Chapter Thirteen

On a weekend morning, Xiao Ai brought Xian Xiaoya to Dr. Eddie Min's clinic. As they entered, Xiaoya was struck by the unique interior design—the walls were adorned with works of art, incomprehensible oil paintings, and abstract sculptures. They ascended a spiral staircase, with Xiao Ai leading and Xiaoya following behind. But as they reached the second floor, the necklace in Xiao Ai's pocket slipped out and tumbled to the base of the stairs below. She hesitated, her eyes reflecting a sense of something lost, sensing that the necklace’s fall carried some hidden meaning.

She had placed it securely, yet, strangely, it seemed as if the necklace had chosen to slip out on its own. She told Xiaoya to enter the consultation room on the second floor and wait for her while she went back to retrieve it.

As she descended the spiral staircase, something bizarre happened—the staircase began to grow longer with every step she took. At first, she didn't notice, but as she continued, the stairs seemed endless. After walking for several minutes, she realized something was wrong and wondered to herself, "Am I dreaming?"

She had to retrieve her necklace, but despite her efforts, she couldn't reach the bottom. Only after circling the staircase over a dozen times did she finally reach the ground floor. The necklace glittered on the floor, easily catching her eye; she picked it up. When she looked up, she realized that at some point, the spiral staircase had indeed become a dozen loops! How long would it take to climb back up? Going down was easy, but up was a different story.

Regardless, she had to try. She mustered her strength and rushed upward, climbing several loops in one go, but when she looked up, there was still a long way to go. Sweat drenched her, and she was out of breath. After a short rest, she continued, finally reaching the last three spirals. She was nearly exhausted but forced herself onward. At the very last half loop, she could already see the ancient clock hanging there. Its hour and minute hands stood still, while only the second hand and the pendulum moved, ticking ceaselessly: tick-tock, tick-tock... Suddenly, the minute hand moved against all odds! The moment Xiao Ai heard the minute hand shift, her heart seemed to stop, her vision went dark, and her body tumbled down the stairs.

She awoke with a jolt—

"Xiao Ai! Are you alright?" The voice was Xian Xiaoya's.

Xiao Ai didn’t know when she’d ended up lying on a soft sofa. "What happened?" she asked, rubbing her head, her eyes still unfocused.

"You were just hypnotized," said a voice unfamiliar to Xiao Ai, yet somehow reminiscent of someone she’d met before.

As she rubbed her eyes, she saw a man in a white coat standing before her. He seemed about thirty-five, with metal-rimmed glasses and slicked-back hair. He looked scholarly, genteel.

Across the room, Xiaoya saw the man as a vague blur. No matter how hard she squinted, she couldn’t make out his features. This puzzled her greatly. Earlier, she’d bumped into a wall and thought she’d lost a contact lens, so everything now appeared blurry and unclear.

Who was this man? Xiao Ai didn’t know him. And where was Dr. Eddie Min? As she puzzled over this, the man spoke: "Let me introduce myself: I’m Hollen, also a hypnotherapist."

Both Xiao Ai and Xiaoya were surprised. Where was Dr. Eddie Min? He was the one they’d made an appointment with. They nodded in response, while Xiaoya, unfamiliar with the place, grew even more silent.

Xiao Ai asked, "We came to see Dr. Eddie Min. Is he here?"

"Unfortunately, he’s out today. I’m the only one here, filling in for him. We’re partners. I rarely see patients myself, but Dr. Min had an emergency, so I’m substituting for him today."

"I see. Then we’ll call you Dr. Hollen."

"Very well," Hollen nodded.

"Dr. Hollen, have we met before?" Xiao Ai asked deliberately.

He chuckled softly. "My memory tells me… we haven’t." After a brief pause, glancing at them both, he continued, "You both seem a little tired. Would you like to try hypnotherapy together?"

"Together?" Xiao Ai and Xiaoya exchanged glances.

"Yes, you can be hypnotized together. Though your symptoms are different, I can see that much. Still, joint hypnotherapy is possible. I specialize in treating different conditions simultaneously. You might like to try it."

Xiaoya found the idea novel and looked to see whether Xiao Ai would agree. Xiao Ai, however, hesitated, sensing something amiss.

"I want to try it. What do you think?" Xiaoya asked Xiao Ai.

"It’s just a way to rest," Hollen said. "I can tell you’re both exhausted. Hypnotherapy together allows both your minds to rest at once—a wonderful relief for your brains."

Still, Xiao Ai hesitated. She asked again, "Didn’t you just hypnotize me?"

"Yes," Hollen admitted. "You were unconsciously hypnotized as you came up the stairs. That’s my latest rapid induction technique—performed so the patient doesn’t even realize it."

"So I was your test subject just now?"

"I can’t deny it. You could say that."

Suddenly, Xiao Ai remembered her necklace and checked her pocket to be sure it was still there. It was. This proved she’d fallen into the dream the moment the necklace slipped. Her vigilance hadn’t been wrong; that instant had indeed marked her entry into sleep.

Listening to their exchange, Xiaoya thought the new hypnosis method sounded fascinating. "Let’s try it," she urged. "I think it’ll be fun." She nudged Xiao Ai to agree.

A thought flashed through Xiao Ai’s mind. The phrase "consciousness rest" that Hollen had used suddenly set off alarm bells. She didn’t know if she was being overly sensitive or just overthinking, but she immediately grabbed Xiaoya’s hand and stood up to leave.

"Sorry, I just remembered something I have to do. Dr. Hollen, we’ll come back another time. We’re leaving now." She spoke over her shoulder as she walked, not pausing her brisk pace.

Xiaoya let herself be pulled away, disappointed. Why not let her try? If she did, maybe her recent nerves would be soothed away.

Hollen watched them descend the stairs, his face expressionless. He adjusted his glasses, calculating inwardly, but no one could see what lay behind his thoughts.

Once they’d left the clinic, Xiao Ai led Xiaoya for a long while before finally letting go of her hand. Suddenly, Xiaoya rubbed her eyes and said, "That’s strange. I didn’t lose my contact lenses after all."

"What do you mean? Your contacts?" Xiao Ai asked.

"When I walked into the consultation room, I thought I’d lost a contact lens because I bumped into the wall and everything turned blurry. I really couldn’t see anything clearly at the time," Xiaoya explained.

"And now?" Xiao Ai pressed.

"It turns out I didn’t lose them. I can feel them, and now I see perfectly clearly." Xiaoya was equally puzzled.

"How could that be, if it wasn’t your contacts? Could it be…"

"What are you talking about? I don’t understand a word."

"Could you have been hypnotized too?" Xiao Ai guessed.

But Xiaoya shook her head firmly. "No—I know you fell asleep, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t see clearly." She paused, then remembered something. "No, that’s not quite right. I couldn’t see anything clearly—except the clock hanging by the second-floor door. That I saw perfectly."

"When you saw the clock, what time did it show?"

"Around eleven fifty-five, I think."

"No—it was eight forty-eight."

"No, I remember clearly. It was just before twelve, almost twelve."

"That clock’s broken. Only the second hand and pendulum move. If the hands are stuck, how could it change?"

"I saw just the second hand and pendulum moving too, but not at the time you said. It was fixed at eleven fifty-five."

Neither would yield; both were certain of what they had seen.