Illusion Report

Chapter 150: Chapter 118: Jin Xueli’s Fantastic Life

Jin Xueli felt that Chaisi severely lacked common sense.

’Was this guy really raised in human society?’

’According to him, he’d even gone to college? Could he really get along with ordinary people at school?’

"I said we needed to find a safe, private place to talk,"

As much as she wanted to take a deep breath, she found herself subconsciously holding it, unwilling to inhale too much of the surrounding air. "Is this your idea of a safe and private place?"

"Who else is here to listen?" Chaisi retorted.

Just as she was about to answer, Jin Xueli shivered.

She had been wearing a plastic raincoat that looked like a garbage bag, but it hadn’t kept out the dampness. Now, chilled to the bone, her muscles were trembling.

Chaisi, in contrast, was soaked to the bone, his skin a deathly pale as if it had frozen solid. You could tell just by looking how low his body temperature must be, yet he seemed completely unfazed by the cold.

"Generally speaking, when a normal person is looking for a private place to talk, a corpse freezer shouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind, should it?"

Jin Xueli gestured at the freezer unit before them, a wall of large drawers. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt as if a cold chill was seeping out of every single one.

"Couldn’t you use this authority to come and go from the morgue as you please for something better?"

"This is the most ideal place for a conversation," Chaisi said impassively.

Perhaps because he hadn’t beaten her up yet—and it seemed unlikely he ever would—Jin Xueli was no longer very afraid of his dark expressions. "Why?"

Chaisi stared at the corpse drawer above them, speaking slowly, as if Jin Xueli weren’t sitting beside him but lying inside that very drawer. "...One, Uncle Kai is in this very hospital, in the patient ward next door."

"Oh, you’re afraid the assassins will come back," Jin Xueli said, understanding now.

"I plan on guarding him without showing my face until he’s discharged, so I’ve only stationed a few men outside his ward. If that makes people think I’m not around, all the better."

’I never thought "ambition" and "loyalty" could coexist in one person.’ The look on Chaisi’s face in profile almost made her feel sorry for the assassins.

’Why would Morando oppose him? I really can’t figure it out.’

’How much would they have to pay... no, she seems different from me. She doesn’t seem like someone motivated by money.’

"And two?"

"Safe. Private," Chaisi said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It really was safe... Large corpse freezers lined both sides of the room. The two of them sat on the floor of the aisle between the units, looking like a pair of drowned spirits that had just escaped from their drawers.

And it was private. There were no windows, so they would spot anyone who entered the door immediately.

"Are you cold?" Chaisi suddenly asked, turning his head.

"Huh? Yeah, I am," Jin Xueli said, taken aback. "I didn’t think you were capable of being considerate of—"

"Perfect," he said, turning his head away again. "You talked too much on the way here. In this room, you should be able to be concise and get to the point."

’So that was his third reason?’

"You weren’t exactly quiet yourself," Jin Xueli retorted angrily. "It takes two to tango."

Before they could get any more sidetracked, she sighed. "Whatever. Lucky for you I’m not scared of this stuff. Where was I? Oh, right. The Vulture resident disappeared. When I woke up, my shoulder wasn’t injured and my Hunting Knife was gone."

Although their partnership was a complex mixture born of fear, desire, and a calculation of interests, Jin Xueli discovered something. No matter who she was talking to, the very act of recounting her experience in full to another human being was a comfort in itself.

’No wonder therapists usually just listen without saying much.’

"...This whole thing has been weighing on me. It’s been awful."

After pouring out her entire nightmarish experience, she felt much lighter and let out a long sigh of relief. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"Candle Tears is too big. I’ve seen it; there’s no exit large enough to get it through. It must have been generated directly in the basement exhibition hall, right? You can’t break it into pieces, either. Even if I could get it out, it would be a pain to transport back to Blackmoor City..."

Not complaining was one thing, but once she started, she became furious and couldn’t stop. "That stupid candle can’t even deal with a stalker. In the end, I had to rely on myself to get another Illusion and make him disappear after I got back—ah."

Jin Xueli froze, glancing at Chaisi out of the corner of her eye.

’I got carried away and accidentally blurted out that I killed someone...’

However, Chaisi didn’t seem to have heard her. He was lost in thought.

"Um, well, when I said ’disappear,’ I didn’t mean what you think. It was—"

"Stop trying to backpedal," Chaisi interrupted, frowning. "Is killing one person really worth getting so flustered over? The Kai Family runs funeral homes, too. Why do you think that is?"

"So cool!"

A newfound respect filled Jin Xueli, and she sat up straighter. "I used a kind of grape soda that can turn a whole person into soda... as easy as taking a breath. Oh? See, you think it’s convenient too... Okay, I’ll grab some for you next time. How many cans?"

She pulled out her phone, created a new note titled "Shopping List," and solemnly typed: "Grape soda, Chaisi, five cans, markup 3,000."

Chaisi glanced over his shoulder and happened to see her screen—and for some reason, he suddenly lost his temper.

"We can’t have two sentences of a serious conversation without you thinking about petty cash."

It seemed, however, that half his anger was directed at himself, as he couldn’t help but get sidetracked as well. "Say that again. In the beginning, the Vulture resident took on your appearance and then touched Candle Tears? It thought it was you, so it was also trying to alter your history?"

Jin Xueli put her phone away and nodded.

"In other words, something that isn’t fundamentally human can manifest a person’s timeline, as long as it takes on that person’s specific form?"

"I guess it’s possible," Jin Xueli said, a little confused. "So what?"

"’So what?’" Chaisi shot her a look, his gaze heavy and hard. "The ability of Candle Tears to alter the past is probably not the main point at all."

"Huh?" Jin Xueli gasped.

After a moment’s thought, Chaisi abruptly pushed himself up from the floor and rose cleanly to his feet.

"Get up. It’s time to go. You can’t handle this alone, and I can’t get away tonight. I’ll find you a helper."

"Wait," she called out urgently as Chaisi started walking toward the door. "What helper? What about Candle Tears? You haven’t explained anything! How do you already seem to have a plan? I want to get some sleep tonight! I haven’t slept well for days..."

Chaisi stopped at the door and looked back at her.

It was a good thing no one else was there. Dressed in black and soaked to the bone, standing in the morgue, Chaisi looked exactly like the Grim Reaper, fresh from harvesting souls in the rainy night.

But when this Grim Reaper spoke, he showed a sliver of patience. "...The Vultures mutated because of Westley. I’ve already told you that much."

"Yes," Jin Xueli said hesitantly. "Th-thank you?"

"...I’m not looking for your gratitude."

Chaisi seemed to swallow his annoyance. "I could never figure out why he did it. There are still so many mysteries surrounding him. Now that I think about it, they’re probably all related, more or less, to the ’Reign Game.’ If we can dig up the truth of his life and what he went through—"

"Ah," Jin Xueli couldn’t help but let out a small gasp. "Your mind works so fast!"

Chaisi averted his gaze. His expression was still grim, but he didn’t exactly look displeased.

"This must be the professional instinct of an interrogation expert. You can use anything to uncover the truth."

Jin Xueli grew excited and even clapped a few times. "I can’t believe I never thought of that. It really is a possibility! If we bring Westley before Candle Tears and press his hand on the candle, maybe... huh? Wait a second."

As she spoke, it finally dawned on her.

Even without a mirror, she could feel the color draining from her face.

’...Who’s going to bring him there?’

’Who else but me?’

’So now I’m supposed to jump off a building with a corpse on my back?’

"Westley wasn’t cremated,"

Chaisi watched the color drain from her face, clearly having no intention of comforting her. He just stated the facts. "I’ll find you some help. Tonight, you two will go to the cemetery, dig up his body, and bring it into the Nest. I want you to film whatever reaction Candle Tears has."

’Is he serious?’

"Wait a minute," Jin Xueli said, scrambling after him as he reached for the door. "I wouldn’t say a thing if he were fresh, but Westley’s been dead for days!"

"Don’t worry. Bodies are typically embalmed before burial," Chaisi said with mock consideration. "It won’t rot all over you."

He had thought everything out so thoroughly in just a minute or two. Jin Xueli, blindsided by the proposal, didn’t even know where to begin refusing.

"D-digging up a corpse is a bit much..."

Chaisi patted her on the shoulder twice. Each pat felt like it was hammering her a little deeper into the ground.

"I’m leaving this in your hands," he said, his lips slowly pulling back into a smile. "You have to prove your value to me, don’t you?"

「Two hours later.」

Jin Xueli found herself sitting in the cemetery again.

Watching a small excavator trundle toward her over the distant lawn, she felt a sense of unreality. In a single day, she had been arrested, experienced the Central Police Station being overrun by the Nest network, received a conscription notice, and taken a tour of the morgue...

And now, was she really about to dig up Westley’s grave under the cover of darkness with one of Chaisi’s subordinates whom she’d never even met?

’Just where did my life take such a surreal turn?’

The small excavator stopped a short distance away.

Jin Xueli couldn’t muster much interest in this "very reliable helper." ’A helper, sure, but it’s more likely they’re just a spy for Chaisi.’

"You must be Jin Xueli, right? Sorry to keep you waiting. Thanks for your trouble."

A head popped out of the excavator’s cabin. Even in the dark of night, the woman’s brilliant and cheerful smile was clearly visible.

This person, who seemed so sunny and wholesome, was now waving enthusiastically at Jin Xueli from the middle of a pitch-black cemetery. "I’m Han Liuyue!" she called out. "Brother Chaisi sent me to help you steal the corpse!"