The Real Hypnosis

But in that instant, her heartbeat quickened more than twofold.

Blood pumped from her heart, surging through her veins toward every limb, pounding dull drums against her eardrums.

Empress Lin.

Lin Qingyan's own elder sister.

Emperor Luo's one true love.

Luo Zhao's birth mother.

Since transmigrating into this world, Empress Lin had been the most crucial—and most enigmatic—figure of all.

Records about her were pitifully scarce, as if someone had deliberately erased her from history.

Gu Chengyin had combed through the archives of the Ministry of Rites, the chronicles of the Wanxiang Tower, even the imperial household's daily ledgers.

Every entry concerning Empress Lin had been cut to shreds, torn beyond repair.

He knew she had helped Emperor Luo ascend the throne. He knew she had died suddenly. He knew her cause of death remained a mystery to this day.

But Gu Chengyin had never known...

That Empress Lin could also hypnotize.

Gu Chengyin didn't press for answers right away. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, glancing at Gu Xiaoli.

Then he looked away, sweeping his gaze in a full circle.

Confirming whether this spiritual barrier was stable, confirming whether their surroundings were safe.

Confirming whether this secret could, at this moment, in this place, be spoken without consequence.

Gu Xiaoli understood the look in Gu Chengyin's eyes and said with quiet confidence:

"Big brother, don't worry."

"Even Sister Qingyan can't hear what we're saying right now."

Not "can't hear" in the ordinary sense—"can't perceive."

Most people wouldn't notice the difference between those two phrases, but Gu Chengyin understood.

"Can't hear" merely meant sound was blocked. "Can't perceive" meant something far deeper:

Even perception itself was severed.

It meant this spiritual barrier operated on a level beyond mere physical soundproofing.

It had ascended to the realm of space itself.

Even Lin Qingyan's invincible golden-core divine sense could not pierce it.

Gu Chengyin nodded, then continued with his next question:

"Then... does Aunt know about this?"

Gu Xiaoli shook her head, the motion firm and certain.

"Sister Qingyan doesn't know that Her Majesty could hypnotize."

She paused, the light in her large eyes dimming for a moment, like a candle flame flickering in the wind before steadying itself again.

"Only Xiaoli knows."

Gu Chengyin didn't dwell on that point. Instead, he shifted to another question:

"Then what does 'incomplete hypnosis' mean?"

He cut straight to the core of the matter.

Gu Xiaoli didn't answer immediately.

Her cat ears pressed back slightly, the tips drooping just a little.

That was her posture when recalling something—or deliberating over how to phrase it.

"Big brother."

Gu Xiaoli's voice was much slower than before, as if she were carefully crossing a narrow plank bridge:

"Back at Wanxiang Tower, your ability—did it improve?"

She paused, searching for a more precise way to express herself.

"What Xiaoli means is... did it become more complete?"

A flicker of change passed across Gu Chengyin's expression.

What Gu Xiaoli was referring to was what had happened after he'd encountered that book at Wanxiang Tower—the Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan.

That thin, worn volume, its cover faded beyond recognition of its original color.

Its pages were as brittle as autumn leaves, as if the slightest pressure would crumble them to dust.

Yet that unremarkable old book, the moment Gu Chengyin opened it, changed everything.

The system had fully unlocked, and he had received the complete Qingyun Scripture.

That was Gu Chengyin's own understanding of events.

But Gu Xiaoli knew nothing of "systems."

She could only describe it using words she understood.

Ability.

Gu Chengyin's ability.

And she had also told him that Empress Lin could hypnotize.

Those two pieces of information, like beads scattered in different corners, were suddenly strung together by an invisible thread.

Empress Lin had the power of hypnosis.

Gu Chengyin had the power of hypnosis.

Empress Lin's hypnosis was complete.

Gu Chengyin's hypnosis was incomplete.

"It did improve."

"Or rather—it became complete."

Gu Xiaoli showed no sign of surprise.

She simply nodded gently, as if she'd known all along that he would say this.

Her spiritual cat ears tilted forward, the tips quivering slightly—the quiet relief of having confirmed a long-held guess.

"That book, Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan—Empress Lin wrote it herself."

Light danced in Gu Xiaoli's large eyes, golden fragments drifting slowly in the depths of her pupils, like some ancient star chart.

"After she finished writing it, she asked Xiaoli to give it to the right person, at the right time."

When she finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent for a long while.

Outside the spiritual barrier, leaves drifted down soundlessly, one after another, catching the sunlight like a handful of scattered gold poured from the heavens above.

They landed on the surface of the barrier, paused for an instant, then slid slowly along its invisible curve, piling into a thin golden ridge at its base.

And in Gu Chengyin's mind, countless threads of evidence were re-arranging themselves at astonishing speed.

Empress Lin wrote Textual Research on the Forgotten Records of the Qingyun Immortal Clan and placed it in Wanxiang Tower.

Placed it in that place that gathered the world's rarest treasures—and, at the same time, countless secrets.

Then she had Gu Xiaoli deliver it to the right person, at the right time.

Until Gu Chengyin walked into Wanxiang Tower and, guided by Gu Xiaoli, found that book.

This was no coincidence.

This was a letter written long ago.

The writer was Empress Lin.

The recipient was Gu Chengyin.

The messenger was Gu Xiaoli.

But what was "the right time"? And who was "the right person"?

Gu Xiaoli didn't know.

Empress Lin hadn't told her.

She had simply felt, one day, that the time had come.

Had felt, suddenly, that this person—was Gu Chengyin.

Gu Xiaoli couldn't explain why, but she simply knew.

Just as she knew those things would eventually come for Gu Chengyin.

Not deduction, not judgment—an intuition more accurate than any reason.

"Then what about the hypnosis?"

Gu Xiaoli's spiritual cat ears trembled slightly.

She knew what Gu Chengyin was asking.

Since Empress Lin's hypnosis was complete, and since Gu Chengyin had fully unlocked the system through that book—

Then why was his hypnosis still incomplete?

What was still missing?

And where was that missing piece?

"Big brother's hypnosis... is missing one thing."

Gu Xiaoli's voice slowed to a crawl, as if she were carefully treading across a swamp littered with traps.

Each word had to be weighed on the tip of her tongue first.

Only after confirming it wouldn't trigger something that shouldn't be triggered, would she dare to set it down gently.

"But Her Majesty didn't say what it was. Xiaoli doesn't know where it is either."

Gu Xiaoli looked up, and in her large eyes was a nearly fragile bewilderment.

She had been carrying these secrets all along, never knowing when to take them out, never knowing who to show them to.

She could only wait—wait for the right time, wait for the right person.

"Xiaoli only knows..."

Gu Xiaoli paused, her spiritual cat ears drooping completely.

Pressing flat against her hair, like leaves drenched by rain.

"True hypnosis... can never be undone."