茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter 66 Twisted Aesthetics

Xiang Kun meticulously pondered over what he could have done within those 16 hours that could lead to this outcome.

Was it due to some ability to locate objects that he somehow acquired or was it only limited to locating this piece of tissue paper?

Did he unconsciously do something that “affected” this tissue paper, or did his body or consciousness specifically mutate towards this tissue paper?

During those 16 hours the day before yesterday, Xiang Kun was thinking of making the tissue paper move while staring at it.

However, often various sensory information was transmitted to his brain.

Such as the various subtle smells on the tissue paper, he even faintly smelled the distinct scents of chlorine, bleach powder, and pulp.

For instance, when he stared at the tissue paper, it felt as though he was looking at a bunch of disordered objects interwoven together, reminiscent of rice noodles.

His first reaction at the time was that he was seeing the fibrous composition of the tissue paper, but he quickly felt that was impossible because even if his vision had evolved, it could not have reached such an extent. From what he saw of the tissue paper fibers, it should have been magnified at least a hundred times or more.

But now thinking back, could he have really seen the fibers of the tissue paper?

However, if it was looking at the details of the tissue paper for a long time, making his body think he desperately needed microscopic vision, leading to a visual mutation, then that ability should only manifest after blood drinking and mutation, not immediately. This contradicts the pattern of targeted training, blood drinking, and mutation he had previously concluded.

Moreover, he can no longer see microscopic images at that level anymore.

Additionally, during those 16 hours, there were four instances of his eyes being filled with a white light, causing him to see nothing. He thought at the time it was because he stared in one place for too long, due to visual fatigue, and didn’t think too much about it.

But now, maybe it wasn’t that simple?

Xiang Kun pulled out another new piece of tissue paper (code-named Tissue 2), placed it next to the wrinkled tissue paper, and stared at it.

This time, instead of using his mind to move the tissue paper as he had before, he focused entirely on the tissue paper itself, from its appearance to its smell, carefully observing and distinguishing.

When a white light suddenly flashed in front of his eyes, Xiang Kun quickly looked at the timing on his phone:

00:38:45.

It only took 38 minutes.

Xiang Kun carefully packed “Tissue 2” in 3 garbage bags, then went outside to place it at the door.

After closing the door and returning to the living room, Xiang Kun sat in the living room and found he could not sense “Tissue 2” the same way he had sensed the previous tissue paper – although he clearly knew “Tissue 2” was at the door.

Did the white light that filled his entire field of vision have a special meaning? Was the “focused observation” time not long enough? Or did he also need to wait until after blood drinking and mutation?

After retrieving “Tissue 2,” Xiang Kun took the previous tissue paper (code-named Tissue 1), spread it out, and cut it into two identical pieces with scissors, and placed them in the bedroom and living room respectively.

Through sensation, Xiang Kun found he could sense the part of Tissue 1 in the living room, but not the part in the bedroom.

He put the two pieces of tissue paper back together again, cut them into four pieces with scissors, and continued to place them in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room.

He only sensed the one in the bedroom.

Also this time, he could distinctly feel that his sensing ability had decreased slightly.

Once he gathered all four parts of Tissue 1 together, his sensing ability recovered somewhat, but it was still lower than when he first began.

Xiang Kun wet the entire tissue paper with water, squeezed it together, and his sensing ability continued to decline.

Xiang Kun used a hair dryer to dry the ball of tissue paper, but his sensing ability did not recover.

He simply grabbed a lighter and burned the dried tissue paper.

His perception of Tissue Paper 1 began to fade rapidly. As it turned into ashes, his sense of it vanished altogether.

Xiang Kun stared thoughtfully at the pile of ashes. He didn’t feel sorry or regretful about this slightly odd tissue paper. After all, its unique property wasn’t of great use to him at present. Use it to track someone by sticking it on their body or vehicle? Or play hide and seek?

But he knew that figuring out why Tissue Paper 1 had formed this special connection with him would surely help him understand his body’s mutation.

This simple experiment allowed him to draw a few conclusions:

Tissue Paper 1 had established a singular and special connection with him. When the whole was damaged, the connection notably diminished;

This connection could only establish one realm of perception;

Once the tissue paper was thoroughly destroyed, the perception would disappear.

His phone chimed with a WeChat notification. He checked it, sent a reply, put away “Tissue Paper 2,” then got dressed to go out.

The recent WeChat message was from a new group formed on the 22nd, the only group which he hadn’t muted.

There were four members in the group: Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, and Xia Libing.

Today was Sunday, Tang Baona had invited the others to the archery range in the afternoon.

After spending a night playing poker at Tang Baona’s house last time, Xiang Kun felt that maintaining a degree of contact with others was beneficial for his mental health.

Not just anyone fit the bill for this sort of interaction.

Strangers certainly won’t work, but those who know him too well are also out of the question.

Take Chang Bin, for example. If Xiang Kun were to hang out with him, and suddenly refuse watermelon, food, and cola, Chang Bin would surely find it strange, and start digging for reasons. Xiang Kun used to eat these things, and an excuse like needing to control his diet for fitness could work once or twice, but Chang Bin would definitely not buy it in the long run.

Tang Baona sent the archery venue’s location to Xiang Kun, and he took a ride there.

After playing with the three girls for over four hours at the archery range,

Xiang Kun left around six and the three girls went to have dinner together.

The archery fees were paid individually, and they parted ways after playing. There was no need for a dinner together. To Xiang Kun, this was the perfect way to interact with friends at this stage.

However, Yang Zhen Er clearly had a different opinion.

As Xiang Kun boarded the subway home, inside a currently popular internet-famous restaurant, the three girls were waiting for their meals.

Yang Zhen Er said to Xia Libing, who was looking at her phone, “Old Xia, do you think Teacher Saitama’s reluctance to eat with others is a psychological issue? He refuses if he has to pay, but also if we pay, even going Dutch or picking the place. Does he just hate eating with us?”

Tang Baona said, “He told me before that he’s controlling his diet while keeping fit, and that he’s picky about what he eats, has strange preferences, so he doesn’t like eating with others.”

Xia Libing, still looking at her phone without even lifting her head, said, “From the tone and expression he used, he was rejecting eating itself, not eating with us. He probably believes that the things he likes to eat wouldn’t appeal to us, and what we like, he doesn’t want.’

Yang Zhen Er frowned at her friend, “Nana, ask Sister Han to ask her boyfriend if Teacher Saitama also refused to eat with people when he was in school.”

“I don’t think so. He said the change in eating habits started when he began working out recently,” Tang Baona said.

“That means it’ll be a lot of trouble if we live together in the future! Nana, you need to consider this very carefully!” Yang Zhen Er said.

Tang Baona shrugged indifferently, “I’ve said before, we’re just casual friends who hang out when we have time. I’m not dating him, how could we live together? Does not eating together prevent us from being friends?”

“Hmm…” Yang Zhen Er gave her friend a suspicious look, then remembered something and said with a frown, “Now, you two, has your aesthetic judgement become warped? The coach, Chen, at the archery range today was so handsome. I even thought he was Yang Yang at first sight! He’s also very tall, at least 1.85 meters, even taller than Teacher Saitama! His voice is so soothing! This is the type of standard you should look for in a boyfriend! How did you two spend all afternoon only hanging around Teacher Saitama, the bald one?”

Tang Baona couldn’t help but laugh, “That guy is pretty handsome, but as a coach, he lost to Xiang Kun, who was at the archery range and handling a bow for the first time.. His professional skills really weren’t up to par oh!”