Chapter 273: Chapter 273

"My wishes became the edge of her sword. If death could elevate Ling Qi’s status in my heart, she would do it without hesitation," he said. "I understood her, so I fulfilled her wish. From now on, she will live in my heart forever. But what about you, Jing Shu? You are heartless and desireless. What is the purpose of your life?"

Lin Yi certainly lived up to his name as a hypnotherapist, advancing on Jing Shu with an unhurried pace. Jing Shu felt like she was about to fall into his rhythm.

Hypnosis that required interaction with external objects was considered low-level. In contrast, someone like Lin Yi could immerse a person in a mystic state with the sound of his voice alone, causing them to act without even realizing what they had done after listening to him.

As his trump card, he could indeed navigate all dangers without fear. It was only now that Jing Shu understood why, in her previous life, Zero, although just an ordinary person and captured many times, still managed to escape.

Of course, Lin Yi’s hypnosis abilities must have their limits, such as not being effective in crowded or noisy places. This was likely why Yang Yang and his team had been able to capture Lin Yi.

As for whether it would work on a deaf person, that was hard to say; a good hypnotherapist could use various methods to hypnotize someone beforehand.

This was a face-off between a hypnotherapist’s abilities and the Illusion abilities of the Magic Cube Space.

Jing Shu tried several times to implant false perceptions and Illusions in Lin Yi’s mind to influence his decisions, but all attempts undoubtedly failed. Lin Yi’s usually infallible hypnosis ability was greatly diminished when used on Jing Shu; she even resisted it outright.

"Ah, what a hassle." Lin Yi finally gave up on hypnotizing Jing Shu. "Actually, I really like it here. I enjoy chatting with Granny."

"You’ve lost your chance," Jing Shu said. Immediately, she noticed a look of surprise in Lin Yi’s eyes, and then he collapsed to the ground with a thud. Approaching him, Jing Shu found a small mechanism button in the pocket of Lin Yi’s trousers.

After studying it for a while, Jing Shu discovered how it worked: one had to press the small mechanism button first. Then, after stepping on a specific floor tile, it would turn into a suspended trap, ensuring that anyone who stepped on it would disappear instantly. The floor tile would then revert to its original form and could not be opened again.

It was a trap mechanism identical to the one in the Xishan basement! An escape mechanism!

So that was it. The switch was on him—no wonder she couldn’t find it after searching for so long in the basement! He actually wanted to use the same trick as Fatty, and she hadn’t even noticed! Dealing with these people was exhausting; one moment they might be bluffing or begging for mercy, and the next, they could have already made their escape.

If Lin Yi had managed to blend into the crowd in the Banana District, even a thorough search would be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially if people were continuously providing cover for him.

So, seeing he couldn’t hypnotize her, Lin Yi had been planning to run. Befitting his psychology background, he’d persistently tried to hypnotize her to divert her attention, making her think he had some major move up his sleeve...

Luckily, Jing Shu was clever. She knew not to alert him prematurely. She had collected the drugging powder used during the robbery at her elder aunt’s son’s wedding and now sprinkled it from her space. Lin Yi’s attention was entirely on Jing Shu, so in the pitch-black room, he couldn’t see the dispersing powder and was overcome in seconds.

"Wake up!" Jing Shu slapped the wooden-like Yang Yang, but there was no reaction. Then, she used the strong suggestive powers of Illusion from her space several times before Yang Yang finally recovered. "What happened? Where’s Zero?"

Jing Shu rolled her eyes and recounted the events. Yang Yang pursed his lips tightly. "So that’s how it is. I knew something was off about the last incident... But how come you weren’t hypnotized?"

Yang Yang looked at Jing Shu with suspicion. Even after knowing her for so long, he still couldn’t see through her. She was a mysterious woman, always managing to surprise and amaze him. This text is hosted at novel•fire.net

"Well, it’s because my spiritual power is high and my will is strong. Even Zero was surprised that he couldn’t hypnotize me. Look, he even tried to run away."

Yang Yang took out handcuffs, electric shackles, tape, and other restraints from behind his waist and tied Lin Yi up securely, even taping his mouth shut. "Now that he can’t speak, how is he going to hypnotize anyone? This time, we absolutely won’t let him escape again. Now that we know his secret, we have defenses against him, and he has no moves left."

Jing Shu hadn’t expected her intervention to so drastically alter Zero’s fate. In her previous life, he wasn’t captured for several more years. Her actions had also led to the exposure of Zero’s abilities. He had always been extremely cautious when using his hypnotic powers, guarding this secret for many years, and never anticipated they would fail against Jing Shu.

However, Jing Shu was also quite curious. Zero said there was one other person he couldn’t hypnotize. Who was that person? What was so special about them?

Regardless, Zero was finally subdued and brought to justice, which removed a great thorn from Jing Shu’s side. From now on, she could completely sever ties with the Sky Covering Organization. She no longer had to worry that after dealing with the minions, their superiors would come, and after the superiors, their ancestors.

"When will he be sentenced and executed?" Jing Shu asked.

"Don’t know. If it goes by the book, it could be a week or about a month, but..." Yang Yang deliberately lowered his voice. "I reckon he won’t die that easily. He’s stolen not just Huaxia’s data but also core information from the United States. He knows too much. They’ll have to make him tell it all first."

Every second this man remained alive was utterly terrifying.

"Let me know if there’s any news about him."

"Sure. You’ve made a major contribution this time. How about joining a special unit? Wang Dazhao has been promoted again; he said he needs to get promoted quickly to meet your standards."

"I just want to enjoy life in my villa. If there’s anything good, give me a shout."

Yang Yang left with the unconscious Lin Yi. Lin Yi’s belongings were all confiscated. Jing Shu didn’t dare use them, fearing they might contain surveillance devices.

The troops in the Banana District disbanded. Li Yuetian invited Jing Shu to sit for a while. After getting an update on the situation, he saw that Jing Shu wasn’t in a good mental state and sent her back. "Alright, come back to make your statement when you feel better."

Before dinner, Su Malie sent a message. The fifty to sixty individuals linked to Lin Yi, whom Jing Shu had seen at the underground casino that day, had all been located—dead or alive—and dealt with. Su Malie also mentioned the day’s losses.

Su Malie’s father’s loss of gas canisters went without saying; over thirty men were killed. Apparently, when people went to the underground tunnels to look for Su Malie, they were secretly duped. The culprits switched into their clothes, then went above ground to detonate gas canisters and cause chaos. All of those people were killed.