"The Old Task Force" had originally thought that encountering the mechanical monk Jing Fa was a matter of coincidence and bad luck – Jing Fa happened to pass by the Black Marsh Wilderness Steel Factory ruins, entered to look for someone predestined, and as a result, encountered Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong. He then heard a woman's voice from their walkie-talkie and went mad.

Excluding the fact that Jing Fa, who mainly operated in the Monastic Wilderness, suddenly came to the Black Marsh Wilderness, the rest seemed to be fine. The development basically followed logic; it was just that "The Old Task Force" was quite unlucky.

Jiang Baimian and the others didn't feel anything strange about this afterward. People always encounter all kinds of people and all kinds of unlucky things. Without the mechanical monk Jing Fa, there might have been other powerhouses.

But now, they suddenly realized that some of the coincidences in this matter might not have been coincidences:

The mechanical monk Jing Fa didn't leave his own "Pure Land" without a reason and come to the Black Marsh Wilderness to enter the Steel Factory ruins.

That place was actually one of the five Holy Lands of the "Crystal Consciousness Church"!

And both the Monastic Order and the "Crystal Consciousness Church" worshipped the January Faceless "Bodhi." It was perfectly reasonable for them to have similar Holy Lands!

After more than ten seconds, Shang Jianyao suddenly understood and said:

"So, Zen Master Jing Fa went to the Steel Factory ruins to worship Buddha.

"His piety towards those blast furnaces was real."

Hearing Shang Jianyao say this, Long Yuehong immediately recalled the mechanical monk Jing Fa bowing to the blast furnaces.

He involuntarily recalled a line that often appeared in Old World entertainment materials:

"Good, good."

"So that's how it is..." Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, feeling relieved. "But, how could that be a Holy Land? What could Buddha have to do with a Steel Factory? Did He attain Nirvana amidst the blast furnaces, molten steel, and black smoke?"

"His golden body might have been forged in that Steel Factory," Shang Jianyao began to imagine.

Bai Chen tried hard not to imagine the scene described by Shang Jianyao and said somewhat uncertainly:

"What's related to the Faceless 'Bodhi' might not be the Steel Factory, but something else there..."

She stopped there, as if she had thought of something.

Immediately afterward, she, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong said in unison:

"Medical Records!"

This referred not to the medical records themselves, but to the volunteer described within who became a vegetable due to a car accident and was sent to Northern lands to receive new treatment.

This was similar to Jiang Xiaoyue's experience in "Mind Corridor" Room 503.

The latter not only had a room in the "Mind Corridor" that could be opened but also caused a "Dream Protector" of the "Mirage Dragon Church" to become infected with "Heartless Disease" after mistakenly entering her room.

"Combining certain rumors related to the destruction of the Old World, the experiments involving Jiang Xiaoyue and the vegetable in the Steel Factory might have touched the forbidden zone of the Gods, thus angering the Faceless and causing 'Heartless Disease,' depriving humanity of its wisdom?" Jiang Baimian recalled the various doomsday theories she had encountered, extracting certain statements that could be linked to the current discoveries, thereby assembling a logical guess.

Based on this, Bai Chen made a further hypothesis:

"When the Faceless 'Bodhi' descended in anger, was it using that vegetable as a medium, with the location being the Steel Factory ruins?"

"There's a certain possibility, but we have no way to verify it now," Jiang Baimian nodded.

Up until now, the foundation for the reason of the Old World's destruction was still based on speculation.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao raised his hand and stroked his chin:

"Is it appropriate for us to be discussing these things in a temple?"

"..." Long Yuehong was stunned at first, then felt a sense of dread.

Not to mention that "The Old Task Force" had already spoken those words, even if they were just thinking them, with Chan Na's "Telepathy" ability, he could hear them clearly and plainly.

For monks who cultivate diligently day and night and devoutly worship Buddha, wouldn't this be a form of blasphemy? Long Yuehong was extremely afraid that he would re-experience that icy pain in the next second.

Fortunately, what he feared didn't happen.

Jiang Baimian "Mmm"ed and said:

"Indeed, in the 'Crystal Consciousness Church's' temple, some remarks should be restrained a bit to avoid offending them and causing unnecessary trouble.

"Anyway, these are all empty speculations, and there's no need to continue discussing them."

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen agreed with these words one after another.

The four members of "The Old Task Force" refocused their attention on the paper, reading the subsequent content:

"3. Icefield Platform City First Senior High School.

"4. Under the old locust tree at the entrance of Linhe Village, Dajiang City.

"5. Holm Reproductive Medical Center, Fager District."

Although they were shocked by the information about the Steel Factory ruins, when they saw these subsequent Holy Lands, Jiang Baimian and the others couldn't help but blurt out questions:

"What kind of Holy Lands are these?"

"Wouldn't the monks of the 'Crystal Consciousness Church' be suspicious when they saw these names?"

"This absurd, rustic, and comical feeling makes it hard to believe. Could someone be deliberately playing a prank?"

"Also, did 'Bodhi' descend in a Reproductive Medical Center? Is He so law-abiding? Or is He giving lectures and preaching there?"

"Is Fager the district where the No. 13 Ruins of the Wastelands is located?"

After a while, Jiang Baimian calmed down and said to herself:

"This shouldn't be someone's prank. Even if normal people were joking, they wouldn't think of associating it with a Holy Land like a Steel Factory..."

And this had somehow created a certain connection with some secrets.

Long Yuehong took the opportunity to ask a question he had wanted to ask earlier:

"Who put this piece of paper in the scriptures?

"We only asked what the five Holy Lands were before breakfast and were told it was a secret. Now we've got the answer. Isn't that too coincidental?"

"This is called words becoming law!" Shang Jianyao smacked his left palm with his right fist.

Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes at him and looked at the mottled wall:

"Who could have left this? Specially left for us?"

No one answered her.

"It seems the Zen Master isn't listening to our thoughts now," Shang Jianyao laughed.

While Long Yuehong breathed a sigh of relief, he also felt a bit regretful – with Chan Na's honesty, he might actually tell them the answer.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment, took the piece of paper, and carefully cut out a few words, the kind that didn't have a clear direction.

Then, she smiled slightly:

"We'll ask the monk who delivers the food later and see if he recognizes this handwriting."

In the following time, "The Old Task Force" sometimes read the scriptures and sometimes controlled "Garibaldi's" addiction, and soon, lunchtime arrived.

Jiang Baimian took out those few scraps of paper and asked the young monk:

"We found these things in the scriptures. Do you know who wrote them? The handwriting is quite nice."

The young monk took a look and said nonchalantly:

"The Chief wrote them. He always likes to clip drafts into the scriptures."

"The Chief?" Jiang Baimian's pupils dilated slightly.

"Yes," the young monk nodded. "It's the one who attained Nirvana last night."

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others immediately recalled a bloody and eerie scene:

An old monk jumped from the top floor of the temple, fell to the ground, and his brains and blood splattered everywhere.

And before that, he had clipped a piece of paper with the names of the five Holy Lands written on it into a certain scripture.

...

North Shore Wastelands, after Han Wanghuo picked up Gennava, he glanced at the rearview mirror and said in a deep voice:

"That ruins hunter squad might have some problems. Where's the closest city or town ruins?"

Zeng Duo immediately gave the answer.

Han Wanghuo didn't delay and stepped on the accelerator, heading directly to the destination.

Speeding along, they didn't take long to reach the ruins left behind by a smaller city.

Then, Han Wanghuo drove the car into a relatively intact underground parking lot, staying a little further in from the entrance and exit.

Zeng Duo was about to say, "Isn't this reaction a bit excessive?" when she suddenly heard the sound of a drone flying in the air outside.

The sound circled a few times in the city ruins and gradually moved away.

"That was a close call..." Zeng Duo followed Gennava, who was checking the surroundings, out of the car and said sincerely, "I've never been hunted by a major force before."

She didn't have any experience in that area.

On the Ashlands, there were actually quite a few people who had similar experiences and were still alive. After all, there were blank areas of power everywhere. Once they left their own strongholds, the major forces didn't have that much control over the wilderness.

As soon as Zeng Duo finished speaking, her brows suddenly furrowed, her face quickly turned pale, and her sickly appearance became more obvious.

Han Wanghuo, who had already gotten out of the car, saw this scene and wanted to reach out and support her, but his heart suddenly went out of control.

He swayed, almost falling backward, and managed to take out a small bottle, poured out a pill, and put it in his mouth.

Han Wanghuo bent over, supported his knees with his hands, and gasped for breath, slowly calming down this bout of palpitations.

He saw that Zeng Duo had also made a similar gesture, and he saw himself in her eyes, his face looking just as bad.

In a silent exchange of glances, Zeng Duo smiled self-deprecatingly.

The two of them remained in their current posture, continuing to gasp for breath, without saying a word, in complete silence.

"Actually, getting a pacemaker should help you last a little longer," Gennava, who had returned from surveying the surroundings, said, breaking the silence.