Artifact Report

Chapter 154 Mai Minghe: The Fisherman Returns Empty-Handed

At that moment, reason and thinking were of no use at all.

Driven by fear, Mai Minghe acted without thinking.

In the gap between the disappearance of the number 1 and the start of the explosion, as tiny as a hair's width, she still did something.

Mai Minghe had been standing at the door talking, and she had put her hands on the door frame several times. When the red countdown numbers came into view, her hair stood on end, and she subconsciously touched the door -

It seemed as if the explosion began at the next moment.

The sharp pain pierced into her nerves like a needle; her fingers seemed to be infected with some kind of magic - wherever they passed, they exploded, and on the door frame, one after another, dazzling little lights the size of a fingernail burst out; wood chips flew, and the lights connected into a thin, jumping and rising flame.

It was not until Mai Minghe's back hit the wall that she realized that she had stumbled back when her vision went black. Even with the tinnitus, she could hear her own screams of pain, as if she was trying to release the pain in her fingers through her voice.

"Fire!" Sea Reed was shouting at this moment, but it seemed distant and inappropriate because of something in between. "Use clothes to put out the fire, quickly!"

Cold sweat, panic, muscle tremors, and the confusion about pain that people feel at the moment of injury... like a thick fog, pressing on every nerve.

Mai Minghe came to her senses a little after he shouted at her, and realized that there was also fire on her fingers. She hurriedly grabbed the corner of her clothes and pressed hard on her fingers - this press immediately triggered another long cry.

"Okay, okay, the fire is out, it's all good now..."

Sea Reed didn't dare to walk towards her. He could only stretch his neck and search the ground from afar with his eyes, not knowing what he was looking for.

In cold sweat, tears, and trembling, Mai Minghe loosened his clothes, but for a moment, he didn't dare look at his fingers beneath them. They had become a source of endless pain, and he couldn't even feel their shape.

"Oh, that's all right, that's all right," Sea Reed said with a sudden sigh of relief. "There's only blood and fingernails on the floor... I was so scared! I was afraid I'd see half a finger broken off."

...Isn’t it broken?

It was not until this time that Mai Minghe finally mustered up some courage and secretly glanced at his fingertips.

In the bloody mess, the entire nail was gone, leaving only the torn flesh. The nerves must have been damaged, but fortunately, the damage only stopped there; her index finger was still intact.

"What on earth suddenly exploded?" Hai Luwei asked while searching for the first aid kit in his backpack.

Oh, yes, the countdown appeared from the dirt between his fingernails, and he couldn't see it at all.

Mai Minghe endured the pain, took a deep breath, and explained, "It was the last bit of dirt..."

Sea Reed half opened his mouth, took a look at the soil scattered on the ground, and subconsciously took two steps to the side.

He placed the first aid kit on the floor and pushed it hard, and it slid to Mai Minghe's side.

"It must be that you spread out and thinned the soil that was about to turn into explosives, so the power was reduced... It was only a little bit to begin with, right?" He asked as he watched Mai Minghe start to treat the wound.

"Yes," she mumbled through her teeth, holding one end of the bandage in her mouth, "that's why I didn't see the countdown."

Having an explosion countdown on a device that's so small you almost need a magnifying glass to see it is simply cheating.

Her right hand was injured, and she only had her left hand to clean, disinfect, and bandage, which always felt awkward, and the final bandage wasn't quite right either - she could only bear it for now and wait until she left the nest to get treatment.

Fortunately, as people grow older, their tolerance for pain increases; she had endured the pain in the hospital before.

"By the way, where are the unexploded bombs?" Hai Luwei asked, "Are there any in the corridor next to you? There's still nothing in the room."

Reminded by this, Mai Minghe looked around - she even checked the pots of flowers, but still found no unexploded bombs.

After ten explosions, both he and Hai Luwei were covered in wounds and had difficulty moving, but not even a single unexploded bomb was found?

The sea reed seemed to have lost all its strength all of a sudden.

He sat on the bedroom floor, staring at Mai Minghe from afar, and gave a wry smile. "It seems those rules on the third floor of the apartment are just a joke! I've never encountered a nest trap that leaves no way out... I don't know what to do."

"Is there such a place?" Mai Minghe's heart tightened. "Rules don't apply. It's a place designed to tease people and kill them. Are there many of them in the nest? The information in my mind doesn't show any such traps."

"I really do not know."

Hai Luwei pondered for a moment and said, "At least I've never encountered it myself, and I don't think I've heard any hunter mention it either... Generally speaking, where the rules are clearly stated, then the rules should be true and effective."

"The rules we are facing now may be real, but that doesn't mean there is a way out." Mai Minghe said hesitantly.

After all, if we have to be picky about the words, there is a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to the statement "there is a certain probability of unexploded bombs": 90% is also a probability, and 0.000001% is also a probability.

"Technically, that's true, but in reality, the nest is similar to reality and is more in line with people's understanding based on common sense."

Sea Reed shook his head and said, "Usually when we say 'a certain chance,' we don't mean a statistically insignificant probability, right? We just say 'extremely small chance.' Also, have you ever thought about this: since people can't leave their personal belongings in the nest, what happens to lost hair? What about dandruff? What about the exhaled carbon dioxide?"

Mai Minghe was stunned. "I haven't really thought about this question..."

"Because, according to common sense, these aren't considered 'personal belongings,' right? Where else in the world would a broadcast remind you to take care of your personal belongings and specifically state, 'This doesn't include hair, dander, or carbon dioxide'?"

"Indeed. Now that you put it that way, I think I understand..." Mai Minghe said, "The boundaries of the nest rules are drawn by the common sense understanding of most people."

"That's right. Language is inherently a tool for communication that allows for ambiguity. There's no point in trying to find loopholes or dwell on trivial matters," Hai Luwei said happily, praising her, "You understand things so quickly."

"Since the rules seem to leave us a way out, why haven't we seen a single unexploded bomb yet?" Mai Minghe glanced at him and asked, "What should we do next?" Hai Luwei coughed. "...I don't know either. I'm explaining this to you. As for what to do, the guide needs to think about it carefully."

When the two of them talked about this, they fell silent.

They were shouting and talking quite loudly just now, but when the sound left Room 303, it was not replaced by silence, because there was still a buzzing sound in their ears.

Mai Minghe couldn't even hear the soft sigh he let out.

"The rules are so unfair," she said, feeling the throbbing nerves in her fingers and looking at the blood stains on the gauze. "...How can it be a random explosion? It's just constantly exploding right next to people."

This is also the reason why she did not get up and leave: if explosions happen close to people no matter where she goes, it would be better to sit in one place and wait, at least she can save energy.

Sea Reed also sighed.

"Yes, sometimes the rules we see on the surface aren't necessarily the whole story... We have to analyze the specifics of what's hidden under the covers based on the circumstances. Isn't that how the human world works? Where there are rules, there are unspoken rules; where there are written regulations, there are unwritten constraints. Sometimes, the subtle and unpleasant aspects of the human world are magnified many times over in the lair."

Mai Minghe glanced at him.

This child is so young, but she seems to have accumulated a lot of fatigue and bitterness; the current generation seems more complicated and difficult to understand, and more confusing than when she was young.

It seems that the rule "any object may explode randomly" is missing a qualifier now - "around people" + "any object may explode randomly" is a truly complete rule, right?
Eh, that doesn't seem right. After all, one explosion did happen in an uninhabited area...

Mai Minghe couldn't think of it, probably because his mind had been pierced by the pain.

"Stand up," Mai Minghe, soaked in fatigue and pain, could only think of this at the moment. "If you stand up, it will be easier to run or hide."

The sea reed also suffered a lot; when it got up, its hands and feet were slow and soft.

"Let's find an open space. Otherwise, you'll be stuck in the bedroom. There's not much space, and you might not be able to hide from the next explosion."

When Mai Minghe said this, he was about to walk towards Room 305, but suddenly stopped and looked back.

An empty place...

Speaking of which, ever since they read the rules, they seemed to have been subconsciously avoiding places with things and trying to walk in open areas.

Come to think of it, this is only natural.

In the living room connected to Room 303 and Room 301, there are two sets of furniture with different styles and overlapping functions - since they are originally two families, there are naturally two sets of things - but both of them happen to place large items such as sofas, coffee tables, TVs, and bookcases on the right side of the wall, opposite the entrance door.

In this way, people can walk on the empty half of the ground after entering the house.

Looking back now, it seems like a path was just cleared.

"What are you looking at?"

Hai Luwei's voice startled Mai Minghe back to his senses. "You have to leave the door first, then I can go out."

"Oh, yes," Mai Minghe responded and looked away.

She realized that she had been choosing to walk in open places, and she couldn't figure out what this meant.

"Wait a minute, I'll go back and take a look. Keep your distance and go to 305 and wait for me."

After Mai Minghe finished speaking, she turned around and walked into the living room connected to 301 and 303 - she was very careful to stand on the "empty road" and did not get close to the furniture.

If a large piece of furniture like a sofa explodes at close range, the damage will not be avoided by rolling or diving... the entire apartment will be swallowed up.

But if the explosion occurs close to a person, it means that she can also "choose" what to explode, thereby minimizing the possibility of furniture like sofas exploding - just don't get close to large furniture.

Thinking about it this way, the rules of the nest may seem unfair, but they also contain a check and balance mechanism...

The word "checks and balances mechanism" turned around in my mind several times, like a fisherman who caught nothing and disappeared empty-handed.

Mai Minghe squatted down and touched the floor of the living room of Room 303 gently, and felt a hand full of dust.

Then I looked at the "empty road" I walked on and the bedroom floor, and there was not so much dust, as if the residents cleaned it regularly.

What does this mean?

"what happened?"

While she was thinking, Hai Luwei had already walked into 305 and called out from afar, "What are you looking at?"

"Coming, coming," Mai Minghe turned around and walked towards him.

The next moment, a red "3" lit up from the bouquet of flowers in a still life painting hanging on the wall next to him.

"Jump to the left!" Mai Minghe shouted - almost at the same time, a little red suddenly appeared in the light above her head.

　I didn’t sleep well yesterday and I’m so sleepy today. Actually, when I think about it carefully, I have accumulated a lot of text debt... I am very sad, but also very happy.

　　There are actually people who want to see the garbled code created by this pair of donkey hooves, and they even owe them money. This shows that grinding must be accompanied by fraud. Others are killing pigs, but I am grinding the millstone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)