364: Chapter 162: Echo Erosion: Banquet of Intrigue 364: Chapter 162: Echo Erosion: Banquet of Intrigue Wang Yunxiao was starving as well, since final exams were quite mentally draining.
As soon as he let go of that mental burden, his appetite surged instantly.
He wolfed down a whole bowl of fried rice with braised pork knuckle meat and when he looked back, he saw Little Gourd sitting there in a daze, so he asked subconsciously, “Where is Li Mumu?”
“Who?”
Little Gourd looked utterly bewildered.
Wang Yunxiao nearly choked to death on a mouthful of fried rice, stuck in his throat.
No way, was fellow student Li Mumu in some sort of quantum superposition state, appearing and disappearing intermittently…?
But he quickly calmed down.
With so many people around, although everyone was busy gobbling down their food, it wasn’t possible for a whole person to just disappear without anyone noticing.
Wang Yunxiao subtly pulled out his notebook and glanced at it.
“Echo Erosion detected: Banquet of Intrigue.”
“A Flower Amidst Guests has used ‘Banquet of Intrigue’ on you, planting a mental suggestion in your mind.”
I’ve seen this before!
This wasn’t the first time Wang Yunxiao had seen such a notification; he remembered the last occurrence was in that hospital.
He had later asked Nurse Liu about it and found out that Flower Amidst Guests was an advanced profession within the Heretical Path of “Advisor”.
Each of the twelve Cultivation Dharma Gates had two pathways of cultivation: the Righteous Path and the Heretical Path.
Upon reaching Completion, one could advance further; the Righteous Path of “Advisor” led to “School Official,” whereas the Heretical Path led to “Flower Amidst Guests.”
Since ancient times, those with exquisite talents were called “Advisors,” and those with quick minds were called “Lis.”
Intelligent and quick-witted was originally an idiom to praise someone.
However, individuals who are intelligent and quick-witted may not always use their smarts in the right place.
Some bury themselves in their studies, eventually standing out, winning literary accolades, and getting commissioned to edit documents in the Hanlin Academy.
Others call friends for pleasurable nights of music and wine, networking and wheeling and dealing.
Little Gourd practices the Righteous Path of Advisor, which involves recording secrets with a brush and keeping them.
Those on the Advisor Heretical Path are adept at prying into others’ secrets and exploiting them.
Advanced practitioners from the Herapeutic Path, known as “Flower Amidst Guests,” are even more adept—they can enter any private situation without any restrictions, making their irrational presence completely overlooked by others.
They can also guide others’ thoughts and actions through the art of mental suggestion, and even completely alter someone’s self-identity and how they are perceived by others.
They are like an omnipresent ghost you can’t see or touch.
Ten garrison soldiers are present, along with one Advisor…
though they’re all greenhorns without any guard up.
But for someone to abduct Li Mumu without a trace in such an environment, it’s terrifying to imagine the strength of the culprit.
However, Wang Yunxiao was not afraid, but rather, he was filled with anger.
Damn it, how dare you kidnap someone right before my eyes?
He had already put down his chopsticks, while his brothers were still devouring their meal head down, something that clearly wasn’t normal.
Had they all been cast with a mental suggestion too?
Wang Yunxiao slammed the table and shouted angrily, “Stop eating, all of you!”
The table instantly fell silent.
Wang Yunxiao gestured for them to be quiet and began to recall the recent details.
In fact, he had been keeping an eye on Li Mumu and had just mentioned to Little Gourd two minutes ago, “If she’s not eating, you don’t have to dish out for her.”
And then…
Wang Yunxiao remembered that his attention had been entirely captured by the dish of braised pork knuckle that had been served.
The mental suggestion was incredibly silky and smooth; the other party was clearly skilled in its use.
This move was made without a hint of obvious effect, leaving him completely unaware of any abnormalities.
In any profession, there’s a distinction between the skilled and the unskilled.
Some people can practice the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms to an invincible level.
While others may practice the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms until they fall into Qi Deviation.
Mental suggestion, or hypnosis, hinges most critically on guidance, diminishing the subject’s psychological resistance.
Especially for garrison soldiers like them, who together amplify their resistance to an absurd degree, normal mental suggestion is utterly ineffective.
Clearly, the other party ingeniously exploited everyone’s relaxed state during mealtime…
If his memory didn’t fail him, then from the moment the mental suggestion was planted to now, it should not have been more than three minutes.
How far can you go with a woman in three minutes?
If it’s using the kind of Shrinking Ground into Inches spell like Boss Mu from the Thousand-Year Dynasty World, then it’s hard to say.
But now it’s the end of June; days are long, and the sky is not yet fully dark!
“Grab your tools, follow me!”
The brothers exchanged glances, then looked around.
It’s not that they doubted the elder brother’s command, but who would think to bring their tools when going out to eat?
All eyes naturally turned to Eryang.
Eryang reached behind himself and slammed two Ox Ear Knives into the table.
“Let’s go—!”
With tools for self-defense, there’s nothing to fear; their presence was akin to that of a gun.
You can’t expect two small knives to cause significant damage; they’re purely to make the other person think twice.
A group of men bristling with violence moved towards the exit, stunning the shopkeeper and shop assistant, who hid to the side, afraid to even breathe loudly.
Youtiao grabbed a shop assistant and handed over two bills: “I’m leaving this with you, we’ll settle up when I come back!
And we’re borrowing a couple of stools, we’ll return them later.”
Wang Yunxiao stepped out of the door, looked around, and took a deep breath through his nose.
The smell of car exhaust!
Whether luring in or kidnapping, a convenient and fast vehicle is a must.
Under normal circumstances, a rickshaw would be the best option, having one’s own disguised as the puller.
But on Nanshi Main Street, where the traffic is so busy, a rickshaw puller can easily get fares, and not taking any would quickly attract attention.
When Wang Yunxiao previously encountered Li Mumu in the small square, he hadn’t noticed anyone tailing him, suggesting the other party had some degree of counter-surveillance awareness, or rather, a more covert method of tracking.
For instance, a small car.
A small car appearing on Nanshi Main Street isn’t particularly conspicuous, but the question is, how fast can you drive on a crowded street like this?
It’s now evening, and the streets are packed with people.
In those days, people had no sense of yielding to vehicles, nor were there dedicated lanes.
Wang Yunxiao leapt up, grabbed the eaves, and flipped onto the second floor.
He looked up and quickly spotted a small car driving into the distance.
“There’s a car over there!
Follow me and chase it down!”
Wang Yunxiao yelled, running across rooftops towards the accelerating car.
The heavily crowded streets posed the same hindrance to them, but on the rooftops, the view was unobstructed, and there was nothing in their way.
Soon, Guozi and Eryang, the best movers among them, had also scaled the wall.
They followed Wang Yunxiao, leaping from one roof to another.
Their actions immediately caught the attention of passers-by—unavoidable attention, given that it was rare to witness such commotion in the marketplaces these days.
The small car, already about a hundred meters away, seemed to realize the mayhem behind it and the driver floored the accelerator, speeding up drastically.