Chapter 696: Superpower Seems to Be the Case

I... I...

I hesitated.

The adults I'd seen were always like that—they were unpredictable with their emotions.

"You tell Uncle, and Uncle won't hit you," he said.

Hearing that made me even more afraid. Every time adults started a conversation with me like that, I knew I'd get hit for sure.

For example, Ah Ma would say to me, "You tell me, how many points did you get on the test? I promise I won't hit you."

When I admitted I scored over seventy, she not only hit me but also burst into tears, saying, "Why is my life so hard? I gave birth to a son who's not even a dragon."

Or, Ah Ba would say, "You tell me who broke this thing; I won't hit you."

When I confessed it was me who accidentally broke it, he'd beat me hard.

I suddenly thought of Hua Sheng Dun.

There was a lesson about how Hua Sheng Dun chopped down the cherry tree in the yard, and after he proactively admitted his mistake to his father, his father didn't blame him.

I really envied Hua Sheng Dun.

So when Wan Bobo said he wanted to form everyone into a big "family," I really wanted to cry. Why did it have to be a "family"...?

"Wan Ge."

Sister finally stepped in front of me. "You're in no state to communicate properly with the hero right now. This child has a poor growing environment and lacks a sense of security. Your approach is counterproductive. Do you want to calm down first?"

"'Sense of security'...?"

Wan Bobo was getting angrier. "I've seen so many people being gutted in front of me... and you're telling me this child lacks a 'sense of security'...? Should I be considering his 'sense of security' right now? Who the hell gives me a 'sense of security'?!"

"I'll handle this!"

Sister blocked the advancing Wan Bobo. "Wan Ge, let me talk to him!"

Wan Bobo sighed and turned his head away.

Sister, having calmed Wan Bobo, pulled me aside. Her scent was still so pleasant.

"Hero little brother, what exactly is going on?" she asked gently. "Why did you say Wan Bobo has the scent of 'Kuo Yin'?"

I kept my head down, not knowing how to say it. Whenever I told the truth before, I always got scolded.

So I was very afraid when adults asked me questions—it meant I had to think of ways to lie to please them.

"You're safe now," sister said. "Hero little brother, this conversation between us is equal. I just have some doubts, and you happen to know the answers. You can choose to say or not to say; either way, I'll respect your opinion, so there's no need to be nervous. Also, you should know that whatever happened, it's not your fault."

I heard that for the first time, and I found sister's scent even more pleasant.

I didn't really believe adults, but I truly believed sister.

After hesitating for a while, I told her about how I could smell strange scents, and Wan Bobo was listening with wide eyes.

I said that suddenly a strange fragrance emanated from Wan Bobo, and as soon as I smelled it, the words "Kuo Yin" appeared in my mind, and I just said it out loud following that thought.

I also told them that I have this scent on me too, but mine is called "Ling Xiu," not "Kuo Yin." After sister and Wan Bobo heard this, they both fell silent; I didn't know what they were thinking.

"Ling Xiu...?"

Sister was furrowing her brows in thought, then she picked up a twig and wrote two characters on the ground. "Hero, is this 'Ling Xiu'?"

I looked at the two characters on the ground and shook my head: "Sister, I don't recognize these two characters; it's just an 'idea' in my head, not the actual characters appearing."

Sister nodded with narrowed eyes, as if understanding what I meant.

Wan Bobo stared at the characters on the ground for a long time, then pointed to the more complex one and said: "This 'xiu,' doesn't it mean to smell? Xiao Li, are you saying...?"

"I'm not sure..."

Sister's expression became serious, emitting a scent of confusion. "But this is just too mystical..."

"This isn't just 'mystical'; it's hard to understand... I have superpowers...?"

Wan Bobo blinked. "My superpower is called 'Kuo Yin'...?"

"Hero..."

Sister turned to look at me. "Do I have the scent of a superpower?"

"I don't know what 'superpower' is; it's a 'clear fragrance'," I said. "But sister, you don't have that 'clear fragrance,' but you still smell really good."

Wan Bobo felt something was off: "Kid, you've known all along that I have a superpower, and you're only telling me now?!"

"Ah?"

I was startled; I didn't like being wronged. "No, Wan Bobo, you didn't have that clear fragrance before; it only came out just now."

"Just now...?"

Wan Bobo's expression turned serious, as if he was thinking about something.

After a while, he pulled sister aside and they talked about things I didn't understand.

They mentioned things like "zao shen," "superpower," "clear fragrance," and so on. The more I listened, the more confused I got. All I knew was that in the end, they decided to find other people for me to smell.

That's when I finally realized that those strange scents were only something I could smell.

The next day, Wan Bobo really brought back an uncle from outside. Without saying much, they had me smell the uncle's scent, but that brother only had the scent of "doubt" besides anything else.

Wan Bobo still thought I was lying; he had a big opinion of me.

But sister didn't give up on me; she calmed Wan Bobo and took me out to the street to smell the scents of passersby.

This was my first time out of the house in so many days, but it was no different from the first time I came here.

Sister told me that the people here are of two kinds: one called "you dang zhe," and the other "can yu zhe," and I was mainly responsible for smelling the scents of the "can yu zhe."

I saw some people with masks standing sparsely on the street, and sister told me that behind those masked people are dangerous games, and I must not go in.

We walked for almost a day, and we didn't smell that clear fragrance on anyone; I only smelled "heartbreak" and "despair."

This place is really strange; everyone's scents are full of despair. Even I started to think I might have been mistaken, maybe that clear fragrance was just my imagination?

Just as we were about to give up in the evening, I finally smelled that scent again.