Illusion Report

Chapter 185: Chapter 153: Mai Mingle: The Serpent’s Trail and the Backup Plan

Mai Mingle had lived for eighty-six years, but this was the first time she had ever met a young man like Fu Tailan.

She had always felt that the process of a child growing up was like a small world gradually solidifying.

Orange juice, eggs, and bread; the scoldings or stories they heard; the pocket money lost in an arcade; their first crush; tenderness or neglect; love or abuse... All things either flowed past them or were absorbed into their bodies, becoming the soul and flesh needed to grow.

But it seemed the things inside Fu Tailan had dissolved before they ever had a chance to solidify.

He was shrouded in a vast, hazy mist. The image he presented wasn’t one molded by the mortal world, but merely an accident of the shifting fog—in a different situation, it would dissipate and transform once more.

Perhaps it was because he was so handsome that when he smiled faintly from within the haze, he made people think of the moon and stars, of a deity behind the fog. But the moon and stars were essentially rock, and deities did not exist.

This was Fu Tailan.

He was perhaps a person of few desires, but once he wanted something, nothing was an obstacle.

What did he mean by the "freedom" he wanted?

Why would winning the Nest Dominance Game grant him that freedom?

Mai Mingle had many questions. Under different circumstances, she might even have hoped Fu Tailan would get what he wanted. But the Snake Belt—that was the one thing she could absolutely not let him take.

As Mai Mingle led the way toward the stairwell, she was already pondering Fu Tailan’s next move.

He had never left their sight, and Mai Mingle had witnessed everything he did. Therefore, it should have been impossible for Fu Tailan to set a trap in advance. Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was walking step by step into one.

’Fu Tailan is unwilling to kill anyone himself... but he won’t give up on the Snake Belt. Does that mean there’s something up ahead that will do his dirty work for him?’

’What could it be?’

This apartment building had been temporarily closed for renovations. Just like them, Fu Tailan had no prior knowledge of what was inside or what might happen.

In other words, he had deduced the existence of some danger by observing his surroundings.

’If he could figure it out, then I should be able to as well...’

Standing on the stairs, several hypotheses flashed through Mai Mingle’s mind.

’An explosion? But I’m already on the stairs, not technically on the third floor anymore. If he wanted to blow up the floor beneath me, he should have done it while I was still on the landing.’

Just then, Fu Tailan suddenly spoke. "Are you willing to give it to me yourself?"

"Are you talking about the Illusion I’m carrying?" Mai Mingle shot back.

’Does this kid really think that after I secure the Snake Belt, I’ll have the strength to walk back down and hand it over to him?’

"Yes," Fu Tailan nodded. "I don’t necessarily have to see you meet a bad end. It would be best if I could obtain it peacefully."

As he spoke, he walked around Hai Luwei, maintaining a one-meter distance while hugging the far side of the corridor. He stopped about a meter away from the stairwell entrance.

With this, the three of them formed a triangle—Mai Mingle on the stairs, with Fu Tailan and Hai Luwei opposite her, one to the left and one to the right.

’Wait.’

’He deliberately walked to a spot just one meter from the stairwell, right in front of me. That can only mean one thing: the moment I come down the stairs with my injured foot and step onto the floor, he can rush within that one-meter radius and detonate the floor beneath me.’

’In other words... Fu Tailan wants to trap me on the stairs.’

’The danger is on the stairs?’

Just as Mai Mingle realized this, she saw Hai Luwei staring at something behind her and suddenly gasp. Before she could turn to look, a sharp CLATTERING echoed as a crushed, empty soda can came bouncing and tumbling down from above, landing on the third-floor landing.

’A... soda can?’

"Here it comes," Fu Tailan murmured, his tone half dazed, half regretful.

’What’s coming?’

Mai Mingle snapped her head around, her vision instantly swallowed by shadow.

A gaping, cavernous maw with a metallic glint around its edges was pressed against the ceiling, completely blocking the entire staircase.

Behind the maw, a long body seemed to be dragging itself along, slithering rapidly down the steps. The shape was vaguely familiar—before the square, black void could even reach her, a thick, putrid stench washed over her—

’A garbage chute?’

’A garbage chute that has no business being in this apartment building?’

"If you come down, I’ll blow up the floor under you."

There wasn’t a hint of threat or murderous intent in Fu Tailan’s voice. It was as if he were simply recounting the bleak, tragic ending of a television drama.

"It only sees people as garbage,"

As he spoke, the garbage chute continued to RUMBLE its way down, about to crush Mai Mingle. "—but it will leave the Illusion behind."

"You bastard—" Hai Luwei shouted.

Fu Tailan didn’t look at him, simply firing a shot back in Hai Luwei’s direction.

He wasn’t aiming at Hai Luwei. The bullet hit the wall, apparently just to force him back. The latter did indeed stumble away a few steps and shout something, but Mai Mingle could no longer hear him clearly.

From the pitch-black depths of the garbage chute, a gleeful shriek seemed to twist itself into being from the sharp, thick stench:

"TRASH TRASH TRASH HUMANS ARE ALL TRASH I WILL CLEANSE THE TRASH"

’...So that’s how it is.’

’His sudden demand, made only after I was on the stairs, was just one of Fu Tailan’s ploys to keep me here.’

’But how did he know that the garbage chute was actually a resident roaming the hallways?’

The shadow, the stench, wads of paper, wet tea bags, plastic bags, and the dim, howling darkness from deep within the chute all came crashing down on her. The reeking, black void was already at her back.

Below, Fu Tailan waited, motionless, ready to trigger the explosion at any moment.

Yet in that instant, without a shred of hesitation, Mai Mingle leaped, jumping off the stairs.

A muffled cry of alarm came from Hai Luwei.

Her weight landed on her injured foot, and a pain so sharp it felt like her vision was fracturing shot through her, as if the wound itself might explode.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Mai Mingle didn’t dare hesitate and immediately scrambled back to her feet. The garbage chute had just reached the bottom step, and it screeched to a halt right before touching the third-floor landing.

’Just as I thought. It only attacks people who are on the stairs.’

"TRASH TRASH COME BACK TRASH BELONGS IN THE TRASH CAN NOW THAT I’M HERE I’M NOT LEAVING I WON’T LEAVE UNTIL I’VE COLLECTED AT LEAST ONE PIECE OF TRASH YOU CAN’T GO UPSTAIRS ANYMORE"

’Can’t go upstairs anymore?’

Mai Mingle could no longer suppress her rage and did something she probably never would have done in a calmer state of mind: she spun around and grabbed the metal lid of the garbage chute’s opening.

The endless shrieking from deep within the chute paused, replaced by a single sound: "...Huh?"

Gritting her teeth and using all her strength, Mai Mingle dug her fingers into the chute’s opening and actually managed to drag it off the step—with a loud CLANG, the mouth of the chute slammed heavily onto the floor.

For a moment, it seemed even the chute itself was stunned.

Fu Tailan, just like the garbage chute, stood there with his mouth agape.

"Weren’t you going to blow me up? Do it!"

Mai Mingle felt the massive garbage chute squirming, trying to pull back, and she was losing her grip. "Where do you think you’re going?" she roared. "Where’s that momentum you had just now?"

Before the garbage chute could recover, she snapped her head toward Fu Tailan and yelled, "I’m standing right here! Go on, blow it up! Blow me up along with this thing, and clear the way upstairs for yourselves!"

Fu Tailan blinked a few times, looking from the garbage chute to Mai Mingle, and back to the garbage chute.

"I believe a squabble between pieces of trash shouldn’t involve the garbage chute."

From deep within the garbage chute, a voice that sounded greasy and foul spoke up: "Let go of me, and fast. That’s not a request."

As if he hadn’t heard it, Fu Tailan rubbed his nose, his voice muffled. "...So you figured it out."

"Obviously."

Mai Mingle felt she couldn’t hold on to the garbage chute any longer. As she let go, it immediately shrank back onto the first step—but just as she’d expected, it didn’t leave. A giant, square, black maw now blocked the entire staircase.

This fact only made her angrier at Fu Tailan.

"You kid... you’re not just the best liar, you’re also good at making people forget you’re a liar. I’ve figured it out now. I never know which words out of your mouth are a trap."

Fu Tailan scratched his head and holstered the gun at his waist.

"What?" Hai Luwei, who was now sitting slumped on the floor, looked around. "Wh-what’s going on? What did he lie to us about?"

"Who knows how far in advance he planned all this,"

Mai Mingle said, suppressing her anger, "He wanted me to linger on the stairs to lure out the garbage chute and have it do his dirty work for him. But to trap me on the stairs, he had to cut off my escape route. In other words, he had to find a way to make me think I couldn’t go downstairs."

"That way, if I hesitated for even a second when the garbage chute came rushing down, I wouldn’t have been able to escape its attack."

Fu Tailan’s brow and eyelids drooped, and he let out a sigh.

"There is no thirteenth unexploded bomb," Mai Mingle said, staring at him. "Is there?"

Hai Luwei froze and turned his head toward him.

Fu Tailan’s lie, like a snake hidden in the grass, had been planted long ago. At a time when no one could imagine any reason for him to lie, he had already quietly slipped the falsehood of a "thirteenth unexploded bomb" into everyone’s minds.

Everyone knew that Fu Tailan was after the Illusion Mai Mingle carried. But at the time, who would have thought he would invent a lie that forced him to keep his distance from her?

With the "thirteenth unexploded bomb," Mai Mingle would logically believe that the third floor’s explosion rule was still in effect. That way, Fu Tailan could stand quietly a meter away and watch as a moment’s hesitation got her swallowed by the garbage chute.

When that happened, she would be dead, and Fu Tailan wouldn’t even have had to lift a finger.

He had only said a few words.

"Do you really think that if you kill me with just a few words, your hands and your conscience will be clean?"

Mai Mingle looked at him and, for a moment, almost wanted to laugh, unsure if she was angry, disappointed, or just felt pity.

"Unless you kill me with a bullet, you’re not getting my Illusion. Give up."

Fu Tailan shrugged.

"Is that so?" he said lazily. "I’m not so sure."

Mai Mingle’s heart tightened, but she didn’t say anything. ’Is he just bluffing?’

"You’re right, I’m not keen on shooting you," Fu Tailan said, his eyelids half-lowered, his voice light and distant. "You’re a good person. You came all this way to warn us, which is how we were able to save Jonah. You also have good taste—your praise for me was sincere."

Mai Mingle didn’t speak.

"But if the thing you’re carrying is one of the seven targets, then it’s too important to me. So important... that I wouldn’t have just one plan."

Don’t be fooled by Fu Tailan’s perpetually hazy and languid demeanor. When he decided to act, he was far more agile and precise than Mai Mingle could have anticipated—especially when his opponent had a fractured ankle.

Hai Luwei had been forced back by the gunshot and had fallen to the floor. He was just now using the wall to slowly pull himself up when Fu Tailan appeared at his side, gently grabbing a handful of his hair from behind.

"Have you all forgotten about the elevator?"

As Fu Tailan spoke, he shoved, sending Hai Luwei’s head into the wall.