Illusion Report

Chapter 145: Chapter 113: Combo - Pendulum Mai Mingle and Hunter Fu Tailan

’I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate Fu Tailan I’m so mad.’

The gunshot was too close, right beside her cheek. For a normal human, it would have been enough to rupture their eardrums.

But the moment the tremendous bang hit Mai Mingle’s ears, she felt as if numerous fleshy, swollen sacs had suddenly grown inside her four ears. The loud noise fell into the sacs and was "bounced" right back out—it didn’t even cause any ringing.

’A resident’s body really is amazing.’

She could still hear everything with perfect clarity. For example, the sound of a bullet hitting a human body—of bone shattering, twisting with blood and muscle, and being gouged into a hollow cavity.

’He hit him he really hit him I hate Fu Tailan.’

Fu Tailan had been right there, within her grasp. One more strike, and the boy would have become a corpse that could no longer get in her way.

Yet, when the sound of a bullet tearing through human flesh reached her ears, Mai Mingle could no longer hold back. She let out a furious howl, abandoned Fu Tailan, and wheeled around to charge at Hai Luwei. freewёbnoνel.com

’I want to eat him whole I don’t want to see him splattered into a bloody mess what’s the difference between that and dropping a brand-new ice cream on the ground Hai Luwei is my delicacy he can’t die he can’t die the good person must be eaten by me alive.’

However, Mai Mingle knew full well that no matter how fast a resident was, it couldn’t outrun a bullet.

’Hai Luwei is probably dead, isn’t he?’

The human part of her seemed to be wailing in the depths of her mind, insisting that Hai Luwei’s death was her fault—a persistent, utterly annoying thought.

Mai Mingle lunged toward the two figures overlapping on the ground. She stared, and found herself stunned.

...Someone had indeed been shot, but it wasn’t Hai Luwei.

Hai Luwei was pale, his limbs weak. His face was slick with sweat and tears. Unsure if it was from fear or pain, he couldn’t even get up. He was still lying next to the Dream Screenwriter—staring blankly at it, not even noticing Mai Mingle’s approach.

It’s hard for anyone who hasn’t experienced it to imagine the impact of a bullet.

The bullet had burrowed deep into the Dream Screenwriter’s chest, as if a large crater had been gouged out. Its back was pushed high into the air by the bullet’s force, yet its skin and bones hadn’t shattered.

It wouldn’t die from this, but having its chest cavity nearly broken in half was no pleasant experience for a resident. It clutched tightly at Hai Luwei’s jacket, pulling it halfway off, and let out a pained, wheezing sound.

’But whatever happens to the Dream Screenwriter doesn’t matter.’

"You’re okay," Mai Mingle said, relieved after taking a closer look at Hai Luwei. "The ice cream didn’t fall on the ground. That’s good."

"...Huh?"

Hai Luwei looked up, tears shimmering in his eyes. His lips were moist with saliva, rosy and trembling nonstop. "Wh-what ice cream?"

Mai Mingle gently stroked the top of his head. "Don’t be afraid. Does it hurt a lot?"

Hai Luwei’s eyes darted quickly to his side.

"C-compared to it... maybe it’s not so bad..."

’So that’s how it is. Humans really are creatures who constantly use comparison to ascertain their own position and status.’

Behind her, in the distance, Fu Tailan hadn’t taken the opportunity to retreat. Instead, he had taken a few steps forward.

’Hmm... a little strange.’

’Come to think of it, I’m currently less than a meter away from the Dream Screenwriter.’

’Even though it’s in that wretched state, it’s not dead. It can still use its ability. Maybe it’s silently counting down the seconds, waiting to trap me in a lucid dream.’

’I need to get more than a meter away.’

Her sense of time had become chaotic after becoming a resident. All she could tell was that it probably hadn’t been seven seconds yet. Just as she reached out, preparing to grab Hai Luwei and take him with her, someone behind her gently pulled the trigger.

’...So that was his plan.’

’Lure me over with Hai Luwei, then shoot at me from a distance. I wouldn’t die, but if my legs were injured and I couldn’t get more than a meter away in the remaining few seconds, his goal would be achieved.’

The whistle of a bullet tore through the night sky once more.

This time, Fu Tailan was ruthless. He fired another shot right after the first, unloading a continuous stream of fire into the darkness. The gunshots sounded as if they would shatter the entire plaza—and as expected, his target was her legs.

’Nice try. But unfortunately for you, I’m not some small fry like the Dream Screenwriter.’

A second neck suddenly elongated, dropping straight down from her back. The second head swung like a pendulum behind her, its high-speed rocking creating a blurry afterimage. Some bullets were knocked away by the rapidly swinging head; others were caught by its wide-open, black-hole-like mouth.

Even Fu Tailan probably hadn’t expected this move. Amidst the gunfire, he even let out a surprised "Huh?"

"Do you really still have a human superposition state?" Fu Tailan couldn’t help but complain once the firing stopped. "What kind of human is like that?"

’This body is adapting more and more, like a fish to water. Human imagination about the body is so limited. Laughable.’

Mai Mingle retracted her neck and kicked the Dream Screenwriter away. She wiped away the bullets embedded in her skin, spat out the ones in her mouth, and then snatched Hai Luwei, pulling him far away to hide behind a car. This way, if the Dream Screenwriter wanted to walk over and kill him, she would hear its footsteps first.

’With the car blocking the way, Fu Tailan can’t shoot him either. Ooh, I’m so smart.’

From the look on his face, Hai Luwei seemed to be begging for a quick death.

’But I can’t grant him that wish just yet.’

"What a shame, I can’t stay here with you yet," Mai Mingle whispered to him. "To make sure you don’t run away, I’ll just have to make you hurt a little more."

Before she could finish her last sentence, Hai Luwei let out a long, agonized cry.

’Honestly, screaming so loud. I didn’t even use that much force.’

’If he were an ice cream cone, the force I used to grip his ankle and crack the bone would, at most, be like taking a whiff of the ice cream’s cool, milky fragrance. It wouldn’t even count as a lick.’

’Mmm, but it sounds so good, so good.’

’...Although I really hoped Hai Luwei would be my first kill as a resident, given the situation, I have no choice. I’ll have to kill the biggest nuisance, Fu Tailan, first.’

The moment this thought crossed her mind, Mai Mingle whipped her head around again and lunged straight for the boy.

"I really don’t like your taste it’s full of poison full of poison I don’t like to eat things that are sharp and painful and bite back."

After a short chase, Fu Tailan seemed to realize he couldn’t outrun her. He stopped on his own, turned, and fired several shots at her. BANG! BANG!

’What’s the point of wasting bullets when you know it’s useless?’

’It seems even the smartest kids get stupid when death is at their doorstep.’

Mai Mingle used the same trick again, deflecting the rain of bullets. With a few dodges, leaps, and pounces, she was towering right in front of Fu Tailan.

He was panting, a bloody gash split open on one side of his jaw. As he forced a smile, a drop of blood slid down his chin.

Fu Tailan was indeed a very handsome person. But residents only care about taste, not looks.

"Hai Luwei is ice cream, and I’m poison? How unfair."

"You’re about to die, yet you’re quite calm," Mai Mingle said in a soft voice. "The resident that spawns from you... I’ll continue to torture it..."

"Before you do it, let me ask you a question, okay?" Fu Tailan didn’t wait for her reply and quickly asked, "If Hai Luwei were to die at someone else’s hands, how would you feel?"

Mai Mingle froze.

The Dream Screenwriter wasn’t nearby, so she didn’t have to worry about the seven-second countdown starting. Though she was reluctant to admit it, she was completely baffled right now.

’This wasn’t the reaction of someone on the verge of death. It would be a lie to say I don’t want to hear him out. Residents have curiosity, too.’

"That’s absolutely unacceptable," Mai Mingle said with genuine feeling. "Just the thought of him dying at someone else’s hands makes me so, so sad. The kind of sad that makes me want to tear every single human to shreds."

The boy seemed not to have expected this answer. "Sad? You’re actually sad... That emotion probably comes from the human part of you, right? The human you doesn’t actually want him to die, does she?"

"That’s none of your business."

"My apologies," Fu Tailan said with a low chuckle, his voice muffled. "...I’m about to make you sad."

Mai Mingle froze. "What?"

"While you were chasing me, the Dream Screenwriter already walked over to the car and pulled Hai Luwei into a lucid dream. Its head is broken, true, but it can still walk—"

"Impossible impossible impossible if it walked over I would have heard it you lying child I’ll kill you I’ll kill you I’ll kill you!"

Mai Mingle’s two heads twisted backward simultaneously, her gazes falling on the empty plaza.

The spot where the Dream Screenwriter had been just moments ago was now, impossibly, empty.

’How? How could I not have heard it?’

’How did that small fry’s movements get past—’

"I fired a lot of shots just now," Fu Tailan said slowly. "Oh, was the gunfire too loud?"

’...Did he calculate this?’

’Just being pulled into a lucid dream doesn’t mean he’ll die right away the Dream Screenwriter has to convince Hai Luwei that he’s dead for him to actually die in other words I have to go save him right now.’ freёwebnovel.com

***

...Her desire to kill Hai Luwei with her own hands had completely overwhelmed her thoughts and reason.

’This is good.’

Fu Tailan watched Mai Mingle’s retreating back and let out a shaky breath.

The moment she realized Hai Luwei’s life was in danger, she didn’t even care about killing him anymore. She turned and lunged straight for the car. Under the night sky, her furious howls were like countless sharp needles, threatening to riddle a person’s eardrums with a thousand holes.

’If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that was her child.’

He panted, dragging his trembling legs as he followed her, one step at a time.

Like a Hunter tracking a wounded, exhausted prey—except he was the one who was wounded and exhausted, and he was the one who’d just had a brush with death.

"It’s too late for you to go now. The Dream Screenwriter has already completed its mission and left."

Although he was far away, he knew Mai Mingle had definitely heard him.

He had never encountered a resident with such terrifying hearing. If she hadn’t been an old lady who’d never used a smartphone before getting her Illusion, he really couldn’t say what his chances of winning would have been today.

Fu Tailan knew that Mai Mingle must have heard the TAP TAP TAP of him typing on his phone. She just didn’t know that the sound represented a text conversation. All he had to do afterward was show it to the Dream Screenwriter, and the human and the resident could establish a basic level of cooperation.

Amidst her howling, Mai Mingle lunged behind the car, grabbed a figure on the ground, and dragged him out.

Hai Luwei’s face was completely drained of color, yet he seemed to have forgotten all pain and fear. His eyes were wide open, staring at some unknown scene in his dream.

One.

"Wake up you’re not dead you’re not dead you’re not dead you’re not dead!"

Two.

Fu Tailan raised his gun at Mai Mingle and emptied the remaining bullets—he didn’t even bother trying to avoid hitting Hai Luwei.

Forcing Mai Mingle to protect herself while also making sure Hai Luwei didn’t get shot was the ideal outcome for him.

He had fired too many shots. By the fifth second, he was out of bullets, but Mai Mingle was still sitting on the ground, completely intact. Her second head was slowly retracting back into place.

’...What a monster.’

The second head suddenly paused in mid-air, then dipped down, staring intently at Hai Luwei’s face.

Perhaps because of the ’pendulum’ motion from earlier, the hood of his jacket had been flipped back a little, revealing a patch of skin on the top of his head.

’Oh no, looks like she’s about to find out.’

Six.

Mai Mingle paused, then grabbed the hood and yanked it down hard.

Hai Luwei’s head had, at some point, become bald. Only a wig hung askew but tenaciously on his head, refusing to come off with the hood. If the technology used to secure this wig could be brought to Blackmoor City, it would probably be worth a patent.

Mai Mingle finally realized she had been tricked. With a roar of fury, she leaped to her feet.

Seven.

The shrill howling came to an abrupt stop.

All emotion drained from Mai Mingle’s face. As if she had seen something, she slowly relaxed and sat back down beside Hai Luwei—no, beside the Dream Screenwriter.

’...Success.’

"You really scared me,"

Fu Tailan finally let go, his bones feeling as if they had collapsed. He slumped to the ground, his hand subconsciously fumbling in his pocket for a cigarette. A pity Longzhen hadn’t allowed him to bring any when he entered the Nest.

"I really thought I was a goner back there... I’m impressed. You’re still pretty quick even after taking a bullet to the chest, Brother Meng."