I, the only superpower on earth

"Is this what you call a return gift?"

Sitting behind the counter, Xigu looked at the two girls in front of him with a half-smile.

Mizuhara Mana lowered her head in embarrassment.

Even so, he whispered like a mosquito:

"I'm sorry to bother the store manager so late... But, Mio Ito's injuries are serious, so I think..."

"I see, is it Mio Ito?"

Shigu turned his gaze to another silent girl.

A young girl with birthmarks all over her face and distant eyes, showing no trace of pain.

Of course, through the "Pendant of Perception", he already knew exactly what happened just now.

It's just that it is impossible for Mana Mizuhara to know that the pendant on her chest is actually made of a branch of Shitaya's "sacred tree avatar", and she will continuously provide Shitani with the information she feels.

So Xi Gu didn't make it clear, in fact, he already understood everything.

"Sit down here first."

Shigu guided the two of them to the back of the bookstore and sat on the chairs there. Then he returned to the counter, took out a small medicine box sign and walked over.

"Stand out your arms a little."

Shitani said lightly, wiped alcohol on Ito Mio's injured limbs, and tied the bandage round and round.

Arms, legs, neck to chest.

During this process, Shigu directed Mio Ito to move his limbs from time to time to better bandage the wound. The girl obediently listened to his instructions, silently letting him manipulate her like a puppet.

However, there was no skin-to-skin contact between the two.

At the same time, Manami Mizuhara was also talking about how she met Mio Ito. Although this was something Shitiya already knew, she still let her talk in a tone of fear.

"...That's how I came here with Mio, and asked you, the store manager, for help—oh, it's great to meet the store manager."

Mio Ito listened quietly, without any change in the expression on her face, as if what Mana Mizuhara was telling was just something that happened to someone else.

But her eyes lingered on Xi Gu's face, and there was a rare curiosity in her eyes.

"Don't you hate me?"

Mio Ito asked, the voice was nice, but it felt like it was coming from a secluded cave.

"Why do you ask?"

Shigu looked directly into her eyes.

"Because... my face."

The girl's voice was emotionless, neither enlightened nor desperate, as if she was simply stating the facts.

However, staring at her, a faint smile appeared on Xi Gu's face.

"Do you feel inferior because of this face?"

he asked directly.

Manami next to her held her breath for a moment, and a worried look flashed in her eyes, but she didn't know who she was worried about.

But hearing Shiiya's words, Ito Mio showed a thoughtful expression, nodded first, then shook his head:

"Maybe there is. But... nothing."

Mana was confused by the cloudy conversation. But Shigu nodded knowingly.

"I get it. But to me, that's how it is."

He casually took a book from the shelf next to him, and Mizuhara Manami saw that "World Encyclopedia of Torture" was marked on the cover of the book.

Shitani opened the book, flipped to a page in the book, and showed it in front of Manami and Ito Mio——

On the top of that page was a picture of a blond woman whose face was distorted because of being burned at the stake, like a ghost.

Showing the picture on this page, Xigu's voice sounded faintly:

"Did you see it? Isn't her face scary? It's even scarier and uglier than your face, right?

"But just before she was burned at the stake, she might still be a noble woman, a beautiful woman—it only takes a minute, maybe even a few tens of seconds, a person's face can change from an angel to a ghost, From extremely beautiful to extremely ugly. However, these two faces belong to the same person, and a person exists in such different states at different times. When is it true and when is it false?

"Going forward, there is also a 'nine-phase diagram' in Buddhism, which corresponds to the nine states of a person after death. Among them-the first phase is a new dead phase, with a human-like appearance; the second phase is bloated The third phase is the phase of blood smear, with pus and blood flowing horizontally; the fourth phase is the phase of fat chaos, and the carrion is like flies; the fifth phase is the phase of eating food, and the wild dog is pecking at it; the sixth phase is the phase of blue stasis , the muscles and muscles wear away; the seventh phase is the joint phase of the bones, leaving empty bones; the eighth phase is the phase of scattered bones, the bones are scattered; the ninth phase is the phase of ancient tombs, and the dust is empty. After death, people change according to the nine phases, regardless of beauty. Ugliness has become empty talk, so what's the point?

"—So, everything is just a dream in the blink of an eye, and even life and death are our illusions.

"To a certain extent, human beings are no different from this book. They are just existences composed of microscopic particles, but chemical reactions emerge from the physical system composed of particles, biological life emerges from the chemical system, and consciousness emerges from the biological system That’s why human beings are absorbed in the illusion of beauty and ugliness, and fix this world on the superficial surface.”

Mizuhara Manami felt as if she was listening to some kind of sound transmission from outside the sky. Shitani's calm narration pulled her into a wonderful illusion - no beauty or ugliness, no life and death, no height, everything It's just the composition of particles, it's the temporary release of fate...

Ah, no no no no no!

Manami Mizuhara shook her head immediately, driving the hallucination out of her mind.

Looking at Xi Gu, the image of this young man in her eyes became even more mysterious.

She patted her chest with lingering fear, and said to Xi Gu:

"Hey... store manager, what you just said casually is so contagious, I was almost completely overwhelmed by the world you described - if you want to do evil, such as founding a sect or something, it must be better than O Yuan O Still scary!"

"Oh, is that so?"

Shigu just tilted his head with a smile.

"I just want to comfort Miss Mio, so... what does Miss Mio think?"

Hearing his question, Manami Mizuhara also looked towards Mio Ito.

However--

To her surprise, Ito Mio's face showed neither shock nor bewilderment.

On the contrary, for the first time, there was a shaken look in her eyes.

"Eh?"

Mizuhara Mana made a sound of surprise in her heart.

However, in the next second, the words spoken from Ito Mio's mouth plunged her into deeper confusion.

"...can you...see it?"

Mio Ito stared at Shitani with incredulous eyes.

However, the latter just responded with a calm smile.

"I'm just explaining something from my point of view. Ms. Mio may see a different scenery from what she sees and thinks."

"Is that so..."

Mio Ito murmured, her eyes flickering with illusion, and then slowly calmed down.

"——Thank you both, after the dressing is done, I feel that I am in good condition and can go home."

She collected all expressions, and her eyes returned to the state of Gujing's calmness. Standing up, he bowed with difficulty to Mizuhara Manami who was in a state of bewilderment by Monk Shitani.

"Oh——in that case, I won't keep it, but before you leave, please accept these two things."

Shigu smiled, put a wooden pendant on top of the book "World Encyclopedia of Torture" on the table, and pushed it in front of Ito Mio.

Seeing that the gift that was given to herself just now has now been added to another girl, Mizuhara Manami couldn't tell how she felt.

She just sat on the seat blankly, her brain was shocked by the chaos, and she finally regained consciousness when Mio Ito took the book and pendant and left the store:

"Wait...wait, wait! What happened just now? Is it because the series in this world has suddenly been serialized beyond 20 episodes? Did I skip 10 episodes?

"...Why did the store manager say that? Why did Mio-san ask 'Can you see it'? Why did the store manager give such an answer again? Why did he give—"

Almost said the saddest thing in his heart, Mizuhara Manami immediately tightened his words.

"This..."

In front of her, Xi Gu picked up the teacup and said calmly:

"Student Manami, do you know cold reading and hot reading?"

The girl is puzzled.

"Know...know? Cold reading technique is a way to figure out the other person's psychology through various temptations when you first get to know each other; hot reading technique is to obtain part of the other party's information through investigations and other methods before meeting for the first time, and then Throwing out this information during a meeting to make the other party mistakenly think that he has successfully interpreted the other party's tactics. But, what does this have to do with what happened just now..."

"Well, what happened just now is actually a little use of cold reading—it's just that I use it better, so you can't see it through Mana.

"Okay, it's getting late. Manai, you go home first, my store is also closing."

...

After sending away the girl who was full of suspicion and still confused, Xi Gu was the only one left in the "Suyu Bookstore".

Looking at the dark night outside the glass window, Xi Gu had a faint smile on his lips.

"Manami-san... Actually, what I just said is not false at all.

"If things like cold reading are used by ordinary humans, they can only get some superficial information through probing and cross-examination—but if you can see through the opponent's brain waves, see the activity level of the opponent's blood, and see The changes in the hormone molecules in the other party's body... Then, no matter how subtle the changes in the mind are, it's as if they were seen through by a mind-reading technique...

"However, Manami, I have to thank you—after all, not only do you have the 'qualification' for the second transcendent, but... you also helped me find the third transcendent who was connected. !"