Qiu Yun opened his eyes and saw the old man sitting in front of him with a serious face. The abdominal pain had disappeared. He propped himself up and sat up, saying, "Grandpa, the sauce was poisonous. Didn't you eat it?"
"The sauce wasn't poisonous. I coated the poison on your spoon."
"What!?" Qiu Yun stared at the old man in disbelief with wide - open eyes. "You want to kill me?"
"To avenge my son," the old man said coldly.
"When did you... know?"
"I've suspected who you are for ages. There's a move in the [b]Mind - Control Technique[/b] called [b]Stealing Dreams and Raising Souls[/b]. I already asked you when you first fell asleep in this bed."
"I... I said it myself? But I don't remember at all?"
"[b]Stealing Dreams and Raising Souls[/b], the truth in dreams. I've cast a spell in your heart, so of course you won't remember the conversation in your sleep."
Qiu Yun deeply felt the old man's terror. This [b]Mind - Control Technique[/b] seemed to be almost omnipotent. He said sorrowfully, "I'm really Qiu Yun's son, but I've never even seen him. Everyone treats me as 'the son of a murderer', and even... you do too!"
"If my son were still alive, he'd be only thirty, in the prime of his life. You have no idea how much effort and affection I've poured into him. Some scumbag just unreasonably took his life away!" The old man's eyes and brows were filled with deep sorrow. "What makes me feel the most unfair is that he's dead, while you, the son of the murderer, are living just fine. You eat and live here with me, and even wear my son's clothes. How could I not hate you! But when you were about to die from the poison, I still fed you the antidote!"
Qiu Yun shivered and asked, "Why did you save me then?"
"Just because of one thing! Your first reaction after being poisoned was to knock over my soup bowl. How could I kill a kind - hearted kid!" The old man sighed and got up to leave.
Qiu Yun sat quietly for a while. Thinking about having just cheated death, he couldn't help but feel scared.
He put on his clothes and went outside. The old man was sitting quietly in the armchair. As usual, there was no light on in the room. His eyes were hidden in the shadow of his eyebrows, looking like an ancient statue.
Qiu Yun picked up the incense on the table, lit it, bowed to the spirit of the deceased, and then stuck it in the incense burner. He said, "Sorry, big bro. I'm sorry for what my dad did. It probably ain't worth much!"
After bowing, he said to the old man, "Grandpa, thank you these two days. I'm leaving."
With that, he pushed open the door and walked out.
It was drizzling outside. Raindrops were pattering down from the gloomy sky. The shops on the street were all open. Qiu Yun walked slowly, thinking about where to make a living next. He was only nine years old, and there was no way he could work.
The sound of "dong dong" came from behind. Qiu Yun turned around in surprise and saw the old man standing behind him. He said, "Grandpa, I can go by myself."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know either!"
"Go wandering and pick up trash? One day, some bad guys might take a fancy to you and turn you into a thief or a beggar?"
"I won't do bad things."
"No one is born wanting to be a bad person. If I let you wander outside alone, eventually, you'll turn into another Qiu Qiang!"
"No, I won't!" Qiu Yun shouted. The name "Qiu Qiang" was a stigma engraved in his heart.
"Because you're the son of a murderer, everyone discriminates against you and abuses you. Gradually, you'll also hate this world and take revenge on it. When will this cycle of revenge end! Come back with me!"
Qiu Yun's self - esteem was aroused, and he got stubborn. "I'll live a good life. Goodbye!" Then he turned around and walked away.
"Stop!" Suddenly, the old man slipped and fell to the ground, holding his leg and groaning.
Qiu Yun couldn't stand it anymore. He had to help the old man up and send him back to the old mansion.
As soon as they entered the door, the old man quickly latched the door from the inside and locked it with a padlock. Qiu Yun realized that he had been deceived by the old man when he saw that the old man's legs and feet were fine.
He walked back to the grand - master chair with his cane. "Qiu Yun, I'll start teaching you something from today on."
"No, I don't need your pity!" Qiu Yun said angrily. "You look down on me just like those people!"
"If you want to be respected, you have to have something extraordinary. Even if you try hard to be a good person, people will only think of you as 'Qiu Qiang's son'. Unless your brilliance can overcome this prejudice! What I'm going to teach you won't be easy at all. Whether you can learn it or not depends on your own luck. I don't have much time left..." He pointed to his eyes. "Maybe it's because I've been playing with people's hearts all my life. God is punishing me by making a growth in my head. It's getting bigger and bigger, pressing on my nerves. I can't see with this eye already, and I can only see things very blurrily with the other one. When I go blind, that's it for me!"
"Ain't you afraid teaching me to control people's minds will make me a bad guy?"
"The technique itself is neither good nor bad; it all depends on the person! Come with me..."
The old man took him to the study. It was Qiu Yun's first time in there. The bookshelves were full of books, and there was a portrait of an ancient person hanging on the wall. The old man said, "He is our founder, Gao Yao (a great sage in ancient Chinese history who created the criminal law)."
"Who's that?"
"He was a great sage in ancient times who created the criminal law! In ancient times, humans learned to make fire and build houses, and lived in groups. As the population increased, there were right and wrong among people. However, people often had different opinions on what was right and wrong. So Gao Yao created the criminal law to judge the truth. It's said that he had a one - horned divine beast. If someone committed a crime, the beast would point at him with its horn!"
In the portrait, there was indeed a one - horned, horse - like animal beside the ancient sage. Qiu Yun asked, "Is that it?"
"Yes!" The old man plopped down on the chair. "In ancient times, the social atmosphere was simple. There was a man named Feng Yu. His neighbor, Chang Ji, had an affair with Feng Yu's wife. The affair led to a fatality. Somehow, Chang Ji killed Feng Yu's wife and fled into the mountains.
"Feng Yu was honest and kind, and had a good reputation in the village. At that time, Gao Yao also thought that was what had happened. But a few years later, while drinking, Feng Yu accidentally revealed to the villagers that it was he who had caught the two having an affair and killed them in a fit of anger. Then he hid Chang Ji's body and claimed that Chang Ji had killed someone and fled, and actually managed to deceive Gao Yao.
"After learning the truth, Feng Yu was sentenced to death, and Gao Yao began to reflect: Although there was criminal law in the world, people had also learned to avoid punishment. After thousands of years, as people became more intelligent, it would become more and more difficult for law enforcers to make decisions.
"So Gao Yao resigned from office and lived in seclusion on Fengming Mountain. He spent twenty years writing [b]Eight Volumes on Suppressing Evil[/b], which was a technique for judging cases and upholding justice. It was divided into eight parts: [b]Divination by Witchcraft[/b], [b]Corpse Examination[/b], [b]Mind Control[/b], [b]Medicine[/b], [b]Incantation Therapy[/b], [b]Insect Control[/b], [b]Tattooing[/b], and [b]Punishment Tools[/b]. His original intention was for law enforcers to find out the truth through various means.
"However, things didn't turn out as he wished. During the inheritance of these eight volumes, the [b]Divination by Witchcraft[/b] and [b]Incantation Therapy[/b] parts became heresies, the [b]Insect Control[/b] and [b]Tattooing[/b] parts were lost, and the [b]Medicine[/b] and [b]Punishment Tools[/b] parts became means for scoundrels in the Jianghu (martial world) to hurt people. Only the [b]Corpse Examination[/b] and [b]Mind Control[/b] parts remained.
"During the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Ci popularized Corpse Examination, which influenced the whole world. Thus, modern forensic science came into being. The Mind - Control Technique was passed down by my ancestor, Di Chunshan. In the 19th century, an Austrian scholar discovered this ancient art. He named it hypnosis and took it back to his country for research. After that, psychology emerged. However, psychology focuses on the theory, while the Mind - Control Technique emphasizes the skills. There are still significant differences between the two."
The old man reached out his hand and placed it on Qiu Yun's head. "Perhaps our encounter is predestined by heaven. You have a kind heart. I'll use the rest of my life to teach you this ancient skill. Let fate decide the rest!"
Qiu Yun's eyes sparkled. He nodded. It was as if a new world had opened up before him.