The trail went cold again when it reached Zhang Jin'an, but it wasn't a complete loss.
Since "August's Kasumi" spent 0.3 Bitcoin to invite someone to "Long Time No See Cafe," it proves that the person definitely came; otherwise, the money would have been wasted.
The woman in blue's line, "What you want to know is all in **town," was just a casual remark and not important. Their previous online chat should have shown that Xiang Kun wouldn't be someone lured to **town by such simple words.
The other party invited someone to the appointment, but their ultimate goal was to confirm Xiang Kun's identity and find him in person.
He would definitely be watching the meeting closely, and he would make sure that when Xiang Kun actually appeared, he could see Xiang Kun, and even be able to Xiang Kun.
The most likely location is a coffee shop.
Although Xiang Kun didn't enter the coffee shop, he knew the people in the coffee shop very well, and you could even say he knew everything about the creatures in the coffee shop.
There were already seven customers inside the coffee shop when the woman in blue entered. Before each of them entered, Xiang Kun had "observed" them to make sure there was no unusual smell and had also made a simple judgment about their identities.
Five of the seven people left before 2:30, while the remaining two were still there when the woman in blue left. However, these two were seriously playing the game PUBG, and judging from their conversation, they were students from a local university, so there was nothing suspicious about them.
Thirteen customers entered the coffee shop after the woman in blue entered, but only one remained in the coffee shop after she left. They, too, showed no unusual behavior.
Xiang Kun quickly reviewed in his mind all the information he had gathered from his observations of these people, trying to see if he had missed anything, not only the customers in the coffee shop, but also everyone he had observed around him.
Fortunately, there have been several targeted training sessions with increased intensity during this period, which has strengthened the brain's processing capabilities in this area after the blood-drinking mutation. Otherwise, with such a high level of brain activity, two weeks ago, I would have started feeling dizzy again.
Xiang Kun suddenly stopped in his tracks, realizing a misconception in his thinking.
He had always overestimated "August's Kasumi," expecting him to be at his peak in terms of both technical skills and various evolutionary abilities as a vampire. Therefore, many of his predictions were in that direction.
But what if the other party isn't actually as strong as you think?
Xiang Kun put himself in the shoes of "August's Kasumi":
I am a vampire. Whether it's because I want to drink the blood of Mutated Creature or simply because I want to meet a partner, I made an answer on Zhihu, set up a "bait", and even hacked an account to create the persona of a newbie vampire girl.
But the person I "fished" was a slippery character. Not only did he use an alias, making it impossible to track him, but he was also like an iron turtle, seeing through my persona and being extremely wary and telling all sorts of lies. In the end, I finally managed to arrange a face-to-face meeting, but it had to be at a time and place he set for himself.
This guy isn't telling the truth at all, so I have a hard time figuring out his strength, whether he's alone, has other helpers, or is even trying to bait me.
I need to be cautious. I need to confirm his identity and ensure his safety before I make a move. I can't expose myself prematurely.
I posted a task on the dark web and found a local in ** city to help me hire someone to meet them, while I observe from the sidelines. But meeting directly in a coffee shop is too dangerous; I need a safer method.
By the way, I'm a hacker. I can hack into the coffee shop's network equipment and surveillance system in advance. I can observe the people in the coffee shop through my computer screen, and I can also monitor the mobile devices connected to the coffee shop's Wi-Fi. If necessary, I can find a way to hack them and spy on the information inside.
If someone comes to meet the bait I hired, I need to determine if he is the slippery vampire. If he is, I will secretly follow him and try to devour him or confirm his identity.
Xiang Kun slapped the back of his head with some annoyance through his baseball cap; his previous way of thinking had been a bit too narrow-minded.
He walked towards the "Long Time No See Cafe," believing that "August's Kasumi" must have realized she'd been stood up after the woman in blue left, and had angrily left, so it was unlikely she would stay any longer.
The most direct way to hack into a coffee shop's network equipment is naturally to connect to their Wi-Fi, so they should initially be within Wi-Fi coverage. Of course, they could also use other mobile devices connected to Wi-Fi as stepping stones, but time is too tight and they might not have enough time. However, once hacked, they wouldn't need to rely on the coffee shop's signal anymore; they could use other network signals to connect to the coffee shop's equipment via the internet, thus eliminating distance limitations.
However, their target was the person meeting the woman in blue at the coffee shop, so they couldn't stray too far from the coffee shop, otherwise they wouldn't have time to follow or take any other actions.
During the day, Xiang Kun was caught in a mental trap, judging the area of observation based on his own direct sensory areas, assuming that the other party would also choose a location where they could directly observe the coffee shop visually, aurally, or olfactorily.
But now it seems that the other party is likely more cautious than he thought, and has no intention of using his senses to observe directly at all.
Of course, this is still just speculation from another direction for Xiang Kun, and it still needs to be proven.
If the goal is to monitor the situation, the other party will most likely be carrying a computer. While it's not entirely impossible to operate a mobile phone, most hackers trust and are more accustomed to using computers, especially given the tight timeframe given by Xiang Kun.
When you have a laptop, it's best to find a relatively secluded place where you won't be disturbed.
The best spot would be in a car parked on the side of the road, but this is a pedestrian street, and the nearest parking spot is still some distance away, making it difficult to get to the coffee shop as soon as you've located your target.
Xiang Kun immediately identified the area he wanted to search: the shops behind "Long Time No See Cafe".
His first choice was the restaurants. He went into each one and told the waiters on his phone that he was looking for someone. Then he went to the more secluded corners and took a few deep sniffs to check for any unusual smells.
He speculated that if "August's Kasumi" were watching the surveillance video on a computer, she certainly wouldn't want others to easily spy on her, so she would definitely find a relatively secluded corner to sit in. In any case, no matter which angle the windows of this shop are from, it's impossible to see "Long Time No See Cafe" – which is why Xiang Kun didn't focus his observations on this area from the beginning.
But after visiting seven stores, they couldn't smell anything unusual.
Xiang Kun couldn't help but wonder if this direction was still wrong?
Or is the other party actually operating from a more distant location?
Of course, it's also possible that too much time has passed and the scent has completely dissipated, becoming so faint that even Xiang Kun's nose couldn't detect it. After all, the other party may have left four or five hours ago, and there are too many interfering scents in these places.
Or perhaps the person behind "August's Kasumi" isn't a vampire at all, but just one or a group of ordinary humans who somehow learned about many characteristics and secrets of "vampires."
In fact, before deciding to come here, Xiang Kun was indifferent to whether he could uncover the true identity of "August's Kasumi".
But now, returning empty-handed, he felt somewhat unwilling.