The Great Hypnotist

Dr. Ruining Xu is a renowned psychiatrist who uses hypnotherapy to treat his patients. His mentor, Professor Fang, recommends a new patient named Xiaoyan Ren who claims she can see ghosts. The setup hints at a mysterious connection between Xiaoyan's visions and Ruining's own past traumas.

Xiaoyan Ren enters Ruining's clinic claiming to see ghosts haunting her life. Ruining begins the session with hopes of uncovering a disturbing truth behind her visions. The claim immediately casts doubt on Xiaoyan while setting the stage for a psychological duel.

During the hypnosis, Ruining quickly discovers that Xiaoyan is not simply haunted—she is lying about her visions. He questions whether her memories are invented or manipulated. The moment sharpens the tension between healer and patient.

Ruining contacts a friend who works at child services to verify Xiaoyan's background. He learns that Xiaoyan was abandoned by her adoptive mother after pregnancy and later placed with a foster family. The discovery complicates the narrative, suggesting there may be real traumas behind claiming to see ghosts.

Ruining reframes his understanding: Xiaoyan is not merely fabricating stories, but has suppressed her darkest memories. Her fabricated tales were a shield against painful truths she could not bear to face. This realization shifts the dynamic from debunking to uncovering buried pain.

A tense cat-and-mouse game unfolds as Ruining pursues evidence to disprove Xiaoyan's stories. He collects clues and uses therapy sessions to test the limits of her memories. Xiaoyan resists, turning the sessions into a psychological duel.

Xiaoyan suddenly tells Ruining that she has been seeing two people—a man and a woman—in his chambers since she arrived. The statement deepens the mystery and blurs the line between patient and observer. It also foreshadows the larger manipulation at play.

Xiaoyan recounts a memory: a car crash into a river that Ruining himself was driving, which killed his lover and his best friend. This revelation forces Ruining to confront his guilt and the memories he has attempted to bury. The moment heightens the sense that the ghosts may be real, or that the truth is being orchestrated.

Xiaoyan tells Ruining that ghosts have forgiven him and urge him to remember their forgiveness as he wakes. Ruining experiences a shift in perception, then collapses to the floor as his assistant rushes to support him. The room fills with a mix of relief, confusion, and unanswered questions.

It is revealed that Xiaoyan Ren is 'The Great Hypnotist' and was working with Professor Fang to cure Ruining of post-traumatic guilt. Fang selected Xiaoyan as her top student and Ruining's former classmate, weaving a carefully constructed plan. The revelation reframes Xiaoyan's role from patient to agent in a complex psychological operation.

Professor Fang explains that the plan involved Ruining's family and staff, using Xiaoyan and the team to trigger Ruining's memories and guilt. The orchestration shows a deliberate manipulation of Ruining's psyche for a goal beyond healing. Xiaoyan's complicity deepens as she navigates the line between healer and conspirator.

After Ruining awakens, everyone except Xiaoyan goes to see him, leaving the room in an uneasy silence. A flashback sequence reveals that Ruining's best friend was Xiaoyan's fiancé, binding their fates together. The moment crystallizes the intertwined motives behind the therapy.

Professor Fang tells Xiaoyan that she must let Ruining go. The directive marks the formal end of the orchestrated treatment and returns agency to Ruining. Xiaoyan's expression hints at her internal conflict about the cure.

Xiaoyan confesses that she does not want to be cured, signaling a counterintuitive motive beyond healing. She hints at a personal attachment to the process and the power it grants her.