Various Speculations
From the video, there were some signs of struggle around the wild boar, but they were not obvious.
Given the boar's weight, even if it were shot with a hunting arrow, it certainly wouldn't die immediately. Besides, the wound doesn't appear to be in the heart or brain, so it's not a fatal injury.
It's entirely possible that it became enraged and went berserk due to pain, and the marks it left shouldn't be this small.
Was the arrow that hit it poisoned? And did it act very quickly?
Alternatively, this might not be the initial scene of the wild boar's death. The three anchors hunted the boar, waited until it was completely dead, and then dragged it to this location. This would explain why there was no blood or signs of struggle at the scene.
However, in the wild, without tools, it would be very difficult to drag such a large wild boar, and drag marks would easily be left around it. But judging from the video, no evidence was found to support this conjecture.
Xiang Kun then went to watch other videos by Host Xue and related discussions with netizens.
The Host Xue, and his two companions entered the deep Qinling Uninhabited Zone on October 15. After they came out on the 20th, they uploaded a video of the wild boar, along with several other videos of their exploration of the uninhabited area over the past few days, to a town. They also did a live stream all night, saying that they would go back to explore again to find the "vampire monster" that killed the wild boar.
Xiang Kun watched all the videos of their "adventure" and began to believe that the wild boar was not killed by Host Xue.
Because one of their companions was indeed a wilderness survival expert. Regardless of how professional this expert was, it's certain that he had basic wilderness survival experience. He couldn't possibly be unaware of how dangerous a wild boar of that weight could be. Using that kind of wild boar for "show effects" might not be much better than using a wild rabbit or other smaller animals.
Furthermore, judging from the streamer's comments during the later live broadcast, he was well aware that wild boars are a Class II protected animal in China. Therefore, there was no video of him dismembering or roasting the wild boar. If they really did shoot the wild boar, wouldn't they be afraid of being exposed and getting into trouble by uploading the video?
Underneath their video of the wild boar, there are tons of comments accusing them of "illegally hunting a Class II protected animal," "imprisonment for up to three years or detention," and "spreading the video, especially serious offenses, punishable by five to ten years," even though they clearly stated in the video that they encountered the wild boar carcass by chance.
Or perhaps someone else hunted it and left it there, and they just happened to see it?
Xiang Kun continued watching and discovered that in the live stream video from the night of the 20th, the Host Xue also explained the reason for their "vampire monster" conclusion. It wasn't a random guess; rather, they found no trace of other wild animals around, and the wild boar's blood volume was clearly reduced, yet there was little blood around, as if something had drawn the blood out of the wound.
The Host Xue, said that even the wilderness survival expert who accompanied him had never seen a similar hunting method before, which was indeed very bizarre.
The survival expert was also certain that there were no traces of other humans besides them around the wild boar carcass.
Xiang Kun knew that even if the wild boar carcass wasn't faked by Host Xue, but rather a genuine accidental encounter, they probably didn't truly believe in any "vampire monster." They were simply creating this atmosphere and setting to attract more attention and make the fans more "immersive."
Compared to simply exploring the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, the gimmick of "vampire monsters" is clearly much more attractive.
Otherwise, if they truly believed in a "vampire monster" that could so easily kill wild boars without leaving a trace, they wouldn't have so brazenly re-entered that no-man's-land, disregarding their own lives.
Xiang Kun then checked the news about the discovery of the bodies of the three anchors, Host Xue. Of course, there were no photos of the bodies; it was only mentioned that they had likely hallucinated after accidentally eating some kind of wild poisonous fruit, and eventually got lost in the deep mountains, where they froze and starved to death.
However, the news report mentioned that the search and rescue team first found the outdoor survival expert's handheld GPS, and then it took them a long time to find the three bodies.
So, they threw away the handheld GPS because of hallucinations caused by the poisonous fruit?
We don't know if the specific autopsy results have been released, or if they will be disclosed to the media, or if any abnormalities were found.
Xiang Kun started paying attention to this news because he happened to hear the words "vampire monster".
Upon further investigation, he discovered that this possibility could not be ruled out; perhaps the creature that killed the wild boar or even the three streamers in the no-man's-land really was a "vampire monster."
Moreover, it is highly likely to be Mutated Creature.
Otherwise, it's unlikely there wouldn't be any footprints around the wild boar. Surely the vampire couldn't be hanging upside down from a nearby tree, sucking blood from the boar's wounds with a straw?
Xiang Kun believed that if he could go there in person and find out if there really was a Mutated Creature living there, he would be able to discover it from many details.
He was far more sensitive to the smell of this Mutated Creature than to the smell of other creatures.
From the video of Host Xue and information from various related news reports, Xiang Kun had a basic understanding of which area of Qinling Uninhabited Zone- man's-land Host Xue and his two companions had entered.
Or, could I go and confirm it myself?
Xiang Kun pondered and weighed the matter. Although he couldn't draw any definitive conclusions from these videos, nor did he have any obvious evidence, he vaguely felt that, putting aside the cause of the three streamers' deaths, it was quite possible that the wild boar was hunted by some kind of Mutated Creature living deep in the Qinling Mountains.
Based on the behavior of the Giant Owl and Guo Tianxiang, it can be inferred that after the number of times the blood-drinking mutation occurs reaches a certain level, the Mutated Creature may need the blood of other Mutated Creature to survive.
Although he is far from realizing that rabbit blood cannot meet his blood-drinking needs, it is always necessary to plan ahead.
Furthermore, observing and studying other Mutated Creature can help him find the cause of his own mutation, improve the "Vampire Mutation Model," and obtain more data for research.
Since the official assessment is that the three Host Xue, hallucinated after accidentally eating poisonous fruit and then starved to death in the no-man's-land, there probably aren't many people left there to investigate.
Even if there were still people secretly investigating, Xiang Kun wasn't too worried.
The Yang City police are keeping an eye on Guo Tianxiang's case. Xiang Kun doesn't dare to go to those places anymore because in big cities, no matter how careful he is, how attentive he is, or how many abilities he has, it's difficult to leave no trace and remain completely unnoticed.
However, in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, Xiang Kun's advantage is far greater than that of the rest of the world. He realized this after spending a few days in the forest last time he explored the habitat of the Giant Owl.
No need to eat or drink, no need to worry about supplies, super fast energy recovery, no need to sleep, can be active 24 hours a day, almost no need to rest.
Because he frequently practices "mountain climbing," he has a strong ability to adapt to various terrains, and he is even an expert at climbing trees.
Not to mention its superior sense of smell and hearing compared to any wild animal, as well as its night vision and the infrared thermal imaging visual mode obtained from Guo Tianxiang —the mountains and forests, free from various buildings, are one of the best places for this mode to function.
He can detect other people or creatures in advance, so he can always be one or even several steps ahead of others, giving him a significant advantage whether he is trying to evade or do anything else.
However, although he no longer has a regular office job, he can't just embark on a "spontaneous trip" anytime he wants.
For example, regarding the video that Tang Baona edited for "Youlong Restaurant," they discussed tonight that You Meng would need to provide some additional audio material before the final version is produced. Xiang Kun's involvement is also needed regarding which platform to release it on and how it will be released.
For example, "Alice" needs a guaranteed power supply to her main unit. When Xiang Kun is around, there is a UPS and a small generator equipped with an ATS self-starting device. In the event of a power outage, there is enough time to restore power and there will be no problems. It can at least guarantee that the main unit will not lose power during a power outage of nearly 20 hours. Generally, Xiang Kun sleeps after drinking blood or occasionally goes out, a sudden power outage at home will not pose a threat to "Alice".
However, if he were to be away for several days at a time, this configuration might not be safe enough. He still needed to find a way to see if he could get "Alice" to come up with a solution herself, so that she could break free from her dependence on and binding to this host at the software level.
In addition, he also needs to be prepared for the possibility that his absence might exceed one blood-drinking period, and that he might not be able to return home in time to drink blood, so as to have a contingency plan in place.
The project I'm working on with Director Lin and his team also needs to be explained and arranged. It's normal not to be able to contact him for two days, since it's all written in the contract. But if I can't reach him for more than a week, that's unacceptable, so I have to make arrangements in advance.
Xiang Kun's initial plan was to decide whether to explore the uninhabited Qinling Uninhabited Zone the Host Xue had the accident after the blood-drinking period ended, depending on the actual situation.
On the one hand, this allows him as much time as possible to drink blood, and on the other hand, it gives him the opportunity to establish "Super-Sensory Link" with a few arrows and some tools, as well as make other preparations.
Looking at the time, it was already late at night. Xiang Kun routinely tried to sense the calligraphy of the lyrics he had given to Xia Libing, but still couldn't enter the dream state.
Then Xiang Kun sensed the Minion Wooden Carving by Little Apple and immediately entered a dream that, although he couldn't see any images, was full of "joy".
After giving Little Apple so many "computer lessons" in her dreams recently, Xiang Kun felt that she should relax more in her dreams and let joyful emotions guide her dreams.
What he didn't expect was that this joyful dream was actually Little Apple "teaching" him.
Using her perception from her dream, from her perspective, Xiang Kun can "see" a dozen or so Minions sitting at desks, listening attentively to Little Apple's lesson on the "platform".
What Little Apple taught was actually a stand-up comedy routine. This routine was based on jokes and gags that Xiang Kun told her when he was teaching her computer knowledge, in order to cultivate her interest and help her understand better. It was presented in a "class" format, which added a unique charm to the experience.
Every time Little Apple told a joke, the Minions below would burst into their distinctive laughter, and then she would giggle along with them.
Because the dream is viewed from Little Apple's subjective perspective, Xiang Kun naturally empathizes with her joy and laughter in the dream.
However, after leaving the dream, Xiang Kun found it increasingly hilarious to think about the "stand-up comedy" that Little Apple had created using what he had taught her.
Whether Little Apple had already written the entire stand-up comedy routine while she was awake, or whether she wrote it "subconsciously" in her dream, the execution was surprisingly good, with a beginning and an end. Xiang Kun even listened to the routine in his dream and laughed quite happily. This was all under Little Apple's very special cognitive pattern in her dream, making it a very peculiar experience.
As he was laughing, he suddenly froze, because he suddenly realized that the "Emotional Injection" objects that trigger dreams make the affected person dream with the same emotion injected into the object.
But this dream, this emotion, is ultimately the one being affected.
This is fundamentally different from Xiang Kun's "Emotional Assimilation," which forcibly forces the affected person to have the same emotions and attitudes as Xiang Kun, making them feel what he feels.
The dreams triggered by "Emotional Injection" objects are different for everyone. For example, the same Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving depicts the fear of "becoming what one is supposed to look like," but the dreams seen by Tang Baona's grandfather, Mr. Feng, her uncle, and the people from the consulting firm were all completely different, with entirely different specific patterns and details.
What if... the person being affected never actually experienced the same type of emotion as the "Emotional Injection" item?
Unable to generate emotional resonance, Xiang Kun is naturally unable to be influenced by objects to create dreams, and thus cannot perceive anything.
This situation is unlikely to occur in ordinary people. After all, everyone has emotions and desires, and experiences various feelings. However, after sensing that seemingly emotionless yet extremely indifferent rationality in the van yesterday, Xiang Kun suspected that perhaps Lao Xia had never experienced the emotions infused into that calligraphy, which was why he had been unable to sense and activate her dream.
When Xiang Kun was writing that calligraphy, he had already thought about giving it to Xia Libing. Based on his previous understanding of Xia Libing, he believed that Xia Libing's feelings of "loneliness" were something Lao Xia could easily empathize with.
But now it seems that Lao Xia might not even know what "loneliness" is, and has never experienced the so-called "loneliness" feeling. That's why his calligraphy of lyrics with "loneliness" as an "Emotional Injection" mode couldn't guide Xia Libing into her dream at all.
"Does Lao Xia have some kind of emotional problem?" Xiang Kun pondered, recalling all of Xia Libing.
How can we verify this? Should we try different items with varying emotional patterns to Emotional Injection, or find another opportunity to sense that detached and rational "emotion," or simply ask her directly?
Xiang Kun recalled the medical textbooks he had read before and searched on a search engine to see which diseases might affect a person's mood.
Thanks to the new alliance leader "Charlie Sen Nana", an extra chapter is temporarily added ヾ(ゞ). Thanks to readers Huaxia's Strongest Crying Monster and Yunshang Moxiao for their rewards.