Artifact Report

Chapter 240 Mai Minghe: A Letter of Reassurance

Except for a piece that had been torn off, the yellow warning poster was so new that it was completely out of place with its surroundings.

It was attached to a distribution box on the side of the road, far below the level of human sight. If one did not look carefully, one's eyes would easily slip over the distribution box - perhaps it was because of this that one did not notice it when one came here?

Mai Minghe's mind was a tangled mess of thoughts, all filled with questions:

Isn't it a violation to hide the rules in an inconspicuous place? The nest information in her mind clearly stated that the rules should be as clear as possible to give humans a fair playing field?
Now that she's broken the rules, what's going to happen?

"What did you say?" Aimeili's voice sounded again from behind. "Are you talking to me?"

Mai Minghe was startled - she sounded much closer to him, as if she was walking towards him.

But why? If she walked towards Mai Minghe, wouldn't that mean that Ai Meili would also have to turn around and face the door of the "Tourist Information Center" first?

When she turned around, she found that it was indeed the case: Aimeili had already walked towards this side with her back to the gate of the "Tourist Information Center"; she crossed the narrow road and was only a few steps away from the Maimin River.

Watching her getting closer and closer, Mai Minghe was confused.

Is he planning to kill someone first and then commit suicide? It doesn't look like that.

Aimee's face was calm, her bones were strong and undulating, and when she had no expression, she looked almost like a rock sculpture.

The moment her eyes fell on the poster, her only reaction was a slight lift of her eyelashes, and her face remained motionless. She stared at the poster for a long moment, then nodded.

...Is this also the first time she has seen this poster?
Mai Minghe came up with a guess that seemed a little unreasonable.

"I see... I wasn't lying. There was indeed a resident behind you just now, but when you turned around, he disappeared." Aimeili said, "This rule poster is the first time I've seen it too. Even though our backs are facing the gate, don't worry. I roughly know what's going on."

Mai Minghe looked at her blankly: "What's going on?"

Ai Meili pointed towards the tourist information center on the other side of the road.

"I think the one behind us isn't a real 'tourist information center'. It's just one of the unclassifiable non-living things in the nest disguised as a 'tourist information center'. So when we turned our backs on it, it seemed like we broke the rules, but nothing happened..."

Ai Meili said, frowning: "It's quite dangerous."

As soon as the words "non-living things" were ticked, the corresponding nest information immediately emerged in Mai Minghe's mind.

In addition to the residents, traps, scripts, illusions and other things that can be barely classified and recognized by hunters, there are also a large number of chaotic dangers that are difficult to define - such as the densely packed signposts that followed the Mai Ming River all the way.

Among them, "living things" and "non-living things" are only roughly distinguished based on their appearance.

But whether it is a living thing or not, it may have thoughts and reactions; it will make changes and adjustments based on the hunter's actions, weaving a net that becomes tighter and tighter.

"How did you know?" Mai Minghe asked with a hint of fear. "The consequences of violating the rules don't necessarily happen immediately, do they?"

Across a narrow street, the "Tourist Information Center" looks very real. In the window next to the main door, there are stands advertising several theater companies and a few brochures; the opening hours for seven days a week are printed on the door.

However, at least one thing is certain: Aimeili did not intend to frame her just now, otherwise she would not have violated the rules herself.

This actually comforted Mai Minghe more than anything else.

"Indeed, I cannot rule out the possibility that we will be unlucky in the near future, but I think the probability is low."

Ai Meili continued calmly, "You might not know, but a few hundred meters down the street, the entire street is lined with 'Tourist Information Centers.' I came from the other end, and the street was packed, one after another."

Mai Minghe was stunned and suddenly remembered another thing.

"I came here because I saw a sign. It said the 'Tourist Information Center' was 700 meters away and warned me not to be fooled by fake centers. Now I'm only halfway there, and I've already seen one... So, it's definitely suspicious. At the very least, it's not the same information center as the sign indicated."

Aimeili nodded. "Just walk in that direction and you'll see. There are a lot of them on that street."

After a pause, she returned her gaze to the poster and said, "Fortunately, the rule wasn't broken in a regulated area. But even so, it's still unfair. The rules are posted in such an inconspicuous place, far away from the 'Tourist Information Center' itself, which is a regulated area... What difference does it make whether the rules are stated or not?"

Even though she was dissatisfied, her tone remained calm. Perhaps without any special strengths, one couldn't be a hunter.

"Did you pick one and go in and take a look?"

Aimeili shook her head. "If there were only one or two, I'd definitely go in. But they're everywhere, and every door has 'Tourist Information Center' written on it, which makes it hard to make the decision to go in. There are so many choices, and I ended up not wanting to choose any of them. I decided to just walk down the street and see where it ended, and that's when I met you."

Mai Minghe could understand this feeling.

Fortunately, Ai Meili didn't go in, otherwise she might have violated the rules without knowing the rules - this is really unfair.

"This information center should be the last one. I came from the opposite direction and walked past it, but I didn't see any information center on the road." Mai Minghe said, pointing to the direction he came from.

"If that's the case, then there are a total of seventeen 'Tourist Information Centers'." Ai Meili said immediately.

...How many? "Did you count?"

"I counted them," Aimeili nodded. "Not only that, but each one has a small number on the door. The one closest to us is number 17, and it's the 17th tourist information center I've counted."

Mai Minghe almost wanted to sigh - why couldn't anything be completed smoothly?

She and Aimee had to find Anne's Warehouse within one hour and forty minutes, or their interview would be a failure. But with seventeen "tourist information centers," even if they only spent five minutes checking each one, that would still take up all the time. How could they even get to the meeting point?
Before she opened her mouth, Aimeili seemed to have guessed what she was about to say.

"I've considered abandoning this area entirely and trying other methods to find Anne's warehouse..." she said, crossing her arms. "But I've been searching the area for an hour since landing, looking through countless red brick buildings, and still haven't found Anne's warehouse. So I wonder if the Kai family had anticipated this situation?"

Mai Minghe thought about it.

"You're saying that 'finding Anne's warehouse' is part of the Kai family's test for us, and that 'the tourist information center' is most likely the level that will test us?"

"Yes."

Ai Meili snapped her fingers, her expression remaining calm and emotionless. "The Kai family specifically chose the Old Port area for their location. They're clearly familiar with the challenges of this area, aware of the difficulties we'll encounter and eager to see how we'll address and overcome them. Otherwise, why would they deliberately avoid mentioning the location of 'Annie's Warehouse'?"

Mai Minghe was silent for a while.

"...find the real 'Tourist Information Center', find the location of Anne's Warehouse from the center, and then reunite with Kai's family, right?"

She sighed. "If that's the case...it's more than just a problem. Oh, this is going to be a bit awkward for both of us."

Aimeili tilted her head, looked at her, then looked at the poster, as if she understood what she meant.

"Rule number one clearly states: don't go with anyone you know."

Mai Minghe said in a gentle voice, feeling somewhat awkward. "How about we stay away from each other? Keeping enough distance should be considered as being very careful with acquaintances. It shouldn't be against the rules, right? As long as we can see each other, we can look out for each other."

"I don't need any care," Aimee said calmly. "I don't know how to care for others. In the nest, it's important to maintain your energy. Just take care of yourself. However, I agree with your suggestion. We can each walk on one side of the road, trying to keep it parallel, and don't talk unless necessary."

It is indeed not possible for one to walk in front and the other behind - otherwise the person walking behind will be "following someone they know."

Ai Meili was indeed an experienced hunter. Before leaving, she took out her cell phone and took a picture of the rules poster. Mai Minghe was reminded and quickly took a picture as well.

She always thought it was a novel thing that with just a click, a photo would appear clearly on the screen, so after taking the photo, she habitually looked at it several times.

When she put away her phone, Mai Minghe felt a strange, shapeless, foggy feeling in her heart.

...She couldn't tell what exactly happened.

"Let's go," Aimeili said, "We should be going to the same place."

There are no fools who can be hunters.

The first place to check is naturally the "Tourist Information Center" about 350 meters away from the Maimin River; this is the only place that appears on the road sign and deserves the first attention.

However, according to Ai Meili's description, there are probably several information centers crowded together 350 meters away. How to distinguish them specifically - forget it, let's talk about it when we get there. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, so what conclusion can I draw?
Mai Minghe thought as he walked past the Tourist Information Center No. 17.

Aimeili walked on the other side of the road, keeping the same pace as her.

Her faint shadow was reflected hazily on the window glass, briefly obscuring the performance advertisement.

Before turning the corner and stepping onto the road lined with tourist information centers, Mai Minghe subconsciously glanced into the window.

Three advertisements stood side by side in the window, staring back at her: a woman dressed in medieval European style, holding a wooden basin; a small figure surrounded by people, holding a piece of yellow paper high in her hand; and a huge eye that was faintly distorted behind a magnifying glass.

When Mai Minghe turned around, he found that he was two steps behind, so he quickly quickened his pace to catch up with Ai Meili.

The two of them kept walking parallel to each other and walked into the street behind the corner.

Mai Minghe raised his eyes.

At that moment, she felt as if someone had chewed up all the tourist information centers in the world, swallowed them carelessly, and then spit them all out together; the undigested vomit flowed down the street, forming a path of "tourist information centers."

Just a glance, and her mind almost became shattered and disordered along with the vomit-like tourist information centers on both sides of the street——

Tourist Information Center Tourist Information Center Tourist Information Center Tourist Information Center

Information Center Tourist Information Center Tourist Information Center

　I'm so stuck on this chapter, and another day is gone. I'm really looking forward to a couple of days off during the Chinese New Year...

　　I can't stop writing online articles for even a single day. I took a day off on Saturday and only posted a thank you chapter, which feels like a huge betrayal...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)