What It's Like Being a Vampire

“Little Apple,” Li Jun, and “Little Fatty Girl,” Liu Shiling, are both “users” and “developers” within Xiang Kun’s “Super Sensory Item System.”

Both established an early special connection with his “Super-connected Objects” or “Emotion Infused Objects,” and according to their distinct cognition, they built their unique cognitive systems. They successfully found ways to apply Xiang Kun’s abilities through various Super Sensory Items.

However, fundamentally, their cognitive systems, their ways of connecting with Super Sensory Items, and their methods of accessing Xiang Kun’s abilities are all very different.

This is related to their differing personalities, environments, ages, and subjective perceptions.

Although Liu Shiling is over a decade younger than Little Apple, she is deeply convinced of what she perceives as a magic system, and immerses herself in it deeply. In terms of “development” of abilities, she is very proactive and aggressive, full of ideas, “creative,” and decisive.

Comparatively, Little Apple, even under Xiang Kun’s guidance and through “Object Sensing,” has formed a special connection with Super Sensory Items such as Minion Woodcarvings and coins. Her approach to the unknown abilities and worlds, even though she herself now senses other “Emotion Infused Objects,” including the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving,” remains respectful and conservative.

However, Little Apple is still just a seventeen-year-old girl who often listens to various novels. Although she was born blind, her imagination is not at all lacking—in fact, in some ways of thinking and understanding of the surreal world, she is even more advantageous than the average person.

So, upon discovering what she perceives as a monster from another dimensional space, she explores it cautiously, like a cat encountering an unfamiliar creature—constantly trying to reach out and touch, then quickly retracting.

The reason why Little Apple suddenly “developed” and used her abilities so aggressively tonight, so directly “released” what she saw as a “Multi-armed monster” from another world, was partly out of urgency to save someone and partly because she now felt she wasn’t alone—she could connect with the “Canary” through some of her sensory abilities and felt that she had a companion.

As for Little Apple’s mentality, Xiang Kun could basically grasp it.

The cognitive models established for familiar people, apart from the special case of Old Xia, generally can help him make accurate behavioral and psychological predictions and judgments.

So, when he heard Little Apple’s somewhat uneasy, worried, and even self-blaming words, Xiang Kun naturally knew how to guide and comfort.

“Little Apple, I probably know where the ‘Multi-armed monster’ you perceived comes from. Its existence stems from the emotion of fear. The fear that others have of their own changes provides the foundation for its arrival. So whenever it appears, whoever it focuses on will feel fear and see its terrifying embodiment.”

“Your choice today was correct. Don’t let it affect you, don’t let your emotions be affected by it. Instead, treat it merely as a ‘tool’. Remember, it’s not a real living being, nor the source of your power. It’s just a ‘tool’.”

“Just like you said, you are the chess player, and it is but the chess piece. Be sure not to place yourself on the chessboard.”

“The sensory connection you’ve established with the ‘Canary’ is excellent. You can use it as your ears, your nose, and sometimes, you can even try to make it your ‘eyes’.”

“Whether facing difficulties or just wanting to have a try, you can accomplish more through the ‘Canary’ to avoid risks. After all, the ‘Canary’ just resembles an ordinary bird. It doesn’t draw much attention and can fly freely.”

“You need to understand that the ‘Canary’ is not an ordinary bird anymore.”

“If possible, try more to see if you can allow the ‘Canary’ to carry the influence of the ‘Eight-armed monster,’ or the ‘minions,’ without your direct guidance.”

“In this way, if the situation at the lake happens again, you can stay far away. You don’t need to reveal yourself at all. Let the ‘Canary’ handle it.”

“Remember, no matter what, your own safety is always the most important.”

As much as possible, Xiang Kun revealed part of the “truth” to Xiao Pingguo in line with her thought pattern and the cognitive system she built, to better help her understand the entire “super sensory system” and avoid potential dangers.

At this point, he obviously couldn’t pretend to be ignorant anymore, even if he didn’t say anything, Xiao Pingguo must have realized something.

In fact, among all the “emotion-infused objects” he created, the one Xiang Kun least wanted anyone familiar with to touch was the first “Emotion Infused Object” — the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving.

Because this item was charged with his fear, the negative effects it brought were too stark.

However, it has to be said that the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” was the most “powerful” among all his “Emotion Infused Objects”.

And Xiao Pingguo managed to perceive the existence of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” through the “Minion Wood Carving” unintentionally ingraining herself into Xiang Kun’s “Super Sensory Item Network” and developed a certain connection, enabling her to freely “invoke” it, along with the ability to encapsulate all emotional projections of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” into a single entity.

Luckily, she was calling it through the “Minion Wood Carving,” which created a layer of separation to prevent her from being too severely affected.

Xiang Kun now hoped that Xiao Pingguo would simply not call forth the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” herself but would entrust all this ability to “Canary,” fully withdraw herself, look down from a height, become a true “chess player,” controlling the pieces without being affected by the game, becoming a hidden force behind the scenes to ensure her own safety.

As for how to let “Canary” gain those capabilities, it would depend on Xiao Pingguo’s imagination and creativity, and, oh, “Canary” needed to work hard too.

Every time Xiang Kun spoke, Xiao Pingguo listened attentively.

She understood what Xiang Kun was expressing and was thinking while listening.

After Xiang Kun finished speaking, Xiao Pingguo pondered for a while, suddenly asked: “Uncle Xiang, have you always had superpowers? Have you… always been helping me master my powers?”

Xiang Kun wasn’t surprised by her statement and went along with her thoughts: “If you understand it that way, it’s not wrong. I do have some insignificant abilities. But the main reason you can master the abilities now, manipulate and control the ‘multi-armed monster,’ and make ‘Canary’ so unique is still in you. In fact, I have also benefited from your process of mastering these abilities.”

Hearing this, Xiao Pingguo broke into a radiant smile, her eyes beaming brilliantly like jewels although she was unable to see: “I knew it! Uncle Xiang, do you remember when we first met? You were barefooted, looking for a ride on a mountain road, and we stopped to give you a lift. My dad and my uncle thought you were not an ordinary person! ”

Xiang Kun laughed: “Professor Li and Officer Li are people with great insights. But, Xiao Pingguo, let’s keep our ‘abilities’ a secret from Professor Li and Officer Li for now, alright?”

“Okay.” Xiao Pingguo agreed without any hesitation.

After a while, Xiao Pingguo asked softly again: “Uncle Xiang, should I … start calling you master? Or teacher?”

Xiang Kun laughed: “No need, as I said, the abilities you mastered were mostly from your own exploration. I am just the one who led you to the door, we are both fellows exploring this unknown field.”

Seeing Xiao Pingguo biting her lip, as if she was hesitant about something, Xiang Kun said: “If you have any doubts, just ask straightforwardly. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you what I can.”

“Uncle Xiang, you said you know where that monster comes from. What is the world it resides in…like? Can we… go to that world and take a look?” Xiao Pingguo asked with a hint of fear and some expectation in her voice.

“The ‘world’ it resides in is within a cupboard in my home.” Xiang Kun sighed helplessly to himself.

Xiang Kun understood Xiao Pingguo’s way of thinking, her experiences, her background, and her emotional knots. He knew what her real motive was in asking this question.

He sighed and said, “Xiao Pingguo, I know what you want to see in that ‘world’, but I regret to tell you that the ‘world’ where those ‘monsters’ exist is not the same as you imagine. Even if you go there, you will not find the person you’re looking for.”

“I’m sorry.” Xiao Pingguo lowered her head and whispered.

“Golden Sparkle,” the canary on her shoulder, sensing her emotions, also lowered its head and softly chirped as if offering comfort.

Xiang Kun said, “You don’t need to apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. Xiao Pingguo, you’re a good girl. If your mother knew what you’ve been doing today, she would be proud of you. It’s good that she’s not in that ‘world’ because it’s not a good place. No matter if she exists or not, no matter where she is, you need to know that the happier you are, the happier she would be.”

Xiang Kun knew that Xiao Pingguo had lost her mother shortly after birth, leaving her with hardly any memory of her. Despite this, the memory of her mother still weighed heavily on her mind. Although she had never brought this up to anyone, not to her father, her uncle, or to Xiang Kun himself, he clearly understood this.

After ending the video call with Xiao Pingguo, Xiang Kun turned to face Xia Libing who had been standing silently behind him. He said, “Since Xiao Pingguo has been blind since birth, her sensory system is hugely different from an average person’s, making her dreams extraordinarily unique. If I hadn’t sensed and experienced her dreams, I probably wouldn’t have found the way to enter the ‘Super Sensory State.’ My understanding and experience with the sixth sense would have differed greatly.”

In fact, there was an even more crucial point – the understanding of Xiao Pingguo’s dreams was key to creating “Alice.”

Xia Libing nodded thoughtfully. “She is indeed unique. Could you tell me how she harnesses her abilities?”

So, Xiang Kun thoroughly explained how Xiao Pingguo called on her abilities to create illusions and how she established a sensory connection with “Golden Sparkle.” After doing so, he glanced at the time. It was nearly midnight. “Can’t you sleep yet?” he asked.

“Let’s try.”

Xia Libing returned to the bedroom, took off her jacket, and got back into bed.

She placed the chopsticks Xiang Kun gave her beside her pillow, then placed nine coins and a tungsten steel ball on her stomach. She extended her arms from under the covers, clasped her hands together, covering the coins and the ball.

Only someone like Xiang Kun, who knew what was happening, could look on without being astounded at this unusual way of preparing for sleep.

This time, Xia Libing fell asleep in just seven minutes, after which Xiang Kun initiated his connection with the chopsticks, triggering the dream.

The first vision in the dream was almost identical to the last time. They were still in the dining room of Old Xia’s rented house, with Old Xia still eating heartily.

It seemed that after Xiang Kun’s “confession” about his unusual condition and the explanation about the dream’s origins, Xia Libing’s subconscious had anchored the dream induced by those chopsticks, related to eating, to the meals cooked by Xiang Kun.

And the emotional projection of the chopsticks, “Little Fatty Girl,” was naturally still dining at the table.

This time, Old Xia “woke up” in her dream even faster. She quickly stopped her eating motion, and in front of her in the dream appeared nine floating coins and a tungsten steel ball.

After that, Xia Libing began to use these ten “super-connected objects” to construct various items, according to the plan she discussed with Xiang Kun.

First, she constructed a Napoleon cake. This time, however, there were two identical pieces of cake.

She first picked up the one on the left and tasted it, then picked up the one on the right and took a bite, savoring it carefully.

Even though the two pieces of cake looked the same, Xiang Kun knew that one was a projection built by the ten “super-connected objects,” while the other was manifested purely through Old Xia’s control over the dream.

She was testing the difference between items manifestated by super-connected objects and those manifested through dream imagination.

The difference was significant. Without even tasting, Xiang Kun, who was experiencing the dream first-hand, could discern which was the super-connected object and which was purely imaginary. Even in the dream, the former provided a far more intense “realistic” feeling.

When eating the cake manifested by the super-connected object, Xia Libing ate slowly and in small bites, a stark contrast to her usual eating style. It was clear she was carefully savoring the cake’s flavor.

After finishing the cake, she began to manifest an assorted variety of objects.

However, many items she and Xiang Kun had previously discussed could not be manifested. Even though they could be freely imagined in the dream, they could not be brought to life through the super-connected objects.

Most items she could manifest were various types of food, such as chicken legs, chicken wings, rabbit meat, lobsters, etc.

Non-food manifestations appeared to be limited to “Little Old Xia,” who seemed cold and aloof.

At this point, Xiang Kun, who had switched to a different perspective, decided to conduct an experiment.

He connected to another “emotion-infused object.”

In the past when he was sensing others’ dreams, he couldn’t connect to other “emotion-infused objects” because he was directly experiencing the dreamer’s senses and had to maintain the connection with the “emotion-infused object” that triggered the dream.

But now, with Old Xia “awake” in the dream and the introduction of the super-connected objects, the dream’s existence depended on the super-connected objects’ projections. He could “free up a hand” and meet the conditions for connecting to other related objects, just like he was able to connect to the super-connected objects now.

As soon as Xiang Kun connected to another “emotion-infused object,” the whole dream began to change. The surrounding scenes quickly varied, transitioning from the living room of Old Xia’s rental house to atop a giant mountain peak.

Still, the table, tableware, and other furniture, decorations, and appliances in the living room remained unchanged, as if the inner space of the living room had been teleported to the mountaintop.

Old Xia started to focus on her surroundings, observing the changes. She was clearly aware that these changes were caused by Xiang Kun. She recalled that Xiang Kun had mentioned before that he was unable to alter others’ dreams when he could not enter a “pseudo super sensory state.”

So, all the changes now were definitely caused by a particular method used by Xiang Kun.

Suddenly, a timid, curious, and somewhat proud voice of a little girl rang out from the side. “Sister, is this chicken wing delicious?”