茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter Twelve: Blind Date (Above)

Today is July 20th, Lunar June 18th, and the moon was still large and round.

The weather was nice, there were almost no clouds obscuring the moon. Bathed in its hazy light, the entire city seemed to have a filter applied, giving off a unique atmosphere.

Xiang Kun indeed felt slightly better under the moonlight than indoors at the same time.

Of course, compared to the difference between day and night, this difference was so small that it could be ignored.

He even doubted if the discrepancy was due only to the fresher air and higher oxygen content outdoors.

However, Xiang Kun had a strange feeling that when he closed his eyes, he could vaguely feel the moonlight shining on him.

This was a feeling that couldn’t be described in words. When sunbathing, you can feel the sun on you because the sun’s heat can make the skin feel a rise in temperature, so it senses the sunlight.

But moonlight had no such heat, so it’s difficult to feel it shining on you unless you look with your eyes.

Lately, Xiang Kun had been pondering about where the energy he consumes comes from, not just from his daily activities. He always felt it was more than just chicken blood and rabbit blood.

And the difference in his state between day and night should be a key factor.

Xiang Kun knew that moonlight also comes from sunlight, but there’s an essential difference.

The surface of the moon is uneven. When sunlight hits it, it isn’t simply reflected like a mirror. Most of the light and heat are absorbed by the moon, which then radiates them out.

Or perhaps his mutated body had some unique reactions to moonlight?

Xiang Kun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, relaxed his body, and found that his hearing seemed to have significantly improved.

Amid the sounds of the wind and various noises near and far, he could clearly pick out the whispering of a young couple in another corner of the roof.

Although the sound wasn’t clear and he could only hear snippets of their conversation, this discovery surprised Xiang Kun.

He opened his eyes, closed them again, and opened them yet again.

Xiang Kun quickly realized that it wasn’t that his hearing improved dramatically when he closed his eyes, but that he only noticed how powerful his hearing was when his eyes were closed.

If he concentrated and listened carefully, whether his eyes were open or closed, he could hear the couple’s soft whispers.

This means that probably after the second blood-drinking, his hearing had greatly enhanced.

But he hadn’t noticed this improvement earlier because his enhanced vision attracted nearly all his attention. Usually, he relies more on his vision than his hearing.

Naturally, Xiang Kun also thought whether he should practice hearing exercises before his next blood-drinking to see if there’s any improvement.

However, considering his date tomorrow, fearing to drink blood in advance, he decided to postpone these exercises.

Not staying on the roof for long, Xiang Kun returned to his room, reading various materials on his computer and waiting until dawn.

Close to five-thirty, when the sky was filled with dawn’s light, Xiang Kun predictably felt his bodily functions decline, and his spirits weren’t as high as they were at night.

At that moment, he was reading about tidal forces. He couldn’t help but wonder if the unknown X factor and the moon’s tidal forces on Earth were connected?

The sea water is affected by tidal forces, and the human body’s blood is also liquid, which naturally would be affected to some extent. Of course, this influence is so insignificant for ordinary people that they can’t feel it.

Or perhaps, after his body underwent a series of changes due to the unknown X factor, he became more sensitive to these changes in the force field or the magnetic field?

However, he quickly rejected this hypothesis. Earth’s tidal forces do not only come from the moon but the sun as well, and the strength of these forces doesn’t have a direct relationship with daylight changes.

While he was pondering, his gaze passed through the window, watching the sunlight slowly spread across the streets. Xiang Kun suddenly stopped, murmuring: “What if it’s not that the night gives a bonus, but that sunrise brings suppression?”

…

In the early afternoon, Xiang Kun put on his duckbill hat and walked out the door, heading to the cafe where he had arranged to meet the girl.

At the cafe, he ordered a drink, found a corner to sit in, and used the opportunity of grabbing a paper towel from the counter to pour his drink away, refilling his cup with water from the jug before returning to his seat.

Checking the time, it’s just past two o’clock, while he agreed to meet the girl at three o’clock.

He wasn’t in a rush and sat in the corner, browsing the internet on his phone.

If it were before, before meeting someone for a blind date, he would’ve prepared what to talk about, judged the other person’s likely character and interests based on the information he had, planned the itinerary, and prepared several backup plans.

But now, he has no intentions for dating or socializing. He only planned to end the blind date as soon as possible, without offending anyone or making it difficult for Chang Bin. Therefore, there’s no need for further consideration.

Xiang Kun’s attention was still caught by the changes in his body.

This morning, his idea that certain factors after sunrise have suppressed his bodily functions requires further verification.

There’s no doubt that sunrise is a significant boundary, so sunlight is definitely one of the factors to consider.

But for the past few days, he was mostly indoors during sunrise, away from direct sunlight. If it’s about a temperature increase, it should be a gradual process, not an abrupt change at the boundary point.

Xiang Kun speculated it could be related to the change in the Earth’s magnetic field at sunrise. His body sensed this change and triggered some sort of biological clock-like adjustment mechanism, which began to suppress his bodily functions to reduce consumption and achieve a certain balance?

While he was pondering, a new message arrived. The girl had arrived and asked Xiang Kun what he wanted to drink, she would order it first.

Checking the time, it was 2:41 in the afternoon. She arrived early.

Xiang Kun looked up towards the shop. A girl had just walked in, although she was “extremely cute and beautiful” as Chang Bin described, he wasn’t sure if she was his blind date.

Because this girl, dressed in denim shorts, a white t-shirt, with her hair tied in pigtails, and big round glasses, looked very young, maybe not even twenty?</p