Artifact Report

Chapter 387 Chess - The Last Minute
"what?"

For a moment, Chai Si thought Han Liuyue had gone mad, perhaps she had just meowed like a cat. "Say it again."

Han Liuyue said clearly, "Concave."

What ao?

"What you heard, was 'aww'?"

Chai Si could only confirm it again—although the two pronunciations were similar, they weren't exactly the same, and Han Liuyue wouldn't possibly mispronounce such a simple syllable. "The elevator announcement said a... interjection?"

"No, wait a minute." Han Liuyue hurriedly rummaged through her bag and found a hospital pen in her pocket.

She had no paper, so she could only open her palm and write on it with a ballpoint pen; but what she wrote was not an English letter, but a graphic.

The drawing looks strange, like a square frame with a dent pressed down by a small pillar, and it's impossible to tell what it represents.

Chai Si stared at it for a few seconds. "What kind of picture is this?"

"This is not a picture, it is text."

"Writing? What language?"

“Chinese,” Han Liuyue replied immediately.

...He didn't remember Han Liuyue speaking Chinese.

What does it mean?

“I don’t know,” Han Liuyue said. “I don’t know Chinese.”

The two stared at each other, remaining silent for a few seconds.

It was rare for Chai Si to feel this way: so many questions and confusions overwhelmed him that he didn't know where to begin asking them.

"Then how do you know that the syllables mentioned in the announcement correspond to this Chinese character?" His mind finally started working, and he asked, "Did the elevator announcement directly create an impression of this character in your mind?"

“Yes,” Han Liuyue nodded immediately, her eyes shining. “As expected of Brother Chai, he figured it out right away. When I heard the pronunciation, I clearly realized that it corresponded to the character in my hand, and it was a Chinese character… even though I don’t know a single word of Chinese except for ‘nihao’.”

Even after discovering that the elevator was secretly teaching Han Liuyue a foreign language, the two of them were at a loss as to how to interpret the situation or what to do about it.

"What was the third piece of information you heard?" Chai Si decided to put it aside for the time being and continue to recall.

Han Liuyue murmured, "It's less likely for moisture to accumulate in well-ventilated areas, and it's more likely to be dry and safe."

Although it wasn't unexpected, Chai Si still felt a sense of unease.

The two of them heard the elevator announcement at the same time and listened to it quietly. Only now did they realize that what they heard was completely unrelated.
“They really put a lot of thought into this,” Chai Si sneered, “They even prepared a separate document for each of us.”

As he spoke, he looked up and subconsciously scanned the inside of the elevator again—even though he had checked the elevator countless times and found nothing amiss.

They made eye contact.

His eyes, sunken deep in the shadows of his brow bone, held a flicker of will-o'-the-wisp, a persistent and arrogant glimmer.

Several strands of hair that I had just combed back were about to fall down again.

Several days of deep, hazy sleep left a gaunt, pale shadow on his face; the shadow floated in his pupils, lingered beneath his eyes, and settled in his thinner cheeks.

They made eye contact.

Han Liuyue raised her eyebrows at him and asked, "Brother Chai? Say something, what did you hear?"

“…Oh,” Chai Si snapped out of his daze.

He took a breath and replied, "What I heard was, 'The maximum load capacity of this elevator is 15 minutes of observation time.'"

"Huh?" Han Liuyue opened her mouth.

Before answering her, Chai Si raised his eyelids again and glanced around the elevator.

The tightly closed, iron-gray elevator doors, the unremarkable metal walls, the gleaming black camera hanging in the corner, and the worn-out floorboards... it was as unremarkable as ever.

What just happened?

What does that feel like?
There were just too many questions. The longer he stayed in the elevator, the more mysteries arose, none of which could be clarified—let alone the answers, he couldn't even describe the strange feeling he had just experienced in words.

Judging from Han Liuyue's expression, she clearly felt the same way.

Her mouth opened and closed several times, her confusion as thick as fog, obscuring the light from her eyes, but when she opened her mouth again, she could only utter one word: "...Huh?"

The thought of what might have happened in Blackmore City and that Uncle Kai was all alone made Chai Si so agitated that he wanted to smash the elevator to pieces; however, Han Liuyue was so hungry that she was dizzy, and someone had to stay calm and stabilize the situation.

"凸".

“I don’t know why load capacity is measured in time, nor do I know what observation time means.” Chai Si took a deep breath and said, “Did you hear the fourth message?”

"have,"

Like him, Han Liuyue had to try to recall the information in order to retrieve it from her mind. But this time, when she remembered the fourth one, her face suddenly darkened.

She looked at Chai Si and said softly, "...If a passenger remains in the elevator for more than ten minutes without taking any action, the elevator will begin to descend. Upon reaching the basement level, the passenger will be removed from the elevator. Conversations, emotional fluctuations, or other actions that do not significantly change the situation will all be considered inaction." Chai Si's heart skipped a beat; but not because of her words.

Under Han Liuyue's gaze, he said in a low voice with some difficulty, "...7 minutes and 40 seconds."

This is the time they spent after entering the elevator—or rather, after they realized they were in an elevator. During this period, by definition, they were clearly "inactive."

The meaning of "delete" is self-evident.

But what can the two do when they're trapped in the elevator? Change floors?
If someone moves from the first floor to the fourth floor but remains in the elevator, can that be considered a "significant change in circumstances"?

Chai Si felt as if he were being subjected to an endless flogging.

Before he could even suppress the excruciating pain and panic after the first lash, the next one came—just as Han Liuyue was speaking, he had just recalled the fourth message he had heard.

Chai Si felt so tired that he wanted to collapse down, close his eyes, and let the world do whatever it wanted to him.

He had been so persistent, risking his life to save Han Liuyue...

Is it ultimately all for naught, like trying to fill a basket with water?
“Brother Chai,” Han Liuyue’s voice brought him back to his attention, “what is your fourth point?”

Chai Si looked at her and remained silent for a few seconds.

He never lied to the Kai family hunters—because there was no need, and because he didn't want to.

In the past, he could simply remain silent about things he didn't want to talk about; but in the current situation, he couldn't bring himself to tell Han Liuyue, "Don't ask anymore."

Should I tell her the truth?

Simply put, you can't trust her.

Simply put, you can't trust her.

"Brother Chai?" Han Liuyue called out, "Do you remember now?"

She thought that Chai Si was still reminiscing.

No. He couldn't look at Han Liuyue, knowing full well that he was lying to her—he couldn't do it.

Lies are the evasion of the weak; to lie means one's incompetence; it means one is so incompetent that one cannot even face one's subordinates.

“The way moisture manifests in space is as ‘water’ or ‘water stains’.” Chai Si looked at her and said softly, “After moisture invades the human body…”

Han Liuyue listened intently, holding her breath; after her near-death experience, her complexion was not as radiant and bright as before, and she always seemed to be on the verge of death.

"Brother Chai?" she urged him when he hadn't spoken for a while.

Chai Si reached for his phone, opened the camera app, and switched to the front-facing camera. He handed the phone to Han Liuyue, watching her take it and her gaze fall on the screen, meeting her own reflection.

"People who are affected by dampness will appear to be sweating after the dampness invades their bodies."

Han Liuyue stared at her phone, motionless. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, glistening faintly; even the tip of her nose and chin shimmered with a subtle sheen of sweat.

Why didn't I notice it until now?

Chai Si didn't touch his forehead, but he knew that his face and body were dry, without a trace of water.

(Because he had seen it? He carefully examined his own face?)
The two of them were trapped in the elevator together; the only difference between himself and Han Liuyue was that Han Liuyue couldn't help but rush out when she saw the restaurant.

He still remembers the wet footprints all over the restaurant floor, the steam rising from the body heat, large wisps of water floating on the windows, and the people whose clothes were soaked through.

It was just that brief contact...

Han Liuyue had already contracted dampness.

Is it possible that he can never save the person the lair is taking away, no matter what?
“Brother Chai…” She looked up, her expression almost calm. “Do you know what happens to someone invaded by dampness?”

He tried to speak, but only shook his head.

"I don't know either. But I know what you should do next."

Han Liuyue seemed about to hand the phone back, but hesitated for a moment. Instead, she took a piece of clothing from her backpack, wrapped it up, and placed it on the floor. "I had no idea I was sweating so much... Just now, I remembered the fifth message I heard."

Chai Si waited for her to continue.

"'Please discard unnecessary things.'" Han Liuyue remained calm and said, "So that's what you were preparing for."

"凸".

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Chai Si immediately interjected, as if stung. “You’re not a—”

"Please note,"

The elevator announcement suddenly rang out: "Because the passengers have not moved for ten consecutive minutes, this elevator is now beginning its descent. The descent will last for one minute. If, during the descent, the passengers take effective action that significantly changes the situation, the elevator will stop descending and restart another ten-minute countdown."

It paused, then said, "In other words, this is your last minute before you are deleted."

(End of this chapter)