Artifact Report

Chapter 71 Mai Minghe: Why does it all seem like nonsense?
The three female guests at table No. 4 looked normal from head to toe, so normal that Mai Minghe felt a little overwhelmed.

Were they actually hunters?
When he walked to their table and stopped, Mai Minghe even became suspicious.

What if they were hunters called in by other diners, pretending to be guests to let others down, and actually suddenly attacked as soon as the first hour was over...that would be difficult to deal with.

"Yeah, at my age, I've started to pay attention to health preservation."

The woman with a mole on her lip said, "What can I do? Some of the things that seep out of Blackmore City are delicious, but last time I ate someone's 'bedroom scent,' my entire face turned into that person's. It took me several days to get back to my original look."

Probably not a hunter.

Mai Minghe actually felt a little relieved.

"Indeed, it's not like when we were first born," said another female guest wearing glasses. "Back then, we had a strong appetite and could digest anything. Hey, the three of us were born from the same body, right? I remember that hunter; she had a normal stomach when she was alive."

These three people don't look alike at all, how could they have been born from the same person?

Mai Minghe glanced at the third person—the youngest, dark-skinned woman. She chuckled through her nose and said, "No, I don't have any dietary restrictions. No wonder you only ordered one fish."

There were clearly three people dining, but there was only one whole fish on the table; at the other tables, the one with the fewest dishes was the male guest who was looking at the computer, but he still had two dishes.

The fish looked from one person to another, and from time to time a "chi chi" sound like a stifled laugh came out of its belly, and its flesh often trembled.

The bespectacled woman raised a light brown eyebrow and said with a smile, "What's wrong with one fish? Isn't it enough for the three of us?"

Mai Minghe thought all this was just nonsense. Before she could be taken care of by Fish Eyes again, she turned and left.

The next table next to them was occupied by a middle-aged man who was sitting in front of a laptop with a frown on his face.

He, like the three women, looked normal; even the food on the table was just a salad and a thick soup. He seemed to be busy with something important. There were two phones and a computer on the table, and he was busy switching between the devices, barely touching the food.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Mai Minghe asked as he saw that the thick soup seemed to have cooled down.

"I came last night," the man said without looking up. "I had something urgent to deal with at work, so I couldn't even eat. If you don't have anything important to do, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for small talk."

Do the nest residents still have to go to work?

Mai Minghe was about to ask, "What do you do for a living?", but when he looked up inadvertently, he swallowed the words back into his stomach.

His table, like the three female guests', was right next to the mirror wall; one side of the seat had its back against the mirror, while the other side faced the mirror.

Because he was sitting with his back against the mirrored wall, he happened to bend down to rummage through his computer bag, and the laptop screen was immediately reflected in the mirror. Mai Minghe was stunned and hurriedly turned to his side to take a look. Sure enough, he saw the man himself on the computer screen.

The man on the screen had a face distorted with fear, his snow-white eyeballs almost popped out of his sockets, his face was gleaming with saliva and sweat, and his mouth opened and closed as if he was shouting "Help".

Mai Minghe took a small step back.

"That's weird! Didn't I bring a power bank?" the man muttered. "Oh no! My phone's battery is running out! Where's it?... Oh, luckily I brought a charger."

He pulled a charger with a cable from his bag, jumped up from his seat, and rushed to the bar while shouting "Waiter." As he passed, Mai Minghe happened to see his own face on the phone screen. His laughing mouth squeezed out his facial features, as if a dark hole had opened in his face.

Mai Minghe glanced at his back, walked over quickly and opened the computer bag.

Generally speaking, the face will only be hidden in "a place where ordinary guests can see it", but if there is a hint, it may also be hidden in the diners' clothes or backpacks - this is what the woman who is putting on makeup said.

Mai Minghe didn't know whether what she did just now was a hint or not; she didn't dare to waste time, fearing that the man would come back and cause trouble. It only took her a few dozen seconds to quickly search the computer bag.

Forget about the face, the bag was completely empty, nothing in it. The whole bag looked like a stage prop.

Mai Minghe found nothing, stood up and glanced at the clock.

She had originally planned to go through at least two rounds; now fifteen minutes had passed, and there was still a table of people and two waiters she hadn't had time to talk to - would she still have time?

Mai Minghe hurried to the last table, where a couple and a friend were sitting.

"I just went to the dentist," the man with earrings said to the long-haired woman, "You should know that my previous set of teeth isn't as sharp anymore because his company got sued and they paid a lot of money. I went to the dentist and asked if he had any new teeth recently..."

"Ya" was sued? Can Ya still start a company and pay compensation?
Mai Minghe felt that she must have missed something, otherwise why couldn't she understand?

The other male guest who was hugging the other male guest with one arm obviously already knew how the incident would develop. He shook his head and sighed.

"I didn't expect that the dentist was a profiteer!" the male customer with earrings said indignantly, "Do you think that I can at least replace my old teeth with a new set of teeth that work in finance? I heard that there is a private equity firm in Blackmore City that has recently acquired chain brands and squeezed a lot of bloody money out of the individual bosses involved in the chain... If such sharp teeth were given to me, there would be nothing I couldn't eat. But guess what?" The female customer with long hair shook her head.

So its "fangs" are... the people of Blackmore City? The more unscrupulous the people, the sharper its "fangs" become?
Mai Minghe's suspicions were quickly confirmed in his next sentence: "The dentist assigned me a very ordinary dentist! Although he'd stabbed colleagues in the back a few times before, he's a bully and a coward, so he's been very quiet these past few years... As a result, I can't even chew anything now. It's so annoying."

"Speaking of which, why haven't the tacos you sent back to be remade arrived yet?"

The long-haired customer clearly didn't care much about her friend's teeth. She looked around and said, "Just make the crust softer... You can't eat it, but I can. Waiter!"

Before Mai Minghe could walk over, a waiter came hurriedly over - she quickly lowered her eyes, not wanting to look any longer.

"I just asked the kitchen," the waiter explained apologetically. "The thing is, the softest taco crust we have isn't homemade. We order it from Cowboy Sanchas. Considering what's been going on lately... I wonder if you guys mind?"

What happened recently? Is that a clue?

The man with the earrings opened his mouth to the waiter—he clearly had no teeth, as far as Mai Minghe could see—and asked, "Look, can my teeth chew through the Cowboy Sanchas crust?"

"No problem, I'll definitely do it."

"Go ahead then," the boyfriend of the man with the earrings waved his hand and said, "We're not afraid of that."

Which one is “that”?

Mai Minghe wanted to ask the waiter, but he moved too quickly. Before she could open her mouth, the waiter turned around and walked towards the kitchen.

There was another waitress at the bar. She glanced at the clock and hurried over.

The man who had been looking at his laptop was now holding up a two-foot charger and yelling at the waiter behind the bar: "Your restaurant is quite famous, but why are the outlets so broken? I can't even plug my charger in! Is there anywhere else I can charge?"

"No," the waiter said, "I'm not responsible for charging people."

As soon as the angry man left, Mai Minghe immediately followed and asked the waiter, "What happened to 'Cowboy Shanchas' recently?"

"Are you a reporter?" The waiter leaned closer—even though Mai Minghe tried to avoid it, a small shadow still lingered in his peripheral vision. "That incident wasn't our fault. It has nothing to do with us. Besides, wasn't it already in the newspaper? Why are you asking?"

newspaper?

There is actually a newspaper in this restaurant - it's the clipping on the central round table.

In memory of the deceased celebrity, two chairs were placed at the central round table, as if someone was about to come for dinner. On the table was a large bouquet of fresh and vibrant flowers, which was unexpectedly not unusual or disgusting at all, but beautiful and vibrant.

The newspaper clipping beside the vase contained the obituary of a famous woman. Besides the obituary, it also seemed to describe her life and cause of death. A densely packed text, accompanied by a sweet-looking smiling face—she looked no different from a normal human being.

There were still ten minutes left, and I hadn't found a single face; I couldn't waste the opportunity to get a clue by reading the newspaper.

Although we have already walked around once, it was just a preliminary conversation; if we could chat a few more sentences, who knows if they would reveal more clues?
Mai Minghe herself is usually a bit talkative, and she knows best that once she can't control her words, anything can slip out of her mouth.

She simply started again at the table with six young people and prepared to start all over again.

"...I've always dreamed of having Robbie's blue eyes. They're so beautiful," a girl said, seemingly chatting about celebrities. "No wonder the lead singer of 'Sewer Boys' is so crazy about them."

The denizens of the nest are surprisingly... human?
"Eat quickly, the food is getting cold." The blonde cut a piece of trembling, sweaty pink meat from the plate, took a bite, and his eyes lit up: "Hmm, it's delicious! Xiao Wei, do you want to try this 'painful meat' I ordered?"

Just hearing the name, Mai Minghe felt uncomfortable.

The girl called Xiao Wei was the one who wanted blue eyes. It looked at the painful meat that its friend had just placed on its plate, and suddenly tilted its head. The expression on its face made Mai Minghe's heart jump, and he took back the step he had just taken.

"You invite me to eat your food, of course I have to eat it."

Xiao Wei raised her fork, but instead of piercing the painful flesh, she picked up a piece of broccoli from the plate of the blonde with collarbone hair and put it into her mouth.

Eh?
Why……

She seemed to have...found the second rule?
Wait, if her guess is correct, doesn’t that mean that after the first hour, Mai Minghe will never be able to approach the table with the three female guests for safety reasons?

　I haven't slept well for two days in a row. I'm so sleepy after one day, and drinking tons of coffee is no use... By the way, there is a scientific research reader @銮醨画了餐厅图 in the comment section, so there is no need for me to touch his soul!
　　(Besides, I don’t know how to illustrate on Qidian.com)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)