This is a dim corridor, the air filled with the scent of disinfectant. On each side of the corridor, there are iron doors, painted with three digits in white paint.
The hinges creaked as the iron doors were pushed open, a man in white uniform stood at the entrance. The man, wearing a badge, held a clipboard, and called names one by one:
The man with the badge looked up, only to see the door of room 137 tightly closed, a spot in the row of people was vacant.
He stepped forward and knocked on the rusty iron door, receiving no response; then tried turning the handle, only to find it locked.
Helpless, he took out a spare key ring from his waist, his head down searching for the corresponding key one by one.
Before the man could find the key, he glanced down accidentally, finding himself standing on a puddle of sticky liquid. He took a step back, bent slightly forward, and under the dim light, saw blood seeping out from under the door.
The man jumped in fright, trembling as he used the key to unlock the door.
The men and women lined up in the corridor crowded over, squeezing at the doorway of room 137 to watch.
The room was cramped, the floor and walls splattered with blood. Cold blue light slanted in from the doorway, a corpse lay on the ground, disemboweled beside which a man stood, clutching a blood-stained knife and facing away from the door.
The crowd retreated a step collectively, surprisingly none screamed nor fled in fear.
The man’s body didn’t move, he slowly turned his head, his gaze passing over his shoulder, sweeping outside the door, his pupils reflecting a menacing cold light.
Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.
Fushimi Roku felt a sharp pain in his palm, abruptly waking from the dream, the nail clipper pierced his palm, blood beads trickling between fingers.
He opened his eyes, seeing himself still lying in the consult room, Miyazaki Shizuka sitting beside him, looking with surprise at his palm.
Miyazaki Shizuka asked: "What did you see?"
She appeared very curious, eyes full of inquisitive desire, even ignoring Fushimi Roku’s bleeding hand. The latter stunned, holding his forehead, said: "I...I forgot."
"How could you, since you just woke?"
Miyazaki Shizuka leaned forward, half-lying beside the lounge chair, her eyes bright as she asked: "Think carefully... maybe this matter is significant for you."
Fushimi Roku actually recalled, he remembered what he saw in the dream, but after all, a dream is just a dream, not reality.
His throat moved slightly, voice somewhat dry: "May I have a glass of water first?"
"Ah, sorry," Miyazaki Shizuka snapped back, pouring him a cup of warm water, adding some honey and tea leaves: "What’s wrong with your palm? Let me bandage it for you..."
Fushimi Roku retracted his right hand, using the left hand to take the tea cup, gulped it down, feeling much better. He then noticed himself drenched in sweat, sweat beads hanging on his forehead and nose.
"Need a rest?" Miyazaki Shizuka asked with concern.
"No need..." Fushimi Roku paused, instinctively pulling several tissues to stop the bleeding, examining Miyazaki Shizuka with peripheral vision: "Are you sure this is end-of-life care service?"
"It varies by person."
Miyazaki Shizuka explained in detail: Hypnosis doesn’t make people dream certain things, it only guides the hypnotized to dream what they would naturally dream using ’suggestion’ - for instance, a person who has never seen a dove can’t dream of one regardless of how the hypnotist guides.
During hypnosis, many uncontrollable factors occur.
For instance, if the subject suddenly needs to urinate, the originally pleasant dream might feature a toilet, possibly leading the subject to urinate for real...
Or if the subject hasn’t had sex for a long time, and the hypnotist happens to be a sexy lady, the dream is highly likely to become an erotic one...
Especially the first hypnosis, the ’suggestion’ applied is full of uncertainties. Miyazaki Shizuka tested Fushimi Roku’s response to ’suggestion’ commands, so what dreams he might have was out of her control.
Here’s a brief introduction, suggestion is the core tool of hypnosis, their relationship can be summarized as "suggestion is the means, hypnosis is the state."
For example, in movies, the hypnotist swings a coin in front of the subject’s eyes, asking them to stare while softly chanting: ’Your eyelids are getting heavy... you’re feeling more and more sleepy...’ which is a very poor suggestion method.
"According to reason, you shouldn’t have nightmares..."
Miyazaki Shizuka elaborated: "The suggestion keywords I applied were ’childhood’, ’family care’, ’pure friendship’, how could such a suggestion lead to nightmares?"
Fushimi Roku couldn’t respond, he could only offer lame excuses and change the subject: "Maybe it’s because I’m not in good condition today... Would you happen to have a hypnosis tape so I could relax at home and adjust my state?"
Speaking in a lowered tone, he gingerly described: "Preferably those lucid dreams, allowing me to release stress in the dream... You understand my meaning, right?"
"Perhaps... not quite..." Miyazaki Shizuka looked puzzled, asking: "Could you describe precisely? It’s alright, no matter how bizarre the vices are, they’re just human nature... I can understand."
Fushimi Roku suspected she thought he had strange vices, quickly clarified that he simply wanted to have a customized erotic dream.