Hypnotizing Hu Liena

Qin Chuan raised his left hand, and the Illusion Bell materialized above his palm.

Five white rings of light orbited him, their glow dim, much like fireflies.

Hu Liena stared at those five white spirit rings for two seconds, the corner of her mouth twitching. She held it in, refusing to laugh out loud. Five white rings, all under a hundred years old—you wouldn't find another person in the entire Douluo Continent who would do something like this.

Qin Chuan ran through them in his mind: Shadow Hypnosis, Sinful Haze, Flowers Falling in a Dream, Memory Kill, Angel Anthem.

Any one of these five spirit abilities would be enough to give Hu Liena a hard time. But he didn't want to lead with his trump cards, so he decided to test the waters with his First Spirit Ability first.

"Shadow Hypnosis."

A ripple of mental energy surged out silently, drilling straight into Hu Liena's mind.

Hu Liena's eyelids grew heavy, her body swayed slightly, and then she steadied herself.

But her consciousness was no longer in the study.

Qin Chuan followed her into the dream.

He stood in the center of a large room, looking around with a subtle expression on his face.

A large pink bed, a velvet quilt, and a golden carpet. The ceiling was embedded with faux stars and moons that emitted a soft glow. In the corner sat a chaise longue, next to a vanity table lined with an array of bottles and jars.

At the other end of the room was a floor-to-ceiling window covering the entire wall. Outside, the view was of a hillside on an island at dusk, the horizon burning with red clouds as a few seagulls skimmed across the sea.

Qin Chuan stood where he was, unmoving.

He had used hypnosis on Xiao Wu before; her dream had been a peach blossom forest, petals filling the sky, very pure. When he used it on Ning Rongrong, the dream had been a sea of flowers, also quite normal.

Hu Liena's dream was... a hotel room with a big bed?

Qin Chuan rubbed his temples.

Forget it, don't overthink it, just follow the procedure.

"Hu Liena, tell me, who is the person you love most?"

Hu Liena was lying on that pink bed, one hand propping up her head, her posture casual. Hearing Qin Chuan's voice, she sat up, the quilt sliding off her shoulder to reveal the thin, light purple garment underneath.

She walked over to Qin Chuan and stood still.

"The person I love most is, of course, Teacher."

Qin Chuan: "That doesn't count. I'm asking about someone of the opposite sex."

"The opposite sex?" Hu Liena tilted her head, not even hesitating, "Then that would be you."

Qin Chuan: "..."

He waited two seconds, confirming he hadn't misheard.

This wasn't right. The way this spirit ability worked was to ask questions after hypnosis, and the hypnotized person would act according to the caster's commands. The keyword was "according to the caster's commands." His command was to answer the question, not to have her confess her feelings.

"Hu Liena, are you lying? We've only known each other for a few days."

"Ever heard of love at first sight?" Hu Liena's tone was flat, as if she were stating something self-evident.

She stepped forward and hooked her arm through Qin Chuan's.

Qin Chuan wanted to step back, but the space in the dream seemed to have compressed; the edge of the bed was right behind him.

"What are you doing?"

"Proving it to you."

Hu Liena tugged at his arm, pulling him toward the bed. Qin Chuan tripped, falling backward as his back hit the soft mattress.

A thought flashed through Qin Chuan's mind: This is wrong. I'm the caster, I'm the one who controls the dream—how can she turn it around and control me?

He tried to mobilize his mental energy, wanting to interrupt the dream.

No response. He tried again, still nothing.

Hu Liena had already leaned over him. Her hair hung down from her shoulders, the tips brushing against Qin Chuan's neck. Their faces were very close, their noses almost touching.

Qin Chuan could smell her scent—not perfume, but the natural fragrance of her skin, carrying a hint of warmth.

"A beautiful night, a scene worth a thousand pieces of gold."

Qin Chuan's brain completely short-circuited.

He finally understood what was happening: Hu Liena was a spirit master of the mental control type herself, and her Demon Fox martial soul possessed immense mental power. After his hypnosis entered her mind, it hadn't completely suppressed her consciousness; instead, it had resonated with her own mental energy.

Dreams were generated based on the subconscious thoughts of the hypnotized.

In other words, this room, this bed, these scenes, including everything she was doing right now—it was all her own doing!

What was worse, their mental energies had intertwined within the dream, and he couldn't unilaterally sever the connection. It was like two ropes twisted into a single strand; if you wanted to pull your own out, the other person had to let go as well.

Hu Liena clearly had no intention of letting go.

The sunset outside the window sank bit by bit, the sky shifting from orange-red to deep purple, and finally into the darkness of night. The light from the stars and moons on the ceiling spilled down, covering the entire room.

Qin Chuan's consciousness grew increasingly blurred.

His final clear thought was: Never use hypnosis on a mental-type spirit master again; I have to use other spirit abilities!

About an hour later.

Qin Chuan's consciousness snapped back, the pink room before his eyes shattering into countless specks of light as the study's furnishings reappeared in his field of vision.

He was still standing in his original position, three meters away from Hu Liena.

Neither of them had moved, yet both of their breathing was completely ragged.

Qin Chuan's face was flushed, the redness spreading from his neck all the way to the roots of his ears. He kept his head lowered, not daring to look at Hu Liena.

Hu Liena's face was even redder. She covered her cheeks with both hands, the skin visible between her fingers a deep, scarlet hue.

The room fell silent for five seconds.

"Qin Chuan!!" Hu Liena's voice came from behind her palms, muffled and strained. "What kind of spirit ability is that?"

Qin Chuan opened his mouth, finding his throat a bit dry. "Shadow Hypnosis."

"Your First Spirit Ability?" Hu Liena lowered her hands, glaring at him. "Your First Spirit Ability is like this? Then what is your Fifth Spirit Ability? Does it just directly..."

She didn't finish, clamping her own mouth shut.

Qin Chuan: "..."

He wanted to explain. He wanted to say that the spirit ability itself was perfectly normal—it was meant to make the hypnotized person answer questions or perform simple actions, much like an interrogation.

But the problem was, the content of the dream was generated by the hypnotized person herself.

That room was what she had imagined. That bed was what she had imagined. Everything she had done was entirely of her own volition.

Qin Chuan rolled these words around on his tongue three times before swallowing them back down.

If he said that out loud, Hu Liena would twist his head off on the spot.

"It's too evil!" Hu Liena stomped her foot, her voice rising. "How... how could you do this!"

She couldn't continue, because she knew deep down that the events of the dream couldn't be blamed entirely on Qin Chuan. Her mental power was relatively strong, which had interfered with the operation of the hypnosis and caused the dream to spiral out of control.

But knowing that was one thing; saving face was another.

"Hmph!" Hu Liena turned and walked away, stopping at the door for a moment to glance back at Qin Chuan.

That look was complex, filled with annoyance, embarrassment, and something else—something hidden deep, flickering for an instant before vanishing.

"I never want to talk to you again!"

The door slammed shut, and her hurried footsteps faded into the distance.

Qin Chuan stood alone in the study, staring blankly at the air for a while. "I'm the victim here, aren't I?"

Hu Liena ran all the way back to her quarters in one breath.

She pushed the door open, rushed into her bedroom, slammed the door shut, and bolted it.

She threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow.

Her heart was beating too fast, thumping against her chest wall, making her ears ring.

The heat on her face wouldn't subside.

She rolled over, staring up at the ceiling.

The images from the dream replayed frame by frame. That room, those floor-to-ceiling windows, that sea, and the look of astonishment on Qin Chuan's face when he fell onto the bed.

Hu Liena covered her face with the pillow, feeling a sense of shame and indignation.

But once she calmed down...

To be honest, that dream had felt quite good.

Hu Liena was startled by her own thought, abruptly rolling over and burying her face back into the pillow.

No.

She was Bibi Dong's disciple, the Saintess of Spirit Hall, and the core of the Golden Generation.

How could she be like this because of a dream... but that dream had felt so real.