Artifact Report

Chapter 208 Chasi: Chasing Blank
The fine, cool rain between heaven and earth froze his skin until it turned pale blue; it seemed as if the blood flow in his body had slowed down, which was why the clear and sudden realization had not yet entered his mind.

But after waiting for a few seconds, Chai Si still couldn't remember anything.

"You...you weren't hit by something, were you?" Jin Xueli hesitated and said, "It's better to be hit by something. What if it's a stroke..."

Tianxi glared at her, but seemed worried by what she said. He turned around and called Chai Si, "Brother Chai Si..."

"and many more."

Chai Si wiped the rain from his face and brushed his wet hair back. He stared intently at the dead body lying on the ground in the distance and said, "Let me think about it."

"But……"

Chai Si ignored him and just glanced at the back door of the bar, then looked at Han Liuyue - a smile puffed up on his snow-white face, casting an almost solid shadow between his teeth.

...This strange thing must have been seeing the strange things happening to him and knew everything about it.

It was too late to act now. If there was another person behind the door, they would have been able to walk to the other end of the bar by now.

The most important thing is to clarify your own cognition first.

Based on the performance of Tianxi and Jin Xueli, Chai Si realized that he might be missing two parts in his understanding: first, the "Backlight Between" bar has a main entrance; second, in addition to the dead body on the ground, there was another one of Brianna's men here just now.

Tianxi is from the family and would not lie to him. What's more, it is impossible for Tianxi and Jin Xueli to communicate with each other in advance and make up the same story.

The other party has some means that can selectively cut off a piece of his cognition, and this conclusion cannot be wrong.

If he forgets the main gate, when he encounters the black trap, Chai Si will have no other way to go; if he forgets that subordinate, he will not chase people and will not be able to get the black illusion.

The person who did not exist in the memory walked away calmly from a door that did not exist in the memory, leaving Chai Si waiting in the alley like a fool, thinking that the situation was under his control.

He clenched his teeth, his cheek muscles tightened and then relaxed.

No, that person would not leave in a “calm and leisurely” manner no matter how you put it.

Perhaps due to limitations in their capabilities, they could only cause Chai Si to lose consciousness. This meant they had very little time to leave; they had to leave before Tian Xi and Jin Xueli could object...

The man seemed to be standing behind the door with Han Liuyue just now.

"You covered him and he left,"

Chai Si's gaze fell on Han Liuyue, and he whispered, "I only lost the knowledge of that person, but I haven't forgotten you. Every moment you spoke and acted just now happened to be when Tianxi wanted to remind me that something was wrong."

As soon as Han Liuyue made a move, Chai Si would focus all his attention on her first; even if Tianxi finally finished speaking, he would definitely be delayed and interrupted once or twice by Han Liuyue's actions - just gaining half a minute more could mean a world of difference between a successful escape and one's own.

To take a step back, even if Chai Si didn't hesitate or get confused at all and immediately followed the man into the bar, she probably wouldn't have obediently moved away from the door, right?
Han Liuyue raised both hands, one on the left and one on the right, standing in the air.

Then, the two hands hit each other with a "snap" sound and slowly separated.

She seemed to be trying to applaud.

"I guessed it right," Han Liuyue's smile remained unchanged: "Anything else, Brother Chai?"

"You didn't attack me, but you only covered his escape." Chai Si said coldly, "So, you must be hedging your bets. Seeing that the situation has changed, you decided to spare my life and see if I can take you to see the mayor. If I can't satisfy you, you still have a backup option."

Han Liuyue nodded slowly.

"Then you must know his name so you can go find him later. It's not just a name, but also some kind of guarantee." Chai Si suppressed the urge to take action and whispered, "What is it? Tell me."

Unfortunately, when facing Han Liuyue, he had no bargaining chips and no deterrent power.

"I won't," Han Liuyue said matter-of-factly. "You've already guessed that I'm hedging my bets. How can I let one side kill the other?"

"She's no longer Han Liuyue," Tianxi couldn't help himself before Chai Si, and raised his gun. "Brother Chai Si, a short pain is worse than a long one."

Chai Si was silent for a few seconds and shook his head.

Han Liuyue seemed to have won a victory and said, "That's right, as long as you take me there--"

"Shut up."

Chai Si pushed Han Liuyue out without even looking at her; when she staggered back a few steps, Chai Si had already walked towards the dead body in the alley.

The burly man who had tried to throw him into the Black side's trap a while ago also suffered from his massive size. He had barely dodged the first round of bullets and was about to find a chance to hide in the bar's back door when Chase shot him square in the chest. Blood formed a dark lake, trembling and shattering under the rain.

"By the time the others went around to the main gate, that guy should have already run away."

As Chai Si spoke, he lifted the burly man's coat and examined the inside pockets. Even though he knew he'd been tricked and that the bar did have a front entrance, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable when he said it himself: "Tell them to clean up the scene immediately and leave no evidence."

The gunshots must have already alerted the nearby police, leaving them with no more than a few minutes. The only lucky thing was that the alley was flanked by building facades, and the upper floors weren't residential, leaving no corners or opportunities for photography or videography.

But they still had to act quickly. If they were blocked by the police again...

"Yes," Tianxi replied, immediately pulling out his phone. "I'll call them right away." The burly man didn't have much on him, just the three essentials most people bring when they go out: wallet, keys, and phone.

The key chain was a leather case made by a car brand, with a car key hanging on it; Chai Si opened his wallet and found the strong man's driver's license.

"They must have come in the same car. The deceased was driving, and the keys are still here." Chai Si tossed the two items to Tian Xi and said, "The guy who ran away couldn't drive, so he had to leave by some other means."

"So what?" Han Liuyue came up again at some point.

She was barely a human now. Even after being pushed, she didn't get angry. She stretched her neck and said, "He can take a taxi, call a car, and even take the subway. Blackmore City is huge. Where can you catch him?"

Chai Si turned a deaf ear to him, took the strong man's phone, looked up and called out: "Jin Xueli."

When he looked up, he was stunned for a moment. Not only was Jin Xueli standing quite far away, but she also seemed to be getting further and further away—as if she was slowly moving backwards.

"Where are you planning to move to?"

"You guys go about your business," Jin Xueli waved her hand. "Well, I'll probably go home first. I see you seem to have regained your strength. You were quite strong when you pushed her just now. Besides, Kai's family is here, so they don't need my help. The death has nothing to do with me. A place like the police station, just one visit and..."

Tianxi immediately grasped the key point and asked, "Recovery? Brother Chai Si is injured? Um, may I ask who you are..."

"It doesn't matter who I am," Jin Xueli said, looking at the corpse. "It's even less important now. But your brother Chai Si was... well, can you tell me?"

"Don't talk to her easily," Chai Si only reminded Tian Xi, "She can keep you off topic forever."

"Yeah, Brother Chai Si reminded me the same thing back then." Han Liuyue clapped her hands happily again.

No one paid any attention to her.

"Tianxi," Chai Si only said one word, and Tianxi understood. He walked around to the side of the corpse and pulled up the upper body.

"Jin Xueli," Chai Si said again, "Help me open his eyelids."

"So this is what you do?" Jin Xueli walked over reluctantly, carefully walked around the pool of blood, stretched out two index fingers, and pulled open the upper eyelid of the corpse.

Chase didn't try to unlock it immediately.

His fingers didn't touch the phone screen, he just pinched the sides and tried to aim the camera at the pupils of the dead body.

Unlocking the phone requires more than just detecting a face; it also requires detecting a pair of open eyes looking directly at the camera. Once aligned, it automatically unlocks; however, if you touch the phone screen while it's not aligned, the face unlock fails and you might be prompted to enter your password.

A small lock appeared above the phone.

Under the gaze of three pairs of living eyes and one pair of dead eyes, the lock turned and was unlocked.

"Brother Chai Si, you are so lucky." Tian Xi smiled, looked up at the alley entrance, and said, "Oh, they are coming too."

From here, they went around to the main gate which was not actually sealed, and then went back. The circle was not small, and the hunters under Tianxi arrived quite quickly.

"You've arrived just in time." Chai Si looked back, waved to the Kai family members, and asked Tian Xi, "Where's your car? Let them clean up the scene, and we'll get in now."

"We" included himself, Tianxi, Jin Xueli and Han Liuyue who was always muttering "mayor", a total of four people.

Jin Xueli had no choice but to sit in the back seat with Han Liuyue, pressing herself against the side of the car, only half of her buttocks occupied, leaning forward, trying to stay as far away from Han Liuyue as possible. She rested her hot head against the passenger seat and asked, "What's next?"

Chai Si was about to answer but was suddenly interrupted by a sneeze. Even Chai Si, who had been in the cold rain for such a long time in a temperature less than 10 degrees Celsius, had frozen his bones so much that he could not withstand the temperature difference when he got in the car.

"Bless you," these words actually came from Han Liuyue.

Habit is truly a powerful force.

"Brother Chai Si, please wear my coat," Tian Xi, who was in the driver's seat, immediately took off his coat and handed it over.

Jin Xueli made a sound that sounded regretful.

……What's the meaning?
Chai Si turned her head, but her tone didn't change: "What's next?"

Speaking of which, the person he was tracking was someone he always thought did not exist and could not remember. This was the first time in Chai Si's life.

It is naturally impossible to catch up with prey from a blank slate... But the person who does not exist in his mind exists in the lives of others. Just knowing this is enough.

The other party can only make Chai Si forget him, but cannot erase the traces he left from the world.

“…The best time to hunt is when the prey thinks they have escaped.”

Chai Si smiled slowly, leaned back, and opened the call history on the strong man's phone.

From the last few calls, he saw "Secretary Green".

　I'm a legitimate victim. The streaming platform I subscribed to only releases one episode of The Jackal a week! So far, there are only three episodes! What's going on? Are they holding me hostage? Are they trying to blackmail me for money? Just let Freckles out!
　　Speaking of which, this play is truly well-written, and the dialogue is truly amazing. He has the line "Someone has misunderstood their obligations to me," and it really brings out the character of a mature, complex, and restrained villain. Ah, I wish I could write such great dialogue someday...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)