Part 5 The Red Priestess Chapter 28 The World of the Heart
HERWIN LAMBIS took a sip from the bone china teacup beside him, looked at Audrey, who was sitting upright without the slightest mistake, and smiled amiably:
”There’s no need to be so formal, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve met me, I still remember that two years ago, you even discussed Berman’s moral philosophy and Conceição’s pragmatism with me.”
Audrey kept her light smile and said:
”I just have trouble connecting you with the members of the Convocation of the Psycho-Alchemical Society.”
Hwyn Lambeth had yet to make such a self-introduction, but it was a reasonable assumption that could be made based on Audrey’s knowledge of the Psycho-Alchemy Society and the situation on the ground.
Hwynn teetered his right leg and smiled slightly:
”It’s not worth caring about, never forget that our Psychological Alchemy Society is an organization established for the purpose of researching knowledge in the realm of the mind, we’re more on the side of academics than affairs, heh, since it’s academics, you can totally pretend that the so-called committee members are professors in a university.”
If it wasn’t known from Mr. “World” beforehand that Hwyn Lambeth was behind Karon’s suicide, Audrey at this time, no matter how she looked or observed, she could only come to the conclusion that the other party was a knowledgeable, kind and funny scholar who wasn’t arrogant at all, but since she was wary, Audrey didn’t believe in those things presented on the surface so much. These things presented on the surface anymore.
She looked at the other party and organized her words, while not allowing her attention to focus too much on one point, keeping her thoughts active and dispersed, so as not to be unknowingly hypnotized.
At this time, her spirit suddenly went into a bit of a trance, and she seemed to see the seven pure lights that contained countless knowledge-like, dense figures that were difficult to describe in form, and saw them pervading the heights and covering everything.
This is the spiritual sky, which is the mapping of the spiritual realm at the level of the mind!
And below the spiritual sky was a deep, deep, dark sea, where every drop of water liquid was like a shadow of light, all seeming to represent a bit of consciousness an imprint.
Near this sea existed several islands, one of which belonged to Audrey herself.
She realized that this was the symbolic expression of her own consciousness, and what was exposed on the sea level was the part of herself that she could perceive, while what was submerged by the “sea water” was the deeper consciousness that could not be grasped or probed normally.
Floating on top of the island, looking towards the bottom, the first thing Audrey noticed was the lonely and silent large-scale grayish monsoon, which blocked the line of sight, so that one could only see the huge and dark outline of the subconscious mind and the illusory swirling ocean of the collective subconscious mind, and it was difficult to get too much information.
Audrey was wondering how she had entered this strange state, when she suddenly saw that below the island, where the subconscious ocean was deeper, a large area of gray cloud parted on both sides like a tide, revealing a stone staircase that had appeared at some point in time.
On top of the steps, a figure soared upward in a flash-like manner, and almost instantly, it entered Audrey’s field of vision.
He had thick but all-white hair, and was dressed in a standard three-piece suit and striped blue-gray pants, with a dark red bow tie and a heavily wrinkled forehead; it was none other than Hwyn Lambeth!
This Lambeth had a grim air compared to the one sitting on the couch, not a hint of a smile, and his head was slightly buried as if scrutinizing Audrey’s subliminal consciousness at the back of the steps.
In a few steps, he entered Audrey’s island of consciousness from the ocean of collective subconsciousness, stepping from the subconscious realm to the exposed portion of the sea level, like a silent visitor who didn’t ask permission or knock on the door.
Upon boarding the island, Hwyn Lambeth raised his head, part of his skin had been covered with grayish scales, and his eyes were golden and erect, containing no hint of emotion.
This …… Audrey floating in mid air watched the scene, and already had a clear understanding of the current situation:
Here is the world of the mind, the world of the mind composed of the spiritual sky, the collective subconscious ocean and individual islands of consciousness!
Because of the blessing given by that angel, Mr. “Fool”, Hwyn Lambeth’s act of stealthily invading my mental body, the realm of the mind, with the help of the ocean of the collective subconsciousness, triggered an “alert”… …that force then separated me from my innermost self-consciousness, allowing me to manipulate what was happening on the “island” under the spiritual sky, thus countering true mind-reading in the true sense of the word. …… It’s amazing. No, Hwyn Lambeth! Bice is an abomination! No manners at all, barging into someone’s “home” without permission or notice! Audrey muttered a few words in mid-air.
Realizing her situation, she secretly influenced the changes in the “island” while responding to Hwyn Lambeth, who was sitting leisurely on the sofa, in the real world:
”I’m also very formal in the face of a college professor.”
Audrey made her inner island grumble as she spoke:
This is not a good analogy at all, as a member of the Council of Psycho-Alchemists at such an old age, he is at least a Sequence 4, which belongs to the demi-gods and half-humans, and naturally makes people feel awe and restraint!
Hwyn Lambeth on the sofa laughed at once:
”Then I won’t force you. I heard Hilbert mention about you, saying that it only took you a few months to be promoted from ‘psychiatrist’ to ‘hypnotist’, I’m curious, how did you do it? Well, I’ve also heard about the answer you told Yslante, that it was courageous to apply it, and I’d like to hear something more detailed.”
At that moment, Hwyn Lambeth on Audrey’s “island of the mind” was expressionlessly surveying his surroundings, listening to the sounds that echoed through the place.
Audrey was prepared for this, and purposely pretended to organize her language for several seconds before saying:
”It’s the ‘courageous application’ of the surface meaning of the word.
”Well …… let’s put it this way, I’ve always had the option of becoming a psychiatrist in my future plans, and since I have the appropriate extraordinary abilities, I, I’m definitely happy to try them out, and would be happy to use them to help those around me with their mental or psychological problems.”
As she spoke, she seemed a little embarrassed at this slightly childish behavior, which the “island of the mind” faithfully responded to.
After a pause, Audrey continued:
”During this process, I found myself getting better and better at mastering the power of magic potions, and then one day, I inexplicably felt something inside of me shatter with a crash, merging into my bloodstream and making me vaguely see one illusory star after another… Mr. Lambeth, what does this mean?
”Well, I don’t know why, since that day, I was certain that I could become a ‘Hypnotist’, this might be a subconscious hint.”
After saying that, Audrey intentionally made herself on the “island of the mind” spit out her tongue like a child, and did something that she would not normally do, so as to prove that she was really a little bit embarrassed just now, because playing the role of a “psychiatrist” was no different from playing the role of a princess when she was a child or something like that. It’s no different than playing a princess when you were a kid.
And embarrassment often means telling the truth.
Hwyn Lambeth nodded gently and said:
”Very talented, to have figured out the ‘playing method’ by yourself.”
”Playing method?” Audrey internally and externally unanimously showed surprise and bewilderment, and then had some realization.
Hwyn Lambeth smiled kindly:
”It means what you understand, playing according to the name of the magic potion and summarizing the corresponding code. This is an effective way to digest magic potions and mitigate the negative effects.
”However, before Sequence 6, we didn’t advocate our members to use this method to accelerate the digestion of magic potions, so we won’t teach it, who knew that you figured it out on your own.”
”Why don’t you advocate it?” Audrey asked with genuine suspicion.
Hwyn Lambeth sighed and said:
”It can cause members to become unlike themselves, and some may even be assimilated by the lingering influences within the magic potion.
”The simple fact is that the first three sequences slowly master the power, adapting a little to the Transcendence, making the sense of self deeper and sharper and more mature, helping to combat some of the problems brought about by ‘playing the law’ later on.
”Of course, I can only give an opinion on the ‘audience’ pathway, as for the other extraordinary pathways, I’m not really sure if that would be the case, obviously the pathway that focuses on the realm of the mind is always going to be a little different in terms of self-awareness.”
Audrey couldn’t tell if Hwyn Lambeth was lying or not, only that there was some truth to it but not necessarily all of it.
Little Sun had mentioned that one of the caveats of the “play method” was to “remember that you are only playing”… …I feel this is more appropriate, well, I’ve been following it to the letter, and I will in the future… …… Audrey, don’t be careless, and pay more attention to self-awareness from now on! In the opinion of Mr. “Fool”, this is surely just a minor issue, which does not need any additional emphasis, and is included in the phrase “just playing”, but for the average person, it may be quite important… …Audrey volunteered in the midst of her electrifying thoughts:
”Can you be more specific about this ‘playing method’?”
Hwyn Lambeth explained in more detail, then said:
”You do have the talent and qualifications to apply for the Sequence 5 ‘Dreamwalker’ magic potion formula, but before that, I will give you some tasks one after another, this is both a need for fairness and an exercise for your ability, because when you become Sequence 5, you will be leading two to three psychological seminar groups, and each of your judgment and every choice you make will affect the future of the members under you, and even their lives, so we can’t allow someone who seriously lacks the ability to handle affairs to be promoted to Sequence 5.”
”Understandable.” Audrey had no problem with that, “What’s the first mission?”
Hwyn Lambeth laughed:
”A simple but longer term task, every feedback you give will count as a contribution.”
He sighed as he said this:
”The gap between the New Party and the Conservative Party is growing and clashing, there has been a certain degree of tearing within the Kingdom, I would like you to keep an eye on your father, Earl Hall, and relay his views on certain motions or matters to me, rest assured it will not be detrimental to him, we are simply hoping to mend the rift.”
The last half of his sentence was actually not supported by logic, it was just a promise, but as the Hwyn Lambeth on Audrey’s “island of the mind” raised his right hand and pressed the corner of his forehead, Audrey actually felt that what he said made sense and was convinced.
Floating in the mid-air of the mind world, she immediately came to her senses and realized that something was wrong.