茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Alice didn’t come across this video when she was searching for information related to the “Vampire Patient” before.

Either the woman shop assistant who filmed this had not uploaded it to the internet, or it wasn’t related to the “Vampire Patient” case in terms of keywords or popularity on the web.

Xia Libing also looked curious. Along with other counter attendants scooting over to watch the video playing on the young girl’s phone.

Although the shopkeeper had seen it before, she couldn’t help covering her mouth and laughing again when she saw the drunken man being dragged and pulled by three young people, screaming for help.

Although it was a serious matter with severe implications, the audiovisual expression in the video was indeed inexplicably amusing.

Other girls in the shop laughed out loud when they saw this.

Even Xiang Kun and Old Xia, who didn’t find it funny, sported a smile on seeing everyone else laughing.

Others were naturally drawn to the video’s initial comic scenes of three young men hauling a drunk into the van.

But Xiang Kun’s focus lay elsewhere. He knew very well that during this process, the “mutated parasite” was still inside the “Vampire Patient”.

Only after the police arrived, and the people on the van were all taken down, was what Xiang Kun was really interested in happening.

The shop assistant had filmed this part as well.

It can be seen that as soon as the van was stopped by the police car, they instantly halted without any intention to speed off. The process of rescuing the drunk and arresting the three young people went smoothly.

It wasn’t until the arrest of the “Vampire Patient” did a struggle ensue. It took some effort from the police to take the knife out of her hand, get her off the van and send her to the hospital.

Once the “Vampire Patient” was taken off the van, Xiang Kun’s gaze was directed towards the undercarriage of the van. However, the video-shooting shop assistant wasn’t his hired videographer, so naturally, she couldn’t keep recording that specific area. And hence ended up following the arrested suspects instead.

After watching the video, Xiang Kun joked in line with the shopkeeper and shop assistants’ reaction, saying, “This is just a comedy show!”

Old Xia nodded along, saying, “Yeah, it’s hilarious.”

The shop assistant who filmed the video also chimed in: “I posted it on my friend circle before, and everyone said, it looks so fake…”

After a less serious conversation, and having learned what he needed to know, Xiang Kun signaled to Old Xia to pick out a box of roses and two bunches of carnations, and they left the flower shop.

After putting the flowers on the backseat, Xiang Kun stood on the side of the street for a while before getting into the passenger seat. He then told Old Xia, “Let’s go to Zi Huan Mountain.”

As the car began moving, Xiang Kun started to explain without Old Xia asking, “The ‘mutated parasite’ would need a way out of Nanhua Street. Based on the previous Dream in A Dream episode, I can tentatively infer that the parasite exhibits a certain degree of autonomous activity after leaving its host. It appears to be more agile in water and clumsy on land.

“From the video taken by the shopkeeper, we can see that after it left your hospital’s ‘patient’, it didn’t immediately leave the van. It stayed on the vehicle.

“I speculate that its next host is still likely to be a human. But given its displayed intelligence and model of judging external information, it wouldn’t ‘invade’ the host directly when others are paying attention.

“The first choice would be to sneak off the van when the police or bystanders aren’t paying attention, enter the drainage system through the roadside drain, and then search for the host via the complex network of sewers;

“The second choice would be to wait for someone to come into contact with the van alone. For instance, after the police finish gathering evidence on-site, one of them could drive the van back to the police station parking lot. If they were driving alone, they might become the target during the drive or while parking;

“The third choice, about a minute after the ‘patient’ was arrested, as shown in the video, someone approached the van and peered through the window for a moment but was then scolded by a police officer and left. As the camera didn’t stay on them the whole time, we can’t confirm whether they had been ‘ridden’ by the ‘parasite’. But theoretically, it’s possible;

“If it’s not picky and chooses the first way out, for now, we have no way to track it precisely. We can only narrow the range using other methods later.

“If it follows the latter two options, we can definitely ascertain and eliminate them.”

“Anyway, nearly a year has passed already. There’s no urgency to the investigations. They can start once I’ve completed my next blood drinking.”

“As for going to Zi Huan Mountain, it’s to investigate its past, to know what it is, where it came from, what are its characteristics. Understanding these will be quite useful for us to trace its footsteps later on.”

Xia Libing nodded: “Understood.”

After driving for more than an hour, they arrived at the foot of Zi Huan Mountain, where Xiang Kun asked Old Xia to stop: “I didn’t inform my home about my return tonight. I’ll be staying in the mountains tonight, you go back. Tomorrow, send a bunch of flowers to my mother on my behalf, and give the remaining carnations to your third aunt. When I’m done investigating here, I’ll call you to pick me up, no later than six o’clock the day after tomorrow. If you haven’t received a call from me by six, call me. If you can’t reach me, just drive over and wait for me here.”

Xia Libing knew that with Xiang Kun’s current visual and sensory abilities, as well as his physical agility, night or day made little difference to his investigations, and in some ways, nights were even more convenient for him.

“Okay.” Xia Libing answered succinctly. She knew that following him into the mountains would serve no purpose, and would only slow him down, considerably slowing the pace of the investigation.

So Xiang Kun not only left behind the luggage he brought with him this time, but also took off his coat and shoes and left them in the car, so as to not get them dirty on the mountain at night.

For him, moving around in the mountains is even more comfortable barefoot than with shoes on.

“By the way, if you have time tomorrow, prepare the rabbit meat in advance, so we don’t have to rush the day after.” After getting off the car and closing the door, Xiang Kun leant on the car window and said to Xia Libing.

“Sure.” Xia nodded.

After giving his instructions, Xiang Kun patted the roof of the car: “Thanks for all your hard work.”

Xia Libing made an OK gesture with her right hand, circling her thumb and index finger.

Only after seeing the Camry leave did Xiang Kun start running towards the interior of Zi Huan Mountain.

He didn’t take the Winding Mountain Road, or the sightseeing stone steps, but climbed directly in the shortest distance at an extremely fast speed, quicker than even a monkey.

Zi Huan Mountain was the name of the entire mountain range. Xiang Kin had used satellite imagery in conjunction with the “Dream in A Dream” scenario of the “Vampire Patient” to approximate the location where she was attacked by the mutated parasite.

In the depths of the night in the mountains, Xiang Kun has his own ways of discerning directions. He doesn’t need smartphone navigation or to flip through paper maps. Coupled with his ability to climb and leap on any terrain, he arrived by the creek where the “vampire patient” was infected, well before three o’clock in the morning.

Each species of parasite is selective about its host, their unique characteristics determine which hosts they choose.

The traits the separated parasite displayed in the “Vampire Patient” led Xiang Kun to deduce that it had definitely not parasitized humans for the first time, and most likely had completed its evolution and mutation in other human hosts.

Due to the way it parasitizes, it’s evident that it not only feeds on the host’s blood but also encourages the host to actively acquire fresh blood. It then absorbs this blood through some form of “connection” to the host’s internal digestive organs.

In Xiang Kun’s view, its goal is likely to parasitize a human who possesses enormous wealth and power. At that point, it can just recline and wait to be “provided for”. It would not have to go through the trouble of “kidnapping” like the “Vampire Patient” did, and hence risking its expulsion.

Xiang Kun suspects that the reason the “mutated parasite” appeared in the creek of Zi Huan Mountain, parasitizing the “Vampire Patient”, was likely due to some unexpected event that changed its parasitic plan. Its previous host might have met their end here.

Alice didn’t find any news about bodies being discovered in Zi Huan Mountain in the past two years. If, as he suspects, the previous host of the “mutated parasite” was buried in Zi Huan Mountain, their body has not yet been found.

Since the “mutated parasite” was found in the water, the body should either be near water or underwater.

Zi Huan Mountain is not like the uninhabited deep forests of Qinling. Even its deeper regions are frequented by tourists and local mountain people. If there was a body that hasn’t been discovered for a long time, it certainly wouldn’t be in easily accessible places.

Of course, it’s also possible that Xiang Kun’s assumptions are wrong. Maybe the “mutated parasite” arrived at Zi Huan Mountain via other non-human hosts, or perhaps its previous human host did not die at all. Similar to the “Vampire Patient”, some unexpected incident might have forced it to temporarily give up on its host.

By four o’clock in the morning, Xiang Kun, who had been swiftly running through the mountains collecting sensory information, had not found the body he speculated to exist. But he suddenly caught whiff of a “familiar” smell – the unique scent of a mutant.