Chapter 177 Wen Xishu’s Jedi Counterattack
After Xiaohui said this, he found that nothing had happened.

Haruko still had a smile on her face, and everyone was laughing with her, and their relationship seemed to have taken a step further.

But that kind of voice…is it an auditory hallucination?
Something had died, this was Xiaohui’s feeling, and he felt inexplicably worried about this feeling…

But since I didn’t know what it was exactly and couldn’t focus on anything specific, the worry soon disappeared.

Not long after, Xiaohui suddenly found a number appeared on his palm.

Number 1.

It is very small. This 1 is in the gap between the palm lines and looks like a dot.

But he was sure that this thing had never been on his palm before.

After class, Xiaohui ran to the toilet to wash his hands and scrubbed them hard, but no matter how hard he scrubbed, the stains wouldn’t come off.

That 1, like a brand, was imprinted on Xiaohui.

……

……

At nightfall.

Xiaohui was lying on the bed, sleeping with his grandfather.

In the middle of the night, Xiaohui felt the urge to urinate and wanted to go to the toilet. He opened his eyes and woke up, walked towards the toilet sleepily, and suddenly he was a little dazed.

It seems like something is missing.

“Nightmare. I don’t seem to have nightmares anymore.”

Xiaohui shuddered after peeing, feeling a little lost for no reason. It was really strange, when the nightmare was there, he longed to not have it, but after the dream disappeared…

He seemed a little lost again.

Grandpa appeared behind Xiaohui at some point. He looked gloomy and his face could not be seen clearly in the darkness.

Xiaohui also turned around suddenly and found that his grandfather had stood up without any sound.

“Ah!” Xiaohui screamed in fright.

After this sound, the gloomy aura on grandpa immediately disappeared.

“Xiaohui, hurry up, be obedient and go back to bed to sleep.”

“Oh, alright.”

The grandfather and grandson fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, Xiaohui got used to some things.

He got used to the refreshment after not having nightmares, and also got used to the unique numbers on his palms. Anyway, if he didn’t say it, others wouldn’t be able to tell unless they looked closely.

But when Xiaohui was going to school, he suddenly met a man with his face covered.

“Wen Xishu!”

Suddenly a voice was heard, which surprised Xiaohui.

Wen Xishu…

It doesn’t sound like the name of an island country, but why do I always feel that this name is so familiar?
The man with his face covered looked at Xiaohui, and everyone around him also looked at Xiaohui, but soon, everyone around him looked at the man with his face covered.

The man began to run away frantically.

Xiaohui looked at the scene in surprise, finding it hard to understand.

Because although the teacher taught us to be brave and to stop people who are harming others…

But in reality, shouldn’t everyone avoid it as much as possible?
But what is happening now?

The man with his face covered began to run wildly, and everyone around Xiaohui… began to chase after the man with his face covered.

even–

Xiaohui saw Haruko.

Haruko also had a ferocious look on her face and chased after the masked man.

But what did that man do to make so many people chase after him?

He just called a name didn’t he?

The masked man was still running wildly. He seemed to have extremely skilled… no, parkour skills that could be called master level.

All the people around him chased him like zombies smelling flesh and blood, but he was very agile and always avoided them. Even though the houses in Toe were not tall due to frequent earthquakes, the entire terrain began to take on three dimensions under the man’s skills.

Just when Xiaohui was puzzled, a woman appeared beside Xiaohui:
“Xiaohui, you should go to school.”

Such a familiar looking woman.

Xiaohui looked at this woman…he felt like he had seen her somewhere before.

This is really a very beautiful woman with a hot and sexy body. When Xiaohui thought of this word, he felt very strange… How could he know such a word?

Shouldn’t I still be a child?

The woman looked at Xiaohui’s thoughts:
“What a troublesome guy. Even though he was killed… why do I still feel ‘uncomfortable’?”

Xiaohui doesn’t understand.

But the woman was also very rude:

“Be good and go to school.”

There was an unquestionable meaning in her voice. Xiaohui always felt that if he didn’t go to school…something bad would happen to him.

He began walking towards the school but couldn’t help but glance back at the man.

The man had disappeared from his sight.

Not long after Xiaohui left, everything around him began to return to normal.

He even soon ran into Haruko who was jogging and yelling at him to slow down.

Xiaohui looked at Haruko:

“Haruko… aren’t you tired?”

Haruko is puzzled:

“Why should I be tired?”

Xiaohui said:

“But you were just…running after that man!”

Haruko’s expression froze for a moment, but only for a moment. In a split second, Haruko changed the subject:

“Xiaohui, I didn’t do yesterday’s homework. Can you lend me yours?”

Xiaohui was silent for a few seconds and then said:
“Okay, I’ll show you mine.”

He looked back, and the man was gone, as was the crowd chasing the man, as if nothing had happened.

But he didn’t know that, high up where he couldn’t see, the woman he described as “hot and sexy” was looking at him.

Next to the woman, there is another being that would absolutely scare any normal person, because it has two heads.

There is one male and one female head, like a couple.

The two-headed man said:
“We killed the wrong person. No, it’s not that we killed the wrong person, but… that kid actually had multiple personalities, and we killed a secondary personality. Not the main personality.”

“The one just now has been killed by me, but I guess it’s not the main personality. Logically, the main personality should be in the host of the man cave, but I don’t know how he hid it very deeply.”

“I doubt it. It seems that the guy who broke into the man cave this time is not simple.”

Doubt is the woman’s name.

The woman looked at the two-headed man beside her and said:
“Fear, you have to keep an eye on that little ghost. Generally speaking, I am the first one to be born, and often after I am born, I can kill the main personality.”

“But this time, even you were born.”

When faced with an abnormal environment, people first become suspicious and then begin to feel fear.

Fear says:

“But he still said that, didn’t he? There’s already a 1 in his palm lines.”

Doubt Frown:
“This is what I find the most difficult to understand. Logically, he should not feel happy because he has doubts and fears about this world.”

“But he still said it.”

“I wonder if he gave up this node on purpose.”

“We can’t take this lightly. We have to assume that the person has found…a way to crack the man cave.”

The Terror with Two Heads said:
“I will find him. My appearance is that of a man with two heads, and they look like a couple. I am becoming more and more curious about his experience.”

Doubt said nothing.

Doubt was also wondering why she had turned into a hot and sexy woman this time…why this form would be “doubt”.

The appearance of the two-headed man is indeed terrifying.

But a woman with a hot body actually corresponds to suspicion.

It was also her first time to have such a look in the man cave.

……

……

The passage of time in the man cave seems to be completely different from that in the outside world.

At this moment, Xiaohui, who is already seventeen years old, has a feeling… It doesn’t seem like he has slowly experienced many things and gradually reached the age of seventeen.

It’s more like… I suddenly turned seventeen years old and was filled with a lot of memories.

These memories are profound, if you will.

He remembered that when it came to the entrance examination, his grandfather kept asking around using his connections.

He still remembered that Haruko was sad because she did not get into the same school as him, but they agreed to take the entrance exam for Toe Academy of Fine Arts together.

But later, I fell in love with another girl, Yumi, who was a senior one year older than me and had decided to take the art exam route.

He was surprised at how fragile his relationship with Haruko was, and he was also surprised that… Senior Yumi was really beautiful.

Of course, I was also surprised that over the years, my grandfather and I had a smooth life. My grandfather’s business was booming, my academic performance was getting better and better, and I had more and more friends.

When I was sixteen, I submitted my work to Toe’s RUN P comics club and actually received a reply from the editor-in-chief, who thought that the protagonist who could blow up all enemies with one punch, with a stable mood and a strong spiritual core, was very unique and a type that had never appeared before…

But the painting is too rough. I hope I can study and polish it in the Academy of Fine Arts.

This is actually high praise.

Because this thing is like the writing style in the online literature world. Only some outsiders care about writing style. People in the industry know very well that a good idea is worth at least one million.

Xiaohui wanted to improve his painting skills while posting his works on free comic forums, and he also attracted many fans.

Although the painting is very crude, the story is interesting…

Xiaohui always felt that his life was fucking smooth, and full of déjà vu, as if he had plagiarized someone else’s life, the life of a cartoonist he really liked.

But he couldn’t remember.

“Xiaohui, would you like to go out with me tonight?” Senior Sister Yumei suddenly shook Xiaohui’s body.

Xiaohui finally reacted:

“Sorry, Senpai, I was distracted.”

Yumi didn’t care and smiled.

“I bought some black stockings, do you want them tonight…”

Xiaohui swallowed his saliva. Although he felt that he really should polish his painting skills…it seemed that he was not in a hurry for that day, so he nodded.

“See you tonight then.” Yumi left.

In the classroom corridor, Xiaohui attracted the envy of countless classmates.

“Xiaohui, you are so happy. Do you feel happy?” The speaker is called Zheping.

Zheping is really ordinary, but kind-hearted, and is Xiaohui’s friend.

Because they were assigned to the same dormitory, their relationship was relatively better than others. Xiaohui was actually thinking…

It seemed like I suddenly had a good friend like Zheping.

This feeling is really strange.

But he could only accept it because that was the reality.

“Are you happy?”

Xiao Hui asked himself…

Of course, this question can be answered casually. But Zheping’s attitude seems to be gradually becoming more serious.

“You must be very happy, Xiaohui? Before you became a cartoonist, you already had a large number of fans. And they were the kind of fans who didn’t care about your painting style, but only appreciated your storytelling…”

“You are now the best student in the school, and your family business is growing bigger and bigger…”

“Even the most beautiful senior in the school, Yumi, likes you. I think the next step might be to get an admission letter from Toe Academy of Fine Arts. You… are really amazing.”

Yes, this kind of life is really good.

Who could have thought… that a mentally retarded person like me would actually come to this point.

wrong……

Did I really have an intellectual disability? It seemed like a very long time ago, so much so that Xiaohui was a little unsure.

No, I am not mentally retarded. It is difficult for mentally retarded people to obtain true happiness. Even in some movies, mentally retarded people can achieve success, but that is an idealized state that evades the important issue.

Only the real disabled people know the hardships in their lives, and any glorification is essentially ignoring them.

And over the years… Xiaohui never had a nightmare again. In his dreams, he always dreamed of people praising him.

You are a genius. You are a genius, you are a genius… You are a genius!
Yes, there was someone in the dream who kept telling Xiaohui that he was a genius. In the real world, Xiaohui also received many evaluations that he was a genius.

After a long moment, he shook his head.

Teppei’s face immediately darkened:
“You think you’re unhappy?”

Looking at Zheping’s expression, Xiaohui scolded:

“You’re crazy. Of course I’m happy. I just think… there’s no need to be serious about some things in the past.”

Teppei immediately smiled:

“What happened in the past?”

Xiaohui really wanted to say: You won’t believe it, but I feel… I seem to have many more years of memories suddenly. I feel that the most profound impression of my childhood was that one day I met a masked man being chased by a group of people.

I still remember that man shouted a name towards me. That name was Wen Xishu.

Everything was so… clear, as if it happened not long ago.

But when I tried to grasp this vague sense of clarity, the details of my memories over the years began to tear apart that feeling.

Xiaohui really wanted to say it.

But he didn’t think that anyone would understand what he said.

It’s like, from one node, suddenly jumping to another node. Life is complete, but it’s skipped.

……

……

At nightfall, in a youth hostel in Toe.

The pink light illuminates Yumi’s charming body.

After both of them reached the depths of human harmony, Xiaohui felt bored and seemed to start thinking about comic stories again. Yumi beside him was panting with blurry eyes.

At this time, Yumi asked:

“Isn’t this kind of life pretty good? Have I inspired you? Do you want to add a woman like me to your story?”

“It would be better to arrange small leather boots and a small whip for me, and then everyone who is whipped by me will fall in love with me.” Yumi said.

Xiaohui laughed. Indeed, it was possible to create such a female villain in the story.

He felt suddenly inspired.

“Yes, these days are not bad.”

Yumi asked another question that Xiaohui was very familiar with:

“Are you happy then?”

Although, this question was asked to me after many years, I felt like I was asked this question frequently in a short period of time.

“You just need to answer me how you feel,” Yumi said.

Xiaohui thought about it:
“Well, I think I’m pretty happy.”

After he finished speaking, for some reason, he suddenly remembered something, and he immediately raised his hand and looked at his palm lines. Xiaohui’s pupils changed when he looked at them.

Fear was written on his face.

……

……

Opposite the youth hostel, on the top of a brightly lit building, a guy with two heads appeared.

Soon, a woman with a hot body appeared.

“Number 2. Everything is about to end. A new manhole will be formed soon. We win, and the invaders will die soon.” said the two-headed man.

Seeing that the woman didn’t speak, the two-headed man smiled and said:
“What’s wrong? You don’t think everything can be turned around, do you?”

“The only thing he can do now is to hide. If he causes any misfortune, we will appear around him in an instant.”

“You don’t think that he can still turn the tables under such circumstances, do you?”

The woman said:

“In order to leave the man cave, the host must realize that he was unhappy in the past. But it’s strange… In the first node, he tried to tell Xiaohui in a nightmare that his intelligence was defective and his life was full of misfortune.”

“That’s why we found him.”

“Finally, the happiness in reality made the host say those words. We won the first battle.”

“But we also know that the invader this time possesses the power of the dream series… and has multiple personalities.”

“The most outrageous thing is that these two powers complement each other. He can make the personality materialize, and he can make the personality hide in the host’s dream.”

“But no matter what, as long as he tries to make the host unhappy, we will sense him.”

The two-headed man said:
“So, what are you worried about? Isn’t this good for us?”

The woman shook her head:

“It’s abnormal. The intruder’s behavior is becoming more and more abnormal… In the first node, he told the host that he was mentally retarded. But in the second node, he kept hinting in the dream that the host was a genius…”

“Since the act of suggesting that the host is a genius does not bring misfortune to the host…so I can’t lock him.”

“In the real world, as soon as he appears, he will be found by our rejection reaction, but he does not appear in the real world either.”

“He does nothing but blindly hint in his dreams that the host is a genius.”

The two-headed man snorted:

“I thought you were worried about something. No wonder you’ve been around all this time.”

Doubt always exists. This means that the host’s heart always keeps questioning the current environment.

The two-headed man represents fear and the woman represents suspicion.

As for the two-headed man, he was born not long ago… When Xiaohui looked at his palm, he found that the number between the palm lines changed from 1 to 2 – he was filled with fear.

The two-headed man didn’t realize what was wrong. He just sneered:

“I don’t care about him. The host is getting happier and happier. Next, he just needs to say it for the third time…”

“It’s all settled. We won.”

“As for the intruder, it’s easy to explain. He’s afraid of you. He doesn’t understand the rules of the man cave. He doesn’t know the rules of the man cave. He wants to collect… ‘that thing’ that is not originally in the man cave.”

“He just found out that once he tried to make the host realize the truth, he would be hunted by you, so he got scared. At Node 1, he realized that we are invincible. In order to avoid being hunted by you, he started to do the opposite at Node 2 to please the host.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

This is true.

Many invaders are like this. There was once an invader who knew everything. That invader killed the host’s relatives without saying a word.

Then not only doubt and fear emerged, but also sadness and anger.

The four of them were extremely powerful and dealt a heavy blow to the invader in an instant, leaving the invader with no other options but to live in the following nodes, or even try to please the host… to avoid being targeted by suspicion, fear, sadness, and anger.

Try your best to prevent these four psychological activities from appearing in the host.

But the end of compromise is still death.

The host only needs to say “I am so happy” three times in many of the next nodes.

Once said three times, the rule ends everything.

“Now, the number in his palm lines has changed to 2.”

“At the next stage, he will be even more successful and more famous.” said the two-headed man.

“Although this number caused him fear…I will disappear soon–“

Before he finished speaking, something unexpected happened.

Suspiciously said coldly:

“coming!”

As the two of them were talking…

Something unexpected happened inside the youth hostel opposite.

The suspicious figure disappeared in an instant, and the next moment, he appeared inside the youth hostel.

……

……

Inside the youth hostel.

Looking at the barely perceptible number 2 in his palm lines, Xiaohui felt a vague fear in his heart.

It was like seeing a giant spider weaving a web, with layer upon layer of webs coming towards him.

He suddenly remembered… a lot of things.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside Xiaohui.

It was a man with his face covered. The man suddenly appeared, causing Yumi on the bed to scream in surprise, but the next second, Yumi’s expression turned fierce.

“smell–“

The man wanted to speak.

But the next second, a white blade flashed, and a cold knife pierced through the man’s neck.

A head flew up and blood splattered!

“Ah!!!!” Yumi’s originally ferocious expression turned into normal fear.

“Forget it all,” said Doubt.

These words seemed to carry some kind of magic. The masked man’s body suddenly disappeared, his head disappeared, and the flying blood also disappeared.

Even the woman was missing.

Xiaohui was very surprised.

But then, Xiaohui suddenly felt…some of his emotions were fading.

Doubts and fears are fading.

His emotions calmed down immediately.

……

……

Far away, in a dark corner.

Doubt pulled out the blade that was stuck in his flesh, and blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“I didn’t expect it would need to go to this extent.”

Fear also pulled out the knife that had stabbed him in the body and coughed up blood:
“This will eliminate the host’s fear and suspicion. Humph, that invader still underestimated us. Our eyes are everywhere in this world. As long as he appears, we can immediately come to the invader’s side.”

Doubt said nothing.

She always felt that what happened just now was very strange. Perhaps it was because she was the embodiment of suspicion, she was always calm and suspicious.

“That intruder didn’t even utter a word before we killed him… He must have been a secondary personality. Does this intruder have too many personalities? Is he having a party? So many personalities!”

She clenched her fists and began to review what had just happened.

Due to the changes in the numbers in the palm lines, the host became suspicious and fearful. Suspicion began to become alert and fear was also summoned.

The next second, the intruder arranged for a personality to flash and walk out of the dream.

But it was discovered in time, and in an instant, the secondary personality was killed before it could do anything.

Of course, a person suddenly appeared and then was killed by another woman who suddenly appeared… This must have caused great fear and suspicion in the host.

If this negative emotion is too high…it will naturally affect the host’s happiness index.

So, doubt and fear stabbed me, making me weak, and then…

The host’s fear and suspicion will quickly fade away.

Overall, it seemed like the invader’s last ditch efforts, but was quickly resolved by suspicion and fear.

I doubted that I should have won.

But she couldn’t be happy, she became more and more suspicious…

The intruder has another personality and some means that have not been used.

……

……

Node 03.

Xiaohui ignored the sexual innuendos from his female assistant, Lisa Hashimoto.

In his current position, there are too many women willing to throw themselves at him, so many that he finds it boring.

Now he just wants to study his skills and let his works break all existing records.

The island country also has many talented cartoonists, such as the author of “Gambler x Apocalypse”. His works can be easily copied by the novel author next door, Long Xia, and become a phenomenal blockbuster.

But his comic sales are not the best.

Because they can’t make money from the sinking market. Xiaohui always thinks that the depth of comics determines the threshold. If the threshold is high, there will be fewer viewers, but if the threshold is low… it will be criticized for being shallow and clichéd.

He has been thinking about how to maximize the benefits and strike a balance. For example, Long Xia’s recently popular movie “Three Altars and Seas Great Gods 2” has achieved a good balance. It can withstand in-depth interpretation, but it can also be watched as a popcorn movie for fun.

Xiaohui is a genius, a genius who likes to think. So he hopes that he can create masterpieces.

As for those women in the past, such as Haruko, Yumi, and even the beautiful Hashimoto Lisa who just graduated from college… they are all at his fingertips.

He eventually discovered that the only area left to conquer in life was thinking about how to break through and surpass himself.

Because he likes to think, he always doubts the world.

He is thirty-three years old now.

Suggested by a dream, he firmly believed that he was a genius, although… that dream had also told him that he was not a genius, but a mentally retarded person.

But his current success and the level of his story writing make him believe that he is indeed smarter than most people, much smarter.

“My life has always been smooth sailing. When I was a kid, I wanted to get good grades… so I got good grades. I wanted to get attention from others, so everyone loved me.”

“When I was in high school, I wanted to get into the comics field, so I got in easily. Although I was criticized for my poor basic skills, I naturally mastered the most difficult things for a cartoonist.”

“My grandfather is still in good health after I am in my thirties. I have no shortage of women, not even love… It is always easy for me to pursue the people I love.”

“It’s been a life that’s been too smooth.”

“I used to keep telling myself in my dreams that I was a genius… Over the years, my analytical ability and reaction speed have been constantly improving.”

“I feel like I’m growing backwards. Logically, after I turn thirty, my memory and IQ should gradually decline, but experience should make up for this decline…”

“But it’s really strange. All my brain power indicators that are favorable to me are increasing. Because I think I am a genius…so I am becoming more and more genius.”

“Where is my limit? As long as I desire it, I believe it will bring me happiness, and it seems that I can get it…”

Lisa suddenly froze.

She didn’t expect that the boss would suddenly talk to himself for such a long time.

Is this self-reflection?

Lisa felt that the most important thing was to find a way to sleep with her boss first, and not be outdone by his other mistresses.

She was going to lift her long legs onto the table and perform her special act of taking off her stockings.

But at this time, Xiaohui suddenly showed a disgusted expression:

“Lisa, stop your flirting. I like smart women, you know? I like women who can talk to me and help me grow.”

Xiaohui is actually doing a test.

Just as he was building up this desire, he suddenly received a call.

“Hello, are you Mr. Yoshida?”

“It’s me, who are you?”

Although it was a question, Xiaohui felt calm.

“I am…your reader. I think there are some problems with the settings in your comics. I’m sorry, I got your phone number through some unofficial means. This is really due to your carelessness.”

Xiaohui said:

“Sorry, I don’t like women with high IQ who can help me grow.”

He hung up the phone.

It went really smoothly.

As soon as I constructed a desire, it was quickly satisfied.

If it were an ordinary person, he would have already started conquering the world, right? But fortunately, learning never stops, and his desire has never spread because he has not reached the deepest level of the comic realm.

But if you want to be vulgar, it seems that’s okay.

“I seem to have figured everything out. I seem to remember everything. Lisa, do you want to sleep with me, and then after you show your superb skills, ask me… am I happy?”

Lisa was stunned.

At this moment, not only Lisa, but even the doubter who was preparing to harvest the third node in the distance was stunned.

……

……

The top of Toe Golden Building…

Suspicion suddenly felt an extremely strange aura.

“My body is disappearing… Why? Why is this happening?”

Doubts always exist, from childhood at node 01, to youth at node 02, and to adulthood at node 03…

Doubts always exist.

She always monitors the world to prevent anyone from bringing misfortune to the host.

But at this moment, she began to disappear little by little.

Suspiciously looked towards where the host was.

But suddenly she realized that the host’s eyes were also looking at her.

At this moment, she, who was skeptical, suddenly understood.

I see……

So this is how he operates.

It turns out that the invader had already figured out the rules?

“So… Node 01, Node 02… you were just laying out the plan.”

The shadow of suspicion is getting fainter and fainter.

Because the host no longer doubts, and doubt only appears when the truth is confusing.

And once the truth comes out, doubt disappears.

Yoshida Xiaohui looked at the woman in the distance and said softly:

“Since the real me is actually intellectually disabled, you think that my continuous intelligence is a blessing. So you acquiesce. My other personalities keep suggesting in my dreams that I am smart and a genius. You think this is their compromise.”

“But you just made a fatal mistake.”

“The happiest people in this world are often just smart enough. If they were a little smarter… they would become unhappy.”

Yoshida Xiaohui waved out the window, as if saying goodbye to his doubts:
“Sorry, I already remembered.”

“I’m not Yoshida Xiaohui, my name is Wen Xishu.”

(End of this chapter)