Artifact Report

Chapter 370 Brianna's Twisted Fate

Brianna lay on the ground, her arms crossed, her head tilted to the side, resting on her arms.

She couldn't remember the last time she had just lay there like this, doing nothing.

She remembered that when she was in school, she always seemed to be sleepy during the day, and she couldn't help but put her arms on the desk and doze off for a while, just like she was doing now—until the teacher came to her side and cleared her throat loudly.

Outside the half-open window of the school classroom, just as in her nest at this moment, a gentle breeze occasionally drifts by; it stirs her long, smooth hair from her youth, and now stirs her messy, tangled, rustling head of dry grass.

She got up and looked at her hands.

During the struggle with the shop assistant, the skin on my body, which was cracked and torn, peeled off in patches, revealing a whitish, withered brown underneath; it turned out that whether I had skin or not didn't make much difference.

She reached up and touched her face, still somewhat hesitant.

Brianna looked up at Jacqueline's body in the tree.

Forget it, the little mirror is still in Jacqueline's pocket; climbing up to get it just to see her now unrecognizable face... isn't worth it.

When she first took off Jacqueline, she was quite apprehensive—if Jacqueline's body, like Green's, rapidly completed the previously suppressed process of decay, she would be in trouble.

But after observing several times, Brianna breathed a sigh of relief and had a guess.

It seems that as long as the brain is not catastrophically damaged, once the body is fitted with the device, it will remain in the same state as when it was fitted; that makes sense, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to live in the world for two years as Green.

In that case, perhaps we should thank Chess, Brianna chuckled softly.

Then he'll have to wait and see how I thank him.

She looked up at Jacqueline again, and shook her head vigorously.

More than two years have passed since she died in the lair, and she has never seen the current "Briana"—she would never be happy to see her, so why make herself suffer again?
Kim Seol-ri was probably just trying to get away, which is why she was willing to say anything. What's so good about it... how could it possibly be good?

Brianna lay there blankly for a while longer, like a stray dog ​​on the street with nowhere to go but not in a hurry to go anywhere.

Honestly, she doesn't even have a clue about the next target illusion, nor does she know what's going on in Blackmore City...

Today is November 29th, and Kim Seol-ri has also left school and returned to Blackmore City.

Brianna's original intention in entering the lair was to uncover the history that Sherry was trying to cover up. But was it necessary? All they had to do was trap her, and they'd know everything...

In any case, now is definitely not the time for her to leisurely lie down...

Brianna rolled over and lay leisurely on her side on the grass.

Perhaps it's because her goals were set incorrectly that she's lying there so listlessly, unwilling to get up and continue. She needs to reflect on this...

“…Huh?” A soft voice rang out.

Brianna's dead body reacted even before her consciousness.

She jumped up, bracing herself with her arms, and in that instant, she was even ready to fight—only then did she realize that she had recognized the owner of that voice the moment she heard it.

However, upon seeing who it was, Brianna herself couldn't help but exclaim, "Huh?...Huh?"

what happened?

How is this going?

"scared you?"

Fu Tai Lan stood on the road, politely keeping a few steps away from her. The boy seemed a little embarrassed, smiled slightly at her, and said, "I thought you... um, you're already a resident, that's great."

Huh? Huh? Huh?

Brianna stared at him blankly, a torrent of questions swirling in her mind—why did he seem not to recognize her?
Did Fu Tailan die? Or was she just unlucky?

Is that a vulture in front of me? There's a very strong vulture smell... If that cunning kid hadn't been unlucky, how could he have let a vulture get close, let alone become like him?

"Big sister?" Fu Tailan tilted her head and called her again, seemingly not recognizing her at all.

Ah, yes.

Fu Tailan had only ever seen Brianna before—not even in her living form, just a photograph. He himself had said that he only realized Brianna was inside Green when he saw her picture appear on the fake driver's license...

So it seems she really is completely different from how she used to be.

"You...you're Vulture?" Brianna asked, confirming. Upon closer inspection, how could her vocal cords, no longer fully restored, still produce her former voice?

So even if the vulture inherited Fu Tai Lan's memories, it probably wouldn't recognize that she was Brianna.

“Yes,” the Futai Blue Vulture nodded, “I can retain some of my vulture self-awareness now. I didn’t expect we’re so famous; every resident along the way knows me.”

Rather than being famous, they are more annoying; as soon as the ordinary residents set their sights on the hunters, before anything even happens, the vultures will be peeking out from the corners—it's hard not to recognize them.

“Where did you become this person?” Brianna asked.

Even though she had personally placed a vulture on her deceased father's face, when she looked at it again, she couldn't help but marvel: it was exactly like him!

It's upsetting to see. It was like this last time, and it's like this time too.

The Blue Vulture mentioned a place name, which meant nothing to Brianna.

Fu Tailan Vulture paused, then asked, "Big sister, do you know me?"

The words that were about to come out were swallowed back by Brianna.

Fu Tailan was a man who could never be trusted; even facing the vulture that had become him, one could not let one's guard down and had to remain cautious. "I've seen him," she said vaguely, letting her straw-like hair fall down to obscure her face as she nodded. "This hunter seems to be quite famous. What happened to him?"

As if he himself had been praised, the blue vulture's eyes shone softly: "Thank you, I'm quite good at being a hunter. I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."

Who's thinking about you? I'm asking Fu Tailan—

Yes, this vulture thinks he's the most powerful man in the land; I doubt we can get a clear answer from him.

Even though it was just a vulture with the same face, Brianna couldn't suppress her dark rage; however, it was completely unnecessary to get involved in a fight with a vulture, so she suppressed her churning emotions and asked, "What do you want from me?"

“I’d like to ask for directions,” said Fu Tai Lan Vulture, appearing both gentle and polite, as deceptive as Fu Tai Lan herself. “Or rather, I’d like to inquire about something.”

Just as she was about to snap, "Don't ask me if you don't know," Brianna changed her mind. "...What is it?"

"Have you seen any other vultures around here?" asked the Futai Blue Vulture.

Brianna glanced at him, then turned her head, her gaze sweeping across the empty streets and alleys.

She did indeed see a vulture in the distance on her way here...

"Why are you looking for other vultures?"

Since it wasn't Fu Tai Lan himself, Vulture wasn't as wary of the residents; after thinking for a moment, he actually seemed to answer truthfully: "I've discovered a way to maintain two self-awarenesses at the same time, and I'd like to tell my companions about it."

It turned out to be some trivial matter within the vultures' organization, and had little to do with her.

Brianna was losing interest, so she gave him directions and told him when she had seen another vulture—although she disliked Fu Tailan, she didn't need to offend the vulture for no reason.

"Thank you, big sister,"

Before leaving, the Blue Vulture was clearly pleased; even his signature aloof and dreamy expression softened somewhat. "I felt a sense of familiarity with you earlier; it really does feel so comforting."

Get out now.

After sending the Blue Vulture away, Brianna went back to her spot—but this time, she couldn't help but feel a little restless.

I feel... I feel like I shouldn't just let this go so easily.

But what does the vulture have to do with her?
The vulture that turned into Vesile last time was also buried with Jacqueline at her insistence; it's still in the coffin and may have died long ago.

But she just couldn't explain why she felt uneasy.

She rolled around on the grass like a snake that had eaten too much; after a while, unable to find a comfortable position, she simply got up—just as she stood up, from the direction the blue vultures had gone, she heard a series of faint, sharp whistles, which, if not listened to carefully, would only be mistaken for an angry gust of wind.

...It's not the wind.

Brianna thought for a moment.

She remembered.

That should be the call of vultures... It's not easy for outsiders to hear.

It seems the Futai Blue Vulture has found companions—but why doesn't it just call to the other vultures? Why ask other residents for directions?
Is it because he became Fu Tailan and his physical condition doesn't allow it? But vultures are quite similar to humans, aren't they?

Brianna knew she couldn't lie there any longer.

She glanced up at Jacqueline in the tree and thought that appearing as a resident might be safer.

There was an alarm under the tree; Jacqueline not only had an AirTag on her, but she also had a small decoy for self-defense—she had taken precautions, but she couldn't leave for too long.

With Jacqueline's health on her mind, Brianna hesitated to leave. When she finally made up her mind and rushed to the source of the vultures' whistling, she found that the large flock of tan vultures had already begun to scatter, like a sandstorm slowly separating and thinning out.

The blue vulture has vanished without a trace.

Isn’t this a waste of time?
"Hey," she said, grabbing a vulture by the arm, "where did that vulture that turned into Fu Tai Lan go?"

"It took a companion with it and left quite a while ago." The vulture looked her up and down. "Are you a human or a resident?"

“…Mind your own business,” Brianna said, ignoring it and staring blankly at the vultures scattering across the road, momentarily at a loss.

Go back?
She was about to turn around when she suddenly paused.

Just as she stopped moving, a vulture nearby also stopped.

The two, one human and one resident, stared at each other for a few seconds. Just as Brianna was wondering what was going on, she saw the vulture take a step and walk towards them.

"You smell so familiar..." the vulture murmured, bending down and bringing its face close. "Have we met before?"

Brianna was also stunned.

She wasn't a vulture, so theoretically, all vultures looked pretty much the same to her. But this one did smell somewhat familiar…

No, no, wait a minute—

"You're the one who turned me into Vesile!"

The vulture slapped its thigh, becoming agitated, and cried out, "You've really got me into trouble! Whose idea was it to put me in a coffin with that dead man, Vesilai?"

Brianna was so shocked that she would have jumped up long ago if she could. "You...it's you? But how did you get here?"

"Do you know what I went through after that?" Vulture was clearly full of resentment. "There was this Jin Xueli who, together with Han Liuyue, dug me up, beat me to pieces, and then brought me back to the nest! Seriously, along with your Wei Xilai, just to see his so-called history... You've really ruined me!"

(End of this chapter)