Chapter 81: The Terror of Hypnosis

Xiao Yu couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

As He Yu’s voice morphed, sounding now like a mother, now a lover, now a daughter, now a friend, Xiao Yu gradually closed his eyes. His face relaxed as though deep in peaceful slumber. 

The spinning of the paper cup stopped, and a peculiar smile crept onto He Yu’s cheeks.

“Now, I’m your friend, aren’t I?” she whispered softly.

“You are my… friend,” Xiao Yu murmured, his eyes closed, his voice gentle as if he were asleep.

Wang Dong, who had been watching the scene unfold, felt a chill run down his spine, his hair standing on end. National Security had once dealt with a particularly strange case involving hypnosis.

A seven-year-old girl who didn’t know the ways of hypnosis had accidentally used a hypnotic suggestion.

It had led to a tragedy.

The incident occurred eight years prior. When the girl was five, she loved playing games with her mother and sister. She told her mother, “You are a cat.”

The mother responded to her daughter, “I am a cat,” and began pretending to be a cat, playfully engaging her daughter.

The girl told her elder sister, “You are a bird.”

The elder sister replied to her younger sister: “I am a bird,” and pretended to be a bird, playing with her sister.

This was nothing more than an ordinary game. 

However, after playing this game continuously for two years, things began to take a strange turn.

The mother’s behavior increasingly resembled that of a cat. She started to prefer eating fish and raw meat.

The elder sister’s behavior also became odd. She occasionally flapped her arms as if they were wings, chirped like a bird, and enjoyed standing on the balcony gazing at the sky.

Eventually, one day, the mother lost her sanity. She declared herself a cat, insisting on eating only cat food, fish, and raw meat. And then… she wanted to eat her elder daughter. Because in her deranged mind, her daughter was a bird.

Shocked and confused, the elder sister also descended into madness. Running from her mother’s pursuit, she ran to the balcony, spread her arms, and tried to fly away.

Believing she was a cat, the mother frantically chased after what she perceived as a bird. In her madness, she lunged at her daughter, reaching into the air.

The mother and sister fell to their deaths. 

And all this was caused by a seven-year-old girl. A girl who knew nothing about hypnosis, who within just two years, hypnotized her mother into believing she was a cat and her sister into thinking she was a bird. 

It was a real-life case.

***

Ordinary people seldom knew it. The most familiar person, the closest person, the one you least guard against—the impact of their psychological suggestions could be profound.  Such people’s words constantly and subtly influence your psyche, just as parents shape their offspring. 

A child will always bear traces of their parents.

Consider a close couple. They habitually mimic each other’s behaviors and mannerisms. Even their appearances could start to change, making them increasingly resemble each other. The phenomena of psychological suggestion could be terrifyingly powerful, far beyond what most people would imagine.

Few realize just how horrifying real hypnosis can be. For instance…

“Open your eyes,” He Yu said.

Xiao Yu’s eyes snapped open, vacant and void of any spirit, as if his soul had been stripped away.

“My friend, stand up,” He Yu continued.

Xiao Yu stood up like a puppet, a mere instrument obeying commands.

“Haha!” He Yu laughed, her smile twisting into something grotesque. 

She turned her head to look at Wang Dong, who was visibly shocked, and said softly, “My friend, this man has done many terrible things to me. He r*ped me, imprisoned me, tortured me. He wants to kill me, save me, you must stop him from killing me. Kill him!”

Hypnosis cannot make a person act against their deep-seated beliefs. 

Directly compelling a hypnotized person to commit murder was impossible.

However, it was possible to manipulate them. To make the hypnotized person believe someone was evil, unforgivably vile, and brutally violent, portraying that person as a threat who wanted to commit murder.

What happens when the hypnotized has no psychological barriers or contradictions about their actions?

As Wang Dong looked on in horror, Xiao Yu began walking towards him.

Wang Dong recoiled, terror etched across his face.

Why was he so frightened?

Because he knew Xiao Yu. He knew just how terrifying Xiao Yu could be.

The most telling evidence was in a dossier. This dossier clearly detailed how Xiao Yu had once faced off against eight burly, muscular men alone. Seven of them attacked him and were instantly knocked down, utterly powerless to resist. The eighth muscular man had both his arms broken.

Can you imagine the level of mastery in combat needed to achieve that?

If you were in a small room with such a person, and he came at you with intent to kill, what would you think?

A palpable dread fermented and spread throughout the air in the interrogation room.

Suddenly, Xiao Yu stopped in his tracks and lowered his head.

“No, mere hypnosis like this can’t compel a person to self-harm,” he said. “This matches my deductions. Even with utmost cruelty, one with inherently weak psychological resilience, untempered by specific mental conditioning, can’t be directed to self-mutilate, to eat themselves. Murder is her ultimate limit! Therefore, it can’t be her.”

These words, almost like a murmur, escaped Xiao Yu’s lips.

Wang Dong was speechless, his confusion clear.

‘What’s happening?’

He Yu’s face drained of color as she stared in horror at Xiao Yu, who was bowing his head. 

“You…”

“Wondering how I woke up from the hypnosis?” Xiao Yu lifted his head, his gaze cold as he fixed it on He Yu. “When it comes to psychology and hypnosis, I’m not trying to belittle you, but in front of me, you’re nothing but trash.”

He Yu was dumbfounded, staring blankly at Xiao Yu. 

Suddenly, a shiver ran through her, and she trembled violently, her voice hoarse as she shrieked, “A master of psychology?!”

“Master of psychology?” Xiao Yu’s expression turned peculiar. “No, I’m not.”

Indeed, he was no master of psychology. The ‘psychology expert’ status granted by the system was far more powerful and terrifying than any so-called master of psychology.

“Fuck!” Wang Dong couldn’t hold back anymore. He exploded with a curse, glaring at Xiao Yu as he bellowed, “Are you insane? You nearly scared me to death!”

“Sorry, it was just for an experiment,” Xiao Yu smiled. “Without conducting this experiment, I wouldn’t have been able to assess her hypnotic abilities. Unfortunately, her skills are only slightly better than a basic hypnotist. She doesn’t even qualify as a psychological expert. She’s definitely incapable of controlling someone to the extent of self-harm or cannibalism.”

Hypnotists were categorized into different levels within the industry, such as hypnotist, hypnotic expert, and hypnotic master, all broadly classified under psychotherapists. Titles did not equate to capabilities, they simply indicated the general scope of one’s hypnotic abilities.

For instance, a basic hypnotist might need several auxiliary tools to carry out hypnosis. A hypnotic expert could use verbal cues and gestures to hypnotize. Only a hypnotic master was capable of inducing instant hypnosis.

It’s important to remember that hypnosis is not magic or sorcery. 

Although the results could be profoundly disturbing once successful, hypnotizing a person without building familiarity, empathy, trust, and lowering their psychological defenses is virtually impossible.