What It’s Like Being a Vampire

Although Xia Libing did not wake up immediately after the dream ended, he also did not sleep until noon the next day as Xiang Kun hoped, but woke up before dawn.

To be precise, I woke up hungry.

So at Xia Libing's suggestion, Xiang Kun checked the recipe online, then disposed of part of the box of roses and made a large pot of rose scrambled eggs.

Before giving it to Lao Xia, Xiang Kun also took a few bites to test the taste, but did not swallow it.

Although it was his first time making it, he didn't make many targeted taste adjustments and basically followed the recipe. But let’s not talk about it, the taste is okay, it’s pretty good to eat it fresh.

He didn't expect that roses could be used in such a "practical" way. If Lao Xia hadn't suggested it, he wouldn't have known about it before.

However, the roses I bought for Valentine’s Day are used to scramble eggs. The cost is really high. One bite costs dozens of yuan.

After eating a large bowl of scrambled eggs with roses in three minutes, Xia Libing glanced at the still hazy sky outside the window and said, "That was Officer Zhao's dream just now."

Xiang Kun nodded: "I know it's police officer Xiao Zhao who was in charge of our case years ago. If I remember correctly, his name should be Zhao Feng."

Xia Libing asked: "Is the one in his dream related to the emotional projection of your wood carving?"

"Did you see it too?"

"Guessed it." Xia Libing said.

So Xiang Kun told Xia Libing about his intuition in the dream and how Officer Xiao Zhao might have learned about the emotional projection image of the "Eight Arms and Eight Eyes Wood Sculpture".

What surprised Xiang Kun was that after thinking for a while, Xia Libing shook his head and said: "He should not only be the image he heard about from the case of several car thieves in the abandoned warehouse in Yungang District, otherwise, When this kind of virtual image from a single source of information appears in dreams through the subconscious, some related scenes or elements will appear."

Xiang Kun also nodded thoughtfully. Indeed, in the dream, the scene of the "giant" and some of its characteristics were not like the hallucinations seen only by the few car thieves in Yungang District. Got it.

So Xiang Kun quickly recalled in his mind which people had passed through dreams or hallucinations so far and might have interacted with Officer Xiao Zhao.

Xia Libing continued to analyze Officer Zhao's understanding and judgment of the "multi-armed giant" based on the scenes she observed in her dream, and helped Xiang Kun analyze the origin of the monster image in Officer Zhao's dream.

Xiang Kun was still a little unsure at first, but after Lao Xia's analysis, he immediately found the direction of suspicion.

The emphasis of the experiencer is different between seeing an eight-armed and eight-eyed monster in a dream influenced by the fear of "emotional projection" and seeing an eight-armed and eight-eyed monster hallucination created by "emotional projection" in reality.

Some of the physical characteristics and movement patterns of the "giant" in Officer Zhao's dream proved that the description of the eight-armed and eight-eyed monster to him should have come from hallucinations in reality.

It can be deduced from this that there are only three choices, one is from the three suspects who were frightened by the illusion created by Little Apple on the first night of the first lunar month; the second is the three car thieves who were frightened by the illusion created by Xiang Kun in the abandoned factory area of ​​Yungang District ; The third one is Qi Haoguo, who was "shadowed" by Xiang Kun on the national highway outside Tongshi Town years ago.

According to Lao Xia's analysis, the scene shown in Officer Xiao Zhao's dream proves that the source of his description is not or not just the car thief in the abandoned factory area, but it is either the three suspects who were created by Little Apple's illusion, or Qi Haoguo.

Judging from their identities, it seems that Officer Xiao Zhao has contact with these two parties and has ways to obtain information.

However, if the scope is narrowed to these two parties, the subsequent investigation will be much easier. And there is a simpler way - let Lao Xia directly "question" Officer Xiao Zhao once again in a "dream within a dream".

Originally I just thought of a one-time "calling the police in a dream", but now it seems that it is possible to have a "long-term follow-up".

Xiang Kun also wanted to investigate how far the urban legend of "Eight Arms and Eight Eyes" he created had spread and how many people associated it with him.

He thought about tonight's dream again. If Officer Xiao Zhao followed the guidance in the dream and went to Zihuan Mountain District and found the cave and the corpses, he might be worried about the "multi-armed giant" or the "multi-armed giant". It can be said that the curiosity of the "eight-armed and eight-eyed monster" will be even greater again.

"Everyone's original dreams carry a lot of subconscious information, which is very helpful in understanding a person's psychology, spirit, and memory." Xia Libing added, "Many psychological theories and tools can be used in Used more efficiently in dreams.”

Xiang Kun also understands what she means. In reality, it is difficult to get someone to be honest with you. Even if others are willing, you have to judge how much of what they say is true and how much of it is false. It also takes a lot of effort. A lot of effort.

And many times, people's true thoughts in their hearts are inconsistent with their subjective self-expression. There are some memories that I think I have forgotten and cannot recall even if I actively think about them, but in fact they are still hidden deep in my mind and will emerge clearly under certain specific stimuli.

But in dreams, especially in "dreams within dreams" guided and edited by Lao Xia, the owner of the dream is like a fortress with all security systems turned off. How many secrets of this fortress can be discovered and how much control can be mastered? It depends on the explorer's own abilities.

Xia Libing's series of theories also made Xiang Kun vaguely feel that he had caught something again.

At present, in the dream, he and Lao Xia have achieved horizontal expansion - establishing dream fusion with Little Fat Girl; they have also achieved vertical expansion - going deep into other people's "dreams within dreams".

Perhaps a more complex, powerful, and efficient dream system can be built on this basis?

While he was thinking about it, Xia Libing said again: "Are the 'mutated creatures' around the rabbit wood carving still not sleeping?"

Xiang Kun said: "No." He paused briefly, then shook his head and said: "It may be that they were sleeping, but it happened to coincide with my blood-drinking sleep period, and they were staggered, so I didn't have time to sense it. Or maybe they were sleeping. , I can't trigger their dreams through the rabbit wood carving, an 'emotional object'. I have been using various cognitive information in the 'super-sensory state' to determine where they are. But unfortunately, at present, in addition to knowing that it is a Other than a huge building made of a lot of metal, I don’t know anything else.”

"Among those 'mutated creatures', will there be 'Mr. Liang'?" Xia Libing asked again.

"Not sure." Xiang Kun shook his head.

Xia Libing gently rubbed the soft-cover book she named "CAKE01" and said, "We can continue to 'question' Mi Qiao and first determine the whereabouts of 'Mr. Liang'."

Xiang Kun naturally knew what she meant by "asking". Last time he and Lao Xia influenced Mi Qiao's dream through a dream-within-a-dream method and asked for some information. However, because it was the first time to use this method, Lao Xia was worried that it would be too much. Complex and sensitive questions can easily arouse Mi Qiao's subconscious alert, and are not conducive to erasing and covering this dream, so there is no information directly related to the identity of "Mr. Liang".

But obviously, as Lao Xia becomes more and more proficient in mastering dreams within dreams, and understands the meaning of original dreams within dreams, her ability to interpret dream information and the way to guide the subconscious in dreams will also Become stronger and stronger.

"But...she may not know much." Xiang Kun thought of the conversation he overheard between Mi Qiao and "Mr. Liang" before.

Xia Libing said, "She may know more than she thinks. At least, you can know how to trace it through her."

Xiang Kun knew that Lao Xia's main target was still "Mr. Liang". The target she really wanted to spy on through "Dream within a Dream" was "Mr. Liang" - or in other words, "Shenxing Technology" The research progress of the secret department, as well as other more information about "mutated creatures".

Now Xiang Kun and Lao Xia are like a pair of hackers, except that instead of sneaking into other people's computers through the Internet, they explore other people's memories through dreams.

…

When Zhao Feng arrived at Zihuan Mountain, it was almost nine o'clock, but today was Saturday and he was already resting, so there was no need to ask for leave.

After getting off the car, he followed the flight route he took on the multi-armed monster in his dream, and compared it with the terrain on the map app after waking up, and walked towards the mountains.

Zihuan Mountain itself is a scenic spot, with winding roads, several trails and stone stairs for tourists to climb.

But judging from the route in the dream, the cave was very deep, in an area where few tourists would visit and there were no scenic spots.

He could only follow the route planned by the map APP on his mobile phone, first walk along the road, and then cut into the mountains and forests. While keeping the direction correct, he tried to find a more convenient route.

Zhao Feng naturally didn't have Xiang Kun's climbing ability that was stronger than that of a monkey, nor did he have the super athletic ability and endurance. He walked from nine o'clock to three o'clock in the afternoon, but he still hadn't found the cave that appeared in his dream.

For breakfast, I bought bread and milk from a breakfast stall outside the branch while waiting for the bus. I only brought a bottle of mineral water after entering the mountain. Now that I have finished drinking the water, I am already hungry and exhausted.

But he had no intention of giving up the search and going back early.

Because along the way, although I haven't found the cave yet, I have seen many scenes and environments that are exactly the same as those I found above the mountains and forests in my dreams.

And he was very sure - he had never been to these areas before.

These discoveries made him realize that maybe the dream he had last night was different from his previous dreams?

This feeling was like scratching an itch, but he kept scratching around the most itchy place. He always felt like "it's almost there, almost there", which made him unable to give up. He kept trying to see if it was there. That cave doesn't really exist.

In some places he passed, he could see obvious traces of lightning strikes and scorched trees, and they were so dense that you could see one without walking too far.

He immediately thought of the small-scale but extremely intense thunderstorm in some areas of Zihuan Mountain the night before yesterday, or should be said in the early morning of yesterday.

There are a lot of discussions about this thunderstorm on the Internet, especially in the local social media section of Citong. There are all kinds of unreliable conjectures. Some conjectures are just like fairy tale novels, and they are the worst and clichéd ones.

And the video of "Fire Phoenix Reborn" that he saw was also taken that night, and the UP owner said it was the same thunderstorm.

Looking at the discussions among netizens, Zhao Feng didn’t have any other thoughts other than finding it funny and worried about wildfires.

But I personally walked in the mountain forest where I experienced that thunderstorm, looked at the traces left around me, and recalled the pictures of the thunderstorm that some netizens posted on the Internet and took pictures from far away in the city, as well as some people living in Zihuan Mountain. Only through the descriptions of nearby residents did he truly imagine the horror of that short-term, small-scale thunderstorm in his mind, and marveled at the power of nature.

In this kind of wonder, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Zhao Feng actually found a cave in the mountains that was similar to the one in his dream.

Seeing the cave entrance hidden under the branches and dense grass from a distance, Zhao Feng didn't know whether he was because he was too hungry, tired and had low blood sugar, or because he was afraid and excited, or both. His hands actually trembled slightly.

He took out his cell phone, recorded the video, and climbed towards the cave.

Although the cave is very hidden and remote, it is not on a cliff. It is just a small slope. As long as you are not afraid of getting dirty, it is not difficult to climb up.

However, Zhao Feng held his mobile phone in one hand and climbed with one hand. He almost rolled down halfway, so he had to put the mobile phone in his pocket and took it out to continue recording when he reached the edge of the cave.

On the way here, he actually made a lot of predictions.

For example, after searching for a long time, there was no such cave, so I just thought of it as climbing a mountain during my vacation to exercise my physical strength and breathe the fresh air of nature;

For example, if you find a similar cave with nothing in it, then think about why you have such a dream and what the meaning of this cave is;

He even thought about actually finding an injured friend in the cave who was asking for help. He had the superpower of psychic direction and was born to be a policeman;

But no matter what, he never thought that after actually finding the cave, he would turn on the "flashlight" of his mobile phone and take a picture of what would happen.

Zhao Feng has been working for several years and has seen various bloody scenes or photos. He has a certain ability to resist and adapt to certain scenes.

But when he suddenly saw so many highly decomposed corpses with white bones in the cave, he was still shocked. He took two steps back, his hands shook, and he almost dropped his phone and almost rolled down the slope.

He grabbed the branch next to him, stabilized his body, took a few deep breaths, adjusted his emotions, and used his mobile phone to take pictures of the situation in the hole again. After observing for a few seconds, he started to make a call.

But there was no signal here, so Zhao Feng spent more than ten minutes to find a location where he could finally make the call.

Zhao Feng directly contacted his partner, senior and leader Lao Xu, explained the situation and location, and then waited for the arrival of his colleagues.

I don't know if it was because the sun was going down and the temperature difference in the mountains was huge, but Zhao Feng started to feel a little cold. Plus he didn't have lunch or dinner, so he was really cold and hungry.

But now he really couldn't care less about how his body felt. His mind was filled with last night's dream and the cave scene he just saw.

If he had received a report and saw such a scene, Zhao Feng would not have such a big reaction. Or if he accidentally saw the cave in the wild, he would only be shocked by the event itself.

But today...he found this cave according to the guidance of his dream last night, which had a huge impact on him.

Why?

Why did the multi-armed monster in the dream "guide" him to these corpses?

These people...were they killed by it?

No, that's not right.

Those who saw the "multi-armed monster" were all suspects, and after having "hallucinations" and seeing the "monster", they either surrendered, repented, or were frightened, as if they were a mind punishing sin. Judge in general.

Therefore, in Zhao Feng's intuitive judgment, if the "monster" guided him to find these corpses through dreams, it was to allow him to discover the corpses and find the murderer.

After the sky completely darkened, Zhao Feng finally waited for Xu Zhao and other colleagues.

While the forensic doctor and other technicians were investigating the scene, Zhao Feng took the eight-treasure porridge brought to him by Xu Zhao and finished the whole can in three mouthfuls. He barely suppressed the hunger in his stomach and his hands stopped shaking so much.

"Xiao Zhao, why did you come to this place? Didn't you really receive a report from an informant? Don't worry, if you are an informant with a special status, you don't need to tell me your identity." Xu Zhao frowned and looked at it. I couldn't help but ask about the situation around me.

Although they had Zhao Fengfa's location, it took them a lot of effort to find him. This remote place did not look like a normal place to reach.

Zhao Feng hesitated for a moment and said, "I just went hiking and wandering around during the holidays and discovered it by accident. Didn't I watch the video of 'Zihuan Mountain Fire Phoenix' yesterday? I was a little curious, so I came over to check it out."

In fact, Xu Zhao had asked this question before when we called him, and he gave the same answer.

But it was obvious that Lao Xu didn't quite believe this answer.

Hiking and hanging out? Only a ghost can climb a mountain and wander around to this bird place!

And the entrance to the cave cannot be found unless you climb up the hillside or get closer and push away the weeds!

Zhao Feng also knew that Lao Xu didn't believe it, but what could he do? He couldn't say that he was entrusted with a dream by the "multi-armed monster" he had been investigating before, so he found it here.

When we got back to the station, it was already past three in the morning.

The forensic identification results have not yet come out, but some preliminary judgments have been made from the on-site investigation.

There were three people in the cave, one man and two women.

Judging from the situation at the scene, it was the man who killed the two women with a knife and then committed suicide. There were no signs of a struggle. .

None of the three people had mobile phones or identification documents in their belongings, but a switched-off mobile phone was found at the bottom of the backpack carried by the man.

After charging, turning on and cracking the phone, the police confirmed the identities of the man and two women and why they were here.