At this thought, Miko suddenly remembered something.
She struggled to sit up straight, pressed her palms together, her face flushing red as if exerting all her strength.
"Come out!"
This sudden action left both Yui Yuigahama and Ye Xing stunned.
"Come out... what?"
Miko separated her palms, looked at her empty hands, and sighed.
"I wanted to try your method of condensing evil spirit aura into a weapon, but there was no reaction at all."
"Guess I'm still too weak, huh?"
Miko Yotsuya's eyes showed disappointment, but when she looked up, she saw Ye Xing barely containing his laughter, clearly on the verge of bursting out.
"You! Are you mocking me? Do you think I'm too weak?"
"Not exactly."
Ye Xing waved his hand with a half-smile.
"What I'm mocking isn't your strength—it's your brain."
Before Miko could retort, he continued with a chuckle.
"Condensing evil spirit power into weapons and devouring evil spirits to grow stronger—those are my unique physical traits, not Soul Materialisation abilities. If you want to compare, you should pit your Hyakume against my ghost hand."
"Oh... I see."
Miko looked somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this. 'So that's how it is.'
She'd even planned what weapon she wanted after awakening her Soul Materialisation. Turns out, that was just Ye Xing's special constitution.
"Speaking of which, how many eyes does your Hyakume have now?"
At Ye Xing's question, Miko answered without hesitation.
"Two. One on each hand."
"Hmm..."
Ye Xing tapped the table rhythmically, lost in thought.
"Evil spirits can devour each other. Your Hyakume only has two eyes at this stage—completely different from the great demon covered in eyes from the Hyakki Yagyō records. That proves your Hyakume is still a newborn among evil spirits, with plenty of room to grow."
Low EQ: How are you this pathetically weak?
High EQ: Miss Yotsuya, you still have much potential for improvement.
Miko didn't pick up on Ye Xing's sarcastic tone and simply nodded.
"Right... So if I want my Hyakume to grow stronger, I need to make her devour other evil spirits. This evolution method... Truly fitting for an evil spirit."
Then she looked up at Ye Xing.
"Oh, there's something I wanted to tell you."
"What is it?"
"My Hyakume is female."
"Wow, groundbreaking. Hyakume is a power materialised from your heart and soul—of course, it matches your gender."
"Then your ghost hand... is it male or female?"
This question caught Ye Xing off guard. After a pause, he replied:
"Well... I think... it might be intersex?"
Noticing the slightly complicated expressions on Miko and Yui Yuigahama's faces, Ye Xing immediately clarified with righteous indignation.
"Of course, that doesn't mean I'm intersex! The ghost hand is intersex purely because I enjoy being sarcastic all the time."
"That's a thing?"
"Absolutely."
Ye Xing maintained his smile, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Through Miko's Soul Materialisation, he'd confirmed two things.
First.
Just as Rio Futaba had analysed.
Psychics with Mystic Eyes already possess the qualifications to confront the supernatural.
And a shift in perception acts as the key to unlocking Soul Materialisation abilities.
When Miko Yotsuya's perception of evil spirits shifted from seeing them as monsters she had to hide from and could never defeat, to enemies she must eliminate to protect others, her Soul Manifestation—Hyakume—awakened accordingly.
As for himself?
As a transmigrator... no, he couldn't pin this on being a transmigrator.
As an abstract master with unconventional thinking, the moment Ye Xing awakened his Mystic Eyes and saw an evil spirit for the first time, his immediate thought wasn't to flee, but rather, 'If they can come for me, I can go for them.'
If evil spirits could harm humans, why couldn't humans harm evil spirits?
Thus, from the very beginning, he awakened his own Soul Manifestation, gaining the power to confront the supernatural.
Second.
Whether it was his ability to devour other evil spirits to grow stronger while also obtaining fragments of their memories, or that pale ghostly hand, both seemed fundamentally different from Miko's Hyakume and most other evil spirits.
Based on Ye Xing's experience, whenever things reached this point, the abnormal one was usually himself.
After all, being a transmigrator, a little abnormality was only to be expected.
"I'm so sleepy, I'm going to nap for a bit."
Yui Yuigahama stretched with a long yawn, rubbed her eyes, and drowsily shuffled into the bedroom.
Miko sighed helplessly and muttered under her breath.
"I don't know whether to call her oblivious or just incredibly brave. How can she sleep at a time like this?"
After this muttered complaint, Miko turned her gaze to Ye Xing, who was lazily sprawled on the sofa. Hesitation flickered across her face as she tentatively asked,
"After we return to the real world... what are you planning to do about Yuigahama's situation?"
She didn't need to elaborate—Ye Xing understood perfectly.
This had been an unforeseen circumstance.
Yui Yuigahama, an ordinary girl, had somehow followed him and Miko, both psychics, into the Reverse World's Kyoto.
Not only that, she'd witnessed their entire battle with Hachishaku-sama.
Where did they go from here?
"I'd say this Yuigahama girl has the makings of a true comrade. Why don't we find a way to recruit her into the Supernatural Quantum Mechanics Research Society? From then on, we could feast on meat and drink to our hearts' content—wouldn't that be grand?"
Miko pursed her lips, her expression thoroughly unimpressed.
"Do you think this is Water Margin or something?"
"Oh ho, quite the cultured one, aren't you?"
After this teasing remark, Ye Xing finally answered properly.
"Don't worry. Even if Yuigahama doesn't join the club, someone with her personality wouldn't go blabbing about it. And even if, by some remote chance, she did talk about tonight's events, no one would believe her anyway."
"Alright, let's get some rest."
Miko gave a slight nod and curled up on the sofa, closing her eyes to recuperate.
The exhaustion from her first Soul Manifestation felt like it had drained her completely.
She'd been running on sheer willpower to last this long.
...
Soon, the clock struck five in the morning.
"Open the Gate."
These two simple words from Ye Xing made Hachishaku-sama, who had been huddled in the corner, tremble once more. Obediently, she waved a hand through the air, and a wooden door slowly materialised before them.
Just as Ye Xing, Yui Yuigahama, Miko Yotsuya, and Sable—three humans and a dog—were about to step through the Gate to return to the real-world Kyoto, Hachishaku-sama suddenly reached out and grabbed Ye Xing's sleeve.
"Can... can you take me with you?"