Chapter 72: Ignorance Doesn’t Mean Nonexistence

Wang Dong remained silent, his expression grim.

‘How big of a psychological shadow do I cast on you,’ Xiao Yu smirked and continued examining the corpse.

What was there to see? 

Corpses don’t lie. In solving crimes, particularly homicides, corpses often reveal numerous clues. Take, for example, the wounds on the deceased’s chest and abdomen. They were very smooth, cleanly cut, without damaging the internal organs.

The deceased had controlled the depth of the cuts while inflicting wounds on himself. How was that possible?

Why did Xiao Yu smile so strangely earlier?

It was because he thought of something intriguing.

Suppose you are out of your mind and want to disembowel yourself. Could you manage the depth of your incisions?

No, even in a clear state of mind, you couldn’t manage that.

So why was the deceased able to do it?

Xiao Yu’s gaze shifted to the head of the deceased, looking at what remained of the bloody ears, his eyes gradually lighting up. The deceased had cut off his own ears, and the ear canals were clogged with blood.

What had he discovered?

“Have you ever considered that someone might have been directing these victims?” Xiao Yu looked at Wang Dong.

“Directing?” Wang Dong was startled, “Impossible. During the time the victims died, we checked all areas around the death sites. We found no suspicious individuals.”

“Does directing someone require physical proximity?” Xiao Yu smirked slightly. “Couldn’t it be done remotely?”

“Remotely?” 

Wang Dong’s expression shifted, and he instantly turned his gaze back to the deceased, staring intently at the bloody ear canal.

The forensic doctor did an on-site autopsy. Five minutes later, a black object the size of a fingernail cap was extracted from the victim’s ear hole. It was a wireless earbud.

Considering the typical Bluetooth range was about ten meters, the National Security acted swiftly, scouring the area around where the victim had died.

An hour later, a national security officer placed a mini MP5 player in front of Xiao Yu.

“Not a cellphone?” 

Xiao Yu was genuinely surprised. He had initially expected it to be a smartphone.

The MP5 player had been found in a drainage well adjacent to the site of the death.

Located six meters from the death scene, the device was capable of connecting to Bluetooth headphones. However, the MP5 player had run out of power at the time.

After half an hour, it had charged enough to be turned on. The player contained only a single audio file. Xiao Yu clicked to play it. A song began to play slowly; it was soothing instrumental music titled, “Sleeping Elf.”

Xiao Yu’s expression froze. He listened to the less-than-three-minute-long music three times over. It was nothing but pure music.

How could this be?

He had theorized that the victims’ self-harming and suicidal actions might have been remotely controlled via the Bluetooth headset. But all that was here was a song?

The victims inflicted pain on themselves with a serene expression while listening to the calming music. Was the manipulation that sophisticated? What kind of madness was this?

Xiao Yu’s expression turned bizarre.

He listened to the song a fourth time, then a fifth, and a sixth… Gradually, the bizarre expression on his face shifted to astonishment, then to surprise, and finally settled into a chilling coldness.

“What did you find?” Wang Dong asked, seeing Xiao Yu’s expression change.

“I didn’t expect it to really be…” Xiao Yu’s face kept shifting as he uttered two words, “Hypnosis.”

“Impossible.” Wang Dong shook his head decisively. “Although I’m not an expert in hypnosis, National Security has thoroughly investigated it. We even considered it, but hypnosis absolutely cannot achieve such a result.”

“I know.” Xiao Yu nodded. “Firstly, pain would awaken someone who is hypnotized. Secondly, it cannot compel the hypnotized person to act against their psychological inclinations. Thirdly, it initially involves establishing trust and cooperation with the hypnotized individual through respect, listening, and empathy. National Security hasn’t identified any significant suspects around the deceased, so that’s why you don’t believe it?”

Wang Dong was silent, staring at Xiao Yu in shock.

“Don’t be surprised,” Xiao Yu said, looking towards the MP5 player. “Psychology, I’m quite proficient at it.”

This wasn’t just an empty boast, he genuinely excelled at it now.

“Since you know all this, why do you still say it’s hypnosis?” Wang Dong was perplexed.

“The rules of the world don’t stop to exist just because we’re unaware of them,” Xiao Yu shook his head, his gaze becoming somewhat distant, “Could it be a drug?”

He had analyzed it before. Hypnosis combined with drugs could indeed control someone to self-mutilate or commit suicide. But ultimately, Xiao Yu still dismissed this theory as too far-fetched.

First, only a top-level master of hypnosis could achieve this.

Second, a drug that eradicated pain sensation, induced hallucinations, and allowed free movement… did such a drug truly exist?

And most crucially, without any direct contact with the deceased, how could the drug have been administered? What method was used to hypnotize them?

But as he had just pointed out, ignorance does not imply nonexistence. There are many things in the world we do not know and cannot understand.

Xiao Yu was not arrogant enough to think he knew everything. The issue was that this method was utterly unscientific.

***

At night, in a hotel suite, Xiao Yu sat in front of a coffee table, listening to the song “Sleeping Elf.”

Dang, dang, dang…

His fingers rhythmically tapped on the coffee table in time with the music’s beat.

“Control through code words? No.”

“Control through pitch? Wrong.”

One by one, criminal hypotheses formed in Xiao Yu’s mind, only to be rejected.

“It’s still not possible.” 

Regaining his focus, Xiao Yu exhaled a long breath and muttered to himself, “Even though I now have the ability of a psychologist and can use hypnosis, it’s absolutely impossible to achieve this level. The abilities given by the system should be top-notch, right? Could your hypnosis be more powerful than the capabilities provided by the system?”

Indeed, from the moment the system endowed him with psychologist expertise, Xiao Yu had been able to use hypnosis.

However, this ability definitely couldn’t be used carelessly. It was crucial not to use it in front of National Security personnel. Nonetheless, Xiao Yu could utilize his psychological skills to infer the level of the other party’s hypnosis.

Could it really be that someone in this world could surpass even a system-like cheat?

As Xiao Yu played the music once more, he suddenly froze.

Wait a minute…

“Inputting?”

This word struck Xiao Yu’s mind like lightning, igniting a burst of inspiration.

Inputting didn’t necessarily involve people. There seemed to be many other ways to accomplish it.