Seeing Tang Tianyi seemed to have thought of something again, Luo Chao asked, "What's wrong? Miss Tang, is there something you don't understand?"

"Of course there is." Hearing Luo Chao's question, Tang Tianyi didn't hold back and asked directly, "You said the Pen Immortal interfered with my brain, which is correct, but how did it manage to make my thoughts come true? Why is it that when I fear something, the Pen Immortal can make it appear?"

"Hmm?" Luo Chao didn't expect Tang Tianyi to ask such a question, so he replied, "I think the Pen Immortal must have taken advantage of the human psychology of fear."

"Took advantage of the psychology of fear?" Tang Tianyi tilted her head.

"That's right, do you know why many people are afraid to watch horror movies?" Luo Chao suddenly asked.

"I don't know, I'm not fond of horror movies because they're all too fake. The old horror movies with gods and ghosts were just played by people. Later, after decades of technological development, they only managed to transform human-acted ghosts into computer-generated effects." Tang Tianyi replied.

Luo Chao greatly agreed with Tang Tianyi's words, "You're very right. Horror movies aren't inherently scary, especially those domestic crap horror movies that come out every month, like a girl having her period. Don't even mention computer effects, even the effects are just cheap ones. Those young actors don't even put their heart into the performances, making them obviously fake!"

Tang Tianyi nodded frequently, agreeing with what Luo Chao said.

Just then, Luo Chao abruptly changed his tone, "But, do you know why, despite these horror movies being so lame and bizarre, some people still like to watch them? And why do some people, even though they are scared to watch horror movies, still can't resist the urge to see them? Have you ever studied what kind of attraction these horror movies have?"

"I haven't..." Tang Tianyi shook her head, "Come on, I'm a scientist. How would I have the leisure to study these boring horror movies?!"

Luo Chao smiled slightly and said, "Hehe, although you haven't studied them, I have. Let me tell you, these horror movies aren't scary in their content, but they're scary in a conceptual sense! It's what we usually call 'the more you think about it, the scarier it gets!'"

"Conceptual?" Tang Tianyi seemed not to understand.

Luo Chao replied, "It's about association! For example, you might see a poorly-faked female ghost climbing out of a toilet in a movie and not feel it's very scary; you might even find it funny!"

"But have you ever thought, if one night you go to the restroom alone and a real female ghost climbs out of the toilet, wouldn't it be terrifying?"

Tang Tianyi nodded quietly after hearing Luo Chao's words, "Hearing it that way, it does sound quite terrifying!"

Luo Chao clapped his hands, "Exactly, and the human brain's imagination is extremely rich. What you see in a movie might be a poorly-faked female ghost, but in your imagination, it's no longer just a poorly-faked female ghost!"

"And the ghost you imagine won't just be a poorly-faked one; it could very well be in the image of the ghost you fear the most!"

"This is why humans are innately afraid of the darkness in the same way. The darkness itself isn't scary; it's what's hidden in the darkness that's scary! Even if there's actually nothing in the darkness, people will use their imagination and perceptions to think something is there!"

"In this way, those afraid of ghosts will think there are ghosts in the darkness trying to harm them, those afraid of wolves will think there are wolves trying to eat them, and those afraid of spiders will think there's a whole swarm or a giant spider trying to bite them! In essence, it's just that humans are overthinking and overanalyzing!"

After hearing Luo Chao's lengthy theory, Tang Tianyi's expression froze for a moment, then she suddenly showed a look of realization.

"So, what you're saying is, that night, the Pen Immortal used this principle to materialize all the things I was afraid of? However, it seems implausible to materialize what I fear in the real world, right? Isn't this the same as mind interfering with matter?" Although Tang Tianyi understood what Luo Chao meant, she simultaneously raised new questions.

"No, no, no." Luo Chao shook his head, "The Pen Immortal didn't materialize matter; it just made you hallucinate, making you think what you feared was materialized!"

"How is that possible! Those things were so realistic!" Tang Tianyi exclaimed in disbelief.

"They were realistic, but no matter how realistic, they're fake because, from the beginning, those horror events didn't actually happen in the classroom!" Luo Chao replied calmly.

"How could they not be in the classroom! If they weren't there, how did I catch the Pen Immortal?" Tang Tianyi was clearly confused by Luo Chao's words.

Luo Chao gave a slight smile and then explained, "Miss Tang, I'm not saying you physically weren't in the classroom; what I mean is that those visions you saw didn't happen in the classroom!"

"Didn't happen in the classroom?" Tang Tianyi furrowed her brow, puzzled, "Then where did they happen? I never left that haunted classroom midway."

"The Mind Palace." Luo Chao smiled slightly. He had his own mind palace, so when Tang Tianyi recounted what happened that day, this possibility immediately came to his mind.

"A mind... palace!" Tang Tianyi's eyes lit up, as the concept of mind palaces was not unfamiliar to her.

When Tang Tianyi studied abroad, she came across some theories about mind palaces proposed by spiritual masters.

However, back then, she thought those so-called spiritual masters were merely misleading people. She never expected to hear this word, long forgotten in her memory, in her own country, in her own lab, coming from Luo Chao's mouth again.

Seeing Tang Tianyi seemed to understand what he was talking about, Luo Chao was somewhat surprised, "Miss Tang, have you heard of a mind palace before?"

"Yes." Tang Tianyi nodded.

"That's good; it saves me from explaining it all over again." Luo Chao hadn't expected Tang Tianyi to know what a mind palace was and thus planned not to further explain it.

Luo Chao continued, "In simple terms, you were drawn into the Pen Immortal's mind palace at that time! Hence, when you woke up, you found everything around was normal, and not even a drop of blood from the corpse of your classmate Jiang was found! If I'm not mistaken, you must have left out a detail about what happened at the time!"

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