Chapter 485 - 426: Fu Tailan Starts Weaving Lies

Chapter 485: Chapter 426: Fu Tailan Starts Weaving Lies

"...My name is Xiaolv,"

A faint, indistinct voice, one that seemed ready to melt into the night at any moment, sounded from the terrarium Carter held in his hand.

Fu Tailan couldn’t see the tiny resident clinging to the glass wall clearly enough to tell if it was actually green.

"Now, I’ll explain my ability and how to use it..."

Hiding behind the car, Fu Tailan held his breath and strained his ears, wishing he could just grab his heart and make it stop pounding for a moment.

"My ability is... as long as you... you can..."

Wonderful. He hadn’t heard a single word of the crucial part.

Xiaolv’s voice was so low that even Carter had to press his ear to the terrarium. As he listened, he constantly scanned the dark street.

After a moment, he suddenly laughed out loud. "Incredible. Even at 1/30th, it’s still incredible. I knew I made the right choice."

’Aren’t residents usually loudmouthed? What’s Xiaolv so shy about?’

"My name is Xiaohuang," said another resident. "I’m the really impressive one. I can..."

’You can what? Can’t you speak any louder?’

"I’m Xiaobai, and I’m very different." The third resident seemed to think it was adorable, its voice pitched high and squeaky. "Just say my name, and then you can use my ability..."

Its long-winded introduction was perfectly clear, but when it came to the crucial information, its voice grew softer with every word until it was completely inaudible.

Fu Tailan was too stunned to even curse. He’d never believe that the three residents in the terrarium weren’t doing this on purpose.

After risking staying put to listen for so long, the only piece of information he’d gained was that Carter had to call out the corresponding resident’s name before using an ability. But even if he heard the name, what good was it if he didn’t know what the ability did? It was just as useless.

Fu Tailan peeked out from the edge of the car window, stealing a glance at the sidewalk.

Carter was still standing at the apartment building entrance dozens of meters away, one hand holding the terrarium to his ear, still listening to who knows what from the residents.

Fu Tailan ducked back down, at a loss for what to do. In a way, Carter Morgan was even trickier to deal with than the residents right now.

He was covered in injuries and at a physical disadvantage. Neither his weapons nor his Illusions were of any use... Just like when he had first entered a Nest at the age of twelve, the only things Fu Tailan could rely on tonight were his wits and his lies.

But it seemed his wits and lies were of no use either.

Carter knew Fu Tailan all too well and was on high alert. His only goal was to kill him as quickly as possible. Even Fu Tailan himself didn’t know where to begin to deceive him.

"Hey,"

Carter’s voice greeted him from right above his head.

’...What?’

For a split second, Fu Tailan was so shocked that he thought he was hallucinating. He didn’t even have time to look up before he hastily threw himself forward. A gunshot shattered the silence of the rainy night, the bullet grazing his back and slamming into the road, sending up a spray of water and gravel.

Fu Tailan rolled and sprang to his feet, blood roaring in his ears. A beat passed in a wave of lingering fear before he could truly confirm that he hadn’t been shot.

Carter was standing on the roof of the car, holding the terrarium in one hand and a gun in the other, aimed right at Fu Tailan.

A dark muzzle, a flash of white teeth.

’When did he—’

"Rats sure are fast," Carter said, pulling the trigger again.

Even though Fu Tailan reacted quickly and dodged early, he couldn’t completely avoid the bullet. It grazed his left arm, tearing through fabric and flesh, carving a bloody furrow and sending a spray of blood into the night.

’Just how many times am I going to get shot tonight?’

Fu Tailan grunted in pain but didn’t dare to stop, spinning around and sprinting toward the car he had driven here.

"Trying to run? Don’t want your dad anymore?" Carter laughed loudly.

The Vulture Particles spread out across his back, forming a thin layer of armor that barely managed to protect the most critical parts of his torso before reaching their limit.

Fu Tailan’s head and neck were still exposed to the gun’s aim—he could only pray that Carter wasn’t a crack shot, and couldn’t hit a moving target’s head in the dark.

Or his legs.

Fortunately, his luck for the night hadn’t completely run out.

Once a target started running, hitting them became twice as hard. Moreover, Fu Tailan was running in a zig-zag pattern, so the third bullet missed him completely.

Carter cursed under his breath, jumped off the car roof, and fired several more shots at Fu Tailan.

Although his aim was only average, one shot hit Fu Tailan square in the back. If not for the Vulture Particles, his spine would have been shattered.

But even though he wasn’t injured, Fu Tailan couldn’t escape the laws of physics. The kinetic energy of the bullet sent him stumbling and rolling onto the road.

He managed to roll over, and just as he was about to push himself up from the ground, an idea suddenly struck him.

Fu Tailan lay on the ground, watching as Carter’s silhouette gradually rose into view, slowly blocking out a portion of the night sky.

’...He’d found a way to lie.’

’A lie doesn’t have to be told with your mouth, after all.’

"I never realized hunting was so much fun before."

Carter seemed to have decided that Fu Tailan was either dead or gravely wounded. He stopped a few steps away, not in a hurry to fire a finishing shot. "Weren’t you able to shoot through my protective Illusion? Why don’t you try shooting me again? Your Illusion is useless against the Nest’s rules, isn’t it?"

’So he really thought Fu Tailan had used an Illusion to break through his protection.’

An "Illusion that pierces protective Illusions" was indeed far more common than Chaisi’s electrical socket—something that could disable an opponent’s weaponized Illusion was so rare that even Fu Tailan had never seen one, let alone Carter.

Fu Tailan’s eyes were wide, his mouth half-open. When he tried to speak, only a wet, gurgling sound came from his throat.

Of course, he wasn’t injured—or rather, he hadn’t sustained any new injuries.

It was just that in his life, Fu Tailan had been seriously injured countless times and had faked being seriously injured countless times. Off the top of his head, he could count at least three occasions where he’d turned the tables by pretending to be on the verge of death. Practice makes perfect, as they say. It might not work on an experienced Hunter, but it was more than enough to fool Carter.

Luckily, he had been shot in the back, and since he was lying on the ground, Carter couldn’t see the wound. On the wet, rainy road, it was also difficult to tell if he was lying in a pool of blood.

"What are you trying to say?" Carter was still wary of him and didn’t dare get too close.

"The Nest’s rules are... absolute..."

Fu Tailan stared blankly at the night sky, his voice choked with emotion. "The Illusion is useless... Why... why wasn’t it me?"

Carter laughed with satisfaction.

"Why so many ’whys’? Life, the world... they’ve always been unfair. Why don’t you ask why you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth? Why you ended up with a father like that? There are no answers. It’s all just fate."

He raised his pistol, a hint of regret seeming to appear on his face.

"Fu Tailan, I genuinely admire your talent. It’s a shame you’re a wild horse; no one can break your spirit... The greater the talent, the greater the threat."

As soon as he finished saying his piece, he fired two or three shots into Fu Tailan’s chest.

The gunshots echoed in the night air. Carter had just lowered his gun, the air still trembling with heat, when Fu Tailan whipped out his own pistol and swiftly returned the favor with three shots to Carter’s chest.

Of course, he knew Carter wouldn’t be injured, let alone die—but when he’d been hit by that bullet earlier, Fu Tailan had realized something.

The rules only protected Carter from harm and threats; they said nothing about protecting him from the laws of physics.

At close range, the kinetic energy and force of three consecutive bullets did indeed send Carter staggering backward, unsteady on his feet. With a THUMP, he fell to the ground, letting out a startled cry.

Fu Tailan leaped up, seizing the brief moment of surprise. He dashed to the SUV, dove inside, and threw himself onto the seats—several bullets chased after him, striking the car’s body with sharp metallic pings and sparks of light.

"Is this your last-ditch struggle? Look at me, I’m completely fine!"

Carter scrambled to his feet, cursing. Fu Tailan quickly slammed the door shut and started the engine. The SUV lurched like a drunkard, swinging half a circle and bearing down on Carter.

Even knowing he couldn’t be hurt, probably no one would just stand there motionless.

Clutching the terrarium, Carter scrambled onto the sidewalk. As the SUV drove past, he yelled, "Where do you think you’re going? I still have your dad!"

Fu Tailan slammed on the brakes.

"Oh, you think you can hide for an hour and come back after my protection wears off?"

Carter thought he understood. He measured the distance with his eyes, took two steps toward the SUV, and suddenly shouted, "Xiaohuang."

In the next instant, he was standing right outside the driver’s side window, giving Fu Tailan a sinister smile.

’...So Xiaohuang’s ability is to teleport next to an enemy?’

"You’re wrong," Fu Tailan said to Carter outside the window, suppressing a bellyful of curses. "I don’t need to harm or threaten you to make you hand over Fu Han. Have you forgotten the seven Illusions I gathered for you?"

The Nest’s rules also didn’t protect Carter from being deceived.

Carter froze.

He wasn’t a fool. Besides, it had been less than two hours since he was last tricked so thoroughly.

"You—I know, you’re going to use that dream—"

Fu Tailan didn’t wait for him to raise his pistol again.

The SUV roared to life, scraping past Carter and lunging into the night. The apartment building where Fu Han was being held flashed past the right-side window. Fu Tailan wasn’t far from where he’d escaped the dream, and residents were curious creatures—

But in the next second, the buildings outside the window froze in place again.

Fu Tailan slammed the accelerator to the floor. The engine whined in vain, but the vehicle didn’t move. The stillness lasted only a second before he and the entire SUV dropped, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

’...The front left tire had flown high into the night sky.’

Carter teleported outside the driver’s side window again.

"You’re out of chances," he roared, raising his gun at Fu Tailan. "You can just die—"

By the time he realized Fu Tailan hadn’t closed the window, it was too late.

Fu Tailan shot his hand out the window and punched the terrarium. The spherical glass tank flew from Carter’s grasp, hit the ground, and rolled over twice.