wrong.

This reminded him of a saying that Pangu Biology’s employees—who had served in the Security Department for a long time—liked to say: “This f*cked up world!”

When the commotion at the city gates subsided, Long Yuehong quickly forced himself to sleep. At this moment, he heard moaning coming from upstairs or two floors up.

Similar sounds echoed in the other rooms.

Long Yuehong was no stranger to this. After all, the soundproofing in the residences of Pangu Biology’s ordinary employees wasn’t that good.

The sounds made him blush a little. The difference now was that a woman was sleeping above him.

After the moaning subsided, Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief after a while.

But a few minutes later, crooning sounded again.

Almost at the same time, a sharp curse erupted. “Scram! You want a second time after only giving me two buns? Aren’t you shameless?”

Long Yuehong was a little stunned. After a while, he stammered, “W-what’s going on?”

“A prostitute,” Bai Chen replied concisely.

Within Pangu Biology, this was a non-existent occupation. Long Yuehong only knew what it meant through textbooks and the dictionary.

“Ah, this…” Long Yuehong was first stunned before he defended himself. “I thought the people on the surface were busy surviving…”

“This is a way of survival in itself,” Bai Chen said without any hint of disdain. “The more stressful it is to survive, the more one will seek to relieve themselves in such matters.”

She paused and added, “In Weed City, there are too many outsiders and too many Ruin Hunters. They wander the Ashlands all year round and may not have touched a woman for weeks or even months.

“In this regard, female Ruin Hunters are much better. As long as one is willing, there are plenty of candidates. They might even be able to earn some supplies. However, they also have to consider whether they will be infected or impregnated. For a female Ruin Hunter, these are things that can ruin them if they aren’t careful.”

Long Yuehong quietly listened and wanted to say something, but he eventually sighed.

The night constantly switched between calmness and rowdiness. When Long Yuehong woke up in the middle of the night, the entire city had fallen asleep at some point in time.

At 7:30 a.m., the sky had just lit up. The darkness was still the ruler of the land, but the streets had already become lively.

Many shops opened their doors and started selling breakfast. Among them, the most popular ones were a few shops that sold cornbread. Being cheap was their specialty.

Some shops even only sold hot water that was heated with charcoal. It cost 1 Cass a cup, and it was specially prepared for Ruin Hunters who choked while eating cornbread.

Fresh water also needed payment.

“How dry…” Shang Jianyao commented after eating two pieces of yellow cornbread.

One of these cornbreads cost 5 Cass, two for 1 Drace.

Jiang Baimian—who was holding a waterskin—rolled her eyes at Shang Jianyao. “No one’s rushing you. Why are you eating so quickly?”

Shang Jianyao gulped down the water and explained seriously, “I’m re-experiencing the feeling of the Hungry Ghost Realm again.”

Jiang Baimian asked in enlightenment, “Are you trying to say that you can buy a few more seconds when you encounter Jingfa again and are inflicted by his Hungry Ghost Realm by adapting to this method of eating?”

Shang Jianyao nodded. “There’s no harm in being prepared. It’s better to be prepared than not.”

“…You’re repeating my words again!” Jiang Baimian found the words familiar at first before she recalled that she had said the same before. She then smiled and said, “Actually, isn’t it better to prepare some food that’s easy to swallow?”

“We can’t predict when we will encounter Jingfa.” Shang Jianyao hung the waterskin back on his belt.

“You can always keep it on you and not eat it,” Jiang Baimian retorted. “However, we probably won’t be able to bump into Zen Master Jingfa in Weed City. There are so many women here. He won’t be able to control himself at all.”

As they spoke, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao walked along the street toward Central Square. Their destination—the Hunter’s Guild.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong slowly ate their breakfast and were in no rush to follow.

After walking for dozens of meters, Jiang Baimian saw a man in a wide-brimmed hat rush out of the alley.

She suddenly stretched out a hand and stopped Shang Jianyao before casting her gaze at the building opposite her.

Bang!

After a gunshot, the man in the wide-brimmed hat fell to the ground, splattering red and white everywhere.

The entire street instantly froze and fell silent.

After a few seconds, screams and loud shouts sounded one after another.

The Weed City patrolmen with submachine guns rushed to the building where the bullet had been fired from.

They stuck to the corresponding street to prevent themselves from being shot.

“Rather professional…” Jiang Baimian evaluated very calmly. She had just noticed that a gunman was on the rooftop.

Shang Jianyao sighed inexplicably. “What a pity…”

“What’s a pity?” Jiang Baimian asked in confusion.

“I should be able to stop him from pulling the trigger if I clear one more island,” Shang Jianyao replied regretfully.

Jiang Baimian looked at the width of South Street and the buildings’ height before nodding slightly. “It’s not impossible if the shooter is on the fourth floor in those terrace buildings.”

South Street was about five to six meters wide, and the three-story building was over ten meters tall. By considering the windowsill’s height and using the Pythagorean theorem, it was easy to determine that, if the sniper was on the fourth floor and was roughly parallel to the two of them, the straight-line distance between him and Shang Jianyao was between 12 to 13 meters. It was just within the range of the Awakened’s Hands Immobility.

The fifth floor and the rooftop were outside of Shang Jianyao’s range.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, Jiang Baimian smiled thoughtfully. “I previously neglected this ability. In a city with many obstacles and an environment that focuses on street fights, it should be more useful than I imagined.”

This was especially so in a place like Weed City, where buildings generally weren’t tall.

“What a pity…” Shang Jianyao sighed again.

“Is it a pity that there aren’t any enemies for you to have a go at?” Jiang Baimian asked in response.

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao nodded honestly.

Jiang Baimian didn’t say anything and only reminded him seriously, “This place is also suitable for most Awakened.”

Here, the distance between people was clearly squeezed together by the buildings.