Chapter 280 - Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Old Xia’s Dinner

Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Old Xia’s Dinner

Translator: 549690339

Although their investigation team only seemed to have six people, they actually had many resources they could call upon behind the scenes and many people provided their support.

The news about the large bird was obtained by Ye Chong, who was responsible for logistics and information support, from his colleague.

This news was actually obtained from the internet. Earlier that day, a tourist in the vicinity of the Wushu Mountain Scenic Area captured a photo of a “large bird” in the nearby woods and uploaded it to a social media platform.

The Divine Technology’s secret department’s information collection mechanism, after analyzing the location, time, and content of the photo, sent it to Ye Chong and his team.

The photo was rather blurry, capturing only the faint image of a large bird about to fly over a mountain. However, there was a rather detailed textual description on the social media platform that could aid understanding. Just by looking at the photo alone, it was impossible to discern any shocking or unusual aspects. After all, the bird was far away, and its visual impact could not be fully appreciated.

But when Fang Pingfang, Ye Chong, and others saw the image, they quickly determined through reference objects nearby the “large bird” in the photo had a wingspan of over three meters, which was indeed very massive.

At first glance, a wingspan of over three meters might not seem like much. After all, among the Anseriformes and Falconiformes, many birds have wingspans close to two meters, and among the Sphenisciformes and Albatross families, quite a few birds routinely exceed the three-metre wingspan. For instance, the wandering albatross has an average wingspan of over three meters, and the largest can reach up to 3.7 meters.

But this is not coastal area. Normally, birds that nest and breed around Wushu Mountain wouldn’t have such large body sizes. Since “Mr. Liang” had temporarily set up this team to investigate this matter, this large bird naturally was the most “conspicuous” target requiring investigation.

On the way to the location where the tourist shot the big bird, Mijoe said admiringly to Zhou Rui, “I’m really amazed that you noticed the ant situation. That’s truly impressive!” At least, she herself would never have considered it.

Zhou Rui said somewhat sheepishly, “I keep ants myself, so no matter where I go, I pay special attention to the ants of that place.”

Under normal circumstances, he also would not have noticed the ants on Wushu Mountain. After all, it was winter and ants seldom move around outside. It was because he saw a big worker ant, a species that he had been keeping, that he thought it suspicious and decided to get to the bottom of it. But thinking about it now, he began to wonder, where did that ant he saw go? He even began to doubt whether he’d actually seen that ant. Otherwise, he should have been able to locate it given where it was at the time.

Because of this, he did not tell Fang Pingfang, Mijoe and the others about his sighting of the large worker ant.

“The ecological conditions of Wushu Mountain might have changed, resulting in the migration of ant colonies. But we only checked a small part of the area just now, so we can’t rush to conclusions. We will need to come back for a more comprehensive investigation. The emergence of this big bird is likely due to environmental changes on Wushu Mountain, possibly triggering some mutations, which led to its large size.” Fang Pingfang pondered and said.

Mijoe hesitated for a moment before suggesting, “I think we should first find that ‘large bird’. Having a live specimen will likely benefit our ongoing investigations.”

After joining the secret department of Divine Technology, she quickly found out that the majority of people in the department were not aware of the existence of “blood-eating creatures”. A minority, such as Fang Pingfang, Zhou Rui and others, only knew they were investigating and researching some clearly abnormal events or creatures.

For instance, even though this was not the first field investigation for Fang Pingfang, Zhou Rui, Li Shibao and others, their thought processes were still quite conservative, considering a wider range of perspectives, directions and possibilities. Unlike her, who immediately assumed that the creatures in Ye Chong’s “big bird” and “little bird” stories were “blood-eating creatures”.

She thought, if the creature that caused the tourist to fall off the cliff was not a “blood-eating creature”, Mr. Liang wouldn’t have had her, who had been studying in QiCheng City, hastily reassigned here, nor would he have asked Dr. Fang from An Tie Town to lead the team.

Hearing her words, Fang Pingfang looked over and asked thoughtfully, “Did ‘Mr. Liang’ tell you anything before you came?”

This short-haired girl is a known confidant of “Mr. Liang”. Fang Pingfang inferred from their previous conversation that this girl should know a lot of information that she does not know. At least regarding the matter they were investigating, she must have a deeper or comprehensive understanding, perhaps it was something “Mr. Liang” told her.

“Not really. I just gave some of my suggestions, the final decision is up to you,” Mijoe said.

She didn’t know why “Mr. Liang” would not reveal the situation about the “blood-eating creatures” to core researchers and investigators like Fang Pingfang, or let them know what they were really investigating and tracking. But she knew that “Mr. Liang” had his reasons for this. Perhaps Dr. Fang and the research staff, with their diverse perspectives, could uncover more information such as the cause of the mutation of the “blood-eating creatures”. So she chose to not voice her thoughts too directly.

Fang Pingfang pondered for a moment and said, “Then let’s first check out the place where the ‘giant raptor’ appeared before we make any plans.”

Whether it was on the way to Jianzhou City, in the villa last night, or today at the Wushu Mountain Scenic Area, when discussing the giant raptor, strange little birds, and ants, images related to the rabbit wood carving, the cave in the Qinling uninhabited area, and the anomalies that occurred in “Laboratory No.9” would occasionally cross Fang Pingfang’s mind.

Just as Mijoe felt that “Mr. Liang” had her join the investigation team to visit Wushu Mountain because there might be “blood-eating creatures” there, Fang Pingfang also believed that there was a reason “Mr. Liang” had her lead this investigation team. The incidents here may be related to the rabbit wood carving and the creatures in the Qinling uninhabited area.

“Dr. Fang, if we’re going to find the ‘big bird’, should we apply for a drone team?” Li Shibao asked.

“We’ll discuss that later,” Doctor Fang replied.

Under normal circumstances, the personnel and equipment that they used last time to enter the Qinling uninhabited area are standard. It was the proper configuration for the formal investigation team.

And the six of them are considered pre-study information collectors and confirmers. It’s just that their statuses are high for such roles. If they were a formal investigation team, their overall equipment and technical support would be too casual. It felt like this team was cobbled together on a whim by “Mr. Liang”.

For the whole day, Xiang Kun and his friends were playing in the scenic area, visiting various famous sights. Lunch was arranged by You Meng, who drove them 30 minutes from the scenic area to a nearby village.

It wasn’t until after 5 o’clock in the afternoon that they returned to Tongshi Town.

“Old Ji, how much does Brother Chu pay you a month? Why don’t you come over and work as my driver when I manage a business in Tongshi Town?” Xiang Kun jokingly asked before saying goodbye to Ji Hang and Xu Kai.

Although these two were playing the role of drivers while undertaking other tasks, they were indeed competent drivers. At least they drove steadily and rarely braked sharply or accelerated abruptly. They anticipated well on the road, making their passengers quite comfortable. Also, their words and actions when handling tasks were considerate and appropriate.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Xiang, President Chu treats me very well, and I am now cooperating with him. If you return to develop a business in the province in the future, maybe we could have other opportunities to cooperate.” Before parting ways, Ji Hang also used a rather tactful manner to state his actual circumstances, to avoid any suspicion or displeasure that might arise from Xiang Kun discovering he was not Chu Xiuwen’s hired driver when they met again.

Today was their last day in Tongshi Town. Just like their first day, the dinner was prepared by Xiang Kun and You Meng. It was still held in the “Youlong Restaurant”.

The ingredients they needed were already prepared in the morning by someone they had arranged. They just had to fetch them when needed.

Some insights he gained while chatting with Old Xia in the morning led Xiang Kun to make some changes to their dinner. Instead of preparing the meal with a balance of everyone’s tastes factored in, Xiang Kun decided to design every dish with Xia Libing’s taste in mind.

This adjustment was not likely to be noticed by others. Even You Meng, who, as a chef, following Xiang Kun’s orders in the kitchen, simply thought that Xiang Kun serving a different flavor tonight hinted at the trial of different cooking methods and styles. After all, the ingredients for tonight’s dinner differed greatly from their meal on the 17th when they just arrived in Tongshi Town. There was not a single rabbit meat dish.

Even Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona, who knew Xia Libing well, only had a hunch that the Crispy Pig’s Elbow was made for Old Xia when they saw the array of dishes being served.

While all dishes were catered to Old Xia’s taste, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be delectable for others. Overall, the dishes were still culinary delights, and some even found it even more delicious than the meal on the first night.

Perhaps the only one who might notice was Xia Libing herself.

Throughout the dinner, Xiang Kun’s attention was fixed on Xia Libing. Although the black circle graffiti and the lyrics written in calligraphy were locked away in her bag in the hotel room, inaccessible for real-time sensation through the two “Emotionally Infused” items, Xiang Kun could still infer Xia Libing’s emotional changes by observing her at close range.

With every bite she took, Xia Libing’s eyes slightly squinted. Xiang Kun was entirely confident that there was a noticeable emotional change in her, whether be it joy or satisfaction, or some other emotion.

The truth was, he had noticed these subtle emotional changes in Old Xia during several past dining experiences. But he didn’t find it odd back then, because compared to the strong emotional changes shown by others at the table such as Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona, Old Xia was as always, very calm.

Only later did he realize that for Xia Libing, such emotional shifts during meals were not ordinary at all.

After all, whether she was achieving a straight flush in Texas poker, winning a hand full of bombs in Fight the Landlord, or encountering physical conflict with human traffickers, Xia Libing displayed no such drastic changes in her physical reactions or emotions.

Xia Libing telling him in the morning that she only dreamed about food indicated that eating presents a viable emotional “switch” for Old Xia.

True enough, as she partook in the tailor-made meal specific to her tastes and preferences during the dinner, Xia Libing indeed exhibited emotional changes that were palpable to Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun planned to send Xia Libing a pair of chopsticks upon returning, just before the Blood-drinking Period.

The Emotional Infusion in the chopsticks would come from the sensation shared by Little Fatty Girl during eating, the anticipation and enjoyment of food. He would then use it as a means to stimulate and trigger Xia Libing’s dreamland.

If he succeeded in triggering her dreams and enter her dreamland, witnessing what she sees and feeling what she feels would potentially give Xiang Kun the much-needed insight to comprehend the extreme rational and indifferent sensation he felt from Old Xia.

After dinner, even though Tang Baona proposed a game of Werewolf, and Zhang Qian wanted to continue with the 5v5 game of Glory of Kings, Xiang Kun excused himself, saying he needed to see Liu Caifu for some matters. The Glory of Kings game couldn’t continue; even though Liang Yulong could fill for Xiang Kun, without him, You Meng had no confidence to play with four newbies against Zhang Qian’s team. Therefore, the ten of them opted for Werewolf instead.

Although Xiang Kun used Liu Caifu as an excuse, his main intention was to explore the place where the “big bird” appeared before leaving Tongshi Town.

But before heading to Wushu Mountain, Xiang Kun did meet up with Liu Caifu in a tea shop situated in the town. Director Liu did want to see him, to discuss the details of the cooperation they previously talked about in Chongyun Village.

Xiang Kun simply informed him about the current situation and reassured him not to worry about anything. As for the development of Chongyun Village, he had a follow-up investment plan in mind.

Past ten o’clock, Xiang Kun bid Liu Caifu goodbye and drove out of Tongshi Town toward Wushu Mountain.

When Mijoe and Fang Pingfang found out about the location where the “big bird” was spotted from Ye Chong, Xiang Kun, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, naturally knew about it as well.

In Xiang Kun’s estimation, the “mutated big bird” was probably hunting the “mutated ant” in Wushu Mountain. If it had succeeded in its hunt, it should have left the area replete with human activities after a brief period of sleep and mutation, as per the normal expectation.

However, the bird didn’t leave. On the contrary, it reappeared within human sight two days later, and its pictures were taken. Based on Xiang Kun’s judgment, it probably didn’t catch its prey. The “mutated ant” possibly escaped successfully, but the bird was not willing to give up and was still on a relentless search.

Similar to the previous night, Xiang Kun parked his car quite a distance away from Wushu Mountain Scenic Area and proceeded on foot.

The area where the tourists spotted and captured pictures of the big bird today was quite a distance away from the main peak of the Wushu Mountain where the accident of the 18th had taken place.

After swift passage through the forest for a while, Xiang Kun noticed something unusual before he could even reach that point.

In the Infrared thermographic vision mode, a cluster of blue spots stood perfectly still amidst the trees in the far-off forest.

Without a doubt, it was a mutant.

Xiang Kun did not approach it immediately, as he had noticed something else.

I recommend an excellently written martial arts novel, “Catch the Knife”.