Chapter 25

Feng Yi chose to go out today after checking the weather forecast.

Before leaving, he thought about whether to challenge himself by trying to smell how many people had been in the elevator in the past hour and what secrets they might be hiding.

After leaving, he encountered a middle-aged man in the elevator, who seemed to have just come from the kitchen, having cooked some fried food. The smell of oil and spices penetrated his mask and irritated his nose, making him want to sneeze repeatedly. This was already the result of Feng Yi's control; otherwise, he would have smelled even more.

Holding his breath, Feng Yi abandoned the idea of exploring the "secrets in the elevator." He didn't show any expression on his face and politely responded when the man greeted him. It wouldn't be good to act too distant with someone living in the same building.

The narrow elevator had limited air circulation, and with many people using it daily, the smells were complex, including some that Feng Yi didn't particularly want to investigate. So, he gave up.

There were so many places to explore; why choose the elevator?

After getting out of the elevator, Feng Yi headed to a nearby park.

At this time, there weren't many people in the park, and with the weather not being great, it seemed even emptier.

But for Feng Yi, it was just right!

He took off his mask and breathed in.

It had just rained, and the pollutants in the air had either been blown away or settled with the rain. The gaseous pollutants were not as noticeable, making the environment quite friendly for Feng Yi, who had a sensitive sense of smell.

The public bench had recently been painted and still had a strong smell, so Feng Yi avoided it and chose a stone bench to sit on.

This stone bench was often used, so it was clean, and the rain had washed it even more thoroughly.

His nose captured the odor molecules in the air and the particles stuck in the water vapor. His brain identified the sources of these smells.

After a week of closed-room practice, his brain's ability to distinguish these odor molecules had greatly improved. When the smells were complex and varied, there might be a delay, but he could still handle it here.

Feng Yi identified the smells: flowers, soil, and a faint medicinal scent, which was probably from the park maintenance staff.

There were too many types of plants, and Feng Yi could name less than ten percent of them. However, he had mostly memorized the smells of these plants and might gradually match them with their names in the future.

If he closed his eyes, what kind of world would he "see"?

Each person, flower, bird, and bench had its own smell.

The smells enveloped these people and objects, forming shapes similar to their original forms—human shapes for people, tree shapes for trees. These odor clouds changed shape with the wind direction and strength.

Air flowed into his nostrils, bringing not only these odor molecules and particles but also other information. Although his sense of smell couldn't precisely locate things, it could perceive them.

For example, the water vapor that moved and swirled with the wind.

And for example...

He looked up at the sky, and the clouds seemed to convey other information—when it would rain, when it would clear up. He could sense all of this.

A group of tourists walked past him, laughing heartily at something.

If he closed his eyes, he could "see" the odor clouds around those two tourists, containing some other fascinating information molecules. However, the information molecules Feng Yi could capture were still too few to accurately distinguish.

But he guessed that these fascinating information molecules might be released by people when they were emotionally excited. Different emotions released different information molecules.

Feng Yi "saw" the world in the park until nightfall, then he got up and left.

A breeze blew, and Feng Yi raised his hand to catch a leaf that had fallen behind his head and threw it into the nearby trash can.

Without using his eyes, he could sense the falling leaf and catch it.

After leaving the park, Feng Yi didn't go home immediately but walked through the city streets.

There weren't many people on the streets on a rainy day, but the shops and malls were still bustling.

The smells here were more complex, making it difficult to distinguish, but Feng Yi still tried to identify and record them.

He also observed the information released by passersby with different psychological and emotional states, but his perception of these was still vague. Perhaps, as his evolution continued and his senses improved, his perception would become more precise, allowing him to accurately perceive the information molecules released due to emotions and see the "reality" of the world.

For example, the anxiety, agitation, joy, and indifference hidden beneath the surface. Facial expressions could be faked, but the information molecules of emotions could not be concealed.

Under the night sky, the neon lights flickered, and the various light sources intertwined, creating a beautiful cityscape.

Feng Yi walked down the street, and through the residual odor molecules, he "saw" a person walking their dog 10 minutes ago and a passenger waiting at a bus stop 5 minutes ago... The passenger had eaten a spicy hand-grabbing pancake while waiting for the bus.

By identifying the residual odor molecules, Feng Yi could "see" scenes that his eyes could not, although these scenes were composed of odor clouds, and he couldn't see their faces or determine their ages. However, he could know what they had done.

Feng Yi walked home without a mask, identifying various odor molecules and their stories along the way. Gradually adapting to the information overload from these complex odor molecules was quite interesting.

Today's super-olfactory exploration √

...

At the entrance of a熟食店 (cooked food shop), a boy of about five years old, wearing a dinosaur raincoat, was using the large window outside the shop as a mirror.

A gust of wind blew his raincoat hood to his back, but he didn't seem to mind.

As Feng Yi passed by him, he raised his hand and swept it over the boy's head, catching a large drop of rainwater that was about to fall on him.

The boy suddenly looked up at Feng Yi, quickly covering his head with one hand, as if guessing what Feng Yi had taken from his head.

Feng Yi stopped three meters away, turned around, and smiled, saying, "The candy in your pocket has melted."

The boy quickly covered his pocket with his other hand through his raincoat.

At this moment, the boy's mother, who had been watching from inside the shop, quickly came out, glanced at Feng Yi as he left, and worriedly asked the boy, "Why are you covering your head? Let me see!"

The boy took his hand away.

Apart from a few strands of hair that had been blown up by the wind, there was nothing unusual on his head.

The mother carefully checked and, finding no wounds or pranks, felt relieved. But when she recalled what she had just seen, she was puzzled again.

The mother asked, "What did that uncle... brother do?" She hadn't seen his face clearly, but he seemed to be relatively young.

The boy's wide eyes were full of confusion, and he made a quick sweeping gesture, saying, "He did this, whoosh~"

"Then what?"

"Then... then he told me that the candy in my pocket had melted... Wow! It really did! It's all stuck to my clothes! How did he know! Does he have X-ray vision!"

"I've told you so many times that this kind of candy melts easily! Don't hide it in your pocket... Okay, we'll talk about this later. What else did he say?"

"Then he just left!"

"Have you seen him before?"

"Seen him!" The boy seemed to remember something and jumped excitedly.

"Where?"

"In your phone!"

"Nonsense! I don't have him in my phone!!"

"You do! You even said that snake spirit looks really good!"

"..."