Artifact Report

Chapter 216 Mai Minghe Lair Debt Paid

Being a ghost hunter is not a job for humans.

"You guys have more things happening in one day than the average person does in a year. When I think about it being only the 22nd, I feel like the earth isn't spinning right, it's spinning too slowly."

Mai Minghe sat down on the wet ground, not caring that it was all wet - he had been soaked by the rain anyway.

"It's not like this every day..." Hai Luwei whispered in defense of the hunters of the world.

Mai Minghe didn't quite believe it.

"It's not just too much, it's dangerous. Deadly dangerous. What's going on? I just wanted to sell something, but now I'm alone and there's a whole bunch of me... I'm lucky the stuff didn't get lost. Also, why are there so many bullets whizzing back and forth over my head? It's like a movie."

The gunfire stopped in the alley in the distance, but no one, including Megan, had the courage to go back to the bar to see what was going on.

There is a saying that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; after they ran out, they had nowhere else to go for a while, and now they were hiding under the awning of a roadside dessert shop like homeless people, trying to calm down.

Just now, while Chai Si was confronting another man in the alley, the three of them put their backs against the wall, put oil on their feet, and slipped away along the wall one after another like crabs - Mai Minghe saw it clearly, and while they were running, Chai Si turned his head and glanced at them.

At that moment, her mind was filled with a chaotic stream of thoughts: Is the Snake Belt bulletproof? Will the artifact be damaged? What if it hits the head? If she ran faster, could she be faster than the bullet?

To her surprise, Chai Si turned around and let them go.

"Of course he will let us go,"

Hai Luwei listened to her and sighed. "Three more bodies, one of them from the bar, would be a nuisance and a problem for him. We're all hunters, and there's no grudge. It's fine if he lets us go. It's impossible for us to testify in court that he killed someone."

Megan refused to sit on the ground and was squatting on the other side of Mai Minghe, taking a breath of cold air through her teeth.

"What are you talking about?" Megan looked at him earnestly. "I didn't see anyone die."

Eh? That big guy just now—

"Oh, you're right," Sea Reed nodded repeatedly. "I misjudged him. The man fell and got up again."

Mai Minghe came to his senses.

This is the hunter... she thought a little dazedly.

She wanted to be a hunter, to enter the lair, to live a different life again; to do so, she had to act according to the hunter's methods.

However, it was difficult for her to accept the death psychologically, as if nothing had happened, or even not call the police - she always felt like she had done something wrong.

"You can't be confused,"

As soon as she revealed a hint of her thoughts, Megan immediately became alert and said, "Conflicts and disputes in the Hunter World should only stay in the Hunter World and have nothing to do with the general public. Whoever kills someone or steals an artifact will naturally have consequences in the Hunter World. No matter what you see or what happens, this is the bottom line. If the nest is exposed, none of us will be better off - Sea Reed, right? You should persuade her more."

"She's new in the industry and isn't used to it yet," Hai Luwei said, feeling sorry for Mai Minghe. "She'll be fine after a while."

Megan nodded. "...Once she sells the lipstick, she'll understand."

why?
Mai Minghe looked back and forth at the two of them, but they didn't seem to want to explain further.

Megan only said, "The person who wants to buy your lipstick is Chase Munroe" - but this seems to be different from the implied meaning in her words.

Even though the two had never killed anyone personally, they showed extraordinary adaptability to things like gunfights and deaths. Mai Minghe just thought blankly for a while. They had already let go of the death, and Hai Luwei was worrying about her future.

"...We have some difficulties," Hai Luwei said tentatively. "If your bar has any connections and knows who has identities for sale, please contact her—well, contact me. It would be best if you bring a complete set of documents so that you can open a bank account."

"No problem," Megan readily exchanged contact information with him. "The aftermath organization often has these things for sale, so it's not difficult to get them."

This made Mai Minghe's thoughts suddenly fall back to the ground and he remembered reality.

The reality is, she has no money.

To Mai Minghe, contacting Chai Si again and selling him the lipstick was like a mouse trying to trade a piece of cheese with a mousetrap. Forget it, what if he got robbed?
No, she is not black.

In short, it's not too late to consider Chai Si after there is really no other buyer...

When they heard the distant sirens, Megan stood up. "Looks like it's almost over. I should go back."

"If there's any progress, send me a message and tell me."

Hai Luwei hurriedly shouted at her back, but Megan just waved her hand, said "You guys go home too", and left.

The lingering fear of being caught up in the illusion and gunfight has now subsided.

"Although there was a small accident, we've completed everything we were supposed to do." Hai Luwei yawned, wiped away his tears, and regained his tired and soft expression. "Wait for me to call a taxi... Oh, yes, I have to take you to get a mobile phone card at dawn and teach you how to use your phone."

"You're such a kind-hearted kid." Mai Minghe thought for a moment, "Thanksgiving is coming soon. How are you going to spend it? Come over for dinner? I'll cook a big meal. You can bring your girlfriend or ice cream, whatever."

Hai Luwei looked at her as if she was an alien who had just landed - until he sent Mai Minghe home, he didn't say whether he would come for Thanksgiving.

He said that according to past experience, he would have to sleep for at least several more hours after returning home; while he was waiting for him to get up, Mai Minghe became alone again, sitting in the old apartment where he had lived for decades, looking back and forth.

Until two or three days ago, the apartment was the only world she was familiar with. Now, when she looked at it with a younger pair of eyes, she felt that it was like a museum that had been sealed in dust and was now open to the public, showcasing the life of another distant old man.

She gently stroked the faded cloth covering the sofa, the rough texture rubbing against her skin, wondering if she should move. If she didn't move—

Before she could finish her thought, she was startled by a sudden buzzing sound. She looked around for the source of the sound before she finally realized that she had a cell phone. The sound seemed to be the same as the last time her phone received a message.

Please don't let any false image come near me again, once is enough.

As Mai Minghe was thinking, she hurriedly took out her cell phone from her coat pocket - maybe she had delayed for too long, and when she took it out, the screen went black.

Are you okay? Is it broken?

She was stunned for a moment, raised it high with her left hand, and tentatively poked it hard with her right index finger - the screen lit up again.

According to Megan, the phone had no signal and shouldn't have received anything; but this didn't prevent the nest from finding her.

! Nest Domination game progress, major breakthrough notification!

Congratulations to the lovely contestant Jin Xueli for successfully obtaining the target artifact (black cube figure)!

That’s awesome!
What does it mean to use the opponent's force to your advantage, to go with the flow, and to wait and see? This is called - wait.

Mai Minghe looked at the text on the screen and didn't fully react for a moment.

Is Kim Sulli the player who joined the game before her?
The black player approached the "Backlight Room" bar, but somehow, he was snatched away by Jin Xueli - so far, it is understandable.

What did "wait" mean? What did the lair want her to wait for?
This doubt was answered half a minute later by another message that vibrated the phone.

! Nest Domination game progress, major breakthrough notification!

What the hell? The situation changed so quickly. Sigh, I can't even say congratulations...

Anyway, that's the situation. The disgusting player Shiba has just obtained the target artifact (black cube).

Ugh.

Son of the Cuckoo, Chase Monroe, currently obtained artifacts: tongue (graphic); black cube (graphic)
Player Chai Si's current progress: 2/7
Chase's current location: Blackmore City Cross-Sea Bridge

Player Chai Si's current status: weak, injured

The rest of the contestants, can you really do this? Just letting him continue unabated is really okay. Will you be able to sleep at night?
Even contestant Kim Sulli doesn't look as cute as usual at the moment.

It was just that Shibashi was holding you at gunpoint. You gave in too quickly, didn't you? If you found it, it's yours. Why give it to him?
If you don't try, how do you know that your flesh and blood will definitely lose to a submachine gun?
Even if I die competing with him for the false image, it will be a worthy death, my life will not be in vain, and I will have a clear conscience!

Anyway, the Nest will never recognize the alliance of interests between the two of you.

Remember, in the four words "alliance of interests", the emphasis is not on alliance but on interests.

Can you still maintain your alliance when only one of you can be the ultimate beneficiary of the nest domination game?
It was such a long notification that if Mai Minghe hadn't tried poking the screen a few times, and some unknown action made the notification fully expand, she wouldn't have known how to read it in its entirety.

It looks like the nest really hates Chai Si.

The tall, thin man with the black team seemed to have lost the battle tonight... Mai Minghe thought blankly. Was that kid going for the "tongue"?

Is he dead too?

Even though she only took a quick glance, she felt that the child seemed to be in pain... Although there was no sign of it from the outside, Mai Minghe still couldn't get rid of this feeling.

Is it because of artifacts?

It turned out to be the right decision not to participate in the game.

She just wanted to get the time illusion and gain a second life; she didn't want to make others suffer in order to fight for dominance, nor did she want others to cause her pain.

Mai Minghe fiddled with the screen for a while, and didn't know what he did, the notification disappeared; he didn't know what he did again, and the screen returned to the words of greeting, saying hello to her in various languages.

"Hello," Mai Minghe said hesitantly into the phone, "Well... wait until Hai Luwei wakes up, and I'll know how to use you."

When she placed it on the table, the phone buzzed and vibrated as if in response to her words.

Is there any new progress with Chai Si and Jin Xueli?

Mai Minghe raised his cell phone, took a look, and saw a few lines of text.

Artifact Report

Only those who change the world should be qualified to advance
Dear contestant Mai Minghe, here is how you can obtain time artifacts:

　Chai and Jin have a lot of follow-up matters to deal with on the cross-sea bridge, but I don’t think it would be nice to write a whole chapter just about how to deal with them and how to deal with the aftermath - in fact, it’s also because I’ve been writing from Chai Si’s perspective for a long time, and I want to change people.

　　Therefore, the essence of the cooperative relationship between the two was mentioned indirectly in the information.

　　Come to think of it, I haven’t written about the handling and aftermath of several scenes that Chai Si had previously done… It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s mainly because I can’t squeeze it into the plot… I have to find a chance to explain it whenever I can.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)