Chapter 156: Teaching You a Few Tricks

The car arrived at Angel Hospital, and Ah Qi went to park while Ah Jiu followed Xianyu Qing to the Angel Research Department.

Yuan Man's assistant, Amy, was waiting downstairs and stated that only Xianyu Qing was allowed to enter.

Ah Jiu immediately protested, "My boss told me to protect her, so I have to stay within arm's reach. Otherwise, who takes the responsibility if something goes wrong?"

Amy, being rather rigid about rules, replied, "Sorry, the Research Department is not a place just anyone can enter!"

Hearing English instantly infuriated Ah Jiu, "I am not just anyone, I am a bodyguard now!"

Amy insisted, "Sorry, even bodyguards are not allowed."

"You damn..." Ah Jiu couldn't help swearing.

Xianyu Qing quickly stepped in to mediate, "The rules of the Research Department are quite strict, and it's very safe here. You can wait for me downstairs, it'll be fine."

Hearing this, Ah Jiu let out a huff and angrily sat down on a chair in the lobby waiting area.

Amy shrugged and remarked, "Miss Xianyu, your bodyguard certainly has quite a temper!"

Xianyu Qing gave an awkward smile without saying anything, then followed Amy up to the psychiatric research laboratory.

As soon as Yuan Man saw Xianyu Qing, she resorted to her usual banter, "My dear little cutie, I've finally managed to look forward to your arrival. If a certain someone isn't here, you never think of coming to see me, do you?"

Xianyu Qing showed little reaction; she had long since grown accustomed to Yuan Man's teasing.

After exchanging some casual remarks, Yuan Man led Xianyu Qing into her private studio.

This time, Nangong Ao was not the one arranging psychological therapy for Xianyu Qing. He had informed Yuan Man that Xianyu Qing was able to break free from hypnosis on her own, and hoped Yuan Man could figure out the reason behind it.

From her very first encounter with Xianyu Qing, Yuan Man had discovered that she could not only resist her hypnosis, but also unconsciously pull others into the illusions she created.

Yuan Man figured she probably wouldn't be able to find the exact cause, but she could try helping Xianyu Qing learn how to control that "special ability" of hers.

Xianyu Qing expressed her confusion at Yuan Man's suggestion, "But I don't know anything about hypnosis!"

Yuan Man explained to her, "Hypnosis is about gradually getting the other person to lower their guard against you and willingly surrender their entire being to you."

"..." Xianyu Qing listened with a hazy, half-understanding expression.

Since Yuan Man couldn't possibly give her a full psychology lecture, she used Xianyu Qing's own situation as an example, "Think back. In your dreams, is there any particular scene, object, or person that keeps appearing repeatedly?"

Xianyu Qing pondered carefully for a moment and replied, "Every time I enter a dream, there seems to be a cluster of blue light lingering in the air not far ahead."

Yuan Man instructed her, "Later, after I help you enter a dream, see if it appears again. If it does, try telling yourself that it is merely an illusion."

Xianyu Qing was puzzled. How could a person who is dreaming talk to themselves inside the dream?

Nevertheless, she wanted to give it a try according to Yuan Man's instructions.

Because Xianyu Qing already felt a sense of trust toward Yuan Man, the hypnosis succeeded quite quickly this time.

However, the moment Xianyu Qing fell asleep, Yuan Man unconsciously followed her into the illusionary realm.

It was that same snowy valley. This time, she was running continuously across the thick snow, as if several invisible hands were chasing her from behind, while the path ahead seemed to stretch endlessly no matter how much she ran.

That faint blue light was still floating in the air, following right behind her.

For the very first time, Xianyu Qing stopped running and looked up at it. To her surprise, it slowly drifted closer and closer to her.

Until she could clearly see from within that blue light that Yuan Man was running endlessly across the snowy landscape, just as she had been doing moments ago.

Even more incredibly, she felt as though she had transformed into that cluster of blue light, capable of moving freely through the air.

At that moment, she remembered Yuan Man's words: This is merely an illusion.

Abruptly, she snapped back to full awareness.

Looking at Yuan Man sitting right across from her, her eyes were closed and she sat motionless, as if she had fallen asleep upright.

Xianyu Qing waited for a long time, but Yuan Man still hadn't woken up. Beads of sweat had even begun to form faintly on her forehead, so Xianyu Qing gently called out, "Dr. Yuan?"

Yuan Man suddenly snapped her eyes open, wearing a lingering look of terror.

Xianyu Qing felt strange and asked, "Dr. Yuan, are you alright?"

Far from alright!

Had Xianyu Qing not called out to wake her, she would have been trapped inside that dreamscape with no way out. Compared to last time, Xianyu Qing's hypnotic ability seemed to have grown even stronger.

Yuan Man gathered her thoughts slightly and said to Xianyu Qing, "My dear, I must congratulate you now: you possess a special ability, which is the power to instantly pull other people into dreams."

Xianyu Qing was speechless: "..."

How come she had no idea about this herself?

Yuan Man continued, "In the past, you never realized you possessed this ability, so you failed to notice its existence. This is also a form of hypnosis. From now on, you can learn to control and utilize this ability. Not only can this protect yourself, but it can also become an extraordinary skill of yours!"

Xianyu Qing was utterly bewildered: "But how am I supposed to control it?"

Yuan Man pointed at herself, "Just now, how did you do it to me?"

"You mean, I hypnotized you just now?" Xianyu Qing asked, half-doubting.

She hadn't done anything at all!

Then, recalling the scene from her dream earlier, she wondered if that was what it meant to be able to hypnotize someone.

"My dear, this ability of yours can only be learned and controlled by yourself; I cannot help you much with it," Yuan Man told her. "However, no matter how powerful an ability is, you must use it with caution. Otherwise, the damage to your own psyche will be immense, okay?"

Xianyu Qing nodded with a vague understanding, "Okay."

-------

Emerging from the Angel Research Department, Xianyu Qing sat silently in the car the entire way, and Ah Jiu was equally sullen.

Ah Qi cleared his throat, attempting to liven up the atmosphere, "Young Miss, I feel that girls are at a slight disadvantage in close-combat strength. It might be better to switch to ranged attacks, like flying daggers or something similar."

As someone trained in martial arts, Ah Qi couldn't converse on other topics and only understood matters related to martial arts.

Ah Jiu couldn't help rolling his eyes at Ah Qi: *Are you out of your mind, talking about martial arts with such a delicate young lady?*

"I don't know how," Xianyu Qing replied honestly.

Old Gu had said that teaching her martial arts was purely for self-defense, so he didn't teach her hidden weapons because hidden weapons could hurt people. But now, she wanted not only to protect herself, but also to protect others.

Ah Qi grinned and said, "If the Young Miss doesn't mind, I can teach you a few moves."

Hearing this, Xianyu Qing instantly became interested, "Really? Great!"

Ah Jiu scoffed, "Martial arts aren't just something to play around with. The young lady should stick to playing the piano, painting, or dancing."

Xianyu Qing didn't take Ah Jiu's sarcasm to heart and discussed it with Ah Qi, "I'm starting my classes tomorrow. I'll have an hour after dinner. Would that be convenient for you, Mr. Qi?"

Hearing herself addressed as "Mr. Qi" left Ah Qi feeling thoroughly gratified and pleased, "I have no problem with that."

Ah Jiu curled his lip in disgust and muttered under his breath, "Nothing better to do with your time!"