My Superpower Is Kind of Cute

Chapter 42: Invitation to Join

Seeing my sullen expression, Bai Ling could probably guess what was going on and apologized proactively. “Sorry for taking action without explaining the situation to you first. This morning, I overheard Wu Peng and the others discussing your case and thought you seemed a bit suspicious, so I looked up your records. I just didn’t expect Chen Meng and Chen Ming to be the same person… There’s one more thing I need to clarify: it was Qi Feng who told me to act. He said he wanted to give Qi Yun and you a surprise.” Since he had no ill intent, and given his connection to Qi Feng, I let down my guard a little—though I still felt some resentment. With a pained expression, I retorted, “Can you even imagine how terrified I was?” ” At the same time, I secretly marveled at just how formidable the Supernatural Abilities Research Institute’s intelligence-gathering capabilities were—they’d practically dug up my entire past in less than a day. In that regard, the Strange Club’s performance was quite poor, though I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Xu Weijie had withheld information from the club. Qi Yun eyed Bai Ling curiously and asked, “What did he mean when he said ‘the next president’ just now?” Qi Feng explained on Bai Ling’s behalf, “Xiao Bai’s father is the current president of the Institute, so naturally, he’ll be the next one.” I muttered under my breath, “Damn, so it’s a hereditary system after all.” “That’s not quite right.” To my surprise, Qi Feng had overheard me and solemnly clarified, “Xiao Bai is also a descendant of the bloodline.” Qi Yun and I both turned to look at Bai Ling at the same time. Bai Ling seemed a bit embarrassed under our gaze; he pushed up his glasses and released his spiritual energy once more. Instantly, black mist rose slowly from beneath his feet, swirling around him. Behind him appeared a strange beast with a green face and fangs, its body emitting steam and flickering with sparks of fire. After just a few seconds, it vanished again. and the surroundings returned to calm, though the weeds at his feet had all withered. “A Drought Demon?” This time, it was Qi Yun’s turn to look taken aback. I was a bit puzzled. “Isn’t that a zombie? What does that have to do with this?” “That’s a misconception,” Qi Yun explained to me. “The Hanba is originally a mythical beast. Wherever it goes, not a blade of grass survives. Corpses buried in the ground only transform into zombies after coming into contact with its malevolent energy and spiritual power.” “Hmm, A Bai is of the Hanba bloodline—a beast that brings drought, the complete opposite of your auspicious beast.” I raised an eyebrow and corrected him, “Here, ‘auspicious’ has another meaning. Just call me a ‘auspicious beast’ or a ‘mascot.’ ” Qi Feng paid no heed to my words and said to Qi Yun, “It just seems like this young fellow hasn’t quite mastered his bloodline’s spiritual power yet.” “Hmm, his bloodline has just awakened—it’s like a calf learning to walk,” Qi Yun replied casually. “I’ll need to train him a bit more.” I forced myself to stay silent—after all, I had to save face for Qi Yun in front of the others. Once I got home, I planned to delete every movie he liked. I turned my gaze to Bai Ling and asked in surprise, “Don’t you two transform when you merge?” “It happened at first. Bai Ling’s spiritual energy is quite high, so she adapted to the fusion in just a day. Now, as long as we maintain control, we don’t experience what you guys go through.” I glanced at Qi Yun and noticed he was looking at me too. In that moment, we both realized why my recovery time had been getting shorter and shorter—it was indeed related to spiritual energy. Seeing that we hadn’t said anything, Bai Ling explained, “Actually, it’s no big deal. Only a small number of psychics can change their appearance, and having the ability to disguise yourself isn’t a bad thing at all. I’m quite satisfied with my ability to change genders, too.” Curious, I asked, “Then why don’t you transform into me so I can take a look?” Bai Ling’s expression instantly turned a bit awkward, and he stammered, “Let’s talk about that another time. I don’t want to reveal that appearance unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Although I was a bit curious about this, I didn’t press the issue—after all, it was a personal matter that didn’t really concern me. So I changed the subject and asked, “How did you let that monster loose?” At the mention of this, Bai Ling looked utterly incredulous and shook his head. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself. I was carrying out a guild quest at the time and accidentally broke an ancient pot that looked pretty shoddy on the outside in one of the rooms. That’s when Qi Feng appeared—and because of that, I failed the quest.” I looked at him with some sympathy, even feeling a sense of shared misfortune. “You’ve had a rough time lately, haven’t you?” To my surprise, Bai Ling shook his head vigorously, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “No. Qi Feng’s appearance has really opened my eyes. It turns out another world really does exist. In my lifetime, I absolutely have to go there and take a look.” As soon as I saw the almost fanatical look in Bai Ling’s eyes, I sensed something was off. Qi Feng, standing nearby, murmured to Qi Yun, “Hey, do you think if we took Chen Meng back with us, it would cause a nationwide sensation?” “Hold on,” I interrupted Qi Feng, refusing him with righteous conviction. “I’ve never once thought about going back with you guys, and besides, how do you even know we can get back?” “There’s definitely a way,” Bai Ling assured me with absolute conviction. “If they were able to come here, there must be a way to go back. I’ll find the portal to the Hezhong Continent.” “Don’t forget—they had to die to get here. You could try drowning yourself; maybe that’ll get you across.” “I’ll find a way to get there without dying.” “Well, good luck to you two then. I’m off.” I suddenly had a vague, nagging feeling that I was about to get dragged into another huge mess. As soon as Bai Ling heard this, he immediately tried to persuade me to stay. “No, don’t go! You should come with us. It’s rare to find someone who’s been through the same thing as me—and you’re a psychic, too. We’re the chosen ones.” I sighed. “You’re only half right. We’re the unlucky ones who were chosen.” Qi Yun chuckled softly. “It’s just a plan for now. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I’d also like Mengmeng to come check out our place—just treat it like a vacation.” I knew Qi Yun was trying to save me from an awkward situation, so I replied noncommittally, “Exactly—that’s something for the future.” Now I finally saw it: Bai Ling was determined to help Qi Feng get back. Glancing at Qi Feng again, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a little tadpole searching for its mother. “Chen Meng, you haven’t joined a guild yet, have you?” Setting aside that line of conversation, Bai Ling steered the topic back on track. “No, I haven’t. Why?” “Then come work at our research institute. I’ll arrange a good position for you, and it’ll make it easier to stay in touch.” Bai Ling looked at me expectantly. “We can also exchange ideas about bloodlines.” I hesitated for a moment. “Is… is that okay?” I wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea—I’d been planning to find a guild since yesterday. Compared to that unreliable Xu Weijie, Bai Ling here had both ability and connections. Although I didn’t know much about his character yet, my first impression told me he didn’t seem like a bad guy. Qi Yun murmured in my ear, “Mengmeng, you can accept this. There’s no comparison between these two guilds.” It seemed he was leaning toward the research institute, after all, his older brother worked there. I thought for a moment and said, “Then can we go check out the Research Institute first sometime?” I wanted to shop around, and besides, I only had these two guilds to choose from anyway. “No problem,” Bai Ling said immediately. “Why wait? How about tomorrow? I’ll take you there.” “Well…” I looked a little uncomfortable, not sure how to respond. I hadn’t expected him to be so impatient, and from this, I could tell that Bai Ling was also someone with plenty of free time.