茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Xiang Kun had been a long-term tenant, always paying his rent on time and never causing any complaints from other tenants. Even last July, when another tenant couple was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant, it was Xiang Kun who ‘appeared out of nowhere’ to kick the attacker away and save the couple’s lives.

In the landlord’s opinion, Xiang Kun was a person full of justice and committed to his work—just looking at Baldy now, so hardworking, it was no wonder he could afford to buy a house.

So when Xiang Kun said he would personally handle introducing the house to his friend, the landlord had no worries. He simply left the key with him and asked him to drop it off at the grocery store across the street when they were done.

The current state of the house was naturally different from when Xiang Kun used to live there. After the previous tenants moved out, the landlord had hired someone to clean up, so the place still looked quite tidy.

Xiang Kun explained to Old Xia what the layout of the house was like, what kind of things were there when he lived there. He then detailed the process of how he got home drunk that night, how he took off his shoes, and how he went directly to bed without changing his clothes.

Based on the traces in the room after he woke up, he speculated how many times and in what position he had vomited while sleeping.

He also described other conditions in the room after he woke up, including the state of the doors and windows, and other related information.

He had reviewed these circumstances many times himself, and he was pretty sure that no other person had entered the room during his drunken sleep, at least according to the traces he could detect at that time.

He had also wondered if he might have been bitten by some sort of insect, which wouldn’t necessarily require opening a door or window. But based on some subsequent experiments he conducted, as well as his experiences dealing with other “mutants”, he analyzed the memory content of other “mutants”. He concluded that it was impossible to be transformed into a “mutant” by bites from other “mutants”.

Like in some movies or other entertainment related to “vampires”, where a mere bite from a “vampire” can turn a normal human into a “vampire,” would not happen.

Xia Libing listened to Xiang Kun’s recollection of the situation while opening the window to look left and right. He then turned around and asked, “Describe the degree of pain and discomfort you felt when you lost your job. Use a 1-10 scale where 10 is the highest level, unbearable, even to the point of wanting to end your life.”

Xiang Kun thought for a moment and said, “There was indeed some pain and discomfort, but more than that, I felt stifled and unwilling to accept. In terms of pain, it was probably around 4 or just shy of 5, but I didn’t have any thoughts of suicide.”

“Have you ever had a similar feeling?” Xia Libing asked again.

“If we’re talking about the level of discomfort… yes, there was a time in the past when I felt rejected by a girl I was pursuing. I was very uncomfortable and frustrated then, probably about a level 4,” Xiang Kun recalled.

Xia Libing didn’t ask about the specifics of how he pursued the girl or how he was rejected, but asked, “Did you drink alcohol at the time?”

“No, I was busy writing my graduation thesis at the time and didn’t have the time. But that night, Zi Cheng brought a box of cola, and we both drank fourteen cans, pretending to drown our sorrows… The level of discomfort was not less than that of drinking alcohol…” Xiang Kun couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke, “Ah? That seems a bit off-topic. Do you think it’s related to drinking? I think the possibility is very low.”

However, Xia Libing continued to ask, “On the night of July 11, how did your mood change after you drank?”

Xiang Kun thought for a moment and said, “At the beginning of drinking, there was no change in my mood. I was just thinking randomly — wondering what it would be like if I hadn’t joined that company in the first place, if I had switched jobs two years earlier if I had realized the company’s problems sooner, if I could have helped the company solve the problems, would the result be different? But after drinking three cans, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. All the thoughts about job loss, pain, discomfort, unwillingness, and frustration all left my mind, and I just wanted to go home and sleep… In that sense, I actually did ‘drown my sorrows’ right? Although, at that point, I was already regretting drinking…”

Upon saying this, Xiang Kun also asked, “Old Xia, have you never drunk alcohol?”

He had indeed never seen Old Xia drink before. Even when they visited Liu Caifu’s house in Tongshi Town during the New Year, most people had some fruit wine, but Old Xia still didn’t drink.

Xia Libing replied, “I’ve drunk once before. I didn’t like it. It can reduce the sensitivity of your taste buds, affect the taste of food, slow your reaction, and affect your thinking.”

Combining all the questions Old Xia asked earlier, Xiang Kun speculated, “Are you suspecting that my mutation is related to extreme mood swings?” Indeed, on that day of July 11th, aside from getting drunk, his most significant change was his wildly fluctuating mood.

Xia Libing answered, “According to your previous hypothetical theories, the abilities demonstrated, and the phenomena we have observed, all show that your brain activity, whether it’s emotional changes or driven by subjective consciousness, can transcend your body and directly impact your surrounding environment to a certain extent. The special substance that can be directly driven by your brain activity is probably the reason why you can establish ‘super sensory contact’ and ’emotional infusion’ connections, the reason why you can acquire a ‘sixth sense’, and it should also be closely related to the cause of your mutation. Since this special substance can be directly affected by brain activity, could one of the triggers for your mutation have been the abnormal brain activity caused by severe mood swings?”

Xiang Kun nodded, “That’s a good theory. In fact, I’ve also made similar speculations.” With that, he walked over to close the window for Old Xia, hearing the tenant downstairs return home. He then continued, “Do you remember the experience I shared with you in the Qinling Uninhabited Area?”

“The spider?” Xia Libing asked.

“Yes, that spider.” Xiang Kun confirmed, “I obtained some memory fragments from that mutated spider. These sensory memories were very different from human memories, but I still gained a lot of information from them. In particular, I learned that it had once consumed another ‘mutant’, which was a plant.”

Xia Libing understood and nodded, “I see. So, emotional changes are not necessary for mutation.”

Indeed, if plants could also become “mutants”, how could they have experienced “emotional” changes before their “mutation”? It’s not as if plants can cultivate their spirit.

Xiang Kun continued, “The conscious and emotional changes I have demonstrated and their influence on the environment are the special manifestations of that special substance in me, brought about by my guiding the mutation evolution. The other ‘mutants’ I’ve encountered do not have this ability, including Guo Tianxiang, whose original form was also a human.”

After leaving Xiang Kun’s previous rental house, he took Xia Libing for a walk by the lake where he had encountered the “Giant Owl”. He went into detail about his discovery process and his first confrontation.

Xiang Kun then led Xia Libing to the little hill where he had killed the “Giant Owl”, and precisely located the spot where he had slept after feeding on the owl’s blood. He told Xia Libing about the information he had extracted from the owl’s memories and his subsequent exploration and findings in its habitat.

By the time they got home, it was already past one in the morning.

Xiang Kun also showed Xia Libing surveillance footage from July 11th, both from outside the eatery where he had been drinking, and from outside his rental home’s convenience store. This gave Xia Libing a clearer visual impression of his descriptions.

In addition, Xiang Kun presented Xia Libing with the records, graphs, and the “Vampire Mutation Model” he had created with Alice, that he had been keeping since his initial mutation.

While observing the data, Xia Libing began building a chart of her own.

The most straightforward way to study the cause of Xiang Kun’s mutation would be to sequence his genes first, to see what changes have occurred in his body and whether he has been infected with any pathogens. But his body’s rapid transformation after extraction made it impossible to sequence his genes. On top of that, Xia Libing thought that genetic sequencing would likely yield no useful results at this point. It could not help them determine the cause of his mutation. If they had conducted a sequencing right after he initially “awoke”, they might have obtained more useful information. Yet now, after going through so many rounds of mutation evolution, Xiang Kun must differ greatly from regular humans at the genetic level. Also, she did not think traditional microorganisms or pathogens could cause such changes.

Fortunately, Xiang Kun was not the only sample. He had interacted with many “mutants” and even obtained some of their memories. This “sample” information could help Xia Libing spot underlying patterns and commonalities.

Xiang Kun provided all known information to Old Xia, just as he had transferred all of it to Alice in creating the “Vampire Mutation Model”.

So far, Xiang Kun had come in sensory contact with nine “mutants”:

The “Giant Owl”, Guo Tianxiang, the “mutated spider”, the “mutated big bird”, the “mutated ant”, the “unknown mutant” whose rabbit wood carving was taken by “Divine Technology”, as well as three “mutants” surrounding that “unknown mutant”.

Additionally, he knew about two more “mutants” through various channels, even though he had never sensed them. One of them was the mutant plant that the “mutated spider” had consumed. The other was the “horned wolf” his old classmate Xie Jun had once mentioned, which their convoy had hit.

Among these, he had the most information about the “Giant Owl”, “mutated spider”, and Guo Tianxiang since he had segments of their memories.

It wasn’t until past three in the morning that Xia Libing started yawning and went to bed. Before that, she asked Xiang Kun to bring her into his dream again, this time with Little Fatty Girl — a promise she had made at noon.

However, this dream ended more quickly than expected. Little Fatty Girl was scared awake shortly after Xiang Kun brought her into Old Xia’s.

Because Little Fatty Girl woke up in fright…