I Use Illusions To Control The Whole World Chapter 9
His special trait is being hard
“What?” Yang Dongqing didn’t understand at first.
“My name.”
Yang Dongqing paused in surprise.
Nan Mo…
He silently repeated it to himself. The name sounded pleasant, almost poetic, but given his limited education, he couldn’t analyze it as elegantly as Nan Mo had earlier.
“It’s a nice name. Does it have a special origin?”
“You think so?” The girl was a little surprised. “You’re the first person to say that. My cust—uh, my friends usually think it’s weird, so they all call me Jasmine.”
“No, really, I think it sounds beautiful.”
“Bajiao courtyard bears twin fruits, Jasmine of the southern land outshines all flowers.”
“Huh?” Yang Dongqing was confused again.
“Oh come on, it’s the poetic origin of my name. Didn’t you just ask?”
“Did I? Hahaha…” Yang Dongqing laughed awkwardly and stole a quick glance at the side of the girl’s face in his arms.
“She really does outshine all flowers…”
“What did you just say?”
“Ah? Nothing, you must’ve misheard.”
“But I swear I heard something about flowers…”
Inside a residential building nearby, Su Mu slowly put down his night-vision binoculars. A mysterious smile curled on his lips.
“What a girl, Nan Mo… or should I say Jasmine. Reality really is more interesting than dreams. Even small characters have their own brilliance. To be precise, it’s not reality that’s fun—but the people in it.”
He had watched Jasmine’s entire performance unfold with his own eyes, and even “heard” their lines word for word.
He could read lips, after all—no obstacles there.
Since studying in dreams helped consume Mental Power, he’d spent most of his time learning. As a result, he’d mastered many unusual tricks for daily life—such as bomb-making, unarmed killing techniques, poison formulation, and so on…
Su Mu casually tossed the night-vision device to Zhao Chaoyao and calmly instructed, “Look into Nan Mo. That woman isn’t as simple as she appears.”
Zhao Chaoyao tensed. “Understood, Chief!”
…
…
The next day.
At the Viper Gang’s headquarters.
In front of the tall, heavy wall engraved with the ouroboros symbol, Su Mu sat in his wheelchair with a vacant expression after just finishing a round of hypnosis.
“My condition’s getting worse.”
His face was pale, completely devoid of color. But his eyes were burning brighter than ever.
“Chief, Jasmine is here.”
Zhao Chaoyao, looking fierce as ever, brought in the petite Nan Mo.
Nan Mo appeared very nervous. Her eyes kept darting around at the Viper Gang members who stood like statues.
“How’s the mission going?” Su Mu’s raspy voice echoed from the elevated platform, reverberating through the empty hall.
Nan Mo looked up nervously at Su Mu seated beneath the ornate, dark gold patterned wall. For some reason, she felt like she was standing before a king.
Suppressing the instinct to kneel, she quickly said, “Everything’s going smoothly. Yang Dongqing hasn’t suspected a thing.”
“Mm.” Su Mu nodded, scrutinizing her as he slowly asked, “Did you… sleep with him?”
Nan Mo stiffly shook her head. “N-no. He’s been very considerate. He knew I was scared and hurt, so he didn’t touch me.”
Worried that Su Mu might think she wasn’t trying hard enough, she quickly added, “But I told him I was afraid of being alone and asked him to stay. He slept on the floor. Later in the night, I got worried he’d catch a cold, so I let him sleep on the bed.”
Su Mu’s gaze drifted downward, landing on her slender ankle. Her pale skin was still slightly swollen, clearly not faked.
“You did well. Things that come too easily aren’t cherished by men.”
Nan Mo was visibly pleased. “Thank you, Boss. Honestly, I didn’t do much—Yang Dongqing’s just really naive.”
Su Mu shook his head and smiled, studying her with amusement. “No need to be modest. Your performance was very convincing—so convincing it didn’t feel like acting.”
Nan Mo’s expression stiffened. “People like me deal with all kinds of guests every day. You pick up a bit of acting whether you like it or not.”
“No need to lie. Your acting has nothing to do with your job. It comes from experience. Only someone who’s truly been through it all can portray such resilience in the face of despair.”
“Boss, I don’t quite understand what you mean.” Nan Mo’s smile turned awkward.
“It’s simple. I had someone look into your background… and what I found was that your real life isn’t very different from the script you prepared—gambling-addicted father, sick mother, school-attending younger brother. And yes, you really were a student. You liked poetry and music.”
“The only difference is… reality’s much crueler than any script. And you’re much tougher than the character you wrote.”
Nan Mo fell silent. Her face grew pale, and all traces of the seductive aura she’d once faked had vanished. Her expression now carried a quiet sadness.
“The girl in the script still had her parents. But my father was beaten to death by debt collectors, my mother died of illness, and my only brother cut ties with me because of what I do for a living.
At first, I really did want to perform at a bar. But without fame, I had to agree to the owner’s ‘conditions’ to even get a chance. After that…”
“Stop.” Su Mu cut her off. “I know more about your life than you do.”
Nan Mo paused, her bitter smile deepening. She finally understood that the man before her, the Chief of the Viper Gang, was not one to show sympathy. Not that she expected it. She’d long grown used to a world where sympathy was just a mask for ill intentions.
“Your brother works at Chengxin Mechanical Factory, right?”
At this, Nan Mo froze like a startled deer, her nerves unraveling. “No! Please don’t hurt my brother. I’ll do whatever you ask—I swear—”
“Stop.” Su Mu frowned slightly. “Have you been watching too many TV dramas? Or do you just have a really skewed view of me? Why would I hurt your brother?
What do you even have that’s worth threatening?”
Nan Mo was stunned. That rising fear scattered all at once. Wait… he’s got a point?
“I pay you, and you work for me. It’s that simple. Understand?”
“Yes… I understand. Then you…”
“I brought up Chengxin Mechanical Factory for another reason. The factory’s just a small workshop. It owes the Viper Gang some money. The owner wants to hand over the factory as payment. Coincidentally, your brother works there.
So I thought—why not use your reward to take over the factory, and put your brother in charge? That way, we don’t have to waste manpower managing it, and your brother gets a promotion. Win-win.
What do you think?”
Nan Mo was stunned and wary. She knew this wasn’t kindness. He mentioned the factory to put pressure on her.
If she performed well, her brother could become the factory head. If not… the factory might just become his grave.
But she had no choice. “I accept.”
“Good. I’ll soon have a second mission for you. But first—tell me, is there anything special about Yang Dongqing?”
Nan Mo thought for a moment, then answered, “Hard.”
“Hard?”
“Yes. He’s very hard.”
“Watch your mouth!” Zhao Chaoyao couldn’t hold back. “Didn’t you say you didn’t sleep with him?! Then how the hell would you know if he’s hard?! And even if you did, our Chief’s asking if there’s anything unusual about him—not whether he’s hard or not!”
