The man felt very speechless. Life was really messing with him, huh. He really didn't know how to react in this situation. He wasn't hardwired for this type of mess.
But after hearing what the man said, he did feel a bit pathetic. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. How do you logically respond in this situation?
So he had no choice but to follow this madman's flow. "I-I'll tell you everything, but first, we need to get out of here! They're coming."
Cail blatantly rejected it. "No, can't do." His glasses could see a certain distance of void energy.He wasn't seeing any strange colors aside from the void energy he was familiar with coming from Jael's house.
Unless they teleported or something, there wasn't anyone chasing after this guy. Well, if the teleportation theory was true, then Cail had to own up to his choice.
Besides, seeing this guy tense and on edge made Cail feel that the risk was worth it.
The man gave up. He might as well go along. But still, he felt that the posture of his body slumped on the ground was a bit pathetic. Looking at that man, it was obvious he wouldn't help him up, so the man had to struggle and sit down all by himself.
The moment the man managed to sit down, Cail also jumped beside the man and sat down. Now the two of them were sitting face to face. The only thing lacking was a campfire, and this would look like a late-night camping hike—of course, if you ignored that they were literally on the side of the highway.
They were some occasional drivers passing by and were giving them weird looks, but the two of them are preoccupied with something in their minds.
Now that Cail was close, the man noticed Cail seemed to be injured and was bathed in blood. The man once again felt that life seemed to be messing with him for letting him meet such a shady guy. It was a last resort born out of desperation, and this was the result.
Despite his injuries, Cail was still in the mood to mess around. He could be dying and still have the energy to screw with people.
But still, he leaned on his motorcycle and looked at the man. He stretched his leg toward the man and pointed at it. "Touch it."
The man felt confused, but he still obeyed. The moment he touched Cail's leg, he could feel something wrapping around him.
Cail infused his void energy into the man. This was just a minor precaution. His ability was similar to null, so this should hide the void energy that the man was radiating.
"So, what do you want? A basic escape or a life-changing deal?" To be honest, the man had no choice at all. No matter what, Cail would make him buy an artifact.
The man felt that everything that was happening was absurd, but wouldn't anyone want to change their fate if they could, right? He took a deep breath. "I want to change my fate."
Cail's voice turned cheerful. "That's my man! Of course, being ambitious is good! I like that type of person." This time, Cail was being honest.
But before all of that, Cail needed to know what was happening. "I know you're a void user, but what mess are you involved in now?" Cail just now noticed that the man's left leg seemed to be twisted like a broken twig.
The man wasn't surprised that Cail knew he was a void user. It had already reached this point—it was basically impossible for this man to know nothing.
So the man recounted what happened. "Well, my life was as ordinary as it could be. It wasn't until I got a mysterious knock on my door in the middle of the night."
"It was a strange man, just like yo— ahem. He was wearing a faceless black mask and a black turtleneck sweater. Dead—that's all I could sense the moment I opened the door. It was actually strange how I was able to sense that, but you could just tell. It felt like I was talking to something inanimate."
Cail ignored the slight shade and motioned the man to continue.
"I didn't open the door and just peeked through the peephole, but the masked man on the other side seemed to know that I was looking. He kept repeating, 'The council wants to obtain the Sleepless. I suggest you give it up immediately or we will take drastic actions.' He just kept repeating that again and again. It was robotic. I knew something was wrong, so I called the police."
The man's voice quivered. "That was the start of the nightmare. I don't know! I had no idea what the Sleepless was, but every night at 12 AM, that same guy would keep knocking on the door again and again. He repeated the same thing over and over! Whenever I opened the door or called the police, the man would vanish. I resorted to calling a priest or any exorcist, but nothing!"
Thinking about the struggle he faced during that time, the man could still feel the terror. "I kept screaming that I didn't know what they were talking about and to leave me alone. I lost my job, my wife and children became afraid of me, thinking I was losing it, and I even feared going outside—because the man seemed to be getting closer."
"He kept getting one step closer. I feared what would happen if he managed to come close to my door. I left my house, but it was still the same—the man kept asking for me to hand over the goddamned Sleepless."
This time, the man covered his face. "What I feared the most happened. The moment the man reached the door, my family vanished. All that was left was a note, saying the same thing. But the next sentence was different."
"'The council wants to obtain the Sleepless. I suggest you give it up immediately or we will take drastic actions. You will find your family's decapitated bodies if you still won't offer us the Sleepless. Deadline: 1 month.'"
The man felt like crying. "I was destroyed the moment I read that. I thought they were only targeting me. Why did it come to this point?! What exactly is the Sleepless? I rummaged through my house upside down and tried to recall anything that might ring a bell."
"But I did remember something. At first, I thought those people had the wrong person, but after repeating the word 'Sleepless' again and again in my mind, I remembered something from when I was young. Sleepless had connection with eye right?Our family used to have a small decorative heirloom of an eye. My father didn't like it, and neither did my mother. It looked utterly horrible. It was bloodshot, and the eye seemed to follow our movements. So my father decided to keep it in the basement."
The man felt relief during that time. "I hurried to our old house to find what I suspected was the Sleepless they were looking for. It was there! I was ecstatic!"
"But the moment my hand touched it, something happened."