What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 505: Chapter 505: Have You Ever Seen a Biohazard Crisis?

“Have you ever watched Infernal Affairs?”

Qi Haoguo suddenly asked a question that seemed very out of place in the current scenario, but he didn’t wait for “Duck Feet” to answer, but went on:

“The crooked cop played by Andy Lau in that, what’s his name? Liu Jianren? He often says something like, ‘I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good man.’ In fact, he does have a choice. Tony Leung laid it out for him – to go to a judge. But he doesn’t want to choose, why? Because he would have to go to prison!”

Qi Haoguo spoke, and then laughed again, his tone somewhat rueful: “I never considered the need to be a ‘good man’. I just want to preserve what I really care about, to be a better person, to sleep better at night, to have peace in my soul. I simply follow my ideas, stop doing what I shouldn’t, and start doing what I should, and make up for some of the mistakes I made. I think that’s enough. But all along, it feels like I’m missing something, like there’s a grit in my shoe that I can feel but can’t find or shake out. Until you came today, I clearly understood where the grit in my shoe is…I haven’t paid enough for what I’ve done.”

Qi Haoguo went on, his eyes growing brighter, his voice failing to suppress excitement and agitation: “To get some things more conveniently in the past, I gave away some things that I didn’t think were important. Now, to get those things back, I have to pay the price. Nothing is free, especially peace of soul.”

“Duck Feet” stood up, his expression somewhat flustered and incredulous: “What’s this about ‘that thing’ or ‘this thing’? Infernal Affairs? Being a good man? Peace of soul? Goddammit…are you insane?! No wonder you dropped all that profitable business and ran off to hide in this backwater. You must have lost your mind!”

As he spoke, “Duck Feet” planned to leave for now, because he suddenly had a premonition that the “Officer Xu” who had just been on the phone with Qi Haoguo might actually be a cop.

But just as he was about to leave the sofa, Qi Haoguo, who had been calmly sitting there, suddenly lunges at him.

“Duck Feet” had always been on guard against Qi Haoguo, but the other had spoken so much “nonsense” that he had unconsciously lowered his guard. Right now, he was thinking of leaving and was caught off guard as Qi Haoguo was already before him.

Qi Haoguo’s motion was minimal as he punched “Duck Feet” in the throat powerfully from below, then took advantage of the situation to push him back down on the sofa, and restrained his arms.

Qi Haoguo’s weight advantage was too great. “Duck Feet” had no room to struggle and was firmly held in place.

Then “Xiao Liu” was called in to help Qi Haoguo untie “Duck Feet’s” shoelaces and tied his hands and feet.

“Xiao Liu,” both excited and worried, looked at “Duck Feet” who was still face down on the sofa and asked Qi Haoguo worriedly, “Uncle, what’s next? What do we do with this guy?”

Qi Haoguo replied: “The police will be here soon. Let them handle it. By the way, I’ll probably be at the police station for a while. If the police need to investigate some things, whether they come to the house or the company, you need to cooperate. Don’t worry about the company’s business, or your aunt’s side. I’ve already made arrangements. It won’t make a difference if I’m there or not.”

Seeing his uncle sitting back down on the sofa and calmly making tea, “Xiao Liu” inexplicably relaxed and sat down next to him, waiting for the police to come.

“Fucking Qi Haoguo! You’re fucking crazy! Lost your mind! All your hard work is wasted, you think shaving your head makes you a monk? People like you, you’re destined for Hell when you die, can’t fucking whitewash no matter how hard you try! If you think you have too much money, give some to us, if you’re sick of living just die by yourself, don’t fucking…” “Duck Feet,” whose hands and feet were bound, struggled hard on the sofa. Seeing that he couldn’t break free, he finally started shouting. From the conversation between Qi Haoguo and “Xiao Liu,” he realized that the guy really did call the police.

“Xiao Liu” was furious at the sound of it, went over and pinned “Duck Feet,” giving him several punches to the abdomen, changing his shouting into screaming.

“Stop, stop, no need.” Qi Haoguo put down the kettle he had just boiled, quickly waved his hand to stop “Xiao Liu,” then got up and sat next to “Duck Feet,” he pat his head with a smile and said earnestly:

“No need to struggle, you’re still young, you still have a chance. Once you’re in, think hard about what you’re really afraid of, what you’re really pursuing, don’t be confused by the surface.”

Not long after, the local police from Tongshi Town arrived and took both Qi Haoguo and “Duck Feet” back to the station. “Xiao Liu” also went along to assist in the investigation.

The desperate “Duck Feet” was surprisingly “opportunistic,” as soon as he arrived at the station, he immediately turned in the two accomplices who were still at large and actively helped the police to lure out the criminals. Therefore, by the time Officer Xu from Citong arrived at Tongshi Town, all the suspects had been apprehended.

Qi Haoguo not only detailed the incident of “Duck Feet” threatening him to Officer Xu but also confessed many things from years ago.

Listening to Qi Haoguo calmly confessing his crimes, as if chitchatting in a teahouse, Officer Xu couldn’t help but feel an impulse to call Chu Xiuwen and ask if “Boss Qi” had been stimulated lately. Of course, it was just a thought, it would be against the rules to leak information to Chu Xiuwen now.

…

When Qi Haoguo got home, around the same time “Duck Feet” came in the door, Alice “reported” this to Xiang Kun who was discussing matters with Old Xia on the rooftop.

Currently, as per Xiang Kun’s arrangements, Alice was mainly monitoring – besides some places related to “Divine Technology,” parts of Chongyun Village, Tongshi Town, and some people with ties to Xiang Kun.

Qi Haoguo was a secondary target of concern on the periphery of Alice’s “surveillance network,” mainly because of his heavy investment in Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village and his direct move to Tongshi Town.

But when she noticed the targeted actions of “Duck Feet” and others, it triggered Alice’s early warning system and she immediately shifted resources, focusing on watching.

It wasn’t until “Duck Feet” began to blackmail Qi Haoguo that Alice chose to report it to Xiang Kun for him to handle.

If the blackmail target had been Liu Caifu, You Meng, Zi Cheng, or Chang Bin, Alice would have seen it as a challenge to her “protection circle” and would have immediately pre-processed it, controlled the risk, set up a counterattack, and notified Xiang Kun sooner.

However, comparatively, Qi Haoguo’s status wasn’t as high, so it wasn’t until “Duck Feet” actually began the blackmail that she notified Xiang Kun – after all, the boss was quite busy, he couldn’t be notified about everything!

On the rooftop where Xiang Kun and Old Xia just finished discussing topics related to “Divine Technology,” Mr. Liang, John, and “Dreamland,” they both listen through a laptop to the recording that “Duck Foot” used to blackmail Qi Haoguo, followed by a live conversation between Qi Haoguo and “Duck Foot.”

From that recording and the dialogue between “Duck Foot” and Qi Haoguo, it appeared that, back in his early years in the provincial city, Qi Haoguo had arranged for “Duck Foot” and others to threaten a competitor’s manager into bowing out of a bidding contest. They coerced the man by having people in special service industries interact with him, and then burst in to take photos at a key moment.

Of course, Xiang Kun could wipe all the recordings from all the devices through Alice, depriving “Duck Foot” and others of their blackmailing tools and squashing Qi Haoguo’s worries. However, he chose not to do it this way, as it would set a bad example for Alice.

Yes, objectively speaking, Qi Haoguo did contribute to the development of Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village. However, Xiang Kun knew that all of this stemmed from the ongoing influence of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving’s” emotional projection. It was nothing more than Qi’s self-redemption to make his life more comfortable.

If Qi Haoguo possibly decided to silence “Duck Foot” and others just to keep himself safe, Xiang Kun even considered reporting him.

However, after analyzing his cognitive model of Qi Haoguo, Xiang Kun concluded that the current Qi Haoguo would most likely not resort to such measures. Doing so would be worse than death for him.

When Qi Haoguo sent the recording to Officer Xu and explicitly invited Officer Xu to send people to his home, Xiang Kun was not surprised. However, when he heard the phrase, “Have you ever watched Infernal Affairs?”, it made him chuckle loudly. He commented to Xia Libing,

“This guy is really putting on a show. Now that I ponder about it, if I ever have to deal with Mr. Liang. I can give him a surprise, take control of his devices, and introduce ‘Alice’. I can start by asking him, ‘Have you ever watched Resident Evil?’ Hahaha.”

However, noticing Xia Libing staring at him wide-eyed, he realized she didn’t get his joke. He awkwardly pointed to the laptop and gestured for her to continue listening.

Once “Duck Foot” was subdued and taken away by the police, Xiang Kun stopped paying attention to the situation. He only instructed Alice to keep an eye on the aftermath without interfering.

If Qi Haoguo wanted to surrender himself, to say goodbye to his past self, Xiang Kun naturally saw it as a good thing. However, this was his own decision. He must take responsibility for what he’d done. His past choices, as well as current ones, were his alone to bear. Judging from what he said to “Duck Foot,” he seemed to have a clear understanding of this and had accepted the punishment he would receive.

But considering the crimes he mentioned, the charges against him might not be that serious. Given his voluntary confession and cooperation with the police, he might even get a suspended sentence?

Following this brief digression, Xia Libing took the opportunity to discuss the long-term influence of “Emotion Infused Objects” on people. However, after speaking for a bit, she noticed Xiang Kun daydreaming, a rather unusual phenomenon. She stopped speaking and paid close attention to Xiang Kun. Then, she realized, it seemed like Xiang Kun had entered the “Super Sensory State.”

A moment later, Xiang Kun emerged from the state and looked at Xia Libing, who had been staring at him, “When Qi Haoguo heard ‘Duck Foot”s threats and burst out laughing, I suddenly got a very faint, uncertain perception. So, I just entered the ‘Super Sensory State’, following that faint perception. I sensed the past through my connection with the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving’. I suddenly discovered that the super sensory information represented by the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving’ had established over two dozen pathways. I confirmed that the faint perception I had came from one of those pathways. I continued to perceive along that pathway, and arrived at a target. Can you guess what that target is?”

Xia Libing immediately answered, “It’s Qi Haoguo.”

“Ahh… Yes, it’s Qi Haoguo!” Xiang Kun, failing to keep her in suspense, had to continue, “I’m very certain that the cognitive information I sensed after following that pathway represents Qi Haoguo himself. I can basically judge a part of his current physical state and most of his emotional state through his cognitive information. It’s like… he’s turned into a ‘miniature Emotion Infused Object’.”

This was indeed a significant discovery for Xiang Kun and his “Super Sensory Item System”.

After the mass emotional projection in Myitkyina, Xiang Kun noticed that people influenced by “Emotion Infused Objects” had unique “tags” on their cognitive information. He could quickly and accurately spot them in a crowd when in the “Super Sensory State”.

Now, these weak contacts and tags have turned into substantial links, which can be landed on through the “Super Sensory State”. This changes everything.

Clearly, Qi Haoguo’s sudden awakening to compliance with the emotional projection from the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” wasn’t the cause of this change. His awakening merely made Xiang Kun notice the change.

What really made these contacts noticeable to Xiang Kun while in “Super Sensory State” was probably the outbreak of Wrathful Thunder from Little Fatty Girl during his hibernation.

The series of operations from that event led to a qualitative leap in Xiang Kun’s understanding of “Super Sensory Information.” It was probably then that the “Emotion Infused Item System” within his “Super Sensory Item System” was reconstructed, or more accurately, reinforced.

“Does this mean you can perceive anyone who was influenced by the ‘Emotion Infused Objects’?” Xia Libing asked, “Is it just the people influenced by the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving’, or can it be any other ‘Emotion Infused Objects’ too?”

Xiang Kun shook his head, “It’s certainly not any person who has been influenced. There are only about twenty contacts in my perception, yet the ‘Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving’ has influenced so many people. Just consider how many in Myitkyina alone. I suppose a stable connection is only established when the influence reaches a certain level, or when the person fully accepts and is deeply affected by that influence. As for other ‘Emotion Infused Objects’, I’ll have to verify it.”

After verifying, Xiang Kun found that a few of the wood carvings placed in the “Youlong Restaurant,” which were used to bring joy and stimulate appetite to diners, indeed had some weak connections.

These connections are much weaker than the one with Qi Haoguo, but they didn’t prevent Xiang Kun from landing onto and perceiving nearby super sensory information in the “Super Sensory State”.

He was quite sure that these connections, these linked targets, were all regular patrons of the “Youlong Restaurant,” including known individuals like Chu Xiuwen and Qi Haoguo.

Yes, the linkage representing the same person not only appeared in the cognitive information of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving,” but also appeared in the cognitive information of the wood carvings in the “Youlong Restaurant”.

It seems that in the future, he can land his consciousness using the “Super Sensory State” without having to infuse any “Emotion Infused Objects” nearby, as long as there are people around who were deeply influenced by “Emotion Infused Objects”.

During the verification process, Xiang Kun also found that Xiao Pingguo and Little Fatty Girl’s cognitive information appeared in the perception network while he was perceiving emotions. And their “level” was even higher than most of the “Emotion Infused Objects,” directly connected to him.