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墨書 Inktalez
Who would have thought that after falling asleep, I would dream such a strange dream? In it, my first love and I had never broken up, and we ended up together. Of course, I hadn’t gone to the army; we were just living a simple life together. Then, unexpectedly, I encountered Xiao Mo Ya, Yu, Jing, and a bunch of other girls in my life.
Then came my girlfriend's endless jealousy and the constant awkwardness among friends. Later, Old Bi and his group suddenly reappeared. Since it was so troublesome, I thought it might be better not to choose anyone at all and just find a young and beautiful girl instead.
What was even more ridiculous was that my girlfriend’s face kept changing in front of me, transforming into Xiao Mo Ya, Yu, Jing… until it finally morphed into Qiqi’s face. Even more absurdly, I found myself taller and more handsome, sitting in a car with Liu Qi, joking around. Is this really me?
Who would have known that the face that had been smiling just a moment ago would turn cold the next? She suddenly said coldly, “Men should all die.” Then she raised a sharp object and lunged at me.
I screamed and woke up.
I was drenched in sweat.
What a nightmare.
I glanced at the clock; it was just before seven. I couldn’t fall back asleep. After getting dressed and washing up, I sat down at my desk.
This dream was truly absurd. Honestly, I had never had such a bizarre dream before. Most of the time when I sleep, I don’t dream at all; occasionally when I do, they are mundane. Where could such a rich narrative dream come from?
I wiped my face and recalled Old Zhao’s words before we broke up.
What did that mean? Could it be that Old Zhao had hypnotized me?
Is it really that magical? I decided to find Old Zhao to get some clarity.
With three days left of my vacation, I had breakfast and greeted Old Tang before heading out in casual clothes straight to where the old man usually hung out.
He arrived quite early and was already sitting on a stool reading while waiting for customers.
“Hey, look at you! You’re also working nine to five!” I teased as I approached him.
"That's it!" He looked up at me and said, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"I'm here to talk about that!" I leaned down and stared at him. "What exactly did you do to me? I had a dream all night and ended up waking up scared."
"I didn't do anything, heh heh," Old Zhao chuckled lewdly.
"Impossible!"
"Ah, I really didn't do anything. I just used some verbal hints to awaken your subconscious."
"I don't understand."
"Actually, dreams are manifestations of a person's subconscious. Do you know Freud?"
"I've heard of him. A philosopher?"
"He should actually be considered primarily a psychologist. To us, his greatest achievement is a theory in this book, which is 'The Interpretation of Dreams,'" Old Zhao said slowly.
"Go on." My curiosity was piqued again.
"His view is that dreams are not random associations but rather repressed desires (the satisfaction of subconscious sexual urges disguised). Any dream can be divided into manifest content and latent content: manifest content refers to the surface structure of the dream, which includes the elements people can remember and describe, similar to a mask; latent content refers to the essential meaning of the dream, akin to the true desires hidden beneath the mask. According to Freud, the operation and disguise of dreams mainly occur through processes of condensation, displacement, and secondary revision that completely distort the manifest content. Condensation means that the manifest dream is transformed into a simplified form, where certain elements are omitted while others appear only in fragmented forms. Displacement means that an unimportant idea becomes significant in the dream or occupies a central position. Symbolism involves replacing abstract desires with concrete forms. It reveals dreams as a true pathway to the subconscious; the contents formed (changes, contradictions, causes) reflect logical relationships but appear in altered forms. Secondary revision refers to systematizing the chaotic materials in dreams to conceal the truth."
"I didn't understand!" I admitted honestly.
"…Let me simplify it! We can explore your inner world through a complete dream, including the desires buried deep within you."
"Are dreams ever complete? Or can they ever be finished?" I asked in surprise.
"Of course, your subconscious will project itself in your dreams. Many people can't remember all their dreams, but you seem to recall them quite clearly. This way, you can discover what kind of person you really are, what you desire, and your deepest wishes from another perspective."
It was a bit profound; I understood it somewhat. "Then why don't you find a way to help me finish? I just dreamed that Liu Qi wanted to kill me." Wait, no, it seemed like it wasn't about killing me.
"Aren't I telling you to go to bed earlier?" Old Zhao replied confidently.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"If you sleep earlier, you'll have more time to dream. Who knows, you might find the ending or answer you're looking for in your dreams."
What the hell! What kind of theory is this!?
Just as I was arguing with Lao Zhao, my phone rang. I picked it up and saw it was Ah Huang!
"Hello! Brothers."
"Where are you?"
"I'm out, just chatting with Lao Zhao."
"Why not come over here? There's something going on." Ah Huang hesitated for a moment. "Bring Lao Zhao along; I'll treat you both to dinner." He added, "At a restaurant."
Ah Huang's sudden change in attitude surprised me a bit. However, my keen instinct told me that Ah Huang must have found some clues, which explained his shift in demeanor towards Lao Zhao.
I hung up the phone and turned to Lao Zhao. I initially thought he wouldn't agree, but to my surprise, he readily accepted.
"Why not go? There’s good food, and it’ll put him in my debt. Besides, I'm curious; let's go take a look. I don't have to run errands; I'm just providing you guys with some reference."
Lao Zhao was quite a straightforward person.
I hailed a taxi again, bringing Lao Zhao to Ah Huang's office.
As soon as I entered Ah Huang's office, I was taken aback; there were five or six people inside.
"You all are here? Have a seat," Ah Huang greeted us, his tone casual.
We found a place to sit down, and Ah Huang continued, "These are my friends. They happen to have some connection to this case, so I called them in to help."
After the introductions, Ah Huang shifted the topic. "The reason I gathered everyone here is to clarify something important. The key person involved, Liu Qi, has a dog—a Tibetan Mastiff. However, witnesses claim they have never seen this dog before, which means it likely has another owner. I’ve consulted many experts, and generally speaking, it’s unlikely for a Tibetan Mastiff to be entrusted to someone else because they are territorial and can be hostile towards strangers. We can basically deduce that the dog's owner must know Liu Qi and is likely an important figure in Liu Qi's social circle, but they are very well hidden. It’s crucial that we uncover this person to eliminate them as a suspect."
Ah Huang paused for a moment before continuing, "After some preliminary investigations and inquiries—kudos to Tian for not taking any breaks—we’ve gathered information from many people near Liu Qi's pet store. Several witnesses reported seeing someone walking the dog at night. Based on the timing and descriptions from the witnesses, we can conclude that this dog should be located not far from the pet store; it was either brought there by its owner or taken away from there. In a bit, we will split into four groups to conduct a thorough search within an eight-kilometer radius centered around Liu Qi's pet store. We need to go door-to-door to find the dog's owner, but remember—do not alert the suspect!"
"How are we supposed to search such a large area?" a female officer murmured beside me.
"A big dog must make some noise, right? Someone must have seen it!" Huang shot her a glare. "Tian has managed the outer work; why can't you? We need to boost morale!" Ah Huang was increasingly taking on a leadership role.
"Let’s get moving now! We’ll drive around the outskirts; if you find any leads, call me immediately. Here’s a map with task divisions already made; you all should head out!" Ah Huang stated decisively.
Everyone responded affirmatively and began walking outside.
"Resolve your lunch outside; remember to keep the receipts for reimbursement!" Ah Huang shouted after them, which lifted the spirits of the officers somewhat.
Once everyone had left, Ah Huang stepped out from behind his desk and sat beside us. "The higher-ups are taking this case very seriously. I don't know what’s going on, but the family of the last missing person, Zhou Tao, has contacted the families of the other two missing individuals and applied pressure on the bureau through certain channels. They’ve given me a deadline to solve this case—alive or dead—and my time is running out. I need your help."
"We'll help as much as we can. How about I join your team to look for the dog?" I said half-jokingly.
Ah Huang shook his head. "That's not your job. I just want you to help me confirm your deductions and see how confident you are. I'm afraid of going in the wrong direction and wasting time."
"There's only one way to verify it!" Old Zhao suddenly said.
"What method?" Ah Huang asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
"We still need to find an opportunity to give Liu Qi Hypnosis! To find out if there are any Hypnosis commands within her, or if there are any deep-seated secrets she keeps hidden. I wanted to do this before, but I didn't have the chance and ended up waiting by her shop for a long time."
"What kind of opportunity do you need?" Ah Huang looked at him.
"We need to create an opportunity where she is unprepared. I can then enter her inner world all at once, or give her a suggestion that leads her into a Hypnosis state."
I was taken aback. "Can you really do that, Lao Zhao? Even while she's awake?"
"Hypnosis doesn't depend on the state of consciousness; anyone can be hypnotized whether they are awake or not. However, some people with strong willpower who don't believe in Hypnosis will resist the methods of the Hypnotist from within, making it difficult for them to be hypnotized. To make it easier, they should either be in a relaxed state or be mentally unfocused and caught off guard."
"So, you need an opportunity?" Ah Huang interjected.
(To be continued, more exciting content tomorrow!)
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