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Wang De’an said, “You could also call it hypnosis.”

“Yes, yes, hypnosis sounds more ‘scientific’.” Xia Tianhuo said, laughing.

“Does Mr. Xia think there’s a high probability of this?” Zhao Feng continued to ask.

Xia Tianhuo pretended to ponder and said: “In other words, the kidnappers on my ship were, in fact, like the people in Myitkyina, subjected to a group hypnosis by some entity. Whether it was the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant or the octopus-like sea monster, they were all illusions, the result of hypnosis? But I have a hypothesis. Look, the night of the riot in Myitkyina, many Chinese tourists were attacked, this mass illusion directly saved many their lives, and I am also Chinese… Do you think, could it be that behind all this, one of our country’s special departments or personnel are involved? Are they safeguarding the safety of our citizens?”

Zhao Feng smiled and said: “Your guess, Old Wang also mentioned it, he pointed out that the eight-armed, eight-eyed illusion, if it had a nationality, would most likely be Chinese.”

Observing the expressions and eyes of the two men, Xia Tianhuo laughed and said, “I’m not afraid to tell you that I told my friends and my sister that the sea monster might well be something of a guardian angel for the Xia family.”

“Does Mr. Xia think… the purpose of the illusion appearing was to save you? Are there any specific grounds for this? Like some special feelings or discoveries from the past?” Zhao Feng inquired.

Xia Tianhuo shook his head and said: “No, there’s nothing like that. It’s just an intuition. People always subconsciously tend to see themselves as more significant, right? However, after this incident, I did experience a slight change in my attitude… Right, both of you have interviewed quite a few witnesses of that event during this period. Do you have a summary of the illusory effects in Myitkyina? Has anything similar happened within our country? Have you looked into whether something similar, some kind of illusion, has happened in our country or elsewhere before this? I’ve seen many people online claiming to have seen various monsters and illusions before, but they all sound quite dubious.” He was now quite sure; these two must have some information beyond what had happened in Myitkyina and at sea.

Zhao Feng and Wang De’an exchanged glances. The former said, “We are indeed investigating such incidents within our country…”

Just then, there was a knock on the private room door. It was the restaurant owner, You Meng, personally bringing in a complimentary new dish.

After greeting the three men in the room, he briefly introduced the dish and told them, “Since you two are friends of Brother Huo, you’re friends of mine as well. Don’t be shy while you’re here, make sure you eat and drink well. This dish is a new item in our restaurant that hasn’t officially been launched yet. You guys can try it out first and let me know if there’s anything that needs to be improved, feel free to speak your mind.”

“Old You, did Brother Xiang cook up this dish, or did you develop it yourself?” Xia Tianhuo joked.

You Meng glared at him, “I won’t tell you! Blind taste test! I’ve noticed that all of you have this blind admiration for Ah Kun. You think any dish he develops tastes 50% better. But in the end, what you eat in the shop isn’t personally cooked by him, it’s me or the kitchen staff doing the cooking. When enjoying food, focus on the taste, don’t bring the mores of celebrity fan culture into this!”

“Oh, come off it, Old You. Your ‘Sweet Spicy Rabbit in the Sky’ that you developed yourself got heaps of criticism, didn’t it? The internet even said that the dish tasted like it was cooked by a chef sleepwalking.”

“End of friendship! End of friendship!” You Meng laughed, “If I could beat you, I would have hit you!”

Xia Tianhuo also laughed and spoke to Zhao Feng and Wang De’an sitting opposite him, “I was just joking. Old You’s culinary skills are fabulous. The cuisine he cooks is unquestionably delicious. The ‘Flying Rabbit’ incident was just because he overestimated his abilities. It was an accident, haha.”

You Meng chatted with them for a while and suddenly remembered something. He asked, “By the way, Ah Kun said in the group chat that he would return today with Miss Tang and Miss Yang, right? Did you pick them up from the airport, or did Old Xia do it? Are you coming here for dinner tonight?” After everyone got close, they basically followed Xiang Kun, Yang Zhen Er, Tang Baona, and others in calling Xia Libing “Old Xia.”

Xia Tianhuo said, “Old Xia went to pick them up. They should come to the town for dinner before returning to the village. Ah, I don’t know whether Xiao Lingdang would come this time. I miss her fat cat and Xiao Pingguo’s fat bird.”

After joking for a while, You Meng went out to get busy.

Zhao Feng said, “Mr. Xia, if you have something to do, you can go ahead and do it first. We weren’t planning to leave right away anyway. We will stay here for a few days and will have time to chat later.”

Xia Tianhuo waved his hand with a laugh, “No problem, I don’t need to be polite with you guys. My cousin is coming back to Haixi Province today, and my cousin will pick them up at the airport, so I don’t have anything to do.”

He looked at his phone and said, “At this time, they should be almost here. Later tonight, we can have dinner together and get to know each other a bit. Speaking of which, my cousin used to be a hospital doctor, but now she quit her job and moved to Tongshi Town. Moreover, she didn’t live in the town but went to conduct research in a village nearby. It’s not just her; many people moved from big cities, stayed here for a while, and didn’t want to leave. Is this place magical?” As he spoke, he was thinking about asking Old Xia to help him probe and analyze Zhao and Wang’s intentions later that evening. With Old Xia’s ability, they could surely dig out more information.

Zhao Feng could see that when Xia Tianhuo spoke about his family, his vigilance diminished slightly, and he seemed more relaxed. So he intentionally followed this topic and said, “Speaking of female doctors, I was reminded of a news story I covered during the Spring Festival. A female doctor was out for a walk with her boyfriend late at night. They came across two knife-wielding robbers. Guess what happened? The robbers were beaten and cornered in an alley by the female doctor and her boyfriend. When the police arrived, they were crying out for help as if they had seen their savior. If I remember correctly, that female doctor also has the last name Xia. Are all female doctors named Xia so tough?”

Actually, this was not a news story he had covered, but a case he had worked on himself. The details were also different; they were not robbers. He just remembered it at that moment and used it to lead into the next topic: the relation between Xia Tianhuo’s kidnapping incident itself and the reason for his kidnapping to the “eight-armed eight-eyed monster”. Before the kidnapping incident, did he really know nothing about the “eight-armed eight-eyed monster”?

Xia Tianhuo laughed and said, “My family’s ‘Dr. Xia’ must be tougher than the ‘Dr. Xia’ in your news. Moreover, our ‘Dr. Xia’ is not only good at fighting, but her mind is even more impressive. I often tell people that if our family’s Old Xia hadn’t learned medicine and had become a police officer, she would definitely be an excellent detective! Super female detective!”

Zhao Feng was about to continue the topic he had thought of before, but suddenly a flash in his mind made him think of the nickname Xia Tianhuo had used before – “Brother Xiang Cook”. The boss You on this side seemed to call this “Brother Xiang Cook” as “Ah Kun”. If this person’s name is two words, could it be Xiang Kun?

He certainly won’t forget this name. On the evening of the 29th of the last lunar month, the case he and Old Xu worked on was not most memorable for the cool, elegant, beautiful Dr. Xia from the third hospital, but the bald strong man Xiang Kun.

Because this guy single-handedly beat two armed bad guys to tears without any injuries. It was simply a crushing defeat, like an adult bullying kindergarten children. The reason for Dr. Xia’s surprise was mainly because of her calm performance.

If the “Brother Xiang Cook” mentioned by Xia Tianhuo is Xiang Kun, then his Old Xia, Dr. Xia whom he called cousin, should be the Dr. Xia who used to work in the third hospital?

Unexpectedly, he reflected on the background information provided by the information gathering department about Xia Tianhuo; it seemed like Xia Li Bing’s name wasn’t among those of the family members. Oh right, the background information this time only contained direct relatives’ data. Looks like the information gathering department took it easy this time.

However, from a probability standpoint, both a name containing Xiang and Kun, and a Dr. Xia appearing simultaneously greatly increases the chances that they’re the parties involved in the incidents that night.

As Zhao Feng fell into recollection and speculation, Wang De’an was intrigued by a term that Xia Tianhuo had just mentioned to You Meng. However, he realized that Zhao Feng was steering the conversation, so he held his tongue until Zhao Feng stopped talking, whereupon he put forward his query: “Mr. Xia, you just mentioned ‘Xiao Pingguo.’ Is that a friend’s nickname? It’s an interesting nickname; does it have something to do with the song ‘you are my little apple’ from a few years back?”

Xia Tianhuo laughed, “It is a friend’s nickname, but I don’t know why she’s called ‘Xiao Pingguo’. Maybe because she was pretty cute when she was young like a little apple.”

Aware of their expressions, he noticed their uncontrollable reactions. What puzzled him was that the parts of the conversation that triggered such intense responses weren’t the questions he deliberately asked to test them, but instead, it was two simple dialogues.

Why was Zhao Feng so surprised when he bragged about Old Xia’s smarts and fighting abilities? Did Wang De’an know Xiao Pingguo?

Wang De’an continued, “I once had a senior colleague whose niece was also called Xiao Pingguo, so I just casually asked. That girl was especially cute and pretty, but sadly she was born blind.”

“Oh? Isn’t your senior colleague surnamed Li by any chance?” Xia Tianhuo asked in surprise: “Our Xiao Pingguo is also born blind.”

“Xiao Pingguo even has a clever canary as a guide bird.” Wang De’an added.

“Absolutely, it must be the same Pingguo!” Xia Tianhuo exclaimed, nodding repeatedly. The Canary guide bird was almost unprecedented, there couldn’t possibly be an error. However, he then frowned, “Wait a minute, I heard Professor Li mention that he had a brother who was a policeman, but he never mentioned having journalist siblings. Is your senior colleague, reporter Wang, a cousin of Professor Li?”

Wang De’an responded naturally with a laugh, “To be frank, before working in the media, I was a police officer in Pancity. Xiao Pingguo’s Uncle Li Sheng was a senior officer there, and I interacted with him several times. Not just me, but Xiao Zhao was also a cop before, so in the media industry, we may be a bit naive in terms of interview tactics.”

He noticed that Xia Tianhuo was suspicious of their identities as his responses weren’t as sincere as when they originally met abroad. Since Xia Tianhuo was familiar with Xiao Pingguo and Professor Li, he decided to reveal their previous professional identities, which didn’t need to be kept a secret anyway.

Taken aback, Xia Tianhuo laughed, “No wonder! Sometimes, when chatting with the two of you, I feel like I’m being interrogated. Just kidding, just kidding!”

While they were speaking, You Meng abruptly entered the room without knocking.

In a serious tone, You Meng approached Xia Tianhuo, gave him his mobile phone, and said, “Take a look at this. It’s all over my friend circles; it’s also trending on Weibo.”

…

A few hours ago, in Pengcheng.

Xiang Kun was packing up Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er’s luggage into the car. They were preparing to go to the airport and return to West Sea Province.

A short distance away, Shiling’s Mom and poor Liu Shiling, who was being held and having her face squeezed by Yang Zhen’er, watched them.

Of course, she wanted to go to Chongyun Village with Uncle Bald, Pretty Sister, and Fairy Sister. Not just her, but also a certain chubby cat at home.

In fact, she and Custard Pie had just returned from Tong Shi Town and Chongyun Village not long ago. After Xiang Kun’s birthday, she stayed with Old Xia in Chongyun Village for a while and only returned on the first of September.

Right now, she’s an honourable primary school student. She must go to school and can’t play around until the holidays.

“Don’t worry, Xiao Lingdang. When the National Day holiday arrives, let your mom take you to Chongyun Village to play. We’ll get a quarantine certificate for Custard Pie in advance. By then, your Sister Xiao Pingguo and Canary should also be back in Chongyun Village, and the mini duo can again perform together!” Xiang Kun laughed after packing the luggage and pinched Little Fatty Girl’s face.

“Uncle Bald, it’s ‘Lingdang Pingguo’, the ‘Lingguo duo’, not some mini duo.” Liu Shiling corrected firmly yet softly.

“Right, got it. The small Lingguo duo, haha.”

After getting in the car, they heard the voice of Liu Shiling, who was held by Shiling’s Mom and waving goodbye: “Bye Uncle Bald, Pretty Sister, Fairy Sister!”

With her baby-like voice came an unnerving sense of reluctance and a tad of loneliness. Yang Zhen’er couldn’t help but rub her nose, “Why do I feel like crying?”

Xiang Kun, who was in the passenger seat, laughed and said, “Nana, just sing a song like ‘outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road,’ and I guarantee Old Three will shed tears right away.”

Yang Zhen’er glared at him, “Nana is now a superstar, can she just sing whenever she’s told to?” However, mid-sentence, remembering that the company driver Zhang Qian sent to drive them was in the car, she didn’t continue on that topic. Instead, she asked, “By the way, brother Xiang, you’ve been gone for so long this time, it seems you even went abroad? What have you been doing? Was it a business trip or were you just slacking off? Now I’m the one in charge of our company’s finance department, whether your business expenses will be reimbursed depends on whether I want to stamp them!”

“Haha, it was a bit of both – I surveyed the “market” and “infrastructure” conditions in various places. I also met a few online “friends” to check on their status,”Xiang Kun answered, half-jokingly.