Artifact Report

Chapter 437 Fu Tai Lan: The Father Who Abandoned His Child
Carter put a lot of thought into keeping Fu Tailan under his control while imprisoning Fu Han.

If he hadn't used the mouth doll and blank ID to obtain the power strip illusion from Chai Si tonight, Fu Tailan probably wouldn't have made it to the end of the corridor alive—the corridor ended in front of a huge room that occupied an entire wall of the floor.

Fu Tailan, panting, glanced back.

The hunters, led by Remy, had disappeared down the corridor with Carter, presumably to go inside for first aid; a few steps away from him, several nest creatures were peering at him through the glass window.

A pink, sticky substance, taller than a person, was stuck to the glass, creating two black holes, as if it were looking at the vast blue sky through them.

Beside it stood a seemingly normal-looking human man, pacing anxiously, banging on the window and twisting the doorknob. Through the glass, his voice could be faintly heard—"Why won't you open the door? Didn't you say the lock would open automatically if someone came in?"

He couldn't turn the doorknob no matter what he did. He turned around and walked deeper into the room, revealing the back half of his body that had been cut off.

Skeleton, internal organs, fat and muscle... all were neatly and cleanly cut away in half, the blood shimmering but not flowing down.

...If only I could get some of the blood from the creatures in the nest.

Fu Tailan closed his eyes, enduring waves of dizziness, and fired several shots at the door lock. When the lock finally broke free, the recoil made him unable to hold the gun, so he simply let the empty gun fall to the ground.

"Who...who is it?" Fu Han's voice came indistinctly from behind the door. "Carter?"

Fu Tailan took several deep breaths, trembling as she grasped the doorknob, pushed the vulture pellets into her right arm, and then gave it a strong push.

In the empty, enclosed concrete room, rows of glaring white lights shone brightly; cameras on the ceiling monitored every angle.

The single bed, surrounded by cameras, was in the center of the room. At that moment, Fu Han was standing beside the bed, staring blankly into his son's eyes.

"Too blue?"

His first reaction was to glance behind Fu Tai Lan—when he realized that Fu Han had come alone, his face showed a mixture of surprise, suspicion, fear, and joy. He stammered, "W-what's going on? Why is it just you?"

Fu Tailan stumbled into the house, barely managed to close the door again, then her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.

"You are hurt?"

Fu Han then realized that Fu Tai Lan's complexion was extremely poor, and hurriedly took a few steps forward, grasping his son's shoulder. "Where are you injured? How did you get in? Where are the Morgan family members?"

Fu Tailan lowered her eyelids and after several seconds, she let out a faint laugh.

“How else could we have gotten in?” he said breathlessly. “We fought our way in… we fought our way in. Carter’s life is over; he’ll be crippled for the rest of his life…”

Fu Han's face turned deathly pale, and he immediately looked up at the doorway.

"You're here to rescue your father? Good boy, but you shouldn't be taking such a risk." He stared at the doorway and said hastily, "Can you stand up? We need to get out of here quickly. This room is being watched. Even if you kill everyone outside, reinforcements will arrive soon—"

Fu Tailan slowly shook her head. "We can't get out."

Fu Han was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

“I used an illusion… to temporarily keep them in the hallway before I was finally able to enter the room.”

Fu Tailan looked up at her father and said, "But that illusion is about to expire... Once it disappears, the dozen or so hunters and nest creatures blocking the way outside will all rush in. Carter said... he doesn't care about anything else, he just wants you and me to die today."

Fu Han's mouth was half open, and for a moment, Fu Tai Lan felt as if he wanted to run back to his single bed, bury his head under the covers, and pretend that nothing had happened.

He knew that Fu Tailan was good at lying, but that was only a vague, background "knowledge"; Fu Han could never tell when Fu Tailan was lying.

Of course, Fu Tailan didn't often lie to him—mainly because there was no need for it.

"Then, what do we do?" Fu Han's lips trembled slightly. "How do we escape? You see, there aren't even any windows here..."

Fu Tailan looked at her father.

Carter wasn't stingy with food, drink, or clothing; in fact, he'd gained a little weight in the time I hadn't seen him.

Although he had gained weight, his complexion and overall condition were haggard and unsightly, as if his soul had been repeatedly rubbed and broken, leaving lingering pain that he dared not see the light—as if another man was tightly covering his eyes, curled up and hiding deep within layers of fat.

...Not long ago, my father was still full of vigor and ambition.

At that time, his son was the head of one of the largest hunter families, with a promising future, and he also received the best treatment—no, even before Fu Tailan became a hunter, Fu Han had never been worn down to this extent.

My father used to think he was no ordinary person. He often said that he had just met some important person and was about to close a big deal. He said that once he made money, he would buy back everything that Fu Tailan wanted.

To Fu Tailan's surprise, her father actually managed to guess several of the things she wanted that time.

...I wonder if that mountain bike that used to hang on the bedroom wall is still there? I should have ridden it more often, but I just left it hanging on the wall.

"Say something!" Fu Han shook Fu Tai Lan a few times, as if pleading and coaxing him, "What do we do? How do we escape? How much time do we have left?"

Fu Tailan snapped back to reality in a daze.

His father raised him, but strangely enough, sometimes he felt as if he had raised and protected Fu Han all these years.

Fu Tailan once sent someone to the gambling city to bring back Fu Han, who was penniless and detained; Fu Tailan was also so annoyed by him that she exchanged a house in the suburbs for an apartment in the city, because Fu Han liked excitement.

He couldn't sever the bond between himself and his parents, perhaps because parents can't easily give up their children.

“It’s impossible to escape from here,” Fu Tailan said hoarsely. “The entire floor is designed like a prison and guardhouse… Going out through this door is suicide.”

"Carter...can we still plead with Carter?"

Fu Tailan almost burst out laughing.

“He might not let you die, Father,” he said, seeing the light in Fu Han’s eyes, “because he needs someone to take the blame. As for me, he will tear me to pieces.” Fu Han suddenly bent over and let out a long, mournful cry.

"What do we do now? Are we just going to wait to die? If you knew this would happen, you shouldn't have come. You're such a smart person, how could you not have thought of this? Instead, you've made the situation worse. What do we do now?"

Fu Tailan remained silent for a few seconds.

“There is a way…” he said slowly. “Dad, do you remember the last time I was in the state jail, I stuck a vacuum cleaner hose to you?”

Fu Han looked up. "I remember... you wouldn't tell me what it was used for back then..."

“Because telling you while you’re in the state prison wouldn’t have helped; you wouldn’t need it,” Fu Tailan said in a low voice. “I know that after I saw you, Carter is definitely worried about keeping you in the state prison any longer. He’s afraid I’ll get you out. I’m betting that he’ll transfer you to a different place.”

"What?" Fu Han said blankly, "I don't understand."

“I gave you a way back then.” Fu Tailan stared at him intently, not blinking, afraid of missing any subtle expression. “That way was simple, but it couldn’t be opened in the prison.”

Fu Han stared with his mouth agape, as if Fu Tai Lan had spoken in an alien language, and he hadn't understood a single word.

"'Falling off the bed in an empty room.'" Fu Tailan gestured with her chin towards the door. "I just need to wait outside for a bit, and you can activate the connection—"

"Wait, wait," Fu Han's face grew paler and paler, so pale it was suspicious; how could a human face turn such a color? "You said a passageway—is it...is it...could it be the passageway to the lair?"

Fu Tailan quietly looked at her father.

He knew he probably shouldn't have any hope, but he couldn't help it.

"Go to the nest? You want me to go to the nest?"

Fu Han's voice was almost cracking, but he managed to calm himself down and pleaded, "Tai Lan, you know me. I'm old, and I get out of breath even when I run. I'm not as young and strong as you. If I go into the nest, I'll be dead... Going into the nest is definitely not an option."

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Fu Tailan said slowly, "This passage is quite good. Believe me, there's no shortage of rooms in the lair, and you can often see beds. Look around the lair, and you'll be back in Blackmore City in less than an hour."

"No, that won't work,"

Fu Han shook his head frantically. “No, if I go to the lair, you’ll never see me again. I know that. I’m not as talented as you, and I’m getting old, plus I have high blood pressure. When I chat with the hunters from the family faction, even the smallest details they tell me are enough to kill me several times over. You’re the manager of the family faction, you don’t know how many of those junior hunters outside ever come back alive—I can’t do it, I can’t do it.”

“But if you don’t go into the lair, Carter will catch you and make you take the blame,” Fu Tailan said softly.

After he softened his tone, Fu Han became even more resolute and forceful.

"Think of something else! Carter won't kill you. You're the best hunter he's ever met; he told me that himself. It's all about human effort. If we negotiate and communicate with him more, we're definitely not doomed—think of something else. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

"Dad, my trump card is your access route."

Fu Tailan did not mean it, but he had unknowingly become so gentle and mild, almost cautiously so.

It turned out to be the case.

It turns out that people don't feel resentment or anger when saying goodbye for the last time.

Only a heart full of tenderness that breaks one's heart.

...The government refused to open the passage no matter what.

He originally had no access to the lair and had never seen it with his own eyes, but through Fu Tai Lan, he came into contact with countless hunters; almost everyone who had been to the lair once had endless horrors to tell.

The worst thing is imagination. The nest itself is indeed terrifying, but in the imagination, it can become a dead end from which there is no return.

Furthermore, even Lian Longzhen made up his mind never to enter the lair again after seeing it once, let alone Fu Han?

From a certain perspective, it might be logical for Fu Han to want to survive from Carter Morgan, who is also human.

...Fu Tailan could almost understand him.

almost.

“I understand,” Fu Tailan said in a low voice. “I’ll go check the situation outside. You wait for me here.”

Fu Han nodded repeatedly, and hope finally shone again on his tear-streaked face.

Fu Tailan stood up, about to leave, but then turned back. He took a tissue from the small table beside the bed and wiped Fu Han's face.

“Don’t let them laugh at us,” Fu Tailan said softly.

Fu Han stared blankly at his son, a wad of tissue paper clutched in his hand.

Fu Tailan walked out of the door and closed it.

He paused, then touched his face. After wiping it clean, he pushed the door open again and glanced at Fu Han.

“…Even facing murder charges, you wouldn’t want to enter the lair,” he said in a very soft voice. “Then why would you let me in?”

"What?" Fu Han didn't hear clearly. "Speak louder."

"It's nothing." Fu Tailan smiled and closed the door. This was the second time.

He opened the door for the third time, then closed it again.

(End of this chapter)