Artifact Report

Chapter 248 Mai Minghe: People at the Gathering Point

When the old woman stretched out her hand, the real rules were probably posted again in a corner nearby and "put online" again.

At that moment, even the air seemed to be faintly excited; as if there were faint sparks of electricity, lurking beneath the surface of cognition, crackling in the depths of sensory perception. But if you look closely -

Mai Minghe couldn't focus his attention.

She closed her eyes tightly and turned her head away, but she could still feel the old woman's uncovered face casting a shadow on her face.

The old woman's fingers sank deeply into Mai Minghe's cheeks - so deeply, so deeply, that her ten fingers merged into half of Mai Minghe's head, her left cheek pressed against her right cheek, and her teeth were squeezed into a handful of broken particles in the middle.

"I gave you the chance just now, but I won't do that again this time."

The old woman sang, "You see, we residents also have to learn through practice. Only by learning can we make progress."

It only took one push, and Mai Minghe's head involuntarily twisted towards it. If the old woman let go and found that the thread connecting her head and neck had been severed and she rolled to the ground, Mai Minghe would not be surprised.

"Open your eyes," the old woman continued to sing, "open your eyes and look into my face, and all your troubles will disappear."

A few fingers rose from deep inside her cheek and crawled towards her eyes.

A few seconds ago, from the moment she realized that the old woman was reaching out to grab her, Mai Minghe endured it and did not move a step - no, except turning her head and closing her eyes, all the muscles in her body contracted together, solidified and still, and she began to feel a faint spasm-like pain.

Only by staying still could she ensure that the place where her finger quickly clicked would still hit the trash can icon - so, as expected, she was caught by the old woman.

She must have deleted the video by now, what happened?

Or, nothing happened?
Maybe she failed to save Ai Meili, but only lost her own life——

A male voice announced loudly, "After much competition from all the gardeners in the company, the Three Saints have decided to promote Johnny to the position of Labyrinth Marketing Manager! Because Michael has performed exceptionally well over the past fifty thousand years of evolution, completing numerous human disguised retribution raids, the fertile fields and melons will be a wedding favor for Johnny..."

……what?
Just as she was in a state of confusion, she heard a gunshot that nearly shattered the air and Mai Minghe's eardrums. The gunshot seemed to have been fired only two or three steps away from her. Her ears were instantly filled with a strong buzzing sound, so much so that Mai Minghe almost didn't hear the shouts above the buzzing: "Run!"

It’s Aimee Li.

As the grip on Mai Minghe's cheek loosened, she immediately turned her head back, feeling her cheeks bouncing again, and her gums, teeth and tongue returning to their original positions - she didn't dare to look in the direction of the old woman, and turned and ran.

A few steps away on the road, Ai Meili hurried to catch up, and kept looking back and shooting while running - her face was finally back, and her vision was also back.

"Don't look at its face!" Mai Minghe shouted.

"I know," Ai Meili answered in between gunshots.

"What was that just now?"

"This is a message I recorded on my phone," Aimee shouted. "Random, disordered, and illogical human speech can make residents temporarily confused and forget what they should be doing. This is a secret I won't tell anyone else."

Her shooting was much more accurate than Mai Minghe's. She only fired a shot every few seconds, but she managed to stop the old woman for quite a while. It was not until the two of them ran to the intersection that Mai Minghe finally found the time to look back.

He is indeed an experienced hunter.

Each of Ai Meili's bullets hit the same kneecap of the old woman precisely - the knee joint of its right leg had already been bent high and backward; every time it tried to catch up, it would suddenly limp and lose its balance when it took a step.

"Where are you going?" Aimeili paused at the intersection and asked.

"This way," Mai Minghe pointed to the road on the left and rushed out first.

"Wait, there's something on that road—"

Mai Minghe looked up at the back of Li Sidan who was struggling to escape in the distance; compared to before, he was a little closer to human form, and it seemed that he was gradually recovering after escaping the trap.

"Don't worry, that's Li Sidan."

If Aimee had a lot of questions, she didn't ask any of them; after all, now was not a good time to ask questions.

The two people with intact legs and feet - well, Mai Minghe's feet can't be considered intact - ran much faster than Li Sidan. In less than ten seconds, he caught up with him.

"I am Li Sidan,"

The shape in front of them was tangled and chaotic, as if every bone and internal organ in its body couldn't make up its mind where to go. As they approached, it continued to mutter to itself: "I am a hunter. Today is November 2026, 11. I entered the nest to participate in the Kai family hunter interview... Ah!"

He turned around—let's call that twisted part "head"—and seemed startled, almost rolling off his ankle: "When did you—"

"Is this thing really Li Sidan?" Ai Meili ran, her gun already raised. "How can someone still be a human being after becoming like this? You've been fooled by it!"

"You really released it from the poster?" At the same time, Li Sidan also shouted: "I told you, the one on the poster is definitely not the human Aimee--"

"Listen to me, all of you,"

Mai Minghe was caught in the middle, feeling like they were pouring air into his ears, making him feel overwhelmed. "I guarantee that you two are real people. The more real you are, the more real the other one is. I rescued both of you. I know this best."

They were both silent. It was as if someone had just said something they had never heard before, and they couldn't find a suitable response from their life experience.

For a moment, the only sounds floating in the air around him were hurried footsteps, panting, and the sound of Li Sidan's lungs opening and closing.

Without leaving the nest, there is only one way to truly get rid of the old woman, and that is to enter another rule domain, another script, or the territory of another resident.

It can be said that this is drinking poison to quench thirst.

But Mai Minghe could only get rid of the imminent crisis for the time being. As for what to do with the next deadly thing, well, let's talk about it later - no, it would be better to say that she didn't even know how to rush into the next dangerous area. If she knew, it would be easier.

"Where are we running?" Aimeili couldn't help but ask.

"'Annie's Warehouse,'" said Li Sidan.

"Do you know the location of Annie's warehouse?" Mai Minghe was stunned, not knowing whether to be surprised or hesitant.

"I found a map of the Old Port in the Tourist Information Center. It was disguised as harmless at first, and showed me the location of Anne's Warehouse. I was about to leave when I was tricked."

Aimeili immediately asked, "How can you be sure that this is the real and accurate Anne's warehouse?"

As Li Sidan's recovery speed gradually accelerated, he responded faster. "I'm not sure, but do you have a better idea?"

Ai Meili exhaled through her nose and stopped talking.

"But we're being pursued," Mai Minghe said worriedly. "If we lead it to where we are, won't the others be in danger?"

The other two hunters didn't respond.

After they ran in silence for a few seconds, Ai Meili suddenly said, "I believe it."

"what?"

"Now I completely believe that it was you who saved me from that faceless state just now. I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. In fact, I was a little skeptical that it was some unexpected coincidence that led to my escape... Because you and I not only have no connection, but we are also competitors, so you had no reason to care about me. But now I know that you are the kind of person who will save others."

Li Sidan paused.

"I told her to leave because the person released from the poster couldn't be a real person, but she still wouldn't leave. Even when the resident was about to catch up, she kept tapping and prodding at the poster..."

He turned his face - in just half a minute, Li Sidan had grown a new face, and even his glasses were on his nose again.

As he ran along, his height gradually recovered. Now at first glance, all the parts seemed to be in the right place. At least he wouldn't be shot by anyone if they saw him from a distance.

"you do not need to worry,"

He said to Mai Minghe, "There are five hunters gathered at Anne's warehouse. Together with us, it shouldn't be difficult to expel a resident. What's more, the Kai family hunters must have prepared the next level for us... If Anne's warehouse itself is a script, the old woman chasing us will be even more unable to get close."

That does make sense... But when Mai Minghe thought about how half her life was gone and the Kai family interview hadn't even started yet, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

She even lost her supply bag, leaving only a fluorescent orange tag and an empty pistol on her waist. She really didn't know how to get through the next level.

They ran for a while longer. Ai Meili covered her eyelids with one hand to avoid accidentally seeing the old woman's full appearance. She quickly turned around to take a quick look - and then reported: "The resident is gone!"

"Really?"

Aimeili glanced at the ground behind her again, this time covering a much wider area. "Really? I haven't seen it in a while. I think we've gotten rid of it... or maybe it gave up on its own accord."

"Wait, does this mean..." Mai Minghe hesitated.

It was hard to imagine the old woman giving her up voluntarily if there wasn't another trap ahead.

Almost as if in response to her thoughts, when Li Sidan led the two of them around the corner and rushed into the next street, a group of hunters turned their heads towards them at the door of a red brick building in front of them.

Tianxi whistled from a distance and raised a hand into the air.

...Finally arrived at the meeting point.

The long breath that Mai Minghe was about to let out suddenly froze and got stuck in her chest when she ran closer, causing her to even feel a dull pain.

Tianxi, Shaxue, and Qi Baili, the three Kai family hunters seemed to have been waiting for a long time; the other two interviewed hunters also arrived early and were now sitting on the sidewalk, chatting idly.

The burly man laughed mockingly, "Why are you here so late? There's still half an hour left before the assembly time ends. I thought you were all going to be eliminated."

...Yes, there are five people in total.

But there are six faces.

　I was also surprised that Mai Minghe's storyline lasted so long... During the Spring Festival, almost no one read the novel, and I don't know why I was still so dedicated. Maybe I just wanted to finish it early (.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)