Artifact Report

Chapter 279: Chai Si: The Length of a Lifetime

In the dim yellow light, the faces of the residents are gradually becoming distorted, and only a familiar and vague framework is left.

But the foot that was on Chase's chest was still Daisy Monroe's.

Those were his mother's feet in his memory - although his memory might be based on his imagination: his young self stumbling and running between his mother's legs, laughing loudly.

The residents said that it was pitiful that Chai Si had been an orphan his entire life, so they wanted to help him relive a part of his mother’s memory.

Chase's mother's foot pinned him to the ground, his chest squeezed until only a breath remained. The back of his head seemed to be bleeding, warm and wet, leaking out consciousness bit by bit. His vision was blurry, and he only saw Daisy Monroe, her head tilted, smiling at Damian.

"Is this okay?" it asked gently.

If only he were stronger, more powerful...if only he weren't so incompetent.

"Don't use too much force," Damian said. "I told you not to actually hurt my brother. Just make sure he can't move."

Half a minute ago, Damian changed his mind.

Chase didn't want to be driven away; he wanted to stay, to block the path to Damian's demise—even if it was just now, just for one night.

This is not the only reason.

In the process of finding himself, Chai Si cannot choose what he wants and what he doesn't want. He must hold on to every piece of debris in order to piece together and restore this life he doesn't want and carry it on his shoulders again.

Another equally important, or even more important, reason is that as soon as he goes out, he has the obligation to wake up Uncle Kai - and then what?

When Uncle Kai comes, just as Damian said, doesn't he want to try to see to what extent he can control the nest and its residents?

Uncle Kai knew that if he cut off the access, the residents would fall back into their lair; he had used this method to send a resident back eight years ago. With this confidence, would he... would he try to communicate and negotiate with the residents like Damian was doing now?

Even if it was just for one night, Chase would have to shut off Damian's access on his own.

Wait until tomorrow... wait until tomorrow, he will beg Uncle Kai to think carefully about what the last resident who entered the world did.

He was reluctant to leave, and his younger brother just happened to come up with a new idea.

Damian's eyes sparkled as he stopped the resident who was acting less and less like a mother. "Wait, don't attack him yet. You're already completely inside. If you just lied to me, then you don't have to obey my orders anymore, right?"

The resident, still a vague silhouette of Daisy Monroe, nodded.

One eye was fixed on Damian, the other swam to his ear, staring at Chase through his mother's brown hair.

"Then, hold my brother down for me and don't let him get to my path." Damian said thoughtfully, "This is... my order."

At that moment, Chase suddenly realized that Damian was indeed Uncle Kai's son: in his tone, expression, and the light in his eyes, he was almost a smaller, blond version of Kai Ronan.

He completely inherited Kyronan's blood, ambition, will... and that almost beast-like intuition that was not obscured by fear.

Maybe it was because Damian had never been afraid in his life.

Where Chase saw only terror and disaster, Damian discovered a future territory that had yet to be conquered.

No matter how long they were raised under the same roof, he could not let Uncle Kai's blood flow into his veins; he would never be Uncle Kai's son.

Half of the genes in his body will always belong to an unknown and incompetent person who no one knows where he came from or where he is going.

The resident chuckled.

The previous moment, it seemed to be about to open its mouth to reply; but the next moment, its upper body suddenly turned sharply on the pelvis, and it rushed towards Chase again with the wind, completely wrapping him up and swallowing him in the shadow - even Damian couldn't help but be startled and let out a low cry of surprise.

"Don't kill him," Damian added hastily, but Chai had already been dragged off the bed by his ankles because he couldn't dodge in time. The back of his head hit the ground hard, and his head bounced up and fell down again, like a helpless ball.

"How is it?" the resident asked Damian, stepping on Chase's chest. "I didn't lie."

Damian panted softly, sniffed, and smiled. "...Yeah, it is. Why would you still listen to me? If you kill my brother now, or threaten me with him, I can't do anything about it."

Chase looked at the blurry ceiling and thought vaguely that Damian was groping and trying to build up his power over the residents bit by bit.

...Why is it like this?
In this world, there is almost nothing that Chai Si is unwilling to do for the Kai family. He can abandon the law, morality, and even his life.

This is the only thing that won't work.

This was the only thing Damian was determined to achieve.

"I've already said that since you control my access, you have the power of life and death over me. This isn't a pleasant truth. However, based on this, I'm willing to follow your orders for another reason... Our interests are completely aligned."

The softer the resident's voice is, the stronger the force of his footsteps will be.

"What you want is what I want."

My brother chuckled nervously.

"What about the other residents? Are they like you?" Damian asked. "Do the powerful residents have any special abilities? Do they obey my orders?"

"It's rare that you, as a human, can trust me, a resident. Unlike Shiji, he doesn't even truly understand the situation."

My mother's voice echoed softly in the room, and she spoke of Chai Si in a tone she had never used before: "This child has disappointed me so much.

"...To show my sincerity, I'm willing to share what I know. Not all residents want to enter the human world, but very few are willing to remain in the nest. As long as they want to enter, no matter how powerful they are, you don't have to worry. However, there are a few among them that you need to pay special attention to..."

Chai Si had heard enough.

Either he stopped it, or he died in the process. He would rather die than witness this nightmare become reality.

The man and the resident were talking excitedly, and no one noticed that he was forcing himself to recover his strength quietly and bit by bit.

The lamp had rolled too far for him to reach. Now was no time to blame himself for not being tall enough. What was nearby that would be useful?
There is nothing that can be called a weapon.

He can only rely on himself.

Uncle Kai probably never dreamed that the fighting skills he sent Chai Si to learn would come in handy in such a place.

The residents maintained Daisy Monroe's legs and feet, which meant that they were still a pair of legs with human structure - since they stood in the form of a human, it meant that they would also lose balance in the form of a human.

Chai Si suddenly stretched out a hand and attacked the calf on his chest.

It turned out that without him noticing, his hands had grown to such a size that he could completely hold his mother's legs by just closing them.

Chai Si lay flat on the ground, holding the resident's calf tightly with both hands, and used all the strength he could to push it upwards - the shadow of the foot passed across his face, and the resident's leg was pulled away. Sure enough, his body suddenly tilted and fell heavily to the ground.

As soon as the force on his chest disappeared, Chai Si immediately rolled over, grabbed the desk lamp and jumped up; at that moment, it seemed that he was not swinging the desk lamp, but the lamp holder pulled his arm, carrying half of his body, and lifted it high to the back, hitting the resident who was half-bent over and about to pounce on him.

The strength of thirteen-year-old Chai Si was so great that even his fighting coach was unwilling to take on his attack head-on.

This time, the residents were unable to completely suppress their screams of pain.

Thinking about it later, Uncle Kai might have been awakened at this time.

Chai Si didn't want to think about it, maybe it was because he felt his son leaving in his sleep a few minutes later.

"Chase!" Damian yelled.

He seemed not to hear.

Chai Si twisted around and rushed towards the wooden fortress; he still held the lamp in one hand, and reached into the air with the other hand, passed through the abyss, and this time grabbed the piece of pajamas fabric completely - and pulled it off with one hand.

"What are you doing!" Damian rushed up and knocked Chase away with his shoulder.

Although they were only one year apart in age, he looked a whole size smaller than Chai Si. Chai Si stumbled once before regaining his footing.

After the passage was closed, no matter how angry his brother was, he raised his head and stood there in a daze.

The vague Daisy Monroe was gradually rising from behind Damian, and her eyes met his.

It raised an arm that became thinner and more pointed, until where the hand had been, it solidified into a sickle-like shape.

Why didn't it fall back into its nest? It quietly stood up from behind Damian, intending to -

"Be careful!" Chase grabbed Damian's shoulder and pushed him hard to the side.

He was overly suspicious; the residents' target was not Damian.

When his brother was pushed heavily to the ground, Chai Si also saw it - the passage was still there.

The cloth left the wooden thorns and fell to the ground, and then the black abyss that allowed residents to enter also floated to the ground, like a deep well opened on the floor.

The "access corridor" made a half circle, still loyally following behind Damian, as if it were a pair of folded, long, dark black wings.

The moment he was distracted by the passage, Chai Si lost his only chance to avoid the residents' attack.

The pointed, sickle-like hand pierced his chest and lodged deeply between the broken sternum and shoulder blade.

It stayed in Chai Si's dark, warm, and moist body, like a fetus that had finally found its home.

The resident specifically said, "Ouch!" in Daisy Monroe's voice.

"Forgot, the human heart is on the left!"

My mother's voice was regretful. "Well, no, no, it's not that I forgot and missed the opportunity, it's because I followed Damian's orders and didn't kill you... Yes, yes, that's the way it should be."

It lowered its neck like a curved bridge and looked at Chai Si.

"Will you die? I specifically avoided the heart. If you still die, it's not my responsibility. Let me pull my hand out quickly to show you that I have no intention of killing you, okay?"

Before he could finish his words, the hand was suddenly pulled out of the flesh; blood splattered like a rain of mist, falling hotly on Chai Si's face.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already sitting on the ground, not knowing when he had fallen. If his back hadn't been leaning against the edge of the bed, he would have continued to slide down until he was lying in a pool of blood.

"...Brother Chai?" Damian seemed frightened and called out softly.

"He's not dead, he won't die," the resident consoled him. "I shot him so accurately, I completely avoided the fatal spot. Sigh."

Damian was silent for a few seconds, not sure if he was trying to regroup or reassess the situation.

"You—I told you not to move. What are you doing? Aren't you just asking for trouble? If you don't get in my way, it won't hurt you. Why do you insist on blocking my access? Do you think you can fight the residents? Or do you just want to go against me?"

The initial shock and fear—if he knew what fear was—began to fade rapidly from Damian's voice as he spoke.

"I know why you insisted on stopping me. It's because of your mother, right? Your mother's passage made her a guide dog for the residents to enter the human world, right? That's what the resident said back then, right?"

Damian's anger was gradually receding.

He usually discusses things with Chai Si, and sometimes even listens to Chai Si like a real younger brother - but that is only limited to daily trivial matters.

Perhaps because he felt that he was betrayed by Chai Si on a crucial matter, his voice trembled slightly due to the impact of anger.

"Do you think I'm the same as your mother? That kind of rubbish channel can be compared with my talent? These two -"

He waved his hand, gesturing at the resident standing in front of Chase. "Are these two things the same thing? Aren't you a quick-witted person? Your grades are so good. I don't believe you haven't figured it out! But just because you don't like it, you want to stop me. You're so selfish!"

Chai Si lowered his head, and for a moment he could not see anything in front of him except blood red.

Damian was right. If it weren't for the junk passages in his mother's body, he wouldn't be here at this moment.

"Although you don't often say it, I know you really hope to serve the Kai family in the future."

Damian said coldly, using the same tone as Kaironan. "I think you're no good at all. You don't know how to adapt or change. You're useless to the Kai family."

He turned to the inhabitants and asked, "I will call out the most powerful inhabitant who will obey me and show him what I can do. What can I do?"

The residents gasped in surprise.

"You can summon residents from your passage. Come, let me help you... I know a few names who would definitely be your right-hand men."

Chase listened quietly. He watched Damian turn and walk over to the piece of pajamas on the floor; the resident hurried to the other end, stood tall over his brother, and bent down his eager, shining face with floating features.

He suddenly wanted to laugh.

Uncle Kai, what should I do?
If I spend my entire life atoning for my sins to you, and use everything I have to gain fame, power, and wealth for the Kai family...will you forgive my next decision?
Perhaps it was the combined effects of blood loss and concussion, or perhaps it was because he was already mentally unstable, but Chai Si managed to crack a smile through the blood.

He didn't know when the blood started flowing down his face and seeped into the corners of his mouth. It tasted salty and fishy. He slowly licked the blood off his lips.

Thirteen-year-old Chai Si is no stranger to violence.

He's going to take action.

He needed Damian to be unconscious. He needed Damian to be unconscious.

He could no longer lift his right hand, but it didn't matter, he never let go of his left hand.

The blood-soaked carpet swallowed up the sound of him rising. The world was suddenly silenced, pressed deep underwater, and there was no sound.

Until the lamp holder hit the skull that had not yet grown, making a dull sound that Chai Si would never forget in his life.

Damian had never been so docile as he was at that moment. His legs gave way and he fell forward to the ground. The back of his head broke free from the lamp holder and fell, leaving a trail of blood.

The resident turned his head in shock and met Chai Si's eyes - two seconds passed in the dead silence.

...The residents are still there and the access road is still there.

How can I close this passage? Does it only obey Damian's orders?

Half of Chai Si wanted to roar, and the other half wanted to laugh wildly, but he couldn't move.

The residents laughed for him.

"I didn't expect Tonglu is still there. Oh my god, this child is so precious. But you can't do this. I can't keep you. Go die, die, die, die, die."

It paused for a moment, and then its pointed hands came straight towards it.

"Since Mom gave you this life, I can also take it away."

If the final outcome of tonight is Damian's death... Chase Munroe suddenly thought with a bit of indifference, then he will live with it for the rest of his life.

At that time, Chai Si was still too young and didn't know how long a lifetime was.

From a distant and blurry place, he watched himself fall to the ground, avoid the sharp hand, and roll on the spot.

Chase rolled to Damian's side, the resident's hand clenched tightly as he caught up.

Was it a subconscious act of self-preservation or a conscious act of murder?

He had forgotten, and he would rather never remember it again.

All Chai Si remembered was that he grabbed his brother's arm and pulled the limp body in front of him - Damian's back was still connected to the passage, and when it was pierced, it was as if a blood-red firework bloomed under the ceiling.

Uncle Kai rushed into the room a dozen seconds later.

(End of this chapter)