In the painting, all words of comfort and platitudes were useless, so all they could do was offer their glances at Xuege.
Shao Ling remained rational and calm, not wasting any more time, but instead drawing everyone's attention back to the important issue: "Next, we'll discuss how to deal with the illusions. In fact, with an effective method, Xuege's life might not be in danger."
"Yes, if everyone is safe, we'll have to vote tomorrow," Yu Long said sullenly.
"That's something to consider later. Right now, let's just talk about how to deal with tonight's illusions." Shao Ling took several bamboo slips removed from bamboo scrolls and wrote the words "hearing," "touch," "smell," "sight," and "taste" on them. He set aside the words for hearing and touch, then picked up the slip for smell and showed it to everyone.
"Based on the experiences of the past two nights, if the illusions used smell as a tool, can you imagine what kind of method it would be?" Shao Ling looked at everyone.
Everyone fell into deep thought. After a while, Luo Yu raised his hand: "Tactile illusions are the most disgusting thing to us, so could our sense of smell be the most disgusting smell to us? Like the smell of feces, or the smell of vomit after drinking alcohol, I'd definitely throw up if I smelled those." "
...That's just to the point of wanting to vomit, right? You don't want to die just because you smell feces, do you?" Wei Dong said, "This illusion is trying to kill us with smells! I think it's very likely to be the kind of smell that causes hallucinations, like you'll fall into a hallucination as soon as you smell it, feeling like everywhere is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, with only one way out, and then you'll involuntarily walk down that path, and then you'll fall into the sea."
"Then what kind of trick would taste use? Like making us have the illusion that we ate feces?" Luo Yu said.
"...Can you stay away from poop and pee?" Wei Dong roared. "Has having too much money limited your imagination?! Broaden your horizons! Be bolder in your thinking!"
"I think if the illusion were to soak me in a poop pit, I'd rather jump into the sea and die than die in that pit," Luo Yu muttered under his breath.
Unexpectedly, Shao Ling nodded after hearing this: "That's not entirely unreasonable. Since the illusion can read our memories, it naturally knows what we reject most. If it targets that, it can easily break down our defenses.
"But we're not guessing what kind of setup the illusion will use to bewitch or kill us, but rather figuring out how to break through our defenses.
"Simply put, we need to make our most vulnerable point impenetrable, so that the illusion has no chance to take advantage of us."
"Everyone has weaknesses. I think this problem is unsolvable," Yu Long said.
"Then you can only wait to die," Fang Fei coldly chimed in.
Yu Long frowned and shook his head helplessly, saying nothing more.
Shao Ling continued, "To put it bluntly, whether it's hearing, smell, or touch, these things are nothing but illusions. It's only because they're so realistic that they often immerse us in the experience, causing fear or making us susceptible to their allure due to a lack of willpower. The most important factor here is that the sense of realism is too strong, making it hard for us not to pay attention and leading us to make many unfounded thoughts. I believe this is the key to solving the problem. To break this deadlock, we must find a way to distinguish between illusion and reality."
Seeing that everyone had fallen into thought again, Shao Ling stopped speaking and scanned the faces of everyone in front of him.
After a long while, feeling that time couldn't drag on any longer without progress, Shao Ling spoke again, like a leader, calling on people: "Dr. Qin, as a doctor, do you know any methods to help people concentrate better or to dull their senses?"
Qin Ci looked up at him: "It's like being in a completely different field. The problem you mentioned can probably only be solved by a psychologist. But in reality, psychologists can only 'listen' and 'guide' patients in the process of treating mental illnesses, and cannot improve a person's mental state in a very short time. So I can only disappoint you by saying that solving mental problems mostly depends on oneself, but obviously, we cannot change our current state. I'm sorry."
Shao Ling waved his hand, then looked at Zhu Haowen: "Mr. Zhu?"
"The only solution I can think of is to rely on oneself," Zhu Haowen said calmly, "No matter what the illusion is, stay true to yourself."
"Sigh, easier said than done..." Luo Yu sighed.
"Yes…" Wei Dong sighed as well. "Humans are emotional creatures. As long as emotions exist, it's hard to avoid being seduced by illusions. It's like some people who know the other party is a fraudster, but they still try to deal with the fraudster with the mindset of exposing the fraud, and in the end, they are still deceived by the fraudster—it's really hard to avoid unless you have a heart of stone."
Shao Ling ignored the two of them and his gaze fell on Mu Yiran's face with a tangible force: "Mr. Mu, I think you should have something to say to everyone."
Mu Yiran calmly raised his eyes.
Since this painting was completed, his former brilliance and limelight seemed to have been completely overshadowed by Shao Ling. So much so that in the eyes of the newcomers, he was like an extra. Even the usually taciturn Zhu Haowen had moments of arguing with the newcomers, while he was almost completely offline, just standing silently next to Ke Xun, either observing or thinking.
At this moment, being called upon by name by Shao Ling as if he were a leader addressing a subordinate, Mu Yiran seemed unfazed, calmly stating his thoughts as usual.
"I wonder if anyone has seen a movie called *Inception*?" His opening line was such an incongruous statement.
"Yes!" Luo Yi quickly raised his hand.
Others said they had seen it, some said they hadn't. Mu Yiran continued, "The protagonist frequently enters and exits the dream world, but because the dreams are so realistic, it's easy for people to gradually lose the ability to distinguish between dreams and reality. His lover died because she couldn't differentiate between dreams and reality.
"Our current situation is somewhat similar to this story, and the protagonist's method of overcoming this problem was to find a target as a warning."
"The protagonist's chosen object is a spinning top. Whenever he begins to doubt whether the world he's in is a dream, he spins the top. If the top keeps spinning, it proves he's still in a dream world.
This is because only a spinning top in a dream would defy logic and keep spinning without stopping, while in the real world, a spinning top would fall over after a short time. This is the method used to distinguish between reality and dreams.
I think we might be able to borrow this method. Each of us can find our own warning object. When we're plagued by illusions, we can use this object to remind ourselves that as long as we try to stay where we are and not go anywhere, we have a greater chance of survival.
But one thing to note is that the warning object shouldn't be just any random thing. It must be something that has absolute significance for us, something that can serve as a wake-up call, something that can strengthen our belief. We also need to mentally prepare ourselves, telling ourselves that as long as we see or touch the warning object, we must firmly believe that everything around us at this moment is an illusion."
"The only way to combat psychological attacks and mental blows is with a strong psychological defense and unwavering willpower—this is just my suggestion."
Mu Yiran paused after speaking, noticing the newcomers staring directly at him.
"You can apply that nonsense from movies here?" Yu Long frowned. "You really don't take life and death seriously!"
"In this respect, we do not value life and death as much as you do," Ke Xun replied calmly. "The suggestion is here; whether you adopt it or not is up to you. By the way, this is not some nonsense made up in the movie, but an effective method of psychological suggestion that is indispensable and very useful for our athletes."
"If you need a real-world basis, you can look into 'restraint rings' or 'restraint bracelets,'" Mu Yiran continued. "They are psychological warning devices worn by people with weak willpower or difficulty controlling their emotions. Whenever their will wavers or they are about to lose control of their emotions, seeing the restraint ring or bracelet on their hand will give them a restraining reminder, or psychological suggestion, making them realize that they need to control their mental state, much like the effect of a spinning top. I reiterate, illusions attack our psychology and spirit, and psychological problems can only be solved psychologically."
Ke Xun said calmly, "So don't mistake ignorance for nonsense. Cherish your life and also cherish your intelligence."
Mu Yiran said elegantly, "Perhaps you could consider having a restraint bracelet; it's very effective in controlling your words and actions."
Ke Xun said, "I have no other suggestions."
Mu Yiran said, "That's all."
Yu Long: "…"
Everyone: "…"
Wei Dong: …Look, the gay guys are ganging up on someone.
Shao Ling looked at Mu Yiran for a moment and said, "This is indeed a good method, but if the illusions of the three senses are superimposed, their unbearable intensity will also increase, making it difficult for us to resist with willpower alone. What should we do then?"
Mu Yiran looked at him calmly: "Then the biggest challenge we will face will no longer be the illusions, but will come from our other companions—at that moment, whoever has the weakest willpower will be eliminated, and the only way is to tough it out."
"But as far as I know," Shao Ling smiled, looking into Mu Yiran's eyes, "Dr. Qin once told us about the painting 'Anthropology.' In that painting, you encountered an experiment involving the deprivation of the senses, the exact opposite of the situation depicted in this painting.
"Your method at the time was to deliberately induce fainting, so that you wouldn't experience the pain of being deprived of your senses after losing consciousness."
"So, in this painting where the situation is reversed, could we try the same method? After losing consciousness, the sensitivity of various senses will decrease, perhaps allowing us to escape unscathed. What do you think?"
"If the hallucinations don't cause us intense pain or discomfort, this method might be worth a try," Mu Yiran said calmly. "But we need to consider one issue: people are more easily deceived and misled when transitioning from unconsciousness to wakefulness than when they remain fully conscious. We must consider the possibility of being awakened from unconsciousness by hallucinations. If we wake up halfway, can we face the hallucinations in time? Can we concentrate our minds to deal with the unexpected situation? I think temporary defense is not as effective as remaining on guard."
"Then, what if we combine the fainting method with the target object method?" Shao Ling continued, looking at Mu Yiran. "If we are unfortunately awakened from unconsciousness, we can immediately use a target object to warn ourselves. I think this method is more effective and reliable than enduring the torment of hallucinations from beginning to end."
"After all, a confrontation from beginning to end will prematurely build up immense mental pressure and cause premature fatigue. Waking up halfway through means at least your mental energy is still abundant, which is equivalent to shortening the time spent enduring torture and increasing the chances of success.
" "What are your thoughts and suggestions on this?"
This time, he didn't ask Mu Yiran but turned his gaze to the others.
"I agree with your method." Yu Long was the first to express his opinion, clearly trusting Shao Ling, the "controller" of the overall situation, more.
"Then what else is there to ask?" Wei Dong said, "Everyone can choose the method they want to use."
Everyone had no objections and got up to go out to find warning items suitable for them.
"Which method do you choose?" Wei Dong asked Luo Jin, who was sitting next to him.
Luo Jin thought for a long time and said with a worried look, "Although I trust my brother-in-law's method more, I think these two methods should be tailored to the individual. Someone like me with weak willpower fee
ls that I can't last the whole thing, so I choose Brother Shao's method, and I also want to add an extra protective measure…"