The Cause of the Mutation (Part One)

Xiang Kun originally thought that Lao Xia would sleep for another two hours, after all, she had been too tired and had not been getting enough sleep lately.

However, he heard Lao Xia's stomach rumble, most likely because he was hungry...

Lao Xia, with his hair disheveled, sat up in bed. After staring blankly for a couple of seconds, he threw off the covers, got out of bed, and put on his shoes.

Xiang Kun was sitting in front of the computer, turned his chair around, looked at Lao Xia was putting on his shoes, and said, "When you just fell asleep, Zhen'er called your cell phone. I guessed she wanted to ask you to have dinner and play games together. She called me later too."

After Xiang Kun fell asleep, Lao Xia's phone remained on silent, so he was naturally not woken up by the ringing. Xiang Kun also deduced that Yang Zhen'er didn't have anything urgent to tell Lao Xia —otherwise, she would have called a second time.

Xia Libing picked up her phone, glanced at it, and sent Yang Zhen'er WeChat with a panda sitting up in bed, followed by a wicked grin.

A dozen seconds later, Yang Zhen'er sent a shocked emoji, followed by a message: "You only just woke up now? You didn't sleep all afternoon, did you?"

But before Lao Xia could reply, she sent another message: "If you had woken up a little earlier, you could have come and had dinner with me and Nana. We've all finished eating now, so there's no left for you!"

Yang Zhen'er sent a photo of a dining table with several takeout boxes on it, but the food inside had already been eaten.

Then another message came. "Want to play that voice game Chef Xiang developed? Chef Xiang said he's still busy, it seems he needs to make changes based on our feedback from the other night. Why don't you come over and we can play by ourselves? Bao Ting and her husband are here, if you come over we can play as a five-person game!"

Xia Libing replied with a panda burying its head in eating noodles emoji.

Yang Zhen'er immediately understood what she meant. "Come over after you finish eating?"

Xia Libing replied with a panda shaking its head emoji.

Yang Zhen'er: "Don't send that emoji again! Otherwise, I'll beat you up next time we meet!"

Xia Libing then replied with a panda nodding emoji.

Yang Zhen'er was annoyed for a few seconds, then replied with a Jacky Cheung face emoji, along with the caption. "You are about to lose your sister."

After Lao Xia and her cousin finished their exchange of expressions, Xiang Kun said, "Shall we proceed according to the previous plan?"

Lao Xia nodded. "Let's proceed according to plan."

When Lao Xia decided to come back with Xiang Kun, he had already arranged the schedule for the next few days with him. According to the plan, after Xiang Kun woke up from his deep sleep today, he and Lao Xia would do some basic tests and analyses, and then they would review and investigate his experience on the night of July 11 last year.

For Xiang Kun, July 11th can be said to be a turning point in his life. Before July 11th, he was just an ordinary office worker. After July 11th, he became a "vampire" and a "Mutated Creature".

Everything changed on the evening of July 11, 2019.

From the moment the mutation began, Xiang Kun had been constantly investigating and searching for the cause of the mutation, tracing back what happened on the night of July 11 that led to such a big change in his body when he woke up on July 14.

But according to his investigation, nothing unusual happened that night, either outside or at home—at least he found nothing.

Especially with the increase in the number of times he drank blood, under his deliberate guidance and training, his memory became stronger and stronger. He could recall various details of past events as if watching surveillance video, calculating various possibilities and analyzing various doubts. Although his memories of events before the mutation were relatively limited due to his unevolved and unexpanded sensory abilities, they were still enough for him to make basic judgments.

He believed he hadn't overlooked anything; he had checked all the points that needed to be checked and the areas that needed attention. However, he had no objection to Lao Xia investigating further, which was exactly what he wanted Lao Xia to help him with—to use different perspectives and approaches to help him think.

Before leaving, Xia Libing glanced at the webcam on the computer desk, which had been turned back to its original position, and said, "This webcam turned on by itself last night."

Xiang Kun said, "Oh, it's okay. This is a setting I made before. It will automatically turn on the camera at a certain time. Don't worry about my computer being hacked. My home network is very secure."

"Your computer is running something very important, so you need to make sure the power doesn't go out?" Xia Libing pointed to the small generator in the corner of the living room, which was already connected to the power cord and set up.

Xiang Kun nodded and said affirmatively, "Yes, it's something very important."

Xia Libing nodded thoughtfully.

Because Xia Libing wanted to actually retrace Xiang Kun's steps from that night, the two of them took a taxi directly to the Xiang Kun Drowning Sorrows on the night of July 11.

However, they did not get off directly at the food stall location. Instead, they went to the vicinity of the subway exit and walked there, retracing Xiang Kun's route from that night.

On the way Xiang Kun briefly told her about his experience going to work on July 11, learning that the company had gone bankrupt, and how everyone went home. He also talked about his feelings on the subway and the situation of other passengers on the subway.

When they arrived at the food stall, Xiang Kun ordered the exact same side dishes as that night, and even beer—of course, neither he nor Lao Xia planned to drink it; they could just return it when paying the bill.

In addition, Lao Xia also ordered a bowl of noodle soup for two, which was her dinner.

While Lao Xia slurped down her noodles and side dishes, Xiang Kun recounted to her the circumstances of his drinking that night. Although Xiang Kun had already told Lao Xia the general story of how he Drowning Sorrows that night, slept for two days, and then his body began to mutate back in Citong City, many details were still missing.

When he first mutated, Xiang Kun didn't remember the events that happened on the night of July 11th when he was drunk. But now he can accurately recall the situation at that time. He can remember everything he saw, heard, smelled, and tasted. However, these sensory information are not the enhanced sensory information after the mutation.

Lao Xia would occasionally put down her chopsticks to ask some questions, Xiang Kun would then answer based on his memory.

Xiang Kun also understood that one of the most important purposes of Lao Xia's "on-site investigation" was to help him recall his memories and explore possible doubts from more angles and directions.

They didn't stay at the food stall for long. After Lao Xia finished his noodles, they returned the alcohol, paid the bill, and left.

Xiang Kun used a ride-hailing app to call a car to go to his previous rented place.

"What's the driver's situation?" Lao Xia asked while waiting for the car.

"I checked, there's no problem." Xiang Kun knew she was asking about the driver who took him home on the evening of July 11. He had also secretly investigated the driver and could basically conclude that he was just an ordinary ride-hailing driver. There was no smell or other suspicious signs related to Mutated Creature on him.

As he spoke, Xiang Kun carefully recounted his investigation of the driver to Lao Xia, which also served as a way for him to review and confirm the facts once again.

The room that Xiang Kun used to rent had been rented out by the landlord after he moved out, but the tenant canceled the lease before the Chinese New Year, so the room is currently empty.

Xiang Kun contacted the landlord, saying that a friend wanted to rent the room, and asked the landlord to bring the key to open the door and take a look.

When the landlord saw Xia Libing, who was tall and slender, standing Xiang Kun, he asked with slight confusion, "Mr. Xiang, is this the lady you said wanted to rent my house? She's so tall and beautiful, she's not a model, is she?" Although Lao Xia was still wearing sneakers, cargo pants, and a dark down jacket, her tall figure, delicate features, and unique aloofness still caught the eye and made people want to take a second look.

"She's not a model, just a poor student who just started working and is short on money. I told her this place is in a good location, very cheap, and the landlord is very nice, so I brought her here to take a look," Xiang Kun casually made up.