茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Feng Xiuye abruptly sat up from the sofa, looked around, and found himself on the sofa in his father’s living room. Realizing that everything that had “happened” was just a dream, he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

This afternoon, he had attended an engagement and drank a bit too much. He didn’t want to go home, so he had his driver drop him off at his father’s house.

His father was taking a nap, and he didn’t want to disturb him. So, he sat in the living room, sipping tea, and before long, he fell asleep.

He did not expect to have such a terrifying dream in this nap…

Generally speaking, after having a nightmare, one would feel better after waking up, feeling grateful and slightly horrified at most.

But now that he had collected himself, he felt chills down his spine, and his scalp tingled. He remembered that in his dream, alongside a group of his relatives who came to “catch an adulterer,” there was a monster with eight arms, eight eyes, covered in growths, and over two meters tall!

His family members seemed to be on friendly terms with the monster, standing shoulder to shoulder!

Why had he seen such a thing?

Moreover, now that he had woken up, he couldn’t recall other aspects of the dream, such as the women lying next to him or the details of the hotel room, everything was vague. However, he vividly remembered that monster right down to its every detail!

Feng Xiuye rubbed his temples, muttering to himself, “Did I drink counterfeit alcohol at noon?”

He poured himself a cup of lukewarm tea and drank it, then got up intending to breathe in some fresh air in the courtyard to sober up and shake off the strange thoughts that had suddenly emerged.

Just then, his gaze swept across a shelf in the living room where his father kept various small collectibles, and his body suddenly stiffened.

Looking at the tiny eight-armed, eight-eyed woodcarving, Feng Xiuye involuntarily swallowed. The cold sweat he had just wiped away started to form again, and he suddenly felt the room temperature drop several degrees.

Although the woodcarving did not appear gruesome, differed vastly from the monster he saw in his dream, the distinct feature of eight arms and eight eyes couldn’t be a coincidence.

When Mr. Feng woke up from his nap, he found his son staring intently at the wood carving he had placed in the living room.

“Xiuye, are you interested in this wood carving?” Mr. Feng strolled over with his hands behind his back.

“Dad, where did you get this wood carving? I don’t remember seeing it the last time I was here.”

“Oh, it was made by a friend of Nana’s. I asked her to collect it for fun,” Mr.

Feng said, “Why, are you starting to be interested in wood carving now?”

“No, it’s just… Dad, I find this wood carving kind of sinister. I just took a nap on the sofa, and then I had a dream. In it, I saw a creature with eight arms and eight eyes that looked very much like this woodcarving. Well, the creature in the dream was much uglier than this…”

If it were any other time, hearing his son say something like this, Mr. Feng would frown and lecture him a bit, cautioning him against engaging with superstitious things.

But today, Mr. Feng couldn’t help but ask, “What was your dream about? Tell me in detail?”

“I just…l dreamt that I woke up in a hotel, and then saw the creature this wood carving turned into standing by the door watching me…” Unable to share the specific details of the dream, Feng Xiuye gave a simple account, then watched his father’s face. He knew his father despised topics of superstition. When he had previously called a Feng Shui master to inspect his newly decorated office, his father berated him for it. Weighing his words, he said, “Dad, I have an old friend who also takes an interest in these wooden works of art. This wood carving is quite special, I was thinking of borrowing it to show him, what do you think…’

Mr. Feng nonchalantly hummed in response while walking towards the courtyard.

Not wanting to stay any longer, Feng Xiuye quickly gathered up the wood carving and made a call to his driver waiting outside to pick him up. He intended to immediately consult a reputable “guru” with whom he often engaged.

His father’s unusual reaction made him realize that there was something odd about the wood carving. Normally, he would have been scolded for making such comments, but his father not only refrained from chastising him but also agreed to his request. That alone said a lot — he was certain his father understood what he meant by taking it to an “old friend”.

Xiang Kun arrived in the evening. He had not informed anyone about his return, so naturally, no one was there to pick him up.

Though he was curious about the condition of the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving, he didn’t rush to contact Tang Baona to see her grandfather. According to the blood-drinking cycle, the next feeding time should be tomorrow morning.

Upon arriving home, the distinct smell of bird and rabbit droppings—and spoiled food and feed—greeted him.

But based on sensory information, he quickly determined that both the rabbits and the canary were still stubbornly alive.

Canary, unlike before when he traveled, did not immediately fly towards him, but rather was sprawled beside the cage on the table, eyes closed, looking to be done for.

Yet, Xiang Kun was sure that it still had a pulse and was breathing, definitely not expired.

Worried it was sick, Xiang Kun carefully placed it in his palm and gently groomed its feathers. He then compared its current condition with the previously recorded data, also activating the Infrared Thermographic Vision Mode for observation.

Although there were fluctuations in all physical parameters, indicating it was a little weak, it shouldn’t be ill or seriously affected.

Thus, Xiang Kun put it aside, planning to first clean its cage, feed it some fresh meals, and change the water in its bathing dish.

However, as he turned around, he caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of Canary who seemed to straighten its neck and opened its eyes to look at him once he placed it back on the table.

As Xiang Kun looked back, Canary quickly laid down again.

Xiang Kun found this intriguing—was this bird playing dead?

He knew that some birds pretended to be dead to evade predators but he was clear that Canary was no longer simply afraid of him. Their relationship was more of a partnership, or even dependence. There was no reason for it to use playing dead as an evasion. So, why was it playing dead?

Was it for pranks?

No way, it’s just a canary!

Xiang Kun walked back, flipped it over on its back, and lightly touched its belly.

Canary remained stiff and still.

“If you keep playing dead, I’ll cook you!” Xiang Kun threatened.

Still, Canary remained motionless.

Of course, Xiang Kun wouldn’t really cook it. He first cleaned the birdcage, changed its water, then cleaned the rabbit cage and changed its water. He then prepared a meal of walnut kernels, rapeseed, cornmeal bird feed by hand, took it to the feeding dish, and poured it in with a clatter.

The very moment it heard the familiar sound, Canary immediately sprang up from the table, hopped back into its cage, and started eating with great enthusiasm.

From its movements and various physical reactions, Xiang Kun deduced that it was “excited” and “happy”, and possibly even a bit “smug”? In his mind, he grumbled, did this creature think that successfully “playing dead” forced me to prepare a feast for it?

Xiang Kun thought, the next time he needed to travel, he should leave the Canary at Tang Baona’s home. It would avoid the difficulty of figuring out the increasingly strange behavior of a bird left alone for too long..