"Haha… I've heard it often, but this is the first time I've seen someone actually get a Good Person Card in real life."
On the grass in the Small Grove, a person was sitting and couldn't stop laughing as he spoke to Ren Suo.
Although the moon wasn't very bright that day, Ren Suo was familiar with the voice. "Is that… Li Dan?"
"Call me Brother Dan," Li Dan said indifferently.
"Uh… okay, Brother Dan." Li Dan was far stronger than him, so Ren Suo immediately backed down and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Sleeping," Li Dan responded before lying back down.
Ren Suo was puzzled. He walked over to see Li Dan lying on the grass and asked, "Sleeping… on the grass?"
"Is that so strange? It's not like I'm sleeping naked."
"What's strange is why you aren't naked… Never mind." Ren Suo sat down, trying to make conversation. "Is it because the wooden beds in the dorms are too hard?"
Li Dan replied, "My bed has a Simmons mattress."
Ren Suo asked, "Then… is it because you have a roommate?"
Li Dan answered, "It's a single room."
Ren Suo said, "…Could it be that you just naturally like the smell of soil and grass?"
"No, I still have to shower when I get back," Li Dan shrugged.
"Then why do you want to sleep here?"
"Because I can't sleep."
Ren Suo was slightly taken aback. "Oh? You have insomnia? Or is it neurasthenia? Or perhaps it's because you have insatiable desires?"
"Too handsome to sleep." Ren Suo didn't speak, just watched Li Dan in the shadows.
After about a minute, Li Dan finally spoke. "It's a physical condition. Even with earplugs, I can hear distant, trivial sounds, which keep me awake."
"Have you tried noise-canceling headphones?" Ren Suo scratched his head. "Like Hell Corporation's noise-canceling buds, Persian Corporation's large noise-canceling headphones, stuff like that…"
"Useless. They're even more annoying. Those noise-canceling headphones work by emitting sound to cancel out external noises, but I can hear all of it." Li Dan lay back down. "But it's not a big deal. Even if I don't sleep now, it won't cause any physical issues."
"Is it… because of Awakening?" Ren Suo tentatively asked.
In an instant, the temperature around Ren Suo seemed to drop several degrees, and his breathing suddenly stopped. Lying on the ground, Li Dan's eyes glowed ominously in the darkness. For the first time in his life, Ren Suo truly understood what 'murderous intent' felt like.
It was like having several S686s, AK47s, and M416s pointing at him, the cold steel barrels pressing against his skin. The destructive power, capable of tearing muscles and snapping bones, transmitted through the air to his nerves, continuously stimulating his pituitary gland.
However, the fear of guns and wild beasts were all learned experiences. But facing Li Dan, Ren Suo felt he was confronting Fear itself!
The absolute Suppression from a higher being to a lower one!
"…Don't casually inquire about someone's Awakening information in the future," Li Dan said lightly. "Even in the Eighteenth Bureau, it's highly sensitive content."
"In the last six months, I've seen many Awakeners kill countless ordinary people just to hide their information. 'Holding a sharp blade, murderous intent arises'—that's exactly what it means."
As the pervasive, needle-like killing intent that had filled his body dissipated, Ren Suo finally gasped for breath. "Understood."
"If there's nothing else, you should go back. You need to register tomorrow morning and then leave," Li Dan said.
Ren Suo hesitated for a moment. After more than ten seconds, he said haltingly, "Um… I also know a little method to make it easier to sleep. Would you like to try?"
"Hypnosis?" Li Dan said indifferently. "As Cultivators, when we practice breathing Spiritual Energy, our Vital Energy and Spirit are strengthened together. Even you would most likely not succumb to Hypnosis now, let alone me. I've tried it; I didn't fall asleep, but the doctor himself did."
Ren Suo scratched his head. "Well, my method is a unique skill I learned by accident. It's very powerful. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I use it on myself, and I fall asleep in less than ten seconds. It should be pretty impressive."
"Use it on yourself?" Li Dan was slightly startled and laughed. "Counting sheep?"
"No, no, no..." Ren Suo couldn't explain clearly. "Do you want to give it a try? There's no harm if it doesn't work. And if it does… you probably haven't had a good sleep in a long time, right?"
Ren Suo's words struck a chord with Li Dan.
Most people think of sleep as a waste of time—wasting anywhere from six to nine hours, a third of the day gone. If that time could be put to use, imagine how many games could be played, how many books read, or how much one could grind…
However, as someone who hadn't slept for over forty days, Li Dan felt that besides being a physiological necessity, sleep was also necessary for rest.
Admittedly, Li Dan wasn't completely sleepless. He didn't sleep, but his mental state wasn't great either, roughly equivalent to that of a manual laborer after a day of hard Physical Strength exertion—just barely enough to get by.
But Li Dan found that even with so much free time, he still felt the need to be alone in a dark, quiet place to think. Darkness, Serenity, warmth, a trance—for humans, Sleep was almost akin to reliving the fetal state.
Besides greatly recovering Physical Strength, it was also a profoundly delightful Enjoyment.
Li Dan, however, couldn't enjoy that now. For the foreseeable future, unless he made a breakthrough, this lifestyle was set to continue. Because his body was nourished by Spiritual Energy, he wouldn't suffer from problems like his liver exploding from lack of sleep, but he really, really wanted to sleep.
"Alright, give it a try."
Ren Suo suppressed his excitement. Mentally, he switched to the "Good Dream Technique" he had drawn from the Assassin's Treasure Box. Then, looking at Li Dan lying on the ground, he thought: Hypnotize him.
Then, Ren Suo naturally extended his hand, his fingers continuously weaving patterns in the air directly before Li Dan's gaze.
There wasn't much light in the Small Grove, but as a first-turn High Order Cultivator, Li Dan's eyes already possessed some Night Vision capabilities, so he naturally saw what Ren Suo's hands were doing.
It seemed like the hand movements a magician uses to captivate the audience during a magic show, and also like an old lecher teasing the daughter of the Huang Family.
Is this kid trying some kind of sleight of hand? As if these movements could hypnotize anyone. Only a fool would believe that... The thought flashed through Li Dan's mind, and he internally sneered at Ren Suo's so-called Good Dream Technique.
Ren Suo waited for more than ten seconds without hearing any sound from Li Dan, and then he lowered his hands.
In the shadows of the Small Grove, Li Dan, lying on the ground, was still silent.
Ren Suo quietly, ever so quietly, placed his hand on Li Dan's thigh.
Other positions didn't feel quite right. The thigh had more flesh and should have lower sensitivity.
Li Dan still made no sound.
"Key detected."
"Key is in Sleep Status, beginning retrieval."
"The Key is fully formed. Retrieval will take 303 seconds. Continuous contact must be maintained during the process. 302, 301, 300..."
It worked!