Artifact Report

Chapter 359 Fu Tai Lan - I am Fu Tai Lan, I am Fu Tai Lan, you are Han Liu Yue
...It feels so familiar.

Fu Tailan was stunned for a moment, standing in the darkness, her mind and body feeling warm and relaxed, as if floating in amniotic fluid.

He knew he had never walked into a black hole, but he couldn't explain why it felt like he was home.

What is this place?
He glanced back.

Fu Tailan could still see the entrance he had entered through: behind wisps of dark mist, the lawn, bushes, driveway of the Wei family manor... looked like a painting sunk to the bottom of a dark night, swaying and receding into the distance.

He was indeed unable to pass through the black fog and emerge from the other side.

The deeper you go, the more boundless the darkness ahead remains, layer upon layer, intertwined and tangled, just like life itself, where the path ahead is unclear.

Fu Tailan raised her hand and watched as the first joints of her five fingers slowly broke free. With a "pop," the tip of her index finger was the first to detach from the rest of her fingers and floated away.

Oh dear, that won't do.

Hands are still useful.

Fu Tailan used her other hand to reach for the suddenly betraying index finger, but her left hand was also wobbling and seemed about to separate—this was definitely not right.

To protect your health, perhaps you should consider other methods.

He looked at his hand, then at that finger.

It's like an egg yolk soaking in water, constantly disintegrating into tiny particles and melting into the darkness... Even emotions and thoughts seem to be dissipating...

It seems that Fu Tailan is about to dissolve and dissipate into particles here... never to exist again, merging into the darkness...

This...is not...

It's good...it's good...

No need to... no need to... think...

Look, I...I myself...like falling fireworks, scattered across the mountains and fields...

Without thinking... it seems... it's faster... it... it's scattered...

Oh?
Following this logic, if I reverse my thinking and accelerate it, will it slow down the dissipation and allow the body to re-coagulate?

Fu Tailan suddenly opened her eyes.

He didn't realize he had closed his eyes—no, to be precise, his upper eyelids were disintegrating, dispersing into countless tiny dark areas that momentarily obscured his eyeballs.

So that's how it is. Only by constantly and repeatedly reflecting on and confirming one's own existence can one resist dissipation and gather oneself back together. Wait a minute, my current way of thinking is actually a bit like a resident...

Should I resist? Let me think... High-speed thinking is very simple; the main question is whether or not to resist.
Um, I'm Fu Tailan, I'm seventeen years old, I live in Blackmore City. I only have one father. Oh yes, Fu Han has been taken hostage and used as leverage against me. He's still waiting for me. If I disappear into a warm darkness...
Fu Tailan could almost hear the invisible chain behind him suddenly clanging.

He sighed.

Sometimes he really hates his own brain; there are things he would be happier if he forgot them or didn't understand them.

What's wrong with being able to disappear into this dark amniotic fluid without any worries?
Despite her complaints, countless thoughts and ideas were swirling in Fu Tailan's mind like rapidly spinning wheels, almost forming a blurry vortex. The vortex created an attraction, with one thought leading to another, pulling more fragments back to her.

He looked down and saw that his right hand was whole again.

That's fast enough. Could it be that I'm still a little afraid of dying?
Well, he's back now. Only he could come back so quickly.

Fu Tailan put her hands on her hips, looked around for a while, and tried to find her way in the layers of darkness before her.

What should I do now? It seems like it doesn't matter which way I go.

"...Han Liuyue?"

Fu Tailan suddenly stopped.

Even the brain, which must be constantly working at high speed, goes blank for a moment—when a person suspects they have lost their mind, their brain is always less obedient.

How could that be? He must be hallucinating.
His mouth was half open, and he couldn't tell which direction the sound came from. He looked around blankly.

There was no sound. It really was me—

"Han Liuyue? Can you hear me? Where are you?"

Fu Tailan's hair stood on end.

It's Chai Si's voice, there's no mistake.

Why would he be waiting here? Could the word "black hole" I heard earlier refer to this place? Is there a black hole in the Kai family mansion? My name is Fu Tailan, and I am seventeen years old.
But even if a black hole appeared in the Kai family mansion, why would Chai Si go inside? It seems he's still searching for someone inside the black hole. My name is Fu Tai Lan, and my father is Fu Han Seventeen.
He can't devote all his attention to thinking about others, or he'll collapse before he does.

Fu Tailan steadied herself and checked herself again.

His origins, his body, his appearance—appearance is the most important thing, you can't lose anything but it, and you can't afford to lose even the slightest thing—even the eternally unfillable, empty void within him must remain empty.

Okay, things have stabilized somewhat.

So... Han Liuyue went in first? Han Liuyue, who had been infected, saw a black hole and went in, and Chai Si followed her in?
They've already been mutated into a mask by the nest, what's the point of trying to save them? The world has no shortage of people. So what if they're core hunters? Does he really think the Kai family's core hunters are immune to disloyalty and betrayal? I am Fu Tailan.
I'm so unlucky! I can't escape him no matter where I go. I thought he knew black holes had some kind of value, but if I had known it would be this unlucky, I wouldn't have come. Maybe he'll dissipate here and never get out again? I am Fu Tailan. I am Fu Tailan. I am Fu Tailan.

"Han Liuyue, is that you here?" Chai Si asked suddenly in his ear.

Fu Tailan almost squawked like a rooster.

He turned around, expecting to see Chai Si standing behind him, but all he saw was layers of chaotic, swirling, and tangled darkness.

He couldn't see it with his eyes, but he could vaguely sense that behind the layers of darkness, there was a faint, ethereal human figure peering in his direction.

"Han Liuyue?"

Sure enough it was him.

Could it be that Chai Si had been calling Han Liuyue's name the whole time, and that's why he hadn't noticed? He had to repeatedly think and confirm his own identity to ensure that he wouldn't dissipate.
Otherwise, why does his outline look like it's about to dissolve? Especially his legs and feet, which are so faint they're practically nonexistent.

If he hadn't discovered a way to preserve his integrity when he first came in, he would never have been able to later—the reason is simple: when one's thinking ability is impaired, it's naturally difficult to think of using constant thinking and confirmation to resist the dissipation; from there, it's a downward spiral, a vicious cycle.

Maybe I'm actually quite lucky; without me even lifting a finger, it seems like Chai Si is about to be finished.

Since Chai Si is already dissipating, let him lend a hand and help Chai Si's fragments break away and spread out faster. You're welcome.

Once Fu Tailan had a plan in mind, she immediately took two steps forward, swung her arm, and vigorously swung it several times towards where Chai Si was—

The subway train carrying the fake image arrived at the station at 10:36, roaring out of the tunnel and rushing towards Chase; the strong light from the front of the train illuminated half of his body and the platform just a few feet in front of him.

As Chai Si climbed onto the platform and rolled quickly off, the subway whizzed into the station, brushing past his back.

The moment Futa Ran rolled onto the platform, her scalp tingled with fear. She instinctively took a few steps back, her heart pounding. She didn't know whether she was startled by the roaring subway or by the sudden thought that "she was Shiba Tsukasa" that triggered her fear.

……what happened?

That...that was Shibasaki's memory, wasn't it? The memory of him jumping off the subway platform and passing through the tracks...

Fu Tailan understood.

Once he realized what was happening, he immediately felt like he was covered in dog poop. He frantically waved his hands, shook his arms, and patted his body, trying to get rid of that tiny fragment that belonged to Chai Si completely. He had originally planned to scatter it even more, but if even a tiny fragment made him think he was Chai Si, who would dare to do that? How disgusting!
Forget it, just leave it like this. I doubt it will last much longer.

Fu Tailan's swinging of her arms just now seemed to have made Chai Si uneasy; from the entangled depths of darkness, the faint, softened outline seemed to hesitate for a moment, gradually distancing itself from Fu Tailan.

Although she was reluctant to get close to him, Fu Tailan hesitated for a moment and then followed behind him.

If we don't follow him, there's nowhere else to go.

Chai Si seemed to have forgotten what had just happened in the blink of an eye, and called out again, "Han Liuyue? Where are you?"

Fu Tailan suddenly realized that since he had also entered the black fog, not only would no one know that he was there, but there wouldn't even be a single person who would keep trying to find him.

He didn't like the thought, so he watched it drift away little by little without trying to bring it back—and sure enough, he forgot about it after a while.

Chai Si seemed to have no idea where to go, drifting aimlessly in the darkness. Several times he stopped and stared blankly, almost making Fu Tai Lan think that he had completely disappeared.

After all, it's all just a feeling; you can't see anything.

Before Fu Tailan could finish processing this thought, she realized she was wrong again; for no apparent reason, her eyes suddenly lit up and half a restaurant appeared out of nowhere.
It's as if someone tore off half a photo and casually stuck it into a wad of black cloth.

What exactly is this place?
The restaurant was small, with tables crammed together; the "photo" was even smaller, only showing a corner of the restaurant's booth and a fat man staring blankly inside.

Even though Fu Tailan knew who he had been following, he still couldn't help but be startled when he saw Chess Monroe's face suddenly reflected in the mirror on the restaurant wall—no wonder, Chess was frightening to look at—and coincidentally, the fat man in the booth was also startled by Chess's reflection.

The fat man gasped, jumped up abruptly, and slammed his stomach against the table, making the plates and forks wobble. A coffee cup on the side of the table lost its balance and fell straight down.

The faint silhouette belonging to Chai Si subconsciously waved his hand, knocking the coffee cup away—the next second, the small restaurant seemed to be sucked in, disappearing back into darkness in the blink of an eye.

Not to mention Chai Si, even Fu Tai Lan was stunned.

Wait a minute... He seems to have just seen something very important.

Constantly having to confirm himself in his mind inevitably takes up his thinking space, so he can only think about it in his spare time; in addition, his sense of time seems to have become blurred, so Fu Tailan doesn't know how long he has been thinking, he only knows that when he turned around, Chai Si had already disappeared.

He walked aimlessly for a while, and when he sensed a more fragmented and faint human figure in the darkness ahead, he stopped.

“…Chai Si?” Fu Tailan tried calling out.

Even if he recognizes me, it doesn't matter; judging from his expression, he'll forget about it as soon as he turns his head.

In the darkness, the shadow, almost indistinguishable from a human, seemed to hear something, and floated up and down for a moment.

Perhaps it was a fragment that had been scattered from the other party that unknowingly encountered Fu Tai Lan?
He suddenly realized that the person in front of him was not Chai Si.

"Han Liuyue?"

(End of this chapter)