Chapter 18 True Face

——"Wow, that's impressive."

The two of them ran back to the corridor of the teaching building in one breath, not encountering anyone else along the way, which allowed them to let out a sigh of relief in unison.

Xu Xiangyang leaned against the handrail, resting by the railing for a while, before he seriously expressed his admiration.

"What are you talking about? We just vandalized public property." The girl retorted, "Thank goodness there was no one around, otherwise we would have become infamous in school."

"I think you're already pretty famous."

Upon hearing that, Lin Xingjie couldn't help but give him a glare.

Xu Xiangyang coughed.

"Anyhow, even though we did something bad, we should indeed feel guilty—"

"No, wait, if you think about it, it was 'Xiao An' who did the bad thing." The girl who had been feeling uneasy suddenly argued seriously, "It has nothing to do with me."

"Come on, if a dog gets off its leash and bites someone, the owner is definitely responsible, right?"

"But since nobody can see it, they'll just think the warehouse door was falling apart due to age."

"Alright, Lin Xingjie, I'm not blaming you. If things get out, we're accomplices, and I can use my New Year's money to compensate. But right now, the most important thing is..."

Xu Xiangyang's voice unconsciously became more enthusiastic.

"Don't you think it's amazing? Ordinary people can't see Xiao An; they can only see the aftermath of its destruction. Isn't this just like 'Telekinesis' in comics or movies? Even though you say you're not, you could totally claim to be a 'Superpowered Individual' now!"

Lin Xingjie blinked.

"You're right, it really is amazing," she murmured to herself, "After realizing there was something unusual about me, the first things I felt were worry and fear. I couldn't tell anyone and had to experiment alone. Because once I expose my secret, the most likely outcome would be irreversible harm..."

A relaxed smile slowly appeared on the girl's face.

"Regardless, I now possess the power to protect myself."

Xu Xiangyang was taken aback.

He realized that compared to the excitement he felt in his heart after witnessing Xiao An's astonishing act of vandalism, Lin Xingjie must have considered far more things than he had:

Like where Xiao An came from, whether there were others like her, whether to tell other people, and what to do if found out, and so on.

So even though she looked happy as she spoke, there was still an indescribable heaviness to her words.

The joy he felt at having witnessed "Superpowers" firsthand slowly faded.

After all, reality is not a fictional story, and having abilities beyond ordinary people doesn't necessarily bring benefits. Even the superheroes in comics face setbacks and are subjected to criticism and misunderstandings; and Lin Xingjie was just a kid his age, having grown up in a worse environment than most, not to mention her recent encounters...

All he could do was offer this consolation:

"Yeah, at least you won't have to be afraid of thugs and other bad guys in the future."

"Yeah, I didn't expect Xiao An to have so much strength."

Lin Xingjie nodded.

As it seemed at the moment, it was difficult to accurately conclude which was greater: the "power" Xiao An possessed in "that world" or the impact of that power on the real world.

One conclusion that could be made was the power to interfere with reality was not constant.

"And it's not just strength, it feels like even its size has gotten a little bigger compared to the first day?"

The dark-haired girl touched her chin and tentatively suggested.

"But Xiao An is hard to see clearly, so it's not easy to judge."

"You can't see it clearly either?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which, what does it look like to you?"

"Uh... kind of like a big fish, I guess? Like a whale, I'm not sure."

"A whale, huh. If you look from a distance, its movement patterns and size could easily remind you of a 'fish'," Lin Xingjie chuckled, "But if you could get as close as I do, and stare a little longer, you'd see it has other things on it, like spider legs, insect antennae, squishy white limbs, rows of massive tumors, and swaying things like octopus tentacles."

"... Are you joking?"

"No, I'm serious."

From the girl's expression, it seemed she really wasn't joking.

"You can't be serious..."

Xu Xiangyang suddenly got a chill. After spending some time together, he had realized that although Xiao An looked scary, she wouldn't actually harm him, and his curiosity had overcome his fear. He was eager to take another look; but hearing Lin Xingjie talk like this, he became hesitant again.

"It sounds... kind of disgusting."

"It is disgusting, like something straight out of a horror movie."

Lin Xingjie hugged her own arms, once she recalled that scene, she couldn't help but shiver in disgust.

"But, parts like that sometimes appear and disappear, I'm not even sure if they're really growing on it, and the things and parts that grow seem to change every time, maybe I just saw it wrong."

Anyway, Xiao An's true appearance was like flowers in the fog, so elusive that even Lin Xingjie, her own master, couldn't determine it.

"I'm getting a bit scared..."

"Being scared is okay, but you're not allowed to run away."

Lin Xingjie suddenly interrupted him. She turned her face aside, looking very serious.

"I already told you before, since we're on the same path, from now on we're friends who will help each other. You have to keep your word."

Xu Xiangyang paused for a moment.

He recalled their conversation in the alley yesterday. Was that what she meant back then?

"That's not what I meant." Xu Xiangyang replied with a wry smile, "I wanted you to focus on your studies, and I only promised to help you with this."

"So, you want to go back on your word?"

Lin Xingjie turned around, not looking at him, but gazing down at the flower beds below from the railing, her hands clutching the rail.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in her face, and the girl's voice, along with her long hair, fluttered in the air, faint and ethereal, as if coming from a distant place.

Xu Xiangyang's eyes fell on her hands, unconsciously gripping the railing so tightly that her fingers turned white.

"...No, I won't."

He shook his head.

"That's good."

Lin Xingjie's hands on the railing slowly relaxed.

*

After that, the two didn't return to the classroom but wandered up and down the corridor on the first floor instead. They would unconsciously step aside when someone passed by, seemingly hiding from something, maybe just not wanting their conversation to be overheard.

Having just witnessed Xiao An's "remarkable performance," both Xu Xiangyang and Lin Xingjie were somewhat thrilled and didn't want to end their secret meeting too soon.

With hearts fluttering with excitement, as sharers of a secret, they had more topics to discuss, more feelings to convey, and more thoughts to share with each other.

The two chatted enthusiastically through the middle of the day, until the bell for the first class rang, and they returned to the classroom amid the astonished gazes and whispers of their classmates.

Of course, no one dared to gossip anymore.

...

After that, they spent more and more time together in private, and their meetings became more frequent.

Both Xu Xiangyang and Lin Xingjie had a desire for peers of their own age, and now that they had become friends and had a secret between them, a huge secret that excited young people, it was not hard to understand how they became close friends who could talk about anything.

In school, Lin Xingjie was initially somewhat reluctant because she had always been a loner and didn't like to attract attention; however, Xu Xiangyang was very proactive. Every lunch break or activity period, he would actively seek her out, and she gradually got used to it.

After school or on weekends, there was even less to say, as they had plenty of time together. Xu Xiangyang started helping Lin Xingjie with homework, she occasionally brought a few comics from God knows where to share, sometimes they watched rented DVDs at Xu Xiangyang's house, occasionally talked about school, and sometimes went for walks in the street...

So, life passed day by day in an uneventful yet fulfilling way. Even though they had discovered a secret that might shake the world, even knowing that one's friend was keeping a monster, Xu Xiangyang's daily life seemed unaffected. He simply shifted from being a lone wolf who always went his own way, to going to and from school with Lin Xingjie.

But that wasn't so bad, he felt this genuinely.