What It's Like Being a Vampire

The next morning, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an rushed to the hospital to visit Old Man Du, who was reportedly once painted the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Monster” while in prison.

The hospital where Old Man Du was treated as an outpatient was, of course, designated by the prison. However, looking at the environment of his single room and the equipment within it, as well as the professional caregiver who worked there, it was clear he had spent a considerable amount of money on his care.

Wang De’an quietly questioned his partner, “I was looking at the documents last night and it said his ill-gotten gains had been confiscated and that he had no family.”

Zhao Feng replied, “I’ll go and ask,” before turning to the caregiver who was clearly not part of the hospital staff to inquire.

The caregiver was straightforward, explaining that the money was being paid by one of Mr. Du’s foster sons, who was previously his cellmate in prison.

“A cellmate? A foster son?” Zhao Feng furrowed his brows, asking the caregiver for the contact information and name of the “foster son”, then forwarding it to the information collection department for them to investigate.

Zhao Feng and Wang De’an entered the ward and sat down by Old Man Du’s bed, quietly saying, “Mr. Du, hello. We are journalists from ‘International New Perspectives’. Has the hospital staff informed you? We would like to interview you.”

Old Man Du, lying on the hospital bed, barely kept his eyes open. He looked very weak. The caregiver advised by his side, “Please try to be quick. Don’t stay too long.”

After acknowledging the caregiver, Zhao Feng leaned over slightly and got closer to Old Man Du’s ear, asking, “Mr. Du, how are you feeling?”

Old Man Du moved his eyeballs to look at him, giving a small smile, “I’m about to die, but I should be able to handle you guys. As for interviews, I’m just an old fraud, probably unable to provide any sensational news.”

Zhao Feng found it strange. Although Old Man Du indeed looked critically ill and very weak, his voice was very small and slightly shaky. But he surprisingly gave off a calm and steady impression.

“Here it is, I’m not sure if you’ve been following the news. In early March, a large-scale collective illusion event occurred in Myitkyina, Burma. Witnesses from a few blocks saw a giant illusion, a very large creature with many arms and eyes, walk through the middle of the city and then disappear. Everyone who saw it was immediately shocked and scared, and many people were mentally affected, even changing the course of their lives.”

As Zhao Feng spoke, he kept observing Old Man Du’s facial expression.

He noticed that when he described the multi-armed, multi-eyed giant illusion, Old Man Du’s expression showed subtle but clear changes.

He glanced at Wang De’an, who understood and took out a tablet, scrolling to the hand-drawn sketch of the Eight-armed, eight-eyed giant illusion that had appeared several times in the news.

Upon seeing it, Old Man Du instantly opened his eyes wide, raised his neck slightly, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to sit up.

If someone were to take a photo of Old Man Du at this moment and post it online, they would probably caption it with things like, “Grandpa, the game you’ve been waiting for has finally been released!” or “Quick, help Grandpa up!” and spread it around as a popular meme.

Zhao Feng quickly put a pillow behind Old Man Du’s head to elevate it a bit. He then took the tablet from Wang De’an, held it closer, and while showing him the sketch he said:

“Sir, have you seen the thing depicted in this image before? The reason we came here is because we heard that you once painted something similar in prison. Do you still have that painting? Could you show it to us?”

Old Man Du didn’t answer, but stared at the painting on the tablet, catching his breath before responding, “Tell me about that… M-Meen…”

“Myitkyina.”

Old Man Du said, “Tell me about the event in Myitkyina. How did it happen?”

Both Zhao Feng and Wang De’an were prepared for this question and directly played a clip of a Chinese news story that explained the incident in the clearest possible terms for Old Man Du.

While observing Old Man Du’s reaction, Zhao Feng supplemented, “At the time of the incident, Myitkyina was in midst of a riot. The appearance of the giant illusion stopped the riot and, in a sense, saved many lives.”

From the information he had seen last night, descriptions of Old Man Du’s behavior in prison, and his recent reactions, Zhao Feng surmised Old Man Du’s stance regarding the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant Illusion” and deliberately presented it in a positive light – though, what he said was indeed the truth.

As expected, upon hearing this, Old Man Du started laughing: “Very normal, very normal… ”

However, his laughter soon turned into a violent cough, prompting the caregiver standing by the door to rush over.

After a while, Old Man Du looked at Zhao Feng: “You want to… know from me… where it came from?”

“You have seen this thing before, right? Can you tell us where you saw it?” Zhao Feng asked.

Old Man Du looked at the ceiling and let out a sigh, “In a dream.”

“A dream?” Zhao Feng was taken aback. He exchanged a glance with Wang De’an. Both of them immediately thought of the time when Zhao Feng found the body hidden deep in Zi Huan Mountain using dream guidance.

“Could you tell us… what kind of dream you had? Was there any difference in the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant in your dream compared to this picture? It would be even better if you have a drawing you made before.” Zhao Feng continued to ask.

With difficulty, Old Man Du turned his neck to look at Zhao Feng’s face and suddenly asked, “Have you dreamt of it too?”

Zhao Feng was slightly surprised, and asked without thinking, “How did you know?”

Old Man Du started laughing again with difficulty, taking heavy breaths. After a while, he said, “I know you all want… you all want to find it, but that… is meaningless… ”

Old Man Du’s voice became much quieter, but his lips were still moving. So Zhao Feng leaned in closer, bending down to hear what Old Man Du was saying in his faint voice.

“…Fear reveals the true self… follow your heart… death is not the end… don’t be afraid… submit to it… submit to yourself…”

Just as he was saying this, Old Man Du suddenly started gasping for air, seemingly having difficulty breathing. The caregiver rushed over immediately, visually assessed the situation, and quickly pressed the call button for the doctor.

Naturally, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an were asked to leave the room while they waited outside.

The two of them were a little worried. They certainly didn’t want their visit to directly result in Old Man Du’s death.

After a while, the doctor came out. Upon inquiry, they learned that Old Man Du’s condition had stabilized for the time being, but he was indeed critically ill and wouldn’t live much longer. They were also advised not to bring up topics that would stimulate his emotions, or there might be dangerous consequences.

So, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an had to return to the hotel. Given what the doctor said, they won’t be granted another meeting anytime soon.

“Did you record what he said?” Wang De’an asked.

“I did, but his voice was so low that it might not have recorded clearly. Let’s see if the technicians can enhance it. But he only said a few sentences, I remember them all.” Zhao Feng replied.

“Fear reveals the true self, follow your heart, death is not the end, don’t be afraid.” Zhao Feng repeated. His dream, where he discovered the body by following the guidance of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant, was indeed a ‘dream within a dream’ induced by Old Xia and Xiang Kun. However, the object used to invoke the dream was not the eight-armed, eight-eyed wooden carving, so he wasn’t affected by the projection of fear in his dream. Hearing this sentence didn’t evoke a deep resonance in him, like it did in Qi Haoguo previously.

Wang De’an laughed: “I almost shouted ‘Oli give’ along with him. Old Man Du indeed has a mysterious way of speaking. It’s no wonder he used to swindle people with all his tricks. Could he be deliberately trying to manipulate us? Or does he have some ulterior motive? But the keywords in what he said do align with the experiences of people we’ve met before who’ve seen the eight-armed, eight-eyed monster or giant illusion.”

“Either tomorrow or the day after, let’s try to apply for another meeting with Old Man Du and ask him directly when and where he dreamt of the eight-armed, eight-eyed monster, and what exactly he dreamt about.” Zhao Feng suggested.

However, in the afternoon of the same day, they received news that Old Man Du’s condition had suddenly worsened. He had fallen into a coma and was transferred to the ICU; it looked like he would not make it much longer.

The two of them rushed to the hospital and asked the caregiver when Old Man Du’s “adoptive son” would arrive. But they were told that he was busy and couldn’t make it, although they need not worry about the medical expenses.

“This ‘adoptive son’ doesn’t seem to be very dutiful, huh? Since he was in prison with Old Man Du, he might know something. Should we try to talk to him?” Wang De’an quietly suggested in the hospital corridor.

Zhao Feng thought for a moment, and then shook his head: “It might be better to investigate what happened to Old Man Du before he surrendered and was imprisoned. We might be able to find something that prompted his dreams.”

However, Wang De’an didn’t quite agree, “There doesn’t necessarily have to be a triggering event. Look at the various cases we’ve investigated before. Did any of them have a clear triggering event? Most of them just happened suddenly. Before you had the dream of the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant guiding you to the corpse cave, did you have any clear premonition? If we have to point to some kind of triggering event, at most it would only be his criminal behavior. If that could help us find the cause, we would have found something during our investigation of the previous two cases.”

“True.” Zhao Feng pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

Wang De’an said: “To be honest, if Old He hadn’t found us and we hadn’t discovered that the government and the Eight-armed Eight-eyed Illusion were unrelated, based only on our investigation in Burma, I would have thought that this was some kind of secret technology developed by our government. I mean, that illusion appeared twice in just 24 hours in Burma. The first time it appeared, it rescued a kidnapped Chinese citizen, and most of those affected were fugitives from our country. The second time, it indirectly prevented an anti-Chinese riot in Myitkyina, and the real mastermind behind the kidnapping case was killed by his own men during this incident. If that Eight-armed Eight-eyed illusion had a nationality, I believe it would definitely be Chinese.”

Indeed, before Old He found them and they became members of the “Abnormal Research Center” and the secret department of “Divine Technology”, they had various unconvincing speculations about the Eight-armed Eight-eyed Illusion.

For example, perhaps someone, for some special reason, became aware of another dimension and became another kind of existence, full of a sense of justice, would want to help when seeing injustice, but unable to directly influence the real world, could only provide assistance through psychological influences, creating illusions, or dream invocations.

Therefore, those who were affected by the illusion were basically individuals related to crime – either criminals, victims, or law enforcement officers.

Zhao Feng pondered: “I think those affected individuals weren’t chosen randomly. There must be some reasons, especially that kidnapping case in Burma. When the kidnappers saw the illusion, they were at sea. In this world, where evil deeds happen every moment, why would it specifically appear at that time, on that ship?”

“Indeed,” Wang De’an speculated, “according to the timeline, the illusion appeared on the kidnappers’ ship earlier than the mass hallucination in Myitkyina. If the Eight-armed Eight-eyed Illusion really came from our country and was really controlled by a sentient entity, travelling all the way to Burma might have a purpose, perhaps to save someone.”

“What was the name of the person who was kidnapped? He should be back in China now, right? Let’s find him and have a detailed chat.” Zhao Feng suggested.

…

Originally, the plan was for Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er to have another meeting with Zhang Qian in the afternoon, and then leave Peng City and return to Chongyun Village.

But at noon, Zhang Qian mentioned that her grandfather Zhang Hongpu, the chairman of Zhang Corporation, happened to be in Peng City today. She wanted to have dinner with him and chat.

Xiang Kun’s blood-drinking period was estimated to be tomorrow afternoon to evening, so remaining an extra night wouldn’t be a problem, and he agreed.

He guessed that Old Master Zhang Hongpu’s visit to Peng City was most likely for him. It would have been unlikely for Zhang Qian to have mobilized so many resources during that time without Zhang Hongpu’s support.

Of course, if his blood-drinking period turned out to be tonight, then he would only apologize to the old master Zhang — he believed that such minor disrespect would not have a big impact on the potential for huge future benefits.

That evening, the dinner was held at the same classical mansion-style restaurant where he had met Zhang Chu before.

Zhang Hongpu, as well as the Zhang Corporation, preferred to keep a low profile, and so there wasn’t much information about him on the internet. But since Alice had previously collected quite a lot of information and data, Xiang Kun was not entirely ignorant about this old man.

Zhang Hongpu was a tall and spirited old man, his face was always filled with a kindly smile. He didn’t show any airs towards Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er and was very friendly.

“Mr. Xiang, I’ve heard of your name before and I’d always wanted to meet you. However, my old arms and legs are not as good as before, and I haven’t been traveling far in past years. So it is only today that I have the opportunity to meet you. You are both talented and physically sturdy, Mr. Xiang, ha-ha.” As soon as he met Xiang Kun, Zhang Hongpu patted him on the shoulder and complimented him, half-jokingly.

If it were the Xiang Kun before his mutation, when meeting such an influential man, he would surely get very nervous, afraid of saying something wrong — of course, if he was still the man he used to be, he wouldn’t have attracted such attention from Zhang Hongpu that he would painstakingly invite him to dine.

But now, upon meeting Zhang Hongpu, Xiang Kun instinctively started analyzing the related sensory information. He even “scanned” the old man’s physical condition unconsciously.

“Chairman, you praise me too much. If I had known earlier that you wanted to meet me, I would have visited sooner,” responded Xiang Kun. He wore a sincere smile that perfectly matched his technocrat persona.

Zhang Hongpu greeted and mentioned Tang Baona’s grandfather, Mr. Feng, and Yang Zhen’er’s father, Yang Kuoyan. He had met the former many years ago and though he hadn’t met the latter, the Zhang Corporation had business dealings with the pharmaceutical factory where Kuoyan worked, providing a basis for their introduction.

Zhang Hongpu behaved like a kind elder. His greetings and few words warmed up the atmosphere and eased the tense nerves of Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er.

After taking a seat, Tang Baona who sat next to Xiang Kun couldn’t help but whisper while Zhang Hongpu was instructing Zhang Qian to make some adjustments in the dishes for later, “I initially thought that Chairman Zhang would be more serious and rigid, but it turns out he is rather approachable.”

Indeed, through the external reporting of Zhang Corporation’s operations and the remarks about Zhang Hongpu that occasionally slipped out when she was in contact with Zhang Qian in the past, it was easy for people to perceive the head of the Zhang Corporation as a rather unreachable and strict elder.

Xiang Kun smiled and replied softly, “Probably because this is a private occasion, he treats us as peers to Zhang Qian.”

Actually, through his observation of Zhang Hongpu, Zhang Qian, and the persons accompanying Zhang Hongpu, it could be inferred that this old man was quite authoritative in the eyes of both subordinates and the Zhang family. Especially Zhang Qian, who was obviously more cautious in her speech and actions than usual.

Now they were looking at the spring-like benevolent side of Zhang Hongpu, but there was definitely also a thunderous side to the old man.

During the greetings, the old man’s eyes were full of smiles, but they were also assessing Xiang Kun. From the comprehensive analysis of sensory information, Xiang Kun believed that the old man had no preconceived likes or dislikes for him; curiosity was the more dominant feeling.

And judging from his knowledge regarding Tang Baona’s grandfather and Yang Zhen’er’s father, it was likely he had basic information about the three of them prior to the gathering, or even earlier, and he must not be unfamiliar with Xiang Kun’s background and experience.

During the meal and conversation, Zhang Hongpu didn’t inquire about the specific business operations, business services, or company products of Zhang Qian, Xiang Kun, and Tang Baona. He didn’t even mention the game they were creating, which is already well-known and promising for the future. Instead, he chatted about some trivial matters, occasionally talking about the development of the Internet and mobile networks as well its impact on the real economy and traditional business models.

From these seemingly unrelated topics and conversations, Xiang Kun quickly managed to grasp Zhang Hongpu’s true intentions.

Normally speaking, although Genesis of Voice is doing well and almost certain to generate decent revenue in the future, in comparison to the whole Zhang Corporation, it was not yet significant enough to attract the attention of Zhang Hongpu.

However, from Zhang Hongpu’s words, Xiang Kun detected the old man’s concern for the traditional business development of the Zhang Corporation. He intended to gradually shift the corporation’s focus and explore opportunities in emerging industries such as the Internet. With Zhang Qian’s successful development of Genesis of Voice, the old man was probably contemplating whether to use this as a breakthrough and give a large amount of power and resources to Zhang Qian and put the responsibility on her shoulders.

And the most important partner of Zhang Qian’s “Rising Dragon Entertainment” now is “QianKun Technology”, or rather, Xiang Kun himself. Zhang Qian might have previously “painted a grand picture” for her grandfather involving Xiang Kun, leaving him greatly impressed. But their cooperation mode was extremely unusual, so the old man may want to meet Xiang Kun in person.

After making a rough judgement on Zhang Hongpu’s intentions, Xiang Kun naturally knew how to “pander to his preferences” and went on to “paint a grand picture” with Zhang Qian.

As for Zhang Hongpu’s investigations into him, Xiang Kun’s response was quite simple – one word, “sincerity”.

He knew that when people try to obtain information, there’s often an inclination and expectation in their hearts. If the information obtained is contrary to this inclination and expectation, even if it is the truth, there would be a natural suspicion and need for verification. But if the obtained information highly conforms to the expectation and inclination, there would be a feeling of “I knew it would be like this”, and they would gladly accept it—even if the information itself would seem nonsensical if looked at separately.

Of course, it was hard for most people to get this process perfect as they usually couldn’t perfectly apprehend and express their own thoughts.

However, through the exchange of words on various topics, Xiang Kun could gauge Zhang Hongpu’s victory response mechanism based on real-time feedback from his physical sensory information. By constantly adjusting and mastering the tiny emotional changes and physiological transformations accompanying certain thought inclinations, Xiang Kun could deliver information that would conform to Zhang Hongpu’s expectations and preferences.

Of course, most of what Xiang Kun said was the truth, just disguised and not fully revealed.

Yet for Zhang Hongpu, it basically answered some of his doubts and established a basic impression and understanding of Xiang Kun in his mind— a very talented young man who was extremely confident and even somewhat arrogant in terms of technology. Although he had the vision and breadth of mind, he wasn’t overly ambitious. He had simplicity and sincerity, valued morality over profit, and was low-key and patient.

This “character setting” was in line with the preliminary judgement he had established through Zhang Qian and other sources. There wasn’t much deviation, so with the passing of time and the increase in exchanges, Zhang Hongpu naturally believed he had roughly fathomed this young bald man’s thoughts.

When they had finished their dinner and moved to a pavilion in the courtyard of the restaurant for tea, everyone was relaxed. Xiang Kun took the opportunity to say, in response to a topic Zhang Hongpu brought up, “In China, the company I admire the most is ‘Divine Technology’. I respect their style of doing technology, always making strides in areas others pay little attention to, and often creating products and inventions similar to mysterious black technologies. What’s more, they are extremely low-key and dedicate themselves to technology. They are not flamboyant. I hope that ‘QianKun Technology’ can become a company like ‘Divine Technology’ in the future.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Kun immediately noticed that Zhang Hongpu’s eyebrows tightened slightly, and Zhang Qian also quickly looked at her grandfather with some nervousness.

Xiang Kun’s words were naturally deliberate. He had heard from Yang Zhuo that Zhang Qian’s grandfather particularly disliked “Divine Technology”. The company that Zhang Chu founded single-handedly was handed over to Zhang Qian by Zhang Hongpu because he had cooperated with “Divine Technology”.

And according to Alice’s investigation, Zhang Hongpu and Lu Cheng’an were of the same age, and they had a lot of contact and even cooperated in their early years. It was possible that they knew some information that was not recorded in the previously secret documents, which could help him solve some doubts. Information that seems ordinary to people unaware of the situation could allow those in the know to infer much more.

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