Five Dreams, One Clue

Yang Zhen'er's birthday celebration will be attended by Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Tang Baona's sister Bao Ting, her "future brother-in-law" Gao Yao, and her good friend Qin Ping.

Unfortunately, Lao Xia has to work on New Year's Day and won't be able to come back.

Of course, Yang Zhen'er had "promised" Lao Xia that she would definitely send him pictures and videos to "share" what delicious food was for dinner.

Xiang Kun was still busy in the kitchen alone. It wasn't that Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona were unwilling to help, but rather that they couldn't really help at all and would only disrupt his plans. Zhengyi School, he could handle it by himself, and this time it was much easier than Christmas Eve.

While processing the ingredients, Xiang Kun was also constantly sensing the "Rabbit Woodcarving" and "bone" left deep in the Qinling Mountains.

Based on the emotions he sensed, Xiang Kun was certain that there were at least two people around the "Rabbit Woodcarving".

Having perceived a vast number of emotions, Xiang Kun had already discovered that emotions also have characteristics. Even for the same type of emotion, such as fear—even if the source of fear is the same, there are subtle differences in how different people feel about it. It just requires careful discernment and the establishment of a feature database to detect these differences.

Even with people he knows well, like Tang Baona, he can tell whether the person experiencing the emotion is her just by observing certain specific emotions.

Similarly, one can also discern some aspects of the personality of the person experiencing those emotions from their emotional perceptions of something.

Just as Xiang Kun now senses the same astonished emotions in the two people through the "Rabbit Woodcarving," he imagines the scene and landscape inside the cave, puts himself in their shoes, builds a cognitive model, and draws a judgment that these two people have a stronger psychological endurance than most ordinary people.

Although Xiang Kun's wood carving skills have improved significantly since the beginning, he didn't bring his wood carving tools, which established a "Super-Sensory Link," to the Qinling Uninhabited Zone. The wood he was working with wasn't very suitable either, so he had to use metal arrowheads to carve it. Luckily, he was strong and had good muscle control, which allowed him to carve out the basic shape.

However, the rough appearance of the Rabbit Woodcarving adds a touch of eeriness, primitiveness, and mystery. In the cave environment, with the presence of other animal carcasses, it would likely evoke a stronger emotional response in most people.

Xiang Kun couldn't help but wonder if one of the two people who had come into contact with the wood carving was a "vampire"? Could it be Lu Cheng'an, the founder of "Shenxing Technology"?

However, Xiang Kun ruled out that possibility for the time being. If it were a "vampire," it would likely have other emotions, and relatively speaking, doubt would be the dominant one.

Because Xiang Kun had personally explored most of the area near the cave, he had been to most of the places, and even those he hadn't been to, he had observed from a high vantage point, and could create a basic map of the scene in his mind. Therefore, when using the bones that had established "Super-Sensory Link" for positioning, he could make relatively accurate judgments about its movement trajectory and distance.

Judging from the direction it moved, after being taken out of the cave, it headed directly out of the Qinling Mountains, indicating that it was heading away.

Although we don't know exactly how they found the cave in the cliff face, shouldn't finding the cave mean that the search has made significant progress and the search area should be expanded?

Or have they already realized that the person who left the wood carving wasn't the Mutated Creature that initially killed the wild boar?

But if that's the case, they should still stay and investigate who left the wood carving.

Unless they believe that staying wouldn't uncover anything, how did they come to that conclusion?

Of course, it's also possible that they had two groups: one group transported the contents of the cave back, while the other group stayed behind to continue exploring and searching.

While sensing and pondering, Xiang Kun finished preparing dinner.

There are still three dishes made primarily with rabbit meat—there's no way around it, the number of rabbits consumed each time they drink blood is just too high now. Even though we often cook dishes and give them to the security guards and property management in the community, there are still a lot to process. Now, his weekly "food expenses" are much higher than before he mutated.

In addition, there are several newly developed dishes, such as grilled squid, garlic lobster, and two kinds of vegetables, all of which are not too difficult for him to cook.

Moreover, he had basically figured out the tastes of these people that night, and even with Qin Ping, he had a general idea of her preferences based on his previous observation.

At the dinner table, Xiang Kun learned that Qin Ping ultimately chose the offer from Shenxing Technology. Although Shenxing Technology seemed to focus more on exploring new research and development areas, while the other company's products were much more mature, the latter would be a more stable choice for her career development. However, for Qin Ping, who was not yet thirty, the offer from Shenxing Technology was obviously more challenging and exciting, not to mention the better compensation.

"When will I start working here? Is 'Shenxing Technology' headquartered in this city? Where is their research and development facility for this powered exoskeleton located?" Yang Zhen'er asked curiously.

"The R&D center for this area is located in Yangcheng City. I'll be going there after the New Year. Sigh, I won't be able to eat Chef Xiang's delicious food as often anymore. What a pity." Qin Ping said, but her hands didn't stop moving. She liked seafood, so she was quite interested in the lobster Xiang Kun made.

Yang City?

When Xiang Kun thought of this city, he thought of Guo Tianxiang. However, he also knew that Shenxing Technology's R&D center was likely not just one place, and the laboratory researching vampires and Mutated Creature was probably not in the same place as other R&D sites, but rather a separate entity.

He wondered to himself where the things brought out of the cave would be sent.

Once the location stopped moving and was confirmed, Xiang Kun still had to run over to take a look.

Of course, we must be extremely careful and do our homework and investigation. Compared to Guo Tianxiang, "Shenxing Technology" is a much more difficult and dangerous entity to deal with.

Although the exact attitude of "Shenxing Technology" and the people behind it towards other "vampires" and Mutated Creature is still unknown, judging from the Giant Owl, mutated spider, and Guo Tianxiang's memory fragments obtained by Xiang Kun, Mutated Creature will have a "must-have" for the blood of other Mutated Creature at a certain stage, which means that there is no chance of peaceful coexistence.

After dinner, everyone got together to play the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill". Although Xiang Kun could usually tell everyone's identity the moment they received their identity cards, he pretended not to know the "truth" while playing and followed the rules. This made Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona feel that they had finally discovered an area where Xiang Kun was not so good at.

It wasn't until almost midnight that everyone stopped to cut the cake, sing "Happy Birthday," and Yang Zhen'er blew out the candles and made a wish.

However, just as everyone was about to say goodbye and leave, Yang Zhen'er stopped Xiang Kun: "No, I have to see the gift Xiang the carpenter gave me first. If it really is a stampede of ten thousand horses or the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, I'm going to 'return' it!"

Qin Ping couldn't help but laugh, "This is the first time I've heard of someone 'returning' a birthday gift. Being your friend is so difficult! Sigh, you should check the gift I gave you too. If you're not satisfied, I can take it back and 'return' it!"

Tang Baoting joked, "Yes, yes, take a look at what we sent. If it's not good, I can 'return' it."

Yang Zhen'er ignored the others' teasing and snorted, "That's different. The carpenter's gift was made by himself. I've been waiting for this wood carving for three months. I can't let him get away with it. I have to be meticulous."

Xiang Kun laughed and said, "Okay, okay, you're the birthday boy today, so you're in charge. Let's 'inspect the goods' first! If it's not good, I'll redo it for you! Everyone's watching, I definitely won't go back on my word!"

So Tang Baoting and her husband, along with Qin Ping, who had already walked to the door, also came back to watch Yang Zhen'er "unpack".

They had been curious about the cardboard box that had been sitting in the corner of the living room, wondering what gift Xiang Kun had given them. Now that they had the chance to see it together, they certainly wouldn't miss it.

After opening the cardboard box, there was a pile of bubble wrap for filling. Following Xiang Kun's instructions, Yang Zhen'er first picked up a small wooden box from the upper left.

The wooden box didn't look particularly exquisite, and it wasn't painted, but the edges and corners had been sanded, so there were no splinters or sharp objects, just like the boxes Xiang Kun used when he gave Tang Baona those wooden carvings.

Inside was a palm-sized, long-haired girl wielding two swords and wearing armor. Although it was the same as the wooden carving that Tang Baona had given her as a Christmas present, with a large head and round face, it was easy for someone familiar with the carving to recognize that it was based on Yang Zhen'er, capturing her characteristics very accurately.

Yang Zhen'er's eyes lit up. The image carved by "Carpenter Xiang" was exactly what she wanted. When she fantasized about her image in the world of anime, it was pretty much like this—of course, not the chibi version, but the handsome and dashing version.

"This is a belated Christmas present for you," Xiang Kun added from the side.

"Wow! Seeing this makes me want to shamelessly ask Xiang Kun for a Christmas present," Tang Baoting couldn't help but exclaim.

"I want to too," Gao Yao nodded, agreeing softly.

Yang Zhen'er happily put the small wooden carving back into the box and placed it on the table. Then, with Xiang Kun's help, she reached into the cardboard box, untied the fasteners, and took out a larger wooden carving that wasn't in a wooden box.

After it was taken out, apart from Xiang Kun, the few people watching the spectacle couldn't help but gasp softly.

The theme of this wood carving is a dinosaur, and on the dinosaur's back sits the five members of the Doraemon manga. However, Doraemon, Nobita, and Shizuka ride on the dinosaur's back, while Gian and Suneo are tightly hugging the dinosaur's tail.

"How did you know my favorite comic is Doraemon?" Yang Zhen'er asked, quite surprised.

"Didn't you say it yourself?" Xiang Kun, puzzled.

"Did I say that?" Yang Zhen'er asked, puzzled.

"Yes," Xiang Kun affirmed. Of course, he had actually deduced this from some scenes he had seen in his dreams. In truth, the two wooden carvings he gave Yang Zhen'er weren't particularly well-made, because he hadn't established a "Super-Sensory Link" with the materials or Emotional Injection." However, he cleverly made both carvings in styles that Yang Zhen'er would definitely like, so she still loved them and was very satisfied.

After leaving Tang Baona's house, Xiang Kun and Qin Ping followed Tang Baoting and Gao Yao in their car.

While chatting with the three in the car, Xiang Kun was simultaneously perceiving the dream through the "Rabbit Woodcarving".

In fact, starting before 10 p. m., Xiang Kun had already sensed the first dream through the "Rabbit Woodcarving." Before leaving, he sensed the second dream, and shortly after getting into the car, he sensed the third dream.

Based on his previous experiments, it is known that an "Emotional Injection" object cannot evoke emotions in the same person to have two dreams on the same night, but it can evoke and allow the person to perceive another person's dream near the object after perceiving one dream.

After arriving home, he experienced two more dreams within two hours, but did not experience any new dreams until sunrise.

In other words, there are at least five people near that "Rabbit Woodcarving".

As for whether there are only five people in total, it is still uncertain. After all, the "Rabbit Woodcarving" has a limited range of influence, and there may be other people outside that range.

Xiang Kun summarized the dreams he had experienced. Two of the dreams involved military-related training, indicating that the two individuals were clearly "professionals" who had undergone this type of training. It was quite normal for them to appear in the team exploring the Qinling Uninhabited Zone.

One dream was set in a laboratory, where the dreamer was intently processing "rabbit meat." Clearly, this was a researcher who spent all his time in the lab, and his presence in the group was perfectly normal.

The other two dreams involved playing with Lego toys in one and feeding ants in a giant transparent ant box in the other. Judging from the former's various tedious and complicated activities and the latter's uniquely designed and clearly customized ant box, the owners of these two dreams were also STEM nerds, and were likely research technicians like the one in the lab dream.

This is also why Xiang Kun used that focused and serious emotion to "Emotional Injection" into the Rabbit Woodcarving. Based on previous experience, when influenced by such emotions, the dreams of the person being influenced are usually related to their profession or hobbies.

In this way, he can deduce the other person's profession and identity through dreams.

If he's lucky enough to get enough information, he might even be able to directly identify the dream's owner, or find out what research the institutions or organizations behind them are conducting and what results they've achieved.

From the two dreams involving military-related training, Xiang Kun was unable to glean any special information. However, the other three dreams contained a much larger amount of information.

After much thought and calculation, Xiang Kun focused his attention on the dream of feeding ants.

Neither the ants themselves nor the uniquely shaped large ant box should be very numerous. If it is custom-made, it could even be located directly to a person.

Moreover, these niche hobby groups may only exist in a few small circles across the country, and the best and most skilled among them are probably known to everyone. These tech enthusiasts also like to find like-minded people by sharing their experiences.

Of course, another possibility cannot be ruled out: the person experiencing the dream might genuinely love ants and pay close attention to related information, but it's merely "virtual ant farming," with no actual time to raise them. The ants and the large ant box are all figments of their imagination. If they fantasize a lot, seriously, and attentively in their daily lives, then being emotionally stirred by the Rabbit Woodcarving and having a dream could very well be a dream of their imagination.

However, the chances of that happening were not very high, so Xiang Kun started with the ants and ant boxes. He looked up ant species charts online, compared them with the ants he saw in his dream, determined the species, and then searched for relevant content in various ant-related forums, communities, and communities.

Throughout this process, Xiang Kun had Alice monitor his computer operations, and Alice would explain his purpose and reasons for each step he took.

He wanted Alice to learn the logic of his search, to learn how to take "Alice".

Around 9 a. m., Xiang Kun finally saw an ant box on Weibo that was almost identical to the one in his dream. The fact that the Weibo post was "from Huawei Mate 20" further increased the likelihood that it was the same person, considering that there was a Mate 20 next to the ant box in his dream.

The Weibo user wasn't verified, and their profession wasn't listed, but once Xiang Kun found the Weibo account, he knew he wasn't far from finding the specific person.

At that time, both the bone through "Super-Sensory Link" and this Ant Bro can become clues for him to investigate.