Chapter 26: Perverts and Murderers

　　He didn’t bat an eye, just adjusted his glasses and smiled at me. “To show my sincerity, you can order whatever you like. This meal’s on me!” he said with an air of generosity.

　　As he made his grand offer, I couldn’t help but sneer inwardly and set my plan in motion.

　　The moment I stepped into the restaurant, a refreshing coolness hit me, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. The gentle hum of soothing music filled the air.

　　It was peak lunch hour, and the place was bustling with people. The main hall was packed, and not a single seat was free.

　　At the counter, I grabbed the menu and, without even glancing at the dishes, I picked out the eight most expensive ones. The priciest was some kind of shark fin dish that cost over a thousand yuan, while the sea cucumber dishes were actually cheaper.

　　The total for the eight dishes came to over ten thousand yuan.

　　Watching me order, he chuckled and said, “How about trying some of their wine? That’s where the real cost comes in.”

　　I handed the marked menu to the server and said, “Just these.”

　　“No wine for me. I’m not touching a drop,” I replied.

　　“This way, please,” the pretty waitress said, gesturing us forward. She led us to a private room on the second floor.

　　It was clear Professor Li had arranged the room in advance—after all, it was the lunch rush, and you needed reservations at popular places like this.The extra chairs in the room were pushed to the sides. It was a six-person room with a large window directly across from us, and a chandelier that looked like a tiered wedding cake hung overhead. It was clear the room was reserved for us at the last minute—he probably paid extra for it.

　　The waitress, after showing us to our seats, excused herself to attend to other customers. Once the door was shut, the music became much softer. I sat down at the round table, staring at him without expression as he took off his coat, hung it on the rack, and casually placed his briefcase on the table before sitting down.

　　“Miss Xia Ning, you really are a marvel. To escape the illusion twice on your own—I’m completely astounded!” He beamed at me with that smug smile of his, and the more I looked at him, the more I disliked him. He had this natural air of superiority that I hadn’t noticed before. Why hadn’t I realized how detestable he was at the beginning?

　　But I guess my opinion of him had changed after that phone call.

　　“Miss Xia, could you tell me how you escaped the illusion? Specifically, how you got out the second time,” he asked, clearly intrigued.

　　“Why should I tell you? Did I ever agree to anything?” I shot back, not bothering to hide my contempt.

　　He chuckled before saying, “It’s best if we’re honest with each other—that’s the only way we can both benefit from this partnership.” With that, he opened his briefcase and pulled out five stacks of cash, each worth ten thousand yuan, tossing them onto the table.

　　I wanted to throw the money back at him, to demand if he thought money could buy everything. But I hesitated, knowing that doing so might make it difficult to discuss anything further.

　　I fell silent, wanting to ask for his help but unsure why he would agree.

　　“If we work together, we can certainly negotiate the price,” he added after a moment.

　　Just then, a knock on the door interrupted our conversation, and the waitress returned to serve our dishes. He didn’t bother to put the money away, simply pushing it aside as the dishes were arranged on the table.

　　I noticed the waitress giving me a strange look, probably misunderstanding something.

　　Once the door closed again, the table was filled with eight large dishes and two small bowls of rice. I unwrapped my chopsticks and started eating right away.

　　Watching me, he burst out laughing. “Haha… you’re really something. I’m starting to like you. How about I add another hundred thousand yuan?” He lowered his voice, his tone suggestive.

　　I suddenly stopped, anger bubbling up inside me as I caught the innuendo in his words.

　　“Kill him, kill him, kill him…” The voice of my other personality echoed in my head.

　　I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing the anger down. After a moment, the voice finally faded.

　　“You’d better not mess with me,” I said coldly, opening my eyes.

　　Professor Li’s smile froze on his face. Without another word, I resumed eating.About ten minutes later, Professor Li finally spoke up again. “Miss Xia Ning, I believe you came here with sincere intentions, but if you don’t tell me anything, how are we supposed to discuss this?” His tone had shifted to a more neutral one, losing the earlier air of superiority.

　　“I have a problem with my body, and I need you to help me fix it,” I said, putting down my chopsticks and swallowing the food in my mouth.

　　He looked at me with some surprise. “What kind of problem?”

　　“I… I have developed a second personality!” I hesitated briefly before stating it directly.

　　He was initially surprised, then looked at me with a look of complete shock. “You… you did what in the illusion?”

　　“I’m not entirely sure what I did in the illusion, but I defeated the haunted house owner!” I said softly, meeting his gaze.

　　To my shock, he immediately stood up, looking at me with incredulity. “You… you changed memories in the illusion?”

　　Seeing his reaction, I felt a pang of nervousness but didn’t let it show on my face.

　　“Miss Xia Ning, you’re a genius. The amount of money I offered you was too little. How about 300,000 yuan? No, make it 400,000 yuan,” he said, extending four fingers with a hopeful expression.

　　His demeanor was genuinely unsettling, bending slightly and holding out four fingers with a slightly open mouth, his eyes filled with a look of desperation as if he were about to lose something crucial.

　　I had seen this kind of expression before, in movies, typically worn by psychopaths and killers.

　　After a long pause, I said, “I don’t want your money.”

　　“What?”

　　“I need you to help me get rid of that second personality!” I said earnestly.

　　“If you can’t cure me, I won’t cooperate with you,” I added coldly.

　　“Alright!” He agreed without hesitation, a look of undisguised delight on his face.

　　A strange feeling suddenly crept over me, as if he shouldn’t have agreed so readily… I kept my guard up.

　　Once I agreed, he sat back down and picked up his chopsticks to eat. As he ate, he muttered, “Hmm… the sea cucumbers here are indeed delicious, much better than that place in S City, um… what’s it called again? I forgot. Oh right, Luodafang Private Kitchen. This place is much better…”Seeing him devour his meal with such gusto made me lose my appetite. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that I might have made the wrong choice.

　　“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked, his mouth full of sea cucumber.

　　“What should I do next?” I inquired, feeling uncertain yet knowing I had no other options.

　　He swallowed his food and flashed that annoying smile of his. “You can start whenever you’re ready. But once we begin, it will take several days. You might want to request some time off from your family.”

　　“I’ll do that,” I replied.

　　He slid the money towards me with a grin. “Are you sure you don’t want it? This could be a substantial amount for you.”

　　I put my chopsticks down. “No, it’s not necessary. Just help me get better.”

　　“I’ll treat you and still give you the money. How does that sound?”

　　The money was indeed a significant sum, but I couldn’t accept it. If I did and he used the hallucinogen for illegal activities, I would be involved in something far worse.

　　“No, thank you!” I reiterated firmly.

　　Seeing my continued refusal, he didn’t push the matter further and resumed eating.

　　I watched him for a while in silence before asking, “How do you plan to treat me?”

　　He paused, then said, “At first, I thought medication would do the trick. But since you survived the deadly illusion by creating a second personality through memory alteration, this second personality is particularly dangerous. Medication alone probably won’t be effective.”

　　“What should we do then?” I asked, anxiety creeping in.

　　“Don’t worry, Miss Xia Ning. I can definitely help you. Later, you’ll meet someone who will confirm that I’m telling the truth,” he assured me confidently.

　　“Who?” I asked.

　　He gave a mysterious smile before answering, “Zhu Zhongcheng!”

　　When I woke up, Wei Junliang told me that they had captured the haunted house owner. It seemed that the final verdict would likely be confinement in a mental institution.