A few years ago, Zhuang Rui had watched a Hong Kong horror movie called 'Double Vision.' He had a vague memory of the plot—something about a ghost story, where people born with double pupils could see through the Yin and Yang realms.
After watching that movie, Zhuang Rui became interested in people born with double pupils and looked up a lot of information. He found that history records only four people truly born with double pupils： Cangjie, Yu Shun, Xiang Yu, and Li Yu. In ancient mythology, people with double pupils were generally considered sages; in ancient times, it was seen as an unusual and auspicious sign, symbolizing good fortune and wealth, and was often a symbol of emperors.
In his work 'Xuzhou Miscellaneous Poems,' Qian Qianyi wrote： 'The traces of double pupils are already lost in the dark; before the Horse-Playing Terrace, ghost fires flicker green. Ten-zhang-high Yellow Tower overlooks the Si River; travelers still talk about the Overlord's Hall.'
The old mansion of Zhuang Rui's family in Pengcheng was not far from the Horse-Playing Terrace—just a few minutes' walk. As a child, Zhuang Rui often climbed over the wall to play and romp around inside, looking at the ancient bronze swords and warrior armor on display, so he had a deep impression of this poem.
But later, Zhuang Rui came across some modern medical explanations, which said this condition involves adhesion and deformation of the pupils, and modern medicine considers it an early sign of cataracts. Because the iris is light-colored, it looks like a large pupil sets within a small pupil, hence the name 'double pupil,' also called 'double vision.'
However, Zhuang Rui felt that the changes in his own eyes were different from what was described above. He only developed double pupils when the cooling energy flowed within his eyes, and the double pupils that appeared were not a large pupil within a small pupil, but two pupils side by side. Moreover, he had never read in any book that those previously born with double pupils had the superpower of X-ray vision to see through people's clothes.
Zhuang Rui was one hundred percent sure that his eyes had never had the phenomenon of Double Vision before, which is to say, Double Vision appeared after he was injured. However, Zhuang Rui's memory of the robbery only went up to the moment the firelight appeared before his eyes. After that, when he woke up, he was already lying in the hospital. He had no way of knowing what exactly happened during that time.
Picking up the mirror again, Zhuang Rui began to observe. Same as last time, although the aura in his eyes shot out with his gaze and hit the mirror, the mirror didn't change at all, nor did his gaze penetrate it. Zhuang Rui just felt that the aura seemed to wander around the outer edge of the mirror for a bit before retracting back into his eyes.
Unwilling to give up, Zhuang Rui took out a book, which was "Kangxi Emperor" by Eryue He. When he had nothing to do, Zhuang Rui really liked to read history books. This set was something he had just bought not long ago. He had asked Big Bro to bring it from his place to the hospital. In the hospital, his mother would often read it to him to pass the time. This time when he was discharged from the hospital, he hadn't gone back to his place in Zhonghai, so he brought it with him.
Zhuang Rui put the 500-page "Kangxi Emperor" right in front of his eyes without opening it, then focused his gaze and looked over. As before, a flash of bluish-green light appeared first, extremely brief, just like the previous times. After the green light passed, the aura in his eyes also touched the book cover.
Zhuang Rui felt a bit nervous inside. If he could only see through clothes, then it wouldn't be very useful. He wouldn't just use the strange power of his eyes for peeping, would he? Zhuang Rui asked himself if he was really that low.
When his gaze fell upon the page, Zhuang Rui breathed a sigh of relief, because the four large characters 'Kangxi the Great' instantly became blurry, like ice melting in water, only much faster. Almost in an instant, the figure dressed in a dragon robe seated on the dragon throne before Zhuang Rui vanished, replaced by rows of densely packed black text, crystal clear.
It was page 397. When withdrawing the cooling energy, he deliberately noted the page number. After the cooling energy returned to his eyes, Zhuang Rui felt no discomfort, and quickly flipped to page 397. The familiar text on the page confirmed his judgment.
Picking up the book again and placing it about one meter away, he looked once more. Zhuang Rui was astonished to find that the energy didn't even touch the book. When it was still more than ten centimeters away, it spontaneously returned to his eyes. With his naked sight, he could only see the book's cover. Without that energy, he could no longer see through it.
Zhuang Rui started busying himself. Everything in the train compartment became his experiment subject, not even sparing the tin kettle. He varied the distance when observing objects from near to far. Fortunately, looking at inanimate objects did not consume the cooling energy in his eyes. After messing around for over an hour, he finally stopped.
After several experiments, Zhuang Rui categorized his findings. First of all, when the cooling energy in his eyes was applied to the human body, a significant amount would disappear. Although the experiment on his arm showed that the energy was beneficial to his arm, it was harmful to his eyes. The cooling energy that had originally filled his eyes, after being consumed in the morning and just now, was now only a thin layer adhering to his eyes.
After more than ten days, Zhuang Rui had become accustomed to the presence of the cooling energy in his eyes; it kept his eyes in an indescribable yet comfortable state at all times. The benefits of this energy to his eyes were self-evident, and he did not want to exhaust it until it disappeared. So Zhuang Rui did not dare to use his body for experiments again. However, the idea that this energy in his eyes was beneficial to the human body was confirmed in the previous experiment.
Secondly, by using the energy in his eyes, he could see through objects with simple molecular structures, such as clothes and books. In the previous experiment, besides the quilt, clothes, and books inside the compartment, denser objects like iron sheets, glass, and the plywood walls of the carriage were things that the cooling energy in his eyes could not penetrate. However, looking at these objects did not consume the energy either, which gave Zhuang Rui considerable relief.
Furthermore, after the cooling energy left his eyes along with his gaze, it had a distance limit. If it did not make contact with any other object within about eighty centimeters, the energy would automatically return to his eyes. Similarly, the amount would neither increase nor decrease.
After busying himself for over an hour, Zhuang Rui felt that this energy in his eyes seemed to have a quality of sentience, so he simply gave it a name, calling it spiritual energy.
Having figured out these patterns, Zhuang Rui had a headache. This spiritual energy in his eyes was rather elusive; whenever he focused on an object, it would follow his gaze out and was not under his control. Or rather, he had not yet found a way to control it. It was fine when looking at objects—the energy did no harm to objects or himself—but when looking at people, it would be bad for him. The most urgent task was to find a way to control this spiritual energy.
"It seems there was one time I managed to withdraw the spiritual energy..."
Thinking of this, Zhuang Rui picked up the book again, keeping it about fifty centimeters from his eyes, and stared at it intently, while muttering under his breath, "Don't come out, don't come out..."
At the same time, in his mind he was trying to keep the spiritual energy in his eyes. Just as his gaze fell on the book, Zhuang Rui clearly felt the spiritual energy stir slightly, but as he wished, it stayed in his eyes and didn't shoot toward the book. In other words, he could control the spiritual energy with his willpower, or mind.
Unable to suppress the joy in his heart, Zhuang Rui grinned happily. He knew that while being able to see through other people's clothes was very sleazy but also very exciting, and the change in his eyes seemed to bring him something. He wondered if he could see the winning numbers on scratch-off lottery tickets.
"Xiao Rui, what are you grinning foolishly about over there..." Zhuang Rui's laughter woke up his sleeping mother.