Put One to Sleep

"Haha... I'd heard about it plenty of times before, but this was my first time seeing someone get friend-zoned in real life."

In the grass of the Small Woods, someone sat there, looking at Ren Suo and laughing uncontrollably.

Although the moon was not particularly bright tonight, Ren Suo recognized that voice. "Is that... Li Dan?"

"Call me Dan-ge," Li Dan said flatly.

"Uh... alright, Dan-ge." Li Dan was far stronger than him, so Ren Suo immediately backed down. "What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping." After saying that, Li Dan lay back down.

Ren Suo was baffled. He walked over, saw him lying in the grass, and asked, "Sleeping... on the grass?"

"Is that so strange? It's not like I'm sleeping naked."

"What's strange is why you aren't naked... never mind." Ren Suo sat down beside him and tried to get closer. "Is it because the wooden dorm bed is too hard?"

"My bed has a Simmons mattress."

"Then... is it because you have roommates?"

"I have a room to myself."

"...Could it be that you naturally like dirt and grass?"

"No, I still have to take a shower when I get back." Li Dan shrugged.

"Then why are you sleeping here?"

"Because I can't sleep."

Ren Suo froze slightly. "Oh? Insomnia? Nervous exhaustion? Or perhaps because your desires are impossible to satisfy?"

"I'm too handsome to sleep."

Ren Suo said nothing and merely stared at Li Dan in the shadows.

After nearly a minute, Li Dan finally said, "It's a physical issue. Even with earplugs on, I can hear tiny sounds from extremely far away. It's too noisy to sleep."

"Have you tried noise-cancelling headphones?" Ren Suo scratched his head. "Like Hell Company's noise-cancelling earbuds, Persia Company's Noise Cancelling Headphones, and so on..."

"They're useless. Worse, they're even more disgusting. Those noise-cancelling headphones work by producing sounds to cancel outside noise, but I can hear all of it." Li Dan lay down again. "Still, it isn't a major problem. Not sleeping won't cause me any physical issues now."

"Is it... because of Awakening?" Ren Suo asked tentatively.

In an instant, Ren Suo felt the temperature around him drop several degrees, and his breathing abruptly stopped. Li Dan, lying on the ground, opened his eyes, which gleamed brightly in the darkness. It was Ren Suo's first time experiencing what killing intent truly felt like in reality!

It was as though several S686s, AK47s, and M416s were aimed at his entire body, their cold steel barrels pressed against his skin. The destructive force capable of shattering tendons and bones traveled through the air into his nerves, relentlessly stimulating his pituitary gland!

Fear of firearms and fear of beasts were both shaped by information acquired after birth, but before Li Dan, Ren Suo felt as though fear itself stood before him!

The absolute suppression of a higher existence over a lower one!

"...Don't casually inquire about another person's Awakening information in the future," Li Dan said flatly. "Even within the Eighteen Bureau, it's extremely sensitive information."

"Over the past six months, I've seen many Awakened who killed countless ordinary people in order to conceal their own information. When one holds a blade, killing intent arises in the heart. That's what it means."

The needle-like killing intent spread throughout his body finally receded. Ren Suo, able to breathe again at last, gasped for air and said, "I-I understand."

"If there's nothing else, go back. You need to leave after registering tomorrow morning," Li Dan said.

Ren Suo hesitated. More than ten seconds passed before he finally said hesitantly, "Um... I also know a way to make people fall asleep more easily. Do you want to try it?"

"Hypnosis?" Li Dan said flatly. "For cultivators like us, breathing in spiritual energy strengthens our Essence, Energy, and Spirit together. Even you would probably fail if you went to be hypnotized now, much less me—I tried it before. I didn't fall asleep, but the doctor did."

Ren Suo scratched his head. "Well, my method is a unique technique I picked up by chance. It's very effective. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I use it on myself, and I'm asleep within ten seconds. It should be pretty impressive."

"Use it on yourself?" Li Dan was slightly stunned, then smiled. "Counting sheep?"

"No, no, no..." Ren Suo could not explain it clearly either. "Do you want to try? Even if it doesn't work, there's no harm done. If it succeeds... you probably haven't had a good sleep in a long time, right?"

Ren Suo's words struck straight at Li Dan's heart.

Most people believed sleep was a waste of time—at best, it wasted six hours; at worst, it wasted nine. One-third of the day was gone just like that. If that time could be put to use, how many games could they play, how many books could they read, how many all-nighters could they pull...

Yet Li Dan, who had not slept for over forty days, believed that sleep was not merely a physiological necessity for humans, but a necessary form of rest.

Of course, Li Dan was not entirely sleepless. Though he did not sleep, his mental state was far from ideal. It was roughly equivalent to that of a manual laborer after a hard day's work—barely sufficient.

But Li Dan discovered that even with so much free time, he still felt the need to sit quietly alone in a dark place and think. Darkness, silence, warmth, haziness—sleep was almost like revisiting one's state as a fetus.

Besides greatly restoring human physical strength, it was also an exceptionally wonderful pleasure.

Yet Li Dan could no longer enjoy it. For the foreseeable future, unless he made a breakthrough, he would have to continue living like this. With spiritual energy supporting him, his body was nourished by it even without sleep, so he would not suffer problems like his liver exploding, but he truly wanted to sleep.

"Alright. Give it a try."

Suppressing his excitement, Ren Suo silently used his consciousness to equip the Good Dream Art he had drawn from the "Killer" treasure chest. Then, looking at Li Dan lying on the ground, he thought, Hypnotize him.

Then Ren Suo's hand naturally stretched out, his fingers continuously moving through the air under Li Dan's direct gaze.

There was little light in this part of the woods, but Li Dan was a First Cycle High-Rank cultivator. His eyes already possessed a degree of night vision, so he naturally saw what Ren Suo's hand was doing.

It looked both like a magician using hand gestures to draw attention during a performance and like an old pervert teasing the Huang Family's Eldest Daughter.

Could this kid be a paperclip? The thought flashed through Li Dan's mind, and he became even more dismissive of Ren Suo's so-called Good Dream Art.

Those movements could hypnotize someone? Only a ghost would believe th—

After waiting more than ten seconds without hearing anything from Li Dan, Ren Suo lowered his hands.

In the shadows of the woods, Li Dan lay on the ground without making a sound.

Ren Suo quietly,

quietly,

placed his hand on Li Dan's

thigh.

—Other places did not feel quite appropriate. Thighs had more flesh, so they should be less sensitive.

Li Dan still made no sound.

"Key detected."

"Key is asleep. Beginning acquisition."

"Key has already taken form. Acquisition will require 303 seconds, and contact must be maintained throughout. 302, 301, 300..."

It worked!