Artifact Report

Chapter 23 Jin Xueli: The Mountain Doesn't Move, the Water Does
In the exhibition hall, which was as silent as a cave, there was only the crackling sound of flames.

Jin Xueli's nerves were as taut as a string; every slight crackle of the flame was like a fingertip plucking on her string.

She finished reading the long introduction to the fake image "Candle Tears" and stood there thinking for a long time before she could barely digest it.

She walked around the underground exhibition hall again, making sure that there would be no second attack from the corners and shadows - being attacked once by herself was already painful enough.

When she passed the corpse, she walked quickly, then suddenly stopped and turned back.

The thought of her own dead body always made Jin Xueli feel uncomfortable.

She didn't want to see it, and even less wanted to be seen by it, so she simply covered its face with a towel, blocking out the accusation and scrutiny she was making of herself, and then returned to the candle.

It naturally takes a lot of effort to use a small flame to bake such a huge candle.

She walked around the exhibition hall until the candle was finally almost melted, and she could proceed to the next step: the candle representing the beginning of May 2026 was gradually softening and loosening from the bottom, falling heavily to the ground, like a pregnant belly - except that the "belly" was gradually becoming translucent, and dark shadows were slowly moving inside, as if the belly was full of ghosts.

Jin Xueli hurriedly walked up, bent down and looked at the past world that was revealed through the melted wax.

She saw herself at first sight.

According to the pseudo-image, since it was she who touched the candle, what was revealed in the wax was mainly her personal past history - the reason why it is "mainly" is because people cannot survive alone without the environment, so the major events that occurred in her surroundings and affected her will also appear in the wax.

The original words in the introduction are as follows:

“…In today’s highly integrated world, historical turning points with crucial influence are often created by a small number of people. Mass movements that occasionally achieved success in the past are now almost impossible to replicate.

"The decisions of a few oligarchs can influence and change the fate of all humanity. Similarly, when it comes to personal history, the candle will faithfully present the key figures and events that influenced and transformed the individual's surroundings."

This passage seemed a bit obscure at the time, but after Jin Xueli read the history of wax for a while, she understood it.

For example, why did she meet the harasser Anthony in early May?
The most direct reason was that a female friend invited her to a bar that night.

Amber is not a hunter and has no connections, but she works as a financial officer in the Morgan family faction. She has dealt with Jin Xueli several times before and the two can get along well. It was that night that Jin Xueli met Anthony, who looked beautiful but not elegant, in the bar.

But if you think about it more deeply, why did Jin Xueli, who hated the smell of alcohol the most, agree to go to the bar with Amber that day?
Because at the end of April, a local war that had been going on for several years, causing inflation and exhaustion around the world, finally ended in a farce after countless bloodshed.

Although the outcome of the war was not enough to satisfy the righteous people - no matter which side they supported, no one was satisfied - but after several years of repeated and almost numbing tragedies, the whole world breathed a sigh of relief; on the day the war was declared over, there were many celebratory parades and spontaneous celebrations among the people, and even the news anchors were a little more cheerful.

The pseudo-hunter has one foot in the nest and one foot in the human world, and his mentality is always a few steps away from the human world; Jin Xueli is no exception.

But even she seemed to be bathed in the sun during those days, and her mood was as cheerful as the coming summer - Amber wanted to go out for a drink to celebrate, and she thought that she could also drink juice, so she agreed without hesitation.

If the war hadn't ended, Amber wouldn't have invited her to celebrate; if she hadn't gone to the bar, she wouldn't have met Anthony; if he hadn't turned into the stalker she was, Jin Xueli wouldn't have entered the lair, wouldn't have been stabbed in the throat, wouldn't have stood next to her own dead body, and wouldn't have found this giant candle.

Tracing back to the source of everything she had experienced today, it was actually all because of a bald old man who started a war thousands of miles away... Then how could the people and things that were closer to her and had affected her not be wrapped in the candle?

"When you're recreating the contents of Candle Tears, you'll find that the further away you are physically from the target person, the harder it is to reshape their past."

In the introduction to "Candle Tears", the following paragraph was written:

“It’s very easy to change the past of the people standing next to you. Just reach into the candle wax and fiddle with it, or shape the candle wax itself, and you can make them change their position, experience, and actions. Then the past will naturally be different.

"Although you can manage to change the people who live half a city away from you, you'll find that the wax surrounding them is a bit stiff and unyielding. It's difficult to modify the details, and at best you can only change the general outline. As for how much of a difference the change will make, it's even harder to say.

"What if it's someone on the other side of the world? Unfortunately, even if such a person appears in your candle, you can't have any influence on their past experiences."

It doesn't matter. Jin Xueli looked at the still somewhat blurry scene in the candlelight and thought that the person she wanted to change was about to come out from the back door of the bar and stand beside her.

The wax turned into transparent candle wax, and just as it was about to drip onto the floor, it stopped, like a pool of bright water suspended in the air. She touched it lightly and found that it was not hot.

The water in this pool reflects the night of Blackmore City, which is burned by bright lights. If you get closer, Jin Xueli can even smell the unique scent of alcohol, tobacco and perfume mixed in the bar.

In the pool of candle wax, the tall buildings, bars, shops, and streets all resembled miniature models. She, a finger-sized figure, stood at the back door of the bar, gazing up at the starless night sky of Blackmore City.

right here.

There is no need to fiddle with the candle wax or look for the right moment, just wait a while - from this point of view, operating the candle wax is a bit like operating the progress bar of a video, you can drag it forward and backward, or let it progress naturally according to time.

She remembered that before she met Anthony, a convoy of several black Mercedes-Benz SUVs drove by nearby. Even the windows had been treated with anti-terrorism measures, which made her look at them several times. Shortly after the convoy passed, the back door of the bar, which was painted dark red, opened.

Here they come. As soon as the bar's small back door was pushed open a crack, Jin Xueli immediately extended her little finger, dipped it into the candle wax, and pressed the tip of her finger against the door tightly.

The shortest little finger was almost as big as the bar door, and it looked really strange when it was pressed against the door.

Through the door, Anthony pushed hard, like a small insect kicking on her fingertips; but how could a person so small in the candle wax push away her huge fingertips?
She leaned closer to the candlelight and vaguely heard a curse from behind the door amidst the clamor of music: "...What's going on with this broken door?"

Little Jin Xueli, who was taking a fresh air outside the back door, ignored the huge finger that was crossing the air beside her.

Hearing the cursing coming from behind the door, she just looked back and took two steps away - a qualified citizen of Blackmore City would always be a little wary and cold towards strangers, let alone a stranger who was cursing.

The future harasser behind the door pushed a few more times with all his might, but was finally defeated and seemed to turn around and leave, and peace returned to the area behind the door.

Is this all right? Jin Xueli didn't dare to pull her hand back for a moment, still leaning against the door, thinking.

If we hadn't met at the beginning, nothing would have happened later.

Her original resentment and anger towards Anthony seemed to be soaked by a chill after witnessing "her" own death, and it was not as strong anymore; so her first priority now was just to experiment with the candles, and revenge was put second.

The artifact introduction document explains in detail how the "present" will be affected after changing history:
“…after a point of change, history will continue to develop naturally along its inherent trajectory, and people’s ‘present’ will change accordingly.

"There's a time travel paradox about whether someone can go back in time and kill their grandfather. Since their grandfather is dead, they no longer exist, but since that's why no one can go back and kill their grandfather...hence the paradox."

When it comes to traveling through time and changing the past, whether it is in movies, TV shows, novels, or nest artifacts, there seem to be many aspects that need to be explained.

"'Candle tears' don't fall into such a paradox. This is because a candle represents an inherent timeline, starting with the birth of the person who touches the candle and ending at the moment they touch it. Therefore, you can't change the past before your birth.

"But changing history through 'candle tears' will still affect the present. For example, if you melt a candle from a month ago and crush yourself in the candle tears, the moment you are crushed, you will disappear from the candle, and the candle will return to its original state.

"That's an extreme case. If you broke your leg a month ago, you certainly wouldn't meet a potential client while skiing a month later, right? As I said before, history always runs its course and produces the natural consequences that should happen."

In other words, if she had prevented herself from meeting Anthony that night, Jin Xueli would have disappeared from the candle - without the harasser, she would have lost the motivation to enter the nest; if she hadn't entered the nest, she certainly wouldn't have stayed here.

"However, to ensure the continuity of the timeline, the memory of using 'Candle Tears' and changing history will still be preserved intact. You will not lose this part of your memory just because you make changes to history."

In other words... if Jin Xueli had prevented herself from meeting Anthony, she would not appear in the nest today; but she would still remember that she met Anthony in the "previous version of history", entered the nest and changed history.

By preserving the user's memory, can the continuity of the timeline be guaranteed? Why?
Jin Xueli thought for a moment, but without an answer, she let it go. Being able to retain her memories was a great blessing for her; good things couldn't withstand scrutiny, so she simply accepted it.

Only by preserving the memory can one come back and find the "candle tears" again; compared with such a precious false image, what are the disgusting memories brought by Anthony?
In the candlelight, little Jin Xueli stamped her feet, turned around, and seemed to be preparing to go back to the bar.

Jin Xueli moved her little finger away, looked at the little girl, opened the door, and disappeared in the flashing lights and music behind the door.

Great, everything is done, you can turn off the fire and let the candle solidify again.

Only when the candle wax solidifies again can it take shape into new time and history.

The transparent candle tears pool water hanging in the air slowly turned white and then turbid, then rose up bit by bit and was absorbed into the candle body, becoming smooth and flat again - no matter how you looked at it, it seemed as if it had never melted.

Jin Xueli took a last look at the masked corpse not far away, closed her eyes, and quietly waited for the new "this moment" that would change history.

After a while, she opened her eyes.

She did not return to Blackmore; she remained in the lair.

The pool of blood beneath the masked corpse was almost dried up and purple-black. The candles extended out long, and the exhibition hall was dead silent.

In his mind, a series of memories, such as being stalked and harassed by Anthony, entering the nest, being copied by the residents, melting candles..., were all clear and all were there, just as described in "Candle Tears", and they had not disappeared.

There is only one difference.

The place where she met Anthony changed from the back door of the bar to the front door.

　I've been so exhausted these past two days... I was so exhausted a while ago that I can't recover. We're 18 years old, and we're not young anymore. We're not like we were 17, and we feel the strain on our bodies. Sigh.

　　When I'm tired, I can't tell whether I'm tired or hungry. I crave food all day long, and when I eat, I inevitably faint afterward, which makes matters worse... These past two days have been so, so miserable...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)