茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Xia Libing of course remembered the chubby little girl from the video. The first time she went to Xiang Kun’s House for dinner, when Xiang Kun went to the next-door neighbor’s to “borrow rice,” she saw that little girl standing at the door of the next-door 706, “welcoming” Xiang Kun.

She didn’t find it strange that Xiang Kun was teaching the little girl to flip the coin, but as she watched the video, she noticed that the little girl’s coin-flipping technique seemed unique.

Clearly, her method was different from adults’, better suited to the size of the little girl’s fingers. If adults were to flip the coin in this way, it would be considerably more challenging.

So in her view, if Xiang Kun taught the little girl to flip the coin, the technique shouldn’t be like this.

The way it looked, it seemed more like the little girl had figured it out on her own, which also explained why she was so adept.

However, this only demonstrated that the little girl had a particular interest and talent in flipping coins, and there was nothing strange about it.

Next, Xia Libing watched the coin-flipping instructional video on Yang Zhen’er’s phone that Xiang Kun had sent her today, fiddled with it for a bit, and quickly mastered the trick.

“Old Xia, why don’t you join our bet as well… huh? Have you practiced before, Old Xia?” Yang Zhen’er hadn’t finished her proposal to involve Old Xia in their “coin-flipping learning competition”, when she already saw the coin fluently flipping around on Xia Libing’s slender fingers, and the coin’s flipping became faster and more skilled. It seemed as if the coin and Xia Libing’s fingers were originally one mechanical part.

Xia Libing flipped the coin over and placed it in her palm, saying, “I didn’t practice before, just learned it now, does this mean I’ve won?”

“Win what! Doesn’t count!” Yang Zhen’er glared at her and couldn’t help saying, “You and Brother Xiang, both are monsters, learning things way too freaking fast, totally inhuman!”

Tang Baona next to them couldn’t help laughing: “Zhen’er, have you ever won a bet against Old Xia?”

Before graduating from high school, Xia Libing always had short hair, only letting them grow after she lost a bet to Yang Zhen’er during the summer vacation after graduation.

The bet was simple, whoever could get Xia Tianhuo to call them “sister” first would win.

In reality, both of them had to call Xia Tianhuo brother, one was a cousin, the other a nephew.

However, while Xia Libing was still designing her sophisticated plan, thinking about manipulating her cousin to call her “sister”, Yang Zhen’er simply made a phone call, promising to introduce him to the beautiful female teachers in college and offered to treat him to a luxurious restaurant meal, forcing Xia Tianhuo to reluctantly, begrudgingly call her “sister”.

Old Xia took her loss gracefully, and started growing her hair long since then.

But after that, whenever there was a bet between the two sisters, Yang Zhen’er never won again.

“Sigh, I miss the simple and cute Old Xia, after she went to college and studied medicine and psychology, I can’t bet with her anymore. It feels like she can read my mind, knowing what I’m thinking.” Yang Zhen’er said with a sad face.

Tang Baona then asked, “Old Xia, how did you learn so quickly and flip so smoothly? Is there any trick?”

Xia Libing flicked the coin in her palm with her thumb. It returned to the back of her hand, positioned between her index finger and middle finger joint, and said, “Just control the position of the coin on the finger joint well, flick with the back finger, push with the front finger, have it flip into the position just between the middle finger joint and ring finger joint, then repeat the previous action.”

As she spoke, she demonstrated, flipping the coin smoothly and precisely, just like in the demonstration video that Xiang Kun sent them. It left Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er sighing helplessly.

“You sure know how to use the words ‘just need’, don’t you!” Yang Zhen’er said irritably. “We just can’t do what you asked! Old Xia, do you have any skills that us ‘mortals’ can also learn?”

After thinking for a bit, Xia Libing simply said two words: “Practice more.”

“Ah! Why do I have a sister like this, I really want to beat her up!” Yang Zhen’er turned her head and said to Tang Baona.

Tang Baona suppressed a laugh and said, “You can’t beat her…”

Yang Zhen’er was left speechless.

As Xia Libing played with the coin, she casually asked, “Were the jokes Xiang Kun and You Meng told today really that funny? I saw both of you laughing a lot.”

“They were quite funny!” Yang Zhen’er replied without thinking.

Tang Baona frowned and thought for a bit before saying, “Actually, the jokes they told weren’t that funny themselves, but it was the way they delivered them that made them so funny. It probably comes down to their performance skills. A lot of stand-up comedy on TV seems to work the same way. As for how funny the jokes were, the ones they told last night were actually more interesting. When I think more about tonight’s jokes, they weren’t that funny. I guess the atmosphere of their restaurant also had something to do with it. In a certain light and mood, with a group of friends gathered, it’s easier for people to get the jokes.”

Xia Libing thoughtfully nodded, then asked about the jokes Xiang Kun told at the restaurant last night when she wasn’t there, and whether he had told any other jokes during the months she wasn’t with them.

In Xia Libing’s view, Xiang Kun’s behavior and habits had been changing in the few months since she first met him in August.

At first, she thought her understanding of Xiang Kun’s personality was flawed and incomplete. But as they had more interactions, especially during Xiang Kun’s trip back to Citong City, when they shopped, cooked, and ate together, she realized her previous understanding of Xiang Kun wasn’t wrong. His behavior, which didn’t match his personality, must have stemmed from other inner motivations. She needed to analyze those actions themselves.

The song lyrics Xiang Kun gave her, handwritten in calligraphy, were a good example. From Xiang Kun’s later reactions, her analysis was correct, she just hadn’t reached a definite conclusion yet.

Today, Xiang Kun again performed comedy routines for everyone. It seemed like he was pressured by the group, but from the way Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er described it, Xiang Kun had also voluntarily performed the night before. And from her observation today, it was clear Xiang Kun also wanted to perform.

Regardless of her previous judgement of Xiang Kun’s personality or today’s real observations, Xia Libing could determine that Xiang Kun was not the kind of person who wanted to please others through his own “performances” and strongly needed others’ recognition and praise.

Unless he was passionate about something, he would take the initiative to show it. Cooking fits this, wood carving barely does, and calligraphy is somewhat linked, but singing and telling jokes don’t.

On the surface, Xiang Kun was entertaining everyone and bringing traffic and attention to the restaurant, but Xia Libing felt that Xiang Kun had another purpose.

Just like when Xiang Kun gave her the calligraphy lyrics, she judged that Xiang Kun would only gift her something he felt was worthy. The lyrics, written on a piece of regular paper and barely neat enough to be considered satisfactory, did not fit her understanding of Xiang Kun.

In the same way, if Xiang Kun wanted to tell jokes, he would normally prepare carefully; he would tell funny and enjoyable stories.

From the reactions of others at the time, the effect was indeed good, but she noticed that everyone’s mood seemed to have started to rise not because of the actual punchlines of the jokes. It seemed like a defeated boxer, falling and convulsing before the punch even lands. The punch just intensified this reaction.

Whether it was Xiang Kun or You Meng telling the joke, others’ expressions and body positions always reacted in advance, which did not conform to Xia Libing’s usual observations.

However, she couldn’t make an accurate judgement about those jokes themselves, so she needed to seek reference from Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er.

She stayed in Tang Baona’s room until about 1 a.m., then Xia Libing prepared to return to her own room.

“Old Xia, the coin.” Tang Baona pointed somewhat embarrassedly to the one yuan coin that Old Xia had been playing with in her hand.

When Xia Libing returned the coin to her, Yang Zhen’er said: “That’s the Lucky Coin Xiang Kun gave to Nana. But I think he just made it up. Let’s use two of the same coins and ask him to guess which one he gave, he may not be able to tell.”

Hearing this, Xia Libing, who was already handing the coin to Tang Baona, withdrew her hand again and took a closer look at the coin in her palm.

On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about the coin. It had the same shape and weight when compared to a regular coin.

Tang Baona saw Xia Libing’s reaction and laughed, “The so-called Lucky Coin is really a psychological thing, this coin isn’t…- huh?!”

She hadn’t finished her sentence when she saw Xia Libing bite the coin.

Yang Zhen’er was drinking milk and sprayed it out laughing when she saw what Xia Libing did. She was coughing and holding her stomach to laugh at the same time.

“Old Xia, how’s the taste, salty or not…”

Xia Libing with her stoic face, pulled out a piece of tissue, wiped the coin, and returned it to Tang Baona.

When she returned to her room, Xia Libing took out the “Black Circle Graffiti” that Xiang Kun had given her. She put it on the table, took a pen and paper from her bag, tried to duplicate that black circle from the inside out, all the while pondering over it.

The lines she drew did not have to exactly match Xiang Kun’s, she was just trying to understand the framework and concepts Xiang Kun had when drawing this.

The more she drew, the more she was sure, this pattern was definitely not drawn haphazardly.

The black circles, arcs, and strokes on the paper were urgent, steady, and smooth. It was like Xiang Kun had a specific pattern in his mind, and he was quickly reproducing it on paper.

She seemed to see Xiang Kun holding a neutral pen, swiftly drawing on the B5 notebook, engrossed in it.

After a while, she took out the calligraphy that Xiang Kun had given her earlier, and compared that.

One paper is torn from a B5 notebook with black circles drawn hastily on it, and the other is a piece of paper with rough edges with calligraphy written on it. It seems that the only thing they have in common is that they are both on paper and made by Xiang Kun.

If this was from a normal person, even Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, who have a close relationship with Xiang Kun, receiving these “gifts”, especially the second one, it would probably be seen as baffling or amusing.

But Xia Libing was carefully considering what was written and drawn on these papers and Xiang Kun’s purpose in giving them to her.

Because she was very clear, of all the people she had observed and encountered, Xiang Kun was the most unique and special one.

Xiang Kun’s uniqueness might even surpass hers.

She felt that Xiang Kun was trying to convey some sort of message to her through these items.

But why not use a more straightforward way?

Xiang Kun must’ve already noticed her abnormality, but how much has he discovered?

Does it have anything to do with his ‘drawing’ and ‘calligraphy’ gifts?

Xiang Kun didn’t return to the hotel until around 5 a.m. Last night, he searched not only the main peak, but also a few surrounding mountains.

Because his focus was on the ants, the sensory information from the search had a clear target, so it was easy to pinpoint the affected areas.

Xiang Kun was a bit confused, in his view, even though this is a mountainous area, it’s still a famous scenic spot with daily high visitor traffic. If the creature has clearly mutated, it’s not safe here; there’s always a chance of being discovered, and its food choices are limited.

All it had to do was go further west, towards Tongshi Town. There, the scenic area was less well-known, had fewer visitors, less human influence, and offered a bigger area for it to roam freely and more sources of blood.

Likewise, both the Giant Owl and mutated spider had done the same as the number of times they ingested blood and mutated increased, they gradually moved deeper into the mountains unless there was a phase change in their blood-feeding needs, requiring blood from other else mutants and prompting them to leave their habitat and venture into or through human territories.

But judging from the decrease of ant colony and corresponding time, this mutant had been in these mountains for quite some time.

So why has this mutant creature stayed here all this time?

Is there something in this place that it can’t let go of, or is it simply that “It’s hard to leave one’s old home”?

Moreover, Xiang Kun suspected that the mutant creature might not be hunting individual ants but directly targeting the Ant Queen for blood.

Otherwise, the disappearance of the ants wouldn’t be so complete.

Looking at the underground nest structure with the particular smell, it was evident that what was living here couldn’t be the mutated big bird, it was either a mutated ant or some other insect with similar habits.

And the reason the big bird had come here was most likely because of it.

As for what exactly happened, whether the big bird had succeeded in killing and ingesting the blood and left, or it let it go, or it was even counter-killed – it was difficult to reach a definitive conclusion from Chu Xiuwen’s descriptions and the reconnaissance here.

Xiang Kun didn’t necessarily feel the need to find out the whereabouts of the mutant creature and the big bird on the mountain. What he was more concerned about was whether the anomalies he noticed would attract the attention of others, leading to the discovery of the at least two mutants hiding here, like “Divine Technology” for instance.