Artifact Report

Chapter 77 Mai Minghe: The Sixth Face

The last period of time that could barely be called "safe" was less than ten minutes long; Mai Minghe stuffed the two pieces of cheek skin into the hands of the woman who was putting on makeup, and without saying a word, turned around and rushed out again - hope was right in front of him, only an eye and a mouth away.

But just as she took a step out of the door, she stopped.

"Have you started eating yet?" Mai Minghe asked hurriedly. "You haven't found your mouth yet, can you eat? But you residents don't really eat with your mouth like humans, right?"

The woman putting on makeup stood in the corner with her back to her and was silent for a moment. "...What?"

"I'm thinking, I've already recovered five pieces of your face. If you start eating, will it have a suppressive effect on other diners?"

To say Mai Minghe wasn't afraid at all was pure nonsense; thinking about the life-or-death crisis she'd face once she got out, she didn't even want to leave the bathroom. "If you can suppress them a little by 'eating,' I'll be safer too..."

"Oh, about that," the woman in makeup reapplied, as if remembering something. "Their threat to you continues to increase with time. There's no way to increase your safety. Do you expect me to protect you?"

"No—of course not."

Mai Minghe frowned, feeling that something seemed to be off track in their conversation, but she couldn't figure out what made her feel like something was "missing".

The longer time passed, the worse it would be for her; she couldn't just stand there and think foolishly.

"Then I'm leaving," Mai Minghe said, but before he could even take a step forward, he took it back. "Hey, can you let me have that lipstick in your hand?"

The woman in makeup remained silent for a few precious seconds. "Why?"

"I want to compare whose mouth matches your lipstick color, in case someone wears your mouth on their own face. Aren't the resources at my disposal?"

After applying lipstick on the lips, it may be rubbed, and who knows what color it will turn into - the colors of lipsticks are not much different - it is better to compare with the lipstick to be more certain.

The woman who was putting on makeup seemed to hesitate for a moment before she said, "I understand. You can take it."

Mai Minghe, fearing she would waste time, quickly snatched the lipstick from its hand and strode out of the bathroom. As she walked, she examined the lipstick—the design was common, nothing special. Fortunately, it was bright red, much easier to distinguish than pink.

The only strange thing is that there are many fine scratches on the rolled out paste; no matter how you look at it, you can't tell how they were made or what they came from.

Mai Minghe kept this oddity in mind, put away his lipstick, and slowed down his pace after walking down the short corridor.

Like a thief, she first looked around the restaurant - just in case something unexpected was waiting for her.

…The nest is particularly particular about realism in inexplicable details, for some reason.

Mai Minghe was a little amused and helpless for a moment; it had been almost an hour and a half since she came in, and most of the diners should have "finished their meals", but now the two waiters were busy collecting the plates.

The table for the six-person party had been cleared of its plates; a waiter was heading to the kitchen with a stack of plates on his arm.

Another waiter had just taken away the plate of fish that had been picked into pieces and walked towards the table of the Hantou couple; Mai Minghe accidentally made eye contact with the fish - the fish had been almost eaten and was no longer moving, as if it had died on the plate.

The three female guests at that table seemed very unhappy.

Come to think of it, her face was discovered and she was always on guard against the trap; maybe the fish was useless if left on the table, so she just took it away?
This saved her a lot of trouble; now Mai Minghe could observe the color of their mouths openly without having to resort to taking pictures in the mirror.

However, her attempt was quickly thwarted – no one's lips were close to the color of the bright red lipstick. Not only did it look different to the naked eye, but in the reflection in the mirror, no one had even a speck of bright red lipstick on their lips.

It seems that they are only willing to give you a hint of the color difference between the inside and outside of the mirror once.

Did she wipe off her lipstick?

But she also couldn't touch the diner's face to check if she was "wearing" someone else's mouth.

Mai Minghe had no choice but to search around the restaurant; no matter how small the restaurant was, it was still too big compared to an eye or a mouth.

Although she was anxious, she still walked slowly.

Before taking each step, she would check the floor, ceiling, dining table and mirror; only after confirming that there was nothing unusual would she put her foot on the next tile.

His wife's face was like a giant sunflower, turning ninety degrees as she went along. When Mai Minghe was about to walk past it and head towards the table for gay couples, her heart suddenly jumped. Something was not right - in the circle she had just glanced at, something was wrong -

Mai Minghe slowly turned his head towards the mirrored wall.

The friend of the gay couple, that is, the female guest, was staring at Mai Minghe motionlessly, just like everyone else; but in the mirror, the face that turned towards Mai Minghe was Mai Minghe's own.

...Is this the so-called "dead end" hint?
What would happen if your reflection overlapped with your face in the mirror?

She didn't dare go over.

Mai Minghe retracted his foot and stopped not far from his wife. He heard it smack its lips loudly - as if it was very dissatisfied that she didn't walk over.

"I told you no," the wife whispered. "The clues are too obvious. Dead ends don't work. We should try something else."

"I'm tired of it," the husband said. "I want to go out to sea. Maybe I'll win a prize fishing. It's much better than sitting here. Why doesn't she die?"

The wife patted its hand as if to comfort it.

Apart from anything else, the residents' mouths are really annoying, and they only talk about death - Mai Minghe was about to turn around and go back when an idea popped into his mind.

So far, except for the Hantou couple, every table has provided her with clues, allowing her to find the face. Although the Hantou couple is cunning and annoying, they can't be talking nonsense and have no clues at all, right?
If so, what is the clue?
...To find the answer, perhaps we can compare the differences in their conversation during the first thirty minutes and afterwards.

This is not easy because the couple talks a lot, and Mai Minghe has to try his best to recall everything.

The first thirty minutes – “Wedding anniversary,” “The anniversary gift is a pearl necklace,” “Strangling the neck,” “Going out to sea,” “No one can sit at the central round table”;
After that, they still talked about their "wedding anniversary", "going out to sea", and their wives' lies.

In other words... once they stopped giving hints, the couple never mentioned the "pearl necklace" and "strangulation" again.

Mai Minghe's gaze rested on his wife's neck; the pearl necklace was white and smooth, and each pearl was round, and each one was just a pearl.

It seemed a little uneasy being looked at and moved its body.

Mai Minghe turned around and saw that the two chairs at the central round table had been put back in their original positions.

She walked over and put one hand on the back of the chair. When she thought about how it almost became her grave, she couldn't help feeling complicated.

If you just drag it away and don't sit on it, it shouldn't be considered a violation.

"I just realized," she gripped the chair tightly, dragged it behind her, and walked back step by step. She whispered to the couple, "You really like to strangle my neck. For the first hour and a half, you were still competing to see whose 'eyeball' bulged higher when strangling my neck."

The wife and husband exchanged a look; as if realizing something, they both tensed up.

To get this piece of face, she had to do it now, while the diners were still unable to leave their seats and lay hands on her. Otherwise, she might never get it again.

The moment the chair flew into the air, his wife hurriedly raised her arms to block it; but Mai Minghe used all his strength to pull the entire chair high into the air and smash it on the back of his head - with a heavy muffled sound, the chair, along with his arms, smashed his head and neck into the dining table.

The husband let out a howl; it sounded very angry.

Mai Minghe didn't let go at all, still holding the back of the chair with both hands, and swept it across the back of his wife's head. The chair was thrown sideways and hit the husband's head and face directly, knocking him out with the chair and his body - it seemed that it was mandatory for them not to leave the seats. Even if they were hit head-on by a chair, when they fell to the ground, their buttocks still fit perfectly with the seat.

The chair flew out and broke into pieces on the floor, scattering countless pieces of wood.

His hands were free, so Mai Minghe grabbed the back of his wife's head and pressed her face firmly on the dining table, while his other hand brushed away the wet hair on the back of her neck.

At the pearl necklace clasp hidden by the hair, the eyelid of a person's eye was turned up and nailed behind the eyeball, revealing countless bloodshot eyes; in the center of the white eyeball, a brown pupil was looking straight at Mai Minghe.

She pulled it off the necklace, the string broke immediately, and the pearls fell to the floor, rolling all over the white ground.

The sixth face is found.

　This chapter is relatively short because I'm not in a good mood today. I haven't slept well for more than a week. I'm hot, tired, and exhausted...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)