Artifact Report

Chapter 52: Mai Minghe: Can’t be discovered by the Morgan family…

The following changes were like a tornado, so fast that no one could prepare.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten police cars arrived with sirens blaring and surrounded the scene of the collision. A crowd of onlookers emerged from nowhere like mushrooms after a rain, standing far away on the nearby streets - even on the buildings next door, many windows were opened, and blurry faces of people were leaning out.

Does efficiency have to be so high?

How about giving her two minutes to ask the purple-haired woman about the family's situation?
In her eighty-plus years of life, this was the first time Mai Minghe complained that the police arrived too quickly. Seeing that the purple-haired woman had been surrounded by the police, she couldn't ask questions, but was reluctant to leave. Unexpectedly, after a few words with the purple-haired woman, the policemen put away their guns.

"The ambulance is almost here," a policeman asked. "Can you stand up?"

Mai Minghe was caught in the crowd and heard a lot of words at this moment, such as "he rushed over with a car", "he kidnapped a woman", "the suspect has not been caught"...

How could he be kidnapped?

The purple-haired woman seemed to be related to the Phantom Hunters, and hunters should be quite powerful; and judging from her tone at the time, she seemed to know the man driving the car.

Mai Minghe couldn't understand it and tried to talk to others several times to ask what was going on. Unfortunately, when others saw her, they pretended not to see her and avoided her as if nothing had happened.

Don't blame others, she does look a bit miserable now.

Her bare feet were so dirty that you couldn't tell their original skin color. It was early in the morning, and she was still wearing pajamas.

Because he had been bedridden for many years, his hair had never been properly trimmed, and after it grew back thicker, it became even more disheveled; when he touched it with his hand, he could even find a layer of dried vomit stuck on his face.

Mai Minghe found a friendly-looking woman, and no matter how she tried to retreat, she kept moving closer to her - in the end, she stuffed two dollars of cash into her pocket and hurried away.

…Okay, I found a side job.

Being avoided by everyone has its advantages: Mai Minghe took advantage of the fact that no one was willing to approach the homeless man, and with two bags of cash in hand, he walked smoothly to the front of the crowd and saw the whole process of the police taking the purple-haired woman away.

"Yes, yes, he forced me into the car at gunpoint... Where did we get in? Um, I can't remember. My head hurts..."

The purple-haired woman staggered unsteadily as she was carried by a policeman towards the ambulance that had just arrived.

Her hands were bound with cable ties and hung in front of her. She slurred her words: "He tied me up, but then made me read the map for him... Oh, no, he didn't hurt me. But I feel dizzy and a little sick..."

Mai Minghe looked at her and felt that since the police arrived, the purple-haired woman's body had suddenly become much weaker and her mind had suddenly become much more confused - she could clearly curse in a clear voice just now.

Could this also have something to do with the nest or the artifact?

Forget it, no matter what she and her companions planned to do, one thing was clear: if they wanted to find out about the Morgan family faction, the best way was to ask the hunters.

But the only person related to the hunter in front of Mai Minghe was being helped away and put into an ambulance, and the ambulance door closed with a "bang".

Watching the Mercedes being towed away and the ambulance driving away in a mighty procession accompanied by a team of police cars, Mai Minghe looked down at his feet and sighed.

She was tired, hungry, and her whole body ached; her feet seemed to have been cut.

"I'm sorry to trouble you two," she said to the hard-earned pair of young bare feet, "now that we have no shoes, we have to walk a little longer."

She had encountered countless uncomfortable, painful, and unpleasant situations in her life; Mai Minghe had already developed a way to digest and adapt to them - for example, she had just named her feet in her mind, one was called Xiaozuo and the other was called Xiaoyou.

To add a little fun, she decided that Xiaozuo was the right foot and Xiaoyou was the left foot.

Mai Minghe now has company; Xiao Zuo and Xiao You lead her and walk towards the nearest hospital.

When passing by the shelter, Xiao Zuo wanted to turn in to eat a meal and get some shoes. But Xiao You was very considerate and explained the situation to him:
The purple-haired woman looked like she had a concussion at most, and was probably faking it.

She didn't need to go to a large hospital with comprehensive facilities, so the ambulance would take her to the nearest emergency room at Clayton Hospital. Generally speaking, the police would also go to take an immediate statement; so for the next hour, the purple-haired woman would stay at Clayton Hospital.

In addition, she did not seem to be a suspect and did not seem to be detained, so as long as Mai Minghe went to Clayton Hospital and waited at the door for a while, she should be able to wait for the purple-haired woman to be discharged from the hospital.

But if Mai Minghe went to the rescue station to eat now and was delayed, she would not know how to find another hunter in the vast Black Moore City.

Compared to a meal or a pair of shoes, a human life is more important, right?

Xiao Zuo was persuaded, and together with Xiao You, they dragged the exhausted Mai Minghe to Clayton Hospital little by little.

The moment she saw the hospital gate, Mai Minghe collapsed heavily to the side of the road like a collapsed building - she had been walking for at least four or five hours since escaping from her apartment building. In addition, she had not had a drop of water since last night and her stomach was empty. Even a young person could not bear it.

"Thank you," she said to Xiao Zuo and Xiao You, "You two should take a break. We will just have to wait."

Mai Minghe is very patient.

She recalled a time not long ago when she had been lying in bed. At that time, Mai Minghe no longer had much interest in the news, feeling that it was something that had nothing to do with her and was about to be left behind in another world.

She preferred to watch a lively reality show featuring a family of more than a dozen people - she lay on the bed, motionlessly watching the sunlight move outside the window, waiting for the reality show to begin amid the sound of the news, her consciousness sometimes clear and sometimes blurred.

Life is like a pearl necklace, strung together on the long thread of waiting, moments that could easily slip away.

Mai Minghe was so tired that he didn't even see the purple-haired woman coming out of the gate.

Only when she saw the other person, holding her phone and standing by the road waiting for a bus, did she jump up and quickly call out to the purple-haired woman, "Hey, hello."

The purple-haired woman turned her head, revealing a friendly but tired face.

Yes, anyone who experienced that morning with her would be exhausted.

"Hmm? Oh, wait a minute," the purple-haired woman felt in her pocket, "I think I have some change..."

"I'm not asking for money," Mai Minghe declared.

The purple-haired woman paused and looked at her.

From her appearance, you really can't tell that she is a hunter, except that her muscles are tight and her clothes are convenient for movement.

Mai Minghe was a little unsure at this critical moment, but he had no other choice but to bite the bullet and go straight to the point: "Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Morgan's house?"

"You want to ask for directions? Morgan—"

The purple-haired woman glanced aside, then suddenly realized what was happening. She immediately fixed her gaze on Mai Minghe again and asked slowly, "...You mean, the Morgan family?"

The Phantom Hunters can't just kill everyone who knows about their situation, right?

Mai Minghe was really shocked by his own thought.

If they find out, it will be dangerous, so of course there is only one most reasonable way.

"Yes, I'm a hunter too. But I've always been on my own, never joined a clan, and know nothing," Mai Minghe said, hoping there were hunters in the world who didn't join a clan. "I want to join the Morgan clan now... Do you know how to find them?"

As soon as the word "nest" came out, the purple-haired woman's expression changed slightly; it was as if the word "nest" was a key that opened her appearance as an ordinary citizen, revealing another layer underneath that was tougher and more distant from the world.

"How... did you end up like this?" She looked Mai Minghe up and down, "I've never seen a hunter in such a miserable state. Also, how do you know I'm in the same situation?" "I was next to you when you had the car accident," Mai Minghe felt a little embarrassed and wiped her hair vigorously twice.

"Oh, you saw Chai Si. He is indeed quite conspicuous." The purple-haired woman nodded, as if she had received an explanation that satisfied her.

If "Chai Si" was the tall figure, then Mai Minghe would at most only see a "this" - although she was quite proud of the joke she came up with, she still held back and didn't say it.

"You can't just join the family sect. You have to pass the assessment standards..."

The purple-haired woman spoke, taking another look at her miserable state, seemingly feeling sympathy for Mai Minghe. "Well, but when you're desperate, giving it a try isn't a bad idea... At least I should be able to provide you with a meal."

"Then what should I do..."

"You're lucky. I was just recruited by the Kai family." The purple-haired woman laughed as if she was proud of something she had just mentioned. "Before joining the Kai family, I added the contact information of several of their HR representatives. One of them happened to be the Morgan family."

...HR?

Hunter family faction, and human resources department?

It's the Human Resources Department, right? It's not some new term for young people, is it?
Mai Minghe tried not to show any confusion on his face and watched the purple-haired woman take out her cell phone; the latter raised her head and also looked at Mai Minghe.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before the purple-haired woman finally spoke: "Why are you looking at me? Why don't you take notes on your phone?"

Mai Minghe rummaged through her pockets and pulled out two crumpled bills. "Do you have a pen?" she said awkwardly. "I only have this... I'll write on this..."

“You don’t have a cell phone?”

She only had a landline, a cell phone for the elderly, which she had stopped using years ago. But Mai Minghe felt that it was better not to say this.

"Lost...in the nest." She stammered.

The purple-haired woman's eyes when she looked at Mai Minghe had changed from sympathy to a farewell to the body.

"Ah," she wiped her nose, as if she had something to say but couldn't bring herself to. "Well... well, no wonder you wanted to join the family faction. You must remember from now on that personal belongings cannot be left in the nest. You must absolutely avoid that."

Looking at her expression, it seemed as if she was just about to say "if you have a future".

The purple-haired woman really has a kind heart.

"Now that I'm in the Kai family, it's inconvenient for me to contact HR from other companies. In the workplace, you have to avoid suspicion. So, find... find a public phone and call them. Say that Huangli Roslin sent you there."

She pulled a pen from her bag and wrote down the contact number on the bill. "Take this money. Once they give you the address, you can take a taxi there."

If Jonah could really be saved, at least half of it was due to the momentary kindness of Huangli Roslin.

Mai Minghe thanked her repeatedly until Huang Li got into the car, waved vigorously a few times, and watched her go - who said young people are cold and indifferent nowadays? Isn't this just a good kid?
But Mai Minghe didn't expect that even though she had barely managed to get the contact information of the Hunter family, the next target was even harder to find than the Morgan family: a public telephone booth.

Weren't there not enough people on the streets before?

But nowadays, you often walk for half a day without seeing a public telephone booth; when you finally find one, you go in and see no telephone, but there is a sign saying "WI-FI" - with an umbrella shape drawn with three arcs next to it.

What is this used for?

Mai Minghe walked around the street for at least thirty minutes before he finally accepted the fact: public telephone booths seemed to have been eliminated by the times.

She rested for a while, but she couldn't stand it anymore. With the mentality of trying her luck, she walked into a small Chinese restaurant that looked very old. Sure enough, she saw a familiar old-fashioned telephone behind the cash register.

"Can I borrow your phone?"

Mai Minghe was agitated. She knew she looked miserable and was afraid of being kicked out, so she quickly added, "I'll order another serving of fried noodles."

"Do you have money to pay for your fried noodles?" The boss looked at her suspiciously. "One knife, one minute."

Thanks to Huangli Roslin's money... I have to find a way to find that kid, return the money to him, and write a thank-you letter.

Mai Minghe put his ear to the microphone, listening to the call tone. He felt that the past day and night seemed to be a strange and dark drama, which seemed to be gradually coming to an end and was about to draw the curtain.

She touched the "snake belt" on her body through her clothes.

Mai Minghe had long since adapted to its existence. If he didn't touch it, he wouldn't even remember that this illusion was still wrapped around his body.

She certainly hadn't forgotten that the "Snake Belt" was the Morgan family's target.

So Mai Minghe had no intention of showing up at all; not letting the Morgan family see her was the safest way.

"Hello?" A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello," Mai Minghe glanced at the boss not far away, turned around, covered the microphone, and whispered, "Is this the Morgan family?"

"who are you?"

"Someone just gave me some money and asked me to call you and tell you a message."

The person on the other end of the line immediately became alert. "Who are you?"

Mai Minghe turned a deaf ear and continued, "She told me that she had just returned from a place called the Nest, where she saw someone from your family, a little boy named Jonah... a man named Jonah. She asked me to tell you—are you listening?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone; but somehow Mai Minghe always felt that the silence was tense, as if it covered up many movements and sounds, and it was unnatural.

"I'm listening," the woman's voice sounded, and the background sound became noisy; after a few words, the phone returned to silence.

If Mai Minghe was experienced in using mobile phones, she would know that the person on the other end had pressed the mute button.

But she lacked that experience.

"She asked me to tell you that Jonah is in St. Louis Hospital and needs emergency care."

Just saying this might not be enough. Maybe I should explain Jonah's situation a little more... Otherwise, what if I bring the bug back with me?
While Mai Minghe was thinking, the woman on the other end of the phone asked a few more questions, none of which were very important; she didn't notice anything unusual and answered them one by one.

The other party's next words made the hairs on her body stand up.

"I know your address," the woman said, and hung up the phone with a "click".

　Why are these two chapters so long? If I can keep this up, won't I have a chance of perfect attendance?
　　Thank you all for coming to support me when I launched my novel. I'm so touched by all the supporters! It's definitely more than 20 (I bet you've all kidnapped people on the street for me, haha)! Those who said the first orders would be over a thousand are overly optimistic, but that's okay. Data is essentially noise. The key is that I wrote the novel the way I wanted to write it.

　　As promised, as a token of gratitude, you’ll get a cat with fleas on it for free with your first order. Come on, everyone, line up and get the fleas one by one.

　　PS: A writer wrote a letter to a friend and added an apology at the end, saying, "I'm sorry, time is tight, I couldn't write you a text message, I can only write a long letter."

　　I actually feel the same way. If I have more time to update, I think I can reduce the word count a bit...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)