Embers Ad Infinitum

After walking more than ten meters, Jiang Baimian smiled without looking back:

"Judging from the reaction, she should have shaken off the effects."

Before Shang Jianyao could speak, Jiang Baimian turned and said:

"They are really rough in what they do. I thought I would 'ask' Xiao Hong by the way, but it ended like this. I wasted no time preparing."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Shang Jianyao asked in a very cooperative manner.

"Of course it's a good thing." Jiang Baimian smiled, "I just want to tell you, don't be overconfident in your abilities like Odik. You still have to have the procedures and steps. This can help you. Check for leaks and fill them up. Hmm... Whether it's the 'reasoning clown' or the other two abilities, if you prepare in advance, you can restrain them to a certain extent, or they won't be affected much."

Shang Jianyao turned his head to look at the team leader and responded seriously:

"I still have companions I can rely on to protect my flanks and back and charge together."

"...Do you want your memory to be so good? It's embarrassing to say this suddenly, okay?" Jiang Baimian tasted what it means to use the other's spear to attack the other's shield.

While talking, they walked into the Hunter's Guild, intending to grasp the changes in the situation brought about by Eugene's death from the release of the mission, and find new clues related to Feifei in the Thunder Cloud Pine Forest.

Before he could browse the content on the big screen, Jiang Baimian saw Odike coming down from the second floor and walking towards this side.

She smiled and took the initiative to say hello:

"Good morning, any new clues?"

Odik shook his head:

"did not find.

"what about you?"

Jiang Baimian said calmly:

"We went to the bar area last night and asked around, and no one had seen anyone who looked like Lin Feifei."

Odik glanced at the two people opposite him and suddenly asked:

"You didn't do what happened to Eugene, did you?"

It happened to be a combination of a man and a woman, and it was over there in Wild Wolf Alley.

Jiang Baimian laughed:

"I didn't know this guy at all until I was asked yesterday."

Odik glanced around at the faces of Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, who were cleaner and better looking than most ruin hunters, and nodded invisibly:

"You really have no motive."

Of course Jiang Baimian was unwilling to continue this topic, and said with a smile:

"I can give you a piece of information about Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei.

"But you have to promise to exchange information of equal value."

Odik did not agree directly, but asked:

"Is this information you have obtained before?"

He didn't quite believe that the two people opposite him could find new clues faster than him.

He has absolute confidence in tracking the target's whereabouts.

"Yeah." Jiang Baimian smiled and nodded.

"Okay." Odik agreed.

Jiang Baimian looked around and pretended to be cautious and said:

"Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei and the others visited a certain senior member of the guild more than a month ago.

"I don't know who it is specifically."

Shang Jianyao glanced at the team leader's left hand inserted in his pocket, but did not reveal that she was actually using Odike to complete the investigation of this line.

As a "senior hunter", Odik always has the opportunity to deal with the top brass of the local hunter guild.

"I visited the high-level officials of the guild..." Odik repeated thoughtfully, with a slightly confused expression.

Then, he raised his hand and shook it politely:

"Thank you, see you next time."

"Where's the news for us?" Jiang Baimian was not surprised, just a little curious.

Odik's mouth moved slightly, showing a slight smile and said:

“I’ll tell you after I find out who the senior executive is and what the exchange was about.

"Isn't this the information you want most?"

"Deal!" Jiang Baimian's smile remained unchanged.

When Odik turned around and left, she sighed to Shang Jianyao beside her:

"He is still a little clever..."

"Without any cleverness, he would have died long ago based on his ability alone." Shang Jianyao replied.

"Yes..." Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement.

After browsing the tasks scrolling on the big screen, Jiang Baimian turned his wrist to check the time, led Shang Jianyao out of the Hunter's Guild, walked to the central square, and found a walkway chair to sit down on.

After another quarter of an hour, she stood up and said:

"I'm going to the library."

"Is there a toilet there?" Shang Jianyao suddenly asked.

"Yes..." Jiang Baimian was not so sure.

Shang Jianyao nodded slightly:

“Remember to observe it later.

“People who like libraries won’t be confused about this.”

Jiang Baimian wanted to laugh and scold this strange theory, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it made sense.

Because the library was the place where she and Chen Xufeng "connected" and exchanged information, she always felt that she could not stay there for too long. She left in a hurry both times, only paying attention to possible escape routes in case of accidents.

This would appear a little suspicious.

How can anyone enter the library and come out in less than ten minutes without borrowing a book?

"Not bad, my thinking has become more rigorous." Jiang Baimian did not hesitate to praise him, and then said with a smile, "During the conversation just now, I always felt that our script was reversed."

Shang Jianyao looked at her strangely:

"I just wanted to go to the toilet and that's when I thought of this problem."

With that said, he also stood up.

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian to "swear", he added:

"I've tried to learn how you think."

Jiang Baimian's eyebrows softened:

"very good.

"But don't abandon your own characteristics, so that you can complement each other. Two Jiang Baimian are definitely not as strong as one Jiang Baimian and one Shang Jianyao."

"You forgot Bai Chen and Long Yuehong." Shang Jianyao pointed out.

Jiang Baimian rolled his eyes and looked above, too lazy to argue the issue.

After entering the library and waiting for Shang Jianyao to ask the administrator where the restroom was, Jiang Baimian strolled around the bookshelf area leisurely, picking up an unread book from time to time and flipping through it, fully enjoying the ocean of knowledge. of happiness.

After a long time, she walked to a familiar place, picked up the "Internal Revenue Code" at a familiar location, and took out the folded paper inside.

She quickly unfolded the paper and browsed:

“Company feedback is as follows:

"The 'Anti-Intellectual Cult', like 'The Cult of Stupid Beings' and 'The Cult of Truth and Nothingness', are religious organizations that believe in people who believe in the March of the Year. However, there are certain differences in the specific concepts, and the main areas of dissemination are generally the same. Different, partially crossed...

"This sect believes that the destruction of the old world stems from human thinking and the pursuit of knowledge, and hopes to solve this problem from the root...

"There are a certain number of awakened people within them, and their abilities are very mixed, but it can be seen that they are mostly in hypnosis and memory-related fields...

“Two years ago, this sect assassinated the elder Sowers, the senator who led the civic education, in the First City. It was hit hard and disappeared for a long time...

"It is said that the cultist who led the assassination is still alive. He is a very dangerous and extreme person.

"He is male, his appearance is unknown, his height is unknown, and his nickname is 'Priest'..."

"Father... hypnosis, memory..." Jiang Baimian repeated these words silently, his expression becoming quite solemn.

At this moment, she had a new understanding of the abnormalities in Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei.

After putting away the paper, she wandered around the library for a while before going out to meet Shang Jianyao, who had already gone to the toilet.

She didn't mention the intelligence she just received, and took Shang Jianyao directly back to the second floor of "Afu Gun Store".

After closing the door, she took out the paper and handed it to Shang Jianyao:

"You take a look first."

The weather was cloudy today and there was not enough light in the house. Shang Jianyao walked to the window and then lowered his head to read the contents on the paper.

"What are your thoughts?" Seeing that he had almost seen it, Jiang Baimian asked.

Shang Jianyao said seriously:

"I want to beat up the man named 'Father'."

Jiang Baimian is no longer surprised by such words:

"It's not necessarily him taking the lead here."

"Just take it as such." Shang Jianyao tried hard to convince the team leader.

Jiang Baimian "followed the good deeds" and said "hmm" twice:

"It seems that Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei were probably hypnotized or had their memories manipulated.

“So, they clearly can move freely, but they don’t contact the company.

"The problem is, what about the remaining three team members? Why is there no trace of them?

"What is the purpose of the 'Anti-Intellectual Cult' hypnotizing Lin Feifei and the others? It's not just to find some gunmen, right?"

Shang Jianyao disagreed:

"Based on their IQ, it is possible."

"This is troublesome. I can't deduce the thinking of such a person..." Jiang Baimian said a little embarrassed, "But at present, the 'anti-intellectual religion' only makes ordinary believers give up thinking, and the chosen ones inside are responsible. To boot, they shouldn’t be stupid.”

Speaking of this, she remembered something:

"Do you remember the suspected attack in the company?"

"Remember." Shang Jianyao suddenly became very interested, "Is he a spy planted by the Last Man Sect into the Siming Sect?"

"It's not like that... It seems that although most of the awakened people within each religious organization are in the corresponding fields, there are many exceptions... I don't know whether it is because awakening can only be guided and cannot be precisely controlled, or whether The higher-ups did this intentionally to prevent their abilities from being too pure and being restrained by hostile forces?" Jiang Baimian said thoughtfully, "Anyway, Xiaobai and Xiaohong will have to be reminded to make some preparations later to prevent hypnosis or memory effects."

When it was almost noon, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong came back and reported all the news they had learned in the morning:

“There are currently three main people who are suspected of Eugene’s disappearance.

"The first is Zhao Zhengqi, the head of the Zhao Mansion on North Street. He is a member of the Noble Council of Wild Grass City. He is also organizing slave hunting. He is a competitor with the Eugene gang and has had a lot of unpleasantness.

"The second is Sun Jing, the younger brother of Sun Fei, the leader of the underground trading market. He owns a bar and a nightclub in Wild Wolf Alley, and maintains a group of thugs, so he is quite powerful. He is suspected because his favorite daughter died two years ago He disappeared many years ago and was suspected of being kidnapped by Eugene.

"The third is some people in the Noble Council. They deliberately let Eugene disappear, hoping to use this as an excuse to bring the slave-catching team and the army from the First City into the city to achieve their ulterior motives."

After Jiang Baimian listened, he said funnyly:

"It's so convincing. I almost believed it was one of these three, if we weren't the real murderers."