Clown Game
Chapter 256 - 243: Once Upon a Time, There Was a Person Who Ate Memories

Chapter 256: Chapter 243: Once Upon a Time, There Was a Person Who Ate Memories

Last night, there were tragedies, comedies, and farces, but no matter what, they were finally over.

Chen Xiao returned to the apartment once again, his brief excitement making him forget his exhaustion, but the body is always honest... The moment he collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion surged like a tidal wave, drowning his consciousness completely, because even the craziest people need to rest eventually.

He fell into a deep sleep... emitting faint snores.

Maybe it was in his dreams, maybe deep in his consciousness, or perhaps right by his ear, but amidst this deep sleep, there came the intermittent sound of dripping water, as if reminding him of something...

Last night... in apartment 222, the room with a balcony that had no railing.

He had turned on all the taps...

This wasn’t an attempt to replicate that woman’s murder method, at the time this act was meaningless, Chen Xiao didn’t even know why he was doing it, but while he was thinking rapidly, it seemed like there was a crack in his thoughts, constantly drawing his attention back to those taps...

The dripping sound of the water was incredibly irritating, Chen Xiao found it unbearable, gnawing at his heart, feeling a compulsive urge to turn it off, but he was unable to.

In the darkness, he was rigid as if he was experiencing sleep paralysis. Perhaps, he no longer had a body, and his lone mind could only listen and endure.

After an unknown amount of time, gradually, he seemed to find the source of that sound, a drop of water appeared, in the midst of nothingness, it slowly fell, "drip-drip...", rippling out waves.

Thereupon, Chen Xiao gained vision, he saw that drop of water, coming from a tap that wasn’t tightened, the water fell from above, shattering in the sink, making an annoying noise. Then, his vision rippled out from the tap, a beam of light pierced the void from nowhere, it was the overhead light, the light illuminated an old-style kitchen beneath, the paint-peeling dish rack, the stove covered in grease, and a haphazard pile of cooking condiments in the corner... His gaze shifted, he saw the bedroom, the living room, the coffee table, the chairs, a teapot steaming hot... Amidst the swirling smoke, a somewhat corpulent elderly man gradually came into focus, holding a newspaper with illegible text, sipping his tea...

Everything was like a forgotten memory... becoming clear.

Chen Xiao was stunned for a moment...

He seemed to remember something, in the sealed confines of his mind, a man with a pipe, after countless efforts... seemed to finally pry open a crack in Chen Xiao’s brain.

"Ah..."

A cry of alarm.

Chen Xiao awoke from a nightmare as if jerked awake, sitting up with his forehead covered in sweat.

And a memory that should not exist quietly settled into a blank space in his recollections.

Alone, like a puzzle piece...

Chen Xiao looked vacantly at a point in front of him, inexplicably but extremely real, from this second on, his memory included a corpulent bald old man, and his brain was screaming wildly, as if a phrase had been said millions of times, then at that moment released, rushing forth turbulently, buzzing so loudly in Chen Xiao’s head that he knew, this man was the key to the answers he had been searching for!

...

Chen Xiao wiped the sweat from his forehead and hastily took out his phone from his pocket, calling Bai Xiong.

Because he knew, this bald old man was a contained item.

Regarding this kind of matter, naturally, he had to find Bai Xiong, who had scarily high authority.

...

But to his shock, what rang from the phone was a busy tone.

...

"Huh?" Chen Xiao was stunned. "What the heck is this?"

He certainly knew that this sound meant that the signal couldn’t get through, but the Foundation’s phones used their own dedicated signal sources. Even if you were in the Pacific Division (a place deep beneath some strait), you’d still get full bars.

"What... what are they up to now!" Chen Xiao pursed his lips, speaking discontentedly, seemingly from when the containment failed at the K city anomaly research area, Bai Xiong’s whereabouts turned peculiar. Chen Xiao knew he must be hiding something from him... but it didn’t matter anymore, Bai Xiong’s secrets were probably not few.

Chen Xiao stretched his arms and legs, looked out the window at the sky, the sun was nearly setting. He couldn’t believe he had slept for so long...

Just as he thought about this, his stomach complained with a "gurgle."

"Mmm... time to eat!", Chen Xiao muttered naturally, then jumped out of bed and headed downstairs.

...

Entering Xiao Yu’s cafe with his hands in his pockets, Chen Xiao casually strolled in. The familiar sweet scent filled the air, and while there were still many people, it was unusually quiet. Among the fluffy crowd, a few leaner figures could be seen occasionally, and by the floor-to-ceiling windows, a few beautiful girls quietly watched the crowd outside... Each person had their own story, and Chen Xiao was just a slightly more conspicuous figure among thousands of stories.

"The sweetest..." he called out casually, then very ungainly sat at the bar. His face drew a few glances, but it seemed that those sitting in the cafe quickly accepted Chen Xiao’s appearance. Perhaps a few with distorted aesthetics even thought he looked cool...

"Fruit mille-feuille, apple cheese tart, bacon cheese tart, banana fennel, French pudding roll. May I ask what would you like?" a voice came from the kitchen, followed by Xiao Nan, dressed in black and white maid attire, who strutted out and stood next to the cash register, flashing Chen Xiao a "scholarly" smile.

"Uh... this... so professional?" Chen Xiao responded.

"Xiao Nan memorized the entire menu on her first day and even remembered all the prices. She cashes out faster than a calculator... hehe, now she’s already our full-time cashier."

The cousin said, holding a tray, seemingly having come to terms with the reason for Xiao Nan’s stay.

No sooner had she spoken when a plump voice behind them said, "Thanks for having me!"

Chen Xiao turned around to look, only to see a chubby otaku bowing politely to Jingjing before walking out of the door. Of course, Jingjing still wore an unwelcoming expression... but judging by the look of things, the waitress was quite adept at her job.

Well... these two girls, one used to tear people apart with her bare hands, and the other wiped out a town. Now one was serving dishes and the other worked the cash register. If things kept going this way, would they need a Godzilla-sized greeter at the door soon?

Chen Xiao muttered to himself... At that moment, his stomach grumbled again.

"Hey hey, hurry up, I’m starving!"

He banged on the table calling out.