What It's Like Being a Vampire

The investigative team composed of Fang Pingfang and Zhao Feng, among six others, conducted an exchange with some of the passengers who were still in Jianzhou City, under the pretext of assisting the Civil Aviation Authority in investigating the bird strike accident.

According to the passengers’ descriptions, they had clearly seen the little girl in the white dress appearing outside the airplane wing, and they provided further detailed descriptions of the girl’s appearance, clothing, and movements.

Based on this information, Fang Pingfang and the others asked the relevant technology support department of Divine Technology to create a virtual image of the girl, which was then confirmed and compared with the passengers’ descriptions.

However, after talking to several passengers, although the descriptions of the girl’s clothing, shoes, and hairstyle were very similar, the details of her facial features were different. This was understandable, considering the chaos of the event, and the fact that passengers had viewed the little girl from different angles through different windows. So, it is reasonable to think that they did not have a clear view of the girl’s face, or that their memory deviated from reality.

Although there were different descriptions of the girl’s facial features, all the passengers who saw the little girl had a similar judgment – the girl was beautiful, and the white princess dress she was wearing seemed well-fitted and high-end.

On the other hand, through skilled questioning by Zhao Feng and Wang De’an, they found that these passengers did not experience the same fear or similar emotions that those who saw the “eight-armed, eight-eyed monster illusion” either in Myitkyina or domestically had experienced when they saw the little girl on the plane wing.

The passengers’ subjective emotions at the time didn’t feel particularly remarkable. Even if they were scared, it was simply because of the situation on the plane. After seeing the little girl, some passengers felt amazed, some were energized, and others could not express what they felt, revealing various different reactions.

However, from this perspective, it seems that the little girl in the white dress was not the same type of existence as the “eight-armed, eight-eyed giant illusion” in Myitkyina.

But, if she was not an illusion but a real being, then based on the passengers’ description, it was hard to explain how she could stand on the airplane wing without any support, as if her black leather shoes were glued onto the wing.

Her hair, hair accessory, and clothes were not excessively blown by the wind, as though she was not standing on the wing of a flying airplane, but instead on a balcony about five to six storeys high.

This situation excessively violated basic physical principles, and if she was not an illusion, it would be almost impossible to explain.

Zhao Feng also tried to inquire if any of the passengers remembered Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, because the two women were attractive and had a strong presence, and Xiang Kun had very notably distinct features: he was bald, wore glasses, and had a tall and sturdy figure. Hence, Zhao Feng believed there was a high possibility that other passengers would have noticed them.

Almost as expected, most of the passengers they spoke to remembered Xiang Kun and the two women, even those who sat far away had noticed them before boarding the flight.

Of course, to most passengers, their focus was on the two beautiful women. Xiang Kun’s bald head merely served as a point of anchorage – “Ah, those are the two pretty girls who were with the bald guy!”

Though the other passengers recognized them, they did not make any special discovery. Specifically, during the bird strike, when the engine caught fire and then stopped, causing the plane to plummet, everyone was terrified and thought they were encountering a plane crash. Then, the white-dressed girl outside the plane distracted their attention, naturally nobody noticed what this group of people was doing or behaving.

However, after talking with these passengers, Zhao Feng was certain that Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen Er were hiding something. They couldn’t have missed seeing the girl in the white dress.

Subsequently, instead of going to Tongshi Town or Chongyun Village to seek out the trio, they flew to visit Old Man Du at Fang Pingfang’s suggestion.

Upon arrival at the hospital and while waiting for the elevator, noticing that there were no other people around, Zhao Feng couldn’t help but say to Fang Pingfang, “Old Man Du won’t say anything. Even if he does, at most he will just say something vague and ambiguous, like ‘death is not the end’.”

Zhao Feng could understand why Fang Pingfang chose not to seek out Xiang, Tang, and Yang immediately after chatting with the passengers of the flight, but he was rather opposed to visiting Old Man Du next. In his opinion, unless the hospital finds the cause of Old Man Du’s sudden changes in health condition, and the cause was unusual, otherwise there was no need to visit him again. This old deceiver was clearly unwilling to be honest with them, and his ability to hide facts and deceive people was quite profound.

Coming here was likely a wasted trip. They would have been better off going to Tongshi Town to find Old Man Du’s godson. Perhaps they could have found clues from him, which could have been used to press Old Man Du for answers later – after all, it was thanks to his godson providing the medical fees that he was able to receive such good medical care, in such a good hospital room.

However, Fang Pingfang clearly had her own ideas, and chose to lead their investigation team here directly. However, she did not directly go to see Old Man Du in his room, but first met with Old Man Du’s attending doctor, and got detailed information about Old Man Du’s condition, especially about the times he was admitted to the ICU then miraculously improved, and eventually even experienced a sudden, inexplicable improvement in health.

However, hearing Fang Pingfang’s conversation with the doctor, and seeing her analyzing Old Man Du’s medical history with Zhou Rui, looking at a variety of different types of medical images, various curves of numerical changes; their discussion led Zhao Feng and Wang De’an to realise that they had misunderstood. Even if Old Man Du continued to withhold information, the information that Dr. Fang could get from this visit would be more than what the two of them had previously gathered.

After waiting for more than two hours in the hospital, Fang Pingfang then visited Old Man Du – the visit had already been scheduled beforehand.

Not all eight members of their team entered the room, only Fang Pingfang, Zhao Feng, Wang De’an, and Mijoe.

To Zhao Feng’s surprise, upon seeing them arriving, Old Man Du, who was sitting by the window peeling an orange, actually laughed, “I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

“You knew we were coming?” Mijoe blurted out.

Old Man Du laughed, “I knew someone was bound to come.”

Wang De’an said, “Mr. Du, do you remember us?” He instinctively believed that Old Man Du was using his regular deceiver techniques to distract them.

“Of course I remember. Reporter Wang, Reporter Zhao. Are these two your colleagues, also reporters? Haha, both are looking pretty good, very good, very good.” Old Man Du handed the pealed orange to Wang De’an, “Here, have an orange. This isn’t from the hospital, it’s from a nurse here, very sweet.”

“No, thank you,” Wang De’an nearly blurted out, “Did you give a fortune telling session to that young lady?”

Old Man Du seemed to see right through him, laughing and saying, “Don’t worry, I didn’t read anyone’s fortune. That young lady’s grandmother got scammed. I taught her how to persuade her grandmother and how to report the incident to get the money back. Now, not only has the money been returned, but her grandmother is also unharmed. She fully understands the scammers’ tricks, so she’s very grateful to me and often brings me some food to eat. Hehe.”

Wang De-an was taken aback. It seemed that Old Man Du had changed a lot since their last meeting. He seemed more inscrutable, and his complexion, energy, and speaking rhythm did not at all resemble those of a recently recovered patient. According to the doctor, he should still be seriously ill as his disease was not completely cured.

After they entered the room and silence lingered, Fang Pingfang finally spoke, “Mr. Du, my surname is Fang, this is my assistant Miss Chen. We are producing a documentary and would like to interview you. This is our website, you can take a look… Mr. Du, you just said that you’ve been waiting for ‘a long time’. Did someone inform you that we would be coming?”

Old Man Du did not verify Fang Pingfang’s and Mijoe’s identities. He seemed uninterested in whether they were journalists, whether they were here to film a documentary, or what the documentary was about. He chuckled, “You could say someone informed me, or you could say no one did. Miss Fang, do you believe in fate?”

Hearing this, although Fang Pingfang and Mijoe didn’t react much, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an frowned, sensing that Old Man Du was about to start spouting his cryptic nonsense again.

However, Fang Pingfang earnestly responded, “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it. Mr. Du, do you believe in fate? Are you implying that our meeting was fated, that you calculated it?”

Old Man Du laughed again, “I used to scam people by reading fortunes, by believing in fate, but I didn’t actually believe in fate back then, nor did I believe in the fortune-telling. Now, I still don’t believe in fate but I do have other beliefs. These beliefs exist both in my mind and in the world at large. Some people can see them, some can’t.”

Suddenly, he turned to Zhao Feng and Wang De’an, “You guys asked me why I turned myself in before, remember? At the time, I said it was because ‘I saw my true self and was filled with regret’. You guys definitely didn’t believe me and thought I was talking nonsense. But in truth, I was being sincere, I was speaking the truth. I just didn’t tell you how I came to see my true self. At that time, a boss brought a very special wood carving…”

Zhao Feng and Wang De’an initially thought Old Man Du was trying to hoodwink them again with his old tactics. But to their surprise, he quickly followed up with some substantial information, piquing their interest.

The two exchanged glances. Why hadn’t Old Man Du revealed any of this during their previous visits? It was only when Dr. Fang and Chen Tianhua arrived that he confessed everything? Did the old man have a soft spot for Dr. Fang and Chen Tianhua or did he simply dislike them?

Old Man Du not only explained the origins of the eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving that gave him nightmares, but he also detailed the contents of his nightmares, vividly describing the “eight-armed, eight-eyed monster” he saw in his dreams, his feelings at the time, and how he wrestled with his thoughts and emotions after waking up, leading him to turn himself in and report his accomplices.

He even spoke about his time in prison, his interactions with his cellmates, the visits from Xiao Liu and Qi Haoguo when he fell ill, and the things Qi Haoguo asked him. He told all of this to Fang Pingfang in great detail.

After finishing his story, Old Man Du made no move to elicit a response. He waved his hand at them, “That’s about all I know. If you want to know more, you can look for my ‘godson’ and have him take you to Mr. Qi. He should have had a similar experience, and I believe he can provide you with some insights, which might help solve your problems.”

Fang Pingfang asked a similar question from before: “Mr. Du, did someone tell you that we were coming today?”

Old Man Du wore the same breezy demeanor as if not intending to disclose any secrets, and he shook his head with a smile, “I already told you, nobody told me, and nobody has informed me. You can go now, you already know what you wanted to know, don’t you?”

As Old Man Du began to peel his mandarin, clearly not intending to engage with them any further, Fang Pingfang, backed by Mijoe, Zhao Feng and Wang De’an, left the ward and rendezvoused with Zhou Rui and the others outside.

Wang De’an frowned, “Before we met Old Man Du, we confirmed that no one had visited him for a while. Is it possible that someone from the hospital informed him, like a doctor or nurse?” Wang was convinced that Old Man Du must have been notified by someone. Otherwise, there was no explaining his sudden change of attitude and the flood of information he provided.

He said before, ‘you could say someone informed me, or you could say no one did’. Maybe what he meant is, ‘informed’ is correct, but it’s not ‘people’ who informed him?” Mijoe pondered.

“Come on, Hua Hua. Stop talking about these things in the hospital. It’s giving me goosebumps,” Zhou Rui said as he rubbed his arms.

Upon hearing this, Wang De’an quieted down and looked at Zhao Feng. He remembered his friend’s experience of finding a body via ‘Dream Invocation’.

Could it be that the one who informed Old Man Du was the monster from his dream?

And the reason Old Man Du spoke about all these events, was it the eight-armed, eight-eyed monster’s intention?

Wang De’an felt goosebumps forming, and he subconsciously glanced back at the door to Old Man Du’s ward.

“Let’s not worry about this for now. What we need to decide at the moment is whether to go find Old Man Du’s ‘godson’, Mr. Qi, or first locate the owner of that eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving, Mr. Feng,” Fang Pingfang said.

“Before turning himself in, Old Man Du was in Shenhai City…” Zhao Feng suddenly turned to Ye Chong and said, “Xiao Ye, get in touch with our ‘Information Department’ to see if they can find any information on Mr. Feng. If we have the company name and address, it should be easy to find. Let’s see if there are any connections between this Mr. Feng, Xiang Kun, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er.”

“Understood.” After Ye Chong complied, he quickly sent the relevant information.

Just as they reached the hospital’s ground floor via the elevator and were preparing to head to the parking lot, the information department sent the data.

Ye Chong, with a surprised expression, told Zhao Feng and the others, “The Feng Xiuye who brought the wood carving to Old Man Du is Tang Baona’s uncle. Tang Baona was also working at her uncle’s company before she resigned and partnered with Xiang Kun.”

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