Neverland

In the end, Yan Cen still didn't get the final answer from Ji Xiaoli.

In fact, Yan Cen understands the meaning of mental damage better than Xu Muzhou. The human brain has a self-protection mechanism. This kind of rigid hypnosis can only give instructions, but not psychological counseling, so once it touches the private area deep in the mind, It will cause a backlash.

Strong-willed patients can resist hypnotic instructions, but there are also some weak-willed people who fail to resist.

But in any case, the mental damage caused in the resistance is real.

Xu Muzhou didn't know exactly which sentence Yan Cen was persuaded by.But Yan Cen did what he said, since he agreed to Xu Muzhou, he really didn't ask another word.

—even if they are only one step away from the possible truth.

Not only that, he also spent 10 minutes giving Ji Xiaoli follow-up subconscious counseling to ensure that her spirit would not be damaged after waking up.

After waking up, Ji Xiaoli had no impression of what happened in the hypnotic state, and she exchanged a few more words with Yan Cen before leaving.

And Dr. Yan was very persuasive because of his skillful hands and benevolence. After the diagnosis and treatment, Dr. Yan was rewarded with a piece of mints—of course, the kind that comes with lunch.

"Are you going to send me with this?" Yan Cen shook the mint candy in his hand.

As he said this, he began to tear the candy paper honestly with his hands.This kind of mint candy is wholesaled in bulk. It is a counterfeit brand that I have never seen before. The taste is between mint and cooling oil. Stuffing it in the mouth makes my brain choke. The refreshing effect is better than swallowing wind oil. works.

Yan Cen clicked his tongue, flicked the piece of candy with the tip of his tongue, and pressed the biochemical bomb under his tongue, he couldn't help but wonder if Xu Muzhou deliberately used the candy to punish him.

"Come on, brother Yan." Xu Muzhou sat on his armchair with his feet crossed, and said very sincerely: "After all, I'm penniless, and you even spent the points for buying clothes in Neverland .”

"Besides, this candy is delicious." Xu Muzhou added.

Yan Cen felt a cool breeze in his head even when he was breathing, let alone speaking, so he could only use his eyes to express "Are you talking nonsense with your eyes open".

Xu Muzhou miraculously understood the accusation, he pursed his lips and smiled: "Really, if you don't believe me, hold it for a while."

There was an unconscious smile on the corner of the little fox's lips, the corners of his eyes were bent down, and his beautiful black pupils looked at Yan Cen with a smile, which inadvertently merged into an extremely relaxed expression.

——It's a very beautiful look, Yan Cen thought.

He has seen different people in countless timelines, and listened to the layers of pain, resentment, and regret.

Those strong feelings are like the sticky sand under the bottom of the neverland sea, until they are submerged in the sea, hidden in the bottom of the sea that no one knows, and will never disappear.He can only wait for him to personally dig out the sludge from the deep ground, dry it in the sun, and then scatter it in the dry and warm wind.

The number of people cleaning up the system is decreasing day by day, but to Yan Cen, these news are just the numbers in the periodic report.He had no memory of those colleagues, so he certainly didn't have any strange thoughts about their departure.

If he had to talk about the impact, it would be that his task frequency had increased.

Time passed day after day, countless timelines extended on the time axis of Neverland, Yan Cen could hardly remember how many years he had not seen such a sincere sense of satisfaction like Xu Muzhou.

"Emotion" itself is a kind of energy that can be transmitted, Yan Cen seems to be infected by the relaxation emanating from Xu Muzhou, he only feels that even the sunlight falling in from outside is a bit scorching.

The mint in his mouth was covered with a thin layer of sugar coating, exposing the round and hard little candies inside, Yan Cen poked it with the tip of his tongue, and tasted a little sweetness with difficulty amidst the bitter taste of inferior essence .

"Brother Yan." Xu Muzhou said, "Why are you in a daze?"

"I was wondering why you suddenly changed your mind." Yan Cen said.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket, habitually walked to the window, and opened the window a small gap.

Yan Cen had already pulled out a cigarette from the cigarette case, but when he was about to light it, he remembered that there was still a half-eaten mint in his mouth. He paused, put down the lighter for the time being, and leaned against the window, waiting for the mint in his mouth. The sugar is completely dissolved.

It's just that this sentence is not an excuse for him to have nothing to say. Xu Muzhou in his impression has always been a person who doesn't meddle in other people's business. He is a person who pays attention to efficiency. clues on the face.

"Self-inflicted and worthy of sympathy are two different things." Xu Muzhou knew what he meant, spread his hands and said, "When I was interviewing, everyone around me was on the same starting line. Qingqing is much better, but without you, the difference between me and her is probably that one dies faster and the other dies slower, and since we are in danger, we have no time to sympathize with others."

"As for the internship world, let's not say whether the people in it are guilty or not, but everything that happens to them is based on their own choices, and there is nothing to sympathize with." Xu Muzhou said: "Everyone must be responsible for their own choices."

"If you hurt yourself, you have to sympathize with others. That's called the Holy Mother." Xu Muzhou stood up, took a disposable paper cup from Yan Cen's desk, went to the water dispenser to get half a glass of water, and then continued: " But there is no need to be so extreme when she is harmless. Ji Xiaoli is a mother, and the one who died was her own child. You see, Ji Yun is so crazy that he needs Neverland to intervene because of the loss of his sister. As a mother , it will probably only hurt more."

"But Ji Xiaoli may not be innocent." Yan Cen said: "Maybe at the end of the mission, you will find that she is the hub."

"It's different from the student in the internship world. At least until now, I haven't found any clues about Ji Xiaoli's guilt." Xu Muzhou looked sideways at Yan Cen: "Or, what do you already know?"

"No, she hasn't been suspected so far." Yan Cen said, "I'm just raising a possibility."

"I just think that people shouldn't be stingy with emotions—it doesn't matter even if they get slapped in the face afterwards." Xu Muzhou said flatly, "Because empathy, in the final analysis, is the bottom line that distinguishes human beings from grass and trees."

This topic came to an abrupt end, and the two of them tacitly did not continue talking.

The mints had turned into a thin piece of sugar at some point, and when Yan Cen unconsciously licked it, the sharp edge of the sugar piece cut a small wound on the tip of his tongue.

The fleeting stinging pain was negligible, and the slight smell of blood was instantly submerged by the sweetness. Yan Cen licked the piece of sugar without changing his face, chewed it up twice and swallowed it.

Yan Cen put the cigarette that had been held between his fingertips back into his mouth, and pressed the button of the lighter.

The familiar smell of tar instantly filled his mouth, driving away the sweet and greasy taste that was still lingering just now.The smell of tobacco traveled back and forth in his body along his breath, and wafted into the air again.

Xu Muzhou finished drinking half a glass of water, crushed the paper cup and threw it into the trash can.He turned his head to look at Yan Cen, only to realize that the other party's aura had become very subtle.

Yan Cen leaned against the open window, the incense smoke between his fingers drifted out along the cold wind, Yan Cen's eyes fell on a certain point outside the window, the amber pupils were very pale in the sunlight, and looked a little lost coke.

Probably because his expression was too close to the empty state of "no sorrow, no joy", Xu Muzhou was startled, and subconsciously reflected on whether he said something wrong just now, so that he hit the target. What's on Yan Cen's mind.

"Brother Yan?" Xu Muzhou called him tentatively.

"Huh?" Yan Cen flicked the cigarette ash out of the window, and looked back calmly: "What's wrong?"

He answered so naturally, when Xu Muzhou looked over again, he felt that there was nothing wrong with the other party.

Xu Muzhou spurned in his heart his insignificance, walked back to Yan Cen's desk, and searched for Ji Yun's case records from the scattered file boxes.

"The black progress bar on the hydrangea before has dropped." Xu Muzhou said: "What is completely certain now is that Ji Yun's obsession is directly related to her sister."

"Ji Xiaoli can't use it for the time being." Yan Cen said: "There is no other way but to start with Ji Yun."

"You still want to hypnotize her?" Xu Muzhou asked.

"It's useless if you use the same trick twice. Her inner world is so big, and you won't see any flowers after watching it a few times." Yan Cen stubbed out the cigarette butt: "We have to wait until she reveals her flaws."

But Xu Muzhou didn't expect that the "flaw" Yan Cen mentioned would come so quickly.

There are two doctors on duty in the open area. After the lunch break, Xu Muzhou can't stay in the office anymore, so he can only make an appointment with Yan Cen first, and then discuss the next step after the visiting time in the afternoon.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The nursing home sent new patients in the afternoon. Yan Cen, as the doctor on duty, followed the busy schedule for a long time. He was still watching the signs of the new patients with the nurse after dinner to avoid any unexpected situations. Even the ward rounds were checked by another doctor.

Now that the task is in a bottleneck period, Xu Muzhou is not in a hurry anymore.He didn't see Yan Cen coming when the lights were turned off, so he simply stuffed the notebook under the pillow, deciding to get a good night's sleep first, and talk about it tomorrow.

No matter how good the conditions in a nursing home are, they can't compare with a private space.Probably because of his childhood habits, Xu Muzhou is actually a very light sleeper. The light coming in through the crack of the door and the occasional footsteps passing by in the corridor made him not sleep very peacefully, but he just relied on the sound of sleep every night. Only the aromatherapy water mist with sleeping effect can barely sleep well.

In the middle of the night, I don't know which ward's call bell suddenly rang like a reminder. Even if the volume of the call bell in the sleep state is not as obvious as it is during the day, Xu Muzhou's ward is too far away from the nurse's station. close.The mechanical ringtones lingered incessantly, forcing Xu Muzhou out of the medicinal effect of aromatherapy essential oils.

Xu Muzhou wanted to turn over and continue to sleep, but suddenly heard an extremely subtle but very regular muffled sound.

—It came from the next door.