indianbanksassociation Chapter 401 Wife, you must give me a signal!
Chapter 401 Wife, you must give me a signal!
As soon as the three of them stepped out of the dormitory area, they saw Evelyn standing by the roadside, her long golden hair tied in a high ponytail, looking dashing and capable.
Of the three girls who were originally following her, only two remained, both with tense expressions and lingering fear in their eyes.
"It seems someone triggered the rules last night and was eliminated," Vassim said in a low voice, with a hint of regret in his tone.
Lin Feng stepped forward and nodded slightly to Evelyn: "Good morning, Evelyn."
Wasim followed closely behind, greeting him with a smile: "Looks like you slept well last night."
Evelyn nodded slightly: "You slept well, and you all look pretty good too."
As she said this, Evelyn's gaze lingered on Park Ji-won's pale face for two seconds, and her brow furrowed slightly.
Wasim, being straightforward, asked directly:
"Evelyn, how did you break the first dormitory rule, the one about sleeping positions?"
Evelyn curled her lips slightly:
"It's very simple. Lying flat is too comfortable, abnormally comfortable. Therefore, I conclude that rule one is wrong."
Wasim nodded approvingly, then asked:
"And what about rule number two? How did you manage to break the rule about silently reciting 'May I have no dreams and sleep peacefully' before bed?"
Upon hearing this question, Evelyn's gaze darkened slightly:
"The core issue of Rule Two is not 'what to do after having a dream,' but rather—the wish itself: 'May I have no dreams.'"
"Have you ever wondered why the rules require you to 'silently recite' that phrase? Why not something else, but specifically 'May I have no dreams'?"
"It's like a psychological suggestion. If you repeatedly tell yourself 'I don't want to dream' before going to sleep, your subconscious will be more likely to produce dreams—this is the white bear effect."
"The more you try to forget something, the more you can't forget it; the more you try to fall asleep without dreams, the more likely you are to dream."
"And once you have a dream," she said, her tone slightly more serious, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes, "you must record it, you must burn it."
"This process looks clear and complete, without any loopholes, but it is actually an invisible shackle that binds you firmly to the chain of rules—"
"If you silently recite the mantra, you will experience dreams due to psychological suggestion; once you have dreams, you must continue to follow the subsequent steps of Rule Two; and continuing to follow the steps will further strengthen the bond between you and the rules, making it increasingly difficult for you to break free..."
She paused for a moment, her voice carrying a hint of coldness:
"This is a closed loop, a loop that's hard to escape once you step into it..."
"So I chose not to enter this closed loop." Her tone returned to calm. "I didn't silently recite that sentence, nor did I record any dreams, and I even deliberately avoided thinking about 'dreaming'."
"I just told myself—I will sleep normally tonight, wake up normally, dreams are just dreams, a normal reaction of the brain, and have nothing to do with rules."
She shrugged slightly: "So I did it, and nothing happened all night; I even slept more soundly than usual."
........................
Studio:
"Six hundred and sixty-six! That's real reasoning! Amazing!"
"In comparison, Park Ji-won is a joke. Other spies use their brains to crack the rules, he relies on self-pity!"
"The white bear effect! So true! No wonder Park Ji-won recorded his dream as soon as he woke up; he lost the moment he started silently repeating that phrase!"
"No wonder he's a former special agent; his mind is sharp. He saw through the closed-loop trap of Rule Two at a glance!"
"I suggest Park Ji-won copy Evelyn's words a hundred times, and stop stubbornly clinging to flawed rules!"
........................
After listening to Evelyn's words, Park Ji-won muttered "twisted logic" under his breath, but his eyes unconsciously showed some panic.
"Let's go, we'll be late if we keep going!" Lin Feng reminded him.
Without saying another word, the group walked towards Zhaixin Hall.
Three figures were already standing at the entrance of Zhaixin Hall—
Xia Ning was still wearing that plain white robe, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her face aloof.
As people arrived one after another, they entered Zhaixin Hall with solemn expressions.
On the north wall, the four food pick-up windows still stand in a row, the inside of which is pitch black and the bottom cannot be seen.
After everyone had entered, Xia Ning slowly walked into the hall, her figure floating more than a meter high, her clear, cool voice reaching everyone's ears:
"Quiet! The rules are the same as yesterday. Today, for meals, you will need to vote to select a room where all the members will taste the food."
As soon as he finished speaking, a suppressed commotion broke out in the hall.
Xia Ning coldly glanced at everyone, then casually waved her hand, and the bronze recording stone, taller than a person, slowly reappeared from the ground.
On the bronze mirrors on both sides of the wall, the dormitory numbers and the corresponding list of chosen ones are displayed.
"Voting begins, three minutes allowed."
Xia Ning's voice remained completely calm.
Those who refuse to vote will have their cells designated as poison-testing cells.
No one dared to delay. Representatives from each dormitory lined up and whispered the dormitory number they wanted to vote for into the recording stone.
Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Xia Ning raised her hand and waved it lightly. Numbers slowly appeared in the blank spaces below each dormitory room on the bronze mirror.
The vote count kept fluctuating, eventually settling down.
Dormitory No. 56 topped the list with 13 votes!
Upon seeing this result, Xia Ning subconsciously clenched her fingers: As expected, Lin Feng was targeted because he was too outstanding!
The voting process was flawless, and it was clearly unrealistic to overturn it and start over.
She could only secretly resolve to find an opportunity to give Lin Feng a heads-up later, but she didn't know if he would notice in time.
Xia Ning glanced at Lin Feng and the other two, and said calmly, "The three of you in room 56, please come to the window to test the poison."
As soon as she finished speaking, she took the lead and walked towards the four windows on the north wall.
Lin Feng and Wasim exchanged a glance, a hint of seriousness flashing in their eyes, and immediately followed.
As Park Ji-won walked, he made the sign of the cross on his chest, nervously muttering to himself:
"Lord, please help me avoid choosing a poisonous window..."
Soon, the three of them arrived at four dark windows.
All the chosen ones in the hall stared intently at them, their eyes filled with sympathy, schadenfreude, and a secret sense of relief—relief that they weren't the ones chosen.
Xia Ning stood at the window, turned around, and glanced at the three people:
"Of the four windows, only one window has food that contains a deadly poison."
"If you're lucky and none of the three windows you draw are poisonous, then the remaining one is the poisonous window."
"Good luck to you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wasim took a deep breath, walked solemnly to window number 3, and stared intently into the darkness inside.
Park Ji-won stood trembling in front of window number 2.
Lin Feng stood still at window number 1, his expression remaining calm.
At this moment, all the bets are on Xia Ning—
She has a 64-point favorability rating towards him, so she shouldn't just stand by and watch him die.
The moment his thought crossed his mind, Xia Ning suddenly raised her hand, covered her mouth, and coughed lightly...