Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Upon hearing Zhuang Li say that his cultivation was insufficient to locate the object, the woman’s last breath immediately deflated. However, the next moment, Zhuang Li said that he could summon the local earth god to help find the object, and the woman’s heart, which had sunk to the bottom, soared again.
She could no longer discern whether the young man’s cultivation was deep or shallow, high or low. Her already chaotic thoughts became even more turbulent, turning upside down and becoming a complete mess.
She was completely unaware that her brain was overloaded with information, losing its sharp judgment and thinking ability, and that this state was most suitable for hypnosis.
Zhuang Li stared at her bloodshot eyes and slowly said, “Please stare at this incense stick without blinking. When the smoke begins to sway violently, the City God will arrive. He will lead you to find what you have lost.”
Zhuang Li took out an incense stick from his satchel, lit it with a tinderbox, and stuck it into a crack in the ground by the street.
The woman stared intently at the burning incense sticks.
Everyone around stared intently, unconsciously holding their breath.
More and more people were drawn to this scene and then stared intently at the incense stick.
The once bustling street became unusually quiet at this moment, and the flow of people passing by seemed to freeze in this small corner, as if Zhuang Li had cast some kind of spell to stop the world from functioning.
In a teahouse across the street, a young man dressed in a tight-fitting outfit noticed this strange scene and turned around to say, “Your Highness, come and see! There are people across the street putting on a show, and it’s quite a spectacle. I wonder how this will end.”
A moment later, a very tall but unusually thin man walked to the window and casually looked across the street.
The incense sticks were still burning, and the slowly rising wisps of smoke ascended straight up in the still air.
7480 lowered his voice and asked, “Master, have the gods arrived?”
Zhuang Li lowered his brows slightly, his expression solemn, as if he were waiting for a god to descend. However, in reality, he chuckled to himself, “I haven’t invited a god.”
7480: “…”
“If you can’t summon the gods, how are you going to clean up this mess?” 7480 was impressed by its host.
“In such an open riverside area, the wind will always come. When the wind comes, the smoke from the incense sticks will sway violently. As the smoke sways, the woman will naturally believe that the gods have arrived. The authority of the gods far surpasses that of any hypnotist, and the woman will immediately enter a state of self-hypnosis.”
“In fact, the deity I invoked is in her heart and in her subconscious. Her brain has forgotten where the lost thing went, but her subconscious has not.”
“With just a little guidance, she will recall the details of the day she lost her things and find clues. Now, everything is ready except for the final push.”
Just as Zhuang Li finished speaking, a small whirlwind swept over from the riverbank, carrying a faint, salty smell, as if some invisible person was quietly approaching.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spine.
What was originally a natural reaction to the wind became, in this eerie scene, irrefutable evidence of a divine descent. The bustling street corner fell silent, and everyone froze on the spot.
Zhuang Li pointed to the violently shaking blue smoke and guided the conversation at the opportune moment: “The gods have arrived.”
This psychological suggestion was like a giant hammer, smashing open everyone’s defenses.
So everyone immediately accepted this explanation.
The woman was even more convinced. Her pupils dilated as she stared at the blue smoke, her nerves stretched to the limit, leaving her in a state of information overload.
To quickly hypnotize a subject, the first method is to give them an extreme relaxation experience, and the second method is to overwhelm their mind with an overwhelming amount of information, making them more receptive to psychological suggestion.
Zhuang Li used the second method. He touched the woman’s forehead from a distance and said in a deep voice, “Close your eyes.”
This was another hypnotic technique called the touch technique, which was a type of operant hypnosis. It involved using touch to help the subject quickly enter a state of tranquility.
A mysterious feeling enveloped her brow, and the woman immediately closed her eyes.
Zhuang Li slowly said, “The deity is hovering above your head. When you fall asleep, He will guide your soul back to the day you lost the thing, taking you to relive every moment of that time. Listen carefully, look carefully, understand?”
The woman, with her eyes closed, slowly replied, “I understand.”
Zhuang Li said in a deep voice, “Now, I will count from one to five, and you will slowly fall asleep. After you fall asleep, your soul will float out from above your head and follow the gods back to the past to find what you have lost.”
“First, your breathing is becoming lighter and slower, and sleepiness is slowly creeping in; second, your eyelids are becoming heavy, and your soul had begun to drift towards the top of your head; third, you now feel very weak and very tired; fourth, you will now fall asleep and sleep very soundly; fifth, your soul will leave your body and, guided by the gods, return to the past, where you will relive every detail of that day.”
As Zhuang Li narrated his story like a clear stream in an empty valley, the woman closed her eyes and fell asleep.
For some reason, the onlookers also felt sleepy. Several people had their eyes closed and their consciousness was blurred, but then their heads slumped down, and they were abruptly startled awake.
The atmosphere was so eerie! It really felt like a deity hovering above their heads, trying to take their souls away.
“My goodness! This scholar is truly a master!”
“Luckily we didn’t go and ruin his signboard!”
“Let’s look again, let’s look again. If this woman can find her things, that would be truly miraculous!”
People whispered among themselves, discussing the matter animatedly, their anticipation for what was to come growing stronger.
Zhuang Li’s slender fingertips still touched the woman’s brow from a distance, and he asked in a deep voice, “That morning, when you woke up from your dream, the gods were beside you, guiding you. What did you see?”
The woman replied in a daze, “The spirits showed me my dressing case.”
“Is that thing still there?” Zhuang Li wasn’t curious about the lost valuables, and since the woman didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t ask.
“It’s still here,” the woman nodded affirmatively.
“When did it disappear? Let the gods tell you,” Zhuang Li continued to instruct.
This spirit was actually the woman’s subconscious mind; it remembered everything she had experienced and never forgot. The human subconscious possessed unimaginable superpowers, which was why Zhuang Li called it a spirit.
There was a god hidden in everyone’s heart.
The woman’s memory raced forward like a movie. She saw herself opening her dressing case, taking out the enormous pearl earrings, and happily putting them on; she saw herself leaving the courtyard to visit every friend she knew, showing off the precious earrings; she saw herself returning home, hearing that her husband had come back early, and hurriedly crossing the flower-lined path to the backyard to cover up her day of showing off.
She saw a twig glide across her cheek, knocking off one of her earrings; she saw herself panicking and running away without looking back; she saw herself rushing to the backyard before the master returned to his room, trying to remove her earrings in front of the mirror, only to find one of them missing…
The woman’s sleeping face showed expressions of shock, panic, and sudden realization.
Only then did Zhuang Li ask in a deep voice, “Did you find it?”
Two streams of tears slowly flowed from the woman’s closed eyes, but her tone was light and joyful: “Found it! The spirit is standing by the path, pointing at it. Found it!”
“I’ll count to five, then you can wake up…”
Zhuang Li’s fingertips remained hovering between the woman’s eyebrows, as if calming her soul, as he slowly counted from one to five.
The woman opened her tightly closed eyes, then revealed an expression of ecstatic joy. “Master, I know where that thing is! Master, you are truly amazing! Is this gold ingot enough? I also have a jade pendant.” The woman hurriedly untied the jade pendant from her waist.
Zhuang Li returned the gold ingot as well, saying in a gentle tone, “You can reward me after the item is found.”
His calm demeanor and remarkable bearing made the woman increasingly convinced.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go back to get the things right away. Please wait a moment, Master.” The woman hurriedly ran off. Some onlookers followed her, eager to see the excitement, while others remained on the street, looking at Zhuang Li with a mixture of respect and awe.
Many people tried to grab the small stool in front of him, asking him to tell their fortunes, but he refused them all without hesitation.
Zhuang Li closed his eyes and said calmly, “The séance has exhausted too much of my power. I need to rest for a while.”
The crowd immediately fell silent, quietly retreating to the side to wait, not daring to utter another word of doubt.
They all personally experienced the descent of the gods just now, and their souls were almost led away by the gods. This was not a trick!
Zhuang Lao Er was stunned. He slowly walked up behind his son and asked in a low voice, “Da Bao, did you really invite the gods? When did you learn Taoist magic? How come your father didn’t know?”
“I read it in a book. Don’t worry, Father, I’m not lying,” Zhuang Li said earnestly, opening his eyes.
Zhuang Lao Er unconditionally trusted his son, so he didn’t ask any questions and sat aside, staring at the street corner, waiting for the woman to return.
The woman lived right by the dock; her family owned a jewelry shop, and so the round trip took less than fifteen minutes.
She left in a hurry looking disheveled, but when she returned, her clothes were clean, her hair was neatly combed, and she had a bright smile on her face.
“Master, I’ve found it! This is your reward. Thank you so much this time!” The woman took out two small gold ingots and a high-quality bracelet, her voice booming.
Having cleared her name, she regained her confidence and stood taller than anyone else.
“Be careful in the future.” Zhuang Li accepted the payment generously.
“Yes, yes, I will definitely be careful in the future. Thank you so much, Master.” The woman bowed repeatedly and thanked him profusely before leaving happily.
When people asked her what had gone missing, she simply waved her hand and didn’t answer. Those who went to her house to see what was going on couldn’t even get in the door and were all completely baffled.
The tall man standing on the opposite teahouse was so engrossed in watching that he finally turned around and asked curiously, “What did she lose?”
The guard who had accompanied the woman to the jewelry shop to gather information had returned and bowed to report: “The wife of Governor Qin sent a pair of pearl earrings to her family’s jewelry shop for maintenance. She liked them and secretly wore them outside to show them off. On her way home, they were knocked off by a tree branch and fell into the bushes. She just returned and found them.”
“Those pearl earrings were a gift from the emperor, priceless. If they were lost, her whole family would have to pay with their lives. That’s why she was so distraught and sought help from ghosts and gods.”
“Believe it or not, the gods really helped her find it! This young gentleman is a master!” another guard exclaimed sincerely.
The other guards also showed expressions of awe.
The tall man stared at the extraordinary young man standing in the crowd and suddenly became interested. “Let’s go, I’ll have my fortune told by him too.”
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