Artifact Report

Chapter 54 Mai Minghe: A Homeless Man's Correct Response

The play is already halfway through, and it's too late to pull back now.

There was no other way except to bite the bullet and pretend to be a "homeless person" to deceive everyone...

Mai Minghe recalled his words and actions just now and felt that he should not be able to be discovered.

Apart from anything else, her miserable and dirty appearance was not something she could fake in a short time; what's more, she had carefully considered what to say and what not to say, and she was aware that she had not revealed her true identity.

The Morgan family wouldn't be suspicious of a homeless person for no reason, right?
Apart from what they have been told, no matter what other questions are asked, they just answer that they don’t know. Can they read minds?
But there is one thing, you must never let them discover that there is a fake in themselves.

Mai Minghe is worried about this now.

When she sat in the back seat of the car, she was always afraid that the edges of her clothes would curl up or stick to her body, revealing the appearance of a "snake belt" artifact; so she had to adjust her sitting position and pull her clothes from time to time.

The more they moved around, the more uneasy the two people in front became.

"Are you itchy?" The woman glanced at Mai Minghe in the rearview mirror and moved her seat forward a little. "There's a shower room in our company. Go and wash yourself properly."

It sounded like Fu Tailan was a very important person, and neither of them was willing to give him a flea bag.

Showering was impossible, at most he could wash his feet, and even if he was covered in blood, he couldn't take off his clothes - but of course Mai Minghe didn't say that out loud.

"Why does the company have a shower room?" she asked casually.

The man driving the car muttered, "...you're quite nosy."

Mai Minghe had assumed they simply didn't want to call their house "family" and therefore called it a company. Having a shower in the house made sense, didn't it?

But she didn't expect that the place the car finally drove into was actually the underground parking lot of an office building - not only an office building, but also a modern office building with complete security and comprehensive facilities. The man and woman had to swipe their work badges before they could press the up elevator button.

As the elevator door opened, Mai Minghe was led into a bright and clean milky white reception room.

Several sofas were scattered on a circular rug. In one corner stood a potted plant, its large, lush green leaves reaching toward the ceiling. A screen on one wall played a promotional video. On the wall behind the reception desk, the company name—"Morgan & Morgan"—was written in simple, neat handwriting.

What surprised Mai Minghe the most was that below the company name, there was a line of small words printed: Financial Consulting and Real Estate Management.

what happened?

Isn't "Morgan" a Hunter family?

Your side job is begging, while other people’s side job is financial consulting?
A young girl sitting at the front desk, upon seeing several people getting off the elevator, immediately bent down, picked up a paper bag, and walked over to them: "Sister Long Zhen, I just bought some things, they are all here."

The woman known as "Sister Longzhen" gestured for Mai Minghe to take it without even looking at it, and then instructed, "Take her to wash first."

It was a brown bag with "ZARA" printed on it. Mai Minghe seemed to have seen this brand before, so he opened it out of curiosity and found a suit and a pair of shoes inside.

She had guessed it when he asked her about her shoe size just now, and now she couldn't help but sigh that the Morgan family was quite thoughtful - of course, no matter how thoughtful they were, they still couldn't give them the fake image.

"This brand is quite rare," she thanked him, touched the bag and said, "Is it expensive? Please don't spend money on me."

Several people looked at her, but no one spoke.

"Um, Sister Long Zhen..."

The girl at the front desk didn't move. Instead, she gestured to the man and woman, who followed her and walked two steps to the side. Then she whispered something, vaguely sounding like the name "Fu Tailan" was included.

Mai Minghe pretended to look at the clothes, but in fact his ears were standing higher than antennas.

"……what?"

Long Zhen's voice was also very low, and only a few words, pushed by emotion, were barely caught by Mai Minghe. "At this critical moment... who gave it to him..."

...Well, I didn’t hear a single word that contained any information.

The girl at the front desk whispered something and Long Zhen fell silent.

After a few seconds, she sighed helplessly and returned to her normal voice. "Anyway, let's take her to get washed first. Fu Tailan just said that he wants to question her, but he can't let her go like this... Seriously, no wonder he insisted I bring someone so dirty."

What happened? What does it have to do with me?

Mai Minghe only heard a few words and became nervous. But she knew that no one would take her seriously even if she asked, so she had to pretend to be ignorant and followed the girl at the front desk.

There actually is a shower room in a financial services and real estate management company.

The shower room is for single use and is divided into two rooms; there is a shower head inside and a changing room outside.

Mai Minghe put the bag on the chair in the locker room and pushed open the shower door - the next second, she staggered back half a step, as if she had been punched.

The strong smell of sodium hypochlorite disinfectant almost made her think she was back in the hospital. No, it was even stronger than the hospital.

Mai Minghe stood in the shower and understood.

She turned her head and seemed to see a hunter covered in blood walking in and turning on the shower; mucus, body fluids, blood... all kinds of indescribable things brought out from the nest flowed into the sewer of the human world.

Morgan is indeed a hunter.

The Hunter clan does not shy away from seeing blood.

Even a fool knows how precious the illusion of youthfulness is; at the very least, it is far more precious than the life of a dying old lady.

…If she never left this office building again, no one in the world would look for her whereabouts.

Mai Minghe leaned against the tiled wall, holding her lower abdomen tightly with both hands; through her clothes, her "snake belt" was slightly bulging, pressing against her arms.

This is her lifeline.

When she walked out of the shower room, a secret battle to protect her lifeline began.

In this war, her greatest advantage was that the Morgans didn't know the person before them was their opponent. In other words, she didn't need to attack; she just needed to avoid making mistakes.

...If I were Fu Tailan, as the head of a hunter faction, what would I ask?

How would I test the other person and uncover information?
Mai Minghe was so absorbed in her thoughts that she had unknowingly finished washing her hands, feet, face, and neck. She stuffed her tired, cold, and aching feet into her shoes and slipped her new clothes directly over her pajamas.

It was an autumn/winter hoodie, adding a thick layer of cover to the illusion, which made her feel a little more at ease.

She also borrowed a comb from the girl at the front desk and combed her hair carefully before going out - like a warrior ready to go to the battlefield.

"No, no, you don't have to give it back to me."

The girl at the front desk waved her hands hurriedly, trying to keep the comb away from her. "You keep it, seriously, you keep it."

She paused, then looked at Mai Minghe. "You look really nice after you clean yourself up. How did you end up living on the streets?"

"It's just bad luck," Mai Minghe smiled at her and put the comb in his trouser pocket. "Who am I going to see next?"

"Wait a moment," the receptionist said, picking up the phone. "Ms. Longzhen? She's done washing... Yes, yes. Oh? Okay, I'll take her over now."

It was clearly a rather unremarkable passage, merely about escorting someone to meet their superiors… That "oh" seemed to carry a hint of unsociable surprise. Could it have something to do with their whispering earlier?

Mai Minghe licked his lips, calmed himself down, and followed the receptionist as calmly as possible. After turning four or five corners, he finally arrived at the door of a private office.

"Mr. Fu?" She knocked on the door.

"Come in," a calm male voice responded.

When Mai Minghe entered, she happened to see a man standing in front of the French window, turning his head towards her.

She didn't know what an important figure in the Hunter family should be like, but now that she saw him, she felt that he should be like this.

The man was dressed in a crisp, polished suit, his face square and solemn; though middle-aged, he still looked like he must have been quite attractive in his youth—but time had finally worn off, and his jawline had sagged, making him look a little weaker. Just a little, not much.

"Sit down," Fu Tailan ordered, sitting on the other side of the table.

Mai Minghe sat in the visitor's chair.

This office doesn't seem to be used often, and there are almost no personal belongings. It looks like an office decoration template; that's right, hunters shouldn't sit in the office all the time.

The only proof that anyone was using it was the two or three plates of snacks on the table—Fu Tailan raised her chin towards them and said, "You're welcome."

Mai Minghe was full, but she had to continue playing the role of a tramp well.

As soon as the other person finished speaking, she quickly threw a grape into her mouth; after thinking about it, she simply picked up the plate, put a few pieces of cheese and all the crackers into her pocket, and finally grabbed the small bunch of grapes that could not fit in her pocket.

"It was a good performance," she praised herself in her heart. It was obvious that Fu Tailan had tried hard not to frown.

"When did you meet that woman?" he asked straight to the point.

"This morning," Mai Minghe had already rehearsed many of the questions he might ask. "I don't have a watch, so I don't know what time it is."

"where?"

Mai Minghe reported a location that was quite far from the Chinese restaurant.

"I know you said she covered her face. But think about it, is there anything you can remember about her?"

"Oh... well..." Mai Minghe frowned and pretended to think for a moment. "That's very generous of you."

Fu Tailan stared at her, his face becoming increasingly serious, and it was obvious that he didn't find it funny at all.

"You remember everything she said to you very clearly." He slowly leaned back in his chair, tapping the table with his fingers.

"Well, forget it." Mai Minghe was prepared. "I don't know if those weird words of hers were codes or what, but I didn't remember them at first. She made me memorize them and repeat them twice before she gave me the money."

"If she is so reassured, will you definitely call?"

Mai Minghe also considered how to answer this question.

"She said this was a matter of life and death. She had already given me the money and let me make the call, so she had done her best. If I hadn't called and the person died, the life would have been counted on me, and she would have had a clear conscience."

At this point, she pointed a few times at her face and chest, making the sign of the cross. "I don't want to be responsible for someone's life. God is watching. If I don't make this call, I won't be able to go to heaven."

Fu Tailan pondered and stopped talking, but Mai Minghe was still worried.

Now the conversation has been revolving around the "mysterious woman", which shows that he is suspicious of the person who provided the information and wants to know who the source of the information is.

He kept asking questions about a non-existent person. Even though she came prepared, she didn't dare to be careless, for fear of revealing her true identity. Her palms were sweating.

It's really worrying. Everyone knows where Jonah is. We should hurry up and save him. If Mai Minghe wasn't afraid of being exposed, he really wanted to teach them a lesson.

"Please sit in our company for a while," Fu Tailan said with a deep smile, "You can leave when I tell you to."

Mai Minghe's heart skipped a beat, but he tried hard not to show an inappropriate expression on his face.

"Why is this?" She scratched her hair with one hand and asked, "I want to leave, but I can't? This is kidnapping."

"Legally speaking, it's kidnapping. So what?"

Fu Tailan didn't care at all and said, "I can also tell you why. If you are willing to stay here honestly, that's even better. There should be surveillance cameras near the place you mentioned. Even if there aren't any, we can still find people nearby.

"A woman wrapped up so tightly, talking to a homeless man for so long on a busy street, is bound to attract attention. All we need is surveillance footage or witnesses to confirm that what you said is true, and you can leave. I can even give you the money myself and see you off."

Mai Minghe didn't hear the last sentence at all - she sat in the chair in a daze, her mind blank for a moment.

Yes, it seems that many places now have cameras installed...

She hadn't thought of that at all.

This is not Mai Minghe’s fault, because for most of her life, “camera” has never even been a concept.

She forgot how old she was when she first heard about the "camera"; she only remembered that the last time she noticed the camera, she was in the hospital and her health was already deteriorating.

"Is everything okay?" Fu Tailan asked, still staring at her.

What could she do except nod?

Just get through this hurdle first, even if you have to find another chance to escape later.

"Okay, I'll let—"

Before Fu Tailan could finish his words, he heard someone knocking on the door hurriedly, the voice was deep and urgent. This time, before he could say anything, the door was pushed open and Long Zhen strode into the room.

"Mr. Fu, there's an emergency." Without even glancing at Mai Minghe, she walked over to Fu Tailan and whispered, "Jonah—"

Jonah?

Mai Minghe was startled at once; the moment she looked up at Long Zhen, she suddenly realized.

While Long Zhen was speaking, Fu Tailan's eyes were fixed on her.

...as if waiting to see her reaction.

　You see, my updates every day have been very long recently, and they’ve been updated earlier. Unlike before, I would complain about writing every word...

　　Because I really like group portraits, and I like the world view of Blackmoor City and the Nest even more, so I write with great interest every day and can't pull myself away from the computer; even when I'm not typing, I'm always thinking about it in my heart.

　　This state is very happy. Writing (when it goes well) is really an interesting and fascinating process.

　　In fact, I started writing because I liked it, and never thought of making a living from it.

　　Of course, this mentality also has a downside: when I'm not in this joyful state, updates are no longer guaranteed. Even paying for them won't keep me going.

　　Well, I’m not a professional online writer, I’m just having fun.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)