茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

The driver, Old King, drove Feng Xiuye down the mountain and back onto the expressway to the city. Then they headed to a high-end residential area and entered a building after parking the car.

Next to a yoga studio was a consultancy company. Its glass entrance was adorned with a collection of certificates and awards, as well as pictures taken with local prominent businesspeople and celebrities, making it appear quite prestigious.

Feng Xiuye recognized several people in those photos, including Mr. Gao, a real estate tycoon who had introduced him to Taoist Master Niu.

“Good day, gentlemen. How may I assist you?” asked a well-dressed, handsome young man in a robe with a distinct contemporary design.

Old King responded, “Our boss wishes to consult with the ‘Taoist Master’.”

Moments later, in a meticulously designed “quiet room,” Feng Xiuye, who had taken his shoes off, was sitting cross-legged before the “Taoist Master”— an elderly man with white hair and eyebrows who exuded an air of immortality.

Yes, this man here also claimed to be a “Taoist Master.”

Feng Xiuye showed the woodcarving and detailed the dream he had at noon.

Upon hearing the account, the “Taoist Master” nodded slowly and scrutinized the woodcarving with a serious expression. In a full and compelling voice, he said, “Indeed, I also sense an evil aura. This carving is not right.”

“Taoist Master, can you specify what’s wrong with it?” Feng Xiuye promptly asked for details as he had become accustomed to doing so after several interactions with Master Niu.

However, the saintly “Taoist Master” merely shook his head: “We won’t know until we perform a ritual.”

The young man serving in the quiet room promptly said in a gentle voice, “Mr. Feng, we offer three types of rituals each with different prices… If you deposit over 100,000 and become a VIP, we will gift you a basic ritual package. Given your situation, it’s likely that not only this carving is the problem; the room where you took your nap may also require a ritual to dispel evil spirits…”

“No, the VIP and house cleansing aren’t necessary,” Feng Xiuye interjected. “There were never any issues before. It’s only this woodcarving that is causing problems at noon. Just perform a ritual on it and tell me where the root of the problem lies.”

Upon agreeing to perform the ritual and ensuring that Feng Xiuye wouldn’t stay to watch, the young man escorted him out and said, “Mr. Feng, even though you’ve decided not to observe the ritual, we’ll record the process and send you the video to prove that we’ve conducted the ritual. Also, we’d like you to sign this contract to confirm our cultural customs activity. The total charge is 6,999, but as a first-time customer, we offer you a discount for a final fee of 6,666. Would you like to pay by card, bank transfer, WeChat, or Alipay?” After paying, Feng Xiuye felt uneasy.

Despite the so-called master’s professional demeanor and exceptional service, Feng Xiuye couldn’t shake a feeling of unreliability. He picked up his phone and dialed Mr. Gao, whose photo he had just seen at the company’s entrance.

“Hey, Old Gao, it’s me, Feng Xiuye. Today, I visited a consulting firm at Zhenfa Building and saw your photo. Yes, it’s the ‘Taoist Master.’ What do you think about his practice? Can he be trusted?”

“That guy’s only concern is money! Didn’t I introduce you to Master Niu? Why did you turn to that swindler instead?” Mr. Gao, who was well-known for his fiery temper, clearly had a low opinion of the “Taoist Master.”

Feng Xiuye was surprised and replied, “Taoist Master Niu couldn’t help with my situation. No, that’s not accurate. He refused to assist and suggested that I see a doctor…”

“Then you should be seeing a doctor! You’ll regret not doing so once you’re swindled out of your money. But that’s still less important than seeking treatment. I don’t want to be attending your memorial service next year!” Mr. Gao retorted with biting sarcasm.

After hanging up, Feng Xiuye held his phone, deep in thought, and felt even more unsure of his own judgment.

Was there really a problem with the carving?

On October 30th, at 8 A.M., after sleeping for 25 hours, Xiang Kun sat up in bed.

As was his routine, he checked his physical condition, collected and analyzed some data, cleaned the rabbit and bird cages, replaced the food and water, and then began to sense each of the various items that he had established connections with.

The eight-armed, eight-eyed woodcarving still resonated with him, but it was merely a sense of existence, with no associated emotions or images perceptible.

Of the three writings he had produced in Citong City, two, which he had left with his father and Xia Libing, had developed a sense of connection, with the last one remaining unaffected.

This was expected, as the two successful writings, the Memorial on the Subject of Stepping Down from Official Duty and the People Like Me lyrics, had taken him over four and nearly two hours respectively to write. The unsuccessful one was a couplet from the movie, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, a modern seven-character verse by Huang Zhan. It reads, “We herald the world’s turmoil; the river and lake hasten the years. Conquering the land and discussing the empire, man’s life is but a drunken frenzy.”

Xiang Kun only wrote these two lines, which took him a little over ten minutes. As he wrote, he recalled the valor and passion in the martial arts films he’d watched and tried to imbue these feelings into his words, but he hadn’t succeeded.

Even though he felt deeply engrossed while writing, the finished product fell short in comparison to the previous writings. Maybe it was the absence of a satisfying release of emotion that failed to establish a special connection with this piece. This could be the sign of establishing a “super sensory contact,” much like the flash of white light he saw when establishing a “super sensory contact” with an object.

Like with the two other writings, the carving was apparent, but nothing more was perceptible. After observing it for a few more days, he believed he could gather more information, which would help him generally determine the function and existence of such connections.

In addition to the two pieces of calligraphy, before consuming the blood, Xiang Kun established a “super sensory contact” with six new, variably sized pieces of boxwood, thanks to the many times he’d previously established such a contact with boxwood, his speed was increasing.

However, another matter caught his attention; the “A4 Paper 1” he had given to Little Fat Girl Liu Shiling revealed a weakening in its sensory strength. While the magnitude wasn’t large, the change was still noticeable.

He should point out, his first “super sensory contact”, with the “Tissue 2”, was still clearly discernible even while it was en route to Europe!

What was going on? Could Liu Shiling absorb the energy or matter I’d linked with? Or was the contact diminishing because she was handling it too much? Was she constantly folding and unfolding that piece of paper every day? However, it was also possible that the At+ paper had been damaged; after all, paper is weaker than a coin and more susceptible to destruction.

It appeared he would have to make another trip to Star City when he had time.

Xiang Kun first rang his mother. After exchanging pleasantries, he brought up various topics because he didn’t know exactly when he’d established a unique connection with the “Memorial on the Subject of Stepping Down from Official Duty” during his 25 -hour hibernation spell. But if the connection had been established before he’d gone to sleep the previous night, even though he was hibernating and unable to actively sense it, his mother or father may have had their dreams influenced by it.

Based on the two past experiences with the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed wood carving, if his parents had dreams, they would be likely to see the old man who lived next door when they first moved to Tongshi Town, who taught Xiang Kun to write with a brush. The primary emotion in the dream should be “nostalgic”.

Given his mother’s personality, if she really had such a dream, she would mention it without him asking due to the pseudo-master-pupil relationship between Xiang Kun and the old man.

However, after chatting casually for more than ten minutes, his mother said nothing about dreaming or his father’s condition, so it appeared she hadn’t dreamed about it.

So, after hanging up, Xiang Kun chatted with Old Xia on WeChat, asking if she had “studied” his calligraphy properly when she got home.

Xia Libing just sent back a screenshot of a conversation where she’d asked someone for an evaluation of Xiang Kun’s calligraphy. The feedback was “Not that good”.

Xiang Kun was left momentarily at a loss, unable to find a retort…

At home, Xiang Kun did a one-hour high-intensity HIIT workout where he included complex exercises he had developed himself, as well as including challenging gymnastics and bodyweight training practices.

Although most of his current training and mutant-guiding efforts were focused on the brain and senses, he still wasn’t neglecting his physical workouts entirely; he hadn’t forgotten how he confronted the Giant Owl and defeated Guo Tianxiang

After finishing his workout and calming his breath, Xiang Kun picked up a piece of boxwood and began to carve.

This time, the emotions he incorporated were “excitement” and “happiness”, since the image he was carving was that of the Lich King Alsace, and the memories he was recalling were of the long and difficult battles he fought together with Zi Cheng and their entire guild in their university days, in order to first kill the boss in the server.

Starting from 10:30 in the morning and working to 4 in the afternoon, because he had already established “super sensory contact” with the carving tools and materials, he was able to carve much faster than when he was working on Altria and the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wood Carving. To reduce the difficulty level and avoid damage, he decided to create the Frostmourne as a separate, attachable piece.

However, after finishing the carving, Xiang Kun looked at the model of The Lich King Alsace clad in armor and holding the Great Sword in his hand and frowned.

It wasn’t that the carving was shoddily made or had flaws. In terms of his current abilities, the finished product was pretty good. But he didn’t feel the kind of pleasure that came when he had finished the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wood Carving, or written the lyrics for ‘Memorial on the Subject of Stepping Down from Official Duty’ and ‘People Like Me’ as if he had vented something.

Did he fail to establish that special contact?

That’s not right!

Based on the time and attention he invested, together with the control he had over his emotions during the process, he should definitely have been successful!

Could it be that because he previously established a “super sensory contact” with the carving material, his process of carving couldn’t establish a second special emotional contact?

The two contacts aren’t compatible?!

Xiang Kun was a bit incredulous, so he picked up another piece of boxwood and continued carving. This time, he chose to carve “Glitter”, his family’s pet canary.

Given that he had observed “Glitter” for a considerable amount of time, Xiang Kun was extremely familiar with every feather and could easily bring all the details to life without having to cross-check.

While carving, the emotions he incorporated were “joy” and “freedom”. He imagined the unabated joy and freedom he felt when he first ventured off to explore where the Giant Owl was roosting, the joy of hunting in the open, and the feeling of soaring in the sky, surveying the land as the Giant Owl did in its memories.

However, even after nearly five hours of work to complete the carving, upon looking at the lifelike carving of ‘Glitter” , Xiang Kun’s expression was blank he really couldn’t establish that special emotional bond.

Although he hadn’t verified it after his next blood meal, he didn’t have that kind of invigorated feeling. From previous experiences, this likely signified he hadn’t established the bond.

So “super sensory contact” and this kind of new special bond really can’t coexist!