“I heard from the residents of our community—you know, I happen to live there too—that there have been some strange changes in animals around here the past couple of days, which you could call mutations. Some of the elderly were scared out of their wits, though I don’t know if it’s true or not.” I said, watching Ruan Xiwen’s facial expression. Ruan Xiwen didn’t show any of the flaws I was hoping to see but instead looked surprised. He said, “Really? I haven’t heard about that.” I continued, “Yes, right within our community. It seems to involve dogs, cats, and the like. I heard it from some residents.” He put on a helpless expression and said, “I’m not aware of that. I’m only responsible for the identification work in archaeology. If there’s really such an issue, you should probably ask other departments. I think it’s probably just idle gossip. You as a journalist should know how to discern that, right?” Perhaps he thought his reaction was quite good, but I believed that if he truly didn’t know or if these mutations had nothing to do with archaeology, he should have reacted more strongly. He should have shown more interest, after all, he’s part of the X Agency. Clearly, he wasn’t surprised by the mutations I mentioned, which confirmed my suspicion that the archaeological site at Zhidan Yuan was related to these mutations.
“Is that so? I happened to contact the Archaeological Association yesterday morning, but they claimed they didn’t know your name, hehe.” I continued to probe him. “Oh, they must have got it wrong. Those people are always so careless.” Ruan Xiwen remained calm. “But they also said they haven’t sent anyone to Shanghai. Was that a mistake too?” Ruan Xiwen’s face flushed slightly, showing some irritation. He said sternly, “Mr. Duo, you are very professional, but suspecting my identity seems a bit excessive. You can call and check again tomorrow, but I advise you not to waste your time; I’ve never deceived you.” “No, no,” I quickly explained, “I was just saying it casually, don’t mind it.” I was afraid he might get angry and sour the atmosphere, which would be hard to recover from. Unexpectedly, Ruan Xiwen asked, “You seem to be working particularly hard. I’ve been here, and no other journalists have come to find me, but you’ve already visited me several times in just a few days.” “Hehe… I’m not that diligent,” I tried to lower his guard with a laugh, “but I think freelance archaeologists are quite rare, and I think you’re impressive, so I wanted to chat more and learn from you. I must have taken up a lot of your time, I’m sorry.” Ruan Xiwen’s expression softened a bit. After all, flattery works on everyone, including members of large families. I decided to strike while the iron was hot, pretending to know nothing to make him feel even better, hoping he’d reveal more.
“I have a friend who writes fairy tales, and for some reason, he suddenly got an idea recently,” I fabricated on the spot, “he wants to write a story about this site and some underwater people, insisting I interview to provide him with real material…” Before I could finish, Ruan Xiwen seemed to shiver, his glasses slipping down his nose, his expression changing drastically. I realized I’d hit a nerve with the mention of underwater people and dared not continue.
“That fantasy is… quite interesting,” Ruan Xiwen said, adjusting his glasses, “but as a journalist, shouldn’t you record facts? To interview for such a thing, isn’t that nonsense?” “No, I just…” “I’m quite disappointed in you, Mr. Duo. Let’s end it here today. I’ve told you everything I know; I have work to do. Please leave.” Ruan Xiwen stood up, his face resolute. “As we’ve met, let me give you a piece of advice: Mr. Journalist, be realistic. Your profession shouldn’t allow for all sorts of fantasies; that’s irresponsible to society.” Ruan Xiwen warned me bluntly before I left.
I hadn’t expected such a strong reaction to the mention of underwater people, which undoubtedly indicated their connection to this archaeological event. This brought me back to the starting point: underwater people, cats, cockroaches, the site, and now, worms. Although I didn’t get any useful leads from Ruan Xiwen, there was still some gain. But it was clear Ruan Xiwen would no longer give me any chance to get close to him.
After leaving the hotel, I pondered deeply. Back home in the evening, I redrew a chart of clues to clarify my thoughts. Here are the clues related to this event:
- Mutation of cats (soft cartilage).
- Mutation of cockroaches (immortal).
- Mutation of fish (burrowing through sand).
- The hypothetical blueprint for these mutations — worms.
- The existence of underwater people, confirmed by Ruan Xiwen’s reaction.
- The possibility that Su Ying might be an underwater person. Since I first learned about the underwater people from Su Ying, and now the information has been verified, I had to reconsider Su Ying’s situation. Whether what she said was true or false was yet to be determined, but the possibility couldn’t be entirely dismissed. There was no way to know if Su Ying was directly involved in the event.
The core of the event: the archaeological excavation of the Yuan Dynasty’s water gate at Zhidan Yuan. I could now believe that everything stemmed from this, which was now beyond doubt. Then there’s Ruan Xiwen, cloaked as a freelance archaeologist, representing the X Agency in this event. I had to confirm the highly likely hypothesis I had formed: worms were the blueprint for these mutations. Thus, I drew arrows from cats, cockroaches, and fish pointing to worms, indicating the mutation blueprint. However, the archaeological site, underwater people, and other elements seemed unrelated, making it impossible to understand the essence of the event. At this point, I was certain this was the most challenging case I had encountered, with the most seemingly unrelated and chaotic clues. To link them all together was an impossible task.
