Artifact Report

Chapter 233 Mai Ming River: First Level

In criminal investigation movies and TV dramas, detectives always mention this sentence from time to time: "Murderers often return to the crime scene."

Mai Minghe couldn't remember which TV series she heard this line from, but she thought it made a lot of sense.

The weather was not good as soon as it got light on the morning of the 24th.

She took the subway and then a taxi and walked for more than an hour. When she arrived at the Kai family mansion, the sky was still covered with a layer of gray, wet cotton, as if it could fall down at any time and suffocate people's faces.

She didn't know if it was because of the weather or because she felt guilty, but she always felt that the Kai family members standing in the driveway, responsible for greeting the interviewed hunters, all had gloomy eyes and grayish-green faces.

The Kai family mansion remained the same as yesterday, standing far away at the end of the slope, hidden in the center by a large expanse of grass and shrubs, with only a private driveway leading up. Mai Minghe took three steps at a time, pretending to be calm as he surveyed the area around the mansion.

The security at Kai's house was much stricter than yesterday, with people guarding in groups of three or four.

On the driveway, there were hunters directing cars, telling interviewees where to park and who to find; from the moment they got on the driveway, there was almost no space that could go unnoticed - could they have put all the manpower they could get here?
Mai Minghe didn't drive, so she could only walk along the bushes beside the driveway. A hunter glanced at her and called out, "Interview?"

"Yes," Mai Minghe felt that his voice was hollow.

…Are they suspicious?
Did Kaijia guess that the person who broke into the mansion yesterday was him?
"Go forward, find Shaxue," the man said, then turned and called out to the distance, "Shaxue! One person, one car!"

The car that slowly drove past Mai Minghe looked familiar. It seemed to be the car of Li—Li what was that? Oh, Li Sidan.

Sure enough, Li Sidan, whom I met once yesterday, quickly opened the door and got out of the car, and greeted Shaxue with a relaxed look.

Alas, people feel more comfortable when they don’t do anything wrong.

Seeing that Shaxue had seen him, Mai Minghe secretly urged the weak Xiaozuo and Xiaoyou, and also mustered up the courage to go over.

Wait, this isn't a trap, is it?
Pretending not to know that the person from yesterday was her, he tricked her back by saying he was going into the lair for an interview, and then rushed over and pinned her down?
The beating of Mai Minghe's heart grew louder and louder.

There were already three or five people standing by the bushes outside the driveway; they all looked like interview hunters. When their eyes met, they only nodded stiffly without much greeting.

To be honest, their serious expressions made it seem like a trap set by the Kai family, waiting for her to fall into it.

But Shaxue remained calm, smiled at her, and said, "You're all quite punctual. Wait here for a moment, the bus will be here soon."

What car?

"We've already chosen the location for opening the passage," Saxue explained, seeming to understand her lack of experience. "By opening the passage from that area, we can all land in the same spot in the nest. Now we need to drive everyone there."

"You don't know where you enter the nest and where you land in the nest. Is there a connection?"

A man asked her suddenly.

He was strong and round, with a broad back and waist, thick enough to hold two Maiming Rivers. His words weren't malicious, but they weren't polite either; perhaps he was used to speaking that way. After all, a man of a large build and a mainstream race didn't need to choose his tone with anyone.

Mai Minghe just smiled: "I don't know."

Several people nearby glanced at her - they were naturally a little worried about having a greenhorn among their companions who were about to enter the nest together; but no one said anything.

Two minutes later, from the other end of the driveway, the sound of tires crunching over gravel was heard, and two black vans drove up.

"The five of you present here are entering the lair for the trial today."

Sayuki stood beside the first van and said, "In the first car is our captain, Tianxi, whom you've all met. Also in the second car is Chi Baili, who's driving the second van, and me. The three of us will be responsible for accompanying, reviewing, and supervising this trip."

For some reason, she didn't let everyone get in the car. Instead, Tianxi and the driver of the second car got out of the driver's seat and came over to greet everyone.

This was Mai Minghe's first time meeting Chi Baili. He looked to be under thirty, with messy, slightly curly white-blond hair and thick, black eyelashes and eyeliner. He looked more like a band lead singer than a hunter.

Come to think of it, this era is still good. No matter whether you are a man or a woman, you can dress however you want. Under his open coat, Chi Baili wore a semi-transparent white gauze vest, and no one cast strange eyes on him.

When Mai Minghe was young, people would stare at her if she wore pants, and they thought it was inappropriate for a woman to wear pants.

I wonder if Qi Baili was among the people who searched for me yesterday?
"Please look around at each other and remember everyone's appearance and attire."

Sayuki emphasized, "Don't forget, there are eight people in total, including the Kai family members and those interviewed."

Why do you emphasize this specifically?

"Some inexperienced people may not understand this, so let me explain."

Tianxi leaned against the car door, crossed his arms, and said, "The larger the group entering the lair, the more likely it is to attract some inexplicable things. You must pay close attention to everyone's appearance. After entering the lair, if you notice that someone is missing or extra, or if someone's appearance, dress, or voice suddenly changes, you must report to me immediately."

How could something like this happen in the lair?
Mai Minghe lowered his gaze, swallowing back a knot of guilt. He hoped he wouldn't bring them into more danger because of him...

If the situation gets bad, she will have to take the initiative to leave the team and lead the danger away, even at the risk of failing the interview... She can't let these seven young people get implicated by her.

"Please take a good look at each person." Shaxue's words seemed to be a reminder to Mai Minghe.

She exhaled, raised her eyes, met the gazes of the four interviewing hunters around her, and looked around at them.

Li Sidan, whom I met yesterday, had brown curly hair covering his head, revealing a big forehead; his shirt was tucked into his trousers, and his trousers were cut to his ankles. He was dressed a bit like an accountant from the 1970s and 1980s - is this what young people call "retro style"?

Her closet is full of such old-fashioned clothes.

Their eyes met, and Li Sidan nodded at her and asked, "Nice to meet you again. Didn't you bring your cane today?"

What a mess! Mai Minghe's pores tightened, not daring to look at the expressions of Shaxue or Tianxi. He could only mumble, "Well, it's inconvenient to carry it with you..."

Recalling yesterday's experience, she still felt it was unreal.

Until she escaped from the Kay mansion, she didn't know how she escaped - of course, she knew how she sneaked out of that room; that room was connected to a small balcony, which was just right for her to climb down to the second floor.

What Mai Minghe didn't understand was why the door suddenly slid open by itself, as if someone pressed the doorknob from behind and opened the door for her.

Why is there a human-shaped black hole standing in the middle of that room?
What it is?
Mai Minghe stood there, not daring to move, not even daring to look directly at the black hole, only glancing at it with his peripheral vision.

After a long while, she found that the human-shaped black hole still did not move, so she held her breath and moved along the corner of the wall, little by little to the window - no matter what the black hole was, she was not here to explore the mystery, and her first priority was to escape as soon as possible.

There are two reasons why we don't go to the center of the room:
The first, naturally, was the humanoid black hole. Space seemed to have transformed into a sheet of paper, and the black hole, cut out, resembled a person, complete with head, shoulders, and limbs. Mai Minghe was terrified that if she approached, the narrow, arm-shaped black hole would lift up towards her.

The second reason was that there was a carpet in the middle of the room, a flesh-red carpet that anyone who saw it would immediately realize was a fake.

For some reason, there was a circle of wet water marks under the carpet.

The short hairs are lying there. It is obviously a flesh-red blanket, but the hairs are light white - the hairs are this color, so why does the carpet look another color to the naked eye?

Even the carpet itself was restless, bulging and slumping, rising and falling...

It was just a fleeting scene, but it lingered in Mai Minghe's mind for five or six seconds. Suddenly, she had an idea and almost cried out.

It's a tongue.

Or rather, a mix of carpet and tongue.

The carpet nap is the taste bud; it undulates and arches because it is a flexible muscle.

Once she understood, how could Mai Minghe dare to approach it? The carpet was very large, and the only space left for her to pass through was a small circle around it.

She slid around the corner to the window; when she opened it, the wind blew past her body and rushed into the room. Mai Minghe subconsciously looked back and found that countless short, fuzzy taste buds had stood up in unison, as if they had smelled something.

...What will happen if you encounter it?
Until she escaped from the Kai family mansion, none of her questions were answered.

As a result, he risked his life to sneak in, but ended up only taking pictures of the interior of the mansion.

I don’t know if this trip to the lair will allow her to be successfully hired and enter the Kai family openly... It is obviously her thing, and the lipstick is most likely inside the Kai family, but why is it so difficult to get it back?

Mai Minghe was lost in thought all the way, and when she was brought back to her senses by Shaxue's voice, she realized that they were almost at the place where they were going to open the passage.

Saxue was distributing weapons to everyone; in addition to the uniformly issued combat supplies such as pistols, knives, flashlights, etc., everyone also received a fluorescent orange tag that could be hung around the neck.

"Even if we open a passage in the same area and at the same time, there's still a high chance we'll be left alone when we land, and separated from our group—no, there might not even be a group at all."

Sunayuki warned, "We're about to land in the area of ​​the lair that corresponds to the old harbor, filled with 19th-century harbor warehouses. After landing, everyone should immediately head to 'Annie's Warehouse' and gather at the gate."

Mai Minghe knew that place - the old port in the city of Hemel, which has now become a place for young performing artists to try their hand at performances. There are always theater troupes from all over the world performing various plays throughout the year.

"Anyone not wearing an orange badge will be treated as a resident."

Sand Snow said almost calmly, "Please do your best to protect the orange sign. This is the first stage in your journey to become a hunter of the Kai family."

　I originally thought that with 2,000 words, today's chapter would be easier... But no way!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)