My Superpower Is Kind of Cute

Chapter 24: The Bloodline of the Qilin

After leaving Xu Weijie’s place, I felt a bit down. He’d been pestering me relentlessly to set up a time, insisting on introducing me to their president. He claimed he wanted to help me find out more details, but deep down I knew exactly what was going on—that guy definitely had his eye on me… Of course, it wasn’t because of my personal charm; he was just envious of my abilities. But the key point is that I’m not interested in him. He just admitted himself that, as an officer, he couldn’t hold his own against a mere squad leader—who knows who’d end up protecting whom when the time came? Based on the first impression he left on me and my own circumstances, I’d already jumped to the conclusion that their lousy guild was definitely no good. I was walking toward the staircase when it suddenly grew unnervingly quiet behind me. I instinctively turned my head and saw Qi Yun with his head down, deep in thought, glancing at me every now and then. This made me feel even more puzzled. Normally, Qi Yun wouldn’t be this quiet—he’d at least be pestering me with questions about the guild for ages, and taking the opportunity to brag about his unrivaled spiritual power. “Are you okay?” I asked tentatively. His behavior made me feel really insecure. I tried to guess what was going through his mind—could he still be feeling guilty about what happened this afternoon…? That didn’t seem like his style at all. Besides, I was the one who got hurt in that situation, okay? I’d already moved on and turned the page—why the hell was he still moping around? Qi Yun looked up at me without saying a word. My butt clenched, and I instinctively took a few more steps down the stairs. Something felt off about his gaze—on the surface, he was looking at my handsome face, but really, he was staring at my arm… Could it be that his gay instincts had awakened, and he wanted to grab my hand to do something scandalous? With him staring at me like that, my right arm started to itch, so I couldn’t help but scratch it—and caught a glimpse of it in the process. The moment I looked, I immediately realized something was off. How did a strange pattern suddenly appear on my arm? At first glance, it looked like a monster, but upon closer inspection, it was even stranger than a monster—a dragon’s head, deer’s antlers, a lion’s eyes, a tiger’s back, and a bear’s waist. I had this nagging feeling I’d seen this thing somewhere before. I scratched at it a few times, but the ink didn’t fade. I was baffled—I hadn’t been drinking, so where did this tattoo come from? Could it be that bastard Xu Weijie put some kind of curse mark on me? “That’s it! I know what it is!” Qi Yun’s eyes lit up, and he let out a startled cry. Qi Yun’s shout startled me so much that I lurched backward, nearly doing a backflip and tumbling down the stairs. Luckily, my reflexes kicked in, and I grabbed the banister just in time—though I didn’t control my strength, and the iron railing immediately buckled, leaving a deep, rough indentation from my grip. “Are you out of your mind? Why the hell did you have to yell like that?” Once I regained my balance, I shouted at Qi Yun in a fit of rage. The way he was looking at me was getting weirder by the second—it was as if a middle-aged man who’d been starved for decades was standing there staring at a naked little girl. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my chest. Qi Yun was trembling all over—I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or anger—but he was definitely acting a bit out of it. Without a second thought, he grabbed me and dashed downstairs, saying over his shoulder, “Mengmeng, I know everything now. Let’s talk about it at home. I’ve hit the jackpot.” “Let go of me, you fucking faggot!” I was a bit dazed by his sudden outburst. What the hell was he talking about? Damn it, was he trying to confess his feelings to me in a roundabout way? In the end, unable to stand Qi Yun’s antics any longer, I dragged my weary body to a cab and headed back to my cozy little nest. As soon as I walked in, I flopped down on the couch, stared at the ceiling, and wondered if I should go order a set of coffin planks for myself. If this keeps up, it’ll cost me more than a decade of my life. Qi Yun was still gesticulating wildly, staring at my right arm with such fascination—he was practically drooling and ready to take a bite out of it. I got up from the couch and asked irritably, “What the hell are you looking at?” He’d been staring at my arm the whole time in the cab—I couldn’t say anything while the driver was behind the wheel, but now that we were home, I had to get to the bottom of it. Qi Yun looked at me intently and said, “Do you know where my surname comes from?” “It’s your dad’s, isn’t it? Or did you just make it up yourself?” I said with a look of contempt. “Besides, that has nothing to do with why you’re so obsessed with my arm.” Qi Yun ignored my remark and continued on his own, “The Hezhong Continent was originally a chaotic region. Thousands of years ago, under the protection and guidance of a divine beast, my ancestors carved out their own domain. To this day, we still venerate a stone statue of that divine beast, and our imperial family’s surname is derived from it.” “You mean a llama, right?” I asked, furrowing my brow. As far as I could recall, that was the only creature that could be called a divine beast. Qi Yun shot me a glare. “It’s a qilin!” “Holy crap, a qilin?” I was taken aback by Qi Yun’s tone and instinctively repeated it, but once the words were out, it didn’t seem that big of a deal. I didn’t know anything about their local customs and traditions, and besides, qilin were just creatures from novels—I’d never actually seen one. If he’d told me they worshipped a pile of crap, I might have been even more surprised. I asked quietly, “But what does that have to do with how handsome I am?” Qi Yun pointed at my arm. “It has to do with your hand.” “What does it have to do with it?” I said, glancing again at the tattoo on my arm. I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but it felt as though the tattoo had shifted slightly—it even seemed to move. At the same time, I saw it clearly: no wonder it had looked so familiar just now—I’d seen it online before. It really was the image of a qilin. “Now you know why you have spiritual power, don’t you? You have the bloodline of a qilin. It awakened today when you were in danger, and that also explains why our fusion went so smoothly.” I was taken aback for a moment. “Are you kidding me? So does that mean my dad or mom has spiritual power too?” Qi Yun shook his head. “It has nothing to do with genetics; it’s mainly a matter of fate.” “More idealism,” I said, slightly disappointed. I’d originally planned to show off my biology knowledge—I’d gotten an A on my middle school final exam—but now it seemed unnecessary. Then again, Qi Yun’s very appearance had already shattered my materialist worldview. “Bloodline isn’t like blood type—it can’t be tested, just like spiritual power. But it’s innate and superior to that of ordinary practitioners. Some people never awaken it their entire lives, but once they do, they become incredibly powerful.” Qi Yun shook his head and sighed softly. “I never expected to meet you here. It really must be fate.” “Hearing you put it that way, I guess my status isn’t too shabby, huh?” I licked my lips. Originally, it was no problem for us to call each other brothers, but now that I have that Qilin bloodline, I’m at least several generations his senior. It wouldn’t be out of place for Qi Yun to call me “Grandpa.” Qi Yun glanced at me and said calmly, “Your status among us is indeed quite high. We respect you because of your bloodline, but in terms of generational hierarchy, you still have to call me ‘brother.’ ” He had already seen right through my inner thoughts. I quickly changed the subject. “Didn’t you say the Qilin was leading you toward a bright future? Why not let him be the ruler?” Qi Yun looked at me with disdain. “Are you stupid? The Qilin has to be able to speak, doesn’t he? Our clan has served him for generations—we’re his representatives.” “Oh, I get it now. So after all this, I’m just a mascot, am I?”