Chapter 289: Who Do You Think You’re Underestimating?

The scalpel missed.

Jiang Xin froze.

The man had clearly been right in front of her. She was certain she stabbed him. So why had it missed?

No, it wasn’t that the blade didn’t land on his body.

Jiang Xin blinked, and in that moment, Xiao Yu was no longer in front of her.

A look of shock spread across her face as she exclaimed, “Psychological suggestion? Gaze induction. You’re a hypnotist too?”

“Figured it out?” Xiao Yu’s voice came from the side. “You’re truly impressive. I didn’t even realize I was being psychologically induced. No, it wasn’t just suggestion. It was dual-direction psychological induction. Both sides using words, actions, perceptions, and thoughts to guide each other through gaze induction. This is the first time I’ve encountered it. Almost got caught off guard.”

What was gaze induction?

It was a method that manipulated a subject’s attention and redirected their mental focus and visual connection.

Many people have heard the saying: The eyes are the windows to the soul.

This is true.

What a person sees is immediately analyzed by their mind, allowing them to identify what they’re looking at in an instant.

Gaze induction took advantage of this psychological principle, temporarily severing the connection between what the eyes saw and what the mind processed. This put the subject in an induced state, creating a disparity between their visual perception and their psychological understanding.

However, in most cases, when psychologists used gaze induction, the cruder approach was to simply have the subject close their eyes.

With the eyes no longer seeing, hypnosis became much easier to induce. As soon as the hypnotized subject closed their eyes, further suggestions could be applied.

Both individuals were psychologists, and both were simultaneously using induction techniques.

This situation was indeed unprecedented.

Dual-direction psychological induction, dual-direction psychological suggestion, and even dual-direction hypnosis.

Xiao Yu focused entirely on using psychological induction.

Jiang Xin, too, was fully focused on using psychological induction.

Since both were entirely focused on the other, their internal psychological defenses weakened.

This led to a bizarre phenomenon:

Both simultaneously severed the connection between their eyes and their minds.

Both simultaneously fell victim to psychological suggestion!

Even Xiao Yu hadn’t anticipated such a situation.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how strong Jiang Xin’s psychological induction, suggestions, or hypnosis might be, it wouldn’t have succeeded. It was the perfect example of what happens when one tried to outsmart someone. You might end up being outsmarted yourself.

Hurt your enemy by a thousand, but suffer eight hundred in return.

The moment Xiao Yu’s voice rang out, Jiang Xin’s arm lashed out with the scalpel, stabbing toward the source of his voice.

“Die!”

Xiao Yu’s voice sounded again. “Just now, I didn’t just use gaze induction. I also used mental imagery techniques and mutual hypnosis methods. You’re a psychologist. You know what those are, right?”

Jiang Xin’s expression froze, her hand holding the scalpel halted mid-air. Her voice trembled as she exclaimed, “How is that possible?!”

“Yes, you also know it’s impossible, don’t you?” Standing in front of Jiang Xin with a cheerful smile, Xiao Yu glanced at the scalpel that hadn’t stabbed forward. He blinked and said, “If I tell you I was lying, will I get hit?”

Jiang Xin, “…”

She realized she’d been tricked. Once again, she had been led astray by his words.

If she had actually stabbed him just now…

“It’s too late.”

Xiao Yu grabbed Jiang Xin’s wrist, his hand tightening as he prepared to break it.

But then—

Jiang Xin laughed, a twisted, grotesque grin spreading across her face.

It was Xiao Yu’s turn to freeze. He suddenly felt an enormous force coming from the wrist he was holding—far beyond what a normal person should possess. A single thought flashed through his mind.

‘Nine strikes to cut a living person into nine pieces?’

That was something no average adult could accomplish. Someone capable of such a feat must have physical strength far exceeding the norm.

It was another mistake.

As Jiang Xin wrenched her wrist free from his grasp, Xiao Yu silently reflected.

He had underestimated her again. His mind had unconsciously equated her physical abilities with those of an ordinary woman. It was the arrogance of men instinctively underestimating women’s strength. It was a conceit born from hubris.

Whoosh!

A long leg sliced through the air in a sharp arc, aiming straight for Xiao Yu’s head.

Fast, sudden, and ferociously unexpected—this was Jiang Xin.

From a seemingly harmless little white rabbit to a venomous snake in an instant.

But what use was it?

Xiao Yu’s own leg shot up as well, mirroring Jiang Xin’s kick almost perfectly.

A dull thud echoed as the sound of bones colliding reverberated through the air.

Jiang Xin’s lower leg snapped. She let out a scream, stumbling backward before collapsing to the ground.

‘What incredible strength.’

Xiao Yu retracted his leg, narrowing his eyes. The pain in his leg quickly gave way to numbness. He could barely feel it anymore. And this was despite using his Bear’s Strength skill. It was clear that her strength had far surpassed that of an average man. She must have undergone professional, systematic training.

‘What a terrifying woman.’

But what shocked Xiao Yu even more was what happened next.

Jiang Xin, with her fractured left leg, used her arms and her remaining right leg to launch herself off the rooftop floor with explosive force, hurtling toward him.

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes.

Twisting his waist, he swung his leg in a powerful arc, like a battle axe slicing toward the charging Jiang Xin.

But—

A faint glimmer of cold light accompanied the horizontal slash of Jiang Xin’s arm, targeting Xiao Yu’s incoming leg.

An intense sense of danger shot through Xiao Yu’s mind.

‘Damn it!’

He abruptly stopped his attack and pulled his leg back. A scalpel sliced past his leg, missing it by a hair’s breadth.

What was the point of dodging?

Xiao Yu didn’t retreat, instead, he charged forward. As he dodged the scalpel, he surged beneath Jiang Xin’s guard.

The two bodies collided with force.

Xiao Yu’s fist struck Jiang Xin’s armpit with a solid, resounding impact.

“Ugh!”

Jiang Xin’s breathing halted, her face contorted in pain. The armpit is one of the human body’s weakest points. No matter how strong a person is, it’s an area that cannot be trained. The intense pain left Jiang Xin’s body limp and powerless.

A hand shot out like lightning. Jiang Xin’s neck was seized, and she was lifted high into the air.

“Strong, skilled in combat, knowledgeable in psychology, intelligent… but so what? Compared to another criminal I’ve dealt with, you’re leagues behind.”

As Jiang Xin thrashed her limbs in midair, Xiao Yu spoke calmly, his voice unwavering, “You’re far too confident.”

With a flick of his arm, he tossed the now half-conscious Jiang Xin, her eyes rolling back, to the ground.

“Cough, cough… Is that so?”

Jiang Xin coughed violently, but amidst it, she began to laugh. Her gritted teeth and sinister expression sent chills down one’s spine.

Xiao Yu was taken aback. It was then he realized they were standing near the edge of the rooftop.

In an instant, Jiang Xin used both hands and her one functional leg to push herself off the ledge, flipping over the edge.

Xiao Yu could clearly see the mocking and contemptuous expression on her face. That look seemed to say: You’re trash. Not worth a shred of my respect.

Her expression taunted him further: Even if you know everything, so what? Can you stop me from dying? You still can’t catch me.

A hand reached out again, grabbing Jiang Xin by the neck.

The mockery and contempt on her face froze. She was yanked back onto the rooftop, dangling like a helpless chick.

“With me here, even dying is a luxury you can’t afford.” Xiao Yu looked at Jiang Xin, whose face now displayed utter disbelief. “Who the hell do you think you’re underestimating?”