Artifact Report

Chapter 381 Mai Minghe: Black Rain, Raging Waves, and a Path
Mai Minghe never expected things to turn out this way, leaving him dumbfounded.

She finally steeled herself, trying to convince herself that "he's not human" while trying not to think about the "time artifact," and desperately pushed Evan into the sea—but that was twenty minutes ago.

Without uttering a sound, he fell into the sea, and an absurd nightmare began.

Twenty minutes later, Ivan remained like a marker buoy, rising and falling amidst the dark rain and murky waves, a haunting presence that seemed to haunt him from near and far.

Each time a wave crashed over him, briefly erasing him from the sea, the three of them thought it was finally over—but after only a few seconds, his pale, waterlogged face would reappear from the undercurrent like a fake, clumsy moon, staring straight at the small boat.

After repeating this several times, the group began to feel uneasy, and every now and then they would turn to look at the surrounding Black Sea, as if worried that more faces would drift in from afar.

The bullets were quickly used up, but it seemed like none of them hit him.

Why wasn't he swept away?

Sea Reed had asked this question countless times, but no one could answer him. "With such big waves, he's been right next to the boat the whole time!"

“We all have eyes,” Amy said irritably, gripping the handrail tightly.

“When he drifts closer next time, hit him even harder,” Sea Reed suggested.

Amélie didn't argue with him—as the boat rocked, she irritably braced her foot against the juggling baseball bat and said, "You don't understand, you can't get any power in it."

The wind and waves kept pushing and rocking the small boat. Even just standing still required all the muscles in the body to exert force and constantly resist the planks underfoot that seemed to want to overturn people, just to barely maintain balance.

Moreover, the ship is some distance from the sea surface, and Evan's skull will "bounce back" – it's like playing with a water rat on the waves. No matter how many times Amy swings the bat, Evan will always pop up again.

"The waves are getting bigger and bigger. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid we'll all suffer."

Even inside her raincoat, Hai Luwei's lips were blue from the cold, and her tongue was stiff: "He's all alone in the sea, he'll sink sooner or later, won't he? Maybe we should just leave him alone and go back first."

“No,” Mai Minghe said instinctively.

It's entirely possible that Evan will never sink—what if he's rescued by someone unaware of the situation? What would happen to the person who rescued him?
Thinking of this, Ma Minghe naturally thought of Dr. Nate.

To this day, she still doesn't know what it was about Dr. Nate that made her feel something was wrong. She just knew that her rash decision to take Evan to him for emergency treatment had probably had a significant impact on him. She needed to go back and check on him when she had some free time—but that was a matter for later; she had to get through this hurdle first.

"No normal human being could withstand such a storm,"

Amy murmured, her voice fragmented by the torrential rain and waves. She was soaked to the bone, and compared to Evan, who stood upright in the waves staring at them, she looked more like the one who had fallen into the sea.

“He’s definitely a resident! Forget about sinking, I’m afraid he’ll follow us from behind if we turn around.”

He followed her back to the shore at a distance that was neither too close nor too far... This scene, like the face that Evan couldn't suppress, floated up in Mai Minghe's mind.

“It’s a pity there’s nothing heavy on the boat,” said Sea Reed. “Otherwise, we could grab him and stuff some stones on him or something—that would be better than this.”

Ivan's hands were still cuffed behind his back, and his feet had been tied before he was pushed off the boat. How did he manage to stay by the side of the boat and not be swept away by the waves?

“He’s drifting over again,” Amy said coldly, bending down to grab her baseball bat.

Sure enough, the face in the waves seemed to be being led by someone; no matter how the dark waves crashed against him and submerged him, he continued to rise and fall, slowly approaching the side of the boat.

“Wait until he drifts to the side of the boat before you make your move,” Mak Ming-ho said, wiping the water from his eyes and mouth haphazardly. “We have no other choice but to try again.”

Amy glanced at her, leaned over the side of the boat, ready to strike with her baton, and whispered, "...You need to be prepared. If he's a resident, you can't just drive him away by fighting. We'll probably be stuck with him for a long time."

How could Mak Ming Ho not know this?
They couldn't let him go back to Blackmore City, nor could they let him sink into the sea; it seemed he couldn't be saved either, that he couldn't be restored to human form.

Even if I escape first, I'll never know when Ivan will ambush me from the shadows.

"They're here!" Sea Reed called out, and the white beam of its flashlight fell on the side of the boat.

The light illuminated countless silvery raindrops, along with that expressionless face.

Mai Minghe watched as a shallow groove, perfectly sized and deep, appeared on Evan's forehead before the bat swung down—had this guy been getting hit by bats too many times?

It can fit perfectly—

At that moment, deep beneath the ship, it seemed as if some enormous, resentful beast suddenly rammed its head against the hull.

Mak Ming Ho's heart, soul, and feet left the boat and were thrown into the rain; after a moment of weightlessness, she fell hard back onto the deck, her vision blurred with pain.

But before she could see the world clearly again, she realized something was wrong.

"Aimeili!"

She tried to get up again, but because everything was slippery, she tumbled and fell several times. "Aimee! Where are you?"

There are no more Aimeili on the ship.

Sea reeds, half-crawling and half-swooping, suddenly crashed into the side of the boat not far behind her.

The flashlight beam was rapidly disappearing beneath the surging black waves, as if swallowed deep into the belly of a giant beast—as the white light vanished, the scene of Amy desperately stretching out her arms and shouting was also completely locked away in the depths of darkness.

"Don't go down!" Mai Minghe grabbed Hai Luwei and shouted, "If you go down, you're finished too!"

"In this weather, if we don't rescue her quickly—"

"Isn't there a rope on the boat?" Mai Minghe, like a water ghost, felt as if someone had pressed burning coals into his throat and chest. "I'll go tie on the lifebuoy, you go and steer the boat!"

Sea reeds seemed to suddenly remember that there were searchlights on the boat, and responded with a tearful voice before slipping and falling to the ground.

"Aimee!" Mak Ming-ho, clutching the lifebuoy, shouted into the wind, rain, and waves, "Where are you? Just call out!"

She didn't hear Amy's voice, but she heard someone chuckle softly in the rain. The sound was clear, cutting through the rain and the sound of the waves, and piercing her ears.

“Karma,” Ivan said.

Mai Minghe slowly lowered his head.

Ivan remained afloat beside the boat, looking up at her with a smile, but slowly backing away.

"Who told her to try to murder me? I'm going to find her right now... When I find her, she'll have to apologize to me properly... She'll be so ashamed and guilty, she'll be too ashamed to face anyone, her face will be contorted and sucked into her own nostrils, ears, mouth, and eyes..."

"Wait! Weren't you coming for me? Come at me then!"

Mai Minghe roared a few times, but failed to elicit the slightest reaction from Ivan—who had been like a persistent thorn in his side just moments before, now rose and fell a few times before quickly disappearing into the waves.

Seaweed had taken to the driver's seat; the engine roared, and the bow lights pierced the torrential rain that was as dark as night.

"Quickly, keep up with him!" Mak Ming-ho shouted immediately. "We can't let him find Amy first!"

A person falling into the water is already at a very low risk of death; if Ivan catches them first—

She didn't dare to think about it anymore.

Was it her fault? She shouldn't have taken her two children out to sea today, shouldn't she?

The boat started moving; on the violently rocking waves, she clung tightly to the lifebuoy, squinting as she scanned the sea surface again and again, calling out Emery's name with all her might.

She was afraid that Evan would find Amelie, and she was also afraid that even Evan wouldn't be able to find Amelie. She didn't even dare to think about the possibility that Amelie would sink to the bottom of this sea forever.

Can that child swim? Can she hold on?

Mai Minghe was extremely anxious. After a few seconds, Hai Luwei shouted through the engine noise, the sound of waves, and the torrential rain, "What happens after we find it? What do we do after we find it?"

"You go first—"

Hai Luwei turned the boat around, pointing forward with her arm and the boat's lamp, and said, "I...I found it..."

The ship's bow lights rose and fell, illuminating Ivan once again from the pitch-black sea.

He was facing away from the two people on the boat; amidst the crashing waves, it was vaguely discernible that he seemed to be embracing someone from behind.

The soaking wet ponytail draped over Evan's shoulder, and Mai Minghe recognized its owner at a glance.

"Aimee!" she cried, her voice almost cracking. "Aimee, grab the lifebuoy, I'll pull you up!"

The lifebuoy splashed on the water, creating a white wave; however, Amy seemed to have fainted and remained motionless.

Evan's hands slipped under Amy's armpits, then rose again, pressing down on either side of her head; no matter how much Maiming River roared, pleaded, or squinted to look... he still didn't know what he was doing to Amy.

He had been holding onto Aimee for several seconds, and he couldn't delay any longer, but what should he do? Should he jump down again?

"What should we do?" Hai Luwei was at a loss, her voice trembling with tears. "Why now of all times, is he not drifting towards the boat?"

If they drift towards the side of the boat, perhaps they can still—

and many more.

Mai Minghe suddenly stopped shouting and froze.

Why did Evan keep drifting towards the side of the boat?
They had discussed this issue at length, but no one had a solution; they could only consider it a matter of the residents' capabilities.

She rescued Ivan by jumping into the sea from the same boat...

Now, Ivan remains neither too close nor too far, drifting around the ship, untouched even by the wind and waves...

Mai Minghe suddenly remembered that day at the Kai family mansion. When Chai Si's adoptive father called him, he told him everything that had happened to him from childhood to adulthood.

The reason he was able to defeat the resident who killed Chai Si's mother and rescue Chai Si was because—because—

Kaironan cut the "dog leash".

...thus cutting off the residents' access to the human world.

Once cut, it falls back into its nest.

So to say--

It was the first time that Mai Minghe realized that when people are anxious, their physical actions can be faster than their thoughts.

By the time she came to her senses, the cries of the sea reeds were already left behind in mid-air.

The next instant, she fell into the water, the waves shooting skyward and drowning out all human sounds.

Fearing he would be swept away by the waves, Mak Ming Ho desperately rushed to the stern, grabbed the stopped stern engine, and groped around in the darkness, his fingers hitting each other repeatedly as they were washed by the water.

She found it.

The leather belt hanging on the boat remained firmly stuck in place even after several days.

Is it a pathway?
Mai Minghe gritted his teeth, gripped it tightly, and pulled it outwards with all his might.

(End of this chapter)