Prey

Chapter 40: Prey

The moment Xiang Kun saw those talons, he realized that the image he was witnessing was from the perspective of that giant owl, and it was likely not a live feed.

In other words, what he had just seen was a memory from the owl's mind?

In Xiang Kun's understanding, an animal's memories should be stored within the neurons of its brain. He had only swallowed a tiny bit of blood, not the owl's brain itself—what kind of principle could possibly explain this?

Setting aside his speculation on the mechanics for the moment, that brief second of footage contained a wealth of information.

The rabbit in the torn-open trash bag shown in the vision seemed to be the very one he had killed when he drank its blood.

Xiang Kun couldn't help but recall the legends from various vampire works of fiction, where those bitten by a vampire who didn't die would be transformed into vampires themselves. It was as if vampire saliva contained a virus that converted anyone it touched. Perhaps this owl had mutated because it had eaten a rabbit contaminated with his saliva?

But Xiang Kun immediately dismissed this hypothesis because:

1. When he collected the rabbit blood, he always bled it into a container before drinking; he never let his saliva touch the rabbit.

2. In the vision he saw, "his" own talons were already massive, clearly indicating that the giant owl had already mutated.

Xiang Kun recalled the surroundings from that second of footage and judged that it must have been at the landfill.

Could this giant owl have stumbled upon the rabbit, become interested in him, and tracked him down?

But if that were the case, the owl should have attacked him directly. Why go through the trouble of catching rats and dogs?

It couldn't be that it was intentionally using those behaviors to lure him to this remote location to strike, could it? His encounter with the dead rat and his interest in the special scent the owl left behind were entirely accidental. If it wanted to deliberately catch his attention, it should have thrown the dead rat onto his balcony. Besides, if it really wanted to find a remote place to ambush him, the small hill he had been staying in for the past few nights would have been a much better opportunity.

Was this owl, like him, a creature that had mutated for some unknown reason?

As for why it attacked him, Xiang Kun understood after tasting a drop of the giant owl's blood—it viewed him as food.

He also suddenly realized why the dead rat had died so miserably yet remained uneaten. This owl likely shared his condition: its entire digestive system had mutated, allowing it to consume only blood and not meat.

Such a massive body was likely also a result of this mutation.

And the owl throwing the rat's carcass into the mountains and the husky's carcass into the lake—perhaps... it was destroying the evidence?

Xiang Kun looked at himself under the moonlight, covered in mud and bloodstains. His T-shirt had been torn off, leaving his upper body bare. If he were seen walking down the street like this, would people call the police? ...Or film a video for TikTok?

Although it was past midnight, the streets were not entirely empty.

Moreover, returning to his residential complex would surely attract the attention of the security guards, which was a situation he wanted to avoid.

After a moment of thought, Xiang Kun walked toward the nearby lake and jumped directly into the shallows. His body immediately sank into the silt, submerging him up to his waist.

He used the lake water to simply wash the blood off his body, then climbed out. His pants were also covered in mud, making the bloodstains on them completely invisible.

Upon returning to his residential complex, his disheveled appearance naturally drew the side-eyes of the security guard at the gate.

Xiang Kun offered a bitter smile: "Went for a run and accidentally fell into the lake."

The guard looked bewildered, then watched Xiang Kun's retreating back with a face full of sympathy and concern.

Bare-chested, muddy, and soaking wet, Xiang Kun returned home. He quickly threw his wet pants and shoes into the trash can, took a quick shower, and sat down in front of his laptop.

From a search engine, Xiang Kun learned that the world's largest owl is the Blakiston's Fish Owl, with a body length of 70–77 cm and a weight of 1.5–5.5 kg. As a bird, it was already quite a large specimen, but compared to the giant owl he had encountered that night, it was still several sizes smaller.

Birds with body lengths of 1.5 to 1.6 meters and weights of several dozen kilograms did exist, such as ostriches, emus, and cassowaries, but these birds might run fast on the ground, yet they could not fly because they were too heavy.

Xiang Kun searched for pictures of various owls and felt that the giant owl's appearance was more similar to a Great Grey Owl—large, round head, distinct facial disc, and no ear tufts. However, compared to the Great Grey Owl photos he found, the giant owl he had seen had significantly darker feathers and no white spots, making it very difficult to detect when lurking in the shadows of the night.

A bird of such size appearing near a city would surely attract massive attention if seen by anyone!

With so many surveillance cameras on the streets and almost everyone carrying a smartphone capable of taking photos and videos, it would be very easy to capture if it were spotted.

Xiang Kun searched the web using keywords like "giant bird," "huge owl," and "monster bird." After failing to get the results he wanted, he expanded his search keywords and used a web-scraping script to search and extract information from local forums and message boards in his city and surrounding areas.

But based on the results, no one had discovered this giant owl.

The only thing Xiang Kun felt might be related was a post on a message board in a county in a neighboring city, where someone claimed that they saw a person standing on a tree at the edge of their village at night. They were startled and tried to shine their phone light on it, but the person disappeared.

Based on the description, it was very likely that giant owl. Xiang Kun himself had almost mistaken it for a person in a coat standing in a tree earlier.

Unfortunately, that person's reaction was a bit slow, and they didn't manage to take a photo.

From his previous tracking of the giant owl and the second of footage he had seen, Xiang Kun felt that this giant owl possessed intelligence far exceeding its peers. It was deliberately avoiding humans, likely appearing around the city only in the dead of night and hiding in concealed places during the day.

This giant owl had either just mutated and become this massive recently, or it had previously lived in deep, remote forests. If it was deliberately avoiding humans, it was understandable that it hadn't been discovered.

Otherwise, if it had stayed near the city for a long time, even with the utmost caution, a giant bird of that size would have been very difficult to keep completely hidden from human sight.

If it had come from deep, remote forests, then what was the reason? Did the owl deliberately search for and find the rabbit carcass Xiang Kun had discarded in the trash, or was it just a chance discovery?

These questions had no answers for the time being.

Previously, the giant owl had treated Xiang Kun as prey; now, Xiang Kun was equally interested in the giant owl.

He felt that perhaps he could find the cause of his own series of changes through this owl.

Of course, the owl's blood was also something he desperately needed. He was certain that the blood of this owl would provide his body with far more energy than rabbit, chicken, or duck blood, or any other blood he had tasted before.

According to his usual cycle, he would feel hunger today and need to drink blood. He had already bought three meat rabbits at home; this time, he would increase his intake and consume the blood of two rabbits.

He could move his feeding time forward and start now. Then, when he woke up—assuming it was still a 25-hour cycle—it would be early tomorrow morning, just in time to head out under the cover of night to search for the giant owl.

One more feeding, one more mutation; regardless of strength, recovery, or sensory abilities, everything would improve to some degree, which would be a significant help in his confrontation with that owl.

But Xiang Kun was also worried: if the owl was frightened by their fierce struggle tonight, or if it decided that he, as prey, was too difficult to handle and chose to give up and leave, what then?

If it retreated back into the deep, remote forests, dozens or hundreds of kilometers away, Xiang Kun had no confidence that he would be able to track it.