Artifact Report

Chapter 53 Mai Minghe: Riding a Tiger and Difficult to Dismount

Now you know where she is?
Caller ID is so advanced now, can you even see the address?

Mai Minghe's heart was beating like a drum, and she couldn't help but panic for a moment: what if the Morgan family found her, then the only thing between the "snake belt" illusion and the Morgan hunters would be the thin piece of clothing on her body.

Once they realized they were the last people to have dealt with Jonah...

No, I have to run.

Unless her luck was so bad that the Morgans lived above this Chinese restaurant, it would definitely take a while for them to come over. Yes, she had to leave quickly before they arrived.

Mai Minghe quickly hung up the phone, took a piece of change, and was about to walk out - but unexpectedly, he didn't take this step.

Because someone grabbed the back of his neck.

"Where are you going?"

Before she could react, she heard the restaurant owner behind her yelling, "The fried noodles you ordered are already in the pot, and you didn't pay for it. Now you want to leave? I've been keeping an eye on you for a long time. Thank goodness I was careful!"

I forgot about it - I was too busy thinking about the artifacts and the hunter's brain to think about the fried noodles.

Mai Minghe was anxious, angry, and a little amused at the same time. He even coughed twice because his collar was stuck. He quickly said, "Let go. I'll give you the money, okay?"

The boss had half of his body leaning out of the cash register, like a bald owl staring at a mouse, and did not completely trust Mai Minghe.

"Sixteen dollars and fifty cents," he said sternly. "Card or cash?"

"So expensive? It's just fried noodles, isn't it?" She was shocked. She glanced at the menu and regretted it. "Are prices so high now?"

"Do you have any money?"

Mai Minghe's scalp was tingling: before the Morgan family arrived, she had such precious time to escape, but she had to scrape together the money to buy fried noodles.

After finally scraping together the money, the boss took it and complained, "Sixteen dollars and fifty cents, and it took you so long to scrape together? Oh, forget it, do you want to take it away or eat here?"

People have said that they know her address and she might be there soon. What else can she eat?

Mai Minghe just opened his mouth, but paused.

She looked at the boss's bald head, thought for a moment, and then changed her words: "...I'll pack it up."

The boss didn't want a homeless person to eat in the restaurant. Perhaps this was the first sentence she said that resonated with him, so he turned around and went to the kitchen.

Mai Minghe stood at the cash register, lost in thought. She was the only one in the empty, slow-moving restaurant, the blaring TV news in the corner, and the dim, greasy smell of stale food.

...Why do the Morgan family members say "I know your address" before hanging up the phone?

Now think about it, human lives are at stake. The Morgan family would not listen to a few words from an unknown person on the phone and then hang up and go to the lair to rescue people. They would definitely verify the source of the information first...

If they suspected she had something to do with Jonah's distress and were coming to arrest her, they certainly wouldn't have warned her first - that would have been tantamount to telling her to run.

If she were a member of the Morgan family, would she immediately suspect that the person on the other end of the phone was related to Jonah's distress?
It may or may not be related.

"I know your address" itself is actually a neutral statement.

The other party didn't say what he was going to do to her, but only hinted that he was going to come find her.

If Mai Minghe was guilty and ran away when he heard this, it would undoubtedly send a clear signal to the Morgan family: I have a problem, come and catch me.

In her current state, she would definitely not be able to outrun the powerful hunters sent by her family.

But what if she was really just a homeless person who took money and passed messages on for others? Would she take this statement to heart?

The other party was testing her, but Mai Minghe had no choice but to take the challenge - even if it meant revealing herself to the Morgan family.

It was only when she was old that she realized that life was very strange. Things that could be obtained without any risk were often not worth having. Now it seems that preserving the "snake belt" illusion also requires taking risks.

Thanks to the restaurant owner, if he hadn't delayed me, I wouldn't have had the chance to think of this and he would have run away long ago.

What's more, if he hadn't stopped me, I wouldn't know how long I would have been hungry, right?
Mai Minghe sat on the ground in the corner outside the Chinese restaurant, stuffing fried noodles into his mouth, thinking with almost satisfaction.

Her appetite had been bad for many years. She could not chew or swallow, and food had no taste. But at this moment, when the storm was about to come, the hot and fragrant fried noodles in her hand seemed to really draw her into this second youth.

No matter what happens next, she has something to eat now, which makes her happier than anything else.

She is just like that. No matter what happens, she can always find something good in it.

When a sleek, beautiful gray car pulled up in front of the Chinese restaurant, Mai Minghe was picking bean sprouts for the noodles.

She hated bean sprouts the most. She was so hungry just now that she stuffed them into her mouth without caring about anything. Now that she had food in her stomach, the bean sprouts seemed even more hateful, as if they were taking advantage of her hunger.

Mai Minghe looked up at the car, calmed his heartbeat, tried his best to remain calm, and lowered his head to continue choosing.

A man and a woman got out of the car and approached the door when the owner of the Chinese restaurant poked his head out. He pointed at Mai Minghe standing by the wall, said "That's her," and then retreated back behind the door.

Mai Minghe was not surprised at all.

Just now, when she was eating fried noodles, she heard the phone ringing in the restaurant.

"Did you call?" the man asked, his eyes indeed falling on the dirty feet she had deliberately stretched out, and his eyebrows jumped. "Yes," Mai Minghe wiped his mouth with his hand, but it was not as clean as before. "Which one of you is Morgan?"

No one answered the question—but the woman took out her cell phone first, called someone, and said, "We found her. You stay where you are for the time being."

As soon as she spoke, Mai Minghe recognized her. It was her who answered the phone just now.

In other words… besides the two of them, there were other people around here, right? The Morgan family was probably watching the surrounding streets. If he had run just now, he definitely wouldn't have gotten far.

The woman hung up the phone and asked Mai Minghe, "What kind of person is the one who asked you to deliver the message?"

My guess was right, it seems they didn't suspect anything.

"Oh,"

Mai Minghe lowered his head and scratched it vigorously, as if he had fleas. The man took a half step back. "He speaks in a strange, nonsensical way... I can't tell how old he is, maybe 20 or 30, 30 or 40, but under 50. He's wearing a hat and glasses, and a scarf that covers the lower half of his face so tightly that I can't tell what he looks like."

The two looked at each other.

"How tall?"

"I was sitting on the ground, so I couldn't see."

"…What race?"

"It's either a light-skinned minority or a white person with a tan."

"What about the accent?"

"Wow, it's really good," Mai Minghe praised. "It can be broadcast on the radio."

The woman's jaw tightened.

"What else did she say?"

"That's weird. See if you can understand." Mai Minghe cleared his throat, placed his takeout lunch box on the sidewalk, and said, "'Jonah looks normal on the outside, but a resident has already entered his body.'"

The two of them couldn't help but change their expressions slightly.

Okay, it seems they understand... This way, when they enter the nest to rescue people, they will know what to watch out for.

Mai Minghe felt a little relieved.

Judging from the situation, the Morgan family seems to be a very remarkable family.

Although she didn't know what the specific concept of family faction was, there were so many new words that she didn't understand, so this one wouldn't make any difference - since it was so amazing, it should be able to save the person, right?

"What are you laughing at?" the man asked suddenly.

Mai Minghe was stunned for a moment, then realized that he might have smiled a little.

It feels so good to be able to help others. How can I not smile?
Speaking of which, it seems that only the people who receive help should be happy, but in fact, when I help others, I also have a kind of bloating and numb feeling of pleasure - someone explained it before, and it seems to be related to human evolution or something - unfortunately, I can't tell the truth.

"She gave me money, so I could eat," Mai Minghe replied, holding up a bowl of fried noodles. "That's not something that happens often."

"You watch her," the woman said to her companion, "I'll call Fu Tailan."

She stepped aside, waiting for the person on the other end of the phone to answer. After a few seconds, she whispered, "Too Blue? We've found the caller. It's a homeless man who's been paid."

Mai Minghe listened to his own nonsense, which was then repeated solemnly from her mouth.

But every word she said about Jonah was true; as the woman's expression became more and more serious, Mai Minghe's heart became more and more anxious.

When she came back after hanging up the phone, even her companion seemed a little nervous and looked at her without saying a word.

"This is a serious matter. He might have to lead his men into the lair himself," the woman said to her companion, pointing her chin at the Mai Ming River. "But before he goes, Fu Tailan must see her first."

She then squatted down and smiled at Mai Minghe as if she were talking to a child. "Our supervisor wants to ask you something. Come with us, we won't treat you unfairly. You can ask for anything you want."

This time, it was Mai Minghe's turn to be dumbfounded.

As a homeless person, this was a rare opportunity and there was no reason to refuse; but how could she dare to go back to Morgan's house with the two of them?

"Well - I -" She couldn't think of a reason, and finally uttered: "It's not that I don't want to, I have fleas on my body -"

"Don't be afraid," the woman said with a displeased expression, but she was very determined: "Come to our house—go to our company and take a shower."

The man took a step forward, looking extremely reluctant, and still stood close to Mai Minghe.

He leaned down and said, "Would you like to get in the car by yourself, or should I help you?"

　You see, this is proof that I don't have any drafts saved and write every day. I've only been talking about fleas for two days, and now fleas appear, and they have a pretty big role...

　　How about this, grandmas who gave me tips, you can choose between adding more chapters or making an appearance. Adding more chapters is a bit long, but making an appearance will definitely give me enough flea treatment...

　　PS: I wrote very quickly today, but I have a feeling that I will have a writer's block tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)