Xiang Kun felt that his consciousness was now like a radio station; if he wasn't careful, he would "broadcast" his emotions to the people around him if he got too powerful.
Normal people's cassette players, which should not be able to receive broadcast signals, are simply playing their own recorded cassettes.
However, Xiang Kun somehow managed to forcibly "feed" the content of his broadcasts into these cassette players, making them believe that the content was actually recorded by them.
This ability to "broadcast" is his "Emotional Assimilation".
Moreover, compared to a radio station, it's more like a network server, not only sending data but also receiving feedback.
Previously, he only received feedback after he had first sent out the "data".
For example, in the "Projection Manifestation, you first let the other person be Emotional Assimilation, then make eye contact and let them see the "projection" you imagine. At this point, the other person will provide feedback on the "projected" image.
However, judging from the sensations emanating from the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving, Xiang Kun had already sensed the emotions of someone unknown around the sculpture while simultaneously sensing it.
It's like he hacked into someone else's host, and although he only saw some trivial information, such as the desktop icon layout, the fact that he did this meant there were many things that were enough to pique his interest.
However, after sensing that emotion that didn't belong to him once in the car, no matter how much he sensed it afterward, he could only vaguely know that he was connected to the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving. Apart from that, he had no other information, not even the location of the sculpture or the situation around it.
Xiang Kun scratched his head, increasingly confused: What exactly did I do to that wood carving?
Since it's not about establishing a "Super-Sensory Link," how exactly did I turn it into something like a springboard for emotion sensing?
Is carving the only way, or are there other methods as well?
And is it related to the sculpting tools with which he established a "Super-Sensory Link"?
Xiang Kun got up and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets. He used to have a habit of writing calligraphy, and he had even taken it out and casually wrote a few words when he came back for the Spring Festival.
He found a large roll of practice paper, wolf-hair brush, and ink, and spread them out on the desk. However, Xiang Kun did not close the cabinet immediately. Instead, he pulled out a stack of Xuan paper that was stuffed at the bottom of the cabinet.
All those sheets of Xuan paper were covered in writing, clearly written by Xiang Kun a long time ago.
He started practicing calligraphy during the summer vacation after he was in second grade, but he didn't attend any calligraphy classes. At that time, his whole family lived in Tongshi Town because his father worked there.
Next to their dormitory in a single-story house lived an elderly man in his seventies who loved calligraphy and would practice writing with a brush in his room whenever he had free time.
During that time Xiang Kun had just moved to the town and was unfamiliar with the place, so he was a bit bored. He happened to watch a TV series where a young swordsman wrote calligraphy very well and looked very handsome. So he had the idea of learning calligraphy. The old man in the series looked like a hermit master, so he started learning from him.
But the old man didn't teach him any complicated techniques. He just taught him to write the word "yong" and he wrote it for a whole summer.
Xiang Kun later admired himself for being able to persist in doing something as boring as repeatedly writing the same character.
After the summer vacation, the old man was taken to the north by his family. They said he would come back in a few months and continue to teach him other things. He was asked to write the word "Yong" well in these few months.
So when Xiang Kun had free time, he took out a brush and wrote a few words "Yong". He wrote very slowly, as if he was carving.
But little did he know that his parting with the old man would be their last. The old man passed away in the north, and Xiang Kun didn't learn of it until two years later.
From then on, Xiang Kun, who had never systematically learned calligraphy and never had any calligraphy stickers, would often take out a pen and paper and just write the word "".
When he entered middle school, he naturally began to write other characters, writing whatever he wanted, and his calligraphy was actually quite passable.
What's really strange is that he writes decent calligraphy with a brush, but his handwriting with ballpoint pens, pencils, and gel pens is quite ugly, and he just can't seem to improve it.
It's very likely because he's used to writing calligraphy very slowly, while it's impossible to write a single character in half a minute with a pen.
Xiang Kun looked at the words he had written in his youth, one by one, recalling the state of mind he had when he wrote them.
After turning the last page, Xiang Kun looked at the words on it and softly read them aloud:
"Ten years have passed since I honed this sword, its sharp edge yet to be tested. Today I present it to you; who has a grievance to redress?"
That was during my second year of high school. I had just finished working with a group of netizens from a cybersecurity forum to take down the homepages of several foreign companies that were posting anti-China remarks, and replaced their homepages with the five-star red flag.
At that time, he felt incredibly awesome, full of pride and enthusiasm, and brimming with hope for the future.
However, this was also the last time he wrote calligraphy to express his emotions.
After that, every time he came home, even if he felt like practicing calligraphy, he would just scribble something on rough paper, it didn't matter what he wrote, and then he would throw it away.
Looking at those twenty characters, although they are completely insignificant from a purely calligraphic perspective, one can clearly feel the exuberance and vigor of one's youth from the characters themselves.
I doubt I can ever have that same passionate, youthful spirit again.
Even if his regular script is actually better now, that kind of writing, that feeling, can never be found again.
Xiang Kun stuffed the imperial edicts back into the cabinet, then walked to his desk, moistened his pen tip, and pondered silently.
A few minutes later, Xiang Kun finally put down his pen, but what he began to write was Zhuge Liang's "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops".
He deliberately chose a long article, hoping to give himself enough time to prepare his emotions. He suspected that the special feeling his eight-armed, eight-eyed wooden sculpture had was related to the emotions he was experiencing while carving it.
Emotional fluctuations are like a chemical reaction in consciousness; once they become intense, they release energy and spread the influence of consciousness outwards.
After graduating from middle school, Xiang Kun never read "The Memorial to the Throne on the Eve of the Northern Expedition" again, nor did he ever write calligraphy.
But after his memory evolved and became stronger, his ability to recall past memories also improved significantly. After all, the "Memorial to the Throne" was something he had to memorize in middle school, and now he could rewrite it from memory without any pressure. He could focus all his attention on the act of writing itself and the emotions he felt while writing.
When he finished writing the last word, Xiang Kun let out a long breath. Looking at the rough-edged paper that had been dragged to the ground, he felt somewhat satisfied and a little relieved. He felt that this was the best he had written since he started working.
Xiang Kun was then taken aback. This feeling seemed somewhat similar to the eight-armed, eight-eyed wooden carving he had made before.
He glanced at the time; it was already 1 a. m. He had spent more than four hours writing these seven hundred words, which was indeed his usual low efficiency.
Xiang Kun stretched and did a few handstand push-ups followed by Russian push-ups on the floor to loosen up his body. Then he prepared to write a few more articles to have more samples for better verification.
However, before writing, he checked his phone. He had heard a message notification when he was writing the "Memorial to the Throne," but he hadn't checked it immediately.
Upon discovering messages from the group chat of the four of them, Yang Zhen'er had clearly learned from Tang Baona about the price Xiang Kun had sold his wood carving for. She clamored for him to treat her to a meal and even requested to place an order for a custom-made wood carving, as she couldn't wait for her birthday present.
Tang Baona also mentioned that a friend wanted a wooden carving of a two-dimensional character and wanted to place an order with Xiang Kun. In addition, her grandfather wanted to meet him and chat with him to see when he would have time after he returned.
Looking at the timestamps of their messages, which were all around 10 PM, Xiang Kun didn't reply immediately. He planned to wait until daytime to tell them that he might not have time to do wood carving for the time being.
There were also a few messages sent by Xia Libing alone, which he curiously clicked to read:
"Remember to treat me to a meal when you go back to Citong City."
"I want you to make it yourself."
"Let me know what ingredients you need, and I'll go buy them in advance."
"My birthday is April 23rd, and the birthday present I want is also a wood carving. I don't care what you carve, but it must be your original work, just like that eight-armed wood carving."
"Ideally, you could give it to me before the new year."
The last image is of a panda begging with a bowl in its arms.
This Lao Xia...
The style remains as direct as ever!
But why are all of them so interested in the wood carvings I made? They probably can't even tell what's so special about them, right?
The next morning, after having breakfast, Xiang Kun told his parents that he was going to Tongshi Town to visit a friend, and that whether he would return that night would depend on the situation.
His mother knew he had two or three very close friends in Tongshi Town, so she didn't say anything, only telling him he had to be back by noon tomorrow.
Tongshi Town is more than four hours' drive from Citong City, with more than three hours spent on the highway alone.
His main destination this time was actually that place.
Because his father worked in Tongshi Town for many years, and Xiang Kun attended primary and junior high school there, he had several close friends.
During this time, he asked one of them to help him look in the nearby countryside for any farms or suitable sites for selling or renting a farm. He didn't have any other requirements, just two things:
1. Inexpensive; 2. Quiet.
There is also a hidden "3, remote", but if you satisfy both 1 and 2, you will basically also have the characteristic of 3.
Given the mountainous terrain surrounding Tongshi Town, such conditions shouldn't be too difficult to find.
Xiang Kun had considered setting up a breeding farm near Tongshi Town for quite some time.
He didn't choose a place near Citong City, his hometown, or a place where his uncles, cousins, or other relatives lived. He was afraid that if he chose those places, although he would have relatives and elders to take care of him and many things would be more convenient, there would definitely be frequent visits. His parents would also come over to help when they had time. In that case, there would be no point in him running this farm. He might as well continue to stay in the big city.