It's Not That It Doesn't Want To-It's That I Don't

Although Xiang Kun couldn't eat solid food, after he started cooking, he would often taste the dishes to determine the flavor and make adjustments. Therefore, although his sense of taste hadn't evolved to the extent that specialized sensory abilities like sight, smell, and hearing, it was still much more refined than that of ordinary people. Coupled with his brain's stronger sensory information processing ability, he could generally taste more and deeper flavors than others, even when eating the same food.

But the Napoleon cake that Lao Xia presented gave him a very familiar taste.

He also knew very well why the taste was familiar. It wasn't that he had eaten it before, but rather—in Lao Xia's dream just now, he had experienced the taste of this cake through Lao Xia's senses.

This identical taste sensation made him realize that something was wrong.

He chewed the cake and swallowed it, but it disappeared as soon as it entered his esophagus. Clearly, the Napoleon cake that Lao Xia had "manifested" now had the function of being "eaten".

Xiang Kun then had Lao Xia "show" the crispy pork knuckle, and then he carefully tasted it as well.

He could sense that when Lao Xia was now "manifesting," the number of "Super-Linked Object" that connected with him and called upon his abilities had increased from nine to ten. In addition to the nine Coin, the sphere had also been added to the list.

Xiang Kun quickly gnawed the pork knuckle clean, leaving only a bone, which then disappeared from his hand.

Xiang Kun hadn't eaten Napoleon cake in a long time. Even if he remembered the taste before, it might not be the same as the one Lao Xia was experiencing. But the pork knuckle that Lao Xia was experiencing was clearly made by him. So, in reality, the taste of that pork knuckle wouldn't be too different, and he had also sensed the taste of Lao Xia eating that pork knuckle in his dream.

Now, the crispy pork knuckle that Lao Xia "revealed" tasted exactly the same to Xiang Kun as the taste Lao Xia had experienced in his dream.

If he hadn't experienced Lao Xia eating these foods in his dream, he wouldn't have been able to make a complete judgment based solely on his tasting experience in reality. He could only perceive that the taste details were somewhat lacking and the experience was a bit "distorted."

But now, comparing the two, he can be certain that the perceptions others get from tasting the food that Lao Xia "manifests" are the same as Lao Xia's.

This pattern reminded Xiang Kun of his "Projection Manifestation ability"—allowing others to see what he sees.

Therefore, is this indeed a kind of mental influence and hallucination-creating ability that is a further extension of the "Projection Manifestation" ability?

Xiang Kun felt it wasn't that simple. He always believed that Lao Xia's ability to "Fantasy Manifestation" wasn't just a simple hallucination. He knew that this intuition was his sixth sense giving him a "hint."

So after "finishing" that crispy pork knuckle, Xiang Kun asked Lao Xia to continue to manifest. This time, what manifested was the Ice Cream that the Little Chubby Girl in the dream had given her.

Xiang Kun didn't take it, but let Lao Xia hold it. He then entered a "Hyper-Sensory State," in that special world of pure sixth sense information, to perceive the cognitive information of the Ice Cream that Lao Xia "manifested."

He remained in Hyper-Sensory State awareness of the Ice Cream until, more than five minutes later, when his awareness of the Ice Cream completely disappeared, at which point he exited the Hyper-Sensory State.

"How is it?" Xia Libing asked Xiang Kun, who had reopened his eyes.

Even in the dead of winter night, fine beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead, clearly indicating that keeping that "visible" Ice Cream in place for more than five minutes had been quite a burden for her.

Xiang Kun fiddled with his phone, pondering, "In the 'Hyper-Sensory State,' the cognitive information about that Ice Cream is very different from that of ordinary Ice Cream. It's hard to describe exactly how. I'll go buy a real Ice Cream, Chocolate, and other foods that you can 'manifest' later, and then do a detailed comparison... In short, it's neither Quanzhen School nor completely illusory; it's very special. Oh, and visualize that roasted chicken wing again; I want to taste it."

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

After about half a minute, Xiang Kun asked, "Are you too tired? Why don't you rest for a while?"

Xia Libing shook her head, wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, then stared at the phone in his hand and asked, "Are you recording a video?"

Xiang Kun stopped playing with his phone and showed her one side of the screen; it was indeed recording a video.

"How did you know? Was it because you couldn't 'manifest' that you guessed I was recording?" Xiang Kun asked.

Xia Libing thought for a moment and said, "I noticed when you were playing with your phone and had some suspicions. After I couldn't see it, I became even more certain of it."

Xiang Kun nodded thoughtfully and said, "Can you perform 'All Manifestation' with your eyes closed?"

"Okay," Xia Libing said.

"Then give it a try, just 'manifest' anything," Xiang Kun said. "I won't be filming this time."

But Xia Libing closed her eyes, and after several dozen seconds, there was still nothing on the table between them.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the phone in Xiang Kun's hand. He immediately turned the screen around to show her, but this time it wasn't recording.

Xia Libing shook her head and said, "It's impossible to manifest both."

Xiang Kun asked, "Did you think I would take the opportunity to secretly take pictures after you closed your eyes?"

Xia Libing said, "I can't be sure, but I do have some doubts." She paused slightly, then asked, "You think what's affecting my 'all-encompassing' might not be the filming by electronic devices, but rather the idea that 'I believe electronic devices will be filming'?"

Xiang Kun inwardly praised Lao Xia's keen reaction and nodded, saying, "Yes, in my experiment, what was 'manifested' could be seen on the phone screen through the camera. It only disappeared when the record button was pressed, whether it was to take a photo or a video. Even using the screenshot shortcut or automatic shooting was the same. It was as if it 'knew' I was going to photograph it and would 'disappear'."

"But a mobile phone camera is not like the optical viewfinder of a traditional camera. If I can see it on the screen, it means that the lens has already projected its optical image onto the sensor. Then the sensor converts the electrical signal into a digital signal, which is then processed by the mobile phone processor to become the image on the screen. Strictly speaking, it has already been 'captured,' but it has not yet been saved."

"So at this point, it can no longer react to the phone taking pictures; it can only react to my actions and intentions."

"I was thinking, maybe it's not that what we 'manifest' doesn't want to be photographed, but rather that our subconscious doesn't want it to be photographed."

After listening to Xiang Kun's analysis, Xia Libing narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

"I should have had you close your eyes before taking the picture; I underestimated your observation skills. Now, even if you close your eyes again, you'll probably still have some doubts in your mind, making it difficult to see clearly. Let's do this experiment another time." Xiang Kun said, standing up. "It's getting late, you must be very tired. Get some rest, I'll come find you again tomorrow."

He had barely finished speaking when Xia Libing.

Based on his perception of Xia Libing's body, he could indeed tell that she was extremely tired, especially after engaging in so many "Fantasy Manifestation" in succession.

Just as Xiang Kun was about to leave, Xia Libing called him back and asked, "Are there any other 'Emotional Injection items' similar to that Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving?"

"You mean 'Emotional Injection items' based on fear? No, there aren't any more, only that one," Xiang Kun replied.

"Then next time, bring your wooden carving and lend it to me, or make another one similar," Xia Libing said.

"Are you interested in that wood carving?" Xiang Kun asked curiously.

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 depicted in them. The chopsticks are also the foundation of the dream, but I can't perceive them in the dream. So I want to try the kind of emotion that the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving represents. The things that appear in my dreams should be closely related to the type of emotion."

Xiang Kun thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll give you a few more 'Emotional Injection items' that appeal to your appetite next time. As for the fear-related ones, even if you can feel them, that feeling... isn't very pleasant."

Xia Libing shook her head and said, "It's alright, I can control it."

Xiang Kun hesitated for a moment, but still agreed, "Okay." Anyway, if Lao Xia was affected by the "Emotion-Infused Object" and entered a dream, he would definitely be sensing it in real time and monitoring Lao Xia's experience at any time. If he felt something was wrong, he could directly cut off the dream and let Lao Xia get out, so it was a kind of insurance.

After leaving the residential area where Lao Xia rented a place, Xiang Kun hailed a car and headed back to the First Hospital.

On the bus, as he was speculating about the underlying principles of the "Fantasy Manifestation" ability developed by Lao Xia, he received WeChat from Yang Zhen'er on his phone.

Yang Zhen'er: "Where is Chef Xiang?"

Xiang Kun: "Just came from your sister's house, what's up?"

Yang Zhen'er sent a question mark emoji, "Staying at Lao Xia's house this late?"

Xiang Kun: "I made her a midnight snack."

Yang Zhen'er sent a surprised look. "You brought her a late-night snack last night, cooked her lunch, and then made her another late-night snack? Wow, Chef Xiang, you're practically becoming Lao Xia's personal chef!"

Xiang Kun replied with a helpless shrug, "Who told me to beat her in a game before? I won five meals from her, but I had to cook them myself..." He then briefly recounted the Coin -guessing bet he and Lao Xia had made at the coffee shop the night before last.

"Holy crap! Lao Xia is actually so cunning?!" Yang Zhen'er sent a fear emoji.

"After all, she has your Yang family genes in her body. By the way, how did you know I cooked for Lao Xia at noon?" Xiang Kun asked, somewhat puzzled.

He brought Lao Xia a late-night snack last night and mentioned it in the group chat; Yang Zhen'er, Tang Baona, and Little Apple all knew. But he came over to have lunch with Lao Xia mainly to discuss "Fantasy Manifestation" and other things related to his mutation privately, so naturally he didn't mention it in the group chat. Given Lao Xia's personality, he wouldn't tell them privately either.

Yang Zhen'er answered his question directly, "Lao Xia's third aunt called me tonight, guess why? This is the first time she's ever called me!"

Connecting this to what Yang Zhen'er had said earlier, Xiang Kun instantly realized the reason and replied with a wide-eyed emoji, "Could it be that she's trying to find out about me from you?"

Yang Zhen'er sent a sly, smiling emoji, "Pretty smart, Xiang Yixiu."

Then she sent another message: "It seems that Lao Xia's third aunt thinks you're pursuing Lao Xia, and Lao Xia seems to be quite interested in you too, so she wants to ask me what kind of person you are, what your personality is like, and so on."

Xiang Kun: "Auntie has misunderstood."

Yang Zhen'er: "It's understandable. My husband, Lao Xia, has never been in a relationship since she was a child. Suddenly, a man comes to her house to cook for her and even brings her late-night snacks. Of course, her family will think that way."

Xiang Kun: "Then what should we do?"

Yang Zhen'er: "Lao Xia has always been quite opinionated. She can handle Third Aunt and Third Uncle, so it'll be fine. Besides, I've already told her Third Aunt that you and Lao Xia are both bookworms. When you two get together, you're studying the mysteries of the universe and scientific truths, so there's nothing to worry about."

Xiang Kun sent a nodding emoji. "Indeed."

Yang Zhen'er: "Hey, Chef Xiang, how long are you planning to stay at home? How about Nana and I come visit you in a few days?"

"I'm going back the day after tomorrow. If you want to come visit, I'll arrange things in Tongshi Town later," Xiang Kun replied. He'll be at the Blood Drinking stage in three days, and given the current situation, he'll most likely have to go back to do the Blood Drinking and make some preparations.

"Oh, okay, we'll talk about it when we get back. Are you going home now?"

"Go to the hospital."

"Hospital?"

"My dad fell today, it's not a big problem, but he needs to be hospitalized for observation for two days," Xiang Kun briefly explained the situation.

After ending her WeChat conversation with Xiang Kun, Yang Zhen'er, sitting on the sofa, clicked on Lao Xia's profile picture and sent a video request.

After a while, the video call connected, but the other end was completely black, with only a vague outline of disheveled Lao Xia lying on the bed. "What is it?"

Yang Zhen'er asked curiously, "You're going to sleep already?"

"Is there anything wrong with your sleeping now?" Lao Xia asked helplessly.

"Didn't Chef Xiang just make you a midnight snack?" Yang Zhen'er asked. "You're going to sleep right after eating?"

"I finished my midnight snack a long time ago," Xia Libing said listlessly. "I'm going to sleep."

"Wait a minute! Your third aunt called me tonight to ask about Xiang Kun!" Yang Zhen'er quickly said when she realized that Lao Xia seemed to be about to end the video call.

"Oh, I understand. I'll explain to her later. I'm going to sleep now." Xia Libing said, then ended the video call.

Playing with her phone in one hand and stroking her chin with the other, Yang Zhen'er recalled the two people's reactions and muttered to herself, "Looks like everything's really alright."