After Xiang Kun finished his friendly and intimate mental exchange with the rabbits, he went straight out the door.
After his attempt to create a fear projection in the rabbit failed, Xiang Kun decided to try his Eye-Contact Hypnosis ability again.
After leaving the residential area, he went straight to the convenience store next door, bought a bottle of water, and while paying with WeChat, casually remarked, "Hey bro, running a convenience store around here must be doing pretty well, right?"
The boss, who was in his forties, smiled and said, "It's alright, it's all thanks to everyone's support. We're mainly trying to make things convenient for everyone."
Xiang Kun looked up and smiled into the shopkeeper's eyes, "I'm a long-time resident here, I often come to buy things, you should have seen me before, right?"
"Haha, I think I've met him before."
"Hey, we're neighbors, right? Neighbors buying water should get a discount or something. Buy one get one free, give me an extra bottle." Xiang Kun looked into the shopkeeper's eyes and said in a calm and unhurried voice, his tone making it seem like a very reasonable request, as if it were a matter of course. "I give you money, you give me water."
However, the boss was taken aback, and then looked at Xiang Kun with some surprise, his body unconsciously leaning back slightly.
His eyes held a mixture of surprise and fear—back in his city, Xiang Kun had removed his wig and hat, revealing his signature bald head. Although he wore black-rimmed glasses, his strong, powerful physique still exuded a strong sense of intimidation.
Xiang Kun could tell at a glance that he was both doubting whether he was stupid and worried that he was a bully deliberately picking a fight.
"Haha, bro, I was just kidding! How much does a bottle of water cost? I wouldn't take advantage of that. Bye!" Xiang Kun said with a laugh, then quickly left the convenience store.
Afterwards, Xiang Kun was somewhat impressed with himself; he had managed to say something so embarrassing.
In the past, I would have killed him... uh, no, I would still have done it even if I killed him. But under normal circumstances, given his personality in the past, he would never have willingly put himself in such an awkward situation.
Just thinking about that feeling makes me feel uncomfortable all over.
But now, in order to test his abilities, Xiang Kun found that his tolerance for all kinds of things had greatly improved. Just like when he bought the canary before, he was able to perceive the owner's various information while negotiating the price. He no longer had, or rather, cared about, the feeling of being afraid to negotiate with strangers.
Judging from my conversation with the convenience store owner, it's clear I failed; I didn't have any hypnotic effect whatsoever.
Xiang Kun was not discouraged. He walked towards the place where the elderly people in the community often hung out.
It was a little past three in the afternoon, and the sun was still quite strong. There were hardly any people in the small park. Xiang Kun scanned the area and spotted two elderly men playing chess under a tree. He strolled over to them.
Xiang Kun watched from the side for a while, but the two old men ignored him, their attention completely absorbed in the game of chess.
"It seems like the red pieces are in trouble. If the remaining rook is captured, it's basically a guaranteed loss... But actually, there are solutions. Black also has many weaknesses." Xiang Kun rambled on, showing no awareness of the principle of "a true gentleman observes chess in silence."
The old man with the red pieces was already at a disadvantage and looking worried when a bald man suddenly appeared next to him, muttering to himself. Naturally, he became even more irritated and Xiang Kun.
Xiang Kun had been keeping an eye on the old man, and as soon as he saw him look up, he immediately met the old man's gaze with bright eyes, which startled him.
"Grandpa, listen to me. Although you are at a disadvantage now, you can change the situation and turn the tide by moving a pawn to the side. Move the pawn to the side, move..." Xiang Kun said, staring into the old man's eyes.
The old man's expression changed repeatedly, and he suddenly said to another old man, "Old Wu, come on, come to my house. I admit defeat this time, hurry up and come on..."
Watching the two elderly men hurriedly pack up their chess boxes and flee as if they were running away, Xiang Kun couldn't help but frown. Something's not right. Where's the problem?
He then recalled the scenes from his memory of Guo Tianxiang hypnotizing people.
Could it be because he's wearing glasses?
Xiang Kun took off his glasses and continued searching for his target.
However, it wasn't until after 8 p. m. that Xiang Kun wandered into a shopping plaza, striking up conversations with people along the way using various excuses. Although he was trying to hypnotize people about very small things, all his attempts ended in failure.
Xiang Kun also wondered if he should first establish a relationship of trust before he could exert influence. So he spent twenty minutes talking to a beggar for a long time, gave him 20 yuan, and even asked him to call him "brother." He was moved to tears several times, but his final attempt to hypnotize the beggar into buying him a KFC Hamburger still failed.
During this process, Xiang Kun also had to be careful not to accidentally use "Mental Intimidation" or "Emotional Assimilation," which was quite laborious.
"Could it be that I didn't acquire that ability?" Xiang Kun stood on the overpass, scratching his bald head and muttering to himself in frustration.
According to Guo Tianxiang's recollection, his hypnosis was very simple. He would just state a fact and then easily get the other person to accept hypnotic words that sounded completely illogical. There was no process of establishing trust beforehand, nor were there any of the various techniques from online hypnosis schools.
Xiang Kun felt that there must be some key he hadn't found yet, like a switch; once he knew where it was, he could just flip it on.
As he stood on the overpass, carefully searching through Guo Tianxiang's memories, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
He picked it up and saw it was Chang Bin. Xiang Kun answered the phone.
"Where is she?" Chang Bin's voice sounded somewhat downcast.
"I'm at Wanda Plaza on ** Road, what's wrong?"
"Are you free tonight? Let's go for a drink, no, I mean, keep me company while I drink. I know you don't drink, so you don't have to. Just watch me drink."
"Okay, where are we going? Should I go by myself or do you want to pick me up?" Xiang Kun could tell that Chang Bin had obviously run into some trouble.
"I'm not far from Wanda Plaza, I'll come pick you up."
Sitting in Chang Bin's Magotan, Xiang Kun glanced at his friend. He could tell from the strong smell of smoke and sweat that he hadn't showered or changed clothes for at least two days, and his mental state seemed poor. Judging from the smell, he probably hadn't been home in the last 24 hours. Xiang Kun had already noted Chang Bin's scent when he was with Zi Cheng last time, recognizing several olfactory sources in his home, such as a floral fragrance and the scent of a cat— Wang Han and he shared a British Shorthair cat.
It seems she had a fight with Wang Han – Xiang Kun made his initial assessment.
I just don't know why.
However, judging from the scent on Chang Bin, he definitely didn't go to see any other women last night.
I recommend Ji Cha's new book, "Seeking the Dao in the Red Dust." Ji Cha's works are always characterized by their delicate writing, rich emotions, and high readability.