However, the girl did not answer Xiang Kun. It seemed that she was too shy to speak to strangers. Hence, Prof Li explained on behalf of her, “She told me that before. Actually, there’s no specific way to tell the difference. Even birds of the same species can be different to some extent. So we’ll have to take into account the situation. If there are many birds chirping at the same time, we also have to compare their sounds so as to draw any sensible conclusions. In short, it’s to deduce their emotions based on the sounds they make. However, I didn’t manage to hear anything special when I followed what she did. I’m guessing it’s because her hearing is better, thus she can hear more subtle noises and also a wider frequency of sounds…”
After the topic carried on for a while, “Little Apple” became more talkative and joined their conversation.
Li Yang said that his daughter’s hearing was sharper than normal people’s, and that she could catch details he couldn’t. But this was not an issue to Xiang Kun, as he was certain that his hearing was at least ten times stronger than the girl’s.
After a chat with the girl, Xiang Kun, too, had learned some tricks in discerning the “birds’ language”. He was sure that the girl was right based on the different kinds of chirps he had heard previously in the mountains.
However, more experience and practice was needed to master it.
After a while, Xiang Kun also learned that Assistant Professor Li Yang was actually from the Academy of Life Sciences, and his main research interest lay in the bidirectional relationship between complex microorganisms of significant importance to the natural and artificial environments. He was committed to growing and isolating microorganisms of great functional and application values by improving growing methods and mastering their metabolic features.
Although Xiang Kun had binged on many books in the area of biology, medicine, cell biology, and genetics recently, he couldn’t understand some of it when Li Yang went on about technical terms. Hence, he had to keep asking questions like a student.
Xiang Kun always hoped that he could consult professionals about his own condition, and Prof Li could probably be qualified as a “professional” with his ample amount of knowledge in the field.
Certainly, though, by no means would he confide in Li Yang about his secrets. He simply guided the topic of their conversation to genetic mutations.
“…Prof Li, do you think it’s possible for a mutated bird to increase its size by three times, or even up to six times?”
“Do you mean an individual, or the entire species?”
“Individual, like an owl… or a vulture.”
“Very unlikely. When one’s body is enlarged by three to four times, its weight will increase by more than ten times. This will surely exceed the bearing capacity of their bones and muscles.” Li Yang shook his head. “Even if it did happen, the individual wouldn’t be able to survive, unless its entire body structure and tissue strength has been reinforced too. But individual mutations can never be so stable and ordered.”
“…Then how about mutations among humans? For example, after someone’s digestive system has mutated, his means of energy intake changes too, and so do his organs and other body parts. In the end, his physical abilities could be enhanced…”
“Are you suggesting that the said person has obtained supernatural powers due to mutations?” Li Yang couldn’t help but laugh. “Most of the sudden genetic variations are observed to be random and of low-frequency, and they are more likely to be harmful than beneficial to the host body.”
Li Yang added, “In fact, genetic mutations are observed across all species, and it may happen during any stage of development in any part of the body. It’s completely arbitrary, but very unlikely to occur. It may also produce more than one allele…
“The human body is an intricate, complex, yet steady and organized system. Any changes may harm our body terribly, and manifest themselves as illness or abnormal body features. Brother Xiang, you mentioned that you are a programmer. Would you say that bugs are a good thing to a large, complicated, well-written program like an operating system?”
Xiang Kun thought over it and replied, “All bugs are bad news and need to be fixed for programmers and administrators. But sometimes, bugs may bring benefits to the users…”
Li Yang nodded in agreement. “Indeed. They are bad under most circumstances. Even in the very few cases where they prove to be helpful, their existence puts the stability of the entire system at risk. The same goes for mutations too. Small changes may not affect the human body much, or perhaps they could be advantageous. For instance, if someone with lactose intolerance suddenly starts to secrete lactase, he’ll now be able to enjoy dairy products freely. But big changes to the body system often give rise to much more harm than benefits. A domino effect may even be triggered, resulting in total collapse of the body and even death…
“There is a possibility for superhumans if people manage to master genetic mutations in the future. But now… it’s almost impossible to produce humans with superpowers like those in movies and comic books, solely relying on random mutations alone.”
In fact, Xiang Kun already knew everything that Li Yang had mentioned. However, the strange things that had happened to him and the owl made him unable to believe those textbooks completely.
“Prof Li, do you think there’s a chance that there exists a set of developed mutation mechanisms in nature, but it has always remained hidden inside some people or other creatures? It will only get triggered when certain conditions are fulfilled…”
Li Yang shook his head again. “That’s more like the occult. Writers of fictional works like novels and movies can write about whatever they want so long as the logic flows. But in science, we need evidence. We can’t make up stories without evidence.”
Xiang Kun asked, “What’s your view on vampires, Prof Li?”
“If you are referring to rabies or porphyria, I’m happy to tell you more. Those diseases are documented and there’s been extensive research on their pathology and clinical cases. However, if you are talking about vampires and zombies, they are fundamentally the same as superheroes. They are products of fiction, legends, and myths. There’s no scientific evidence that they exist or ever existed in the real world. Hence, we can only talk about it from the perspective of arts and literature, not science… Well, I enjoyed Interview with the Vampire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula…” Li Yang smiled.
At that moment, Xiang Kun almost had an urge to pull at Li Yang’s collar and scream at him “I’m a vampire and I am the living evidence!”
But it was just a fleeting thought. He would never spill his secret to someone he had just met.
Actually, they had reached the foot of the mountain a long time ago, but Li Sheng had decided to drive Xiang Kun straight to the train station since Xiang Kun and Li Yang were having a heated conversation, and the three of them were heading to the city anyway. The longer journey allowed more time for them to chat.
At the train station, Xiang Kun added Li Yang, Li Sheng, and Little Apple on WeChat and bade them farewell.
As Xiang Kun walked into the ticketing hall, Li Yang shook his head and sighed. “I didn’t expect Brother Xiang to be so obsessed with superheroes even though he’s already in his 30s. Little Apple, what’s that word that you said earlier? What byo?”
“Chunibyo[1],” Little Apple said as she shook her head, “Uncle Xiang is not chunibyo. He seemed to be interested in knowing more about scientific theories related to superheroes and vampires.”
“How’s that possible…” Li Yang laughed.
Li Sheng interjected, “Brother Xiang’s feet are dirty.” After a short pause, he added, “Very dirty.”
“Really?” Li Yang frowned in confusion. Earlier, Li Sheng had gifted Xiang Kun the pair of slippers he was wearing because they had a good talk. Hence, Li Yang knew that Li Sheng was probably hinting at something else, not criticizing Xiang Kun’s unclean feet.
Li Yang thought for a while and soon understood what he meant. “Are you saying that Brother Xiang has walked a long distance bare-footed?”
Li Sheng nodded. “His feet were wrapped in thick, hard soils, so he definitely took a long walk in the mountains. Walking on roads would never get him that much mud. Also, I was there when he washed his feet. There were no wounds at all. That means he has tricks and knows how to avoid obstacles that will hurt his feet. I’m guessing that he purposely didn’t even wear shoes when he entered the mountains.”
“Purposely didn’t wear shoes? Why?” Li Yang asked.
“Maybe he’s really ascetic. Haha, I’d believe that he’s a monk with true Kong Fu if he was wearing a frock,” Li Sheng said with a laugh.
Li Yang shook his head. “He’s a programmer, not some monk. He’s explained that he’s bald because of hair loss…”
Suddenly, Little Apple commented, “Uncle Xiang has no smell.”
That took the other two by surprise. Indeed, anyone would perspire profusely under the 2 PM hot Sun even if he wasn’t moving, let alone trekking across the mountains.
Now that they thought back, Xiang Kun was indeed clean and fresh. Even if his sweat had dried up, there would have been some smell. The two men knew that Little Apple’s sense of smell was sharper than normal people’s, so it had to be true if she said that Xiang Kun didn’t have any sweat smells.
Li Sheng smiled. “This Brother Xiang is an interesting man.”
[1] A Japanese colloquial term, literally translated to “eighth-grader syndrome”, which is often used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur