Embers Ad Infinitum

After turning off the lights, outside Room 23, Area C.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, wrapped in military green thick cotton coats, gathered together and shined the light of the flashlight on the brown-red wooden door with white numbers written on it.

"Do you really want to try?" When things came to a close, Long Yuehong was still a little timid.

Shang Jianyao took out the electronic card with his other hand and said calmly:

"Pay attention to my state, and if anything goes wrong, shout immediately."

"Shout?" Long Yuehong asked subconsciously.

Wake him up?

Shang Jianyao held the doorknob with the hand holding the flashlight and answered seriously:

"shout for help."

"..." Long Yuehong was speechless.

Then he took a breath, adjusted his lungs, and was ready to shout.

Shang Jianyao gently opened the lock plate and slowly turned the handle.

He pushed the door forward little by little, as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

Finally, the door of Room 23 opened with a huge gap, and the scene inside was vaguely visible under the residual glow of the flashlight.

"There is nothing unusual this time." Shang Jianyao said as he pushed the door completely open.

Hearing this, Long Yuehong breathed a sigh of relief, and then reminded:

"You have to be careful when you go in."

Shang Jianyao half-turned around and glanced at him with strange eyes:

"Shouldn't you go in first?"

At this moment, Long Yuehong was suffocated.

The next second, he saw Shang Jianyao lighting up room 23 with a flashlight.

This place is not big, similar to Long Yuehong's original home. The walls are painted with mottled white paint and the floor is paved with standard stone tiles. Other than that, it is empty and there is nothing else.

After the flashlight illuminated every corner, Shang Jianyao took steps forward.

He walked slowly, as if he had turned into a robot with rusty joints, almost moving through the open door.

Long Yuehong forgot the joke just now and tensed up again, ready to shout "help" at any time.

It took more than ten seconds for Shang Jianyao to completely enter the room No. 23.

He turned around and put the flashlight against his chin, letting the light illuminate his face.

"Long Yuehong..." Shang Jianyao shouted in an erratic and slow voice.

"What?" Long Yuehong tensed up.

Shang Jianyao's voice maintained that gloomy feeling:

"Do you think I look like a ghost..."

"..." Long Yuehong wanted to curse.

After exhaling, he said in a tactful way:

"Fortunately, the small speaker hasn't been returned to you yet, otherwise it would be more interesting to play a song that can create a scary atmosphere at this time."

Shang Jianyao looked at him contemptuously:

"It will disturb other people's sleep."

Long Yuehong couldn't refute.

Shang Jianyao immediately withdrew his gaze and used the light of the flashlight to inspect the situation in Room 23 inch by inch.

Seeing that there was nothing wrong with him, Long Yuehong plucked up the courage and moved slightly towards the door.

"No..." Long Yuehong swallowed his words as soon as he left his mouth.

What he wanted to say was "nothing happened".

Shang Jianyao looked at him with regret:

"Why don't you finish?"

I'm not stupid... Although I still don't think there's anything wrong with my luck, at this time I'd rather believe it or not... Long Yuehong mumbled something silently, then turned on the light of the flashlight and searched for possible Anomalies exist.

The tattered furniture in Room 23 has been evacuated, allowing Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong to quickly finish their work.

"There's nothing..." Long Yuehong retracted the flashlight light from the vent above.

Shang Jianyao looked at him and asked with a smile:

"What's your overall opinion of this place?"

"What is the overall evaluation?" Long Yuehong was a little confused and answered according to her own understanding, "It is older here and seems to be a little colder than outside..."

At this point, he suddenly paused.

After a few seconds, Long Yuehong asked with some fear:

"Do you feel, do you feel that this is a bit like the atmosphere in Di Marco's room at that time, but to a much lesser extent?"

He still vividly remembered the eerie and dark environment created by Di Marco's conscious life.

"Congratulations, you got the answer right." Shang Jianyao tapped the side of the flashlight with his palm.

Long Yuehong looked around and said tentatively:

"The paresthesia has been lifted, this is just a residual trace."

Shang Jianyao didn't answer him. He took a flashlight and strode out of the room.

"Where to go?" Long Yuehong quickly followed.

He didn't dare to stay alone in Room 23.

Shang Jianyao looked forward and replied calmly:

"Go back to sleep."

Long Yuehong thought for a while and found that there was nothing else to do.

At this time, Shang Jianyao in front left a light sentence:

"Remember to close the door."

…………

The next day was the weekend rest day for "Pangu Biology". Shang Jianyao took his electronic card and bought a bunch of things such as fabrics, cans, and bags of rice at the "Material Supply Market."

To transport them, he borrowed a cart from the Supply Market.

"Hey, little businessman, how much can you earn in one trip?"

"Is this what it means to get rich?"

"Is it really so good to be out in the field?"

Along the way, neighbors who knew Shang Jianyao greeted him one after another.

Shang Jianyao was not modest and responded directly:

"Yes, I'm already D5.

"So is Long Yuehong."

He acted so openly that he just had to shout down the street with a loudspeaker.

"D5?"

“It’s not like I don’t know other ‘Security Department’ employees, how could anyone be promoted so quickly?”

"You, which unit of the 'Security Department' are you in?"

The neighbors were either shocked, envious, or had the idea of ​​introducing someone to Shang Jianyao.

In their impression, Shang Jianyao was an honest child who would not lie about this kind of thing, and such lies could be easily exposed.

While chatting and walking like this, Shang Jianyao came to an open room.

This is Shen Du's house.

Shen Du's child was sitting at the dining table, reading the numbers in the simple textbook.

He raised his head and glanced at the door, without saying hello or shying away. He lowered his head and continued to read the basic numbers.

Compared with how Shang Jianyao looked in his memory, he didn't grow up much, but he became obviously silent.

Shen Du's wife Tian Jing was cleaning the room on her day off when she felt some movement at the door and turned around.

"Xiao Shang, why are you..." Tian Jing grabbed the dirty rag and said awkwardly.

Shang Jianyao smiled:

"I've reached D5."

"Ah?" Tian Jing's first reaction was, why are you telling me this?

Then, she was a little surprised and very envious.

Her employee level is only D3 now.

And with just a little calculation, she can know how many contribution points a D5-level employee's average monthly income is.

Then, she understood Shang Jianyao's hidden meaning:

"I'm already D5, so giving me this little thing won't affect my life."

Tian Jing responded slightly bitterly:

"You have already given away a lot of things before, there is really no need..."

She originally wanted to say that we are not related, but she instantly remembered what Shang Jianyao said last time - "You can choose to be my mother."

Shang Jianyao glanced at Shen Du's child, looked back at Tian Jing, and said nonchalantly:

"Don't work too hard, or you'll break down your body."

Tian Jing opened her mouth, thought of Shang Jianyao's family, and closed it again.

She stopped stopping and watched Shang Jianyao move the items on the cart into the house one by one.

After finishing it, Shang Jianyao waved his hand:

"I am leaving."

Tian Jing nodded first, then took a breath and said:

"We, the two of us, will always remember you."

Shang Jianyao didn't look back and pushed the car away like a parade.

Fortunately, he pushed the cart, entered the elevator, and pressed the "490" button.

There is the "Eleventh Orphanage".

…………

At noon, Long Yuehong was about to use various leftover ingredients to try to make "chowder", a special delicacy of the "rootless" people, when she saw her mother rushing in with a roar.

"You, have you been promoted to D5?" Gu Hong was surprised and surprised.

Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment:

"How did you know?"

His plan was to get a portable computer and tell his parents that he got a promotion and a raise when he took it home.

"Really?" Gu Hong blurted out.

Long Yuehong nodded honestly:

"I'm going to tell you in two days."

He was still confused as to how his mother knew so quickly.

After a moment, a name appeared in his mind.

Long Yuehong asked tentatively:

"Have you met Shang Jianyao?"

Gu Hong complained with a happy face:

“When small businessmen meet people on the street, they say, ‘Do I still know?

"Ouch, why is it D5 all of a sudden? Now I'm not afraid that no one will introduce me to my partner..."

As she spoke, the smile on Gu Hong's face disappeared.

She looked at Long Yuehong, remained silent for a moment and said:

"Is your mission dangerous?"

Long Yuehong subconsciously forced out a smile:

"It's okay, and it won't take long for me to be transferred to another job."

"That's good, that's good..." Gu Hong breathed a sigh of relief.

…………

The next morning, floor 647, room 14.

After listening to Shang Jianyao's story, Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully:

"Did you see the yellow-green mist in the Sea of ​​Origin? There seems to be a city from the old world in the mist?"

"Yes." Shang Jianyao replied affirmatively.

Jiang Baimian thought about it and said:

"Do you suspect that this is the sequelae of the 'coward' aura that you brought into your spiritual world before?"

When dealing with Di Marco, Shang Jianyao got the yellow-green aura in the Night Pearl into his "Sea of ​​Origin".

"It should be like this." Shang Jianyao was very calm, even a little excited.

Jiang Baimian turned to Long Yuehong:

"After you entered Room 23 in Area C last night, you felt that it was colder than the corridor. It was a bit like the environment that Di Marco brought after he transformed into a conscious life?"

"Yes." Long Yuehong nodded heavily.

Jiang Baimian looked at Bai Chen again, walked back and forth a few steps, faced Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong and said:

"I had an idea.

"Maybe it's not a coincidence that you saw members of the Natural Sect stripping naked and running. Even if it's an illusion, it's not a coincidence."

She paused and said seriously:

"Could this be related to the yellow-green mist in Shang Jianyao's spiritual world?"

PS: Ask for monthly tickets during the double period~