Embers Ad Infinitum

"Have they already moved?" Long Yuehong asked in confusion as she looked at the apartment entrance illuminated by the street lights in a multi-purpose vehicle parked on the street.

It was already eight or nine o'clock in the evening, and several members of the "Old Tune Group" had already taken turns having dinner, but Smith hadn't come back yet.

——The place where they waited was outside the apartment, not at the door of Smith's room. If these five people were squatting there, they would definitely scare the residents coming and going.

Anyway, with the current sensing range of Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, they can also monitor whether there is anyone in the corresponding room from the street downstairs.

Hearing Long Yuehong's words, Shang Jianyao breathed a sigh of relief:

"It seems like they haven't moved."

Jiang Baimian glared at this guy:

"Go up and ask Smith's neighbors. We can't just wait like this."

The people in charge of the inquiry were Bai Chen and Long Yuehong. They were relatively inconspicuous in the team and would not arouse the vigilance of the apartment residents.

Room 502.

A woman opened the door. After she saw clearly that the visitor was a stranger, she slammed the door before Bai Chen could speak.

"Wouldn't she use a cat's eye to observe first?" Long Yuehong said a little aggrieved.

He was all ready to ask.

Bai Chen looked at the peephole above the door lock:

"It must have been broken."

After more than ten seconds, the door opened again.

The person standing at the door turned into a strong man.

He was wearing a short-sleeved black T-shirt. Although the clothes were old, there were no signs of mending.

"Who are you?" the strong man asked in confusion.

When Long Yuehong put on a smile, Bai Chen pointed to Room 503:

"We are friends of Smith. We came here to look for him today, but he never came back. Do you know where he went?"

"Him?" The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "He is sometimes very late. You can wait a little longer."

"Okay." Bai Chen nodded, "Thank you."

While walking down the stairs, Long Yuehong asked in confusion:

"What on earth could possibly cause him to be late occasionally?"

"Get a salary and enjoy it; participate in sect activities; work as a temporary teacher, take care of night school students..." Bai Chen cited many possibilities.

They quickly brought the information to Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao and Gnawa, and everyone unanimously decided to wait until the early morning.

The public security in Golden Wheatshear District is obviously better than that in Green Olive District, and the streets are cleaner, creating a quiet atmosphere in the dark night.

The patter of rain fell, dimming the light of the street lamps on both sides.

When it was close to 11 o'clock, a man came from the corner, holding a black umbrella in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other.

He is thin, four or five centimeters shorter than Long Yuehong. He wears a linen shirt and khaki loose trousers. He has deep-set eye sockets, his skin is more brown, and he is clean-shaven.

He was a man of unremarkable appearance, but of mixed race between Red River and Red Bank people, and this fit Felinton's description of Smith.

Seeing this man entering the apartment, the four members of the "Old Tune Team" suddenly became energetic.

Gnawa also returns from power saving mode.

After a minute or two, Shang Jianyao laughed:

"There's someone in the room."

"But why didn't he turn on the light?" Long Yuehong glanced at the window of Room 503.

The lights there were not lit.

"To save electricity." Bai Chen gave his own explanation.

"Then let's go up and visit Smith." Jiang Baimian did not let Gnawa stay behind. After all, the other party was involved in a religious organization, and no one knew whether an accident would happen.

And with an intelligent robot like Gnawa following, the fault tolerance rate of the "old tune team" will be significantly improved.

Returning to the fifth floor of the apartment, Shang Jianyao volunteered and knocked on the door.

——They have tried it before, and the doorbell in Room 503 is either broken or has no batteries.

The banging sound was repeated three times, but there was no movement behind the door.

"His bioelectrical signal is still there, but it stops at the original position, motionless." Jiang Baimian frowned and said.

Shang Jianyao nodded:

"So is his consciousness."

"You shouldn't fall asleep so soon..." Long Yuehong was suddenly frightened by her own guess, "Did something happen?"

Although he felt that it was probably not a coincidence, the "Old Tune Team" had encountered quite a few coincidences over such a long period of time.

Shang Jianyao knocked on the door again, but there was still no movement inside.

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and winked at Bai Chen.

Bai Chen took out a piece of wire he carried with him, inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it a few times.

The door opened silently.

The room was dark, with only the faint light from the window illuminating some outlines of the walls.

There is no moon or stars on a rainy night.

"In the bedroom." Jiang Baimian said in a suppressed voice.

You can see that there is a little dim light overflowing from the crack in the bedroom door.

The four human members of the "Old Tune Team" each pulled out their pistols and walked towards the room with their backs slightly bent.

As they marched, they naturally formed a fighting formation.

Gennava followed last, walking on tiptoe, afraid of making unnecessary noise.

The bedroom door was unlocked, just ajar.

After taking a look at Jiang Baimian and others who were already in their places, Shang Jianyao reached out and pushed open the door.

The situation inside quickly came into their eyes:

A wooden bed was placed next to the curtained window. There was a table in front of it, and a larger rectangular mirror stood on the table.

At this time, the only light sources in the dark room came from the two white candles in front of the mirror.

They gently swayed with a yellowish firelight, reflecting their own figures in the mirror.

Sitting at the table, looking at the mirror and candles was the man in the linen shirt from before.

He had full-face headphones on his head, a brown paper bag leaning against his feet, and a red apple in his hand, which he was slowly peeling.

Late in the morning, in a room with no one else around, a man like this sat in front of the mirror, peeling an apple in front of a candle.

Such a scene made Long Yuehong uncontrollably feel horrified.

He felt something strange.

Feeling the wind blowing in, the man turned his head and looked at the door.

"Who are you?" He jumped up and asked, gesturing with the fruit knife in his hand.

It was obvious that he was frightened.

This instantly dissipated the supernatural atmosphere in the room.

"We are friends of Felinton, and we are here to see you." Jiang Baimian introduced himself with a smile.

The man asked blankly:

"Ah, what did you say?"

"..." Jiang Baimian felt like facing himself for a moment.

The next second, the man remembered to take off the headphones on his head.

Seeing this, Jiang Baimian repeated what he had just said, and finally added:

"Are you Smith?"

"Yes." Smith relaxed a little, "Why do you just enter other people's homes so casually?"

"We saw you coming back, but no one answered the door. We thought you had a sudden illness." Jiang Baimian said sincerely, "I'm sorry, we used some means to open the door."

Smith thought about it and felt that the other party did have good intentions, so he breathed out and said:

"Don't do this again. Maybe I'm just constipated?"

"It makes sense." Shang Jianyao accepted this explanation.

Smith put down the fruit knife, quietly pressed his right palm on the "Red River" pistol at his waist, and asked:

"Where's Felinton? He hasn't come back yet?"

"He passed away and died under the influence of the white wolf." Jiang Baimian said something that seemed to be the truth.

Smith was silent for a few seconds, sighed and said:

"I just said it was not easy and told him not to go."

After sighing with emotion about Felinton, Smith pointed to the living room outside and said:

"Let's go out and talk."

Having so many people blocking the bedroom door made him feel uncomfortable.

The fluorescent lights in the living room were quickly turned on. Smith found a convenient location to sit down and asked:

"What do you want from me?"

Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"We came from the south and had a conflict with a group of people from the Mirage Sect. Their illusions were very powerful and we suffered a lot. I heard that your sect is also good at this. I want to ask you for advice on how to deal with them. .”

Jiang Baimian said this without changing his expression.

Smith's expression changed several times:

"Those heretics..."

"Ah?" It was Long Yuehong who said in surprise.

Jiang Baimian then asked:

"You also believe in the 'Broken Mirror'?"

Smith nodded slightly, raised his palms and placed them in front of his face, as if looking in a mirror.

"The dream will eventually wake up, and the new world is on the other side of the mirror." The sect member said in a low voice.

Long Yuehong expressed confusion:

"But Felinton said you don't worship any leader, you just believe in the mirror."

Smith was stunned for two seconds:

"I didn't say that, I only said that we believe in mirrors, and the mirror is Zhi Sui, the 'broken mirror'.

"Well, it seems that his understanding is wrong. No wonder he refuses to join us."

Having said this, Smith exhaled and said with a solemn expression:

"Those heretics ignored the sacred mirror and thought Zhi Sui was a giant dragon. I don't know where the basis for this came from!"

"Oh." Shang Jianyao looked like he suddenly understood, "Then what is your Holy Communion?"

Smith pointed to the bedroom:

"It's Apple.

"In a room without other people, plug your ears, light a candle, and peel off the skin in front of the mirror. This is a preparatory ritual for enjoying the Holy Communion. If the skin is not broken during the peeling process, then you are next You will be blessed by Zhi Sui for a while."

Don’t you feel scared by this ceremony? Long Yuehong muttered immediately.

"Oh." Shang Jianyao didn't ask any more questions.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"Good luck.

"Well, what's the name of your sect?"

"Mirror Cult." Smith said with great pride, "We do not recruit followers casually. We will only give out invitations after years of observation and deem it possible."

Having said this, he showed a troubled expression:

"I don't have much research on illusions. I am more focused on understanding the doctrine. I may not be able to help you."

It was so fresh and refined to say that she was not an awakened person... Long Yuehong's mind turned twice before she understood what Smith really meant.

Smith paused and said:

“I just know to target the weaknesses.

"I can also help you contact the priest, but he may not meet you."