茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

By the time Guo Lin arrived at the hospital, Mr. Guo had already regained consciousness, but he kept muttering about a “Gatekeeper” he had seen at the brink of life and death, implying that he had glimpsed the world beyond death, and he believed that Guo Lin’s late mother was in that world.

Guo Lin knew that his father had a military background and was very stubborn, having always dismissed superstitions. Nevertheless, he speculated that his father’s surrealist claims were probably hallucinations induced by his near-death experience, which had left a profound impression on him.

It’s not at all strange that such life-threatening situations can produce hallucinations that undermine previous understandings of reality.

After seeing the image on his old classmate’s phone today and hearing about the hallucinations of the suspects in the two cases he previously mentioned, Guo Lin was instinctively reminded of the “Gatekeeper” — his father had described.

Because both the image on his old classmate’s phone and the descriptions of the monster given by the suspects in those two cases reminded him of a characteristic the “Gatekeeper”, his father had spoken of – many arms.

This inevitably led him to wonder, could the hallucination his father had seen on the brink of life and death – this so-called “Gatekeeper” – be the same entity that the culprits in the two cases Old Xu mentioned had seen?

Compared to Guo Lin, Wu Xiuwen was privy to far more information.

When he was previously sending Zhou Yiqing away, he ran into Xiang Kun and deduced from Zhou Yiqing’s words that Xiang Kun must have been the one who saved Mr. Guo at the station on the night of the twenty-ninth.

Taking into account Liu Feibao’s previous speculation that Qi Haoguo might have been “startled”, he linked these two happenings together, suspecting that both the entity Mr. Guo claimed to have seen at the brink of life and death and that which scared Qi Haoguo had something to do with Xiang Kun.

This suspicion was especially heightened a few days ago, right before the Lantern Festival, when he saw Qi Haoguo in Tongshi Town. Qi Haoguo had just bought a property in Tongshi Town. When he and Liu Feibao were visiting him, they coincided with the arrival of several workmen moving furniture into the house.

Qi Haoguo, initially indulging in small talk with them in the living room, suddenly lost his temper and sharply reprimanded the workers unpacking a box.

Chu Xiuwen noted that within the box the workers had opened was a foot-tall woodcarving, vaguely seen to have multiple arms and numerous eyes on its head, which gave it an inexplicably eerie feel.

However, following Qi Haoguo’s outburst, the workers quickly repackaged the box and, following his instructions, moved it to a bedroom upstairs in the mansion. Qi Haoguo insisted that he would arrange the wooden figure himself and forbid others from touching it.

Later in their chat, Chu Xiuwen casually mentioned the wooden figure, but Qi Haoguo just glossed over it and was unwilling to discuss it further.

On their way back, Liu Feibao mysteriously revealed that the wooden figure was created by a master wood carver from the provincial city, whom Qi Haoguo had sought after running into Xiang Kun. Furthermore, Qi Haoguo had determined the figure’s design and all its details.

If this had happened before the new year, upon hearing Liu Feibao’s words, Chu Xiuwen would have given more thought to Qi Haoguo’s mental state. But with the additional information he obtained after the new year for comparison, Chu Xiuwen grew more suspicious.

This evening, after hearing the two cases Xu Zhao had shared as amusing stories and seeing the picture, Chu Xiuwen felt as though he had just been struck by lightning. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to be coming together in his mind, making him feel as though he was on the brink of reaching the truth. However, when he thought deeper, he realized he was still surrounded by a thick fog of uncertainty, unable to see clearly.

Of the two cases Xu Zhao mentioned, one took place in Citong City, Yun Gang District where Xiang Kun was during that period, so a connection with him was indeed plausible.

However, the other case happened in another city thousands of miles away from Citong and on the night of the New Year’s Day, and Xiang Kun was still in Citong then.

Or maybe, this “multi-armed monster” was not only linked to Xiang Kun, but also had presence or influence in various parts of the country?

Then he wondered, under what circumstances did these people appear to see the “multi-armed monster”?

Of the six criminal suspects in the two cases Xu Zhao mentioned, even though the crimes they committed varied, they were undoubtedly doing bad things and breaking the law;

Although he didn’t know that much about Qi Haoguo before, Qi Haoguo’s business practices were known to be somewhat unlawful. He amassed huge profits by exploiting legal loopholes. But after being mysteriously “spooked” in Tongshi Town, he either halved or sold off all his those profit-generating businesses and even invested a significant amount of money into purely altruistic projects in Tongshi Town;

As for Mr. Guo, he only had a vague sighting of the multi-armed monster when he was at death’s door due to a sudden heart attack, hence, he was the least affected.

Looking at these incidents, if what they saw – this “multi-armed monster”, truly existed, its course of action appeared to save the dying, punish the wicked, and encourage goodness!

But was this because the monster was a “good monster” or because someone was controlling and guiding it? Like Xiang Kun? Or an official entity backing Xiang Kun?

Or maybe, this was Xiang Kun’s “official background”.

There could be many such individuals like Xiang Kun all over the country, and this “multi-armed monster” was aiding the authorities in dealing with some issues that they either didn’t have time to tackle or found difficult to handle.

No wonder Chu Xiuwen couldn’t find any related information through his own connections. This was a completely different domain, a domain that couldn’t be revealed to ordinary people.

No wonder even Ji Hang would have such a tone and attitude after investigating.

While he had an inkling about the truth of the matter and saw a vague outline, it was as if he had opened a door only to find another world filled with mist. The more he knew, the more questions he had.

Xu Zhao looked at his two old classmates and asked curiously, “Why do you two look like this?”

Chu Xiuwen was the first to regain his senses and smiled, “I think the drawing is pretty good, that Officer Xiao Zhao ‘s classmate, he seems to have quite the artistic sense.” He didn’t share his judgment and the information he knew with anyone, including Guo Lin, Liu Feibao, or any other friends and family. Since the authorities hadn’t let relevant information leak, and even most people within the system weren’t aware, there must be some reason. If he recklessly revealed anything, who knows what might happen.

Guo Lin spoke up: “Do you know about my grandfather fainting at the train station? Later, when Xiuwen and I went to visit him in the hospital, he told us that when he was in a trance, he saw a ‘Gate’ and in front of the ‘Gate’, there was a ‘Gatekeeper’ with many arms… it reminded me of the ‘Gatekeeper’ he described when I saw the picture on your phone.”

Xu Zhao said, “Our people most commonly believe in Buddhism, where there are many images with three heads and six arms, and many arms. It’s quite normal.”

Guo Lin shook his head: “But my grandfather doesn’t believe in Buddhism.”

However, they didn’t delve too deep into the matter.

Suddenly, Xu Zhao remembered something and asked Chu Xiuwen: “By the way, what’s happening in Tongshi Town lately? I heard that several major business owners from our Citong are considering investing there. People have even asked me if there are any government policies favouring Tongshi Town. I have no idea. Even my friends from the city government have not heard of such news.”

“But it’s true, lots of funds are floating over to Tongshi Town. Not just its own residents, but also people from the provincial capital, and even big corporations, big businesses, and those from other provinces.”

“Xiuwen, you’re from Tongshi Town and you have connections in the province. Your information is quite reliable; will there be any official actions in Tongshi Town later?”

Chu Xiuwen shook his head: “I have no definite news.”. This was actually true, his friends from the province also hadn’t received any related policy documents, or even heard any rumors.

But he quickly changed the subject: “Regardless of whether there’s policy support, our Tongshi Town indeed needs to develop. I and some local friends think that the first step should be focusing on the tourism industry. As far as I know, there is indeed a large amount of capital intending to enter Tongshi Town. You know the Haoguo Group, right? If this really turns into a big trend, even if there were no policies, it will drive the policies.”

Guo Lin also added, “That’s why I plan to go to Tongshi Town with Xiuwen. If I spot a good opportunity, I’d like to hop on this ‘free ride’. I heard from Xiuwen that Qi Haoguo, the boss of Haoguo Group, ran to Tongshi Town as early as the third day of the lunar year, and even bought a mansion there, seemingly planning on settling down. He’s not a local, he definitely wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t very optimistic about the place.”

Enlightened, Xu Zhao nodded, but he was still a bit confused, “Besides tourism, what else is there to develop in Tongshi Town? But if it’s tourism, then Wushu Mountain next door is too popular. It would be really hard to divert the flow. Does Tongshi Town have any valuable and hype-worthy resources?”

Chu Xiuwen didn’t answer this question. Even though he was aware of what Liu Caifu, Xiang Kun and the others were planning to do in Chongyun Village and the project they wanted to develop, he always felt that these things were merely a cover. The real objective behind it could be related to the “Multi-armed Monster” and the government’s intention.

Qi Haoguo brought a huge amount of capital to Tongshi Town, rolled out a number of public welfare projects, and this may not be due to having advanced news or motivated by profit, but to fulfill a task from the authorities. Other relevant capital might be influenced by the official power behind it.

Still, regardless of their final purpose, the influx of so much capital into Tongshi Town, will surely lead to prosperity and development. The people of Tongshi Town would definitely benefit from this, especially those who are bound to Liu Caifu and You Meng with Xiang Kun.

Naturally, Xiang Kun had no idea that Chu Xiuwen managed to imagine a gigantic net, an official secret organization, based on various fragmented information.

At around eleven o’clock at night, he successfully guided the dreamland through the chopsticks by Old Xia’s side.

Then Old Xia “woke up” in the dream and entered the “conscious world” in the dream. He used the black circle graffiti in the room of the “Vampire Patient” to guide and construct a “Dream in a Dream”.

Through Old Xia’s perception, Xiang Kun found that the dreamland of the “Vampire Patient” was the interior of a dimly lit castle.

However, after sneaking around with Old Xia for a while, Xiang Kun concluded that the castle was probably an invention of the “Vampire Patient’s” own imagination. The interior structure of the castle did not conform to spatial rules, just a repeating corridor and room.

The “Vampire Patient” was wearing a gothic black long dress, sitting gracefully by the fireplace, swirling a goblet in her hand. The liquid in the cup was of a thick red color.

The “Vampire Patient” had extremely white skin and looked a lot more beautiful than the photo Alice found. It was evident that she had idealized her appearance with some serious photoshopping in her mind.

In front of the “Vampire Patient” was a handsome man with sharp fangs, who looked almost identical to the “Blood clan” that had appeared in her dreams that Xiang Kun had induced before.

After the two had their “drink,” they embraced each other, biting and touching each other as if they were about to do something inappropriate for children