Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 155: Zeng Guangwang

Jiang Baimian knew that An Ruxiang wasn’t saying anything to Shang Jianyao and herself in her current state. It was because of this opportunity that she subconsciously sorted out her messy feelings.

Therefore, she didn’t echo, interrupt, or express her opinion.

An Ruxiang fell silent again. After a while, she said, “I’d never seen such light in my own eyes. It made me want to see it more.”

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s response, she calmly asked, “Have you escaped the person with the bewitchment powers?”

“He still owes us a lot of things.” Shang Jianyao was a little excited at the mention of Qiao Chu.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “We later encountered the Advanced Heartless you encountered. In the chaos, we escaped the bewitchment range. However, I still have to thank you for your reminder back then. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

“It’s only right,” An Ruxiang said simply.

She then looked back at the temporary classroom. “What are you investigating? I’m about to begin class.”

Jiang Baimian knew that An Ruxiang wanted the long story to be made short, so she directly said, “We’re investigating the organization that randomly distributes pamphlets, which promotes that ‘knowledge is toxic.’ Have you been threatened while you were a temporary teacher?”

An Ruxiang instantly became vigilant. “A few days ago, a piece of paper was stuffed under my door. On it was written: ‘Stop the act of poisoning humans, or you will suffer divine punishment.’ They also wrote ‘suffer’ as ‘buffer.’ I only understood it after taking the context into account.

“Nothing abnormal has happened since then. My instincts and experience in this regard haven’t dropped.”

“That’s their characteristic.” Jiang Baimian agreed.

Shang Jianyao also added, “Their intelligence is relatively low.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Be careful in the next few days. You can come to us if anything abnormal happens. We stay here and are friends with Gu Changle.”

“Alright.” An Ruxiang was now alone, so she didn’t mind cooperating when faced with a strange situation.

“There’s nothing else. Go back to class.” Just as Jiang Baimian said that, she suddenly thought of a detail and muttered to herself. “It hasn’t been two months since we separated in Swamp Ruin No. 1, right?”

“Barely a month,” An Ruxiang answered.

“Then, how long have you been a temporary teacher here?” Jiang Baimian asked.

“About three weeks.” An Ruxiang remembered this very clearly.

“In other words, there was another temporary teacher previously?” Jiang Baimian remembered that the girl she had been chatting with had said that she had been here for almost two months.

“Yes,” An Ruxiang replied frankly. “I only received the corresponding mission because he suddenly resigned.”

“Then, do you know why he resigned?” Jiang Baimian became excited.

“I don’t know. I don’t like chatting.” An Ruxiang pointed at the temporary classroom. “You can ask them.”

“Alright.” As Jiang Baimian nodded, Shang Jianyao had already walked to the temporary classroom.

He walked in front of Gu Changle, squatted down, and looked her in the eye. “I have a question.”

Gu Changle suddenly felt a little nervous. “What?”

“Why did the previous temporary teacher quit so suddenly?” Shang Jianyao questioned directly.

“He didn’t say.” Gu Changle looked at the women around her. “But he’s not bad. He refunded a week’s worth of tuition fees.”

Jiang Baimian—who had followed him in—asked, “Do you know where he lives then? What does he look like?”

Gu Changle replied in confusion, “He’s just an ordinary man named Zeng Guangwang. His eyes are a little lecherous, but he’s still very focused when teaching. I’m not sure where exactly he lives.”

At this moment, the 17-year-old girl—who had been chatting with Shang Jianyao and the others—hesitated and said, “I know.”

“Where?” Shang Jianyao quickly turned his head.

As he and Jiang Baimian were rather good-looking, they naturally gained goodwill. The girl hesitated and said, “I met him at Yellow Corner Alley before he quit. H-he wanted to sleep with me once. I happened to be lacking in money back then. I thought that, since we were acquaintances and there was no fear of being robbed, I agreed. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who I sleep with.

“He was pretty generous when it came to giving money. He lives in the courtyard between Yellow Corner Alley and Red Silk Alley. The building by Yellow Corner Alley, the building on the left. Block 2, fourth floor, Unit 406. Yes, Unit 406.”

Jiang Baimian became excited when she heard that it was a courtyard between Yellow Corner Alley and Red Silk Alley.

That was where Lin Feifei had once rented a room!

After hearing the girl’s description, the women around them giggled.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Did he quit because he performed badly and was embarrassed to see you again?”

“Was he up to the task?”

...

Amidst these bold statements, Shang Jianyao sincerely thanked the girl before leaving the building where Ah Fu’s Gun Shop was located. He then headed straight for Red Silk Alley with Jiang Baimian.

The one guarding the courtyard’s entrance was still the old man. This time, Shang Jianyao didn’t say a word. He stuffed a bag of compressed biscuits over and successfully stopped the other party’s interrogation.

According to the described address, the two of them entered the corresponding building and went up to the fourth floor.

After taking a few steps, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao. “There’s someone in the room.”

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao indicated that he had sensed it as well.

Jiang Baimian then reached into her pocket and gripped the Ice Moss’s gun handle. After finishing her preparations, she came to Unit 406’s door, raised her left hand, and knocked a few times.

“Who is it?” A voice—which sounded like it came from someone that had just woken up—sounded from inside.

“Your father,” Shang Jianyao replied fluently.

This shut Jiang Baimian—who had prepared a statement—up.

The person in the room seemed to become very angry. He forgot his vigilance and hesitation and suddenly rushed over, pulling open the wooden door.

He was a man in his thirties. He looked ordinary, and nothing special stood out.

The first person he saw was Jiang Baimian. He was stunned before he subconsciously smiled. “Yes, what’s the matter?”

Upon seeing this slightly lecherous behavior, Jiang Baimian became increasingly certain that this was Zeng Guangwang.

She smiled and asked, “Zeng Guangwang?”

“Yes, that’s me.” Zeng Guangwang finally saw Shang Jianyao. Due to his inferior height, he immediately became vigilant.

Jiang Baimian took out her Hunter’s Badge and showed it. “We took on an investigation mission, and we want to ask you something.”

“If you want to ask about something...” Zeng Guangwang rubbed his fingers.

Shang Jianyao’s existence prevented him from making any more excessive requests.

Jiang Baimian threw an energy bar over and didn’t give the other party a chance to bargain. She then directly asked, “Weren’t you previously a temporary teacher? Why did you suddenly quit?”

Zeng Guangwang’s face turned pale as if he had recalled something bad.

Upon seeing that he was inclined to refuse to answer, Jiang Baimian spoke first. “Is it related to the idea that knowledge is toxic?”

Zeng Guangwang was stunned for a few seconds before saying, “What do you know?”

Jiang Baimian didn’t respond and only looked at him.

Shang Jianyao tried to make eye contact with Zeng Guangwang, not letting him look away.

“Let’s talk inside.” Zeng Guangwang looked around, appearing timid.

After closing the door, he paced around and said, “I’ve previously been a temporary teacher for several families. I thought that I wouldn’t go out and take risks when the weather turned cold. During that period of time, I received several pamphlets one after another. They were similar to the pamphlets that were randomly distributed on the streets. They wrote about how thinking was a trap and how knowledge was toxic.

“I ignored it, finding them a bunch of idiots. Then, I came back from East Street one day and entered Yellow Corner Alley. Before I reached the courtyard entrance, I encountered someone...” As he spoke, fear appeared on Zeng Guangwang’s face. “That person was a little taller than me and about the same as you. He was wearing a black trench coat. Yes, a trench coat.”

Zeng Guangwang looked at Jiang Baimian and gestured. “He was very thin, and his expression wasn’t good. He looked very haggard, appearing as though he was suffering from a serious illness.”

Zeng Guangwang paused and took a deep breath. “He walked in front of me and looked at me. He then said, ‘Sir, knowledge is the root cause of the Old World’s destruction. Your actions are poisoning humans. Please cease and desist immediately; otherwise, the Kalendaria’s noose will come for you.’

After saying that, Zeng Guangwang felt like he had plunged into a nightmare. “His eyes were very terrifying; they were black, and there was clearly nothing strange about them. However, they were very terrifying. I can’t even remember what he looks like.

“I ignored him back then and thought that he was crazy. After I returned, I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I was hanging in the closet, about to die. I had clearly been sleeping!

“I struggled with all my might, wanting to save myself. Fortunately, the wooden beam in the closet was very rotten to begin with. It didn’t take long for it to snap. In the room, there was no one else but me! I was f*cking terrified and didn’t dare to tell anyone. I quickly canceled all the missions as a temporary teacher and lost a large sum...”

Zeng Guangwang was rather agitated when describing this matter. He pulled open the dark-red closet door by the bed.

The wooden cross-beam inside had clear signs of snapping.

Hypnosis? Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully.

She turned her head and glanced at Shang Jianyao. She realized that the fellow had already walked toward Zeng Guangwang and sincerely said, “You encountered a ghost.”

“No way...” Zeng Guangwang originally didn’t believe in such things, but he believed it a little now. “What should I do then?”

During this period of time, he had been overly suspicious. He couldn’t sleep well, eat well, and he didn’t have an appetite. He didn’t even have the mood to complete missions and had to rely on his savings.

“Move as soon as possible,” Shang Jianyao suggested seriously.

Jiang Baimian—who wanted to stop him—shut her mouth. She felt that this was a good suggestion.

Be it escaping the Anti-intellectualism Church’s line of sight or a familiar environment, this was the easiest way to achieve the avoidance of certain hints from acting up again.

“Alright...” Zeng Guangwang said hesitantly.

After bidding him farewell, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao walked down the stairs.

When they reached the first floor, Jiang Baimian finally said, “Who do you think warned Zeng Guangwang?”

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Father. The Father I wanted to beat up.”