Hypnosis

"My guards acted rashly and lacked flexibility. If you felt offended, I sincerely apologize and will make it up to you. I hope you can forgive them."

Xiaowalus bowed to Ye Chen in apology. His words and manner were elegant and courteous, and he possessed an innate air of nobility. He certainly lived up to his upbringing in a lord's distinguished family.

"It's all right. I don't mind."

Ye Chen shook his head, then studied Xiaowalus's pale, gaunt face for a moment before lowering his voice.

"More importantly, let's talk business. I'm sure the gatekeeper has already told you who I am, so you should also understand why I came to visit."

At that, Xiaowalus's kindly expression changed abruptly. The corner of his eye twitched with barely contained excitement.

"Of course. Of course! Messenger, please, come with me. We'll talk inside—take our time and talk inside!"

He clasped his hands before his chest and ushered Ye Chen into the house in a trembling voice. His eyes and the corners of his mouth contorted into exaggerated arcs of joy and excitement. He treated Ye Chen with the utmost warmth and respect.

Simply claiming to be the Messenger of the Abyss had been enough to make the noble Lord of Frost White City so ecstatic. It was hard to imagine just how fanatically he revered the Abyss.

Clearly, the Abyss had severely eroded Xiaowalus's mind, to the point that he saw nothing wrong with summoning it to destroy the world.

The Abyss had utterly transformed Xiaowalus's values, but his fanaticism was just what Ye Chen needed for his plan.

After all, Ye Chen was the Hunter, and Xiaowalus was his prey.

Tonight, deep in the night, it would be time to hunt.

When the time came, Ye Chen would help Xiaowalus escape his madness and obsession—forever.

Ye Chen followed Xiaowalus into the mansion's grand reception hall. He walked across soft, exquisite carpets woven with golden thread, passed through bright corridors lined with priceless paintings, and exchanged greetings with countless servants who bowed to Xiaowalus and himself. Then he climbed a pristine, ornate spiral staircase and arrived at a spacious room in the center of the mansion's second floor.

Ye Chen entered and briefly surveyed the room.

Several rows of bookshelves crammed with documents stood along either side, while a desk occupied the center. A heap of papers lay in disarray across its surface.

"Sorry about the mess. This is where I conduct most of my research into the Abyss Summoning Ritual. Your visit was rather sudden, so I haven't had time to organize the papers. I hope you don't mind."

The Lord smiled apologetically at the young man, his manner entirely sincere.

Judging by what Xiaowalus had said, the documents and materials in this study must all be connected to summoning the Abyss. In other words, Xiaowalus had spent years holed up here, day and night, poring over a sea of texts, all for the sake of summoning the Abyss and destroying every living thing in the Eternal Winter Hidden Domain.

Ye Chen remained silent. His gaze shifted, and his attention suddenly caught on a glass display case at the back of the study.

Inside lay a firearm, silver-gray overall, its surface engraved with ornate patterns and its shape resembling a rifle.

Compared to an ordinary rifle, though, it looked longer and more rugged, and radiated a distinctive air of precision.

Xiaowalus noticed Ye Chen's gaze and began explaining with a smile.

"I had the gunsmiths in the city specially make this sniper rifle when I was young. Its power and range far surpass those of ordinary rifles. I keep it in this study as a kind of good-luck charm. Of course, if you take a liking to it, Messenger, I'd be happy to give it to you once we've successfully summoned the Abyss. After all, there'll be no need for it then. Hahaha!"

After finishing his joke, Xiaowalus invited Ye Chen to sit on the sofa before the desk and poured him a glass of red wine to show his hospitality.

When Ye Chen showed no interest and raised a hand to decline, Xiaowalus took the hint and drank it himself.

Xiaowalus took a sip from his glass, then spoke with a grin.

"Goodness, I've spent years studying the Abyss day and night, researching it, and using prisoners' corpses for human sacrifices, yet I've accomplished nothing."

"Then, just as I was growing discouraged, you appeared, claiming to be the Messenger of the Abyss!"

"Could it be that the Abyss sensed my devotion and sent you to accept me? Hehehe."

Ye Chen shook his head and explained.

"No. I didn't come from the Abyss itself. I'm one of its followers. I sensed your repeated attempts to summon it, so I decided to come and help you."

Xiaowalus smiled and nodded along.

"Oh, I see. I see."

Ye Chen gave it some thought. This was a rare opportunity, so he pretended to ask Xiaowalus the question that had been on his mind.

"Then, before we discuss business, I need to know why you've been so devoted to the Abyss all these years. If you don't have a reasonable motive, I can't trust you, and you won't deserve my help."

Xiaowalus froze.

"A motive that would convince you?"

He lowered his head and murmured to himself as he gathered his thoughts. Then he answered Ye Chen.

"If I said it was to uncover 'the truth of the past,' would that satisfy you?"

Ye Chen's brows drew together slightly, and he replied coldly.

"I don't like people talking to me in circles."

Xiaowalus immediately raised his hands in apology.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness, Messenger. What I meant was that the Abyss contains the entire past of Frost White Person civilization. My concern as a Lord led me to investigate it, and in the end, I became obsessed with it."

At that, Ye Chen's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly. He hadn't expected Xiaowalus to give him that answer. Without changing his measured pace, he calmly pressed for more.

"The past of your civilization? What do you mean? Tell me."

Xiaowalus spoke frankly without hesitation.

"You came here from the outside world, so perhaps you don't know."

"In fact, the territory ruled by us Frost White People wasn't nearly as narrow as it is now, thousands upon thousands of years ago. Back then, there was no such thing as a 'boundary.'"

"This place was once a vast and magnificent kingdom."

"But the Abyss's arrival submerged it beneath the currents of history forever, leaving us with only this tiny patch of land."

"This is a secret that has been passed down in my family since ancient times. No one but the heads of our family throughout the generations has been allowed to know it."

"Now, I want to merge with the Abyss and uncover the truth about the past. That's why I've immersed myself in it day and night."

Ye Chen listened, his pupils widening slightly as his heart gave a sudden thump.

Before this, he had never heard Lyle mention anything like it, nor had Lyle ever shown any interest in discussing the matter with him.

So Ye Chen had once assumed that the world of the Eternal Winter Hidden Domain had always been as small as it was today!

Now Xiaowalus was telling him that this wasn't the case!

Ye Chen wasn't about to blindly believe the words of a dangerous man obsessed with the Abyss.

But the startling secret he had just heard from Xiaowalus was enough to bring an old question to mind—a question Ye Chen had kept buried for years.

The Eternal Winter Hidden Domain was a harsh, narrow, barren world where snow fell all year round. Its native inhabitants, the Frost White People, were few in number and of ordinary intelligence. How, then, had they managed to develop their civilization to its current state, where firearms and electrical appliances coexisted?

Ye Chen had puzzled over these questions more than once, but Lyle had always remained silent about them.

Yet if he connected Xiaowalus's words with what he already knew, then all of those questions could be answered!

All the Frost White People's knowledge and technology—their farming, architecture, gunpowder, electricity, culture, everything—were actually just remnants left behind by the dynasty that had once fallen to the Abyss!

In other words, the entire Frost White Person civilization rooted here consisted of the remnants of a fallen age. They had merely been living off the legacy passed down from ancient times!

Ye Chen bit his lip, and the origins of the Abyss seemed even stranger and more unfathomable to him.

But no matter how curious he was, he understood that figuring it out wasn't his most urgent concern right now.

So, after a brief silence, Ye Chen composed himself and answered Xiaowalus in an even tone.

"I see. Yes, I understand."

Xiaowalus asked tentatively.

"Does that mean you accept my motive?"

Ye Chen nodded slightly.

"Yes, I accept it."

However, the instant Ye Chen nodded, a strange light suddenly appeared in Xiaowalus's eyes. He stared straight into Ye Chen's eyes, then asked in a resonant voice.

"Then... sir..."

"Here's the question."

"Do... you... really... have... a... way... to... help... me?"

As soon as the words left Xiaowalus's mouth, Ye Chen felt a tingling sensation creep into his mind.

The Lord of Frost White City's words were like a spider's web suddenly shooting out and wrapping around Ye Chen's consciousness without warning. His thoughts instantly began to seize up.

Ye Chen's face remained expressionless, but his gaze darkened slightly.

He knew Xiaowalus still had some doubts about him, so the Lord had begun using his Spirit Art to test him.

As expected, the Lord's Spirit Art used his vocal cords as a medium to control other people's minds through hypnosis and similar methods.

The young man reached this conclusion in his thoughts.

Taking into account the tavern owner's choice of words and the Elite Guard's desperate resistance at the entrance, it had been easy for him to guess the true nature of Xiaowalus's Spirit Art.

That was why, from the very first moment he met Xiaowalus, Ye Chen had gathered Auling Power in his ears. At the first sign of trouble, he could block his ear canals and defend himself against the attacks Xiaowalus sent through his voice.

Ye Chen said nothing, and Xiaowalus fell silent as well.

They simply sat facing each other, gazes locked, in a wordless standoff that lasted a full minute, the atmosphere growing still and tense.

But even though Ye Chen had prepared in advance, Xiaowalus's hypnosis was remarkably potent at such close range. Ye Chen's thoughts still felt distinctly numb. If he let his guard down for even a moment, Xiaowalus's words would overwhelm him.

The Lord of Frost White City had clearly become highly skilled in using his Spirit Art.

Ye Chen kept silent on the outside, struggling on the inside.

He knew that if Xiaowalus managed to hypnotize him, he would soon tell the Lord everything. That would bring the hunt to an end, and Lyle's Third Trial would end in failure.

Yet even with the situation so tense that the slightest mistake could ruin everything, Ye Chen remained calm and unafraid, showing no sign of wavering.

The training he had undergone at Lyle's hands had given him a steadfast mind. The more critical the moment, the more composed he became.

Then Ye Chen casually folded his arms, while secretly digging his fingers into the flesh of his upper arm.

Under the flow of Auling Power, sharp pain shot into Ye Chen's mind. By combining that pain with the wall of energy inside his ear canals, he managed to withstand Xiaowalus's verbal hypnosis.

"I can help you. But before that, Xiaowalus, you'd better stop playing these little tricks. They won't work on me."

Ye Chen fought through the stinging pain in his arm and warned him with scorn in his voice. He even crossed his legs, looking utterly self-assured, as though Xiaowalus's Spirit Art meant nothing to him.