Artifact Report

Chapter 170: Fu Tailan: Have you told too many lies in the past?
The disadvantage of lying frequently is that it is like "crying wolf". When you tell the truth, it is difficult to gain people's trust.

But a person who is really good at using lies as a weapon, no matter how many lies he tells, still has the ability to make people believe his next lie - one of the keys is to know when to tell the truth.

Fu Tailan is telling the truth at this moment.

"It's as if someone sent me a target artifact, hoping I'd win." He shrugged and said, "Who knows? Maybe the Nest is particularly fond of me? Well, you certainly can't understand what it feels like to be liked."

If Chai Si still had five grams of brains left in his head, he would have thought that the method of obtaining it was not the current focus; because the same method would not work a second time - it was impossible for all the target artifacts to gather in one place and wait for people to come and get them one by one. It was not a bank safe.

Chai Si tilted his head and thought for a few seconds.

"I trust you,"

He suddenly spoke, which startled Fu Tailan.

"You joined the game on the 15th and obtained the key before the 19th. During this time, you didn't stay in the lair for long, nor did you lose your trace. In other words, you didn't have time to look for the target artifact. Besides, there's little point in lying to me about this matter, and it might even be more trouble than it's worth."

Fu Tailan could feel his expression suddenly darken, and he had no time to control it.

He knew it too well...

Information like the joining date should be included in the nest recruitment notice. Is this the advantage of joining later? Can they gain access to the intelligence of the previous person? Just like he also gained some intelligence on the Vesile team.

The issue is……

"Surprised? Ever since you climbed to this position you're not worthy of, your tracks have been easy to track." Chase smiled and said, "Morgan treats the Hunter family faction as a side effect of running the company. No one will think twice about the boss."

"Congratulations! You know everything about astronomy and geography."

Fu Tailan clapped his hands dryly and raised his chin to his stunned father. "According to the agreement, you should let him go, right?"

"As agreed, I'll let him go when you give me the target key. Not yet."

Chai Si placed the key on the coffee table and said, "I've had enough of teasing the child. Give me the real key."

Fu Tailan glanced at the key on the coffee table.

Chai Si did not put it in his pocket - generally speaking, even if you have doubts about it, it is safer to put it away first and then ask about it.

But he deliberately put the key aside, apparently to convey a message: I am 100% sure that this key is a fake.

Does slicking your hair back help you think more smoothly?

"Why do you say it's fake?" Fu Tailan asked.

"You don't seem to understand the situation yet."

As these words were uttered, Chai Si still had one foot firmly nailed on Fu Han's right shoulder, but he suddenly raised his left foot and kicked Fu Han's temple sideways - the latter's head tilted, as if he was about to fly off his shoulder. He screamed in pain, but struggled to get free. When Chai Si put his left foot back on his shoulder, the tip of his shoe was already splattered with blood.

Even if he hadn't used the shoe with the blade, Fu Han's temple would have felt like it had been hit by a hammer, with his skin and flesh torn and blood gushing out. He gasped and groaned in pain.

...Fu Tailan felt as if someone was pinching the nerves behind his eyeballs. His field of vision kept shrinking and the sound of blood flowing was buzzing in his ears.

"Do you understand now?" Chai Si asked almost patiently, "How many times do you think your father can hold on?"

"You won't kill him..." Fu Tailan said word by word between his teeth, "otherwise you won't have anything to threaten me with."

"Don't worry," Chase said with a grin. "I'm also good at making people suffer for a day and a night worse than death."

"Tai, Tai Lan..." Fu Han called out with an unstable breath.

"I know, I know," Fu Tailan raised his hands and said through gritted teeth, "Don't hit him. I'll give you the real key."

Chai Si just looked at him without saying anything.

Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. Inside the room, only the light strip on the ceiling cast a soft, warm glow. The floor lamp was not turned on, and the house was still a little dark.

Fu Tailan stood up and said, "I'll go get the key. Don't worry, I hid it in the kitchen."

The small open kitchen is on the other side of the living room, facing the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, and is always under Chai Si's surveillance.

If you walk in and take a quick look, you can see that the kitchen has indeed been searched, but not much - not even thoroughly, not even the contents of the drawers have been emptied out.

Strange...the key is such a small target, can you tell if it is there just by opening the drawer?
In Chai Si's style, it would be better to tear down the house.

Although I am confused, now is not the time to think about it.

At this time, a soft and white thing appeared on the kitchen counter, which looked like a puffed dough. It had facial features vaguely similar to Fu Han, and its short and uneven limbs stretched out of its body in a twisted manner.

A few coarse hairs stuck out from the folds of the dough, looking quite unpleasant.

It dragged itself over to the wall, wiggling and crawling, as if trying to climb it like a slug—a wall hung with nothing but a cheap TJMaxx picture of a kitten raising a paw as if for a high-five, with the words "U'RE OKAY" written underneath.

"Fu Han Dough" tried several times but couldn't climb up, and his face became crooked with anxiety.

No one except himself should be able to see this thing... because neither Chai Si nor Fu Han in the living room reacted to it.

The symptoms of nest dissociation disorder have not subsided yet.

Fu Tailan looked away and said, "I taped the key to the back of the microwave."

Before he could finish his words, his hand slid down from the microwave, across the knife rack, and pulled out a knife. Fu Tailan swung his arm, and a silver light flew out of his hand, swirling and slicing towards Chai Si's face - at the same time, he quickly pulled out several more knives. Even Chai Si couldn't sit still on the sofa any longer, and jumped to the side; Fu Tailan immediately yelled at his father, "Come here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he had already fixed his eyes on Chai Si's figure and threw out knives one after another.

Fu Han let out screams and unintelligible broken words as he scrambled down, desperately trying to crawl out along the floor. Except for his hands being tied behind his back, he looked quite similar to the soft mud "dough" on the platform.

Fu Tailan threw away all the knives, rushed out of the kitchen in two steps, grabbed the back of her father's collar, and tried to pull him towards the door - but Fu Han suddenly raised his head.

He stared into his son's eyes with trembling eyes, opened his mouth and let out a scream that was almost inhuman.

The blood in Fu Tailan's body stopped flowing.

He raised his head and the first thing he saw was a black plastic handle protruding from Fu Han's calf.

The knife had completely disappeared, completely buried in the flesh of the calf. The other end, sticking to the bone, pierced through the father's leg and stuck in the floor. Because the knife was not long enough, every time Fu Han trembled, the tip of the knife scraped a sharp, flesh-souring sound on the floor.

Behind Fu Han, Chai Si was looking down at the father and son, and smiling slowly.

The next moment, Fu Tailan felt as if a cannonball had hit his stomach, knocking him back several steps and slamming hard against the refrigerator, causing his vision to go dark for a short time.

When he looked again, Fu Han had been dragged back again; this time Chai Si was sitting on the coffee table with one foot on Fu Han's back.

He was tall, and his weight was pressing down on both the coffee table and Fu Han. For a moment, it was unclear whether one should worry about the coffee table breaking first, or Fu Han collapsing first.

Chai Si lowered his head, and with a "click" the lighter in his hand lit a cigarette; he held the cigarette in his mouth, tilted his neck back, took a deep breath, and the smoke he exhaled gently filled the air.

"...If your son resists a few more times, even I will worry about your life, Mr. Fu."

"Too blue!"

Fu Han's face was covered in sweat and tears, and he kept shouting, "Give him the key, the real key! What key? Is it more important than your father? Do you really want me to die here today?"

Only then did Fu Tailan regain his balance. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I know... I know."

"That's what you said just now," Fu Han hissed immediately, "Don't lie to me anymore. Give it to him. You must give him the real key!"

Fu Tailan stood up without saying a word and walked to the kitchen trash can.

"Fuhan Dough" was still on the table, trembling all over, as if it also felt Fuhan's pain. He pretended not to see it, bent down to open the trash can, and took out an empty trash bag.

"I stuck the key to the inside of the trash can," Fu Tailan said with his eyes downcast, his voice slightly nasal.

This time, Chai Si studied the flat, black object in his hand and whispered, "...485 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes. Isn't this a countdown? Did you have someone carve the number 7704 on that key?"

"……Correct."

Fu Tailan knew that he probably wouldn't let Fu Han go until the countdown reached 11 minutes.

"Oh, it really is counting down...it's definitely an illusion."

Chai Si watched the last number jump to 11, said something briefly, and fell into a brief silence.

"You should let him go," Fu Tailan whispered.

Chai Si lowered his eyelids and glanced at Fu Han.

There was no expression on his face, but at that moment, the thought of "just kill him" was clear and loud, like a silent broadcast that everyone in the room could hear.

After a brief hesitation, Chai Si raised his foot.

The next moment, he suddenly pulled out the knife from Fu Han's calf, and screams and blood splashed all over his face; Chai Si narrowed his eyes, swung the knife in his hand, and cut the rope on Fu Han's body.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Fu. If you need any help with your son's funeral, please feel free to ask."

Fu Han couldn't utter a word and used all three limbs to crawl out. But Fu Tailan stopped him and said, "Wait, take my key."

My father was stunned. He looked at the key on the coffee table and then at Chai Si.

"No." Chai Si said without raising his head.

"Why, aren't you very confident? Isn't that the real one?" Fu Tailan immediately became anxious and couldn't help asking sarcastically.

"Well...he does need the key when he returns with his helpers to collect your body."

Chai Si smiled and said to Fu Han, who had already managed to stand up and walked a few steps, "Okay, come and get it."

Fu Han seemed unable to digest all this and could not keep up with the current situation; but since Chai Si had said so, he turned around in panic, dragged his bloody legs, and bent down to pick up the key on the coffee table.

Chai Si's hand silently touched his neck, and the next second, Fu Han was thrown heavily to the ground, and he let out a scream of pain like a firecracker.

Mrs. Fu's blue eyelids twitched a few times; when he spoke again, the anger and panic in his voice were not entirely acting: "What are you doing? Are you going to regret it?"

"That's not it."

Chase looked at the flat, black object and said, "It suddenly occurred to me... It's certainly an artifact, but is it really a key? It doesn't resemble a normal key at all, so how could you have thought it was a key? You lie so much, I have to be on guard."

　I finished it really early today! I updated it in the middle of the night... Well, I remember someone sharing that writing and updating at a fixed time is good for maintaining readers. My update schedule is so erratic that I'm afraid readers won't be able to keep up with me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)