Don't Get Yourself Killed
Xiang Kun started flirting with "August's Kasumi" online on the evening of October 7th, and then arranged to meet at 2 PM on October 8th. He killed Guo Tianxiang at around 1 AM on the 9th, and arrived in Yang City on the 12th.
According to Guo Tianxiang's recollection of Mi Qiao, the female hacker with dreadlocks left around 3 PM on the 8th and boarded a high-speed train back to Yang City.
Under normal circumstances, she would arrive in Yang City before the 9th.
Since she sent the email at 1 a. m. on October 11, it proves that he noticed the police investigation in Yang City on the 9th and 10th, and also realized that "that vampire" had found her location.
Normally, the only other "vampire" that Mi Qiao and Guo Tianxiang knew at the time was Xiang Kun.
Among the memory fragments he retrieved related to Guo Tianxiang and Mi Qiao, no other "vampires" were mentioned.
But Xiang Kun was certain that he was not the one who found Mi Qiao's location; he hadn't even tried.
Could it be that she mistook the police investigation for something she did herself?
No, her first sentence suggests that "that vampire" found her location through the internet. The police investigated Mi Qiao because she was with Guo Tianxiang, noticed her, and then found out her identity. They could have found out from their train travel information and various surveillance videos, so there was no need to go to such lengths.
The reason she concluded it was "that vampire" was likely because the other party tracked her down through some of the ways she contacted Xiang Kun.
All online activities, no matter how well disguised, have the potential to expose the real IP address; it's just a matter of how difficult it is to detect.
When she probed Xiang Kun online, she actually revealed a lot of potential opportunities to trace him. However, Xiang Kun only ensured that his real location would not be found out, and did not make any attempt to "strike," because he was not sure that he would not fall into her trap.
But those "opportunities" were exposed to Xiang Kun; it would be difficult for others to know about them.
Except for one thing...
The answer to the question "What's it like to become a vampire?", from the account "August's Kasumi".
No wonder Xiang Kun found that the question Zhihu had been deleted when he checked it on his way back from Yang City, and even the account "August's Kasumi" was listed as [deleted].
Could it be that another vampire found out Mi Qiao's real location through that question on Zhihu?
Is it possible?
It's possible, but very small.
If it were just checking ordinary users, it wouldn't be so difficult; Zhihu's backend would definitely be able to find the user's IP address. But Mi Qiao herself is a female hacker who frequently commits crimes online, so she wouldn't lack either vigilance or methods to hide her real IP address.
Unless Mi Qiao brings trouble upon herself, Xiang Kun doesn't believe that a lone "hacker" could trace her real address simply through that question.
If, after she returned to Yang City, others Zhihu her on Zhihu under the guise of "vampires," and during the process of testing each other, she was outmatched and fell into their trap, thus exposing her location, then she wouldn't have used the term "that vampire" in the email; instead, she would have said "there are other vampires."
So, another possibility is that this email might be a bait?
Xiang Kun arrived in Yangcheng City on October 12th, and then found police officers outside the building where Guo Tianxiang's clinic was located, as well as outside Mi Qiao's residence in Yang City.
His initial assessment was that Mi Qiao had already fled, which was why the police were still staking out the area.
But what if the police weren't actually staking out Mi Qiao?
She might already be caught and have confessed everything she could. Is this email an attempt to lure Guo Tianxiang back for the police? Because the police believe Guo Tianxiang is aware of their investigation, they're having her mention this in the email to lure him into a false sense of Guo Tianxiang?
Furthermore, she was well aware of Guo Tianxiang's desire and eagerness to find other vampires, so she mentioned "that vampire" in the email as bait?
It seems that the second guess is more likely.
If Mi Qiao has already been arrested, then the police most likely already know about the information she previously investigated and later came into contact with regarding Guo Tianxiang.
It's just unknown whether she has enough evidence to prove Guo Tianxiang's "vampire" identity and convince the authorities of the existence of such a creature.
Of course, it's also possible that the authorities already had some knowledge of this creature.
When the police are investigating Guo Tianxiang, they will certainly also pay attention to Xiang Kun, this "other vampire".
So when Xiang Kun saw this email, two big Chinese characters popped into his mind: Danger!
He naturally didn't reply or make any other probes. After closing his email and clearing all traces, he left wearing a baseball cap, becoming increasingly careful to avoid various surveillance cameras along the way.
Back home, another thought popped into Xiang Kun's mind:
Is there a third possibility?
Although reason told him not to be reckless, as it was clearly very dangerous, his mind was still almost subconsciously thinking, hypothesizing various possibilities, and how he could verify these possibilities through safe means.
He even considered secretly placing a few wooden carvings imbued with "Emotional Injection" at the Yangcheng City to see if he could access the dreams of the investigators. Of course, this idea was rejected in less than half a second, because based on previous experience, even if he happened to place the "Emotional Injection" items in the investigators' rest area and happened to see their dreams, there was a 99% chance they wouldn't be relevant to the specific case under investigation, and it would be difficult to obtain the information he wanted.
In comparison, it would be much better if he found an excuse to sneak in as a food delivery or package deliveryman, and then used his superhuman senses to gather information...
Fortunately, he received a WeChat message in the evening, which temporarily diverted his attention and stopped him from continuing his reckless thoughts.
The WeChat was from "Little Apple," saying that she and her father Li Yang, were planning to visit Xiang Kun's city tomorrow and wanted to see "Gold Glitter" while they were there. She wondered if he was free or at home.
From the moment "Gold Glitter" was brought home, Xiang Kun would often send "Little Apple" its calls and songs. At first, he would discuss "bird language" with her and analyze the meaning of "Gold Glitter's " calls. Later, after he had a pretty good understanding of "Gold Glitter," he simply wanted to satisfy "Little Apple's " love for "Gold Glitter."
Because she often heard "Gold Glitter's" voice and discussed "Gold Glitter's" various behaviors with Xiang Kun, she became particularly interested in this canary. Moreover, she inexplicably felt that the canary Xiang Kun kept was somewhat special in its chirping and singing, seemingly more "emotional" and "sentimental" than other canaries.
Xiang Kun readily agreed and sent his address to Associate Professor Li Yang, inquiring about their usual tastes, preparing to cook for them at home the next day.
He not only frequently consulted "Little Apple" on WeChat about techniques for interpreting bird calls, but also occasionally sought advice from Professor Li Yang on microbiology. Therefore, when the father and daughter came to his city, he was sure to treat them well.
Moreover, he knew very well how much "Little Apple" loved "Gold Glitter" and would definitely want to hear "Gold Glitter's" call and touch its feathers.
To put it bluntly, if one day he knew he was about to die, when he was making his final arrangements, he would definitely give "Gold Glitter" to "Little Apple," because he knew that "Little Apple" knew how to take good care of it and would take good care of it.