Truth Be Told

After leaving the station, the road was somewhat congested, with frequent stops and starts.

Xiang Kun recalled what Yang Zhen'er had said earlier and laughed, "Zhen'er said you wanted to 'learn calligraphy' from me? Really? You're not still 'analyzing' that piece of calligraphy I wrote, are you? Have you come to any conclusions from your 'analysis'?"

"It's fake, I was just kidding my cousin." Xia Libing's answer was as unconventional as ever. "I mainly came here to eat. I can't make anything out of your calligraphy."

When the time for drinking blood arrived but he was unable to drink blood in time, and he fell into that anxious state, Xiang Kun once relied on the calligraphy of lyrics he gave to Xia Libing to sense a kind of extreme rationality and calmness that was like an emotion but not an emotion. Then, relying on that feeling, he completely suppressed the anxiety and violent emotions caused by the need to drink blood.

He was naturally very curious about the extremely rational, calm, and even indifferent perception he felt from the calligraphy of the lyrics. Normally, that perception should have come from Xia Libing, so he had once tried to find out about the calligraphy from Lao Xia on WeChat.

Lao Xia was actually pondering his thoughts when he wrote that piece of calligraphy.

Xiang Kun was certain that Lao Xia had noticed something unusual about him, which was why he always paid more attention to him than to others.

However, Xiang Kun didn't care too much, because he knew that Lao Xia meant no harm, and besides curiosity, there seemed to be some other motivation.

He was also very curious about Lao Xia; at least he wanted to understand how that extremely rational and calm perception transmitted through the "Emotional Injection" item was generated.

"I thought you'd developed a real interest in calligraphy after looking at my calligraphy so much," Xiang Kun said casually.

"I have no interest in calligraphy," Xia Libing replied directly. "I'm only interested in your piece. Is there anything special about it?"

Xiang Kun could have easily come up with some excuse to get away with it, but after thinking about it, he decided to answer with the basic truth, "I took that calligraphy very seriously when I wrote it, and it is indeed somewhat special to me."

"Then why give it to me?" Xia Libing asked.

"Because I think... it would be quite suitable to give it to you." Xiang Kun still spoke the truth.

These conversations might seem somewhat ambiguous if they happened between other men and women. But between these two, neither of them would feel there was anything wrong with it.

Xia Libing didn't ask why she thought it was "suitable." She vaguely felt that her previous guess was probably correct. Xiang Kun might already know about her situation and was deliberately using this calligraphy to test her, but she didn't quite understand how exactly he was "testing" her.

"Didn't you say last time that you would give me a few more calligraphy pieces?" Xia Libing asked.

"Uh, I haven't written anything lately, but I did draw something. Would you like to take a look?" Xiang Kun said, gripping the steering wheel with his left hand and pulling a folded square of paper from his coat pocket with his right, handing it to her.

Xia Libing took the paper, opened it, and found that it was a page torn from a B5-sized notebook, covered with various seemingly chaotic circles and arcs drawn with a black ballpoint pen.

While driving, Xiang Kun observed Lao Xia out of the corner of his eye, while also gathering other information about her, including her heart rate, breathing rate, and so on. According to the cognitive model of Lao Xia that he had built, she was now carefully observing the pattern on the page, very focused.

Normally, upon seeing such a blob drawn on paper, most people's first reaction would be, "What is this thing you drew?"

Lao Xia, however, immediately began to observe it intently, as if there really was something inside.

As expected of Lao Xia...

However, Xiang Kun didn't think she could really see anything. In essence, it was a kind of perceptual information marker he created himself, and no one else had this kind of perceptual information, let alone understood the meaning of the symbol.

It's like someone finding a piece of paper with program code written on it on the street. That person not only knows nothing about computers, but also doesn't recognize letters and numbers at all, so naturally they can't figure out what's written on the paper.

After a few minutes, Xia Libing finally looked away from the paper and said to Xiang Kun, "These lines, are they regular?"

Hearing this, Xiang Kun was not surprised, but asked, "Oh? What pattern did you see?"

As expected, Xia Libing shook her head and said, "I can't tell. The only thing I can say for sure is that these lines weren't drawn randomly."

"These drawings are based on my perceptions, which are not easily explained using language or normal patterns," Xiang Kun said, still speaking frankly.

Clearly, Xia Libing didn't understand what he meant, but she didn't press him for details. She simply asked, "Can I have this one?"

"Sure." Xiang Kun had originally intended to give Xia Libing the "Black Circle Graffiti" with "Emotional Injection" so she would keep it with her. He had some other things he wanted to say to get her interested in the design on the paper, but he didn't expect Lao Xia Libing to bring it up herself.

He left the "Black Circle Graffiti" with Mi Qiao, simply to spy on him.

The reason for giving it to Xia Libing was not only to see if this somewhat special "Emotional Injection" item could elicit more sensory feedback or trigger a dreamlike state than the previous calligraphy, but also to see if Xia Libing could establish some kind of connection with the "Black Circle Graffiti" while "studying" it, just like Little Apple.

So when he gave that piece of paper to Xia Libing this time, he deliberately reinforced his "approval" of Xia Libing in his mind, giving her a self-suggestion of "granting" her something.

He was quite certain that the fact that Little Apple and Liu Shiling were able to establish certain special connections with his "Emotional Injection" and "Super-Sensory Link" items, and "call upon" some of his abilities through those items, was largely due to his subconscious approval of the two of them and his attitude when "giving" those items to them. Otherwise, they shouldn't have been able to establish connections with those items so easily.

However, Xiang Kun is not quite sure yet whether that feeling of "recognition" is a subtle, gradual consciousness or a "ritualistic" form in his mind. He can only try it tentatively.

Of course, his approval alone is not enough. Whether he can establish a connection with those items also depends on the owner's own feelings towards the items and whether there is a compatible cognitive system.

Like Liu Shiling, who firmly believed in Xiang Kun's "Lucky Coin" and "magic Coin" theories, she successfully built her own "magic system."

Little Apple Li Jun, under Xiang Kun's guidance, used her unusual cognitive patterns to enter the network of connections between "Emotional Injection" objects at the level of consciousness through the so-called "Object-Sensing" method, and even became the link for Xiang Kun to perceive them.

As for Lao Xia, Xiang Kun didn't tell her much, nor did he deliberately guide or "deceive" her. He simply mentioned, "honestly," that the black circles and lines were related to perceived information. The rest was up to Lao Xia to "figure out" on her own.

He believed that Lao Xia would not let him down.

After driving Lao Xia back to the hotel, Xiang Kun booked her a private room and told her to put her bag in the room. Then, Xiang Kun made a phone call to everyone to come down and get ready to leave.

While waiting for everyone to come down in the lobby, Xiang Kun's attention was drawn to two young men outside the hotel, leaning against their motorcycles and smoking on the roadside.

When I drove off to pick up Xia Libing, I already saw them there. Judging from their gaze, they seemed to be watching the Sagitar he was driving, and at the same time, they were also watching another Corolla that they had driven there last night and parked in the parking lot.

After he brought Xia Libing back, the two of them were still there, and they immediately turned their attention to his car.

Was it sent by Qi Haoguo or Liu Feibao? This thought naturally came to Xiang Kun.

However, based on his previous observations and the effects of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster" projection, Qi Haoguo certainly wouldn't dare send anyone to cause trouble, and would definitely warn Liu Feibao. And given Liu Feibao's attitude towards the former, it's unlikely he would go against him for such a small matter.

Could it be that these two young people were targeting them for some other reason?

Xiang Kun decided to ignore them for now, making no reaction, but simply observing their situation to see what they were going to do.

In the hotel lobby, after receiving his phone call, Tang Baona, Zhang Qian, Zicheng, and others left their rooms and came downstairs to meet.

Upon seeing the beautiful and tall Xia Libing next to Xiang Kun, not only the two boys, Zicheng and Yang Zhuo, but also the girls, Zhang Qian, Yang Jie, and Xiao Min, all had their eyes light up and locked onto her, walking over to greet her.

Besides Xia Libing being undeniably beautiful and outstanding, the fact that Xiang Kun had previously used this "academic superstar expert with dual master's degrees in psychiatry and psychology" and "a very capable friend" as a shield, making it seem as if Lao Xia was his mentor and guide in the field of psychology, had created a towering image of this "big shot" in their minds from the very beginning.

Unfortunately, no one had told them about Lao Xia's age before. Zhang Qian had even heard the term "Lao Xia" from Yang Zhen'er, so in their minds, "Lao Xia" was a big shot who was older than Xiang Kun.

Who would have thought that "Lao Xia" mentioned by Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona would actually be such a beautiful, long-legged woman who looks no more than twenty years old!

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, everyone got on the bus, planning to have lunch together first, and then head to the scenic area.

Since You Meng and Liang Yulong weren't there, Xiang Sagitar still Xiang Kun, with Xia Libing still in the passenger seat and Zhang Qian, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er in the back. As for the Corolla, Zi Cheng drove it.

At that moment, Xiang Kun overheard the conversation between two young men next to a motorcycle on the side of the road.

"Brother, they're leaving, what should we do?" The speaker was a tall, fair-skinned young man.

"Follow them," the short, stocky, dark-skinned young man said, straddling the motorcycle and turning the key to start the engine.

"Brother, it seems like Brother Bao didn't say anything about dealing with these people..." the tall young man said hesitantly as he straddled the back of the motorcycle.

"I've checked with my connections and found out that Brother Bao was entertaining a big boss from the provincial capital yesterday. On the way, he had a minor collision with those two cars. Because he didn't want to disrupt the boss's schedule, the people in those two cars extorted several thousand yuan from him to settle the matter privately. Last night, Brother Bao had people investigate those two cars. Naturally, he's going to take them down," the short, stocky young man said with certainty.

"Then... then what I said, just grab a brick and smash their car, right?" the tall young man said in a low voice.

"What a load of rubbish! There are security cameras in the hotel parking lot! When the police come and check, they'll find us, right? What's the point if we're too well disguised and nobody knows it was us? And then we secretly leak information to Brother Bao's people?"

"Well... there are only two of us. If we chase after them, we might not be able to beat them... Look at that bald guy and that fat guy, they both look pretty fierce..." The tall young man sounded a bit hesitant.

"Damn it, how can you be so stupid! Who told you to just go and fight them? Use your brain!"

"If we don't fight... how can we avenge Brother Bao?"

"How did they offend Brother Bao?"

"Oh, I get it, bro, you mean, let's go over there and stage an accident?" the tall young man said, getting off his motorcycle. "You do it first, then I'll get on."

"Go to hell! Who the hell would stage an accident like this in a place with surveillance cameras everywhere? Get in here! Follow me!"

After driving onto the road, Xiang Kun looked in the rearview mirror at the two young men on the motorcycle following behind him and couldn't help but laugh and cry.

From their conversation, he figured that the matter most likely had nothing to do with Liu Feibao and Qi Haoguo. Liu Feibao was probably just curious about their identities and wanted to send someone to investigate them. These two idiots, however, were trying to curry favor and were using them as a "pledge of allegiance" to stage an accident for him?

Xiang Kun immediately used this information to develop a solution.

It was a small matter, but the problem was that he didn't want their itinerary to be affected by these two idiots. He was practically a host himself; these two groups of friends had come to visit at his invitation, so he naturally wanted to find a way to treat them well.

Just then, my phone rang. When I answered it, it was You Meng, who had accompanied my wife to her father-in-law's house that day.

"Xiang Kun, have you guys gone to the scenic area yet?" You Meng asked immediately as soon as the call connected.

"Not yet, we're planning to go after lunch. We're going to the restaurant I told you about last night," Xiang Kun said. That restaurant is quite well-known in Tongshi Town, serving local specialties, much like a tourist attraction. Since they're here, Xiang Kun wanted to take them there to try it.

"Don't go. There was a problem at the scenic area this morning, and they said it's temporarily closed. It probably won't reopen this afternoon. Many tourists who went this morning have already come back," You Meng said. "I asked, and it should be fine tomorrow. Let's go tomorrow."

"Okay, then we'll arrange other activities after we finish eating," Xiang Kun said.

"How about... you guys have lunch in Chongyun Village?" You Meng suggested over the phone.