Artifact Report

Chapter 26 Jin Xueli: Choice at the Crossroads
For the first few seconds, Jin Xueli stared at her own back as she built a fire. Her mind almost resembled a nuclear war zone. Fragmented thoughts drifted like radioactive dust, unable to form a single entity.

Why does she have two memory lines in her mind?
In the first memory line, there was no car accident at the back door of the bar on the night she met the harasser Anthony; she did not mention that she had a hunting knife, so Anthony did not "borrow" it.

She entered the lair, hoping to retrieve something that could help her get rid of Anthony, but unexpectedly, complications arose and she was copied by a resident in her image at the chalk house.

The resident wholeheartedly believed that it was the "Golden Snow Pear" herself.

It even came up with an explanation for the fact that it didn't have a backpack, mobile phone, and hunting knife: the two of them had a fight before getting on the bus, which made it rush to get on the bus and forget about the things.

The really tricky part is that if the resident is so convinced that she is the real Jin Xueli, it means that she cannot rule out the possibility that she is not the resident - Jin Xueli originally thought that since the cell phone and hunting knife were on her, she must be the real one; but what if she just forgot how she stole the things?
Hadn't a part of her memory been taken away after she got in the taxi? If that memory happened to be the time she stole something from the original owner after becoming Jin Xueli, then she would have no evidence to comfort herself.

Between me lying on the ground and the other person sitting in front of the candle, who is the resident?
No… This question is a bottomless rabbit hole; once you fall down, there's no getting out. Let's put it aside for now. Let's pretend we're the real Jin Xueli and revisit the timeline.

After the resident left, she called a second taxi, followed the resident's instructions, and followed him all the way to the Museum of Modern Art. In the basement, Jin Xueli seized the opportunity and stabbed the resident in the neck.

None of the things she expected happened.

The resident stood there, covering the knife wound with both hands; she glanced at it and didn't notice whether it was bleeding or not, and she didn't have the chance to take a closer look at it at all - because soon, the resident looked at her and smiled, revealing a familiar set of teeth.

"Since you copied me, your neck should be pierced as well."

The first memory line ends with her neck suddenly cracking, blood splattering, and collapsing to the ground like a broken stone statue.

Jin Xueli knew that she was dead.

However, death was not her end; after death, she welcomed a second line of memory.

The night she met Anthony, a black SUV barreled straight toward her. After she narrowly avoided it, it slammed into her back door. She started chatting with Anthony about the driver, a bodyguard, and she mentioned that she had a hunting knife; not long after, he took the knife.

When entering the nest, Jin Xueli cursed softly - she felt a little uneasy because she was missing a weapon.

Next, the second memory line was no different from the previous one: she listened to the radio, stepped on the chalk-drawn house, called a taxi, and was copied by the residents... The only difference was that when the second memory line ended, she opened her eyes on the ground.

Staring at the figure in front of the candle, Jin Xueli tried to get up from the ground as quietly as possible. The floor tiles were smooth and cold, without a trace of blood.

The second memory line replaced the first one and became the latest version of history that actually happened, so she did not stab the residents, nor did she have her throat cut by a single word.

She didn't dare to stand up completely, for fear of being discovered by the residents, so she had to use her hands and feet to retreat behind the pillar, holding her breath. Even her chest began to ache slightly - she had to suppress it, otherwise she was really afraid that she would accidentally sob.

…How can a person’s throat be cut by a single sentence?

Compared to the mouth opening at her neck, she didn't even know which she feared more: being killed again for no apparent reason? Or discovering that she wasn't a real human at all, and would have to wander the lair as a resident from now on?
If she was not a resident, why would her neck so honestly copy the other person's wound?
Jin Xueli couldn't answer any of these questions.

With her back pressed against the pillar, she closed her eyes tightly, covered her mouth, and wished she could tighten herself into a ball that would never be discovered by the nest again.

No, calm down and think about it first...

There are several pieces of indirect evidence that the other party is a resident: first, it did not have a cell phone, hunting knife or backpack on it; second, according to the content of the first memory line, it did not follow the rules of riding in the taxi after getting in, but it got off the taxi safely.

The third - and most powerful piece of evidence - is that the skin on the neck is a thin layer that covers the arteries, nerves, blood vessels, trachea and larynx; if a living person is stabbed in the neck, can he really handle first aid on his own as if nothing happened?

Jin Xueli calmed down a little and quietly peeked over.

The resident still sat before the candle, repeatedly adjusting the flame, seemingly growing impatient waiting for it to melt. The candle gradually softened and drooped, forming a pool of nearly transparent wax in the air. From a distance, Jin Xueli could only faintly hear someone calling out "Mr. Wei" through the wax.

The candle must be the key reason for her resurrection and the formation of two memory lines.

The broadcast said it was an extremely powerful illusion, and it seems to be true - it can even save lives, so its power is astonishing.

Why are residents so interested in it?
Jin Xueli looked around and found a long introduction to the exhibits written on the wall opposite the exhibition hall. Generally speaking, there would be some form of "item description" near the nest pseudo-image, so it seemed that this was it.

However, the exhibits were separated from her by a hall, so if she wanted to go over and take a look, she would have to pass behind the residents. No matter what she thought, she had to deal with the residents first.

Regardless of whether I am the real Jin Xueli or not, as long as the "Jin Xueli" next to the candle dies, I will naturally become the "real Jin Xueli" - right?
When facing the critical moment of one's own survival, it seems that even some fundamental and principled things can be blurred aside... Before today, Jin Xueli had never thought that she would have such an idea.

However, how could she kill a resident if he could kill her with just one word?
Jin Xueli glanced around and found a cross-country backpack lying on the ground not far away, with the opening of the bag crooked and limp, revealing a rolled-up towel and miscellaneous items inside.

"Where did it go?"

The resident in the distance was still staring at the candle tears, muttering something impatiently. "He seemed to have said something very important just now... right? Where did he say it..."

While its attention was on the candle, Jin Xueli quickly took off her shoes and walked towards the backpack step by step with her feet wrapped in socks, and sure enough, no sound was made.

As she passed the backpack, she reached into the bag, pulled out a long towel, and hurriedly retreated to the other end of the hall. She didn't dare stand in the empty and simple exhibition hall and look up to read the introduction of the items. She first hid behind another exhibit at the end of the hall. The exhibit was quite far away from the candle, and was made up of long wooden sticks that radiated out in a spiral shape. It looked good, but it was hard to tell what it was. However, it could barely block a squatting woman.

Sooner or later, residents will find themselves disappearing from the floor.

Even if it focused its attention on the candle for a moment, it would soon discover that its neck was intact and the wound had been erased. This was her only chance to strike first, but how should she use it?

Should she use this opportunity to read the introduction of the candles first, or attack the residents first?

If they strike first, will the candle become the resident's winning weapon? Just now, she was cut in the throat by a single sentence. Does that have anything to do with the candle?

Unfortunately, when Jin Xueli followed the residents down in the first timeline, she did not have the opportunity to carefully read the introduction of the candles.

When people make choices at every fork in the road, it is impossible to foresee the series of domino effects that will occur later; just like Jin Xueli did not expect that in order to solve Anthony's problem, she would enter the nest and get news of the false image, and would be copied by the residents because of searching for the false image.

Which path to choose?

After hesitating for a while, Jin Xueli didn't know what pushed her to take out her mobile phone, turned off the shutter sound, aimed at the exhibit introduction on the distant wall, zoomed in, and took several photos in succession.

Before she could enlarge the photo and take a closer look at the introduction, the resident suddenly stood up - her whole body tightened, almost shrinking twice, staring at its back from the gap between the long trees.

It hadn't noticed anything was wrong. It seemed dissatisfied with the candle in front of it. It placed its hand on the candle, walked a few steps as if searching for something, squatted down again, and opened the fire trough with a "click".

The flames were like water plants, swaying in the air, illuminating their own features.

Jin Xueli breathed a sigh of relief, enlarged the first photo, and began to read it quickly.

The description of the first photo was closest to her. Although the handwriting was blurry, she could still read it roughly. By the time she finished reading the first photo, her mouth was dry: no wonder she was pulled out of the death ending of the first timeline. It turned out that the residents accidentally changed history - she had never imagined that there was such an unimaginable thing in the nest.

If I could bring it back to Blackmore City...

She clicked on the second photo, but because the angle and distance were not as ideal as the previous one, it was difficult to see the specific text clearly.

Never mind, the most important thing has been made clear: although candles are powerful enough to reverse history, they cannot be used to launch attacks.

Then let’s act according to the original plan.

Jin Xueli made a decision and locked the phone screen with two fingers.

Her second face was reflected on the screen that suddenly went dark.

　I feel like all the numbers have been dropping like crazy lately... I guess this is the punishment for writing about niche stuff (bushi)

　　I have to board a plane again tomorrow.

　　When will I be able to go home and lie down peacefully?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)