Chapter 209: Aftermath and Lingering Influence

“What… what happened here?”

After some time to adjust and wake up, Xiao Yuan immediately saw the chaotic state of the room.

His younger brother sat crying on the headboard, while his sister huddled inside the cabinet in front of him, rubbing her eyes frantically. They were trembling with fear, clearly traumatized by whatever they’d experienced. He himself was sprawled on the floor, his back aching terribly, feeling like his bones had come apart.

And his female secretary was clutching her thigh, blood soaking through her stockings. She had fainted.

Several bodyguards were hiding outside the door, not daring to peek in. He could only hear their voices:

“Sir, please don’t do anything foolish for love…”

“We understand all forms of true love, really. Qinggang has no discrimination…”

…

“What in the world is going on?”

He turned his head in astonishment and saw Lu Xin sitting in a nearby chair.

He held a gun in his hand, his head slightly bowed. Xiao Yuan couldn’t see his face, only sense a deep disappointment emanating from him.

“Lu… Master Lu, what happened?”

Xiao Yuan felt a sharp headache. Chugging a bottle of brandy earlier and then being jolted awake had left his head spinning.

Seeing the utter chaos in the room especially sent a wave of panic through him.

“Hm?”

Hearing his voice, Lu Xin seemed to react, slowly raising his head.

Xiao Yuan watched as he too seemed to take a moment to adjust, gradually emerging from a daze as focus returned to his eyes.

…

…

“Don’t call me Master.”

Lu Xin glanced around, slowly put the gun away and let out a long sigh.

“Ah, this…”

Xiao Yuan was both shocked and terrified. “Brother Lu, what… what exactly happened?”

“I’m younger than you.”

Lu Xin replied softly, “Actually, nothing much happened. The matter is more or less resolved.”

“This… This is what resolved looks like?”

Xiao Yuan was stunned for a moment. He looked at his younger brother and sister who were crying loudly, then at his unconscious secretary lying in a pool of blood. He had no idea how things had gotten this way; it felt like things had only gotten worse…

“Just now, while I was helping you resolve your problem, your secretary…”

Lu Xin seemed to have regained his composure, slowly explaining to Xiao Yuan, “She probably has feelings for you and misunderstood something. So at the most critical moment, she gave the key card to your brother and sister. They rushed in while you were having that nightmare, nearly turning it into reality… To solve your problem, I had to take some measures…”

As he spoke, he glanced at the gunshot wound on the secretary’s leg, his expression unchanging.

After a slight pause, he added, “Maybe I was a bit too heavy-handed.”

“Even though you say you were heavy-handed, I don’t get the feeling you actually think so…”

The thought flashed through Xiao Yuan’s mind subconsciously, but he quickly understood from Lu Xin’s calm account what had just transpired.

The scenes from the dream were still vivid in his memory. The thought that he had almost truly harmed his own brother and sister while acting out those scenes filled him with renewed terror and lingering fear. His facial muscles contorted as he glared fiercely at the secretary.

But seeing her lying unconscious on the floor with an injured leg, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh.

Instead, he immediately yelled towards the door, “Come in quickly! It’s alright now! Get her to the hospital…”

Hearing Xiao Yuan’s call, one of the bodyguards cautiously peeked his head in. Seeing Xiao Yuan awake and Lu Xin sitting calmly in the chair with the gun put away, he finally rushed in boldly, picked up the female secretary, and hurried outside.

Xiao Yuan shouted again, “Do four of you need to carry one person? Two more come back here and take Weiwei and Tong Tong out.”

Two bodyguards quickly returned to take his crying younger siblings. Seeing how terrified they were, Xiao Yuan grew anxious. He tried making a funny face to cheer them up, but the moment his sister saw it, she let out a piercing scream and cried even harder.

“Sigh…”

Xiao Yuan felt both anxious and helpless, slapping his forehead hard.

Lu Xin watched the four bodyguards scrambling chaotically and couldn’t help but frown slightly.

The Support Team handles things so much more efficiently…

These four bodyguards were so nervous and clumsy, it looked like they didn’t even have hands.

Composing himself slightly, he looked towards the door and saw the mess outside.

Many hotel guests had been disturbed and were now peeking out from their doors to see what was happening.

Downstairs, quite a few waiters and hotel guards had rushed up, observing nervously from a distance.

Outside, the faint sound of police sirens could be heard.

…

…

Although he was also extremely confused, he knew he had to brace himself and deal with the situation.

Adjusting his mood slightly, Lu Xin turned to Xiao Yuan, who was also clearly flustered, and said, “There will probably be some troublesome matters later that you’ll need to help clean up. But what’s certain is, you shouldn’t have any more nightmares tonight.”

Hearing this news, Xiao Yuan’s face finally showed some excitement. “Just like that… it’s resolved?”

“You could say it’s half resolved.”

Lu Xin nodded at him. “There’s one more important matter, but I need to make a call first.”

Seeing Xiao Yuan’s tense expression, he managed a slight smile. “You handle things here for now.”

Saying this, he picked up his bag and walked out the door.

…

…

Reaching a quieter corner of the hotel, Lu Xin made sure no one nearby could overhear before dialing a number.

“It’s confirmed. He was indeed polluted, or rather, influenced.”

The influence of Ability Users and Pollution Sources on people was essentially the same.

Just that one was intentional, the other unintentional. So it was better to make a slight distinction when describing it.

“Okay!”

The sound of keyboard clicking came from Han Bing’s end, then she asked, “Mr. Lone Soldier, why does it sound so chaotic over there?”

“There was a small problem. I fired my gun.”

Lu Xin explained softly.

Han Bing immediately sounded slightly tense. “Mr. Lone Soldier, are you alright?”

Lu Xin said, “I’m fine.”

Han Bing asked again, “How is the other party?”

“She’s slightly injured.”

…

Han Bing let out a clearly audible sigh of relief. “Alright, I’ll handle it.”

Soon, miscellaneous sounds of keyboard typing and file transfers came from her end. After four or five seconds, she picked up the phone again:

“Communication established. Mr. Lone Soldier, you can now briefly describe what happened.”

“I followed the previous plan, observing his state after he fell asleep…”

Lu Xin slowly recounted the events. “The strange part is this: when I intervened, the residual mental power left by the Dream Weaver seemed to try and influence me, pull me into the dreamscape as well, but…”

“It quickly disappeared.”

He paused before adding, “Now, there isn’t the slightest trace of residual mental power detectable on Vice President Xiao.”

“Disappeared?”

Han Bing listened intently without interrupting until Lu Xin finished. “Did you clean it up?”

Lu Xin denied it. “I didn’t harm it.”

“If that’s the case, did its own power dissipate?”

Han Bing wasn’t suspicious, slowly analyzing, “Normally, the power left behind by a Dream Weaver-type ability user in a victim for continuous suggestion is inherently very weak. The psychic magnitude usually doesn’t exceed one hundred, possibly even just dozens, or lower. So, when it attempts to influence another Ability User, it accelerates its own consumption process…”

…

“Hmm.”

Lu Xin pondered for a moment, feeling Han Bing’s analysis wasn’t quite right. He slowly said, “It didn’t seem that weak…”

His thoughts shifted slightly, and he shook his head again, saying regretfully, “Never mind, it was actually pretty weak.”

A small, distinct ‘?’ seemed to appear above Han Bing’s head on the other end of the line.

Lu Xin didn’t dwell on this issue. He thought for a moment and said, “This Ability User is actually quite strange. There are some things I’m not entirely sure about, so the report can wait a bit. Let me figure out the stranger aspects first.”

“Okay.”

Han Bing sensed Lu Xin’s caution. “How does Mr. Lone Soldier plan to investigate?”

Lu Xin said, “Naturally, by finding him directly and asking him face-to-face.”

…

Even after cooperating for so long, it still took Han Bing a moment to comprehend Lu Xin’s simple and direct method of problem-solving. After a pause, she chuckled, “That certainly would solve all problems… Did Mr. Lone Soldier find any clues just now?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about now.”

Lu Xin shook his head, then realized Han Bing couldn’t see him. “I didn’t find the Dream Weaver earlier.”

“What’s currently influencing him is just a type of residual mental power.”

“After this mental power was completely consumed, I couldn’t even find any trace of it on him anymore.”

…

“If that’s the case, it means the Dream Weaver has very proficient control over their power.”

Han Bing’s voice paused slightly. “This is also where the problem gets complicated. Dream Weaver-type abilities are quite bizarre, making traces hard to find. Moreover, they can use psychological suggestion and other methods to distance themselves from the target promptly, achieving remote killing. If the traces left are faint, it’s difficult for us to even distinguish whether it’s the victim’s own dream or if they were influenced.”

“Finding them won’t be easy.”

…

Because he had already familiarized himself thoroughly with the information on ‘Dream Weaver-type’ ability users beforehand, Lu Xin could understand this.

It was like poisoning: neutralizing the poison was one thing, finding the poisoner was another entirely.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, actually, your mission can already be considered complete.”

After a slight pause on the phone, Han Bing continued, “Finding that Dream Weaver-type ability user will be a very complex and tedious task, possibly requiring extensive data screening. Therefore, I suggest transferring it directly to Headquarters for the Investigation Team to handle.”

…

“This…”

Lu Xin seemed to struggle for a moment before making a decision. “I’ll do it myself.”

“Hmm?”

Han Bing’s voice held a hint of confusion. “Does Mr. Lone Soldier already have a solution?”

Lu Xin slowly said, “I have a bit of an idea. It should work…”