Artifact Report

Chapter 163 Mai Minghe: Increased Entropy, Loss of Control, and Reluctance
The corridor of the third-floor apartment was so quiet for the first time.

The only sound came from the garbage pipe blocking the stairs.

Although it was motionless, from time to time, you could hear the sound of something rolling, crashing, and falling deep into the pipe - as if someone was really throwing garbage in.

Another time, they heard a faint voice coming from deep within the pipe, greeting someone: "Hey, you're here too? It's nice to not have to work and make progress, right? ... I'd rather be a piece of trash... relaxed and happy."

"Do you think you can trick people into coming in like this?"

The sea reed finally couldn't help it and looked up at it and said, "We are talking about serious things. Can you be quiet for a moment?"

The garbage pipe made no sound, as if it were a real garbage pipe.

"...Is it true?" Mai Minghe said in a low voice after a few seconds.

"Haven't you seen it?" Fu Tailan asked back.

Mai Minghe shook his head in a daze.

The three of them were sitting on the floor in the corridor. The life-and-death struggle just now seemed like another story.

Compared to the nest and various traps, the thing that just flashed by and waited for everyone at the end of life was darker and more terrifying - in the face of the ultimate extinction, scheming, plotting, arguing and quarreling all became ridiculous.

"We were planning to go into the apartment to rest and see how long the artifact lasts."

Mai Minghe whispered, "When I first came in, the apartment was still safe and the renovations hadn't started yet. I asked Hai Luwei to look around, but I didn't see any time or text..."

"At the time, I wondered if I had to take it down to see it," Hai Luwei nodded, then continued, "But if I took it down, it would become... you saw it. We were still debating what to do when the apartment suddenly went into renovations. It was terrible, we didn't even dare take it down."

He still seemed to not believe Fu Tailan - and it was no wonder, as the two of them had been deceived too badly by the child; and the most difficult thing was that there was no way to tell whether Fu Tailan had lied or not, and what his purpose was in lying.

If what he just said was also a lie, that would be great...

But he was telling the truth.

Mai Minghe lowered his head and took a deep breath.

Those three words suddenly jumped out of his mouth, so abrupt that it almost felt like a punch to his stomach: "Nine months?"

It felt like I couldn't breathe any air into my body, and my mind was blank.

She could only repeat the same words over and over: "It's too short—too short. All I have is...it's too short."

"To be precise, there are still 267 days left," Fu Tailan leaned against the wall, drooping her eyelashes, and murmured, "...not even nine months."

The corridor fell silent again.

"Didn't the Nest pour a ton of information into your head?" Sea Reed suddenly asked, his brow furrowed. "Are there any more artifacts with similar functions? We have nine months to look for them..."

Although the nest in his mind contained a large amount of information, it was messy, random, and unsystematic; Mai Minghe thought for a while and shook his head.

"I do know the locations of some artifacts... but none of them function similarly," she said slowly. "The more precious the effect, the rarer it is. It's the same principle no matter where it is."

Perhaps she should be thankful that at the end of her life, she can still have the beautiful dream of returning to her youth for nine months.

"Life is lived backwards. It should be the other way around."

Before he knew it, Mai Minghe heard himself speak softly.

"People should first experience death, then move into a nursing home. Then, because they are not old enough, they move out of the nursing home. Buy a gold watch and start working. Work for decades, then you will be young enough to retire, drink, have parties, prepare for high school, middle school... and become a child along the way. There is nothing you need to be responsible for, you become a baby, and return to the womb. At the end of life, you disappear, becoming a light in your parents' eyes."

She had heard a passage from George Carlin years before and had never forgotten it.

"You two are too young to understand."

Mai Minghe smiled and said, "When I was young, I also thought I'd never change. It wasn't a rational conclusion, just a vague confidence. I don't remember how old I was, but I suddenly realized that even when my wrists were straight, they had several creases. It was as if I were made of cardboard, and my wrists had been folded so many times that they couldn't be straightened anymore."

Fu Tailan subconsciously glanced at his wrist.

He was seventeen, plump and fresh, like the first dewdrops of the morning, his eyes reflecting the misty light of the sky. Naturally, there were no marks on his wrists.

Fu Tailan raised her head, as if she wanted to say something, but her eyes suddenly fell on her feet after she took off her shoes.

Because of the bandage, I couldn't wear my shoes anymore and my toes were exposed outside the bandage.

"Why... do you cut your nails flat?" He asked, stunned, a question completely unrelated to the illusion. "Cutting them square... does this have something to do with aging?"

"Fingernails will become increasingly brittle and thin, while toenails will become increasingly hard and thick. If they are cut into oval shapes, the edges will dig into the flesh and grow into it, causing unbearable pain and causing inflammation." Even the older sea reeds were surprised, as if they knew it for the first time.

"You didn't expect that even something like fingernails would betray you as you get older, did you?"

Mai Minghe wanted to smile again. "Aging...is a process of increasing entropy, loss of control, and betrayal."

She lowered her head and wiped her eyes gently.

"I thought I had gotten used to it over the years, accepted that everyone must grow old and die... Now I realize I hadn't accepted it. I simply aged unknowingly and had no strength to resist."

"I'll keep an eye out for you."

Hai Luwei suddenly said, "If there's an artifact with similar functions that can renew your youth... I'll definitely find a way to get it for you. After all, you saved my life."

Mai Minghe nodded.

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Fu Tailan again.

"Don't you have anything to say? She even took the time to deliver a letter to you, allowing you to rescue your family's people. You should be grateful, right?"

Fu Tailan raised his chin slightly.

"That has nothing to do with me. Although I'm the head of the Morgan faction, their lives and deaths are naturally their own responsibility. Just like my own life, it's only important to me. I never expect others to care about me - but I'll keep an eye on it for you, it's not a big deal."

He paused here and raised his eyes.

Fu Tailan has gradually recovered from the shock just now and has become the young hunter Fu Tailan again.

"...As long as you are not my competitor, it's fine." He said almost calmly.

Mai Minghe did not respond.

With Fu Tailan's intelligence, it is impossible that he did not realize that she had not yet formally refused to join the "Nest Domination Game"; he did not take advantage of the situation to force her to refuse, was it because she did not have much time left?
Even if she joins, she will die of old age in nine months, so she is not an opponent worth guarding against?
No, she was probably determined on one thing - with the time that Mai Minghe had left, she could only focus on finding a way to prolong her life and had no time to care about anything else, let alone compete with others in the game of domination.

"Jonah has been rescued?"

She turned the subject away from the inevitable outcome and asked, "You didn't go there?"

"I've been there. I found him from that huge nest of insects and took him away. It wasn't easy. What else do you want me to do?" Fu Tailan shrugged and said, "You don't have to do the rest of the deworming work yourself. I'll come out and track you down."

"Is Jonah okay?"

Even though the person who talked to her and introduced the situation to her was not actually Jonah himself, Mai Minghe still remembered the vague comfort brought by the company of another human being during her initial fear.

Fu Tailan glanced at the phone screen.

"Well, he was almost gone. It's 5:48 now... About 20 or 30 minutes ago, I received a call on the intercom. They told me that the inhabitant of Jonah's body has been expelled and needs to be taken back to Blackmoor City for further treatment. The rest of us have also rushed here."

At that time, her and Sea Reed's ears were buzzing and they heard nothing.

"You mean, the hunters sent by the Morgan family are already waiting outside the apartment door?"

Hai Luwei turned his head sharply and asked. He seemed to be a little scared - he had indeed been rude to Fu Tailan just now.

"Correct."

Fu Tailan glanced at Mai Minghe and said, "After all, if that artifact is really the target, I must get it. There can be no mistakes."

Fortunately, the "snake belt" is not one of the target artifacts... Mai Minghe thought.

How many artifacts were needed? The call-up notice barely mentioned anything, only asking if she wanted to join. How did Fu Tailan know more details?
Or did they receive different call-up notices?
"Anyway, since you don't have what I want, I'm just waiting and leaving."

Fu Tailan stood up as he spoke - he looked at Mai Minghe and the others, then looked at the garbage pipe that had been waiting patiently not far away.

"Where are you going?" Hai Luwei asked in a daze, "The way upstairs has been blocked by that thing..."

"I'm not going upstairs."

Fu Tailan smiled lightly and said, "We were all fooled. Didn't you notice?"

　I'm so sleepy. Sleep has been a real problem lately. I can't sleep all night long... I have to see an ophthalmologist tomorrow. It feels like a poor student going to take an exam. It's so scary.

　　But I haven't forgotten the fraudsters—the Silver Alliance! I'm designing a new spin-off, hoping it will be more engaging, rather than just watching the characters perform.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)