Biochemical mutations are something that only happen in movies; they cannot occur in the real world. Cellular metabolism requires sufficient nutrients and time. Even if humans or other species did mutate for some reason, an organism could never instantly transform from one thing into another.
However, an incredible change has occurred to the Old William, Hong Zhenlong Qingmu. In an instant, both of his eyes turned blue, long fangs grew out of his mouth, and the hair on his face grew rapidly, increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Hong Kui, who was standing next to him, held Old William's hand and asked softly, "Father, how are you feeling?" His expression was not too unusual, obviously he was used to this kind of situation and knew that his father would change like this.
Huang Ziqiang was terrified, his face filled with horror, all traces of the confidence and domineering aura that came with being a hybrid of entrepreneur and socialite gone. His worldview was being shattered bit by bit, ever since Qingmu inexplicably broke down the door and killed Jiang Deqian. He felt like he had wasted his life, and the terror brought on by this radical change was almost crushing his spirit. He began to doubt his choices, regretting why he had tried to curry favor with this big shot from North America. The man had just happened to be vacationing in Wuzhong and had just happened to choose Huang Ziqiang's resort; it had nothing to do with him. He also regretted provoking Qingmu, this strange man, again. The man had already left and wouldn't cause him any more trouble. His intuition told him that he was in trouble again.
Qingmu was even more shocked than Huang Ziqiang by the changes in William Wolf. He wasn't afraid, of course, but rather astonished. Blue eyes were one thing, but hair growing on his face and fangs coming out of his mouth was clearly too unreal.
The moment Old William opened his eyes, he felt a fluctuation of Mental Power. It was a phenomenon that only occurred when the dream space was opened. If this was a dream, then the changes in Old William's body would make sense; it was his consciousness constructing its own image.
However, this is not a dream.
Qingmu saw it, William's son, Que, saw it, and Huang Ziqiang saw it too. If this was a dream, it meant that Old William had instantly drawn everyone around him into his dream—what incredible Mental Power that must have required! Qingmu thought about it, and among the people he knew, perhaps only Duwa could do it.
Before this, the only experience that almost made Qingmu fail to recognize a dream was Kitano Masatake's collective Real-Scene Dream, and now, Old William seems to have created something similar.
However, Qingmu was certain that Old William hadn't hypnotized them. In fact, his physical condition was far from ideal; he had clearly been tormented by illness for a long time. His cheekbones were high, his eyes were sunken, and he was so thin that he had almost no muscle. He was emaciated, and his withered fingers were barely better than Crow's claws.
This is a spontaneous outburst of Mental Power. In the instant of the outburst, the consciousness of those around him was drawn into his dream. However, he did not actually create any different dream space, but rather merged with reality, because he himself was unaware that he was dreaming. Thus, a phenomenon similar to sleepwalking, Real-Scene Dream within a dream, occurred.
This dreamlike state is extremely taxing on Mental Power.
Qingmu could sense that Old William's Mental Power fluctuated, giving the impression of someone frail and nearing the end of his life, yet seemingly supported by an extremely strong belief that enabled him to live, resulting in those sudden, powerful bursts of mental energy.
Perhaps it was this outburst that, while severely depleting his mental energy, rapidly overdrawn his physical reserves.
Old William's struggles didn't last long before subsiding. The long hair on his face could be seen receding, his fangs slowly retracting into his mouth, and after a while, his eyes returned to black, and everything was back to normal.
"I'm sorry, I startled you," Quiwyn Wolf said calmly.
"No, it's alright." Huang Ziqiang's face was pale, and he stammered a little, whether it was because the fear from earlier had not yet subsided, or because of the tension of facing a world-class gang leader.
Seeing that Hong Zhenlong had closed his eyes and fallen into a deep sleep, Hong Kui gestured for them to come into the living room to talk.
"How long has this been going on?" Qingmu asked.
"It's been like this since I was little."
Hong Kui's answer greatly surprised Qingmu.
"Naturally?"
"Yes, it's a genetic disease." Hong Kui was tall and had a booming voice, but he possessed an aristocratic air and a scholarly demeanor, so his speech wasn't intimidating. "Everyone in our family has this condition, though the symptoms vary in severity. The onset of this disease has always been quite regular, but my father's condition suddenly worsened this year."
What did the hospital say?
"Our family's illness has lasted for nearly a century, and many medical experts have studied our family," Hong Kui said with a smile. "At first, they studied it as werewolf syndrome, but we are different from other cases of Werewolf Syndrome; we don't actually grow hair. Later, doctors thought our illness was a mental problem, but they couldn't explain the physiological manifestations during an attack."
Qingmu interjected, "Has anyone managed to collect samples of hair or other substances that grew during the illness?"
"No, nothing at all," Hong Kui said, shaking his head.
Qingmu sensed that Hong Kui hadn't finished speaking and knew he was holding back, so he remained silent and waited quietly.
Hong Kui pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, there's nothing to hide. We came to China this time to see if there are any traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who can treat this kind of illness. Although you don't look like a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, since General Manager Huang recommended you, I'll treat you as a doctor. I'll tell you anything you want to know without any concealment, but I hope you won't lie to me."
As he spoke, his eyes suddenly turned sharp, and his tall frame leaned forward, like a ferocious beast looking down from above.
"No, no, it won't happen." Huang Ziqiang regretted getting involved in this matter more and more.
Hong Kui ignored Huang Ziqiang and turned to look at Qingmu.
Qingmu leaned back lazily on the sofa, meeting Hong Kui's gaze, and said, "I can't say I can cure your father's illness, but I might be able to find out why his condition suddenly worsened."
Hong Kui nodded and said, "In fact, whether at home or in the hospital, the surveillance cameras didn't capture any physiological changes in us. It seems those changes are only visible to the naked eye, and machines can't detect them. So later, our illness became like the Emperor's New Clothes. All the doctors who studied it said they didn't see any longer hair or fangs, but rather it was a hallucination of our family members. I'm saying this now, so if you say you didn't see anything just now, I won't be surprised."
Qingmu said, "What if I told you that it was the Emperor's New Clothes?"
Hong Kui frowned, somewhat displeased, and said, "I don't like joking."
Qingmu said, "You'll understand in a moment."
Hong Kui asked, "What are your plans? Any treatment option needs to convince me first."
Qingmu laughed and said, "It's simple, just let your father go to sleep."