I Really Never Wanted to Be a Hero
It wasn't until noon the next day that Xiang Kun returned to where he had hidden the schoolbag.
After finding his backpack, he didn't immediately take out his phone and turn it on. Although he had a feeling that the energy around his body should have completely dissipated after walking for so long, he decided to wait a while to be on the safe side. He really didn't want to change his phone again.
After changing into the clothes he had brought, putting his shoes and socks back on, and packing his dirty and tattered clothes back into his bag, Xiang Kun put on a cotton hat, slung his bag over his shoulder, and continued walking out of the mountain, looking every bit the tourist.
It wasn't until he boarded the bus back to his city in the afternoon that Xiang Kun it on, and checked his WeChat messages.
During the two days he spent in the mountains, Little Apple sent him several voice messages, saying that her "Object-Sensing" exercise seemed to have made great progress, and that she seemed to have established some kind of connection with the Minion Wooden Carving, and could perceive some things through it.
Judging from the timing of those messages, they were sent before Xiang Kun began his attempt to fly, triggering a violent thunderstorm. This further proves the strengthened connection between Little Apple and Liu Shiling and those items. The most important reason is his mutation and evolution after drinking blood this time.
The mutation and evolution are equivalent to a hardware upgrade for the server providing the service, enhancing certain functions. The phenomena that occurred during flight may mean that all users have been given greater bandwidth temporarily, so not only can they greatly improve their control and perception of the contact items, Xiang Kun can also obtain more information in the reverse, and even directly obtain perception from them.
Xiang Kun thought for a moment, then took the initiative to call Little Apple, made an excuse to explain why he hadn't replied to her WeChat before, and then "casually" mentioned the issue of "Object-Sensing" that Little Apple had mentioned in WeChat.
However, during the phone call, Little Apple did not mention anything unusual about last night.
Xiang Kun's first reaction was that the connection between Little Apple and those "Emotional Injection" items occurred during her sleep, so he assumed that what she sensed was part of the "dream." However, from her voice, he sensed that she was hiding something and was hesitant to speak.
After hanging up the phone, Xiang Kun didn't press or probe further on WeChat. He guessed that either there were other people around Little Apple at the time, making it inappropriate for her to talk, or she had some concerns about not being able to directly reveal what happened last night.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, WeChat beeped with a notification sound. It was a voice message from Little Apple.
Little Apple's voice was breathy, sounding a bit furtive. "Uncle Xiang, at home just now, with Aunt Yang around, there were some things I couldn't say. Now that I'm at the park, Aunt Yang is chatting with someone she knows by the roadside, so she can't hear me."
"Uncle Xiang, I had some very strange dreams last night..."
Little Apple sent more than a dozen voice messages in a row, telling Xiang Kun about the strange dreams she had last night. She described the special sensations in the dreams that were different from her usual ones, as well as the strong feeling she had towards the Minion Wooden Carving after waking up. Through the Minion, she established a connection with the CPU Wooden Carving and also made contact with a strange and peculiar entity from afar.
Others might not understand some of Little Apple's descriptions of her dreams, such as the bizarre and strange scenes, and how she imagined herself as a monster with many arms being chased.
But Xiang Kun immediately understood what she meant, because the dream she experienced was actually the imagery and perception in Xiang Kun's mind when he was "Emotional Injection" into the process of making those wood carvings.
Moreover, he has perceived Little Apple's dreams more than once, experiencing various things through her emotions and cognition.
Therefore, he could understand why the scenes Little Apple "saw" seemed so strange. On the one hand, the memories or imagined scenes that were infused into the wood carving with emotions would inevitably have many details missing when other people perceived or empathized with them.
On the other hand, Little Apple was born completely blind. The development of the visual-related neurons in her brain is different from that of people with perfect vision. The direction of activation is different, and her preconceived perception of everything is also different. Even in her dreams, even when she is immersed in Xiang Kun's memories, what she "sees" will definitely be very different from what she understands as "normal".
Xiang Kun paid particular attention to two points:
In Little Apple's first dream, she heard thunder and felt herself in a thunderstorm, which then led to three "dream" journeys.
Secondly, besides the wood carvings that Xiang Kun gave her, Little Apple also sensed the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving in the cabinet in Xiang Kun's home. Whether it was the "dream" or her later perception, it was clearly related to it.
Clearly, just as Xiang Kun had previously understood, after triggering the lightning storm, Little Apple established a deep connection with Xiang Kun's many "Emotional Injection" items for a period of time.
The perceptions and cognitions she displays when interacting with these items can be described as a function "developed" based on her unique cognitive pattern, the inherent characteristics of those special items, and Xiang Kun's abilities.
As the "platform" that provides all the capabilities, Xiang Kun naturally and directly obtained these functions.
The reason why Little Apple sensed the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving instead of other "Emotional Injection" items is probably just random and doesn't seem to have any special mechanism.
Given more time, she should be able to connect with more "Emotional Injection" items.
However, when describing her feelings about the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving after regaining consciousness, Little Apple's words made Xiang Kun smile wryly.
Little Apple didn't realize that she was sensing a wooden carving that looked like the Minion in her hand. Instead, she thought she was sensing a real "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster," just like the monster she had in her dream.
So, in her speculation that she secretly shared with Xiang Kun via WeChat, she believed that the monster was trapped somewhere and had lost its freedom. Therefore, it somehow triggered that dream in Xiang Kun, as if the monster was asking her for help.
Little Apple felt that the way the monster contacted her and entered her dreams was Xiang Kun the "Object-Sensing" that Xiang Kun taught her. This practice might have opened a channel for communication with the monster to some extent.
Finally, Little Apple asked Xiang Kun, "Uncle Xiang, do you think what I saw later was an 'illusion'?"
Um...
How should this question be answered?
Little Apple's description, strictly speaking, the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Monster that was being chased around in the dream, filled with fear and panic, was actually Xiang Kun!
However, the events that occurred in those dreams were not actually memories; they were merely fantasies based on emotions.
Xiang Kun could actually understand Little Apple's guess, since her initial perception of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving came from her dream.
So when she sensed the distant wood carving again after waking up, the sensation was similar to that in her dream, directly projecting the perception and image from her dream onto her, as if it were a real, living monster.
Xiang Kun originally wanted to correct Little Apple's misunderstanding and guide her back to the facts. But after thinking about it, he realized that the reason Little Apple was able to "develop" the new function of "Emotional Injection" items was that, like Liu Shiling, she had a relatively self-consistent cognitive system regarding these items that was different from Xiang Kun's.
A cognitive system is, to some extent, just a tool. As long as it works and is easy to use, that's enough. Whether it's exactly the same as the facts doesn't necessarily have an impact.
However, Xiang Kun still offered a word of advice. "If you experience this kind of feeling again, pay attention to your emotional state. If you feel overwhelmed by negative emotions, stop immediately and don't let them affect you. Even if that multi-armed monster really exists, it's probably not a good thing. If such an abnormal world truly exists, there must be other creatures that can communicate with people through this method. You can try to see if you can establish a new connection; this could also be used to verify whether the Many-Armed Monster is an illusion. If you have any difficulties or questions, feel free to contact me anytime."
Little Apple is already able to enhance her own emotions by using "Emotional Injection" items, and now she can also establish connections with other "Emotional Injection" items at certain times, perceiving the emotions infused into those items.
If it were just the few items that Xiang Kun gave her, it wouldn't be a problem. They brought her joy and happiness, or simply focused her attention and interest, so there wouldn't be any negative impact.
However, other "Emotional Injection" items, especially the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," are products of fear. If she is affected by the emotions reflected by the wooden carving and these emotions are amplified, it will definitely be a bad experience for her psychologically.
Little Apple was very pleased that Xiang Kun didn't laugh at her views as naive or absurd, but instead seriously discussed them and offered advice. Her reply sounded cheerful, "Okay, then I'll ask Uncle Xiang for advice when I have any questions later."
After finishing his chat with Little Apple, Xiang Kun was pondering how to regain his state from last night without triggering a lightning storm or needing to fly. When he sensed the special connection between Little Apple and Liu Shiling, he suddenly became alert, jumped up from his seat, and looked ahead at the bus.
Xiang Kun had been mostly focused on chatting with Little Apple and thinking a lot about his own abilities, but his ability to gather information about his surroundings was instinctive. He sensed danger through many details of sounds outside the car.
Sure enough, in the next instant, the bus driver saw a car that had gone out of control crash through the median strip from the opposite lane and rushed into their lane. In a panic, he instinctively swerved to avoid it, but the speed was too fast, and the bus swerved sideways and began to overturn during the lateral movement.
When he saw the two cars break through the median, Xiang Kun entered a state of extreme focus, his brain rapidly calculating and deducing various possibilities based on various information.
The moment the driver slammed on the brakes, Xiang Kun knew the bus was going to overturn, but it was too late for him to do anything to stop it.
His gaze swept across the interior of the bus, taking in the condition of all the passengers. His brain rapidly analyzed various scenarios and devised multiple plans for them to avoid collisions, use leverage, absorb force, and minimize damage.
Given his reaction speed, physical strength, coordination, and the fact that he had already anticipated the situation, minimizing the damage should be no problem at all.
Moreover, he has an exceptionally strong recovery ability, so there's basically nothing to worry about.
But Xiang Kun's gaze swept over the other passengers in the car, he couldn't help but ask himself:
What about them?
What will happen to them after this car accident?
Xiang Kun's mind then began to race, calculating what would happen to the other passengers when the bus started to roll over.
Although Xiang Kun did many so-called "heroic" things by mistake, such as stopping criminals, capturing wanted criminals, and arresting human traffickers, deep down he was not someone who enjoyed playing the role of a "hero." Therefore, after his body gradually mutated and evolved various abilities, he never thought of becoming a superhero to represent justice and punish evil.
Because he didn't believe that would truly bring justice, and he wasn't a selfless "hero" either.
But just like when he encountered thugs, wanted criminals, or stumbled upon human traffickers before, when things happened right in front of him and he had the ability to do so, he couldn't remain indifferent and couldn't tell himself "it's none of my business."
Everything before his eyes seemed to be slowed down, proceeding at an extremely slow pace. This was because his brain was operating at its limit, his consciousness constantly calculating and deducing, building one cognitive model after another based on previous information. Thanks to his superhuman dynamic vision, he could also accurately see the changes in all elements inside the car.
From a visual and conscious perspective, Xiang Kun has plenty of time; he can develop very detailed plans and solutions to help others and reduce the harm they suffer from car accidents.
The problem is that while Xiang Kun's physical body is relatively strong compared to ordinary people, he is not the Flash, Quicksilver, or Superman. Even if he starts to move immediately, he cannot make any complicated movements when the fall is coming. He is only one person, and the number of people he can save is limited.
Who should we save?
Through deduction, he could roughly predict who would be most seriously injured. If there were people he knew in the car, he would undoubtedly choose them. If there were several people he knew, he would certainly choose the one he was closest to. Selfishness is human nature, and he was no saint.
But at this moment, everyone in the carriage was a complete stranger to him. Who should he save?
As the bus braked suddenly, swerved sideways, and began to overturn, Xiang Kun had already made his decision. Using the immense momentum, he leaned against the side of the bus and, as it flipped over, opened his arms to catch the little boy who was falling from the side. He then turned around, using his own body as a buffer against the impact, creating space for the little boy to prevent him from being crushed by other passengers and objects.
From the moment the oncoming vehicle lost control and broke through the median, to the bus braking, to the rollover, to the moment it came to a stop, everything happened in just a few seconds.
Most passengers were completely unaware of what was happening, and by the time they came to their senses, they were unable to move or even lost consciousness.
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I recommend a hilarious and lighthearted novel called "My Teacher Has a New Mission".
Thanks to the Dharma protector "Qiead", and thanks to readers Yongchu, Sanshuiqi, and Zhihe82nianxuebi for their generous donations.