Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 168: Drawing Silk from the Cocoon

To Jiang Baimian’s relief, Oudick couldn’t return to the Hunter’s Guild because the wilderness nomads were blocking Central Square and attacking North Street. He could only stay in Castellan Manor.

Not only could they return the car this way, but they also had the opportunity to interrogate the fake Father without any need for relays—this wasn’t something that could be done with a special permit.

After entering Castellan Manor and seeing Oudick in the side room, Jiang Baimian threw the car key at him and asked frankly, “Has the fake Father awoken?”

Her subtext was: Did you complete the first round of interrogation?

Oudick nodded and said, “He undoubtedly believes that he is Father. The plan he prepared was to lure us into the trap, find an opportunity to ‘hypnotize’ me, and make me his accomplice. During this process, he would rely on the seeds that he planted in advance to cause a huge commotion and create the most suitable environment for the final assassination.”

“If we didn’t know that the Castellan had almost died in the Hunter’s Guild, this plan sounds pretty realistic at first glance,” Jiang Baimian commented.

Shang Jianyao added, “Unfortunately, he’s too weak to carry out such a plan.”

These words suddenly made Oudick feel a little embarrassed. This was because he was almost useless against such a ‘weak’ opponent. He had fallen into a sneezing hell not long after the action began.

Jiang Baimian didn’t waste any time glaring at Shang Jianyao and inquired, “Have you figured out the whereabouts of Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and their companions?”

This was the question she was most concerned about.

Oudick shook his head. “The fake Father handed them over to a person nicknamed ‘Mute’ and prepared to frame them after the assassination succeeded. He doesn’t know what Mute looks like or where he lives. His communications only rely on the Anti-intellectualism Church’s agreed-upon communication method. But it’s too chaotic outside North Street, so we can’t use the corresponding means to contact him.”

After Jiang Baimian heard that, she thoughtfully said, “Could this Mute be the real Father? Is his contact and communication with the fake Father actually a form of Hypnosis?”

“That’s possible.” Oudick had such a guess as well.

Their current consensus was: The fake Father was an Awakened that had been hypnotized or had his memories tampered with by the real Father. Therefore, he sincerely believed that he was the real Father and completed all kinds of missions according to the instructions of the Church’s higher-ups.

The high-ranking member was most likely the real Father. At the same time, he might also be the cooperating partner, Mute.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked, “Why does the fake Father know Hypnosis?”

“Did the real Father specially find Awakened who knows Hypnosis? Only then can he create a perfect substitute,” Jiang Baimian guessed.

If the fake Father didn’t know Hypnosis, not only would others not believe that he was the real Father, but he would also suspect something and have his corresponding understanding waver.

Oudick subconsciously said, “How can they accurately find an Awakened who knows Hypnosis...”

Not only were there very few Awakened, but they were also accustomed to hiding their traits of having superpowers.

Oudick suddenly paused before he could finish speaking because he had already thought of the answer.

Shang Jianyao excitedly said, “Every time the Anti-intellectualism Church produces a batch of Awakened, a Father has to be chosen.”

Last Man’s domains were in hypnosis and memory, so even though the Awakened of ‘His’ Church’s corresponding domains didn’t hold the absolute advantage, there was definitely no lack of them.

Jiang Baimian tried to translate Shang Jianyao’s words. “When a certain number of Awakened with hypnosis abilities reach a certain number, they will be placed together, locked up somewhere, and be made to ‘kill’ each other? Finally, a real Father and many fake Fathers will walk out?”

The more Jiang Baimian thought about it, the more she felt that it might be true.

This perfectly matched the Anti-intellectualism Church’s teachings!

“Most people don’t need brains. They are just puppets and archetypal nihilists; they leave their thinking to the corresponding Chosen One...” Jiang Baimian sighed with emotion and found it funny. “My previous understanding of the Anti-intellectualism Church was still too shallow. They actually did the same thing among the Awakened, who are a Church’s backbone. They really do what they preach...”

What kind of spirit was this!?

As she sighed, Jiang Baimian saw that Shang Jianyao was a little tempted from the corner of her eye.

She had every reason to suspect that this fellow wanted to compete for the identity of the real Father.

But Jiang Baimian didn’t think that Shang Jianyao could use Inference Clowning to deal with the real Father. She even felt that he might be hypnotized by the other party or have his memories tampered with.

The final outcome might be that the real Father would work hard to clean up the mess for the fake Father. After experiencing this many times, the real Father might decide to kick him out of the Father team with abnormal disdain, only to realize in surprise that this fellow had taken away all the fake Fathers and formed a new Father brotherhood, leaving the real Father alone.

Phew... Jiang Baimian exhaled and decided to throw these wild thoughts to the back of her mind.

Since she couldn’t obtain information on the real Father and Wei Yu’s whereabouts from the fake Father, Jiang Baimian could only ask, “Have you seen Castellan Xu? Did you ask about the details of his attack?”

Jiang Baimian wondered if she could find any clues from this matter.

Oudick didn’t hide anything and explained the assault in detail with the information he had learned from Xu Liyan.

Of course, this didn’t include the mechanical monk’s abilities. Xu Liyan had skipped that topic.

At this point, he rather admired Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s abilities. He only felt that their brains might be a little abnormal, which might be the price they had to pay.

Similarly, Jiang Baimian also trusted Oudick’s ability to use his influence on dreams to obtain statements. She didn’t request to interrogate the fake Father personally.

Jiang Baimian’s expression gradually turned solemn as she listened, but Shang Jianyao’s expression didn’t visually change.

After Oudick finished speaking, Shang Jianyao excitedly asked, “Does Zen Master Jingnian know Zen Master Jingfa?”

“They should know each other...” Oudick replied in an uncertain tone.

Although there weren’t many mechanical monks, and most of them knew each other, he didn’t dare make an affirmative judgment as he wasn’t a mechanical monk.

After this conversation, Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “I think there’s something wrong with this attack. There are at least three oddities.”

“What are the three oddities?” Oudick also felt that something was amiss, but he couldn’t figure out what the problems were.

Jiang Baimian raised her finger and said, “First, based on the attack’s timing and the environment back then, what the fake Father did seemed useless. Be it transferring you from the guild or triggering the wilderness nomad riot, it didn’t provide any additional help to the attack itself.

“Think about it. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t stay in the guild all the time. You definitely would’ve been searching for clues outside. The commotion only affected the city guards and the Castellan Guard. It only deepened the tense atmosphere for Zen Master Jingnian and the four bodyguards in the guild. They wouldn’t have been distracted or overstrained because of this.”

“Yes.” Oudick agreed with this.

The real and fake Father’s plan seemed very ingenious, but upon careful thought, there was no need for the fake Father to exist.

Jiang Baimian curled up her other finger. “Second, given how Zen Master Jingnian’s true identity and abilities were grasped through Real Hallucination ahead of time, the real Father’s subsequent actions were simply... simply...”

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao added, “Brainless.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t retort and continued speaking. “When Castellan Xu opened the door, there was no need for him to answer at all; he could’ve pretended to be a real bodyguard. He should’ve immediately used Real Hallucination to influence Zen Master Jingnian again and get the four ‘hypnotized’ bodyguards to deal with Castellan Xu instead of letting off the greatest threat and swarming the target to finish him off.

“If Father adopted this plan, you should only be able to see the Castellan’s funeral portrait.”

Oudick deliberated and said, “Maybe the Hypnosis wasn’t strong enough due to the rush for time, and he needed to give guidance before the other bodyguards violated their duty and shot the Castellan?”

This was Zen Master Jingnian’s explanation of the situation back then.

“That’s indeed a possibility.” Jiang Baimian raised her third finger. “Let’s not talk about whether Christina from the Hunter’s Guild is his companion or if she was innocently pulled into this matter. Considering the resources and the faction backing Father, it’s too crude for him to choose to carry out an execution by gunfire.

“At that distance, throwing a grenade, getting some toxic gas, or tying a ring of high-performance, remote-controlled bombs invented by the Orange Company would suffice. Zen Master Jingnian won’t be able to protect him even if he wants to, or he won’t be able to do so in time.”

Jiang Baimian meant that the person who had mixed into the bodyguards’ ranks didn’t need to be Father himself, but another man of sacrifice that had been ‘hypnotized.’ In any case, the four bodyguards believed that there were five people in the team. This only required Father to project the man of sacrifice’s appearance when the Real Hallucination affected them, not Father’s own appearance.

“Something is indeed amiss...” Oudick thought about it and felt that Castellan Xu would’ve died countless times if the operation had been planned by the female Hunter opposite him.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and came to a realization. “I get it.”

Upon seeing Oudick look at him, Shang Jianyao seriously said, “Father is teasing Castellan Xu!”

When Oudick’s mouth twitched slightly, Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, “It seems like Father doesn’t want to kill Castellan Xu. Then, why did he go through all the trouble—to the point of mobilizing himself—to attack Castellan Xu?”

At this moment, a word surfaced in Oudick’s mind: “Hypnosis!”

Father spent all his effort to close the distance between him and Xu Liyan and ensure eye contact so as to ‘hypnotize’ the other party!

Jiang Bohemian had also come to this conclusion, and she quickly asked, “Where’s Castellan Xu now?”

“In the Aristocratic Council Chamber. He’s discussing the matter of dealing with the wilderness nomads’ riots with all the nobles...” Oudick suddenly understood something. This might be the reason why Father stirred up a wilderness nomad riot!

“Let’s go!” Oudick suddenly turned around and rushed out of the side room. At the same time, he took out his phone.