Chapter 16: Forced Hypnosis
Chapter 16: Forced Hypnosis
In the darkness, the faint light of the moonlight and street lamps intertwined.
Yang Qi looked at the Phantom Chariot before him, his eyes filled with awe. Words like high-end, classy, cool, awesome, and incredibly amazing were not enough to describe this vehicle.
Its streamlined body, the hard and strong feel of steel, gave an immediate sense of futuristic, trans-temporal technology.
Its sci-fi feel far surpassed the motorcycles in “Tron: Legacy,” its imposing presence far exceeded the Ghost Rider’s bike. As for the Y2K in “Torque,” Batman’s ride, or the Ducati in “Transformers,” they were all left in the dust by hundreds of streets. Not to mention the so-called world’s fastest motorcycle, the Dodge Tomahawk—Harleys and the like were simply not even in the same league.
“Comfortable!”
Yang Qi sat on the Phantom Chariot. It fit him perfectly. The seat on the chariot felt as if it was tailor-made, achieving perfect unity between man and machine.
“Ding! Please scan the pupil…”
This prompt sound didn’t come from Yang Qi’s mind; it came from the Phantom Chariot. A cursor between the handlebars emitted a red light, scanning Yang Qi. It was similar to a binding process.
“Ding! Scan completed.”
“Ding! Loading map, please wait…”
“Ding! Map loading complete. Landmark navigation established.”
“Ding!…”
Yang Qi had read the manual and knew roughly how to operate it. Right now, Yang Qi had no time to take this incredibly cool and imposing chariot for a spin. After stating the final destination to the cursor, Yang Qi started the chariot and headed straight for the People’s Hospital.
Of course, before that, Yang Qi tried his best to make the chariot’s appearance less flashy.
In less than 5 minutes, Yang Qi saw the People’s Hospital, and that was with him trying to control his speed.
Arriving at a corner, he retracted the Phantom Chariot into a bracelet and wore it on his wrist. Yang Qi then jogged toward the hospital room Auntie Chen had told him about.
“Why are you here?”
Granny Bai was somewhat surprised to see Yang Qi.
“Auntie Chen told me Manzi was in the hospital. I asked for leave and came right away.”
“Manzi is fine. After you see him, go back to school immediately. Your biggest task right now is to study hard and get into university. You don’t need to worry about things here.”
Granny Bai shot a glare at Auntie Chen, then stepped aside to let Yang Qi enter the room. Auntie Chen gave an awkward smile and didn’t speak. She had to go back soon to look after the children in the Courtyard; she couldn’t leave Granny Bai here alone. That’s why she called Yang Qi. As for studying and such, Auntie Chen hadn’t thought much about it.
Yang Qi entered the room and saw Huang Man lying in the hospital bed, with one arm and one leg in casts. Seeing Yang Qi come in, he smiled cautiously and foolishly, afraid Yang Qi would scold him.
“Auntie Chen, what happened?”
“Ah, I’m not sure either. In the evening, Manzi was playing in the Courtyard with two other children. I went to pick up other children from school. When I came back, I saw Manzi lying on the ground, and the other children were crying. I asked the two children what happened, but they just cried and wouldn’t speak. Asking them was useless. When I asked Manzi, he only talked nonsense, saying something about a big monster being scary. After bringing Manzi to the hospital, they found out his left hand and right foot were broken.”
Auntie Chen wiped a tear and sighed. “I really don’t know what sin we committed. These children were fine and then ended up like this.”
Granny Bai glared at her again, so Auntie Chen stopped talking. She knew Granny Bai didn’t want to hear such sighs and sad talk.
“Manzi isn’t seriously hurt. He’ll be fine after a few days in the hospital. You should go back to school early.”
Granny Bai said this to Yang Qi, starting to shoo him away. “Oh, Granny, I have to go back to take care of the other children. I can’t let you stay here alone, can I? Even if I stayed and you went back to the Courtyard, you definitely couldn’t handle everything alone. Let Ah Yang stay. Tomorrow when I come, he can go back to school. It won’t be too late.”
Auntie Chen didn’t often put on a stern face with Granny Bai, but when she did, she was stubborn.
“Granny Bai, you go back with Auntie Chen. I can watch for one night, it’s fine. And don’t worry about my studies. I just got first place in the Ten-School Joint Examination. My studies are going great. Getting into a good university is absolutely no problem.” Yang Qi said urgently, also handing the bank card to Granny Bai, saying it was prize money to ease her mind.
Hearing this, Granny Bai naturally knew Yang Qi wouldn’t lie to her. She was both shocked and pleased, but still kept a cold face. “That still won’t do. I can’t let you stay here. These old bones of mine are still strong.”
Facing this stubborn old lady, Yang Qi felt both touched and helpless.
At that moment, Auntie Chen’s phone rang. After answering, she clearly became anxious.
“What’s wrong, Auntie Chen?” Yang Qi asked after she hung up.
“Your Uncle Chen is watching the Courtyard now. He called and said those two children are still crying. It seems they really were frightened by something. They won’t stop crying and simply won’t sleep. How distressing!” Auntie Chen’s face was full of worry.
“Crying non-stop, not sleeping?”
A light flashed in Yang Qi’s eyes. He said, “Auntie Chen, how about this: you stay here and watch Manzi. Granny Bai and I will go back. Those children, I know them well. I can calm them down.”
“That could work too. Your Uncle Chen is rough and clumsy; he definitely can’t comfort children.” Auntie Chen nodded, then said to Granny Bai, “I say, Granny, please listen to us this once. I’m begging you.”
“Alright. Call me if anything happens.”
Granny Bai finally nodded in agreement. She and Yang Qi left the hospital, took a taxi, and headed toward Shuxiang Street. Before even entering the Courtyard, they heard two crying voices, hoarse and heart-wrenching. However, to the nearby neighbors’ ears, it just sounded like annoying noise. Some were already complaining.
“Ah Yang is back too.”
The helpless Chen Datian saw Granny Bai and Yang Qi return and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Those two children had been crying for several hours.
Entering the room, Yang Qi saw the two crying children had panic in their eyes. This reminded him of what Manzi had said earlier. It was very likely they were scared by something. This was definitely done by someone. He naturally suspected Li with Birthmark and his companion. He needed to figure out what happened; otherwise, he couldn’t rest easy.
Near Li with Birthmark’s house, a light was on. Yang Qi climbed over the wall into the yard. It was a small, five-story flat building. The second floor was probably the bedroom. Someone was talking; from the voices, it was Li with Birthmark and his wife. Yang Qi listened downstairs for a while but didn’t hear anything about what happened that evening. Most of it was trivial matters. Soon, the two prepared to sleep.
Yang Qi waited a little longer, then leaped up forcefully, reaching the second-floor balcony effortlessly, and entered the bedroom without any trouble. He tiptoed to the bed, found the neural wave patterns of Li with Birthmark’s wife, and made her fall into a deep sleep. Then, with a cold smile, he reached out and patted Li with Birthmark.
“Huh?”
Li with Birthmark opened his eyes, saw Yang Qi, and was greatly shocked. “Ah! You… how are you in my house? What do you want?”
Yang Qi didn’t answer him. Instead, he reached out, pulled him off the bed, gripped his neck, and lifted him high. Li with Birthmark struggled intensely but couldn’t break free. His eyes were full of terror. He tried to scream but couldn’t make a sound. Air only went out, not in. His face turned purplish. His body’s struggle slowly weakened, and his spirit was on the verge of collapse. If this continued, he would die of suffocation.
“Hmph!”
At that moment, Yang Qi suddenly let out a low shout. Li with Birthmark’s eyes rolled back, and his head drooped. He was quiet for only a moment before struggling again.
Yang Qi, with a cold face, slammed Li with Birthmark against the wall a few times, then issued another low shout. “Heh.” This time, it finally succeeded.
This was absolutely violent-type Hypnosis. When a person is on the brink of collapse, their will is very weak. Of course, this was also because Yang Qi’s Hypnosis was vastly different from the Hypnosis on Earth. Otherwise, how could it be completed under such circumstances?
This Hypnosis did not lead to deep sleep but to a half-asleep, half-awake state. It was precisely in this state that Yang Qi intended to interrogate him.