Infiltration

To be honest, it's not easy to distinguish Xia Tianhuo's scent from a scrap metal yard.

After all, this place has too many different smells, and Xiang Kun himself had only met Xia Tianhuo once, so his understanding of the characteristics of his scent was limited.

However, there was a strong smell of Xia Tianhuo from a pile of household garbage near the gate, so Xiang Kun searched the yard by smell and found the target.

Although he had explored the area by smell and sound and knew that Xia Tianhuo was not at the scrap metal yard, Xiang Kun still decided to conduct further investigation.

Instead of using methods such as deploying "Super-Linked Object" or "Emotion-Infused Object" to probe his "Hyper-Sensory State," he took off his shoes and climbed over the wall into the yard.

It wasn't that Xiang Kun suddenly decided to unleash his full power and charge in recklessly; rather, he already knew how many people were inside, their locations, and their current state, and was confident he could avoid being discovered.

Xiang Kun didn't crouch, bend over, or act cautiously. Instead, he walked confidently through the piles of paper, plastic, and scrap metal on the outside, glanced at the household garbage at the gate, and confirmed that the item with Xia Tianhuo's scent was a crumpled piece of rag. Then he turned around and walked into the house, looking like the owner of the place or a visitor.

Two seconds after Xiang Kun entered the house, a short, stocky, dark-skinned young man emerged from the toilet next to the house, yawning as he pulled up his zipper and walked toward the door.

Meanwhile, Xiang Kun calmly entered the living room. He stood behind two men who were playing Pro Evolution Soccer 5 on a PS2 with controllers in front of an old TV for a second. After quickly and carefully identifying various scents in the room, he walked towards a room with a slightly ajar door.

Although he knew there was no one inside, he didn't push the door open directly. Instead, he first pressed down on the edge of the door, applied force towards the hinges, and then slowly pushed the door open a little—because he knew the door had been there for a long time, and if he pushed it open directly, the hinges would make a groaning sound.

Just as Xiang Kun silently slipped into the room and closed the door, the short, stocky young man who had gone to the bathroom walked into the living room and lay down on the worn-out sofa behind his two companions who were playing games, continuing to sleep.

None of the three people in the living room noticed that a burly man of unknown origin had just entered the house silently and brazenly.

Inside the room Xiang Kun, though without turning on the lights, had already carefully inspected the room using low-light night vision mode—judging from the smell, he was fairly certain that Xia Tianhuo had been locked in this room and tied to one of the chairs.

With his overwhelming advantage in sensory abilities and physical prowess, Xiang Kun could easily become invisible to the three people in the scrap yard, right under their noses.

At this moment, Xiang Kun was like playing a real-time 2D game with a "scrap yard" as the map. Other players had a small and narrow field of vision and moved slowly, while he was looking down at the entire map from a high position. He not only had full vision, but he could also see the field of vision of other players and directly predict their movement trends in advance. The movement speed of the character he controlled was several times that of other players, so it was naturally not difficult for him to move safely in the map and not be discovered.

Of course, this is on the premise that there aren't many people in the house. If there are a dozen or twenty people, and they are all sober, then it would be very difficult for him to "sneak in" so directly and openly.

Based on various details in the room, Xiang Kun deduced Xia Tianhuo's situation in the room earlier. Based on the degree to which the smell dissipated and his past experience, he deduced from the overall environment that Xia Tianhuo had been taken away from here for more than ten hours.

In other words, it is highly likely that Xia Tianhuo was transferred away after the kidnappers made the call to Lao Xia demanding the ransom.

The room's layout was very simple, and there were no other clues.

Xiang Kun casually took a Coin out of his pocket and tossed it. The Coin tumbled to the ground but didn't touch it or make a sound. It hovered horizontally for a moment, then slipped through the gap under the door, silently passed through the living room, went through the front door, and headed towards the piles of recycled metal scraps in the yard.

A moment later, a series of clanging and crackling sounds came from the yard, startling the three people inside the house. Not only the two who were playing games, but even the one who was sleeping on the sofa was startled and jumped up.

However, Xiang Kun observed the three people's reactions through the crack in the door, which were rather intriguing. They didn't go out to check the situation immediately, but instead exchanged uneasy glances. After a dozen seconds, they took an axe, an iron bar, and other tools from the corner of the living room and cautiously went out together.

After the three of them left, Xiang Kun also came out of the room. He appeared relaxed and casual, but in reality, he searched the area, including the living room and other rooms, very quickly and efficiently. He even opened several drawers and cabinets quickly and silently to check them.

Although he could make a fairly good judgment about the situation and objects inside a house even when he was outside, and he knew the creatures inside the house very well, there was some information that could not be grasped by smell and sound alone, such as information recorded on paper, or physical objects that represented special functions.

Unfortunately, Xiang Kun was unable to find any useful information after a simple search.

It's possible that the kidnappers took or disposed of the relevant items during the transfer.

In that case, the main clues lie with the three people who are still here. It's just unknown how much they know about the kidnapping case, to what extent they were involved, or whether they know where Xia Tianhuo has been transferred.

Sensing that the three people who had been checking the situation outside were walking back, Xiang Kun leisurely returned to the room he had been in before and slowly closed the door.

After the three people from the scrap metal collection station left with various "weapons," they discovered that the strange noise they had just heard was caused by a pile of scrap metal that had been stacked neatly and steadily toppling over.

They did a quick check and found nothing unusual; of course, they didn't intend to reassemble the scrap metal.

However, just as they were about to return to their house, they heard another strange noise coming from the scrap metal. So they came over to check again, which took quite a while, but they still found nothing. However, their initial anxiety lessened considerably, because it was obvious that this couldn't be caused by humans. It must be rats or wild cats or something similar. The scrap yard had caught quite a few before, so they didn't pay any attention and went back home.

As they walked back into the house, the short, stocky, dark-skinned man who had been sleeping on the sofa couldn't help but ask his two companions, "My cousin and his friends said something's off on the street today. Brother Kui messed up that deal; will they trace it back here? If the big boss's men do, we're in big trouble..."

His Mandarin also had a very heavy accent, but it wasn't the Guihai accent; rather, it was clearly a Burmese accent.

The man who had been playing games and wearing a jade Buddha pendant around his neck frowned and said, "We're all still here, what are you afraid of! But I'm warning you, don't you dare talk nonsense outside, including to your damn relatives, or you'll suffer an even worse fate."

This person's accent was clearly that of the Guihai dialect, but it was obviously not the voice of the kidnapper in the phone recording Lao Xia had made.

Back in the room, the two gamers wouldn't let the short, stocky man sleep on the sofa; they kicked him and told him to go sleep in his room.

Of course, that room was not the Xiang Kun was currently hiding in; there was no bed in that room.

Xiang Kun also knew why the short, stocky Burmese man didn't want to sleep in the room and instead lingered on the sofa in the living room—he had just looked at the other rooms as well. One room had several beds, but either there were no mattresses and the bed boards were broken, or the mattresses were as rotten as tofu, and you could probably get poked by the springs if you slept on them. In addition, they smelled bad and obviously hadn't been cleaned much. Plus, there was no air conditioning or fan, so it was unbearably hot. It would probably be more comfortable to sleep on a makeshift bed on the living room floor.

So the short, stocky Burmese man pleaded a few times, but was scolded by the man with the jade pendant. In the end, he could only drag a tattered deck chair to the courtyard to sleep.

However, after the short, stocky Burmese man lay down in the courtyard, Xiang Kun heard him muttering some Burmese words under his breath. Although he couldn't understand the content, he could guess that they were some "greetings".

Although the two people inside picked up the controllers again, their attention was no longer on the game; instead, they began to talk in hushed tones—which was also why the man with the jade pendant had driven the Burmese out.

"Actually, what Tun Qin said... I'm a little worried too. Brother Kui thought he was going to do a big business with Boss Wu Lun this time, but he messed it up. He didn't get the 'goods' and died on the spot. The Boss is probably very dissatisfied. Now that the big boss over there has died and his son is in a rage, the Myanmar authorities will definitely put a lot of effort into investigating. Finding this place... is probably only a matter of time." The man with the jade pendant said to his companion with some concern.

The companion was a man with long, parted hair, who also spoke with Guihai: "No way... Brother Kui meticulously planned their return route last night. The police shouldn't be able to trace it that easily, right? The car's already been dismantled; they won't be able to find it here. Besides... since Boss Wu Lun sent Brother Kui to kidnap Teng Li, he must have a grudge against his father, right? Even though he failed, he's dead... we can use that as a way to kill him, right? It's also a way to vent Boss's anger. Boss won't abandon us after using us, will he?"

"Bullshit! Are you stupid! Boss Wu Lun had Brother Kui kidnap Teng Li, not because of a personal grudge, but to force the big boss to cooperate with him on the big casino project! Now the big boss's son has been killed, what do you think the outcome will be? I reckon Wu Lun hasn't sold Brother Kui out right now because he's also involved in this matter, and the big boss will be angry with him too, so he's still hesitating... But once the situation gets serious, it's hard to say." The man with the jade pendant said with great concern, "Why do you think Brother Kui suddenly changed his mind and kidnapped that big idiot to ask the Xia family for money? It's obvious he's raising money to run away!"

The long-haired man was stunned for a long time, clearly convinced by his companion's reasoning, and asked blankly, "Then what do we do? Is Brother Kui planning to lead us back to China?"

The man with the jade pendant sighed, "You're really stupid... What's the environment like in China right now? What methods do the police use? Are you looking for death? I don't know exactly where we'll go, but it's definitely not going back to China. I suspect Brother Kui hasn't decided where to go yet, so he just asked the Xia family to prepare the money, without saying how to pay the ransom. Right now, we shouldn't be thinking about those things, but about the two of us... about ourselves."

"You mean... Brother Kui will abandon us and run away on his own?" the long-haired man asked nervously.

"It's not that they'd abandon us willingly, but I'm worried that in an emergency, they won't be able to take care of us. After all... after all, they're at sea right now, and it's hard to say what might happen to them," the man with the jade pendant said, shaking his head.

However, the two didn't reach any conclusions in their discussion, and around one o'clock in the morning, they each took a sofa and lay down to sleep.

After confirming that both men were asleep through his senses, Xiang Kun silently left the room, went directly to the man with the jade pendant, placed a Black Circle Graffiti that Lao Xia had established a connection with under the sofa where the man was sleeping, and then returned to the room.

If it were daytime now, given the urgency and time constraints, in order to rescue Xia Tianhuo as quickly as possible and return before the Blood Drinking Period, Xiang Kun might have to physically interrogate her while her face was covered.

But since it's nighttime and these people are definitely going to sleep, Xiang Kun naturally chose the more efficient, direct, and covert "soul-searching" method—exploring Lao Xia's "Dream Within a Dream."

Based on their previous conversation, Xiang Kun had concluded that the man with the jade pendant was the one among the three at the scrap metal yard who knew the most about the kidnapping case, had done the most self-reflection, and whose decisions had the strongest influence on the other two.

Therefore, when he could only influence one person with a "Dream Within a Dream" effect in a short period of time, Xiang Kun naturally chose him.

Xiang Kun had already been in that room, communicating via mobile phone with Lao Xia, who was in Citong with his third uncle, third aunt, and the police. He told her to find an opportunity to rest early that night, and quickly and simply introduced the situation he knew. He also briefly discussed the "Dream Within a Dream" strategy with Lao Xia.

Each time they have this kind of "Dream Within a Dream," Xiang Kun and Lao Xia treat it like making a "documentary" about a specific person. They need to study the plan in advance, both to figure out how to guide the "interviewee" to express their true self, hide their memories, and subconsciously realize their true understanding, and to consider how to influence the "interviewee" in return so that they will do the behavior they need after waking up.

In this process, Lao Xia was like the director and screenwriter, while Xiang Kun took care of all the work, including lighting, photography, post-production special effects.

After confirming that Lao Xia was asleep by sending WeChat without receiving a reply, Xiang Kun began to sense the "Emotion-Infused Object" around Lao Xia and entered a dream.

Then, Lao Xia woke up from his dream and skillfully followed the pre-arranged plan, entering the "Dream Within a Dream" through the Black Circle Graffiti under the sofa with the jade pendant, and began to "make arrangements".

Under the skillful manipulation of Lao Xia, a psychiatrist, psychological counselor, Dream Within a Dream manipulator, and Dream Within a Dream hypnotist, Xiang Kun learned part of the cause and effect of Xia Tianhuo's kidnapping through the jade pendant man's memories and "frankness"—at least the truth known from the jade pendant man's perspective.

Wu Lun, a Myanmar tycoon in Montamira, wants to partner with a Myanmar big boss and emerging capitalist to jointly build a mega-casino that has obtained an official Myanmar gambling license.

However, the big boss did not intend to cooperate with Wu Lun. So Wu Lun found the Brother Kui gang, who had committed a crime in China and fled to Montamira to do some illegal business. He asked them to kidnap the big boss's son, Teng Li, and use him as leverage to teach the big boss a lesson, so that the big boss would know that cooperation was the only way to achieve a "win-win" situation.

Unexpectedly, while Brother Kui was working, Teng Li had an accident and died on the spot.

Brother Kui probably realized that big trouble was coming. After being reminded by his men, he learned that Xia Tianhuo, who had been knocked unconscious by the airbag in the passenger seat, was a "rich young master" from China, so he kidnapped him.

After kidnapping Xia Tianhuo, Brother Kui personally led a team to investigate Xia Tianhuo's background, which led to Xia Tianhuo later calling home to demand a ransom of five million US dollars.

According to the man with the jade pendant, Brother Kui kidnapped Xia Tianhuo because he was planning to run away and was thinking about raising money for his escape.

Early this morning, after making the phone call, Brother Kui led his men to move Xia Tianhuo to the sea—this was actually part of the original plan, but the original target had already been killed.

The original plan was for the man with the jade pendant and the man with long hair to stay here as a contact and information point between Brother Kui and the mainland.

After learning the specifics, Lao Xia, following the plan and the information he had actually obtained, guided the man with the jade pendant within the "Dream Within a Dream," reinforcing his belief that Brother Kui was about to run away.