I, the outlaw, was caught again

Chapter 209: Special Psychology! Collective Hysteria! [Two-in-one monthly ticket request! ]

Mass hysteria, what is this?
Hysteria, most people know that when someone suddenly becomes crazy, this is hysteria. If you still don’t understand, let me give you some examples.

You know Fan Jin, the so-called Fan Jin who passed the imperial examination.

After experiencing great joy, the other person's whole demeanor becomes extremely stupid. This inconsistent personality and thinking is a sign of hysteria.

A person's hysteria is no different from a mental illness and is not contagious, but
"Collective hysteria is fine, but it's a psychological disease that can't be proven by biology!"

"This kind of illness will not occur when one person is alone, and even if it does occur, it is just ordinary personal hysteria."

"And when there are a large number of people and the conditions are met, once this disease appears, it will spread like the flu, infecting all people who meet the conditions in a certain area!"

Mr. Xu looked serious.

He looked at Li Sheng who was stunned beside him, paused, and said:
"That is, multiple people present with the same psychological symptoms at the same time."

"It is common for multiple people to see the same non-existent illusion."

"Or maybe the food is clearly not poisonous, but someone says it's food poisoning, and most people get poisoned and show symptoms of poisoning, but when they are sent to the hospital, it shows that no one has food poisoning!"

"If the hysteria these people suffer from is in their cognitive aspects, they will gradually become extremely extreme when they are together, but they will be able to return to normal after being separated!"

There was a case of mass hysteria that was widely circulated.

There are six people in the family, including parents, daughters and sons, and all of them are religious.

Everything was fine at first, but one day, the younger sister suddenly suffered from hysteria and called herself a xx god. She predicted that the elder sister would encounter misfortune outside. The parents actually believed this absurd statement.

Afterwards, the eldest sister was called home, and hysteria spread throughout the room. The parents also began to have seizures, claiming to be the other two gods.

Then came the eldest sister, younger brother and others.

The six members of the family each had their own opinion. They all thought they were the real gods and others were fake. They also thought their urine and feces could purify evil, so they smeared these things all over the room and fed them to others and ate them themselves.

After a fruitless fight, the parents and brothers finally felt that the five of them were orthodox, and only the eldest sister was an evil spirit.

So the five of them joined forces to kill the eldest sister.

When the five murderers in this case were examined, they were very sure that they were gods, and the examination showed that they were not lying. This made the psychologist feel very absurd. After all, although they were religious in the past, they were not the extreme ones and their brains should not have been so tangled without any warning.

It was not until the four people were separated that they suddenly seemed to have recovered from their colds and returned to normal.

"This is what is called mass hysteria!"

Xu Sheng spoke with a serious expression.

He looked at the dock in the distance and saw the policemen in raincoats, moving things on it as small as ants.

"A disease that can color the minds of those around you."

“Usually it’s only people who are going through the same thing that are portrayed.”

"For example, food poisoning is caused by eating the same food, or experiencing other things together."

In 98, there was a shocking case in the West involving mass hysteria.

The people involved in the case were from a school. There was food poisoning in the cafeteria. There were more than a hundred people poisoned. Students were vomiting and foaming everywhere. The ambulance was almost smoking.

But the result was, although the physical symptoms of these 100 people were no different from those of poisoning, none of them suffered from food poisoning!

Ridiculous! Absurd indeed!

This collective hysteria seems ridiculous, but it exists.

And this kind of thing is simply...
"Can fantasy be turned into reality!?"

Li Sheng was stunned, his face full of disbelief.

"Yes."

Mr. Xu nodded.

"It's like food poisoning. No one is poisoned, but when you think you are poisoned, the symptoms will appear on your body."

"There is also a very interesting phenomenon. At certain moments, when you think you have a fever, you will gradually become mentally exhausted and your body temperature will rise inexplicably, and eventually you will really have a fever!"

“It’s a weird psychological suggestion.”

There is a very famous urban legend experiment called 'mock execution'.

Many people know this, and it basically involves blindfolding a person and then tying him to a chair.

Then use the back of the knife to scratch the prisoner's wrist, and use water drops to create the appearance of bleeding.

The murderer would gradually bleed to death over the next few days, but his body would not show any marks.

This experiment is not rigorous, and there are no specified sources and various data. It seems to be full of loopholes, so it is called an "urban legend."

However, it does not prevent the essential meaning from being the same as 'psychological fantasy becoming reality'!
"Add to that the collective factors. When multiple people see a hallucination, they communicate with each other and confirm each other, which will increase their confirmation of the hallucination and make the condition worse."

"So, thinking becomes more extreme, and eventually people do something irrational."

Xu Sheng said solemnly.

"If I'm not mistaken, the murderer probably encountered something similar."

“And what they encountered, the hysteria they caused, is related to mermaids!?” Li Sheng’s voice was a little high.

He looked at Xu Sheng in disbelief.

Although various words explained the existence of this disease, Li Sheng still found it hard to believe.
How ridiculous!

If others can see the illusion that you see, can this illusion still be called an illusion?
Hallucinations themselves are illogical. When you read a book, you may see a human face, and when you look at a wall, you may see a chicken leg.

So, mermaids are illogical things.
In this state, it is not unreasonable to appear in people's eyes!
It took Li Sheng a long time to accept this information.

"What happened to the murderer?"

Li Sheng recalled the dockmaster's words and frowned.

"Is it that pirate?"

"He encountered pirates, was robbed, and then the ship was destroyed and people died. This major incident led to hysteria?"

"No, hysteria doesn't require a big event. An ordinary little thing can trigger it."

Xu Sheng sighed, if he was obsessed with something, he could only do so through major events.

Collective hysteria is different from obsession. Major events and themselves are the opposite.

"If it's mass hysteria, it's probably not hysteria caused by a big event."

"But if you get hysteria, it will cause a big incident!"

"Like this case, and the example you gave before?" Li Sheng paused.

Hysteria comes suddenly, catching people off guard!

Just like the spirit case I just mentioned, the murderer and the victim did not experience any major events. When the sister woke up in the morning, she was 'possessed by a spirit' without any warning signs.

but
"Yes."

"But then again, the solution to collective hysteria is separation. In other words, during the onset of the disease, the other party must live together within a relatively close fixed range. There are not many people who meet the conditions in Zhuwen City. It will be no problem to track down the fishing boats and fishermen at sea according to the previous idea."

Xu Sheng nodded, then walked into the rain and headed away.

Collective hysteria has limited scope.

Once someone breaks away, that person will gradually become normal!

Assuming the murderer is still having an attack, then he is a collective killer. We can find him by searching nearby based on these three words.

Is there anything near the fishing village that has anything to do with these three words?

Only fishermen will always work as a team, and no one will think it’s unusual when they get together!
Xu Sheng walked to the dock and looked at Wu Sai who was searching the surroundings.

"How is the investigation going on regarding the boat girl?"

Speaking of this, Wu Sai paused slightly, then sighed.

"Don't mention it."

"Although these people often visit the place on weekdays, when the police came to question them, they said they had never been there. One or two of them just made excuses and said they didn't know them. So far, the police have not obtained any useful information."

It's a paradox that people can be thick-skinned but also thin-skinned.

Those who have found flower boats are either afraid of the police or feel ashamed.

"First select some people and check for a captain named Zhao."

Xu Sheng looked around and saw the fishing boat rising and falling.

"Zhao?"

"This is a common surname. There are many captains with the surname Zhao." Wu Sai raised his eyebrows.

Xu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "About half a month ago, the other party's ship was hijacked by a group of pirates, and they swam dozens of kilometers before returning to the shore."

"If you follow this clue and ask around, you'll find it."

There are too many people with the surname Zhao. You can find dozens of unique surnames like Wang, Li, and Zhao in this fishing village!
However, not many people have encountered pirates.

With this screening point, Wu Sai quickly found someone by asking around.

"You are talking about that old fellow Zhao Qian, right? This guy has a bad face and bad luck. When he went out, he encountered pirates and his boat was seized. He swam for dozens of kilometers before he finally swam back to the coast."

"But a few days later, people who went out to sea saw his boat. The pirates didn't leave, but drifted around on the sea." "He went out to sea to fish before, and I don't know if he has returned to hide from the rain."

A rough middle-aged man spoke.

"I think I lived in a guesthouse in the village before. You can go there and take a look."

Wu Sai nodded, and then changed the subject, "Where is the flower boat? Did you see who the boat girl on the flower boat came into contact with before she disappeared!?"

"Boat"

The man wanted to say something, but came to his senses the next moment.

"Haha, officer, I'm a decent man, I've never seen a boat girl before, go ask the big ship."

After saying this, the other party pulled the door curtain of his boat.

Xu Sheng shook his head, then did not force it, and ran towards the destination with Wu Sai.

The small boat said that there were many people on the big boat and some of them would like to prostitute. The big boat said that they had a strict management system and would not do prostitution, and asked them to check the small boat.

As for the flower boat itself
There were no clues on the boat. The flower boat was tied to the dock. There was no fighting or blood-splattering scenes inside. Xu Sheng initially guessed that the other party probably died at an address on the shore rather than being killed in the boat.

Therefore, there is nothing much to check when inspecting the fishing boat. Even if there are bloodstains, it is hard to tell whether they are from human beings or fish.

"Zhao Qian?"

When we arrived at the target B&B, the lady at the counter raised her eyebrows.

"Old Zhao, someone is looking for you!"

She yelled at the top of her voice, and soon a person with rough skin, weathered features, and calloused hands came out.

When he came out, he was stunned to see the police, and then a suspicious expression appeared on his face.

"police?"

"I want to ask you something."

Wu Sai nodded, took out his notebook, and started taking notes as he asked questions.

"Where were you half a month ago?"

This happened half a month ago.
"I should rest at home. Damn it. The boat is gone, the fish is gone, and the food is gone. What else can I do if I don't rest?"

Zhao Qian’s attitude towards the police was not very good. He had a sullen face and spoke impatiently.

"Fuck you, when the boat came back, all the fish on it were smelly. I asked the police to arrest you, but you didn't go."

He was rather unlucky, having encountered pirates three times in his life. He called the police every time, but was never able to catch them. Now the police were questioning him, and he was very dissatisfied with their attitude.

But it is normal not to catch it, after all.
Pirates are different from bandit kings.

These days, some of them carry guns and are soldiers stationed in certain places. They call inland fishermen pirates and also use pirate methods. There was a very famous case nearby in 04, in which the enemy killed a boatload of fishermen.

There were also fishermen who went out to salvage together.

Some fishermen with bad intentions, who didn't catch any fish and were short of money, would become malicious when they saw other fishermen on the sea. They would rob them of everything, kill them, and then sail back to the shore, still the fisherman with a clean record.

After that came the pirates who made a living from this. However, pirates were also difficult to catch, as there was nothing we could do once these people fled to the waters of other countries.

How can the police station or the criminal investigation team catch these three types of people?
Reality is not Vice City, police cars cannot drive on the sea!
"Okay, last few questions."

Wu Sai glanced at Xu Sheng who was standing beside him. Xu Sheng showed no emotion, so he continued:
"Did you see anything else on your way back?"

When a normal person sees a hallucination, he will know that it is fake, but when a person with hysteria sees a hallucination, he will find it very reasonable, which is equivalent to rewriting people's thinking.

It is very likely that the other party developed hysteria while drifting for dozens of kilometers but was unaware of it!

"How could I have survived if I didn't have several life buoys on my boat?"

Although Zhao Qian had a bad attitude, this just proved that the other party was not hysterical.

His thinking is still normal, neither extreme nor confused!
If the other party is not the murderer, then who is the murderer! ?
Wu Sai frowned, but he didn't think much about it and continued asking.

"Did you see who the boat girls on the flower boats met last when they came ashore half a month ago?"

When mentioning the boat girl, Zhao Qian's temper subsided slightly. He looked at the policemen in front of him and raised his eyebrows.

"Those women died?"

he guessed.

"Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. Just tell me whether you saw it or not."

Wu Sai looked around.

There were many fishermen around who were taking a break due to the weather and were watching with interest.

"I didn't see it." Although Zhao Qian guessed that someone was dead, he did not express his dissatisfaction and spoke honestly.

"Okay, that's all for now. Please stay connected via mobile or radio. The police will contact you if there are any follow-up questions."

Wu Sai nodded and put away her notes.

From the current perspective, the only person who can be considered an "incident" in the past few months is Zhao Qian.

If even the other party is not the murderer, then where is the murderer gang hiding?
Wu Sai felt a bit of a headache. Director Zhang Su now came to ask about the progress of the case every one or two hours, which made him feel very stressed.

As he frowned in thought
Xu Sheng looked Zhao Qian up and down, observed his skin, and suddenly spoke.

"You just came back from the sea not long ago?"

Zhao Qian was stunned, then nodded.

"Yes, but I didn't catch anything, just a few small fish. Now it's almost the fishing ban period, so I'm worried."

"Your ship was not damaged by the pirates' raid?"

Xu Sheng raised his eyebrows, he realized something.

"No, there are just some dents where we crashed into it. There's no damage to the engine or the communications. They can be used again after a simple repair."

"He was rummaging around on my ship, but I didn't have any cash on board, so I don't think he found anything valuable."

Zhao Qian paused, his expression showing a strange expression again. It was obvious that the pirate incident made him feel not very happy.

"Where are the fish? The fish on the boat." Xu Sheng just caught a key word, he squinted his eyes and spoke.

"The fish on the boat? They're smelly. They've been here for days and they weren't kept fresh. They're floating all over the sea. How can they not smell?"

The fish stinks?
The ship is still there.
The two messages were repeated again, and this time, even Wu Sai, who had been thinking about why the boat girl ignored these two messages, came back to his senses.

"The boat wasn't hijacked, and the fish are still there."

"Then why did these pirates rob you?!"

Wu Sai was stunned.

Pirates who are fishermen usually only rob fish. After all, if they are not "boat people", they will not bring much money when they go out to sea. The most valuable things on the entire ship are either the fish or the ship itself.

But the pirates didn't want any of them!

Then the question is, why did the other party rob Zhao Qian?
Just for fun! ?

and also
"I heard you say before that you wanted the police to arrest them. Do you know those pirates?"

Xu Sheng narrowed his eyes and asked again without waiting for the other party to answer.

"Yes, they are from Lao Wang's family. I just caught a bunch of fish and was chatting with him like before, but this family saw my catch and came to grab it!"

Zhao Qian was very dissatisfied.

Lao Wang's family is different from his. He is from a fishing village, while Lao Wang is a boatman. Although he also has a house in the village, he lives on the sea most of the time.

"You mean, Lao Wang didn't have any emotions at first, but when he saw your catch, he just grabbed it?"

Mr. Xu spoke.

"Yes, you bastards, don't let me catch them!" Zhao Qian said angrily.

"Where are the fish?" Xu Sheng asked.

“The fish is in the boat.”

Zhao Qian was also stunned.

"You said that the other party saw the fish you caught. What did you catch in that net?" Xu Sheng ignored Zhao Qian's reaction.

"Who knows? I didn't even look at that family and they were like crazy."

Zhao Qian paused, his face showing a hint of hesitation.

"It's pretty heavy though. It looks like there's a big fish in it."

"Big fish? Shark?" Wu Sai frowned.

"No, if they are after sharks, then the value of sharks is not as high as the boat, so why don't they just sail away?"

If it weren't for the valuable fish
The image of the victim who died with his eyes open in the manhole emerged in Xu Sheng’s mind.

Mermaid
Think about this time period now, 04.
Suddenly, Xu Sheng subconsciously uttered two words.

"Dugong?"

(End of this chapter)