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The man persuaded the girls to throw away their phones and keep secrets from their families and friends. All in the name of breaking free from social constraints and achieving true personal liberation. They were to find some excuse to leave and then meet up with him.

What happened next couldn’t be found out from the phone. Obviously, after the three met up, they no longer communicated via phone.

Perhaps, the two girls really did what the man asked – they might not have brought their phones at all.

Based on the known information, Zhao Feng speculated that the three probably went on a hiking trip. They had traveled far, resting in tents along the way, using cash to buy food and water from the locals. In the end, they reached deep into Zi Huan Mountain.

Then, in that extremely desolate and hidden cave, the man drugged the two girls into losing consciousness. He killed them and then ended his own life too. Judging by the sleeping pills that the man had brought with him and the initial situation in the cave, this seemed to be the case.

Of course, the exact cause of the three’s death, the specifics of the situation, still needed to be confirmed by the coroner’s report.

Sitting in front of the computer, Zhao Feng watched as his colleagues from the tech department extracted various pieces of information from the phone. He wondered why the “multi-armed monster” guided him in his dream to discover these bodies?

The male victim was indeed very handsome, with a fit body and a clear outline of his chest and abs. There were lots of topless selfies in his phone gallery, which he often shared on various social platforms and in chat records with various female friends.

One thing was clear, he was a playboy. He dated multiple women at the same time, was popular and knew exactly how to charm and deceive women.

Those two girls easily developed a liking and trust in him. According to his request, they told their friends and families reasons for departure. Therefore, they had disappeared for almost a year without anyone reporting them missing to the police.

However, being a playboy and promiscuous are moral issues and not equivalent to the breach of law or criminality. It’s fundamentally different from what happened in Zi Huan Mountain; this change was too sudden.

Why would a man like this suddenly do such a thing?

Did he not want to live anymore?

Or were there other hidden truths and other murderers involved?

This case was about three lives. Needless to say, the higher-ups in the department took it very seriously. They had to sort out all the relevant information overnight.

Colleagues joked about Zhao Feng’s “Conan-like abilities”, for he could even discover a major case on his days off.

Zhao Feng woke up very early that day and had spent the whole day running around the mountain. He also had muscle strains in his calves and his walking was impaired. After being cold and hungry most of the night, he should have been extremely exhausted by now.

But he refused Old Xu’s suggestion to go back to the dormitory to rest first. He continued to sort out evidence and various pieces of information with his colleagues, filling out various reports.

Seeing his determination, the colleagues felt too bad to tease him anymore.

Only Xu Zhao faintly felt that Xiao Zhao did not stay out of embarrassment for discovering the case and making everyone work overtime in the middle of the night, but that he genuinely wanted to stay and work.

He still felt that Zhao Feng discovering the three corpses deep in Zi Huan Mountain had some other hidden implications. There must be something that he didn’t know, and Zhao Feng didn’t feel comfortable telling him.

Old Xu wondered, what could that be?

…

February 16, Sunday.

Wang De’an had the rare day off today and was out for a walk, wearing casual clothes.

This is a green space next to an artificial lake. Since it’s still under construction, the area is remote and doesn’t have street lights, making it a frequent scene of various accidents or incidents.

Such as where a drunken man accidentally fell into the lake a year ago and was later rescued by a patrolling officer nearby.

The following night, a young couple who had been caressing each other by the grass area, were provoked by two drunken ruffians, resulting in the couple beating them into serious injuries.

On New Year’s Day evening, three rogue youths drove a girl who had been drugged by them to the side of the lake for indecent acts. Luckily, they were thwarted by a blind girl.

The blind girl reported the incident that night, and the responding officers were Wang De’an and his partner, Officer Han.

The case itself was not complex. The three suspects clearly admitted their crimes, so the investigation was completed quickly and the suspects were handed over to the prosecutor.

However, the bizarre reactions of the three suspects that night, their description of the situation, and the car recorder’s recordings aroused Wang De’an’s suspicions. He discussed these doubts with Zhao Feng, an old classmate from police school, now serving in Haixi Province, Citong City.

At first, he didn’t take it very seriously and only chatted with his old friend about it casually.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, a similar incident occurred in the city where Zhao Feng worked, where the culprits experienced illusions of a “terrifying multi-armed monster”.

This time however, the culprits turned themselves in voluntarily.

Afterwards, Wang De’an and Zhao Feng began to correlate and summarize the common points of the two cases. Zhao Feng reported these findings to his superior, Old Xu, who also took it seriously and suspected that both groups had used the same type of new “prohibited drugs”, hence having similar illusions.

However, the results of subsequent investigations showed that the two suspect groups had no connection whatsoever.

The three suspects from Citong city had no history of illegal drug use, and while two out of the three suspects from Wang De’an’s side had a history of drug use, the blood and urine tests showed that they had not used any illegal substances on the night of the crime.

The investigation hit a dead-end and Old Xu had explicitly requested Zhao Feng not to waste any more time on this matter.

However, Wang De’an and Zhao Feng would still occasionally chat about it in private, and followed up on the subsequent situations of the six suspects who had experienced the illusion.

Yesterday morning, while Wang De’an was still sleeping, he received a WeChat message from Zhao Feng stating that he had a very strange dream, in which he was flying on the “multi-armed monster” to the mountains.

Having woken up to the message, Wang De’an didn’t find it strange. It was commonplace to dream about things that had been on one’s mind during the day. Considering they both frequently discussed this topic, it wasn’t unusual for such a dream to take place. He casually replied, asking about the details of the dream.

However, Zhao Feng did not respond until this day.

Wang De’an didn’t press him further, guessing that his old classmate might have been suddenly assigned an urgent task and didn’t have time to check his phone, which was not unusual for their profession.

He was off duty today and had made plans to watch a movie with the girl he had a crush on. However, the girl canceled at the last minute due to an emergency. He sat alone in the movie theatre before eventually leaving early, eventually finding himself here.

Reflecting upon that night, especially the details recorded from the car’s camera, he was particularly interested in the blind girl, Li Jun’s “guide bird”.

The bird’s behaviour was definitely… very peculiar and strange.

He had thought about finding that blind girl and seeing her guide bird again, but remembering the warning from his partner, Old Han, and the girl’s uncle, Li Sheng, a senior in the city precinct, he had to dismiss the idea.

Although Li Sheng appeared as polite and gentle as a teacher, he was known to have a very violent temper in the precinct. If there was a valid reason to revisit, doing so under the pretext of “investigating the illusion of a monster seen by three suspects in a closed case” would likely invite a beating from Li Sheng.

As he thought about this, he suddenly noticed a yellow canary on a tree not far away. It looked similar to the blind girl, Li Jun’s “guide bird”.

Consequently, he subconsciously walked towards the bird, stood under the tree and looked up at it.

Interestingly, the bird also appeared to be looking down at him.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Wang De’an waved and greeted with a smile.

However, he immediately laughed at his own absurdity, thankful that the place was remote and no one was around to see him greeting a bird. Otherwise, they might think there was something wrong with his brain.

He didn’t really think the bird could understand human speech, nor did he genuinely believe that this canary was the blind girl’s “guide bird”. It was just a subconscious gesture because he happened to think of that bird.

There was a sudden crisp chirping from overhead, startling Wang De’an. He looked up at the canary, only to see it chirping at him a few times and flapping its wings, as if responding to his earlier greeting.

In his daze, his mobile phone suddenly ringed, giving him another start.

Wang De’an looked at his phone. It was his old classmate, Zhao Feng. He quickly answered it.

“Lao Liu, why did you remember to call me now?”

“I went to the mountains yesterday and was out of service most of the time…”

“I guessed you were probably dispatched on a sudden task,” said Wang De’an with a smile.

However, Zhao Feng on the other end said: “Not a task, didn’t I tell you on WeChat? I had a dream—dreamed of riding the monster to the mountains. I recognized in my dream that it was Zi Huan Mountain in our city. I remember the flying route and position very clearly in the dream. So when I woke up, I went there…”

Zhao Feng described his dream and his trip in the mountains again, then said, “I really found that cave.”

Wang De’an frowned at the words: “Mountain caves… they are quite similar, right?”

“No, I’m sure that cave is the one that the monster led me to in my dream.”

Wang De’an casually asked, “There isn’t really a person inside, is there?”

“There is a person, but a dead one.” Without beating around the bush, Zhao Feng said, “There are three highly decayed bodies.”

“Huh?” Wang De’an’s mouth fell open. It took a few seconds for him to mutter reluctantly, “This must be… a coincidence…right?”

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I’ve never been to that place before, and it’s incredibly hard to find; I spent nearly an entire day locating it.” As Zhao Feng spoke, he briefed the general facts of the investigation.

Although the case hadn’t been reported officially, preliminary judgment from various pieces of evidence and the forensic report indicated that it was likely a case where the male victim murdered the two female victims and then committed suicide. Since Wang De’an and Zhao Feng operated under the same system, it wasn’t inappropriate for Zhao Feng to leak this information.

After finishing his call with Zhao Feng, Wang De’an instinctively looked at his phone’s calendar and confirmed that today wasn’t April Fool’s Day.

The information he’d just heard gave him an intense sense of disbelief. Throughout the exchange, there was a recurring thought — “Zhao Feng is playing a joke on me.” But based on the factual information and his understanding of Zhao Feng, he knew it wasn’t a joke and nothing was deceiving him. The event had indeed taken place.

Standing there for a while, Wang De’an suddenly looked up to find that the canary, which had “greeted” him earlier, had disappeared.

A few kilometers away from the artificial lake, in a room on the outside of a residential building in a neighborhood.

As “Xiao Pingguo” felt “Jinshanshan” fly into the room, she closed the window and lightly patted “Jinshanshan’s” head a couple of times, scolding:

“I only recognized that it was Officer Wang who had earlier helped us catch the bad guy, and I didn’t ask you to greet him verbally. Why are you acting on your own initiative?”

“Jinshanshan” bowed its head and chirped twice, puffing up its chest.

Xiao Pingguo said in resignation, “He’s greeting you, but he wouldn’t recognize you, nor would he know that you can understand him. He was likely just fooling around.”

“Jinshanshan” replied, “Chirp chirp.”

“Xiao Pingguo” gave a sound of recognition and nodded: “You’re right, Officer Wang probably wouldn’t understand what you’re chirping. But next time, don’t chirp randomly, or you might get caught and locked up.”

“Gold glitter” chirped a few more times.

“Xiao Pingguo” laughed, “Alright, I’ll feed you something delicious! I’ve prepared it…oh, you are eating so much more now. Your appetite has tripled or quadrupled since you first arrived. I can hardly afford to keep you…” As she spoke, she skillfully took out the bird food she had prepared earlier from a nearby cabinet and accurately poured it into “Gold glitter’s” special feeder.

The entire action was so precise and smooth that if someone else saw it, they would never believe that “Xiao Pingguo” was blind and couldn’t see anything.

Recently, “Xiao Pingguo” often let “Gold glitter” fly around outside, and she, by virtue of her special connection with “Gold glitter”, perceived the audio information “Gold glitter” collected.

Were it not for “Gold glitter’s” physical constraints, and “Xiao Pingguo’s” worry for its safety, fearing that it might encounter predators or get caught or hurt by someone, she would have let it roam outside for twenty-four hours a day, or even fly all over the country.

Growing up, her father and uncle had often taken her out to play, up the mountains, to the seaside, to experience the sounds of nature in all their variety.

But she also knew that her father and uncle were both very busy with their work, and every time they took her out, they focused their attention on her. Her outings were not relaxing or fun for them, they were simply there to keep her company and make her happy.

So, since she turned ten, she rarely asked her father or uncle to take her out, waiting instead for their free time when they would take her out themselves.

After graduating from middle school, she stayed at home most of the time, occasionally going out under the escort of her father or Aunt Yang to sit in a small park near her home, trying not to trouble her family.

But now it was different. After establishing a special sensory connection with “Gold glitter”, she felt she could take care of herself as well as anyone else when her “Gold glitter” was with her.

Of course, because her Uncle had found out that she sneaked out on the night of the first day of the lunar month and told her father, she was temporarily not allowed to go out alone. But having “Gold glitter” outside acting as her ears was a whole new experience for her.

Over the past couple of weeks, through “Gold glitter”, she had basically explored half of their city. Moreover, since most people were not on guard against a canary, she had “accidentally” overheard many interesting things.

For instance, today, after recognizing Officer Wang, who had helped her catch the criminals on the night of the first day of the lunar month, “Gold glitter” didn’t fly away immediately. “Xiao Pingguo” used its senses to eavesdrop on Officer Wang’s complete phone call.

She noted several keywords:

“Multi-armed monster”, “dreaming”, “corpse”, “Zi Huan Mountain”.

From the conversation between Officer Wang and the person he referred to as “Lao Liu”, “Xiao Pingguo” had a nagging suspicion that the “multi-armed monster” they mentioned, might be the same “eight-armed, eight-eyed monster” she had summoned through Uncle Xiang’s woodcarving, using the Object Sensing System?

Was Officer Wang still investigating that monster? And it appeared in Citong City too?

Isn’t Uncle Xiang’s hometown Citong City?

Just as she was contemplating whether to tell Uncle Xiang about this “intelligence”, her phone rang. She picked it up and skillfully used the accessibility feature to open the WeChat group, clicked on the newly received voice message, and heard Sister Yang Zhen’er’s crisp voice:

“Xiao Pingguo! Xiao Pingguo! Calling Xiao Pingguo!”

“Xiao Pingguo” replied, “I’m here, Sister Zhen’er, are we going to start testing the game?”

Recently, besides using “Gold glitter” to tour the city and understand various sounds and all kinds of information, the thing she did most was to test the voice game Uncle Xiang Kun developed with Sister Nana and Sister Zhen’er.

She had to admit that the game was really fun, and particularly suitable for her to play.

Moreover, she could use her sensitivity to sound to find ways to improve the audio experience, introduce more sound elements, and adjust the balance of various sounds, to improve the overall game experience.

Many of the suggestions she made for changes were directly implemented in the updated versions by Uncle Xiang, which gave her a sense of accomplishment.

Yang Zhen’er sent over another voice message: “It’s not about playing the game, do you have QQ? Log into QQ! I want to introduce you to a little girl! School has started at her kindergarten, and the teacher asked them to learn a nursery rhyme. Your sister Nana is not around, so I could only ask you.”