茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Although Xiang Kun was unable to eat, when he started cooking, he would often taste the dishes to determine their flavors for adjustments. Therefore, his sense of taste, although not as evolved as his specifically trained and guided senses such as vision, smell, and hearing, was still much more delicate than that of ordinary people. Combined with a more powerful sensory information processing capability of his brain, even when eating the same food, he was usually able to taste more, deeper layers of flavor than others.

However, this piece of Napoleon cake “co-manifested” by Old Xia gave him a very familiar taste.

He knew very clearly why this taste was familiar, not because he had tasted it before, but because — in Old Xia’s dream, he had experienced the taste of this cake through Old Xia’s perceptions.

This completely identical taste perception made him realize something was wrong.

After he chewed and swallowed the cake, it disappeared as soon as it entered his esophagus. Apparently, the Napoleon cake that Old Xia “co-manifested” now had the function of being “eaten”.

Xiang Kun asked Old Xia to “co-manifest” a Crispy Pig’s Elbow, and then tasted it carefully.

He could feel that when Old Xia was “co-manifesting” now, the “super-connected objects” connected with him and drawing on his abilities had increased from nine to ten. In addition to the nine coins, the crystal bead had also been added.

Xiang Kun quickly gnawed the pig elbow clean, leaving only a bone, and then the bone disappeared in his hand.

Xiang Kun hadn’t tasted Napoleon cake for a long time, even if he remembered what he had tasted before, it might not be the same as what Old Xia co-manifested. But the pig’s elbow that Old Xia co-manifests, is clearly what he made. So the taste of this pig’s elbow in reality wouldn’t be too different even if it was different, and he had perceived the taste of the pig’s elbow in Old Xia’s dream.

And now, the Crispy Pig’s Elbow that Old Xia “co-manifested”, tasted by Xiang Kun, had the same taste perception as Old Xia had experienced in the dream.

If he hadn’t perceived Old Xia eating these foods in the dream, and only tasted them in reality, he couldn’t make a complete judgment yet, he could only feel that the taste details were a bit diminished, a bit “distorted”.

But now, in comparison, he can be sure that the perception others gain from tasting the food “co-manifested” by Old Xia is the same as Old Xia’s.

This pattern reminded Xiang Kun of his “Projection Co-manifestation” ability — letting others see what he saw.

So, is this indeed an extension of the “Projection Co-manifestation” ability, a mental influence and illusion manufacturing ability?

Xiang Kun didn’t think it was that simple, he always thought that Old Xia’s “Illusion Co-manifestation” ability was not just a simple illusion, he knew this intuition was his sixth sense giving him a “hint”.

So after “finishing” that Crispy Pig’s Elbow, Xiang Kun asked Old Xia to continue co-manifesting. This time, what co-manifested was the ice cream that the Little Fatty Girl had given her in the dreamland.

Xiang Kun didn’t take it, but let Old Xia hold it. He entered a “Super Sensory State” and perceived the cognitive information of the ice cream “co-manifested” by Old Xia in this world of pure sixth sense information.

In the “Super Sensory State”, he kept perceiving the ice cream until more than five minutes later, when the cognitive information of the ice cream completely disappeared, he then exited the “Super Sensory State”.

“How is it?” Xia Libing asked Xiang Kun, who had just opened his eyes again.

Even though it was a deep night of winter, she could see fine beads of sweat on her forehead, apparently maintaining that “co-manifestation” of the ice cream for more than five minutes had placed a significant strain on her.

Xiang Kun played with his phone, and pondered, “In ‘Super Sensory state’, the cognitive information of that ice cream was very different from that of a regular ice cream. It’s difficult to describe exactly how. I will get a real ice cream and chocolate, as well as other food you can ‘co-manifest’ for a detailed comparison later…in short, it’s neither completely real nor completely illusory, very special indeed. By the way, co-manifest that chicken wing again, I want to taste what it tastes like.”

Xia Libing nodded and stared at the table for a while, but the chicken wing did not appear.

Half a minute later, Xiang Kun asked, “Are you too tired? Want to rest for a while?”

Xia Libing shook her head, wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, then stared at the phone in his hand, asking, “Are you recording a video?”

Xiang Kun’s hand, which was playing with his phone, stopped, and he turned the screen to her. Indeed, it was recording.

“How’d you know? Did you guess I was recording because you couldn’t ‘co-manifest’?” asked Xiang Kun.

Xia Libing thought for a moment and said, “I noticed it when you were fiddling with your phone, and I was a little suspicious. After being unable to ‘co-manifest’, I was even more certain.”

Xiang Kun nodded thoughtfully and said, “Can you ‘co-manifest’ something with your eyes closed?”

“I can,” Xia Libing said.

“Then try it out. ‘Envision’ anything, doesn’t matter what it is,” Xiang Kun said, “I won’t be recording this time.”

However, after Xia Libing closed her eyes, nothing materialized on the table between them.

She re-opened her eyes and looked over at the phone in Xiang Kun’s hands. He immediately turned the screen around to show her. No recording was in progress.

“Couldn’t co-manifest,” Xia Libing shook her head.

Xiang Kun asked, “When you closed your eyes, did you think I might try to sneak a recording?”

Xia Libing said, “I can’t be sure, but I had suspicions.” She paused slightly and asked, “Do you think the reason I can’t ‘co-manifest’ is not because electronic devices are recording, but because ‘I believe electronic devices will be recording’?”

Xiang Kun secretly praised Old Xia’s sharp reaction, nodding and saying, “Yes, in my experiments, the objects ‘co-manifested’ can be seen on the phone screen via the camera. It only disappears when I am about to press the record button, be it for photos or video. The same goes for screenshot keys or automatic recording. It’s as if it ‘knows’ I’m about to capture it and just ‘disappears’.”

“But a mobile phone camera is not like a traditional camera’s viewfinder. If I can see it on the screen, that means the lens is already projecting its optical image to the sensor, which then turns the electrical signal into a digital one, processed by the phone’s processor into the image we see on the screen. Strictly speaking, it has already been ‘captured’, but it just hasn’t been saved.”

“So by this point, it wouldn’t be able to react to the phone taking a photo, the only things it can react to are my actions and intentions.”

“So I started to think, maybe it’s not that the things we ‘co-manifest’ don’t want to be captured, but it’s our subconscious that doesn’t want it to be captured.”

After hearing Xiang Kun’s analysis, Xia Libing slightly squinted her eyes and nodded approvingly, “Makes sense.”

“I should have snuck a recording with your eyes closed first. I underestimated your observation skills. Now that you have a suspicion, it would be pretty hard to ‘co-manifest’. Let’s save this experiment for next time,” said Xiang Kun, as he stood up, “It’s getting late and you must be tired, you should rest. I’ll come find you tomorrow.”

No sooner had he finished speaking, Xia Libing started yawning.

Through Xia Libing’s various bodily signals, he could accurately judge her exhaustion, especially after she had repeatedly ‘co-manifested’ so many times.

Just as Xiang Kun was about to leave, Xia Libing stopped him with a question, “Are there more ’emotionally infused objects’ like the eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving?”

“You mean an ’emotion-infused object’ based on fear? There’s only that one for now,” Xiang Kun replied.

“Then bring that woodcarving to me next time, or make another one similar to it,” Xia Libing said.

“You’re interested in that woodcarving?” Xiang Kun asked in surprise.

Xia Libing said, “I can’t guide the calligraphy and doodles you gave me into my dreams. I suspect it might be because I can’t resonate with the emotions on them. The chopsticks are a fundamental part of the dream, I can’t feel them in there. So, I want to try the kind of emotions found on the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving. The things I can co-manifest in my dreams should have a big relationship with the type of emotion.”

After thinking for a while, Xiang Kun said, “Then I’ll give you more ’emotion-infused items’ of the appetite type next time. For fear-based ones, even if you can feel them, that sort of feeling… isn’t very pleasant.”

However, Xia Libing shook her head, “It’s okay, I can control it.”

Xiang Kun, after hesitating a moment, agreed: “Alright.” Anyway, if old Xia would dream because of the influence of the “emotion-infused items”, he would be watching her experiences in real-time. If he felt something was wrong, he could immediately cut off the dream, allowing old Xia to pull out, which could be considered a safety precaution.

After leaving the apartment complex where old Xia rented a place, Xiang Kun hailed a car, returning to the hospital.

In the car, he was working on hypothesizing the principles of the ability “Illusion Reality” that old Xia had developed based on his own guesses when he received a WeChat message from Yang Zhen Er.

Yang Zhen Er: “Brother Xiang Chef, where are you?”

Xiang Kun: “Just came out from your sister’s house. What’s up?”

Yang Zhen Er sent a question mark face: “You stayed at Old Xia’s till this late?”

Xiang Kun: “I made her supper.”

Yang Zhen Er sent a surprised face: “You delivered supper to her last night, cooked lunch for her today, and made supper again! My God, Brother Xiang Chef, you’ve practically become Old Xia’s personal chef!”

Xiang Kun replied with a helpless shrug emoticon: “Who made me win the game against her? I won five meals from her, but I had to make them myself…” saying that, he briefly updated her about the coin toss bet he had with Old Xia in the café two nights ago.

“Goodness! Old Xia is actually so crafty?!” Yang Zhen Er sent a scared face.

“After all, she does have your Yang Family genes. By the way, how did you know that I cooked lunch for Old Xia today?” Xiang Kun asked curiously.

But Yang Zhen Er straightforwardly answered his question: “Old Xia’s aunt called me tonight. Guess why? This is her first time calling me!”

Having linked Yang Zhen Er’s previous words, Xiang Kun instantly figured out the reason and sent a wide-eyed emoji: “Could it be, she contacted you to inquire about me?”

Yang Zhen Er sent a side-eye smile emoji: “Pretty smart, Bro Xiang.”

And then she messaged again: “Old Xia’s aunt seems to think that you’re pursuing Old Xia, and that Old Xia also seems quite interested in you, so she wanted to ask me about your character, personality and such.”

Xiang Kun: “Aunt misunderstood.”

Yang Zhen Er: “It’s understandable. Our Old Xia has never been in a relationship, and suddenly there’s a man who can cook for her at her house, even delivering supper in the middle of the night, her family would naturally think in that direction.”

Xiang Kun: “Then what should I do?”

Yang Zhen Er: “Old Xia always has a mind of her own. Let her handle Aunt and Uncle, it’s fine. Also, I’ve told her aunt that you and Old Xia are both bookworms. When you guys are together, you’re researching cosmic mysteries and scientific truths, no need to worry.”

Xiang Kun sent a nodding figurine: “Indeed.”

Yang Zhen Er: “Hey, Brother Xiang Chef, how long do you plan to stay at home? How about Nana and I come over to hang with you in a few days?”

“I’ll be heading back the day after tomorrow. If you want to come over, let’s arrange it when I’ve dealt with the things in Tongshi Town.” Xiang replied, for in three days his Blood-drinking Period would start. Considering the current situation, he’d most likely go back to consume blood and then make preparations for a few things.

“Oh oh, then we can talk once you’re back. Are you going home now?”

“Going to the hospital.”

“Hospital?”

“My dad had a fall today. It’s not serious, but he needs to be hospitalized for observation for a few days.” Xiang explained briefly about what happened during the day.

After ending her WeChat conversation with Xiang Kun, Yang Zhen Er, sitting on the sofa, clicked on Old Xia’s avatar and sent a video call request.

A moment later, the video connected. The screen on the other side was dark, and Xia Libing could vaguely be seen lying in bed with her hair loose: “What’s up?”

Yang Zhen Er asked, surprised: “You’re going to bed already?”

“Is there anything unusual about going to bed now?” Old Xia retorted.

“Didn’t Brother Xiang Chef just finish making supper for you?” Yang Zhen Er asked: “Going to sleep right after dinner?”

“I finished supper quite a while ago.” Xia Libing said drowsily: “I’m going to sleep.”

“Hold on a second! Your aunt called me tonight to ask about Xiang Kun! When she was about to close the video call, Yang Zhen Er hastily said.

“Oh, I see. I’ll explain to her later, goodnight.” Xia Libing ended the video call right after saying that.

Playing with her cellphone in one hand and stroking her chin with the other, Yang Zhen Er, contemplating their reactions, muttered to herself: “It seems like there’s really no problem.”