Artifact Report

Chapter 79: Chai Si: Riding in the same car with the residents?
The deadly coldness froze into my skin, slowing my blood flow. It seemed that if I just let it go, let go, I would gradually merge into the empty, dark universe.

Chase opened his eyes.

As usual, he woke up without ever knowing what time it was.

His always precise sense of time was strangled by the silence, coldness, and darkness. Every time he fell asleep, it was like dying.

The process of awakening was like an instinct unwilling to die, urging him to climb up from the abyss of emptiness little by little; when he opened his eyes again, there was still no light to serve as a dividing line between the human world and the abyss.

The thin sheets slid down across my bare skin, making a rustling sound.

The room temperature is always controlled at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of winter or summer; the Roller blinds imported from Europe are combined with thick blackout curtains to block out almost % of the light and most of the outdoor heat.

Sometimes Chai Si thought that his grave looked like a bedroom.

In this dark bedroom where no light, temperature or sound could invade, he would occasionally dream of the tall palm trees and bright sunshine in Los Angeles, but each time it seemed more distant and vague than the last.

Maybe one day, I will no longer be able to see the West Coast in my dreams.

In the darkness, he felt for his cell phone, which was always placed in the same place, turned it over and lightly touched the screen, and November 19th pierced his eyes.

...That day has come again.

Chai Si sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his head lowered, and sat quietly for a while.

The remaining night slowly slid off his back; in front of him, the roller blinds buzzed open, and the gloomy light of the sky illuminated his naked body.

Even today's weather is very appropriate, with low clouds and continuous rain.

Every year, he knows that it is useless to go today, but he will still do every useless work to the extreme.

His hair was neatly combed back, his skin was clean-shaven, and even his cologne came from a dark, matte bottle. He wore a black shirt, a black suit, and a jet-black watch; the only difference from his clothes was the two pale silver hands on the dial, one long and one short, ticking away in the darkness.

The same snow-white bouquet that was delivered every year on this day was waiting for him at the door when he opened it.

There was only one car left in the garage, luckily, it was also black.

Chai Si stopped the car at the usual place, holding an umbrella in one hand and flowers in the other, and walked step by step towards the green uphill slope.

Under a gray, gloomy sky, the grass and trees were shrouded in a gloom, as if a dark mist rose from the soil and seeped into the branches and leaves. The tombstones stood quietly in the rain and dark green, watching Chai Si pass by from afar.

At the same turn, he saw several familiar cars and Kai's personal bodyguards.

A bodyguard holding an umbrella stood there, nodded at him from a distance, and called out, "Mr. Monroe."

Chai Si understood what he meant.

The same thing had happened at least a dozen times, like a dance that had been rehearsed so many times that he knew where to stop.

The bodyguards left at the intersection were there to prevent outsiders from going up the hill; later Chai Si thought that they might just be trying to block him.

Not many people come to this cemetery.

He stopped and looked at a path that continued to extend upward and gradually disappeared into the dark green. From the end of the path, on the grassy slope at the top of the hill, he could see the tall buildings in a corner of Blackmore City in the distance.

Now that I think about it, Damian was too young when he died, and Chase didn't even know what kind of scenery he liked to see before he died.

Nearly twenty years have passed, and even Damian's face has become blurred.

He remembered Damian with a laugh, blond hair, and sparkling eyes, but he couldn't recall his facial features. Whenever he tried to recall Damian's appearance, the only thing that came to mind was the photo on Uncle Kai's desk.

Chai Si bent down and placed the bouquet of white flowers on a bench beside the path.

The rain hit the wrapping paper, gathered into water droplets, and slid down the ribbon one by one; the paper was soaked, and the petals trembled slightly, like a white, smooth back, unable to stop sobbing.

He stood there for a moment, holding the umbrella. Then he turned and whispered to the bodyguard, "Mr. and Mrs. Kay...are they already up there?"

"Yes," the bodyguard replied.

"They also..." Chase paused before continuing, "Don't you want to be disturbed?"

"Yes," the bodyguard said, his eyelids drooping.

The tip of his tongue slid across his cheek. Looking at the path that stretched upward, Chai Si vaguely thought that he probably wouldn't be able to hand over the "rumor" to Uncle Kai today.

…But that’s okay.

There was one thing he could accomplish by leveraging "rumors"; the more he thought about it last night, the more he felt he could give it a try. But he couldn't tell Uncle Kai about that idea today.

He stood quietly in the rain for nearly an hour, finally nodded to the lead bodyguard and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Mr. Monroe, are you leaving?" The bodyguard was slightly startled, as if he wanted to look at his watch, but then stopped.

It was a little early today; he usually stayed for a long time, not leaving until Uncle Kai and Aunt Hai came down.

"Well," Chase replied in a low voice. "There's something I need to do."

This morning, along with the date and time, his phone lit up with a text message from an unfamiliar number.

The sender was named Jin Xueli, who seemed to be a hunter who usually acted alone; she said she had the latest news about the residents of "Vulture" and could provide it to him.

"This afternoon at two o'clock," Chai Si said straight to the point without even saying hello when he called, "Go to the address I sent you and we'll meet up to talk."

He actually didn't expect that the inquiry he sent out would receive a response so quickly.

The rumor just came into effect on the 17th, and someone came to report it on the 18th?
The people who come here are either extremely lucky, or they want to make a profit from him by using some seemingly true information... However, the latter kind of hunters who seek their own death have become less and less common in recent years.

Temptation is a large nightclub and one of the Kai family's businesses.

On a rainy weekday afternoon, the lights were dimmed and the doors were closed. During the day, nightclubs are always filled with gloomy faces, the tired and dejected dejection of an artist off the stage.

Chai Si would sometimes come to the place to check on the goings-on. The usual nightlife of bright lights and revelry, the long lines of attractive men and women, the boisterous chatter amidst the scent of alcohol… all had vanished this afternoon, leaving only a young woman at the door, holding an umbrella at an angle.

The umbrella was tilted on her shoulder, but she seemed unaware of it. Half of her body was soaked in the raindrops between the sky and the earth and the music in the headphones. She swayed her feet to the beat, and on the wet sidewalk, the raindrops stepped on like musical notes.

Is she the hunter? Chai Si was a little unsure.

Although it may sound a bit arrogant to say this, it has been many years since he has seen a hunter who can be so relaxed and happy even though he knows he will meet him soon.

Chai Si stopped the car in front of her, lowered the window, and asked, "...Jin Xueli?"

"what?"

The woman seemed startled, took off her headphones and bent down towards him.

The car window was like a picture frame, revealing a wet face with water droplets in the gray rain; her skin was whitened by the water, and her wet hair and eyelashes appeared darker and thicker, like crow feathers in the mist.

…I’m so wet, it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether I use an umbrella or not.

"You are...eh?"

Jin Xueli stared at him for a second or two, her gaze bright and unwavering, almost reminiscent of a child just entering Disneyland. "Could it be... you are Chase Munroe?"

Chai Si rarely had this illusion - as if he himself had become a target that others wanted.

Is this man really a hunter? I wonder who he is?

"They said you were the second-in-command of the Kai family. I thought you must be a bit old." Jin Xueli smiled at him, and the water droplets broke and slid down her chin. "It's great. It's much more fun to see a handsome guy than an old man."

For a moment, Chai Si couldn't find the words to respond to her.

When he overcame the momentary blankness and was about to tell her to wait at the door, he saw Jin Xueli straightened up, quickly walked around the front of the car, and opened the passenger door - her movements were so swift that finally made Chai Si believe that she was a hunter.

"Hmm?" She pulled, but the door didn't open. Confused, she knocked on the window and mumbled, "Open the door."

Chai Si looked at her, then looked at his clean car.

He originally wanted to talk to the hunter on the second floor of Temptation when there was no one around during the day; somehow, a few seconds later, a dripping wet Jin Xueli got into the car.

"Sorry, I'm a little wet."

It turned out that she was not completely unaware and did not mistakenly believe that her umbrella had the insulating properties of a space suit - so why did she get in his car?

"Why did you get on the car?" Chai Si also asked.

"Huh?" Jin Xueli was even more bewildered than he was. "Are we going to stand in the rain and talk?"

……never mind.

"Where are you going? I'll give you a ride." He started the car and said, "Tell me about your encounter with the vulture on the way."

Jin Xueli nodded and said, "Should I not ask why you want to know?"

Then why are you asking?

"Shouldn't." Chai Si felt he should lead her to the beginning, so he asked, "When did you encounter the Vulture?"

"Wait, let me turn off the music first." Jin Xueli took out her phone, turned off the music, and opened the memo. She said, "Hmm... I recorded the video at 12:16 AM on November th. So, it seems that the encounter with the 'vulture' happened shortly after midnight."

In other words, as soon as the "rumor" came true, she became the first victim.

If she just wanted to cheat some money with a made-up story, the timing probably wouldn't be so coincidental; in this way, even though she hasn't heard the full story yet, it already seems somewhat credible.

He was lucky - of course, Chai Si already knew this.

"I need you to tell me the whole story from beginning to end, and give me the relevant memos," Chase said. "Name your price."

"Money?" Jin Xueli was stunned and said, "But I don't lack money. I want something else."

"what do you want?"

He felt Jin Xueli glance at him.

"I've always been alone in the lair. Although it's free, it can be inconvenient at times... I heard you're quite capable, right?"

Chai Si had no idea how to answer this question.

"...In what way? I'm not a hunter."

"That's okay," Jin Xueli said. "I just want a favor from you. You're not a hunter, but you have plenty of hunters under your command. When I need help, I hope the hunters of the Kai family can lend me a hand. Is that not too much to ask?"

"I'd rather you ask for money." Chai Si said this truthfully. "Your request sounds very troublesome."

"That's why I took the opportunity to make a deal with the second-in-command of the Kai family and proposed it," Jin Xueli said sincerely, "If you want money, thank you. If you were me, you wouldn't ask for money either, right?"

"...No," Shibashi admitted after a few seconds of silence. "You can start talking now. What's different about the 'vulture' you encountered this time compared to the previous ones?"

Although he didn't turn around to look, he could feel that Jin Xueli's body tensed up a little; she involuntarily raised her hand and touched her neck.

It was like touching a non-existent wound - this thought suddenly occurred to Chai Si.

"The biggest difference is... the 'vultures' I met no longer had to wait for their hunters to die before they could transform into their forms."

Out of the corner of her eye, she clutched her pants with one hand.

"It seems even the nest is doing its best to help the Vulture replicate its human form. Once it takes on the target human's appearance, it acquires the corresponding memories and even wholeheartedly believes it's the real owner.

"I...I still can't help but feel fear sometimes."

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, "I know I actually escaped. But I can't help but wonder, if everything in the nest is helping it... then maybe I'm actually a 'vulture,' unaware that I'm just a nest dweller who has entered the human world."

　This chapter took me three days to write. I'm really going crazy from being tortured... There's a 120-pound bag of leftover powder sitting in front of my computer...

　　The name Rolladen is not made up by me, it is the German Rolladen shutter. If I were rich, I would really like to install one in every window.

　　What Jin Xueli wants is a favor. Translating it into "favor" seems a little less meaningful, but there is indeed no more appropriate word.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)