A Psychiatrist's Bizarre Game Journey / Dream of the Mist

While frantically trying to come up with an excuse, Zhou Ke'er casually drew out the meager amount of spiritual energy in her body and circulated it around her body without much hope. After all, this spiritual energy seemed to contain some kind of evil energy, and ghosts and monsters were ultimately just evil things. Who knows, they might mistake this aura for Zhou Ke'er's kind?

"Eight-foot-tall gentleman."

Sadako nodded slightly to the woman outside, then asked with a hint of doubt, "You said there are three humans here? I haven't seen them. Where are they hiding?"

"Hmm? It's these people around you... wait, no... did I misjudge them?"

As Hachi was casually answering Sadako's question, he suddenly paused, stunned for a moment, and frowned as he looked at Zhou Ke'er, saying with slight surprise, "This aura... although very weak, but... I see, no wonder I misjudged it at first. You're not a ghost from this city, are you? From outside?"

"!"

Zhou Ke'er hadn't expected that she could actually fool him with spiritual power, but... this guy actually knew about "outside"? Sure enough, her previous guess was correct. People or ghosts who were strong enough or whose importance in the plot reached a certain level knew about the existence outside this city!

"...What did you do?"

Honghe couldn't help but move closer to Zhou Ke'er, squinting and asking in a low voice—though she didn't finish her sentence, the unspoken message was clear: "What did you do that made the ghosts mistake you for one of their own kind?!"

Zhou Ke'er: "I didn't do anything..."

"Oh? So you're not in cahoots after all? Looks like I overestimated you. You can't possibly be with me based on that alone..."

Long Aotian could tell at a glance that Zhou Ke'er was not actually with the woman who suddenly appeared outside. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but on the surface he still looked confident and said.

But he still couldn't finish his sentence. This was the umpteenth time he had been interrupted. The eight-foot-tall creature outside the window spoke again: "Heh, but... do these ghosts from outside think they can interfere in our city? Aren't they taking us far too lightly? Using our previous ban on harming humans to act superior and bully others? It's really laughable... since when did inferior ghosts like you dare to linger in front of me?"

"???"

Zhou Ke'er was completely dumbfounded. What kind of nonsense was this guy spouting? It made her want to vomit. Was this the legendary eight-foot height? What was he even thinking?

"Wait...wait! Lord Hachikage, Mr. Joker isn't that kind of ghost! You've misunderstood..."

Sadako sensed something was wrong and quickly tried to explain for Zhou Ke'er, but the latter completely ignored her explanations, licking her lips and smiling seductively yet coldly, "In that case, let's eat them together with these two humans. I haven't tasted a ghost yet, especially one from outside..."

"grass!"

Zhou Ke'er's eye twitched involuntarily. She cursed inwardly, "It seems that talking back is not going to work now. There's only one word... Run!"

"Sadako, don't worry about me, just leave quickly, lest you get caught up in this guy's indiscriminate attacks. I... have my own way!"

Zhou Ke'er gritted her teeth and gestured for Sadako to go first—no matter what, taking Sadako with her was too risky. Although she still believed in Zhou Ke'er's identity, after she realized this and thought about it carefully, why was the red crane next to Zhou Ke'er actually human? And why did Hachiko initially "mistake" Zhou Ke'er for a human? Did that mean he was actually just disguised as a ghost?

These are all very possible scenarios, and Zhou Ke'er dares not gamble on them.

Moreover, with Sadako around, there are some things that can't be done openly... for example... teaming up with Long Aotian.

## Chapter 257, Section 252: Strange and Unusual (Sixty-One)

"Well... alright, Mr. Joker... if this is your decision, I will definitely find a way to save you!"

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, Sadako's eyes revealed a struggle. She gritted her teeth and hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding in agreement. Then, she vanished from the spot in an instant.

"...Hey, I have a feeling that guy has a crush on you?"

Honghe squinted and leaned close to Zhou Ke'er, whispering something.

"That depends on whether it's a verb or something else."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Ba Chi, who was still standing outside the window, even though he was saying he would kill Zhou Ke'er and the others. Well, how could someone as big as her possibly squeeze through the window? Unless she forcibly demolished the wall, how could she possibly get in?

"Heh, so it seems even you ghosts and monsters can fight amongst yourselves? This situation isn't good for you now, is it?"

Seeing this, Long Aotian couldn't help but smirk. "This is the consequence of not being fully prepared before doing something! Not everyone is as foolproof as me! These mere ghosts and monsters are nothing special!"

"Alright, alright, stop babbling... This situation is just as bad for you. That guy wants to kill us and you together, not just us."

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips, looking at Long Aotian's arrogant appearance, she couldn't help but wonder if he needed to be checked out at a mental hospital. "Now that things have come to this, I'll ask you one question... Cooperation, are you in or not?"

"Cooperate? You want me to cooperate with you? Are you kidding me? Of course I'd..."

Long Aotian revealed his standard villainous mocking face, but what he said was completely different: "Of course I agree! You are outsiders, and you are being targeted by the ghosts of this city. My side has no grudge against you. We only attacked you because we thought you were also ghosts of this city... So we have no conflict of interest. Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend... Isn't it only natural for us to cooperate!"

"Hey, you're actually a bit smarter than I thought. I always thought you were some kind of special species who thought with your nose, but I underestimated you. It seems you do occasionally think with your butt after all."

Zhou Ke'er nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

However, Long Aotian forgot to mention one thing... that Zhou Ke'er's goal wasn't just these ghosts and monsters, but also... the brainwashed ghosts and monsters in that organization. Those were the main targets for scoring points, and Long Aotian probably had that in mind too. That's why he didn't send that group of ghosts to their deaths this time, but instead sent a clone of himself...

If Zhou Ke'er wasn't mistaken, Long Aotian probably wanted to use the ghosts in the organization to help him capture other ghosts and kill them, so that he could personally take care of all the ghosts in the organization when the module was about to end, squeeze all their value out of them, and rack up a huge score.

"Hmph, being sharp-tongued doesn't guarantee your safety and survival."

Long Aotian frowned. "Instead of wasting time on such words, you should be thinking carefully about how to deal with this situation... Wait a minute, can't you teleport instantly using electronic devices? What are you standing there for? Move!"

"...Sorry, I take back what I said earlier. It seems you can't even think straight."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Long Aotian, "Didn't you see how Sadako left just now? That wasn't my ability, it was hers. Are you stupid?"

"...I don't think with my nostrils either...or rather, who can think with their nostrils anyway?"

Honghe, however, couldn't help but mutter a complaint under her breath.

"Then why did you let her leave?"

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, Long Aotian's face contorted with rage for a moment, his confident expression cracking slightly. "Why didn't you let her take us away just now? You could have left so easily, why did you stay here and confront this guy? What are you thinking? You truly are a foolish monster!"

"You foolish, arrogant dragon, do you even know this principle...? If I let her leave now, we might have a chance to escape. If I don't let her leave, we have no chance of escaping..."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Ba Chi, who remained motionless, staring at them without uttering a word. She gave him a perfunctory reply, but her doubts deepened—what was that guy waiting for? Or was this just a smokescreen, and he was actually already heading their way? Or was it a game of cat and mouse? Knowing she couldn't get in, was he using this psychological tactic to lure Zhou Ke'er and the others out, hoping they would fall into her hands?

It's hard to say... but judging from her described strength, she shouldn't need to resort to any tricks or schemes. If she just charged in headfirst, even disregarding everything and tearing down walls with her bare hands, Zhou Ke'er and the others would have no choice but to flee in disarray.

Actually... Zhou Ke'er originally wanted to try using the ring to switch places with the eight-foot-tall woman outside, so she could escape and also trick Long Aotian. But the problems were... first, Honghe was still in the room; second, she didn't have much stamina left, and if she switched places, she might fall from the second floor and die instantly; third... who knew if the height of this floor could fit an eight-foot-tall woman...

"why is that?"

Before Long Aotian could even ask, Honghe, displaying her admirable character of asking questions without hesitation, spoke up to Zhou Ke'er.

"I've seen this kind of thing many times. All I can say is that those who know, know; and those who don't, I won't explain further. After all, it's enough for you to know. Think about it carefully. Don't ask me what happened. The interests involved are too great, and it wouldn't benefit either of us to say anything. Just pretend you don't know. All I can say is that this is a very deep issue, involving many things. It's difficult for you to find out the details yourselves, so I can only say that those who know, know."

Zhou Ke'er recklessly walked to the window and tried to reach out and touch the eight-foot ring. In fact, she had already secretly pointed the ring at Long Aotian, and would switch places if anything seemed amiss. At the same time, she casually made up an excuse.

"What are you talking about? You know everything? What do you know?"

With dead fish eyes, Honghe asked in a very displeased tone.

"Sigh, these kinds of things, those who don't understand will never understand. The key is that those who do understand do so through their own enlightenment, and you might not even realize you don't understand. It's just that sometimes, some people pretend to understand things they don't, thinking that others don't understand either. In reality, they are the ones who don't understand, while others understand more than they need to, and their understanding goes beyond that scope. But some people who don't understand make it impossible for those who do understand to teach them anything. So, those who don't understand will never understand, and can only pretend to understand. When others say they understand, they just need to nod in agreement."

Zhou Ke'er spoke rapidly and casually, "Do you understand now?"

"I understand you! Speak like a human being!"

The flamingo's eyes dimmed rapidly, as if carbon dioxide had been injected into clear limewater, giving off an eerie glow.

"I understand!"

Just then, Long Aotian suddenly spoke up.

"??"

Zhou Ke'er was stunned when she heard this—what did he understand?

## Chapter 258, Section 253: Strange and Unusual (Sixty-two)

"If you understand, then you understand. I don't care whether you understand or not, and I don't want to know what you understand... What I want to ask is, from the very beginning you swore that you would never fight a battle unprepared, so now... where is your backup plan? Why don't you use it quickly?"

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes and walked to the window, less than a meter away from Long Aotian. She stared at him with wide eyes and asked without turning her head.

Just then, the previously frozen and inactive Eight Feet suddenly moved without warning. With lightning speed, she reached out and grabbed at Zhou Ke'er.

Although the speed was indeed very fast, Zhou Ke'er had been on guard against it all along. As soon as her arm moved slightly, Zhou Ke'er had already activated the ring's special effect—ah, don't get the wrong idea, of course it wasn't to switch Long Aotian. After all, the cooperation had only just begun, and they hadn't yet extracted any value from Long Aotian, so how could they tear off the mask so quickly?

Zhou Ke'er had simply switched places with the television next to her. Sure enough, as soon as she switched positions, Zhou Ke'er heard a loud bang as something was smashed.

However, Zhou Ke'er, temporarily out of danger, didn't hesitate. While observing Hachiko's next move, she quickly searched her memory for information about the Old Era. As one of the most famous urban legends in Old Era Japan, Zhou Ke'er had naturally heard of Hachiko, but... she had only heard of her vaguely. Unlike the well-known Sadako or Kayako, Hachiko wasn't that famous, and a significant source of her fame was the manga/anime series "Hachiko's Eight-Story Happy Tour"...

After searching through her memories, Zhou Ke'er could only barely come to the following conclusion: The Eight-Foot Woman was originally an ancient deity or creature worshipped by primitive people during the Jomon period. Primitive people using stone tools would sacrifice young boys to avoid disasters, so from that era onwards, the Eight-Foot Woman was a terrifying being that ate young boys. Later, the practice of sacrificing young boys was gradually abolished and replaced by other creatures. However, the Eight-Foot Woman's tastes had already been formed. Unable to obtain young boys for sacrifice, she began to hunt for prey herself and used special methods to conceal her enormous body.

So, from its origins, this guy was a deity who had been worshipped. No wonder he gives off a feeling of mixed evil and divinity. But he was a deity after all, and the fact that he could become addicted to eating people is just amazing.

But here's the problem... In Zhou Ke'er's memory, there were no legends explaining what the eight-foot-tall woman's special abilities were. The only strange thing was that she had an irresistible, inexplicable attraction to boys, thus luring them into her trap...

Aside from that, she doesn't seem to have any special abilities? In comparison, Zhou Ke'er even felt that if that was all there was to it, then Sadako or Kayako might be even stronger?

"A backup plan? Although using it now seems a bit wasteful, well... let me show you the power of technology!"

Long Aotian reacted, looking at the eight-foot-tall woman who had suddenly attacked. Confirming that the one before him was not an illusion created through some means, he raised his head and answered. Then, he suddenly pulled out a small, magnet-like object from his pocket and threw it at the eight-foot-tall woman: "This is a transmitter specifically designed for ghosts and monsters. It emits ultra-high-frequency disruptive sound waves. Ghosts and monsters directly attacked by these sound waves will be instantly stunned! -- Oh right, I forgot you're still here. But this wasn't intentional; you requested it."

Well, it turns out that Long Aotian was planning to kill two birds with one stone, and the way he said it made it sound like he was deliberately trying to cover it up, like a bitch trying to pretend to be virtuous.

"Um...."

Zhou Ke'er scratched his head. Should he pretend to be dizzy for now? Otherwise, wouldn't that be too disrespectful?

But now that you mention it, who invented this kind of seemingly impressive but actually illogical black technology?! Zhou Ke'er definitely has to pay that guy a visit sometime; it's just too unscientific, practically metaphysics disguised as science...

"...What happened?!"

But before Zhou Ke'er could even decide on the most dramatic way to faint, Long Aotian exclaimed in shock as he looked at the unresponsive Ba Chi, "Impossible! Why isn't this guy reacting at all?! You guys are also... Could this be a fake?! No, I definitely tested it!"

Zhou Ke'er scratched his head. Hearing this, he inexplicably thought of the joke about trying out matches one by one to see if they could be lit.

"It's simple. Since we're not the ghosts or monsters of this city, it's normal that we're not affected by this trick."

The flamingo, who had been silently observing the situation from the beginning and hadn't said much, slowly spoke up: "As for Yasha... it's very simple, because she's not a ghost, but a god."

"Gods?! What nonsense are you spouting?"

Long Aotian was genuinely surprised. How did a god suddenly appear here?

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Honghe, surprised that Honghe also knew about this. This guy seemed to know just as much about the Old Era as she did... but according to her own account, she had never had any contact with or systematically studied the history of the Old Era...

And combined with the skill she just used...

Zhou Ke'er had a feeling that if Honghe continued like this, she might be possessed...

Hmm? Wait... why am I having this thought? Wait a minute... what happened to that skill? That Death Scythe? And the Underworld... I feel like I just heard about it recently, but I can't remember it right now!

That's impossible... Zhou Ke'er rarely forgets things she's heard recently, especially things that inexplicably give her a sense of importance...

(Note: I know some of you will definitely forget, so I'm reminding you that Ke'er's memories of the Underworld were erased by Reier in the previous module.)

"Ha, a god? He's nothing but a scoundrel addicted to eating young boys, who has long since degenerated into an evil creature, even using his own body to seduce others. Does he deserve to be called a god?"

Zhou Ke'er shook her head, temporarily banishing her chaotic thoughts and focusing her attention on the matter at hand, before speaking sarcastically.