Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 625: ‘Aftermath’

Translator: CKtalon

Long Yuehong went downstairs, got into the car, and sized up the street through the glass window in the backseat. He saw more than ten people lined up outside a clinic not far away. Their faces were pale, tired, and haggard.

From Long Yuehong’s understanding, such a scene was definitely abnormal. This was because most of the residents in the Green Olive Zone were struggling to survive. They wouldn’t see a doctor unless they were especially sick; they would rather suffer and hold out until it turned better.

It didn’t make sense for so many seriously ill people to appear in the nearby streets.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Long Yuehong thought of his encounter last night and the Hunter’s Guild mission. He guessed, “Are these the people who had that nightmare last night?”

“Probably.” Bai Chen—who was on the same side as Long Yuehong—agreed.

“Let me see, let me see,” Shang Jianyao shouted as he crossed Genava and Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong ignored him and continued, “But the nightmare last night came to an abrupt end. We didn’t show any dizziness, nausea, or fatigue.”

“This might very well differ from person to person.” Jiang Baimian deliberated and said, “We are all experienced warriors; ee have good strength and relatively firm wills. Even in a dream, we will definitely last longer than most of the residents in the Green Olive Zone by relying on our instincts. There’s a high chance that those residents were caught by the monster and had drowned in the darkness before Hey used Xiaochong and Teacher Du Heng to scare away the ‘nightmare.’”

Therefore, they had the corresponding symptoms and felt some discomfort.

Genava moved his metal neck up and down and held Shang Jianyao’s body up with his hand. “There are definitely more people affected than those lining up at the clinic’s entrance. Most people will choose to hold out for a day and have a good night’s sleep to see if they can recover in such a situation.”

He made this judgment based on the human behavioral database he had established.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words and said to Bai Chen, “Let’s go. We’ll go to Ugo Hotel after circling around.”

This could effectively hide the fact that they lived nearby.

As the jeep drove forward, a few public security officers in grayish-blue uniforms came out of the clinic. They raised their hands to gesture for Bai Chen to stop the car.

Long Yuehong quickly glanced at Shang Jianyao—who had just sat up straight—and signaled for him to prepare Thought Guidance.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

One of the public security officers bent down and rapped on the glass window in the passenger seat.

Jiang Baimian—who had disguised herself—rolled down the window and pretended to be nervous. “Sir, what’s the matter?”

The public security officer asked seriously, “Did you have any nightmares last night? What kind?”

The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth curled up as she took out her Hunter’s Badge and waved it. “Sir, we saw the collective dream mission in the guild yesterday.”

She didn’t say that she hadn’t taken on the mission or that she was unaffected by the nightmare. However, her actions and words naturally misled people into thinking in the direction she planned.

They were a group of Ruin Hunters that had accepted a mission and came to investigate today. They didn’t live here last night, so they undoubtedly didn’t have nightmares.

The public security officer didn’t hide his disappointment and waved his hand. “Don’t cause trouble; behave yourselves! Report immediately if anything happens!”

“Yes, sir.” Jiang Baimian raised her hand and saluted indifferently, making herself appear like a slippery Hunter who had been in First City and the surrounding area for a long time.

After she rolled up the window, Bai Chen drove the jeep and circled the block.

On the way, the Old Task Force would stop the car from time to time to ask passersby to see if they had any nightmares or what kind of nightmares they had.

After asking five people, they obtained three definite answers. Furthermore, the nightmares the three of them had were almost identical.

They were either in the wilderness or abandoned buildings when a monster—which was hidden in the darkness and had bloody, pale hands and elbows that alternately propped itself off the ground—chased after them. They were eventually drowned by the coldness due to a lack of stamina or an unfortunate trip, only to wake up. They more or less suffered from headaches and dizziness today.

“It’s similar to Team Leader’s guess,” Long Yuehong said sincerely.

Jiang Baimian looked out the window and sighed worriedly. “If only the nightmare’s influence stops here…”

She was afraid that the problem would worsen and eventually spiral out of control.

At this moment, the jeep arrived at the yellowish-brown, three-story Ugo Hotel.

As Ruin Hunters who were here to investigate the ‘nightmare,’ it was very reasonable and normal for them to go door to door.

As soon as he entered the lobby, Shang Jianyao sighed regretfully. “Nobody’s here.”

He referred to Ugo.

There were actually some scattered rooms on the first floor with a few guests. Therefore, Shang Jianyao only confirmed that Ugo wasn’t around when he entered the lobby and observed the environment.

Jiang Baimian suppressed her voice and muttered to herself, “He went to the True Self Church?”

She could now control her volume freely and didn’t have to worry about her whispering being too loud.

At this moment, the front desk was empty. The wooden door to the room behind it was tightly shut.

As Bai Chen looked around, two customers—who lived in the hotel—returned. As they passed through the lobby, they rubbed their foreheads and casually conversed.

“I thought I could have a good sleep after leaving the wilderness, but I actually had a nightmare. I was so scared that I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night.”

“Me too. Maybe I’ve been under a lot of pressure recently. If it’s still the same in the future, I plan on going to the clinic to get a doctor to prescribe some medicine. Although it definitely won’t be cheap, as Ruin Hunters, it’s more important to maintain tip-top condition.”

“I suspect that something abnormal happened in this block. The boss didn’t even get up in the morning. I was the one who helped him open the door.”

“Really? You opened it?”

“Of course. You came out too late; you only arrived after I was done opening the door.”

Bai Chen’s eyes flickered when she heard the two customers’ conversation, and she had an ominous feeling. She quickly cast her gaze at Jiang Baimian and realized that her team leader had also frowned slightly.

After the two guests returned to their rooms, Bai Chen voiced her thoughts. “Even if Ugo has something to do elsewhere, he won’t forget to open the hotel’s door.”

Shang Jianyao looked at the room behind the front desk.

The wooden door was tightly shut, and no sound came from it.

“Go take a look.” Jiang Baimian seemed to be giving orders, but she was actually walking to the front desk herself.

Genava, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen naturally dispersed and entered combat positions. They could fire at any moment to cover their teammates.

Shang Jianyao followed Jiang Baimian and seriously observed her direction.

“Oh, you didn’t get lost.” Shang Jianyao was rather gratified.

It’s only a few meters away, and the target is big and obvious. How can I get lost? Jiang Baimian tried her best to maintain a serious expression.

She circled around the front desk and arrived at Ugo’s room. She then stretched out her right palm and turned the doorknob.

The wooden door slowly retreated.

Jiang Baimian’s nose twitched, and her expression immediately turned solemn.

As the door opened, the scene in the room reflected in her eyes.

A bed was placed against the left wall; beside it was a wooden table. On the table were messy piles of sewing needles, old knives, black leather whips, many ropes, and a small candle chunk.

The tanned hotel owner—Ugo—had his upper body bare. He was lying on the ground with his face covered by a translucent blue plastic bag.

His eyes were wide open, and there were signs of incontinence in his lower body. A faint stench filled the room.

He no longer had a human consciousness and had lost his life.

Grief flashed across Jiang Baimian’s face as she turned her body and said to her team members outside in a deep voice, “Boss Ugo is dead.”

Dead? Boss Ugo is dead? Long Yuehong found it a little unacceptable.

The hotel owner was fine yesterday and had even promised his team leader to contact General Phocas. Why did he suddenly die today?

Shang Jianyao raised his left palm vertically and sighed. “Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti. May he reach Paradise.”

Jiang Baimian walked into the room step by step, constantly paying attention to not destroying the scene.

After Shang Jianyao arrived at the door, she squatted down and roughly checked the area.

After a few minutes, Jiang Baimian straightened her back and said in confusion, “The cause of death seems to be suffocation. From the scene, Boss Ugo covered his head with the plastic bag and tightly tied its mouth. He suffocated himself to death…”

If it were anyone else, Jiang Baimian would definitely think that the real culprit had deliberately created the scene. However, she felt that it wasn’t impossible for it to happen to Ugo and the True Self Church’s pious believers.

These people always sought to abuse themselves in various ways, hoping to sense their true selves through such actions. This was equivalent to dancing at the edge of a cliff—any accident could result in one’s death.

Without waiting for a response, Jiang Baimian added, “His estimated time of death is between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. last night.”

Last night… Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated as he blurted out in horror, “Could it be a result of that nightmare?”