22. Rumours and Mysterious Men

People who finished their exams early walked out of the teaching building sporadically. The weather was scorching, and no one lingered around. As they emerged, they immediately grabbed shared bicycles and departed.

Qiu Rong didn’t spot Yan Ling’s driver on the roadside. He and Yuan Shang found a bench under the shade of a tree and sat down, continuing their conversation about the analysis provided by online users the previous night.

“Have you heard about the series of incidents involving fatal blood loss that were circulating recently?” Yuan Shang asked. Seeing Qiu Rong nod, he continued, “At the time, the official statements debunked the rumors. However, last night, someone came forward and claimed that their cousin died due to excessive blood loss. This person was previously healthy, and then suddenly disappeared.”

“But this time, the body showed signs of being bitten by a wild animal. What does that have to do with blood loss?” Qiu Rong inquired.

Yuan Shang gestured for him not to interrupt. “I’m just about to explain.”

Yuan Shang explained, “The informant stated that their cousin’s body was discovered at home. They were present at the scene and noticed two puncture wounds on their cousin’s neck. This immediately reminded them of the circulating rumors about blood loss incidents. They alerted their family, who reported it to the authorities. However, due to personal business matters, the informant had to leave the scene.”

“But later, when they inquired about the progress of the investigation, their family members claimed that the cousin had suffered a sudden heart attack and denied the presence of any puncture wounds.”

“Since it was summer and the body had undergone an autopsy, there was no need to preserve it. The body was immediately taken to the funeral parlor. On the day of the cremation and farewell ceremony, the informant specifically examined their cousin’s neck and discovered that the previously seen puncture wounds had disappeared.”

Qiu Rong speculated that the Supernatural Control Centre had manipulated the memories of the family members and restored the body, inadvertently overlooking one person.

“The informant began to doubt their own recollection of events. However, they refused to accept it blindly. They instinctively began to pay attention to any information related to blood loss deaths and noticed that once such topics were brought up, they would swiftly be censored. This heightened their suspicions. Subsequently, the informant attempted to contact several individuals involved in the blood loss incidents, only to find that they contradicted themselves. One day they would acknowledge the presence of neck wounds when their family members passed away, and the next day they would claim to have misremembered.”

“Feeling helpless, the informant decided to share the gathered information on an anonymous forum,” Yuan Shang concluded. “Based on these revelations, the forum members arrived at a conclusion.”

The forum that Ruan Sijia found last week has been shut down. Qiu Rong didn’t expect that. It seems that discussions about the blood loss cases are taking place on other forums as well. The impact of this matter is larger than he imagined.

Qiu Rong asked, “What conclusion did they reach?”

Yuan Shang played coy, rubbing his fingers together and raising his eyebrows at Qiu Rong. He said, “This is the information I stumbled upon last night after staying up late. You should take a look. It’s nowhere to be found on the internet now… Well, how about a little information fee?”

Qiu Rong replied, “…”

He took out his phone, sent a red envelope to the middleman, and managed to convince Yuan Shang to divulge the information in a hushed voice near Qiu Rong’s ear. “They suspect that there is an animal research institute in City A conducting secret experiments. By accident, some mutated animals were released, and now these animals are attacking people everywhere. The authorities can’t catch them, and they’re afraid it will cause panic among the citizens, so they’re suppressing the information.”

Qiu Rong, “…”

Qiu Rong said, “You should just return the red envelope to me.”

“Why should I return it to you?” Yuan Shang widened his eyes. “This is a conclusion based on reasonable and well-founded analysis!”

As Yuan Shang rolled up his sleeves, preparing for a further discussion with Qiu Rong, a luxury car pulled over by the roadside. The window rolled down, and the driver in the driver’s seat called out, “Master Qiu, sorry for being late.”

After speaking, the driver glanced warily at Yuan Shang.

When people discuss unspeakable events, they tend to lower their voices and lean in closer to each other to enhance the sense of secrecy.

Yuan Shang, a straightforward guy, got carried away during the conversation, and now he was very close to Qiu Rong.

Two men talking so closely in the heat of summer could indeed give others a slightly “gay” impression.

Yuan Shang took a step back, nearly scraping his pants. He raised his hands to demonstrate his innocence, fearing that the driver would report him, and he would end up on Yan Zong’s assassination list tomorrow.

Qiu Rong, “…”

Qiu Rong said, “Act normal.”

“Please wait a moment, I need to talk to my classmate,” Qiu Rong shouted.

The driver nodded but didn’t roll up the car window. It was evident that his intention was to keep an eye on his boss.

Yuan Shang leaned against the edge of the bench, adopting a defensive posture, and said, “Don’t come any closer! Just tell me what you need to say from there!”

Qiu Rong, “…”

He asked, “Does that forum you mentioned have an address? Send it to me so I can take a look.”

Yuan Shang regretfully shook his head. “Even before you could check it, it was already shut down when I clicked on it last night.”

“I saw a summarized long image yesterday. It had photos of corpses, but I didn’t dare to save it. If you want to see it, you can try searching for it in real-time. Maybe you’ll find it.”

Qiu Rong shook his head, feeling that the chances were slim. He stood up and bid farewell to Yuan Shang, but Yuan Shang called out to him, “Honestly, that summary scared me yesterday. Whether it’s true or not, things in recent days in City A seem to be unstable. Be careful out there.”

Qiu Rong turned to look at Yuan Shang and noticed his serious expression, realizing that the situation really couldn’t escalate any further.

He nodded and said, “I’ll be careful, and you take care too.”

When Qiu Rong returned home and opened the app again, there was an official report about the mother-in-law accusing the wife of killing her husband.

According to the report, the husband, who was drunk that night, had been violent towards his wife and daughter. The wife managed to push him away and leave with their daughter. The police found bruises and superficial abrasions on the man’s body, consistent with minor injuries caused by impact.

The actual cause of the man’s death was a result of his own drunken slip and hitting his head on a sharp object while going to the bathroom in the early morning, leading to instant death.

Based on surveillance footage and the autopsy, the time of death was confirmed, and the wife, Liu Mou, had no suspicion of committing a crime. Therefore, the police lawfully released her.

As for the mother-in-law’s allegation that the wife took away the family’s assets, an investigation revealed that the deceased, Dong Mouzhi, frequently visited a chess and card room on Chunhe Road, which was suspected of involvement in large-scale gambling and has now been sealed.

It can be concluded that the deceased’s money was likely used for gambling.

Alcoholism, gambling, domestic violence. The direction of the comments completely changed.

From initially blaming the wife for being heartless and scheming to now accusing the mother-in-law of relying on her age and seeking attention.

Their son was a scumbag who wanted to drag his wife down.

In short, amidst the chaos, very few people mentioned the bizarre aspects of the corpse.

It’s unclear whether the limited number of people who saw it was due to the fast actions of internet censorship or if the public’s attention was truly diverted by the family dispute.

Ruan Sijia: [Image]

Ruan Sijia: Clan leader, I found the pictures from last night.

Ruan Sijia: Be cautious (/skull)

Qiu Rong casually clicked on the thumbnail, and the image had a strong impact.

Ruan Sijia: The level of decomposition in the photo I saw at the center last time wasn’t as high, but the wounds look similar.

Ignoring Ruan Sijia’s message, Qiu Rong zoomed in on the photo on his phone and immediately recognized bite marks from some kind of sharp-toothed animal.

Furrowing his brow, Qiu Rong carefully examined it and had a faint feeling that the wounds on the body seemed to be caused by more than one animal.

The size of the bite marks is different, indicating that there were at least two or three creatures of unknown origin at the scene.

However, there were no animal claw marks around the body in the photos.

The photo was taken in a chaotic environment, with light and shadows projected on the floor, indicating that there were many people around the body. It’s possible that the scene was disturbed.

No further information can be deduced for now. Qiu Rong closed the picture and found Huo Zhixing’s number, dialing it.

The phone rang for a while before being answered. On the other end, there were continuous chirping of cicadas and the sound of heavy breathing from climbing mountains. Huo Zhixing seemed to be outdoors.

Qiu Rong: “Busy?”

“Not busy.” Huo Zhixing found a flat spot and calmed his breathing. “Come up the mountain to pick up Huo Ye.”

“Pretty quick,” Qiu Rong replied.

Considering Huo Ye’s situation, Qiu Rong thought he would have to stay on the mountain for at least half a month before coming down.

“I told him that I got the contact information for the Vampire Clan. I’ll give it to him when he comes down.” After that, the younger member of the Huo family became diligent as if injected with chicken blood. Not only did he quickly grasp the transformation between human and Werewolf forms, but he also diligently studied and memorized all the historical knowledge of the supernatural world. His condition was even better than before the college entrance exam.

Not wanting to mention his love-stricken little brother again, Huo Zhixing asked, “Is the leader inquiring about the progress of the internal investigation?”

“Yes.” Qiu Rong didn’t beat around the bush when communicating with Huo Zhixing. He said, “It’s a bit urgent. I’m planning to submit another application to join the central task force.”

In fact, according to Huo Zhixing’s understanding, apart from the vampire prince from the Violation Processing Department serving as the team leader, there weren’t many other supernaturals involved in the central task force. Only Qiu Rong had been proactive from the beginning.

Huo Zhixing asked, “Are you trying to find the vampire prince through the task force?”

“That’s one of the reasons.” Faced with Huo Zhixing, Qiu Rong didn’t hide his inner thoughts. He spoke frankly, “The recent series of incidents has made me feel uneasy. Rumors spread among the crowds will eventually lead to trouble. If something related to the supernatural races is exposed, the harmony we have maintained for so many years will be shattered, and no one will be able to escape unscathed.”

“I want to resolve this matter as soon as possible.”

More than a decade had passed, and Qiu Rong appeared before Huo Zhixing with a completely new demeanor—dark and ruthless. Huo Zhixing couldn’t find a trace of the naive little boy he once knew in him.

At this moment, although Qiu Rong told Huo Zhixing that his decision was based on mutual interests, Huo Zhixing also sensed his desire to uphold a peaceful life for everyone.

Huo Zhixing recalled when Qiu Rong was six or seven years old, he learned that his older brother Gu Zeng had successfully joined the Violation Processing Department. Huo Zhixing, with a childish voice, swore to his brother, saying that when he grew up, he would use his own abilities to protect everyone.

In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed, and things had changed drastically.

Suppressing his melancholy, Huo Zhixing said,

 “I visited every family over the weekend and didn’t find any abnormalities for now. I still have to write the report that the central authority requires. After I receive Xiao Ye’s call, I’ll go home and handle it. I’ll send it to you in the next two days.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Brother Huo,” said Qiu Rong, lowering his eyes.

The next morning, Yan Ling’s driver came to pick him up as usual. Before getting off the car, Qiu Rong said, “After finishing the exam today, Yuan Shang invited me to play basketball. I don’t need the driver to pick me up. I’ll go home by myself after the game.”

Yan Ling approved, saying, “Alright, understood.”

Qiu Rong grabbed the CEO’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He playfully pinched it and asked, “So, should I still come to pick you up tonight?”

As Puppy Qiu’s warm palm held his hand in return, Yan Ling smiled and nodded softly, “Hmm.”

Today, Qiu Rong submitted his test paper early and left the school with Yuan Shang. They went directly to the laboratory.

The two of them had not made plans to play basketball together. It had been too hot these days, and Yuan Shang had given up on exercising.

After leaving the school, Qiu Rong waited for a bus and eventually got off in a residential area far from the commercial district. 

It was close to noon, and there were not many people on the street. Qiu Rong navigated through the streets and alleys, searching for the location where the elderly person had tearfully pleaded in the viral video from yesterday.

Sounds of pots and pans clanging in a shabby apartment building filled the air, and the breeze carried the aroma of food as it meandered through the streets.

It was a simple and peaceful atmosphere of everyday life.

After turning two more corners, Qiu Rong slowly came to a stop. He looked down at the video in his hand and then looked up.

Before him was an identical scene with lamp posts covered in small tilted advertisements.

Having found the approximate location, Qiu Rong closed his eyes and attempted to perceive the energy fluctuations in this area.

“Gu Rong?” Suddenly, someone called out from behind.

A chill ran down Qiu Rong’s spine.

Opening his eyes, Qiu Rong realized that he hadn’t noticed someone standing behind him at all.

His face turned serious, and Qiu Rong became highly alert, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

He turned around cautiously.

Standing behind him was a man whom Qiu Rong had never seen before.

The man was tall, but slightly thin, and he appeared to be in poor health.

There was a noticeable illness on his face. As Qiu Rong turned around, the man put on a faintly distant smile and reached out his hand, saying, “Clan leader Gu, hello.”

Author’s Note:

Updating daily and pushing the limits. SOS.

The man is from the Supernatural Control Centre, not a romantic rival.

Recently, I’ve seen many people asking when there will be a plot twist.

It’s expected to come in a while…

I can’t have them suddenly start fighting in public, can I? (Innocent emoji)

There will be a little bit of tug and pull in the process. (Raises my shield and prepares to escape at any moment)

Of course, if I could write ten thousand words a day, it would be faster, but I really can’t, wuwuwuwu…