Birds and Insects

Early in the morning, Zhou Rui and his survey team split into two groups and went into the mountains to conduct their investigation.

Fang Pingfang, Mi Qiao, and Gao Shu headed to Wushu Mountain with their equipment, while Zhou Rui went to Chongyun Mountain with Li Shiping and Ye Chong.

However, when they passed through Chongyun Village, because the road in the village had just been repaired, their car did not drive directly to the foot of the mountain as before. Instead, at Zhou Rui's suggestion, they drove around the village along the newly built road for a while.

After sensing the significant changes in the village, Zhou Rui even asked Li Shiping Ye Chong to stop the car so that Ye Chong could take off with his drone and take a bird's-eye view of Chongyun Village.

"It seems like only half a month has passed since we last went into the mountains, right? The changes are too great," Zhou Rui said in surprise.

Li Shiping, however, calmly said while looking at the footage transmitted by the drone, "As long as the money is in place, this speed is nothing. Last time we went into the mountains, the road to Chongyun Village was almost finished, and we extended it into the village as well, which didn't take much effort. As for the streetlights and such, that's even simpler."

Zhou Rui frowned and said, "The problem is... why is such a small village suddenly undertaking such large-scale construction?"

Judging from the footage transmitted by the drone, Chongyun Village not only repaired the roads leading to the outside world and the roads within the village in a short period of time, but there were also many construction sites underway, and the scale was not small.

"Are these related to what we're investigating?" Li Shiping asked curiously. "It's obvious that Jianzhou City is increasing its investment in the Tongshi Town. Didn't you notice that when we went to Tongshi Town for dinner a few days ago, there were significantly more cars and people on the road, and many shops were under renovation, making it more bustling?"

Zhou Rui nodded without refuting, but holding the tablet that was displaying the drone's feed, he asked Ye Chong, who was not far away, "Chong'er, do you know what these construction sites are for?"

Ye Chong glanced at the spot Zhou Rui was pointing to, said "Wait a moment," then picked up his tablet and checked, saying, "These areas around the village are all under construction for breeding bases and farms. The area closer to the village should be a Research Base under construction, also related to breeding and the internet."

As he spoke, Ye Chong remembered something and looked up at Zhou Rui: "If you call me 'Chong'er' again, believe me, I'll shave your eyebrows while you're sleeping."

Zhou Rui laughed and said, "Alright, alright, then I won't call you 'Chong'er,' I'll imitate Hua Hua and call you Little Leaf!"

If it were a few months ago when they first met, Ye Chong would have definitely made a solemn declaration to the other person not to give him a nickname, but now... he just rolled his eyes and was too lazy to say anything more.

Having spent so much time together, they were already familiar with each other's personalities. Zhou Rui knew very well that he wouldn't really get angry over a joke, and he also knew very well that... if he didn't let Zhou Rui call him "Little Ye Zi," this guy would definitely continue to come up with other nicknames and would never call him by his real name properly.

Next, instead of heading straight into the mountains, at Zhou Rui's request, they went to visit the construction site of what was supposedly Research Base related to the internet and aquaculture.

Because Fang Pingfang had instructed that Zhou Rui would be in charge and lead the way to Chongyun Mountain, Li Shiping and Ye Chong, although they felt that Chongyun Village was irrelevant to what they were investigating, had no choice but to go with him.

As the SUV approached the construction site and slowed down, a tall, thin young man came over and waved, saying, "You can't park here. Park over there."

Li Shiping parked the car outside the construction site. Zhou Rui got out and said, "We'll just look around here for a bit and then leave. We won't be here for long."

The tall, thin young man was Liu Gaoshang, who had just taken over from his brother to oversee the construction site. He stared blankly at Li Shiping and Ye Chong getting out of the car, watching them and the people who had gotten out of the car earlier walk past him into the construction site, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Hey... this is all construction sites, there's nothing to see here!" Liu Gaoshang remembered what his older brother had told him and quickly caught up with the three of them, saying this.

Zhou Rui smiled and showed Liu Gaoshang an ID, saying, "I heard this place is going to be a Research Base? We are 'researchers' from the Taiyu Biological Laboratory in Citong City, we also do scientific research, and we'd like to go in and take a look..."

His credentials were genuine, of course. Behind Taiyu Laboratory was "Shenxing Technology". Although none of the six of them had actually worked at Taiyu Laboratory, this lab had always been their shield for investigating various incidents in Haixi Province. Many investigations were conducted by applying directly to the local authorities, which provided them with many conveniences.

Upon hearing that they were researchers, Liu Gaoshang paused for a moment and hesitated. Although he and his brother had both had terrible grades since childhood, under his brother's influence, they greatly admired those with high academic qualifications and who engaged in research. The "Dr. Xia" next to Mr. Xiang, who seemed to see through everything and know everything, further reinforced this perception, making them think that people who do scientific research are all very capable.

"Are you from the construction company? Do you know who set up this Research Base?" Zhou Rui asked, gesturing to Ye Chong to take some photos and to bring the drone over to take a picture from above.

As Liu Gaoshang was somewhat stunned and unsure how to respond, Liu Zhengyi, who had just finished his shift at the construction site after working all night and had gone to have breakfast, saw the strangers and came over to his younger brother, asking, "Who are these people?"

Judging from their clothes, appearance, and demeanor, Zhou Rui and Ye Chong seemed to be scholars, so Liu Zhengyi's attitude was relatively good, wondering if they might be Mr. Xiang's friends.

"They're from some kind of Thailand lab..." Liu Gaoshang quickly came over and whispered to his older brother. Of course, there was a lot of information he hadn't heard clearly, so he could only give a general overview.

But Liu Zhengyi immediately realized that these three people were not there to Mr. Xiang. They didn't know the actual purpose of the construction site, nor did they know who the owner of the site was.

"I'm sorry, we're in charge of security here. Outsiders aren't allowed in. Look, none of you are wearing safety helmets. Coming in like this violates safety regulations. Please move aside, please move aside." Liu Zhengyi said politely but firmly as he blocked the three people's way, slowly waving his hands forward, urging them to leave like ducks.

Although Liu Zhengyi was not tall, he was dark-skinned and strong, and had a reckless and unruly air about him. Zhou Rui and Ye Chong subconsciously backed out of the construction site gate. As for Li Shiping, he didn't think it was necessary to come here to check on other people's construction site, so he naturally wouldn't get into a conflict with the Liu brothers.

Although Zhou Rui felt that the construction site was a bit strange, and didn't seem like Research Base set up by an agricultural or animal husbandry research institution, he didn't necessarily want to go inside.

If you really want to see something, just send a drone to explore it later, or apply for a permit directly from the investors behind it. There's no need to argue with the people at the construction site.

"Brother, we're researching insects. You're a local, right? Have you ever seen this kind of ant while living here?" Zhou Rui said, taking out his tablet and showing Liu Zhengyi a clear, large picture of an ant.

"Look, this ant has wings. It's a colony ant, what you call a flying ant locally. It's male, but it's a little different from ordinary colony ants. It's larger, its wings are shorter, and it has these veins on its wings. Look... and these antennae..."

Zhou Rui was patiently and carefully explaining when Liu Zhengyi laughed, "Who would examine ants so closely? If you want to look for ants, you can go to the bushes or the mountains nearby; there will definitely be plenty there."

Zhou Rui smiled and asked again, "Have you seen any other strange insects? Or... birds?"

"No," Liu Zhengyi said firmly. After a slight pause, he asked, "Why do your laboratories in Thailand study insects and birds?"

Zhou Rui was taken aback for a moment. "Thailand? We're not a Thailand lab, we're a lab in our own province... Oh, did that guy mishear? We're Taiyu Laboratory, located in Citong City." As he spoke, he took out his credentials again to show them, but when he tried to take them back, he found that Liu Zhengyi had grabbed them.

Liu Zhengyi carefully examined the document, then took out his phone, searched online using the information on it, found the company's phone number, and dialed it.

After confirming the authenticity of Zhou Rui's documents and identity by making a phone call, he let go, returned the documents, and then smiled, "Sorry, our village committee is quite strict about security, after all, there have been escaped prisoners who have wandered over before."

After seeing Zhou Rui and the others leave the construction site, return to their car, and drive back towards the village, Liu Gaoshang said with some worry, "Brother, the strange bird they were talking about... could it be the big golden pigeon in Mr. Xiang's car last night? Could that bird be a protected animal, and they're here to investigate Mr. Xiang?"

Liu Zhengyi cursed, "What golden pigeon? That's a canary! An ornamental bird! Just a bit fat!"

However, he still picked up his phone and Xiang Kun to mention the investigation by the three people. He didn't think these three were targeting Mr. Xiang. Xiang, but rather suspected that they might be researching the same project as Mr. Xiang and Dr. Xia, and could even be competitors. He remembered that after the two escaped prisoners were struck by lightning and died in Chongyun Mountain, many people from other places went into the mountain. Besides some internet celebrities trying to ride the wave of popularity and tourists bursting with curiosity, there were also quite a few researchers.

Meanwhile, back in the car, Zhou Rui said, "Those two seemed a bit wary of us? There's no reason for that..."

As Li Shiping turned the SUV around, he said, "When you mentioned 'bird' just now, the tall guy glanced at the short guy; they might not have been telling the truth."

Zhou Rui seemed thoughtful upon hearing this, then said to Ye Chong, "Help me contact the company or organization behind that construction site. I want to find out who is building that research center."

While following instructions to conduct the investigation, Ye Chong asked, puzzled, "Shouldn't our investigation be focused on the Chongyun Mountain Region? Why are you keeping harping on this village?"

Zhou Rui said, "Don't forget, I first found the 'Ghost-Whisker Ant' on the bustling pedestrian street in Tongshi Town. Although we later found some traces of suspected 'Ghost-Whisker Ant' activity in the Chongyun Mountain Region, its main gathering and habitat area may very well be Chongyun Village."

"Ghost-Whisker Ant" is the name Zhou Rui gave to the special ant he discovered.

"Do you still believe that the 'giant raptor' we found in Wushu Mountain is directly related to the 'Ghost-Whisker Ant'?" Ye Chong asked again.

"Yes, I think so."

Zhou Rui nodded firmly, but he didn't elaborate on his reasons.

Besides the concrete evidence he used to persuade Dr. Fang, the rest of the team, and Mr. Liang, there was another important reason: a dream he had been having repeatedly during this period.

In his dream, he was constantly discussing a character with his teacher. It was a character with the radical for "door" inside and the radical for "bird" inside. It was pronounced niè and was related to the character "𫔶".

In the dream, he thought that the character "𫔶" represented Haixi Province, but later due to various reasons, the abbreviation of Haixi Province was changed from "𫔶" to "".

Although after waking up, he searched on the Internet and found that the word "𫔶" represented Haixi Province was completely false, let alone the change from "𫔶" to "". It was an idea that came out of nowhere in a dream, and was taught blindly by the teacher in the dream.

But the strange character for "bird" inside that "door" made Zhou Rui constantly connect the "giant raptor" with the "Ghost-Whisker Ant" he had discovered. The more carefully he looked for the connection between the two, the more determined he became in his investigation.

Furthermore, Fang Pingfang, Chen Tianhua, and even Mr. Liang were all convinced by the various pieces of evidence he found—although this evidence was more of a logical deduction than empirical evidence, they still accepted his conjecture—that the "giant raptor" that appeared in Wushu Mountain, the "invisible insect" that was hunted by the "giant raptor", and the "Ghost-Whisker Ant" found in Tongshi Town were different forms of the same creature at different times.

Of course, he didn't mention the recurring dream to anyone else, because he felt that this dream was different from the bizarre rabbit meat dream he had in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone. This dream should be generated by his own consciousness and was not influenced by external factors.

However, he himself did not realize that after waking up, although he remembered the contents of the dream, he never actively recalled what the teacher who taught him the word "bird" inside the "door" in the dream looked like.

He naturally wouldn't realize that the teacher who taught him to read in his dream, just like the person who helped Mi Qiao push the swing in her dream, was a two-dimensional character with a panda's body but a face like Jacky Cheung's, resembling an emoji.

Just as everyone had finished breakfast in the courtyard, Liu Caifu arrived with three strangers.

Liu Caifu said to Xiang Kun with great pleasure, "Mr. Xiang, these are researchers from 'Taiyu Laboratory' in your hometown of Citong City. They are also engaged in scientific research. They know about the Research Base you are building in the village and admire it very much. They wanted to come and meet you." He then added in a low voice, "I have verified their identities. They are indeed from 'Taiyu Laboratory'."

Xiang Kun smiled and nodded, then looked at Zhou Rui, Li Shiping, and Ye Chong standing at the gate of the courtyard.

This was their first time meeting Xiang Kun, but Xiang Kun was already very familiar with them.

Not only did he spot the drone as it flew overhead, but Liu Zhengyi also proactively called to "report" after Zhou Rui and the others went to the construction site. Relying on the "Super-Linked Object" network that spanned the entire village, surveillance cameras, Alice's targeted intrusion into the "Shenxing Technology" dedicated network, he knew exactly where the three of them had been, what they had said, and what they had done.

He was very clear about Zhou Rui's purpose in going to Chongyun Village and Chongyun Mountain —in fact, it could be said that it was all deliberately guided and manipulated by him and Lao Xia.

After Alice gained control of a large amount of data and dedicated networks of "Shenxing Technology," and with the "Emotion-Infused Object" and "Super-Linked Object" that had already been deployed around Mi Qiao and later around Zhou Rui and Fang Pingfang, Xiang Kun was able to gain comprehensive control over the investigation team through their communication information, data recorded in electronic devices, and inquiries and guidance in their dreams.

The "Ghost-Whisker Ant" named by Zhou Rui, which are the second or even third generation mutated ants derived from "Zero Zero One" and "Zero Zero Two", as well as the "mutated bird" whose whereabouts are temporarily unknown to Xiang Kun, are the "introductions" that Xiang Kun used to observe the detailed operation mechanism of "Shenxing Technology" and help him answer many questions.