Artifact Report

Chapter 78 Mai Minghe: On the Importance of Taking a Nap

In her eighty-six years of life, this was the first time she had lifted a chair and smashed it down on someone's head with enough force to kill them.

At the same time, this was the first time in her eighty-six years that she felt the excitement and desire for violence aroused deep in the human blood; it was as if there was an impulsive and fierce animal nature that made her want to pick up the chair and continue smashing, smashing the entire restaurant and every face in it.

...Is it this dark side of human beings that gave rise to the denizens of the nest?
This thought flowed like cold water into his anxious and restless blood. Mai Minghe quickly took a few steps away from his wife, his chest pounding.

Perhaps humanity is indeed 70% water, and our life circumstances are a container. The color of the container we land in determines the kind of light and shadow we create.

She took a deep breath, turned around and walked towards the bathroom; she only needed one last bit of energy to get out of this shabby restaurant.

As she passed the clock, Mai Minghe looked up. In just a few minutes, the residents would be able to stand up from their chairs. She didn't know what situation she would face then—the thought of it made her blood run cold.

In this small restaurant, I have to face not only residents, but fifteen residents.

Mouth—where exactly is that mouth?
When she pushed open the bathroom door, the woman who was putting on makeup, just like the previous times, stretched out a hand towards her as if she had expected it.

When he extended his eyes, Mai Minghe could no longer suppress the anxiety tinged with a hint of despair that arose in his heart.

An hour and a half, obviously not a short time, how could it have passed in the blink of an eye? If she hadn't had to go back to the bathroom again and again to wash her face, she would have at least ten minutes left.

The feeling of "fork in the road" during the conversation just now flashed in my mind like a sudden spark.

"what happened?"

The woman putting on makeup stretched one hand straight back and urged, "Didn't you find your eyes? Give them to me."

Mai Minghe's hand, which was holding his eyes, was only a few inches away from his outstretched palm, but he stopped moving.

She was always worried about time, and every minute that passed felt like a stone weighing on her; but she didn't realize that she had been wasting time unknowingly.

…If it is not handed over actively, the woman who is putting on makeup seems unable to reach out and grab it.

"Can they go to the bathroom later?" Mai Minghe withdrew his hand and asked.

"Give me your eyes," the woman putting on makeup said impatiently.

"answer my question."

"Give me your eyes!" the woman who was putting on makeup screamed.

"See, I should have noticed something was wrong."

Mai Minghe tucked his glasses into his trouser pocket, his hand still tightly gripping them, his eyelashes prickling his skin. "You told me that once I found a face, it would be recognized by the rules and I wouldn't have to worry about it being stolen. But you also told me that if I found a piece of face, I would return it to you immediately... Why?"
"You keep telling me that time is of the essence, and the longer it passes, the more dangerous I'll be. But don't you know that running back every time you find a face is a bigger waste of time than anything else?"

It was not known whether it was because the adrenaline rush she had just experienced had finally subsided, or because she was truly exhausted, but Mai Minghe was so tired that she could hardly stand. She simply walked to the side, slid along the wall and sat on the ground. She reached out to wipe her forehead, and her fingertips were wet with sweat.

"Didn't I tell you? This way I can start eating as soon as possible..."

"If you need a mouth to 'eat', then even if I find another face, you still can't eat it, and my coming back is just a waste of time."

Mai Minghe didn't know why he hadn't figured out this simple logic problem sooner. "So this means either you can 'eat' without a mouth, or you're lying."

"I don't need a mouth to 'eat'!" The woman in makeup screamed irritably, "Haven't you figured it out?"

"So what's the point of eating?" Mai Minghe asked. "You said at the beginning that only by starting to eat can you strengthen your control over the restaurant—that's what the diner outside with the pearl necklace said. Is that right?"

The woman who was putting on makeup suddenly fell silent.

After waiting for a few seconds and seeing that it didn't seem to want to give a direct answer, Mai Minghe spoke again.

"Then logically, as I find you more faces, you'll eat more, and your control over the restaurant should become stronger... But isn't that actually the case? In fact, no matter how many faces I find you, your control over the restaurant becomes weaker and weaker. So as time goes by, the diners outside become more and more free. Isn't that right?"

"That's all determined by the rules..." the makeup woman said carefully, "You don't understand. I can't change the rules." "If the rules are already determined, then what's the point of eating or not? It won't improve your situation at all." Mai Minghe shook his head and said, "If that's the case, then there's only one explanation for why you keep making me lose face."

The woman putting on makeup paused and said, "The third and a half hour is almost over, huh?"

"You just want me to waste time, drag it out until the diners are free, so they can kill me," Mai Minghe said. "You said, my death would be a huge source of nutrients, and once I die, the rules will be lifted—I'll be offline, right? Then the face will be back on you. This is the ideal situation for you."

"Yes, I didn't hide this from you." The woman who was putting on makeup smiled. "You repeated what I said. What kind of new discovery is that?"

"Then how do you achieve this ideal situation?" Mai Minghe ignored him and said as he sorted out his thoughts, "It's wasting my time, making sure I can't find my face properly and get killed by the diners."

"I can't guarantee you won't be able to find your face. I've given you all the clues. If you can't find it, it's your fault..." The woman putting on makeup said this, then suddenly said "Oh!" and laughed, "The third and a half hour just ended."

Mai Minghe tilted her head. The restroom was completely silent, with only the sound of her own breathing. She thought she heard the sound of chair legs scraping across the floor as it was pulled away, but she didn't know how much of that was her imagination.

"If you think other diners won't go to the restroom, you're wrong," the woman in makeup continued. "You won't be safe hiding here either."

"What's the worst that could happen to you?"

Mai Minghe knew she was taking a risk, but it was a risk she had to take. "Although that wife was setting a trap for me, the logic behind what she said was consistent with what you told me before. So I think there's one thing I can probably believe... that is, as long as I'm not dead and you haven't recovered all the faces, the rules haven't ended, and the mission is still running."

"This is the worst-case scenario for you, isn't it?"

"Immortal? How can I not die?" The makeup woman laughed. It seemed to no longer care about the eye that Mai Minghe hadn't given it. "They're coming. Are you ready?"

This time, it wasn't her imagination; Mai Minghe could already hear footsteps in the short corridor outside. They seemed hesitant, not fast, but each step was getting closer to the bathroom.

She exhaled suddenly, her trachea being gripped by tension, and the breath fell tremblingly into the dead air.

"I think your other statement is also true, because you had no reason to lie to me at the time."

The footsteps were almost reaching the bathroom door; that was only the first pair. Several more pairs of feet were rapidly following behind.

"'Before you find your full face, the other diners can attack you, but after you find your full face, they, like me, can't kill you. Instead, they have to send you away safely.'"

The back of the woman putting on makeup was stiff and she didn't say anything.

"I found it, the seventh face."

Mai Minghe took off the cap of his lipstick, looked at the fine lines on the lipstick, and raised his voice and said, "As long as I find it, the rules will recognize it, right?"

The toilet handle turned slightly and was pushed open a crack.

"The seventh face is on the back of your head. When you first explained the mission rules to me, you couldn't help but smile at me through your hair." Mai Minghe held up the lipstick and said, "The tiny traces on the lipstick are from your hair. You said the seven faces were scattered throughout the restaurant... but you didn't say they were only scattered in the dining area. The restroom is, of course, part of this restaurant."

The bathroom door wouldn't move.

"Now that I have found all seven faces, you can no longer harm me. But I still have an eye... which I haven't given to you yet."

In the dead silence, Mai Minghe chuckled softly and said, "You only need one piece of face to recover and regain control of the restaurant, but now you're stuck... This is the worst case scenario for you, right? Guess, for those who lie, will I reward you with the last piece of face?"

"You...what are you going to do?"

Mai Minghe put away the lipstick, put his hands in his trouser pockets, holding his glasses with one hand and the lipstick with the other.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm so tired. I'm going to take a nap."

　I'm such a hopeless beauty addict... It's great that there are so many beauties in the world.

　　But the other side of perfectionism is that no matter how you look at yourself, you are never satisfied.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)