Artifact Report

Chapter 3 Mai Minghe: Sweet Illusion in the Ward

As the world spun around, Mai Minghe subconsciously grabbed a white shadow beside him, but he still couldn't steady himself. He fell onto the cold tile floor and groaned hoarsely.

Oh no, I hope the bones are not broken?
Mai Minghe's vision was blurred by the pain, and she couldn't even distinguish which bones were breaking. It was going to cost her her life - just one fall would cause her to fall apart and scatter into pieces.

At this point, the nurse should have taken her to the hospital no matter what; but after she took a few breaths, the nurse who was supposed to rush over never arrived, and no one asked her "How are you?"

what happened?

Mai Minghe squinted his eyes and took a closer look, and was stunned.

…This is not her room.

The room was dim and gloomy. With a thin sliver of white light filtering through from under the door, she could vaguely discern a large room. In front of her and behind her stood two empty, narrow beds; what she was clutching was actually the corner of a sheet.

She loosened the sheet and looked around.

A row of rolling nursing beds, a small bedside table next to each bed, and a curtain separating each bed... This was clearly a hospital ward. She had been hospitalized several times before, so she could recognize it at a glance.

Strange.

How did she get to the hospital ward? Was she brought there by the nurses?

How could she have forgotten the entire process of the nurse taking her to the hospital? It was as if it had never happened; it was as if a black hole had opened up in her memory.

Mai Minghe suppressed her panic and pain. No matter how hard she tried, the last moment she could recall was still herself smashing the TV. She remembered that the sky and the earth tilted in pain, and the next second, she fell to the floor of the ward.

It was as if she had fallen directly from her home into the hospital - but that was impossible.

Did she faint at the time and therefore not remember?
"Is anyone there?" Mai Minghe called out hoarsely, "Nurse? I fell down..."

In the cold and silent ward, her request for help was like a piece of broken ice, gradually sinking into the cold river, as if it had never existed.

She couldn't control her shivering, whether it was the pain or the cold. If this continued, something bad would happen, and she had to call the nurse quickly—by the way, there was usually a call bell at the head of the bed.

Mai Minghe struggled to prop herself up and stand up, but the pain in her leg bones was too severe; her hands and feet were so weak that she slipped and almost fell again.

There was no other way, so she had to crawl towards the bedside table little by little, hold on to the edge of the table, stretch her arms as hard as she could, and barely touch the bedside bell button with her fingers.

"If I were you, I wouldn't ring the bell."

The sudden male voice startled Mai Minghe so much that her chest exploded; blood rushed up, as if it was going to sever her cerebral blood vessels.

She steadied herself in the dizziness, turned her head towards the sound, and found that there was a bed behind her.

The bed curtain was drawn, but not completely, revealing the feet of the patient in the next bed.

The feet were bare, without any clothing on, and looked as white as if they were covered with thick powder. The toes were slightly curled up and motionless.

Mai Minghe couldn't help but feel relieved - great, there was someone else in the room.

"You, you are also in the hospital?" Her breathing was still uneven as she spoke; as she spoke, she touched the bedside bell again.

"Do you really want to call a nurse?" the patient behind the curtain asked.

"Yeah…I fell down and had to scream."

If it was a minor matter, and it happened in the middle of the night, it would be better not to call the nurse; Mai Minghe understood the concerns of the patient in the next bed.

She pressed the bedside bell, but no sound came out of the room.

"Look, it's pressed."

The patient in the next bed knew it and started laughing. His laughter was stiff and flat, as if it was produced by consciously contracting his diaphragm, and each sound was precisely and evenly lengthed.

Mai Minghe withdrew his hand, slowly slid down to sit on the ground, his whole body drooping with exhaustion; but he secretly glanced at the curtain out of the corner of his eye.

"You won't listen... People really get more stubborn as they get older. I'm doing this for your own good."

"What do you mean?"

The other party laughed stiffly twice but did not answer.

Something seemed wrong, but I couldn't tell why.

Mai Minghe hesitated whether to ask again, but at this moment, he heard a high-decibel broadcast suddenly ripped through the deadly silent corridor outside the door. A female electronic voice resounded loudly, shaking the ward door: "Ward 03, Bed 03, calling for nurse, Ward , Bed , calling for nurse!"

Startled by the broadcast, her heart was pounding with pain, and she held it tightly with one hand; on the one hand, she felt relieved that someone was coming, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel doubtful.

...That's strange. Normally, does the announcement go off after you ring the bell? It's so loud, so late at night. Aren't you afraid it'll disturb other people's sleep?
Is this the new hospital regulations?
The broadcast stopped.

In the silent room, the only sound left was Mai Minghe's trembling breathing.

"Attention," the announcement suddenly sounded again, the volume still as alarming, startling her again: "The person pretending to be a nurse will arrive at Ward 3 in five seconds. Countdown, five - four - three -"

Mai Minghe was stunned.

She must have been blind and deaf, and couldn't hear clearly, so she mistakenly thought that what was being said on the radio was "a person pretending to be a nurse", right?

The patient in the next bed started giggling again, and the laughter was broken into segments.

"What the broadcast just said..."

Before Mai Minghe could finish her question, she heard a sudden "bang" and the ward door was slammed heavily against the wall. The deafening sound made her chest ache again.

As the ward door opened, the white light from the corridor poured in; in the white light, stood a thin, tall black shadow, its head blocked by the door frame.

The black shadow twisted his right shoulder and took a step forward with his right foot, as if the joints of his limbs were not aligned and flexible. He took a crooked step towards the door, with his head still outside.

That couldn't be a nurse.

The thought intensified the pain that radiated from her left chest, and her entire left arm felt as if someone was pinching the tendons and pulling them out; soon, she felt she couldn't breathe.

"Eh? This is here?"

The patient in the next bed laughed with his chest shrinking, but his snow-white feet outside the curtain remained motionless.

"You're unlucky that you didn't attract any residents. But you're lucky... you had a heart attack at this critical moment and you're not going to survive."

The shadowy figure turned its left shoulder, took a step forward with its left foot, and entered, its head swaying as it brushed the wall. It leaned sideways and took another step toward Bed 3. From outside the wide-open door, someone shouted angrily, "Who's close? ... Hurry and intercept them in Ward ! Don't let the bell ringer get away! How dare they steal our things!"

……How is this going?

Will she survive today?

The shadow was backlit, and no matter how hard Mai Minghe squinted, she couldn't make out its face. The shadow moved swiftly, seemingly taking only two or three steps, but it had already reached the end of the bed, trapping her between the two beds.

She wanted to ask who the other person was, but she was no longer able to speak.

Someone was running quickly in the corridor, the thudding footsteps were getting closer and closer, she could almost feel the floor shaking; the black shadow turned a deaf ear to the noise outside, and staggered towards Mai Minghe.

Is this... a human? She thought vaguely on the verge of death. Impossible?
Before I even realize it, this life is about to end.

The shadow slowly bent towards her.

Although his consciousness was blurred, Mai Minghe finally saw clearly the first face he met after entering the hospital.

Beneath the black frizzle of hair, jutting out from his neck, was an oval, smooth, hard mirror. Below the mirror, it was pitch black.

It's not like someone has a mirror on their face.

Where the face should have been, there was no trace of facial features or bones. Instead, there was only a mirror, growing out of the surrounding flesh and pointing directly at Mai Minghe.

Her old and withered face was reflected in the mirror. At that moment, it seemed as if it was Mai Minghe herself who was bending towards her.

Was she dreaming? The mirror face, the heart attack...it was all a dream.

Before I died, I saw something so...strange.

Whether it was a dream or reality, it was the first time in her life that she saw something beyond the norm - and it was also the last time.

Mai Minghe did not make any expression, but the old face in the mirror smiled slightly, as if a person was at his wit's end and had no choice but to smile.

She opened her mouth in the mirror, her lips moving in and out, speaking silently to Mai Minghe outside the mirror.

If I could live my life over again...

I'll ride the carousel as much as I want,

I'll walk around and try everything.

…I’ll pick more daisies.

Mai Minghe couldn't move at all. She didn't know whether her mind was frozen or her old, tired heart that was about to fall asleep could not be awakened.

The lip shape in the mirror became increasingly blurred and unclear; the black shadow was still gradually approaching her, and finally enveloping her completely.

...If you were given another chance, what would you do to make this new life worthy?

Her long, tangled black hair stuck to Mai Minghe's forehead; she was immersed in thick darkness and could not see anything. Two overly long arms circled around her body, wrapping her tightly, getting tighter and tighter, as if they were going to break every bone in her body.

"let me go,"

When the airflow in his chest was about to be cut off, Mai Minghe finally struggled and pushed with both hands, but instead of meeting the expected resistance, he pushed in vain.

She quickly steadied herself and jumped up from the ground, only then realizing that there was nothing in front of her and the black shadow had disappeared.

and many more……

Mai Minghe realized something belatedly.

She actually jumped up easily and neatly?
Mai Minghe raised his hand and pressed his chest; the pain seemed to have never happened. Deep in his chest, there was a steady and familiar rhythm.

My hands...seem a little different.

Mai Minghe raised her hands, finding them plump and plump, with translucent nails and no visible wrinkles. Lowering her head, she stared blankly at her pajamas, revealing a pair of smooth, strong legs and feet with even skin.

I must be crazy.

It turns out that youth is an illusion so sweet, so passionate, and so full that it makes people feel helpless.

For a moment, she forgot everything and began to feel around her body desperately: her fingers dug into her thick hair, and on her arms and thighs, she felt the long-lost strong muscles; her back straightened, and she grew taller... Mai Minghe laughed, her voice trembling.

A young, clear voice, which had not been heard for at least decades, flowed into the cold air of the ward.

From beyond the decay, darkness, and ashes, she had been somehow released, born a second time into the world—no, wait, was this really happening?
"here!"

A loud shout came from the door, and Mai Minghe startled and raised his head.

Her vision was no longer blurry and gray. Even in the dim light, she could still see clearly a man rushing in from the door; his face was full of strong vigilance.

"There's a woman here, but no artifacts are seen."

The man stared at Mai Minghe, shouted to his companions behind him, and then shouted at her, "Whose hunter are you? You have the thing, right? You dare to intercept the fake image that Mr. Weisilai wants?"

"What?" Mai Minghe asked blankly, his mind filled with a mess of confusion - the man's nonsense question had to seep into his mind a little bit through the gaps in the mess.

The man was about to step in when his eyes suddenly glanced at her side and he stopped abruptly.

"Come quickly," he shouted toward the door, "There's a 'resident' in Ward 3!"

Resident? What is he talking about?
From the glance he just took, it seemed as if there was something in the room, not far away from him.

Mai Minghe turned her head in a daze and found that the curtain of bed No. 3 next to her, which was originally empty, had been drawn at some point.

The curtain was not completely drawn, revealing a pair of snow-white feet that looked as if they were powdered; the toes were tilted to the left and right, as if frozen and motionless.

...Huh? Wasn't he just in the bed next to me?

When did you get this bed number 03?
"It's wrong to call you old lady anymore," the patient behind the curtain said with a smile. "I should call you young lady. Young lady, what you just got is a rare and precious thing. How about letting me take a look?"

　I'm getting on a plane today, and with the pressure to update, I'll have to write on the plane. Hopefully, my seatmate isn't another screen-peeker. Once, I was writing about the apocalypse on a plane, and the guy in the next seat suddenly grew five centimeters taller, like a crane. He twisted his neck around and asked, "Are you writing a novel? What are you writing about?"

　　Do you think the prevalence of myopia is not high enough?

　　(Why do I always get on planes and travel so far? It’s really an unanswerable question…)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)