On the way back from the island to the shore of Fury Lake, all the way to the entrance of the "Underground Ark" Iron Mountain, the members of the "Old Task Force" remained silent, their minds replaying those conversations:
"How long did the first group of people from your tribe who landed on the island wait for the envoy, and where did they wait?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"How are they doing now?"
"They, they all got 'Heartless Disease'."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
Back on the second underground floor, inside the reception room, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao and broke the unspeakable atmosphere:
"Why aren't you talking?
"You're the least likely to be scared."
Shang Jianyao raised his hand and rubbed his temples:
"It's afternoon now, and I used my abilities again. The battery is almost drained."
His damaged mental state had not fully recovered.
With such an interlude, Long Yuehong finally couldn't help but ask:
"Staying in the Yanhu Temple for more than a quarter of an hour, staying in the area around the temple for more than half an hour, staying in other parts of the island for more than three days, will inevitably lead to 'Heartless Disease'?"
Jiang Baimian nodded almost imperceptibly:
"That's how it seems so far.
"I wonder if the company used human lives to accumulate experience..."
"Then what is the reason for all this?" Bai Chen didn't care too much about why "Pangu Biology" could formulate such precautions; she was concerned about the connection between the sleeping Yanhu and "Heartless Disease."
On the way back, Jiang Baimian had thought of many possibilities and denied them one by one. At this time, she put forward the one she thought was the most reasonable:
"Yanhu is actually trapped in the 'New World', and his body is equivalent to becoming a node where the 'New World' and reality intersect?
"Such an uncontrolled node will slowly leak the aura, substances, and..."
Speaking of this, Jiang Baimian paused and added a word:
"Virus."
Long Yuehong's eyes widened suddenly:
"Are you saying that the 'Heartless Disease' virus comes from the 'New World' and is transmitted to the graylands through similar nodes, infecting the surrounding people, just like when Yanhu fell asleep, the human settlements on the island were quickly overwhelmed by 'Heartless Disease'?"
"This is one explanation, and more evidence is needed." Jiang Baimian tried to calm herself down.
Finding out the source of "Heartless Disease" had always been her ideal.
She took a breath and added:
"For the 'New World', the 'Heartless Disease' virus may not be anything, or even not a virus at all, but for people living in the graylands, it is very deadly."
This reminded her of some books she had read before, that when some humans came to a secluded place, the bacteria and viruses they carried, which were harmless to them, brought about large-scale deaths to the natives.
"But, but everyone says the 'New World' is a good place, with no 'Heartless Disease', no famine, no cold, no monsters, no aberrations..." Long Yuehong felt that the sacred place in his heart had been defiled.
"Maybe there are no humans either." Shang Jianyao, who was weak and unwell, added next to him.
This sentence made Long Yuehong's hair stand on end.
Bai Chen nodded along.
"'New World' is not necessarily a good place. Didn't Olei say he would rather die than go to 'New World'?"
Jiang Baimian "ummed" and recalled:
"We previously discovered that the date of the 'Heartless Disease' outbreak in the company coincided with the time of the initial city's unrest. Didn't we make a guess?
"The unrest in the initial city is likely to have been noticed by the Ruling God, or even directly interfered with. Their collision produced certain high-level fluctuations, bringing small-scale 'Heartless Disease' to many places in the graylands...
"Now it seems that this speculation has to be revised."
Shang Jianyao raised his hand, trying to answer quickly, but weakly rubbed his forehead:
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think."
Jiang Baimian glanced at him and considered her words:
"During the initial city's unrest, the powerhouses of various forces whose spirits entered the 'New World' and whose bodies remained in the graylands more or less returned. In addition to the Ruling Gods' gaze and intervention, on that morning, there must have been multiple channels between the 'New World' and the graylands, causing 'Heartless Disease' to leak out once again."
Compared to the fluctuations caused by the collision of forces, this guess seemed more reasonable and realistic.
Long Yuehong nodded first, and then raised a question:
"Since you can't stay in the Yanhu Temple where he is sleeping and the surrounding area for too long, otherwise you will inevitably be infected with 'Heartless Disease', then the inside of the 'Crystal Consciousness Church's' Sikaro Temple and the streets next to it, the Golden Apple District of the initial city, and even the entire city, could not possibly have any humans. It would have been ruled by 'Heartless Ones' long ago."
In Long Yuehong's view, the "Buddha's Response Body" and the sleeping Yanhu were not much different in essence, and there was definitely more than one strong person in the initial city whose spirit had entered the 'New World' and whose body remained in the graylands and was still active.
What Yanhu could bring would be brought by them too!
Jiang Baimian smiled slightly bitterly and responded:
"What do you think the occasional 'Heartless Disease' cases in the initial city come from?"
These words sent chills down Long Yuehong's spine.
Jiang Baimian continued:
"It's just that, compared to the unlucky Yanhu, they have more freedom, can choose when to return and when to sleep on their own, and also maintain a certain degree of control over the surrounding area, which can suppress the leakage and spread of 'Heartless Disease' to a very low level.
"And I suspect that they can also consciously allocate power, to protect or not protect whom, so few of the company's management get 'Heartless Disease', while the employee population has it once or twice a year, or even more.
"We can verify this point when we return to the initial city later, and compare the incidence of 'Heartless Disease' among the noble groups, officials, soldiers, and ordinary citizens."
Bai Chen remembered a detail and agreed with some understanding:
"No wonder Olei's butler wasn't sad, panicked, or afraid after he got 'Heartless Disease', but angry and confused...
"He believed that some parties who should have protected the butler had not fulfilled their responsibilities."
Hearing this, Long Yuehong felt that another link had been connected.
*Pa*, Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and hit his left palm, forcing a relieved expression:
"So we really wronged Xiao Chong back then!"
The "Old Task Force" had suspected for a while that the "Heartless Disease" epidemic in the Green Olive District of the initial city was related to Xiao Chong.
Jiang Baimian chuckled:
"Don't forget how teacher Du Heng evaluated Wu Meng and Xiao Chong.
"As the sores of this world, their connection with the New World is not necessarily weaker than those sleeping old geezers."
Silence reigned here in the reception room once again.
After a long while, Bai Chen took the initiative to raise a question:
"Since Yanhu is likely to be an Awakened whose spirit entered the 'New World' and whose body remained in the graylands, why did he shout 'Save me'? And unlike other 'New World' powerhouses, he can't occasionally return."
Jiang Baimian already had ideas about this and smiled:
"Yanhu calls himself 'Yanluo' and is worshiped as a god in the present world. Obviously, he does not believe in any Ruling God. When he arrives in the 'New World', naturally no one will take him in or protect him, and then he probably encountered something.
"I suspect he was suppressed by a Ruling God, just like DiMarco was sealed by 'You Gu' in the Ark..."
Jiang Baimian spoke softer and softer in the second half of the sentence.
This used to be a place where "You Gu" often watched.
To this end, Jiang Baimian deliberately changed the subject and sneered at Shang Jianyao:
"Someone like you, who carries a map of the blessings of the Ruling Gods with you, would probably be even worse off than Yanhu if you entered the 'New World'."
Shang Jianyao sighed:
"They will understand my good intentions."
"What good intentions do you have?" Long Yuehong knew that Shang Jianyao would not give a serious answer, so he wanted to hear what "high opinion" he had.
Shang Jianyao spread his hands:
"Haven't thought it out yet.
"Anyway, it's still early."
As he spoke, he yawned.
Seeing this, Jiang Baimian made a summary:
"This trip to Redstone Collection has been much more fruitful than I expected, and it's crucial.
"Next, the specific connection between the 'New World' and 'Heartless Disease' will be put aside for the time being, because there are no leads to pursue at the moment, and we'll consider it later.
"Hey, you follow us to the library, find some books to make a bed on the floor and sleep for a while, and we'll ask the residents of the Ark to help filter and filter.
"Try to get all the words left by Monteis translated before we see the Mountain Monster tomorrow afternoon."
The current direction of the "Old Task Force" is the relationship between Monteis and the "Iron Mountain Second Food Company", this Buddhist holy land.
…………
In the dead of night, in the library, Jiang Baimian asked Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao, who had woken up from a "nap":
"Any gains?"
"No." Bai Chen answered first, and Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao shook their heads after her.
Jiang Baimian frowned slightly:
"After getting through the initial shock, panic, and confusion, Monteis seems to have become cautious and careful, and no longer leaves any clues."
After pondering for a few seconds, Jiang Baimian turned to ask:
"Are there any Buddhist scriptures in the library?"
Preceptor Pudu Shang Jianyao was very sure about this:
"No.
"I originally wanted to find a few volumes to study."
He was the only one who wanted to study Buddhist scriptures, not "we."
Jiang Baimian "ummed":
"Never read Buddhist scriptures, and doesn't seem to have been to the 'Hall of Stars'. How did DiMarco, or rather Monteis, know that one of his abilities is called 'Destiny Sight'?
"This is a term unique to Buddhism. Many people in the graylands don't know or understand it. How did a Red River person come up with it?"