Chapter 202: Spectator

The coffee named after Intis was fragrant and thick, and paired with a soft small cake smeared with cream, it was just right. Even though Lu Mian didn't put his mind on them at all, he felt that kind of beauty.

As soon as 3:30 arrived, he heard a familiar gentle female voice coming from the booth behind him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lu Mian Lee."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Su Qian." Lu Mian responded, while secretly surprised in his heart.

Although he didn't deliberately observe the guests entering the Mason Cafe, the instinct of a "Hunter" still made him roughly pay attention to the environment:

At 3:18, when he walked into this cafe, there was no one in the area around booth d, and from 3:15 to 3:30, no one had entered the entrance.

And now, Ms. Su Qian appeared behind him in that booth d silently, appearing behind him!

This was how magical and how weird!

Su Qian's voice sounded again, asking gently:

"How do you feel after the last treatment?"

Lu Mian didn't hide it and replied simply:

"Much better than before, at least I can vent my emotions."

"This is a good thing. Always accumulating emotions in your heart, always suppressing your feelings, will only make your mental problems and extreme state more and more serious, until the self-destructive tendency completely defeats your instinctive will to survive." Su Qian evaluated with peaceful and soothing words, affirming Lu Mian's change.

Her tone then carried a few points of laughter:

"Let's chat first. Let's chat about the various things you experienced in these two weeks. Hmm, pick the ones you feel you can say and are willing to say."

Lu Mian knew this was to calm his psychological state, do further mental treatment, and lay a foundation for awakening more memories later, so he had no resistance at all, smiled bitterly and said:

"There's nothing I can't talk about. I even opened that dream to you. Others can only count as small secrets."

He paused and started from Charlie:

"There is a guy in the hotel where I live who is both unlucky and stupid..."

Lu Mian recalled the things of these two weeks and told them out bit by bit as if chatting.

His heart gradually relaxed, as if he had returned to the time before Cordu Village was destroyed:

Aurora,

Time passed slowly, and Lu Mian's straight back gradually relaxed, leaning against the soft, springy sofa.

He did not speak in too much detail, as time was not exactly abundant, and he did not mention the existence of the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society, Franca's original gender, or his own suspicions regarding her purpose for joining the Savages. He only said that he had met a pen pal of his sister Aurore, who was a Sequence 7 "Witch" of the "Witch" pathway, and that both parties were in the same gang.

Likewise, he only briefly mentioned that he had held a ritual and obtained an extra gift, without speaking of the specific content of the gift.

Su Qian listened to the entire account quite quietly, occasionally cooperating by asking "And then?" to allow Lu Mian to continue speaking relatively smoothly.

After finishing the events of these two weeks, Lu Mian mocked himself:

"I don't know if it's my own problem, but I've actually encountered so many supernatural events in such a short time. Sometimes, I can't help but lament how everyone and their dog in Trier possesses extraordinary abilities."

This time, Su Qian did not immediately respond to him; it was only after several seconds that she smiled and said:

"It can be seen that your psychological state has indeed improved to a certain extent compared to before."

"Where can you see that?" Lu Mian had not mentioned the detail of crying until the newspaper was soaked on the carriage after seeing Aurore's obituary, and he did not feel that what he had recounted could reflect his own psychological state.

Su Qian said in a gentle voice:

"I can clearly feel that you are rebuilding your social relationships and starting to have some friends."

"Friends?" Lu Mian asked back, amused. "Charlie, Jenna, Franca? How can they count as friends?"

They are just acquaintances!

Su Qian responded with a smile in her voice:

"There are many kinds of friends. Not every kind requires both parties to establish a deep friendship. You only need to ask yourself one question: if they encounter difficulties and it is within your ability, are you willing to provide a certain amount of help? Then you will know whether they count as your friends."

"It depends on the specific situation and the price that needs to be paid. I'm not that kind of pushover," Lu Mian muttered.

Su Qian did not ask further and explained it herself:

"For a person with self-destructive tendencies, the sign that he has started to walk out of the mire is the willingness to establish new social relationships.

"Emperor Roselle said—or perhaps it was Emperor Roselle who said—that a person is the sum of their social relationships. When you do not reject establishing new relationships, it proves that you no longer resist your own future.

"Of course, this is only one of the symptoms, not the whole."

Lu Mian was silent for a while and said:

"Ms. Su Qian, I would like to ask you about something. I just mentioned some coincidences that happened to me. Are they really, as Ms. 'Magician' said, partly derived from the influence of a Sequence holder in the 'Spectator' pathway?"

Compared to the last treatment, Su Qian seemed to be more open as well. She laughed and said:

"Are you forcibly changing the subject?

"Do you still have considerable resistance in your heart regarding this aspect?

"Actually, this can also be seen from some details. You actively asked that Ms. 'Red Boots' to answer your questions in the field of mysticism when she has time, yet you always avoid going. And the only time you visited, it was under the pretext of repaying a favor. This shows that you are still not very willing to establish a relatively close relationship with her.

"This is very normal. How can a patient be cured in one treatment? You don't need to have any burden..."

Su Qian spoke eloquently, pointing out some of Lu Mian's current psychological problems in a gentle way, and finally said:

"If it were last time, I wouldn't have told you so directly; that would have made you more resistant and more closed off. But now, you yourself already have a certain tendency to establish new social relationships. Letting you see your own heart more clearly will help you move forward better."

After being pointed out by Su Qian regarding his hidden thoughts, Lu Mian's first reaction was defense, vigilance, and rejection. But the other party's peaceful attitude, non-aggressive analysis, and accurate grasp of the actual situation made him gradually relax and face the problems existing in his heart.

His body and mind also gradually became calm.

Su Qian did not go deeper and answered Lu Mian's previous question:

"Ms. 'Magician's' explanation has no problems, but it is not detailed enough.

"A mid-Sequence holder of the 'Spectator' pathway needs to face you to perform 'psychological suggestion' or 'hypnosis' to create coincidences. That is to say, he must appear in your surroundings and the surroundings of Baron Brignais and others.

"The reason you didn't discover it, and Baron Brignais didn't notice anything abnormal, is because a mid-Sequence holder of the 'Spectator' pathway has also mastered another extraordinary ability: 'Psychological Invisibility'."

"'Psychological Invisibility'? How is this different from other invisibility?" Lu Mian asked back in confusion.

Su Qian explained in a peaceful voice:

"'Psychological Invisibility' is not invisibility in the true sense. It just makes you not notice me, even if I am already standing in front of you and many people around have already seen me."

"Sounds very magical..." Lu Mian sighed, inexplicably having the feeling that "psychologists" were sitting all around him, but he hadn't noticed at all.

"This won't change because you used 'Spirit Vision'. Before I prepare to attack you, your danger intuition won't react either," Su Qian said further. "By comparison, the 'Hidden Sage's' 'Hiding in Shadows' will make you occasionally feel like you are being watched by darkness."

Lu Mian pursued:

"'Hidden Sage', which pathway?"

"'Hermit'." Su Qian answered simply.

"Hermit" pathway? Above "Listener", below "Shepherd", there is a Sequence called "Hidden Sage"? This is the pathway Mr. K belongs to... Is it because of him or his subordinates that I occasionally feel like someone is watching me in the surrounding darkness? Lu Mian combined Aurore's witchcraft notes and Ms. 'Magician's' hints, having a sudden realization.

— Aurore only recorded Sequence 9 "Hermit" and Sequence 8 "Listener" in the "Hermit" pathway.

Ms. 'Magician' always seems to write a lot, but actually, it's only a framework without many details. It's not as detailed as Ms. Su Qian's explanation... Lu Mian muttered and asked curiously:

"Aren't you worried that revealing the extraordinary abilities of your own pathway to me will bring harm to yourself?"

Su Qian did not answer this question and continued:

"If it were a high-Sequence holder of the 'Spectator' pathway, they wouldn't need to be so troublesome. Even if they were far away from you, they could quietly influence you, making you follow their arrangements unknowingly and creating all kinds of coincidences.

"Although I am also a 'Spectator', I still want to remind you: 'Beware of Spectators!'"

High-Sequence holder... Lu Mian was shocked:

"So, you 'arranged' for that newsboy to deliver an expired newspaper to me?"

Is Ms. Su Qian a high-Sequence holder, a true demigod?

"It wasn't me," Su Qian said with a slight sense of embarrassment. "It was my companion."

Companion? Lu Mian recalled Ms. 'Magician's' initial suggestion and guessed cautiously:

"The other 'Psychologist'?"

"Was she here last time too?"

"Yes," Su Qian was very frank. "Your problem is relatively serious, and I wasn't very confident, so I let her come along to help me, um, prevent some accidents.

"Actually, she is also here today, sitting right across from you."

Across? Lu Mian looked in astonishment at the opposite side of the coffee table. It was empty; not only was there no figure, but there wasn't even a depression where someone had sat!

The next second, he heard a clear, gentle female voice with a hint of a smile and a slightly lighthearted tone:

"Hello."

(End of chapter)