Chapter 1 Gu Shen Closed the Door

He took a deep breath, telling himself not to be so nervous. Only then did he come to the table and sit down. Unlike the previous treatment of mass insomnia... the woman before him held too important a position. He had to be on his guard.

"Lu Nanzhi."

The madam sat on the chair, legs crossed, her bearing graceful. Seeing Gu Shen hesitant and unsure what to say, she kindly opened her mouth in a soft voice, introducing herself, "You can call me Madam."

"Madam..."

Lu Nanzhi's voice had a peculiar calming effect. Gu Shen smoothed his emotions.

"Forgive my presumptuous staring."

He apologized softly, then summoned his wisp of blazing fire.

"Buzz—"

In the silent compartment, the moment the blazing fire appeared, the whole world changed color... Gu Shen stared intently at the woman before him. There was no supernatural aura on her body, but there was a shallow layer of supernatural source matter flowing like thin纱(sha, gauze). The rings, earrings, and necklaces she wore, almost every piece of jewelry, contained extremely powerful supernatural power.

From the blazing fire's perspective, the madam did not seem to be an Adept.

But a premonition vaguely emerged in Gu Shen's heart... If he wanted to plot something, just one of these sealed objects activating would take him away in an instant!

With such powerful sealed objects protecting her, she would still be eroded by supernatural power?

Looking more closely.

Gu Shen's expression became solemn.

Under the blazing fire's traction... he felt that in the position of the madam's brow, there was a very, very subtle little line. This little line could not even be seen by the naked eye empowered by the blazing fire, and only existed in the vague sense.

He felt it existed.

But he couldn't see it.

That little line was tightly stretched... affecting the spirit of the whole body, somewhat like... the curse seal of the Stern-Gaze Stone Sculpture?

But it was only similar, completely incomparable in level.

Sealed objects of the Stern-Gaze Stone Sculpture's level, if brought close to the madam, releasing its nightmare power, would be shattered in an instant by the protective force autonomously activated by the earrings, along with the stone sculpture itself being blasted to pieces.

"How... did you see anything?"

After a moment, the madam spoke softly.

Gu Shen withdrew the blazing fire. He pondered for a moment and hesitated, "With your status, I presume many mental-type Adepts have already examined you, right?"

The madam smiled and said, "Indeed. Among them, there are even mental-type Adepts of the tenth level of the Deep Sea, but they can't see anything."

Gu Shen was stunned.

Even the tenth level of the Deep Sea... couldn't see that hidden little line?

The blazing fire felt it, though. His supernatural power was indeed very special.

But he also knew very well that with his current strength, seeing it was one thing, and resolving it was another... While he hesitated, the madam's voice rang out again.

"It was Cui Zhongcheng who recommended me to come. He said you could cure me."

Hearing Cui Zhongcheng's name, Gu Shen had a feeling of sudden realization.

He knew that there were not so many coincidences in this world. The mass insomnia symptoms in Lipu Street were likely also a part of Cui Zhongcheng's plan. The previous patients being semi-forced into his hands could be considered "experience accumulation."

The moment he solved the Stern-Gaze Stone Sculpture, the madam came to his door... This series of events had to make Gu Shen suspect Cui Zhongcheng's true intention in stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

"Madam, your symptoms are simple. It should just be... insomnia."

Gu Shen looked directly into the woman's eyes and said with certainty, "Occasionally falling asleep, it's also filled with dreams, and all of them are nightmares. The sleep time has been getting shorter and shorter recently... Even with the protection of mental-type sealed objects, it can't be avoided. I guess the madam hasn't taken off those two earrings for a long time, but the time you can sleep each day is no more than three or five hours."

Lu Nanzhi sighed softly.

Before coming to the Dream Weaver, she actually had doubts... A supernatural symptom that even the tenth level of the Deep Sea could not detect, could an unknown teenager cure it?

But the facts had proven that Gu Shen was stronger than that tenth level of the Deep Sea.

At least he had "read" her symptoms and described them very accurately.

Those two earrings were extremely precious mental sealed objects. With them, even if she was restless, anxious, and nervous in the past few years, she could at least have a full sleep and wake up every day with sufficient spirit and vitality.

But now, the earrings had failed.

The madam lowered her eyes and said softly, "Did you see what caused it?"

"..."

Gu Shen was silent.

The silence between the two did not last long.

Lu Nanzhi softly revealed the young man's thoughts: "You suspect it was done by someone close to me, so you dare not say it."

Gu Shen's eyes changed slightly, and he looked at the madam strangely, thinking that this woman was really perceptive.

"There is a supernatural abnormality surging in the madam's brow... Although it is very subtle, it does exist."

He said honestly, "With the protection of those two earrings, I can't think of any way to plant a 'mental curse seal' on you... I'm afraid there is only an opportunity when you take off your earrings. So I think... this kind of thing can only be done by someone close to you."

Lu Nanzhi listened quietly.

With her wisdom, she understood what he meant as soon as Gu Shen opened his mouth.

This mental imprint was planted by someone she trusted.

Gu Shen was a little nervous, fearing that these words would anger this important figure. But completely different from what he expected, this woman was frighteningly calm. Knowing that she was being schemed against by someone she deeply trusted, she did not show any anger, but just calmly asked, "In that case, do you have a solution?"

That mental imprint was very special.

The person scheming behind the scenes must have anticipated that there would be strong people investigating. The previous Adept of the tenth level of the Deep Sea, although strong, could not see this imprint because of his supernatural characteristics, so there was no way to remove it.

Gu Shen was different.

"I can try... but I can't guarantee success." After careful consideration, Gu Shen asked, "Are you willing to take the risk?"

"No problem."

The madam did not hesitate at all.

She took off the two earrings and said softly, "Come on."

How decisive... Gu Shen was surprised by the madam's courage.

It was only their first meeting, and she took off her earrings... Even though he had reminded her that this mental imprint was planted by someone with ulterior motives when she took off her earrings.

Was it because he was young? Or out of trust in Cui Zhongcheng? In any case, this was a woman with considerable courage.

Out of various considerations... some were out of fear of Cui Zhongcheng, and some were out of awe of the madam's identity. Gu Shen's attitude in this incident was always to do his best, but never to take on everything or force himself.

"I will do my best." Gu Shen said softly, "Madam, please enter the dream."

His blazing fire power should only be lingering in the first stage now, and can only release the most basic hypnosis.

Fortunately, the madam was not an Adept. After taking off her earrings, her mental power gradually relaxed.

She closed her eyes, her consciousness about to fall into chaos.

The little line at the brow began to tremble... like a steel saw, rubbing back and forth against the soul. Lu Nanzhi frowned and groaned softly. This symptom had occurred during the last hypnosis by the Adept of the tenth level of the Deep Sea. There seemed to be a dark force resisting the hypnosis imposed by outsiders, making it impossible for her to easily enter the dream.

This scene was within Gu Shen's expectations.

"Go."

Gu Shen's expression was calm. How could he not have countermeasures when he had already felt the mental abnormality in Lu Nanzhi's brow?

With a soft shout.

The blazing fire immediately crashed towards the madam's brow. The extremely small flame swept out a whistling and magnificent momentum in the air.

He couldn't see that little line, but he could use the blazing fire to feel it.

Closing his eyes, Gu Shen entrusted all his spirit to the blazing fire, taking the madam's brow's mental space as the battlefield... The same subtle existences, placed at the same level, all became behemoths.

The originally pitifully small blazing fire, after crashing into the brow, instantly turned into a vast sea of fire.

"Extreme smallness contains extreme greatness."

That is the mysterious and esoteric putting Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed.

Gu Shen experienced such a mysterious feeling for the first time. When removing the Stern-Gaze Stone Sculpture's imprint, he directly immersed himself in the soul without any resistance. But this time was an exception, being blocked outside before immersing in the soul... So his consciousness was still clear, but he had come to a subtle realm, and his spirit gathered into a small person.

Perhaps mental hypnosis, slowed down and eased, is a presentation of one subtle realm after another.

"It wants to escape..."

Above the sea of fire, Gu Shen's face appeared.

He looked down at the mental space of the brow. In the brow battlefield, that little line was magnified to be winding and magnificent, like a long dragon. But although it looked spectacular, it was vulnerable. After being severely hit by the blazing fire without any defense, it roared loudly... and chose to run away.

There was not even a little resistance.

It seemed that the person who planted the mental imprint was prepared, and even if the track was captured, there would be corresponding follow-up measures.

However, wasn't this too spineless?

Gu Shen frowned, manipulating the sea of fire to fiercely intercept the long dragon. This time he felt the power of his "blazing fire" trait. The same subtle spiritual traits, the other side was extremely虚浮(xu fu, insubstantial) and collapsed at a touch, while his spiritual trait was solidified and tight. Every wisp of flame falling from the sea of fire could burn a bowl-sized blood mouth on that long dragon's body.

"Can you escape?"

Gu Shen gathered the sea of fire. The long dragon was forced to curl up its body, with its head and tail connected. Now, only the final encirclement remained.

However... something unexpected happened.

The long dragon wailed!

Its head lifted up and slammed down, followed by its huge body drilling downwards. Gu Shen reacted extremely quickly. The sea of fire instantly cut in a fan shape, cutting the long dragon in half that was drilling into the ground... But it was still too late. Half of its huge body turned into nothingness in the burning. In a few breaths, the blazing fire ate its supernatural source matter clean, while the remaining half had completely disappeared.

This thin line was not a dragon at all, but a worm!

Severing the body to survive.

This was the method of an earthworm.

"Who is the person who planted this imprint? So苟且(gou qie, opportunistic)?" Gu Shen's expression was gloomy, and he murmured, "But this imprint escaped from the brow. Doesn't that mean... I can successfully hypnotize the madam and let her enter the dream?"

Gu Shen was faced with a choice.

From the perspective of "entering the dream," he had already completed the employer's commission. The mental imprint had been successfully repelled, and the madam could already enjoy a clear dream.

But from another perspective, there was still some residue of this imprint. If it was not pulled out, there might be future troubles.

"The madam is Nan Jin's older sister, and Cui Zhongcheng specifically had her come to see me..."

After a short thought, Gu Shen made a decision, "Let's try to pull this mental imprint out."

As the thought fell, the blazing fire followed and dived down.

Sure enough.

After the mental imprint escaped, the madam with closed eyes on the chair, after two or three seconds, her breathing became long and light...

She successfully fell asleep.