Illusion Report

Chapter 154: Chapter 122: Jin Xueli: Come to Think of It, This Is the Second Time Encountering a Vulture

’The man’s already dead. What’s the point of such a lavish, expensive coffin?’ freёweɓnovel.com

Jin Xueli had no qualms about speaking ill of the dead; she had already cursed Westley a dozen times over.

’This guy. Even in death, he couldn’t let go of his rich-man airs. Look at how much trouble he’s causing the people digging up his grave.’

The coffin was heavy and wide. Even propped upright in the backhoe’s bucket, a large section of it still jutted out, wobbling precariously as if it might topple over at any moment.

"I’ve secured it all around with rope,"

Jin Xueli shouted to Han Liuyue in the cab, one hand shielding her face from the rain. "Try moving again. It shouldn’t fall this time, but don’t go too fast."

As if the heavens refused to let them transport the coffin easily, it had started to rain again not long after they left the tomb. Huge raindrops, with an infuriatingly cheerful vigor, once again beat down generously upon the earth.

The coffin’s surface was already lacquered smooth and glossy, and with water pooling in the bucket, it became even more unstable. After one terrifying incident where the coffin tumbled to the ground, it was impossible to feel at ease, even though it was now precariously tied down with rope.

Making matters worse, Vulture was being a nuisance. One moment it would cry, "He’s grabbing me!" and the next it would start thrashing about, constantly banging against the inside of the coffin—BANG, BANG—rocking it from side to side. If Jin Xueli, who was walking through the downpour, hadn’t been afraid of breaking the lid, she would have loved to smash its face in with an axe.

"Watch out, there’s a downhill slope ahead," she shouted to Han Liuyue, who nodded in response.

Visibility in the rainy cemetery at night was terrible. The flashlight beam cut through a cascade of silvery raindrops, draping the world in a fine, white net.

Over the roar of the backhoe and the relentless rain, Han Liuyue shouted, "You said earlier you once ran into an upgraded Vulture in a Nest?"

Despite the sound of the rain, the engine, and the muffled thuds of Vulture bumping against the coffin, the two managed to overcome the noise and start a back-and-forth conversation.

"Yeah," Jin Xueli yelled back. "At the time, I even wondered why a Vulture was after me when I wasn’t even on death’s door."

She briefly described the situation. Even through the darkness and the curtain of rain, she could feel the sympathy in Han Liuyue’s gaze—but it wasn’t for the reason she imagined.

"Even with your... erm, circumstances... I mean, if you asked Brother Chaisi to put in a good word, it might not be impossible for you to become an intern with the Kai Family. You could work on your strength, tag along with our Hunters into a Nest to see how things are really done."

Han Liuyue’s tone was like someone telling a beggar to earn an honest living. "You can’t just coast by as a Hunter. A person has to keep learning. I mean, look, even a Vulture can..."

Jin Xueli understood the implication and felt a surge of anger.

"What are you implying?! Are you saying I’m a lousy Hunter?"

"Hey, you said it, not me. I was still trying to find a nicer way to put it." Han Liuyue didn’t look the least bit embarrassed.

Unlike other residents, Vulture posed almost no threat aside from its ability to mimic its target’s appearance—it wasn’t even any stronger than an average person.

To an uninformed outsider, a perfectly healthy and uninjured Hunter nearly getting taken down by a Vulture was definitely not something you’d want to put on a resume.

"You would’ve been in trouble too,"

Jin Xueli retorted, extremely displeased. She took two steps closer to the cab to make sure Han Liuyue heard every single word. "Do you have any idea the kind of environment I was trapped in when I met it? Unless you can fly, you might have ended up even worse off than me."

"Oh?"

’Oh my ass.’

Unconvinced, Jin Xueli described the environment at the time: the traffic light on the road refused to turn green, a hopscotch grid was drawn on the path ahead, and on the side was a row of private homes she couldn’t trespass into...

"I was basically trapped; it was as if the whole environment was helping Vulture. To move forward, I had to cross the hopscotch grid. But that thing was totally cheating! Halfway across, all the squares changed to ’Copied.’"

She thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "...I guess I was just really unlucky back then, huh?"

"Maybe," Han Liuyue said simply, which was rather out of character for her.

They both fell silent.

Amid the sound of the rain, the small backhoe crawled slowly over the ground.

The cemetery was enormous, covering an entire mountain and its slopes, and Westley’s tomb was hidden deep inside.

To reach the main gate sooner and to avoid being seen, the backhoe wasn’t on the main road. Instead, it took the narrow paths, weaving between rows of headstones. Thankfully, Han Liuyue was familiar with the cemetery, so they didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

The rain grew heavier, its roar becoming deafening, and conversation became impossible.

Jin Xueli was still wearing nothing but that raincoat that resembled a garbage bag, and the rain beat down on her so hard she could barely keep her head up. She would scan the path ahead with her flashlight, then wave, and the backhoe would rumble forward to follow.

After just a few minutes of this, she thought she heard Han Liuyue shout something. Looking back, she yelled, "What? Did you say something?"

Han Liuyue knew this was no time for conversation.

Through the window, which was half-blocked by the coffin, she seemed to decide it was too much trouble. She changed her mind and just waved her hand, signaling for Jin Xueli to keep moving forward.

The path ahead was just as flat, with no sign of anything unusual. Jin Xueli turned her flashlight beam forward again and waved her hand.

The backhoe’s wheels rolled forward onto the path.

Amid the chaotic fragments of light and dark created by the flashlight, the rain, and the night, Jin Xueli almost thought she was hallucinating when the backhoe suddenly sank and pitched forward—but in the next second, the enormous coffin broke free from the bucket and came tumbling toward her like a boulder in a landslide.

Before she even had time to cry out, the shadow was already completely upon her.

The hair on Jin Xueli’s arms stood on end. She threw herself aside with all her might. The coffin, weighing hundreds of pounds, practically scraped her back as it slammed into the earth, sending a huge spray of water into the air. She had narrowly dodged the coffin itself, but unable to check her momentum, she crashed headfirst into a nearby stone tomb.

With a CRACK, the flashlight went out.

She touched her forehead; her hand came away wet, warm, and reeking of iron.

’Damn it, I can’t let Vulture get out...’

The blow rattled her consciousness, leaving it feeling like a loose, decaying tooth, ready to fall out. Like her body, her thoughts were shaky and sluggish.

After collecting herself for a moment, Jin Xueli managed to struggle to her feet. Staggering through the uneven, rain-filled pits, she made her way toward the coffin as fast as she could.

A few steps away, she stopped, pulled her phone from her pocket, and hastily shone its light on the scene. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Although the coffin had come crashing down, the lid, thankfully, hadn’t flown open.

It seemed to have flipped over. It now lay on the ground, Westley’s head still half-exposed through the hole in the lid. The impact seemed to have snapped its neck, leaving its head hanging at an odd angle.

Of course, a resident wouldn’t die that easily.

As she gave the coffin lid a tug, Vulture, its eyes shut, groaned in pain. "What happened..."

It didn’t budge. Seeing that the lid was indeed still locked, Jin Xueli’s heart settled. She paid it no more mind and immediately ran toward the backhoe.

The phone’s flashlight didn’t have a wide range, nor was its beam very strong. She had to scan the area several times before she could finally believe what she was seeing. She was dumbfounded.

A large sinkhole had opened up on the very path she had just walked over, perfectly capturing the backhoe, which now lay tilted and half-sunk into the ground.

It was as if someone had dug a trap in the path—the ground could support a person’s weight, but it collapsed instantly under the load of a backhoe carrying a coffin.

"Han Liuyue!"

She shouted as she rounded the machine to the driver’s side. With the backhoe half-sunk in the earth, she could stand on the path and easily reach Han Liuyue’s shoulder. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"It hurts like hell..."

As the driver, Han Liuyue had taken a much harder jolt. It took her a long moment to stir in the pitch-black cab. "Vulture—"

"It’s still in the coffin," Jin Xueli said quickly. "Luckily, the lid didn’t break open."

"That’s good," she said, hissing in pain. "First, give me a hand."

"Okay,"

Since the backhoe was tilted, Jin Xueli set her phone on the ground to provide light, then grabbed her hand and started pulling her out. "How did a pit this big just suddenly appear in the cemetery?"

"I know, right?" Han Liuyue mumbled. "I even filled in the holes I dug around here..."

Jin Xueli almost pushed her back in.

"Your holes?" Her voice jumped an octave. For a moment, she was so angry she was at a loss for words, and could only repeat, "Your holes?"

"No, you’ve got it wrong,"

Han Liuyue, still half-stuck in the cab, hurriedly explained, "I was just trying to tell you, I’ve dug graves near here. Remember how I told you that before a burial, I bring people to widen and deepen the pit...?"

"You dug into the path?" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

"No, no," Han Liuyue said, trying to placate her. "I was digging the grave next to it. I widened the hole, but it shouldn’t have extended into the middle of the path... Besides, I filled it back in."

"Then how do you explain the hole in the path?" Jin Xueli suppressed her anger and helped her out of the cab.

"Could it have something to do with all the rain?" Han Liuyue asked in a low voice.

"Just get on solid ground first," Jin Xueli said irritably. "Watch your step. This is the edge of the sinkhole; the dirt is loose and slick—"

She had barely finished her sentence when everything around them suddenly went black.

The two of them froze.

The phone’s flashlight hadn’t been much in the rainy night, unable to illuminate very far, but having it versus not having it was a world of difference.

’Don’t tell me the battery died. I haven’t had a chance to charge it all day...’

After skipping a beat, Jin Xueli’s heart began to pound at double its previous rate. She let go of Han Liuyue’s hand and turned to fumble around on the ground.

...The phone was gone.