Paintings of Terror

Chapter 202: Psychological Attack and Psychological Defense

In the painting, all comforts and chicken soup niceties were useless, so there was nothing they could do but salute Xue Ge with their eyes.

Shao Ling was still sensible and calm. He did not continue to waste time, but brought everyone’s thinking back to important issues. “Next we will discuss how to deal with illusions. In fact, as long as there is an effective method, Xue Ge’s life might not even be at risk.”

“Yes, if no one dies, we will vote tomorrow,” Yu Long said dully.

“That is something that needs to be considered later. Now let’s focus on how to deal with tonight’s illusion.” Shao Ling took a few bamboo pieces that were removed from the bamboo slips and wrote audio, tactile, smell, vision, and taste. Afterward, he removed the slips with audio and tactile written on them and set them aside. Then, he picked the slip with smell written on it and showed it to everyone.

“According to the experience of the previous two nights, if the illusion is based on the sense of smell, what do you think it would be like?” Shao Ling looked at everyone.

Everyone thought about it. After a while, Luo Yi raised his hand. “The illusion of touch is our most disgusting thing. Will the sense of smell also be our most disgusting smell? For example, the smell of shit, the smell of vomit after drinking. The kind that can make me vomit when I smell it.”

“…That’s just on the level of vomiting though. Is it possible that you’ll want to die when you smell shit?” Wei Dong said. “This illusion will want to kill us with the smell! I think it’s probably going to be similar to a kind of hallucinogenic smell. For example, with a single sniff, we’ll fall into mountains of daggers and seas of flames, and there will be only one way out. Those that couldn’t help but take that way out will fall into the sea.”

“Then what if it’s the sense of taste? For example, would it give us the illusion of eating shit in our mouth?” Luo Bu asked.

“…Can you drop it with the piss and shit?” Wei Dong said angrily. “Is having so much money limiting your imagination? Broaden your mind! Be more adventurous.”

“I just feel that if the illusion puts me in a pit of pee, I would really dare jump into the sea and die rather than remain in the pit,” Luo Bu whispered nonsense.

Unexpectedly, Shao Ling nodded at this. “That’s not completely unreasonable. Since the illusion can read our memories, it will naturally know the most repelling thing in our heart. Once the right medicine is prescribed, it would be easy to break our heart’s defense.”

“But what we’re focused on is not what kind of setting the illusion will use to confuse or kill us, but to figure out the best way to prevent cracks in our heart’s armor.”

“Simply put, we need to make our most vulnerable point invulnerable, so that the illusion wouldn’t have a chance to get in.”

“Everyone has weaknesses. I think this problem has no solution,” Yu Long said.

“Then you can only wait to die,” Fang Fei said coldly.

Yu Long frowned and shook his head helplessly, not saying anything.

Shao Ling continued, “To be frank, whether it is hearing, smell, or touch, these things are nothing but illusions. It is only because these illusions are too realistic that they often make us feel as if we’ve really entered them, so that we feel panic and hesitation, thus making it easier for them to deceive us. The most important factor is that this sense of reality is simply too strong, so that it is difficult for us to remain unaffected. I think the key to solving the puzzle and breaking the game is to find a way to distinguish between illusion and reality.”

Seeing that everyone was lost in thought, Shao Ling stopped talking and his gaze swept across the faces of everyone around him.

A long time passed, and feeling that time could no longer be dragged on without progress, Shao Ling spoke again, like a reader “Dr. Qin, as a doctor, how can someone become more focused, or how to dull the five senses?”

Qin Ci lifted his eyes to look at him. “Difference trade, worlds apart. Probably only a psychologist can help solve the problem you’re talking about. In fact, in the process of treating patients with mental illness, a lot of what psychologists do is ‘listen.’ Even with their guidance, it would take a while for people’s psychological state to gradually improve. Therefore, I can only disappoint everyone by saying this: to solve our psychological problems, we can only rely on ourselves. But right now, we just don’t have enough time to make effective changes. Sorry.”

Shao Ling waved his hand and then looked at Zhu Haowen. “Mr. Zhu?”

“The only way I can think of is to rely on myself,” Zhu Haowen said indifferently. “No matter what the illusion is, I will stay firm in my heart.”

“Hai, easier said than done…” Luo Bu sighed.

“Yeah…” Wei Dong also sighed. “Humans are emotional animals. As long as they have feelings, they will inevitably be deceived. Just like how, when someone knew that the other person is a liar, he would go in with the mentality of fighting falsehoods and deceptions. But in dealing with the swindler, he ended up getting tricked in the end. These things would be hard to avoid, unless that person is simply a hard-hearted person.”

Shao Ling directly ignored them, and his gazes fell onto Mu Yiran expectantly. “Mr. Mu, I think you should have something to say to everyone.”

Mu Yiran raised his eyes indifferently.

From the beginning of the painting to the present moment, his past brilliance seemed to have been completely suppressed by Shao Ling, so that in the eyes of the newcomers, his existence was hardly noteworthy. Even Zhu Haowen had more presence than him, having struggled with the newcomers for some reasons. As for Mu Yiran, he was always offline and would silently stand beside Ke Xun, either observing or thinking.

Right now, being called by Shao Ling in the matter in which a leader would treat his subordinates, Mu Yiran’s mood didn’t fluctuate. Just as before, he simply calmly stated his thoughts.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever watched a movie called Inception?” His first sentence was said very nonchalantly.

“I’ve seen it!” Luo Bu hurriedly raised his hand.

Some had seen it and some had not.

Mu Yiran continued,”The protagonist of the story often enters and exits the dream world, but because the dream feels too real, it is very easy to gradually be unable to distinguish between dream and reality. His lover ended up dying because he could not distinguish between them.”

“The situation we’re facing now is slightly similar to this story, and the way the protagonist in the story overcomes this problem is to find something to use as a kind of warning.”

“The object chosen by the protagonist is a spinning top. Whenever he starts to doubt whether the world he is in is a dream, he turns the spinning top. If the spinning top keeps spinning, it proves that he is still in the dream world.”

“Because only the spinning top in the dream world will keep spinning against common sense and will not stop. In the real world, the spinning top will fall down after a short period of time. This is how he distinguishes reality from dreams.”

“I think we might be able to learn from this method. Each of us can choose a warning object of our own. When we find ourselves in an illusion, we can use this warning object to remind ourselves to work hard to stay where we are. I think this will give us a greater chance of surviving.”

“But we need to be careful in choosing this item. It must be something that will give you absolute vigilance. It can play the role of strengthening your conviction. Therefore, not just any item will do, and we will need to make psychological preparation by telling ourselves that as long as we can not see or touch this object, we will firmly believe that everything around us is an illusion.”

“The only way to fight against psychological and mental attacks is to have a solid psychological defense line and firm mental will. This is my suggestion.”

Mu Yiran stopped talking, and the newcomers stared at him.

“Can the nonsense in the movies be used here?” Yu Long frowned. “You really don’t take life and death seriously!”

“This is indeed us not thinking like you on the matter of life and death,” Ke Xun answered indifferently. “We’ll just leave the proposal here, and whether you adopt it or not is up to you. Keep in mind that this isn’t nonsense made up by the movie. It has roots in psychology. This method of suggestion is not only very effective but is indispensable for our athletes. It has proven to be very useful.”

“If you need a basis in reality, you can try the ‘conditioning ring’ or the ‘conditioning bracelet.’” Mu Yiran continued. “This is a psychological warning for people who are not firm in their will or who cannot easily control their emotions. Whenever your will is shaken or your emotions are out of control, the ring or bracelet will remind you of restraint. It will provide you with a psychological suggestion, helping you realize that you need to control your mental state. This is similar to the spinning top that I mentioned earlier. These illusions are attacks against our psychology and spirit. Psychological problems can only be solved psychologically.”

Ke Xun added calmly, “So don’t take ignorance as nonsense. Please cherish your IQ while also cherishing your life.”

Mu Yiran gracefully continued, “Perhaps you can consider having a restraint bracelet, which is very effective in controlling words and deeds.”

Ke Xun continued, “I have nothing else to add.”

Mu Yiran followed, “That is all.”

Yu Long: “…..”

Everyone: “…..”

Wei Dong:….Look, these gay guys are partnering up to bully people.

Shao Ling looked at Mu Yiran for a moment and said, “This is indeed a good method. However, if the illusions of the three senses are superimposed, the difficulties will also triple. What to do if it’s difficult for us to fight with willpower? What then?”

Mu Yiran looked at him lightly. “Then the biggest challenge we face will no longer be from the illusion but from our companions. At that time, whoever has the weakest willpower will be eliminated. The only way forward is to hold on.”

“But I remember that,” Shao Ling said with a smile, while looking at Mu Yiran’s eyes, “Dr. Qin once told us about the painting Human Studies. In that painting, you encountered an experiment that deprived you of your sense, which is opposite to the situation in this painting.”

“At that time, your coping method was to knock people out. Once they lose consciousness, they will no longer feel the deprivation of their senses.”

“Then, in this painting with the opposite situation, can’t we also try this same method? After all, after losing consciousness, our sensitivity to various sensations will be reduced, and so perhaps we can completely escape it. What do you think?”

“If the illusions don’t cause us strong pain or discomfort, this method might be useful,” Mu Yiran calmly answered. “However, we need to consider a problem. When a person goes from an unconscious state to a conscious state, they will be more susceptible to being deceived. We must consider the possibility that we will be awakened by this phantom. When we’re half-awake, will we be able to face the illusion in front of us? Will we have the mind to fight against a dangerous situation? I think the better defense strategy is to stay awake and alert.”

“So, what if we combine this method with the warning object method?” Shao Ling continued to gaze steadily at Mu Yiran. “If we are unfortunately awakened from our unconscious state, we will immediately use the warning object method to warn ourselves. I think this method is instead more effective and safer than suffering from the illusion from beginning to end.”

“After all, confronting the illusion from beginning to end will cause the spirit to accumulate tremendous pressure, and it will result in premature fatigue. Even when you wake up halfway, at least your mental power will still be very abundant, and will shorten the time in which you will need to endure. Thus, your chance of succeeding will be greatly increased.”

“What are your thoughts and suggestions on this?”

This time, he was no longer asking Mu Yiran but had turned his gaze to the others.

“I agree with your approach.” Yu Long took the lead in expressing his position. Obviously, he trusted Shao Ling more as the “leader” of the overall situation.

“Then there’s no point in asking,” Wei Dong said. “Everyone can just choose the method they want.”

No one had any objections, and so they got up to look for their respective warning object.

“Which method do you choose?” Wei Dong asked Luo Bu, who was sitting next to him.

Luo Bu thought for a long time and said with a sad face, “Although I believe in brother-in-law’s method more, I think these two methods will work differently for different people. People like me who don’t have very strong willpower, I feel that there’s no way I can survive the whole battle. So, I chose Shao Ling’s method, but I also want to add one more protective measure…”