Artifact Report

Chapter 319 Fu Tai Lan: An Unexpected Gutter
The scream that came from the study sounded like a human, a wolf, or a resident, but the pain didn't have time to spread and echo before it was forcefully suppressed back into the throat.

A thin layer of silence hung in the air, swaying as if it might crack at any moment. The sound soon rang out again, like a groan that involuntarily escaped from someone suffering from a low-grade fever.

...Briana must have realized it by now.

Fu Tailan sat far away behind a large green potted plant at the corner and waited for a while.

A man staggered out of the study, looking utterly lost. He stood in the hallway for a few seconds, making gurgling sounds as if he were sobbing or swallowing something, before slowly disappearing into the shadows at the other end.

If only Brianna hadn't been so bright and had never realized it in her entire life.

At the very least, that's what he hoped for—even though he knew it was impossible.

Fu Tailan sat there blankly for a while longer.

How wonderful it would be if someone could tell him a lie, a lie that would comfort and soothe him, smoothing out all his wrinkles and creases... and he would never be able to see through it.

Forget it.

Anyway, he didn't lie to help Brianna with her psychological healing—as long as he achieved his own goal, that was enough.

Fu Tailan felt the tongue slide up her mouth and nudge her cheek.

He almost laughed for a moment.

After receiving the "rumor," Shiba Inu will probably be very proud and think he's something special, right? He might even be smug about his so-called good luck.
I really want to see what expression he'll have on his face after I take away the "rumor"... I can hardly wait for the future.

Fu Tailan stood up silently, listened for a while, and then walked back to the study step by step.

Brianna probably thought that he was now preparing to escape the manor as Vesile.

She definitely won't let herself go like this.

After all, if Fu Tailan were in her shoes, he wouldn't have let her go so easily either.

It's unknown how many guards are still in the manor, but sealing it off and preventing anyone from entering or leaving should be achievable... Besides, Vesilé is well-resourced, and who knows what other methods he might have up his sleeve to weave a tight net around him.

If it's too difficult to walk, then we won't go.

Let Brianna go outside and catch them. The manor is so big, surely we can find a place to hide.

He gently closed and locked the study door, then looked around—the slumped figure of Vesilai, who had previously possessed a mesmerizing power, was now just an ordinary corpse.

Fu Tailan's gaze swept over his corpse as easily as it would over a desk, lamp, bookshelf, and laptop—then he suddenly turned his eyes back.

……computer?
I don't know if it can be opened.
The safe and locked drawers in the study were impossible to open, even with his fake identity as Wei Xilai; but the computer was different—could the fake identity fool the facial recognition on the computer?
Fu Tailan decided to give it a try.

His years of experience as a hunter even made him subconsciously think about another question: After taking on a different identity, were the fingerprints he left behind his own or Vesilé's?

This, like facial recognition, is a new direction for testing artifact performance in the next round of testing—oh, by the way, he's no longer Morgan's head of hunters, so there's no need to worry about him.

...Unsurprisingly, the computer did not wake up with his face in the background.

Honestly, can't he ever get anything done smoothly?
Those who have never handled a corpse can't imagine how tedious, torturous, and uncomfortable this process is.

Besides, he was all alone, without even a criminal partner to lend a hand.

Fu Tailan had to rely on herself. First, she grabbed Wei Xilai's head, then pulled open his eyelids and pointed him at the camera.

His first attempt failed, and fearing a password pop-up, he quickly closed the computer. After studying Wei Xilai's face for a while, Fu Tailan, suppressing her nausea, reached out and moved his eyeballs to put his pupils back in the correct position, making him look as if he were "looking directly" at the camera.

While doing all this, I also had to keep an eye out for any noise outside the door, which was incredibly annoying.

When the computer finally accepted the facial recognition, Fu Tailan's first reaction was to vigorously rub her hands on her pants—the slippery feel of her eyes felt like it was part of her flesh.

Perhaps because the computer wasn't a matter of life and death, and because his residence was full of guards and bodyguards, his computer didn't use the complicated verification system in the security room. Well, that makes sense; if you have to spend half an hour verifying something that you open countless times a day, who can stand it?
As Fu Tailan pondered this, she quickly opened every folder that she could access.

Many of the documents involved trade secrets and required passwords, so he had no choice but to leave them alone; among the documents he could open, there was nothing worth examining carefully.

He had never been a billionaire, nor did he know what the richest man's computer habits should be like, so he could only try according to general behavioral logic—after thinking for a while, he opened the email system.

Vesile has several email addresses, most of which are internal email addresses of the group company; however, there is one exception, which is an ordinary Gmail account.

Fu Tailan opened Gmail.

There were only about a dozen emails inside, but the title of the latest one immediately caught his eye.

"Mr. Omar, regarding the test you requested..."

...Omar?
Did Vecily use a pseudonym? Why?
2026年11月13日14:25PM
Hello, Mr. Omar

I haven't been able to reach you by phone lately, so I'm taking the liberty of sending you an email.

Since our phone call in early November, I've put in a lot of effort searching for ordinary people who might have access to the pathways to use as test subjects, and I've now gained some confidence. However, before I can actually begin the testing, I must report a newly discovered piece of intelligence to you and ask for your decision.

This artifact has a limited number of uses, with a maximum of three. If the first test goes smoothly, it will have two more uses remaining; however, considering unforeseen circumstances and risks, it may have to be transferred to another delivery route by the time of delivery.

Of course, we are professional hunters and will do our best to avoid the worst-case scenario.

Do you still want us to continue testing?

My daughter's condition requires immediate attention, and I sincerely hope you can reply to me as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

The email from Havel was marked as read, but when Fu Tailan opened the inbox, he did not see a reply from Vesilai to Havel.

...It doesn't seem like the message was sent and then the record was actively deleted.

It seems that this email address of Vesilai was used to contact hunters directly under the alias "Omar," and he did not delete any of his past emails with other hunters.

Furthermore, the first sentence of Javier's email was that he could not reach Vecilay by phone—it seems that Vecilay was deliberately avoiding him and probably did not reply at all.

"Transfer pathway"...?
Fu Tailan was afraid that she had misread or misunderstood, so she stared at the email and read it again.

Indeed, Vesil secretly used Havel to find a fake portal that could be used to transfer the passage, and now it seems that this hunter named Havel has actually found it.

Transfer pathways...

How can that work?
Fu Tailan realized that she was biting her lower lip so hard that it was almost bleeding, and forced herself to loosen her teeth.

He doesn't like this kind of thing.

It's not as simple as just that Chai Si might get access... No, the real significance of this illusion lies not in who gets it, but in who loses it.

If someone were to use this illusion on themselves, taking away that top-tier path that belongs to the gods...

What does he have left?

How can he find his place in this world?
Unable to become a hunter, unable to return to his lair, who is he?
What is the attitude of the Fuhan Association?

Knowing that his son could no longer earn money, Fu Han never wanted to know how that Fu Han would treat him.

Some things are better left unexplained.

Fu Tailan had thought countless times about what would happen if he were born without a pathway; but when this possibility was truly presented to him, the things he needed to do suddenly became very clear.

We must cut off the possibility of channel transfer at its root.

He can never lose access; Chess can never gain access.

Fu Tailan noted down Havel's email address.

This Havel possesses a false image capable of turning the hunter community upside down, yet he has managed to keep quiet about it... clearly not out of loyalty to Vesilé.

Judging from his emails, it seems to be related to his daughter's illness... Did Vecily promise some kind of treatment plan?
He didn't quite understand; however, it seemed that there were some parents in the world who were willing to give everything for their children.

At that point, I'll probably have to convince him that Omar is Vesile, and that Vesile is already dead, before I can get him to agree to sell me the fake.

There is no evidence to support the claim that the man is too blue.

If we can't persuade him, then we'll just have to let his daughter die of illness, right? At that point, Havel will have no reason not to sell the illusion.

Fu Tailan was unwilling to go that far, but having a backup plan was better than nothing.

However, this meant he couldn't linger at the Weasley Manor for too long; he needed to get his hands on the fake image of Javier as soon as possible. Once outside, his first priority was to find out who Javier was, which family he represented, and his background, before deciding whether to try contacting him…

A knock on the door startled Fu Tailan from her reverie.

He stopped himself from responding in time—he had returned to normal after touching Vesilé's body; if he opened his mouth now, the person outside would immediately know that it wasn't Vesilé responding from inside.

"Mr. Wei?" the man outside the door called respectfully, "Are you in your room?"

The door is locked, he can't get in. Should we pretend no one's home now?

“Mr. Wei, this is Ivan,” the man outside said again.

Fu Tailan remembered that he seemed to be a bodyguard.

The doorknob turned slightly and stopped. "Mr. Wei, aren't you inside?"

Fu Tai Lan frowned. If he felt the person wasn't there, why didn't he leave? If he felt the person was inside, why did he try to open the door?
“There was a slight mishap when the manor was sealed off, so Brother Dylan instructed me to come and report to you…” The man outside the door named Evan stopped halfway through his sentence, as if he was using that half-sentence to lure Vesilai into opening the door.

Fu Tailan was very reluctant to admit it, but he had indeed taken the bait.

What went wrong with the lockdown? He really wanted to know.

If you want to ask questions, there's only one way.

Fu Tailan had no choice but to tiptoe to the desk, pull up Vesilai's head again, and apologize to Brianna in her heart once more—no matter what, it was really disrespectful to handle her father's corpse like this.

"In addition, I would like to plead with you again to reconsider my decision to stay or leave."

What happened? Did Vesille fire him? Judging from his behavior, it's not surprising.

"So you really aren't here?"

The identity swap isn't finished yet, and if this guy named Ivan leaves, things could get a bit complicated...

"Then I'll go in, okay? I'm just doing an inspection... patrol... I don't mean any disrespect."

What? Wait, how is he going to get in? Does he have—

With a "click," the key turned and unlocked the door.

(End of this chapter)