Chapter 342: Interrogation! The Mentally Deranged Third Person

“That’s possible.”

Xu Huo nodded. He had considered this conjecture as well.

It had been said before.

Illusions are caused by insufficient or erroneous information.

Setting aside the authenticity and sufficiency of the information for a moment.

Let’s look only at the source of the information.

How does the human body primarily gather information?

There are many ways, such as the five basic senses. But the most commonly used are…

First, the eyes. Second, the ears.

Regardless of which one, transmitting information to interfere with the human mind ultimately comes down to exhibiting behaviors and actions.

And a Hypnotist fits this description perfectly!

“But that brings us to another problem.”

“If it is a Hypnotist… who could possibly reach this level of skill?”

Xu Huo looked at the people around him.

He didn’t like solving problems one by one.

Instead, he preferred to start with one problem and generate a structure of multiple, interconnected questions, allowing him to think from a macroscopic perspective.

Because every question corresponds to certain information. Once the information for all the questions comes to light, some of them will answer themselves. And when one problem is solved, it creates a chain reaction that causes the entire structure of problems to be solved as well.

As for the Hypnotist, there was no need to fixate on whether one was actually responsible for this case.

It was better to come up with several more questions.

For instance…

“Also, why would a Hypnotist of this caliber want to kill Wang Wei?”

Xu Huo frowned, asking the others as if thinking aloud.

“It’s true that Wang Wei’s mental state was abnormal.”

“In his diary, it says he went to see a psychologist after seeing the ‘ghost,’ but that was *after* he saw it, not before. It wasn’t the cause of the ghost’s appearance.”

“So, what grudge could this so-called Hypnotist have had against the deceased?”

“Furthermore… a Hypnotist who could reach this level wouldn’t need to kill someone this way.”

Saying this, Xu Huo shook his head.

The term “Hypnotist” describes a profession that usually exists only in fiction.

Many people view it through a fantasy lens, thinking it’s impressive and cool.

Common tropes include a coin, a lullaby, and other such props.

But, to put it bluntly, a Hypnotist simply manipulates your mind.

It’s like sculpting clay. Your mind is the clay, and the Hypnotist is the one whose words become a pair of hands.

If his words are firm enough and your mind is soft enough, those hands can mold your mind according to his will.

If your mind is firm enough, of course, it can’t be molded.

This is what’s known as being strong-willed.

So, under certain circumstances…

The leader of a pyramid scheme could also be considered a type of Hypnotist, able to change people’s thoughts and drive them into a frenzy.

Isn’t that exactly what hypnosis is?

Or consider a “player” who toys with someone’s emotions, making them insecure, completely obedient, and dependent on him. This so-called PUA is also a form of hypnosis.

So, if you just strip away the romanticized filter around the idea of a Hypnotist and look at the core of it, you can quickly understand the principle.

“If I… ahem, if *you* had a hypnotic ability that allowed you to project an image into someone’s line of sight…”

“Then why not make a truck suddenly appear in their vision while they’re driving, causing them to lose control and faking a traffic accident?”

“Why give the victim time to save themselves?”

Halfway through his sentence, Xu Huo realized he actually seemed to possess this Skill. He quickly corrected himself, but it didn’t disrupt the flow of his questions, which came pouring out one after another.

Zhang Liang was silent for a moment, his mind racing.

After a moment, he slowly replied:

“The diary, and our previous speculations, mentioned that the deceased and the ghost might have been acquainted.”

“Could it be that this ghost has a basis in reality?”

“Or perhaps…”

“There is no Hypnotist at all, and the person who is the ‘basis in reality’ is the one responsible!”

They didn’t know if a Hypnotist existed, but based on the diary, there was a possibility that the deceased was acquainted with the ghost he saw.

If that’s the case…

“Let’s keep the Hypnotist theory on the table for now, but not as a final conclusion. We’ll treat the information that the deceased was familiar with his hallucination, and that it has a real-world prototype, as a key point for careful consideration.”

Xu Huo rubbed his brow.

This feeling of pulling clues out of thin air was not pleasant.

Especially in a bizarre case like this, where every question led to a dead end, yet the case itself seemed to point all the clues toward that same dead end.

This was tough.

Of course, aside from these clues…

“It’s also possible,” Xu Huo began slowly, “that the deceased himself had some kind of mental illness!”

“He already had one?”

Li Jianye paused. “But that’s four people. All four of them had a mental illness!?”

“No,” Xu Huo said, shaking his head. “Birds of a feather flock together. It’s possible for someone with a mental illness to be surrounded by others who also have them. It’s a possibility, however slim.”

“What’s the status of the police investigating the other three?”

“Have them call… never mind. Get a car ready. We’re going to see the other three.”

Xu Huo stood up, took a deep breath, then lifted the curtain and walked out.

Zhang Liang stayed behind, while Sun Jian and Li Jianye went with him.

Zhang Min, who had been watching from the sidelines, now turned her gaze to Wang Chao.

“Aren’t you going?”

“Me? What would I do there?”

Wang Chao smacked his lips. “I’m not a cop.”

“But just now, you…”

Zhang Min paused, hesitating slightly. Her beautiful features froze for a moment as she replayed the image of Wang Chao speaking earlier in her mind.

“Ah, I was just talking off the top of my head.”

Wang Chao said casually, “You’ll get used to it.”

“I’m a businessman. It’s normal to know a little about this stuff, right?”

“Besides, if you don’t have a few tricks up your sleeve, how can you expect to get by in Jiangsan City?”

An unconscious smile appeared on Zhang Min’s face, and then she fell silent.

What happened today had left a deep psychological scar on her. Anyone else would probably have had a mental breakdown.