My Superpower Is Kind of Cute

Chapter 21: The First Manifestation of Supernatural Powers

Feeling the threat of death—and with Qi Yun unable to react in time—I instinctively reached out with my right hand, as if to grab the unidentified object hurtling toward me. The moment I reached out, a strange, howling scream erupted from within me—it sounded like the roar of a ferocious beast, thunderous enough to make the entire area tremble violently a few times. It wasn’t until the next second that I realized my right palm was clutching something. When I opened my hand, I saw it was a nail as thick as my little finger. For some reason, it had shattered into several pieces in my hand. Cold sweat was now pouring down my back. I didn’t even stop to wonder how it had ended up there—if I’d been even a split second less alert just now, I would undoubtedly be dead and buried by now. The grass in the distance rustled, and a black figure flashed past my eyes, vanishing from my sight in an instant. “That’s freaky.” ” A moment later, Lao Xiao and Er Bing slowly looked up. Seeing that I was unharmed, their faces instantly turned pale with fear. They turned to look at the spot where the projectile had come from, only to find that the person was long gone. Without a word, they turned and ran off; along the way, Er Bing took a massive tumble, but instead of getting up, he used the momentum to roll straight down the mountain. Even after the two of them had left, I remained standing there motionless. My thoughts paused briefly; I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do next, let alone go after them. This was Qi Yun’s first time experiencing a situation like this. He said apologetically, “Mengmeng, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there were other people around… and… they were pretty strong…” This time, Qi Yun had been so preoccupied with playing tricks that he truly hadn’t anticipated the presence of other spiritual practitioners nearby. Of course, he’d also assumed from the start that there were no masters in this area; if he’d been even slightly on guard, he definitely wouldn’t have ended up in such a sorry state. I plopped down on the ground, gasping for breath. I felt no sense of relief at having narrowly escaped death; all I felt was fear of death. Recalling what had just happened, I was still shaken to the core. Seeing me like this, Qi Yun assured me earnestly, “Mengmeng, I promise I’ll never do that again. If that guy hadn’t ambushed me, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against me in a fair fight… Don’t worry too much.” When I finally came to my senses, I shot Qi Yun a resentful look and said, “You’re going to wear me out sooner or later.” “It’s my fault, it’s my fault,” Qi Yun nodded like a chick pecking at grain, deeply reflecting on his mistake. Wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead, all I wanted at that moment was to light up a cigarette to celebrate. As I reached into my pocket with a shaky hand, I suddenly remembered I didn’t smoke. But that’s how it’s always shown on TV—it really felt weird not having something in my mouth to take a drag on. “That was a close call just now. If you’d been even a split second slower, I’d have really become your little buddy.” ” With that, I picked up the nails—broken into several pieces—from the ground, examined them over and over, and couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly. Qi Yun scratched his head and stammered, “Just now… I didn’t even have time to react. I thought you were going to die too, Mengmeng.” “Huh?” I looked completely bewildered. Only then did I carefully recall what had just happened. It seemed that, just as Qi Yun said, he’d been completely caught off guard—but that didn’t quite add up… I stared blankly at the nails. When did I ever teach myself how to shatter nails with my bare hands? Seeing that I hadn’t said a word, Qi Yun asked softly, “Mengmeng, do you remember hearing a sound just now?” Only then did I turn my head toward him, raising an eyebrow as I asked, “Was there?” At the time, I felt like I was about to die—I hadn’t paid any attention to what was going on around me. Qi Yun nodded with absolute certainty. “Yes, there was.” Curious, I asked, “What kind of sound?” Qi Yun shook his head and looked at me puzzledly. “I forgot, but it felt very familiar.” “That’s basically the same as saying nothing,” I shot him a look. This guy just loves to ramble. “But Mengmeng,” Qi Yun said, looking at me seriously, “I can tell you for sure now: you possess spiritual energy.” “Oh,” I replied half-heartedly. To be honest, when Qi Yun had just dismissed what I’d said, I’d already guessed the truth with near certainty. I didn’t think the peak potential of an ordinary person could have taken down that steel nail that flew like a bullet. Maybe, just like Qi Yun said earlier, I was simply driven by sheer desperation—after absorbing his spiritual energy, my Ren and Du meridians instantly opened up when faced with a life-threatening situation, and then boom, boom, boom, all sorts of comebacks happened. But for me right now, having spiritual energy isn’t exactly a good thing. It means I’m no longer a normal person, and I have to be on guard against assassination attempts by these men in black and other faggots at all times. It’s like something out of a movie—this is definitely fucking messing with me. Seeing my lukewarm reaction, Qi Yun asked in surprise, “Shouldn’t you be excited, Mengmeng? You’re not a Muggle anymore, you know.” “I’m excited my ass,” I shot him a glance. It’s a shame he’s been following me for days and still hasn’t fit into our harmonious little family at all—a moderately prosperous society doesn’t need any weirdos or monsters. Qi Yun shrugged, then suddenly looked at me and gasped, “Mengmeng, your hand…” I looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong with my hand?” But when I shifted my gaze to my right arm, I was instantly speechless. My right arm was visibly swollen to a much larger size, looking completely out of proportion with my left hand. Yet now that I’d turned into Wu Dalang, it didn’t seem all that strange. “Is this another side effect of the fusion?” I flexed my arm a few times and felt a slight warmth throughout my entire right arm. It felt much more muscular than usual, with my biceps bulging like steamed buns—at first glance, it almost looked like I’d been on steroids. “No,” Qi Yun shook his head, looking bewildered. “Could it be that the spiritual energy was triggered by some unconscious action you just made?” I shook my head. “You don’t even know—how could I possibly know?” Qi Yun seemed really curious about my arm; he kept examining it closely. After a moment, he finally spoke up, “Mengmeng, I think we need to get out of here fast. We made such a commotion just now—someone’s probably on their way.” “Then why the hell are you still staring?” I waved my hand to break Qi Yun’s gaze. Seeing the hint, he sheepishly averted his hungry stare and stood behind me. I sat on the ground and turned my head toward her. “What are you just standing there for? Come help me up. It’s not like I’m going to rip you off. Damn it, my legs are still wobbly.” With Qi Yun supporting me down the mountain, I limped slowly out of the village. In this state, there was no way I could go back to see the old man—I didn’t want to scare him again. I wasn’t in a hurry to go home, so I hitched a ride to the lottery shop. By then, the old man had sobered up and called to ask where I was, sounding extremely displeased, as if I’d abandoned him. I sighed and explained, “I’m already at the lottery shop—those lottery players can’t do without me.” I certainly couldn’t tell him, “Your son just went through a trial by fire, suddenly awakened to the Force, and is now looking for someone to discuss how to save the world.” That would sound like total nonsense. In the end, the old man hung up the phone in a huff. I thought to myself, “Oh well, I’ll have to pay the apartment’s utilities myself again this month. What a hassle.” Seeing that I had no intention of opening the shop, Qi Yun asked curiously, “Mengmeng, what are you doing here?” I walked straight toward the nearby residential complex and said without looking back, “I’m going to talk to Xu Weijie to get a sense of the landscape among spiritual power users, and while I’m at it, ask about that man in black. Oh, and by the way, I’m a big shot now, so cut me some slack from now on.”