Clown Game
Chapter 227 - 214: The Gap in Consciousness (Part 2)

Chapter 227: Chapter 214: The Gap in Consciousness (Part 2)

Of course, it was an absurd idea that he himself... could possibly not be himself.

Yet, at this moment, that was exactly how Chen Xiao felt, and he hadn’t even seen the face of his other self.

In that instant, he vividly felt a terrifying entity lurking within a shell just like his own. The scent of that entity seeped out through the pores, making his heart shudder.

It was a sensation he had never experienced before.

The man beside him clearly felt Chen Xiao’s anomaly, but only glanced over indifferently.

Then the scene shifted again, and Chen Xiao found himself within a civilian dwelling. Just like before, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with the setting.

It was an old-fashioned house, commonplace as any, surrounded by somewhat aged furniture. At that moment, a fat old man in his sixties was by the kitchen sink, pouring out the overnight leftover tea from the teapot, thoroughly cleaning it before brewing a fresh pot.

After that, he wobbled over to a small table in the living room, sat down, and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, his lips curling into a smile as if he was expecting something.

Chen Xiao quickly scanned the entire space, including the bald, rotund gentleman, observing everything in detail. Throughout this period, he grew increasingly impatient, repeatedly glancing at the kitchen sink...

This was because the old man hadn’t tightened the faucet, and the continuous dripping of water drops disturbed Chen Xiao, making him feel agitated and uncomfortable.

"Ah~~ These half-buried old geezers are truly annoying," Chen Xiao muttered with an almost obsessive-compulsive annoyance.

Just then, with a "hiss," the door to the room opened.

Following that, two guards were shoving Chen Xiao... "Get in!" they clamored, pushing Chen Xiao into the room, after which the electronic door quickly closed.

Chen Xiao shifted his gaze away from the faucet.

"You’re saying... the person with my memories is this old man?" He hesitated to ask.

"Yes!" The man in the trench coat replied in his usual flat tone, "He is containment item number D-391. The anomaly lies in his ability to consume the memories of other living beings."

Chen Xiao responded, eyes vacant, "Oh, I don’t know why, but I’m not at all surprised by this setup... So, I was his dinner tonight, then?"

"Not just for one day; in fact, you’ve been his dinner for about a week now," the man in the trench coat continued, "As I said earlier, this is indeed fortuitous, because while he feasted several times, he absorbed some of your sealed memories... If you could find him, you might be able to open up a breach."

"Hmm——————" After hearing this, Chen Xiao, with one arm across his chest and the other hand on his chin, pondered for a few seconds, "But, when I was at the K City Anomalous Biological Research Center, I didn’t see this D-391."

The man in the trench coat nodded, "Of course you didn’t see him; due to some reasons, he has undergone a mutation in classification, so he must have been moved to another place."

"Oh? A classification mutation? That’s... that’s less likely than those shut-in guys finding girlfriends," Chen Xiao deadpanned, "What caused it?"

The man in the trench coat responded... "Don’t know!"

...

...

Chen Xiao couldn’t tell if he had discerned anything from that answer, but he continued to ponder.

Suddenly

"Fuck!!!!" he yelled out loud.

It was hard to imagine what could frighten Chen Xiao... but what he saw before him was too disgusting: the bald old man opened his gaping mouth, "Ahhnn," and enveloped the entire head of the other Chen Xiao, then with his cheeks sucking in and out, a slurping noise ensued.

Chen Xiao didn’t know what it felt like to be in an old man’s mouth, but his face... in his own words, felt as uncomfortable as eating shit.

Thankfully, the disgusting scene didn’t last long, and the image transformed again. Everything around him vanished, and the initial expanse of white space reappeared.

Chen Xiao’s complexion eased a bit as he looked at the man before him.

"I’ve seen all this... many times now, haven’t I?" he asked, quite helplessly.

As expected, the other man nodded, "Just like I said before, you can’t take anything away. I... have tried many methods to make you remember something, but none have worked."

"Of course they haven’t worked. Watching myself being sucked on like that, I’m too eager to forget it, let alone bother to remember it." Chen Xiao grumbled resentfully.

But the other man clearly expected this response, "Perhaps, you can associate this memory indirectly. The more vivid the scene, the easier it is to lock away. Try to remember that ticking, irritating sound of a dripping faucet. That way, when you encounter the same scene in your daily life, it might trigger your memory."

"Hmm... I hope this works," Chen Xiao shrugged and said, "But back to what you said, what exactly is this sealed area in my consciousness for? And who did this?"

The man across from him shook his head, "The more you want to take, the more likely you are to end up with nothing. Go find that old man who eats memories first. He is the key... not me."

Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow. He knew that pressing the other man would not yield any more answers, so he decided to ask another question instead.

"Alright, alright~ You’re not the key, and there’s nothing I can do about the rest since you won’t tell me... So let me ask a question I’ve wanted to ask from the start... Who are you? - Hmm... I suppose I’ve asked this many times as well," he said.

"Of course, and I’ve explained many times as well. In fact, it would be quite draining for me to answer this question of yours, so you might try asking in a different way, such as, ’What are you?’"

Chen Xiao was stunned.

He didn’t quite understand the other’s meaning...

Just as he was about to speak up and continue his questioning.

Suddenly

A thick fog began to envelop everything around him.

"It seems our time is up..." the man spoke faintly, "I hope you can remember something."

...

...

Goodbye!"

He said.

All things began to blur, the fog grew denser, till it swallowed everything, to the point that white could not be distinguished from black.

Chen Xiao was falling... This sensation was familiar to him, yet he didn’t know when he had experienced it before.

Suddenly, he thought he heard a slow but forceful "snap, crackle" sound.

Then, he felt a pain on his cheek.

"Ugh..." he groaned.

And opened his eyes.