Chapter 257 211: Memory of the Deceased, the Final Murderer

「Meanwhile.」

Chu Bamboo sat on the bed, panting heavily as cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He felt a stabbing pain in his brain. The dense flood of linguistic information made his temples throb relentlessly.

After rubbing his temples for a good while, Chu Bamboo finally recovered, clarity gradually returning to his eyes.

'Rewriting Xu Zihong before wasn't this painful! Is it because this is the second time I've used Rewrite in such a short period?'

The last reset had confirmed that Chu Bamboo had cleansed the corruption.

Simple memory fragments and knowledge weren't actually a severe burden. To be precise, the most important factor in going mad, or even mutating into a monster, was the corruption. As for one's anchor of humanity, that was merely the key to resisting it!

In a situation without corruption... even if one's anchor of humanity was shaken, it wasn't a problem as long as they could regain their senses and set it right afterward.

Chu Bamboo had reset too many times, living through an unimaginably long life. Therefore, his humanity and sense of self were not so easily shaken!

So, all things considered, Chu Bamboo's use of Rewrite didn't carry the same unimaginable risks as it did for others...

However.

'I still can't just use it regularly without a care in the world! And this corruption... I really don't get it!'

Chu Bamboo subconsciously glanced at his arm. This time, he didn't see any fleeting scales, but he still decided he would kill himself in a bit.

Closing his eyes, Chu Bamboo ignored the foreign languages and tried to extract the memory fragments he wanted. '...Wait, the most profound memory fragment is about getting into the official system? Ah, this...'

For a moment, Chu Bamboo didn't know what kind of expression to make.

But on second thought, he felt a sense of relief. The Real World had its story of Fan Jin passing the imperial exams... Although unlike Fan Jin's one-step ascent to heaven, getting into the civil service in the Dream World only qualified you to be a clerk who could eventually become an Official. Still, it was undeniably a way to change your Destiny.

'This is trouble!' Chu Bamboo thought with a wry smile, belatedly realizing the problem.

'The memory fragments I get aren't guaranteed to have the information I want... No, I should say there's a high probability they're useless!'

'What should I do?' Chu Bamboo paced back and forth. 'Find another injured person and try my luck extracting memories again?'

'Even if I can wash away the corruption by killing myself, accumulating too many memory fragments will have a major impact on me!'

Chu Bamboo currently speculated that, under the condition he could cleanse the corruption, using Rewrite two or three times a day was probably his limit. Of course, that part was manageable. After all, his "day" was different from a normal person's. Because he could kill himself and reset, one day for others might be three to five days for him...

The most troublesome part was that this Rewrite process was incredibly painful... Compared to the feeling of his brain splitting apart, he'd rather just kill himself a few times.

'I can probably only use Rewrite one more time today! How can I use this chance to get something useful... Hmm?'

Chu Bamboo's steps gradually slowed, a subtle expression appearing on his face.

'Memories... the most profound? Useful intelligence?'

'Perhaps... this isn't a dead end after all?'

After thinking it over and over, Chu Bamboo suddenly threw open the door. He looked at Li Kang, who was looking at him from outside, and asked urgently, "Uncle Li! The escort team this time... were there any deaths?"

"Huh? Ah... yes, there were casualties! What's this about?" Li Kang was a bit confused. 'Why are you asking this the moment you come out? Did you get the intel, or not?'

"Take me to see the dead, now!" Chu Bamboo's eyes burned with intensity. This was the idea he'd come up with. 'Can I Rewrite the Skills of the dead?'

'Without a doubt, a dead person's most profound memory from their life would be the moment of their own death... and from that, I should be able to read a lot of intel!'

'That's right. I'm no longer hoping to directly identify the mole from memory fragments. I just want to see who the attacker was... and whether I recognize them!'

...

「In the morgue.」

As usual, he told Li Kang to leave.

Alone now, Chu Bamboo looked solemnly at the deceased man in the Patrol Uniform. He pressed his palms together and muttered, "Brother, forgive the intrusion. This is to find your killer! I'll burn some incense for you later to apologize."

Immediately after, Chu Bamboo placed his hand on the man's temple, closed his eyes, and initiated Rewrite!

At that moment,

Chu Bamboo was stunned. From the man's mind, he could only sense... nothingness.

'I can't Rewrite any Skills...'

'Alright, I expected this,' Chu Bamboo thought. 'He's dead, so it's all gone. It's normal not to be able to read anything; reading something would be a surpr—' His thoughts stopped abruptly. 'No, wait! There is something! There is?!'

Waves of shock crashed through Chu Bamboo's mind. Although he still hadn't Rewritten any specific Skills, fragmented shards of memory were flooding into his brain.

It was...

The killer's face.

The killer's face was completely unfamiliar. It was a woman, with unremarkable features. But those eyes, combined with the makeup on that unfamiliar face... gave Chu Bamboo a sense of déjà vu.

And then...

The suffocating sensation of death.

Chu Bamboo's vision went black. He staggered back several steps until he hit the wall, breaking out in a cold sweat and gasping for air. He even subconsciously touched his own neck, repeatedly checking that his windpipe hadn't been slit.

Fortunately, Chu Bamboo died often. So, while this heart-pounding sensation was unpleasant, he was far more accustomed to it than an ordinary person suddenly going through such an experience.

Chu Bamboo leaned against the wall for over ten minutes before he finally recovered some of his strength. Pushing himself up, he shook his head to clear it and began to organize the intel he had just obtained.

His thoughts churned. 'I couldn't Rewrite any Skills, but the mental strain was much less than a direct Skill Rewrite... And it's just as I guessed! This kind of read can only show you how someone died!'

'On one hand, it's because that memory is the most profound. On the other, his past memories have probably all but dissipated...'

In fact, as Chu Bamboo mulled over the experience, he got the distinct impression that if he had waited any longer, even this last remaining memory fragment in the dead man's mind would have gradually vanished.

'...But then again! Could it be her?' Chu Bamboo repeatedly replayed the image of those eyes and the familiar makeup. A guess began to form in his mind, but he couldn't be certain.

Chu Bamboo's brow furrowed ever tighter. 'If it really is that woman, considering her status and position... then this is big, big trouble!'

'The complexity of the high-level power struggle roiling the waters of Jinghai City... might be even more troublesome than I initially thought.'

After pacing in a few circles, Chu Bamboo finally made up his mind.

'Screw it! I'll just test my theory.'

Chu Bamboo let out a long sigh, a glint of determination flashing in his eyes. Then, he bit down on the poison hidden in his tooth.

In the next breath,

Time began to reverse!