What Was the Reason?

Around 10 p. m., Shiling's Mother huddled near Liu Shiling's room door, her ear pressed against the door, trying to hear her daughter's voice inside.

After listening for a while, she realized that her daughter was asking someone for help with drawing via QQ video. As for who she was asking, she had asked her daughter before, and her daughter said that "Bald Uncle" had found her a "pretty sister" to teach her.

Furthermore, Xiang Kun sent Liu Shiling many online videos teaching children how to draw, allowing her to watch and learn directly on her iPad.

Shiling's Mother watched those videos and thought they were all very well taught. Apart from not being able to provide hands-on, practical guidance, her drawing skills should be no worse than those taught in paid classes or by professional teachers.

Recently, my daughter has been frequently using her iPad to chat with people on QQ. She knows she's chatting with Xiang Kun and another girl whom she calls "Roast Chicken Wing Sister," asking them all sorts of questions. Yesterday, she started learning to draw with another girl called "Pretty Sister."

She had secretly checked some of her daughter's voice chat history and was amazed by Xiang Kun and the "Roast Chicken Wing Sister's" patience. They were so serious in dealing with her daughter's absurd and childish questions, and they could even guide her daughter's interests toward learning and scientific knowledge through these topics. They were truly amazing!

Shiling's Mother felt that, let alone ordinary kindergarten teachers, even she herself, upon hearing her daughter's descriptions of magic and controlling this and that, might initially be able to give a perfunctory response, but after a while, she would also be unable to resist the urge to forcibly pull her daughter back to reality.

Shiling's Mother felt even more grateful to Xiang Kun, and she deeply felt that birds of a feather flock together. Xiang Kun's friends were just as patient as him and were all so good to Liu Shiling.

Not long after, Liu Shiling finished her painting lesson and video call, left her room to wash up, and prepared to go to sleep.

Shiling's Mother then went into her daughter's room and looked at the paintings she had drawn.

Seeing the little duck with several pairs of wings and a bunch of eyes on its belly, Shiling's Mother couldn't help but laugh and cry. It was fortunate that her art teacher was Xiang Kun's friend; if it were a teacher from an outside extracurricular class, they would probably go crazy seeing this picture.

She looked at the edited image uploaded to her iPad again and was surprised to find that the image had actually made the duck's multiple wings more harmonious and the eyes on its belly more realistic.

Clearly, the "pretty older sister" the daughter mentioned didn't force her to "correct" her behavior; instead, she followed the daughter's "style" and provided more targeted guidance, probably because she didn't want to dampen her daughter's enthusiasm.

Shiling's Mother was touched and felt it was necessary to add the "pretty lady" on QQ to thank her.

She then flipped through Liu Shiling's thick stack of practice "drawings," most of which were simple animal drawings based on drawing videos sent by Xiang Kun and practice drawings sent by the "pretty sister," with various "modifications" inevitably added.

However, some of them have much more complex structures and are more "imaginative," clearly Liu Shiling's own "works."

Among these, the most frequently depicted figure is a giant with eight arms and eight eyes, dressed in simple armor, each hand holding cutlery or kitchen utensils such as knives, forks, and spatulas.

There was also a Big Cat with several pairs of wings, several pairs of eyes, and even its butt was covered with eyes.

Shiling's Mother could guess that the Big Cat was a "Egg Pie" painting from its orange-yellow fur, but she couldn't tell what the eight-armed, eight-eyed human was. However, judging from the various things it was holding, it was probably a chef or something similar, perhaps specializing in cooking? Could it be that they had "magically modified" Xiang Kun?

She couldn't connect this eight-armed, eight-eyed person with the dark figure in the neighborhood that someone had photographed earlier, because the difference was simply too great from a visual perspective.

"Mom, why are you peeking at my drawing?" Liu Shiling had finished washing up, appeared beside her mother at some point, looking up at the drawing in her mother's hand.

Shiling's Mother was startled, but quickly calmed down and said, "It's only natural for a mother to look at her daughter's drawings, how can that be considered peeking? Shiling, what is this you drew?"

Liu Shiling thought for a moment, and feeling that it wouldn't violate her "secrecy agreement" with the bald uncle, she said, "This is 'Barbie Warrior'."

"Oh, is 'Barbie Warrior' the Great Demon King? The opposite of 'Barbie Doll'? Does defeating it mean you'll get lots of delicious treats?" Shiling's Mother joked.

"No, it's a friend, it's good, just like 'Egg Pie,' it's a helper!" Liu Shiling said earnestly.

"Is that so?" Shiling's Mother nodded and said, "I'll still enroll you in an art class later. You can learn the basics from the art teacher, and then have the 'pretty sisters' guide you. Otherwise, it'll take up too much of your 'pretty sisters' and 'bald uncle's' time, and it's not good to keep bothering them." Since her daughter was indeed interested in learning to draw, even if there were some financial problems now, she wouldn't be stingy with the money for an extracurricular class.

Liu Shiling shook her head and said, "No need, Mom. Uncle Baldy said he will help me arrange a drawing learning plan. I will just follow his plan."

"I see..." Shiling's Mother didn't say anything more. She knew that Xiang Kun's words carried great authority in her daughter's mind, and she also believed that with Xiang Kun's knowledge, the plan he devised must be good.

After watching her daughter go to bed and saying goodnight, Shiling's Mother looked at "Egg Pie"Egg Pie wriggled its bottom and escaped from her arms.

Shiling's Mother wasn't annoyed. She knew very well how "Egg Pie" behaved; apart from her daughter, it was difficult for anyone else to hold or pet it.

She benefited from her daughter's influence; at certain "specific moments," she could get it to obey her.

Shiling's Mother went to the living room and got a piece of freeze-dried salmon. She squatted down in front of "Egg Pie," holding the freeze-dried salmon in her right hand and reaching for the cat with her left.

"Egg Pie" glanced at the freeze-dried food, then obediently snuggled into Shiling's Mother's arms, letting her hold her—yes, the so-called "specific moment" was when she had something delicious to eat.

However, when other people come over to play, like Xiao Mei and her mother, they bring delicious food, but "Egg Pie" completely ignores them.

Xiao Mei's mother wasn't surprised by this. When "Egg Pie" was a stray, many people coveted this big golden shaded dog and tried to lure it home with food, but it never paid any attention to them.

Until it came to "seek refuge" with Liu Shiling on its own initiative, everyone thought it was a timid cat.

Earlier, while Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and Little Chubby Girl were teaching painting via video, Mr. Feng was also having a video call with his daughter and son-in-law.

"Dad, have you met the friend Nana brought?" The question came from Tang Baona's mother.

The couple had known from their eldest daughter that her best friend Wang Han's husband had introduced his college roommate to their younger daughter on a blind date in July.

They naturally asked their eldest daughter privately, but Bao Ting initially said there was no chance, then later said things seemed to be progressing well, without specifying the details.

Although they both take a laissez-faire approach to their two daughters' marriages, respecting their daughters' own wishes, they can't help but care and be concerned now that they know the girls are on blind dates and things seem to be going well.

Especially Tang's mother, whose eldest daughter is already engaged to her boyfriend and her life's major event is settled, will naturally start to think about her younger daughter's love life.

However, the elderly couple understood their daughter's personality and never asked her directly, but instead secretly inquired through Bao Ting.

Today, knowing that her father was going to invite Xiang Kun to dinner, Tang's mother really wanted to go, but after being persuaded by her husband and Bao Ting, she didn't go. However, now that she knew the children had all gone home, she couldn't help but video call her father to see what he thought of Xiang Kun.

Mr. Feng laughed and said, "He's a very good kid, quite tall, spirited, and strong. Apart from being bald, there's really nothing to criticize, haha."

"Where is he? What kind of person is he?" Tang's mother pressed on.

She had seen photos of Xiang Kun's appearance from Bao Ting before. Compared to looks, she valued inner qualities more.

Although it was only for one night and one meal, she knew that her father had a good eye for people; he could get a general impression of someone after just one meal.

As Mr. Feng recalled the events, he said, "Based on my interaction with him last night, he's a very down-to-earth young man. He's not the kind of person who's boastful or loves to brag; in fact, he's almost excessively modest. From our conversation about wood carving, I could tell he has a very clear understanding of the various techniques, history, and classifications of wood carving. There are things I don't even remember very well, but he can explain them in great detail. You can't do that without a long period of immersion in this field and a lot of dedication. Plus, you can tell from his wood carvings that he's put in a lot of effort to practice his skills. This isn't something most young people can do with the patience and dedication. What's most remarkable is that when he talked to me about these things, he didn't show any pride or arrogance. Moreover, he could accurately point out the shortcomings and flaws, which is the most precious thing."

Tang's father listened with some curiosity. "Tingting said that Mr. Xiang is a programmer? Aren't they working on some kind of game recently? How come he has time to do wood carving, and he's so skilled at it?"

Mr. Feng continued to praise, "That's what's rare about him—he sees the big picture from small details. Xiang Kun is a serious and focused person. And he's also a good cook. I tried his braised rabbit tonight, and it was truly delicious. He's amazing, very tasty. The Yang family's little girl wasn't exaggerating; he's at the level of a 'master chef.'"

Tang's mother nodded, "It's good that she can cook. It's a good thing. Although Nana is quite diligent, she really has no talent for cooking."

Mr. Feng said, "In short, I think he's quite good. Judging from his actions and words, he's a capable person who can get things done and also manage a household well."

Tang's mother said, "I'll have Nana invite Xiang Kun to our house later, and tell her that her father and I would like to try Xiang Kun's cooking."

Mr. Tang chuckled and said, "Indeed, based on your description, I'm quite interested in that rabbit meat too."

It was already past 11 o'clock when they left Tang Baona's house, so Xiang Kun didn't let Yang Zhen'er drive them anymore, but called a car himself.

On his way home, he tried to contact Lao Xia via WeChat, but received no reply, so he knew that Lao Xia was already asleep.

He didn't wake Lao Xia, but instead began to ponder the information he had received from Mr. Feng that evening.

From the moment the mutation occurred, Xiang Kun had been pondering a question: why was there no information online about "Mutated Creature" or "real vampires"?

At first, he thought there were too few "vampires," or that he was the "only" "vampire," the first human to mutate, so there was no real relevant information.

However, after encountering various "Mutated Creature" and discovering what "Shenxing Technology" and Mi Qiao, Fang Pingfang, and others were doing, he realized that "Shenxing Technology" was deliberately blocking and downplaying information related to "vampires" and "Mutated Creature" online.

However, there is another problem: in theory, it is impossible for "Shenxing Technology" to completely block it.

Even with official assistance, authorization, and permission, "Shenxing Technology" simply couldn't do it.

Because this mutation did not occur in one country or in one species, but rather spread throughout the entire population, the timing and location of its occurrence are difficult to determine.

Logically speaking, somewhere in the world, someone should have discovered this "Mutated Creature" long ago, and before it was "controlled," it should have been publicized across the internet, becoming known to everyone and shocking the world.

Let alone a single "Shenxing Technology," even the official authorities of a single country, or the cooperation of multiple countries, would find it difficult to completely control these messages.

Furthermore, what is the purpose of controlling these messages?

Will they appropriate the technological leaps and research findings that "Mutated Creature" might bring?

What puzzled him was that even frontline researchers like Fang Pingfang and Zhou Rui, from the secret department of "Shenxing Technology" who were directly instructed to investigate "Mutated Creature" and had even directly discovered them and seen related video footage, still possessed very little information about "Mutated Creature." It seemed that the people behind "Shenxing Technology" were deliberately letting them "feel the elephant in the dark."

Xiang Kun began analyzing some of the real "rumors" he knew, such as the "fishing answer" that Guo Tianxiang asked Zhihu Mi Qiao to post on Zhihu; the "long-horned wolf" that his old classmate Xie Jun encountered in the forest while testing a car; the video of the strange wild boar carcass posted by the streamer who was killed in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone -man's-land; and the related news and information online when "mutated birds" and "mutated ants" collided with tourists and caused them to fall off cliffs at Wushu Mountain Scenic Area.

Some of this information would seem fake to the average person, and some might seem a bit strange, but it's not incomprehensible.

Shenxing Technology handles this information in various ways, some by directly deleting it, and others by misleading the public, muddying the waters, and making people doubt its authenticity.

There are far too many unreliable rumors like this online. Without solid evidence and further video footage to prove them, they won't attract much attention and are unlikely to become a major trending topic.

Just like when he learned from the Little Chubby Girl that someone nearby had photographed the eight-armed monster she controlled to construct from the debris, he also had Alice search for relevant information online. They discovered that the "Mr. Li" in the Little Chubby Girl's neighborhood was using a blurry picture as a gimmick and then making a big fuss about some kind of monster or something from another dimension appearing outside their neighborhood.

Although it attracted some attention, most netizens were just curious and watching the spectacle without taking it seriously. Many even thought it was photoshopped.

Alice even found related "science popularization posts" on Douban, Zhihu, and Weibo, which made various seemingly scientific and reasonable analyses of the blurry photo, proving that the gray shadow with many tentacles was actually just dirt on the lens.

If Xiang Kun hadn't known that it was indeed the "eight-armed monster" created by the Little Chubby Girl, he would have thought the picture was fake.

The live stream of that "Mr. Li" couldn't maintain its popularity for long with just a blurry picture. He actually started faking things during the live stream, hiring people to act like ghosts in their neighborhood, which only resulted in him being exposed even more severely.

Therefore, Xiang Kun didn't ask Alice to do anything at all, because if things continued like this, "Mr. Li" would either be criticized by netizens and forced to shut down, or he would be banned by the relevant departments and invited for tea.

No one will know what the thing in the photo is, let alone connect it to the Little Chubby Girl.

Perhaps, like these examples, there is information about "Mutated Creature" or other unusual phenomena online, but it has been intentionally or unintentionally distorted by various other sources?

If a "vampire" like Xiang Kun were to create a self-exposure video, or capture other "Mutated Creature" and post their Mutated Creature online...

According to his deduction, "Shenxing Technology" would first try to control him, then delete his videos while releasing more fake videos and information to confuse the public and make everyone believe that these are all fake.

However, this is just Xiang Kun's speculation. Perhaps he can have Alice search for information online again using broader rules to see if there really is a "real diamond" buried among the many "dusts".

However, there is still a big question that Xiang Kun cannot understand: this information control cannot be achieved by one company, one country, or even a few countries.

On a global scale, across all biological fields, it is difficult to completely suppress such information.

If it's just for scientific research secrecy, then countries, institutions, and companies will only keep the "Mutated Creature" they control and possess secret. There's no reason for them to keep secrets for other countries, and they might even deliberately expose the "Mutated Creature" of other countries and regions.

Unless there is some reason that leads all countries to reach a consensus and tacit understanding.

Or perhaps it was for that reason that the authorities tacitly allowed "Shenxing Technology" to investigate information about "Mutated Creature" and tacitly allowed "Shenxing Technology" to control at least four "Mutated Creature".

What exactly is the reason?

Could it be related to their research findings on "Mutated Creature"?

After returning home, Xiang Kun told Alice all the known information, and then asked her to conduct simulations and deductions based on this information.

Let's build a model to see what the possible prerequisites are for the current outcome.