By 3 p. m., the unusual physical condition of the boy with the earring had largely disappeared.
Of course, this was only Xiang Kun's assessment of his heartbeat, breathing, and body odor; it couldn't be confirmed that the effects had been completely eliminated, nor could it be known how he subjectively felt.
However, judging from the conversation between the boy with the earring and his companion, he did not seem to be aware of the ongoing abnormal state of his body.
Moreover, neither the boy with the earring nor his companions noticed anything unusual when they were surrounding Xiang Kun. They all thought they were too nervous and were so dazed that they didn't have time to react. At most, they thought the "bald guy" was very imposing and not an ordinary person.
The boy with the earring had no idea that if he had continued in that state for another few dozen seconds, he might have died.
Although he could no longer detect anything unusual about the boy with the earring, Xiang Kun did not leave immediately. Instead, he waited until 4:40 p. m., after the three boys had left the internet cafe, before following them out a minute later.
The boy with the earring didn't go with his two companions; the three of them split up into two groups.
The boy with the earring walked slowly, his head down, playing on his phone. From the WeChat messages he sent every now and then, it was clear that he was asking a girl out that night.
Seeing him enter a convenience store, seemingly to buy cigarettes, Xiang Kun, who was trailing far behind, thought for a few seconds before quickly catching up. He slowed down as he entered the store, as if he were just passing by, and went straight to the freezer in the corner. He grabbed a bottle of water and stood by the cashier to wait to pay.
As Xiang Kun entered the convenience store, the boy with the earring spotted him. His eyes widened, and he felt a lump in his throat, unable to breathe in or exhale. His phone, which he had just scanned and paid for, fell to the ground. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, his face turned deathly pale, and his knees felt weak.
Xiang Kun didn't look at him, paid for the water expressionlessly, and then left the convenience store without ever glancing at him.
Before entering the convenience store, Xiang Kun even deliberately controlled his physical condition, putting himself and his mind in a very relaxed and casual state.
After entering the convenience store, Xiang Kun turned his attention back to him.
Xiang Kun felt that the boy with the earring's physical reaction at the entrance of the residential area was too intense, exceeding the level of ordinary fright or intimidation.
He wanted to see how the boy with the earring would react when he saw him again, without targeting him.
After leaving the convenience store, Xiang Kun heard the cashier inside ask the boy with the earring with some surprise, "Handsome, you dropped your phone... Are you okay? Wow, why are you sweating so much? Are you... sick?"
Xiang Kun focused his sensory attention on the boy with the earring and could clearly sense the drastic abnormality in his physical condition, somewhat similar to his state earlier that day outside the residential area.
Judging from the results, it is clear that the boy with the earring had a severe stress response when he saw himself again.
That impact was not temporary.
It seems that we need to be especially careful in the future, and not use it on people casually, nor should we easily conduct experiments on people.
Seeing the boy with the earring walk out of the convenience store in the distance, looking around nervously, Xiang Kun lingered for a moment in the boy's blind spot. After confirming that the boy's condition had quickly recovered, he didn't linger and walked towards the bus stop.
As for the Ballpoint Pen Tip had been left on the boy and established a connection with him, he had no intention of going to the trouble of getting it back.
Today, he unintentionally had a profound impact on the boy with the earring, causing Xiang Kun to refocus on the enormous changes that had occurred since he drank the blood of the "Giant Owl."
This change must have come directly from the owl's blood, because he himself had not undergone any specific training in this area, and no corresponding mutations had occurred after drinking blood multiple times before.
He used to think that the reason why mammals like cats, dogs, and rabbits could sense his danger and power through their keen senses, either from his eyes or the pheromones he emitted, when he was tense, focused, and ready to attack, was that they chose to retreat or submit.
Indeed, his state only affects the animals when they notice him first.
But after drinking the owl's blood, his ability seemed to have changed; it wasn't simply enhanced from the original state.
At the horse farm, apart from his target horse, none of the other horses saw him; they were far away and shouldn't have noticed him.
But when he applied his influence to the target mount, all the horses in the entire stable were affected.
However, at that time, neither the horse he had targeted nor the other horses in the stable were particularly affected; they were merely listless and unwilling to be ridden.
Today, outside the residential area, the boy with the earring that he had targeted experienced a violent physical reaction that could even be life-threatening.
At the same time, other people around were also affected to some extent.
Furthermore, they themselves do not have a clear understanding of the impact they have been on.
This was clearly not as simple as being "frightened" or "startled." Xiang Kun suspected that he might have directly affected the bodies of those people, including the boy with the earring, in some way, causing their bodies to react "spontaneously."
This method might be similar to the "sensory connection" he has recently established with the objects through "observation."
--It all started with his spirit and consciousness, directly impacting the real world.
To test some of his ideas, he went to the city's largest flower and bird market early the next morning.
The market was located far from the city center, but not too far from where he lived; it was three subway stops followed by two bus stops.
He went directly to the area with the highest concentration of bird shops, which consisted of dozens of stores selling various ornamental birds and related merchandise.
Xiang Kun slowly tensed his muscles, adjusted his breathing, and entered a state of readiness to fight and risk his life at any moment.
However, he didn't focus on any target; he just kept his head down, looking at the ground, and walked slowly down the street.
A few minutes later, Xiang Kun relaxed his body and then tried to sense the people around him and the birds in the cage, only to find that no living beings were affected by him.
Then he stopped and looked at a yellow canary in a cage in front of a shop next door, and began to slowly adjust his state.
He didn't enter a fighting, desperate state like before; instead, he was in a superior, all-seeing, calm, and dignified state.
He even recalled some images from the memories he had received from the "Giant Owl," circling in the air and surveying its territory.
The canary, which had been chirping, suddenly fell silent and stopped moving, as if it had been petrified. It stood motionless on the bird stand.
Not only that, the incessant chirping of various birds along the entire street also stopped abruptly within two or three seconds.
Although the sounds of cars, people, and other noises outside were still there.
But suddenly one of the various sounds disappeared, and it was a sound that everyone was already used to hearing. Everyone immediately noticed the abnormality, looked up in surprise, and looked around blankly, not knowing what had happened.