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

Chen Tian walked forward with a puzzled look and looked out the window. He saw many people on the street outside, their faces filled with fear, their bodies covered in wounds of varying sizes or blood, fleeing in panic, while all sorts of strange and grotesque ghosts were chasing after them.

Screams, screams, and howls of ghosts mingled together, creating a chaotic scene that made the whole street seem like the end of the world.

"...I see, I think I understand now."

Chen Tian drew the curtains again to prevent the ghosts outside from discovering them. "So, it seems Zhijiansha and the others are in real danger... If it's just one ghost, they can handle it once the Cold Rabbit weapon's cooldown is over. Even if it's not, they can at least escape. But if there are so many ghosts... then they'll have no choice but to flee..."

"That's right, almost every place outside is now filled with ghosts and monsters; you could say we're trapped here..."

Holding the scythe of the half-dead necromancer, Zhang He deftly cut several clean strips of cloth of suitable length and shape. While bandaging himself with both his hands and mouth, he said, "I wonder how Zhou Ke'er and Hong He are doing. Hmm... never mind, there's nothing to worry about them. With Zhou Ke'er around, she definitely won't go to any dangerous places. She's probably plotting something against someone in some dark corner... um, let's not talk about ghosts. Anyway, what should we do now? We can't just stay here, can we?"

"...How about this?"

Chen Tian pondered for a moment, then said, "Now that this city is already full of ghosts and monsters, it doesn't matter where we go... But they have already divided it into areas, including this city! Let's try to see if we can get out of the city!"

If possible, we can slowly hunt lone monsters near the exit. Even if we're outmatched, we can quickly escape outside the city, where they can't harm us. If we can't even leave the city... well, it's all the same inside the city, so it's not a loss.

"Um...."

Zhang He frowned and pondered for a moment, thinking to himself, "But... this is based on the premise that ghosts and monsters cannot leave the city, and even if they can leave, they cannot harm people outside the city..."

Well, there's no other way.

Zhang He finished wrapping the cloth strips and nodded: "Okay, then I'll do as you say."

-----------------

Let's turn our attention back to Zhou Ke'er and the others...

Surprisingly, or rather... as expected, the guy with the highest damage output was actually the Red Crane.

Once her "Faceless One" is unleashed, she becomes like a humanoid Gundam, capable of slapping a monster away with a single blow—it's simply outrageous. I wonder how long she's been charging up this equipment.

However, while the Red Crane's powerful equipment is one factor, it also suggests... these demons seem far too weak. Even demons of the Slit-Mouthed Woman's caliber aren't this weak...

Zhou Ke'er kicked over a stiff, lifeless ghost, frowning as she thought to herself, "These ghosts are not only weak, but they also seem to be controlled, completely devoid of consciousness. Their only attacks are ordinary lunges, slaps, claws, and bites. They don't display any special abilities... And why do these ghosts all look so alike?"

Looking at the eight-foot-tall woman standing motionless beside the building not far away, and the endless stream of ghosts surging up as if they had been holding it in for a whole week and finally couldn't hold it in anymore, Zhou Ke'er felt that something was wrong.

Of course, even though these ghosts could be considered weak, compared to the endless stream of them, Zhou Ke'er's side, apart from the Red Crane's rampage like it was in a superhuman state, was in a truly precarious situation with Yi An, who had almost no close combat ability and was wielding a gun. Meanwhile, Long Aotian, who was hiding his Saya Descent ability but not using it, was barely holding on with just a bunch of strange and unusual gadgets he'd obtained from that so-called organization, and had to occasionally scatter into a swarm of bats to dodge attacks he couldn't avoid in time.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er pondered for a moment, a strange light flashing in her eyes. Then, she flashed behind Long Aotian, who had just transformed from a bat into human form, and kicked him hard before he could react.

Caught off guard, Long Aotian was struck hard and fell directly into the pile of ghosts and monsters.

"What are you doing?!"

Upon seeing Zhou Ke'er's actions, Yi An's expressionless face softened slightly, and she questioned her in shock.

"Wow, just as I expected... I knew you'd make a move on him. But the timing you chose is just too... perfect, isn't it?"

Honghe wasn't surprised at all by this situation. She slapped another ghost away and looked at Zhou Ke'er with narrowed eyes: "Although now is indeed a good time to take down Long Aotian, it's not a good time for us to get rid of him and then escape unscathed..."

"You've disappointed me so much, Flamingo... I thought you'd be able to tell."

Zhou Ke'er sighed, her expression saying, "My son, I'm very disappointed in you," and looked at Honghe, saying, "Don't you think these ghosts and monsters are really strange? They're like inferior products created by some kind of black technology. Seeing this scene, don't you think there's definitely something wrong with Long Aotian? And, most importantly, look at him now..."

Upon hearing this, Yi An and Hong He both subconsciously looked towards Long Aotian's direction, only to find that the ghosts and monsters in that area had automatically cleared a space, showing no intention of harming Long Aotian whatsoever.

"Hmph... As expected of the Joker, you actually saw through me."

Long Aotian stood up and dusted himself off. "But... based on this alone, you're so sure this is my conspiracy? You know... it was you who proposed the cooperation, and it was you who stayed instead of running away. No matter how you look at it, you're clearly the more likely suspect."

"Ah, no, actually..."

Zhou Ke'er shrugged, a mocking look on her face. "I'm not sure at all. I'm just bluffing you. Even if I'm wrong, I can still take you out. I won't lose anything anyway."

## Chapter 269, Section 264: Strange and Unusual (Seventy-Three)

"Ah... what a despicable and shameless thing to do, just like you!"

Long Aotian couldn't help but sigh after hearing Zhou Ke'er's shameless words.

"Thank you for the compliment, thank you for the compliment. However, I would be happier if you could replace the word 'despicable and shameless' with 'insidious and cunning'."

Zhou Ke'er solemnly agreed.

"No, no, no, your behavior is not cunning at all, it's just plain despicable and shameless."

Honghe whispered something to Zhou Ke'er from the side.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er glared at him: "Hey, hey, hey, whose side are you on anyway?!"

"middle."

"..."

"that..."

Just then, Yi An suddenly spoke up: "Your name is Long Aotian, right? Your only goal is these two ghosts, isn't it? You've seen it yourself, I have absolutely no connection with them, so how about letting me leave?"

"You chickened out so fast! I never thought someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you would betray the revolution!"

Zhou Ke'er stared wide-eyed at Yi An; this guy's cowardice was completely out of character for her!

"I'm sorry, that's not possible."

Long Aotian shook his head with a look of regret, "After all, judging from how Joker insisted on protecting you just now..."

"Ok?"

Honghe glanced at Zhou Ke'er with half-closed eyes.

"No! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er immediately retorted.

"...In short, the probability that you are secretly in cahoots with them is too high, so regardless of whether you really are or not, I cannot let such a potential threat leave."

Long Aotian ignored Zhou Ke'er and Honghe who were interrupting him and continued speaking to himself.

"Hey, Xiaotian, this is not right of you. I swear, this little girl Yi'an has absolutely no connection with us. Why don't you just let her go?"

Zhou Ke'er put on a righteous and stern look, first nodding to Yi An with an expression that said "I will speak up for you", and then trying to get closer to Long Aotian.

"Ok?"

Honghe glanced at Zhou Ke'er with half-closed eyes.

"Ah, that's right. This...Joker? Right? He's absolutely right. I have absolutely nothing to do with them, he's already admitted it himself, so you should believe him now, right?"

Yi An nodded gratefully to Zhou Ke'er, then turned to Long Aotian and said, "Now, can you let me leave?"

"...? Kid, are you really stupid or just pretending? Since he's said that, we can't let you leave now!"

Long Aotian looked speechlessly at Yi An, who seemed quite serious, and thought that this guy might actually be a little... oh no, a little bit of a natural airhead.

"...Why...?"

Although Yi'an remained expressionless, her tone was listless, conveying a sense of grievance.

"Well, it seems there's no use in me speaking up for you. Little Tiantian is determined to take us all out."

Zhou Ke'er feigned helplessness, but secretly rejoiced, and exclaimed, "Looks like you'll have to play the villain and run away with us ghosts."

"It's all because you spoke up for her that things turned out this way!"

Flamingo glared with dead fish eyes and added insult to injury.

"How could you say that! I meant well, Yi'an will understand, right?"

Zhou Ke'er looked aggrieved and asked Yi An.

"Yes. Although this is the outcome, I am still very grateful that you spoke up for me."

Yi An nodded in reply.

"See? See?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er turned her head and said to Honghe as if showing off.

"..."

The flamingo's dead fish eyes emanated a strong murderous aura.

"Hey, you guys seem to have absolutely no sense of crisis? Watch your step and breathe some air!"

Looking at Zhou Ke'er and the others who completely disregarded him, Long Aotian couldn't help but say something unpleasantly, and then ordered the ghosts to continue their attack.

"If these monsters were all like Sadako or Kayako... even at the level of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, we would definitely run away immediately, but... a nine-fold Aquarius? They really think they're something special?"

Zhou Ke'er's mocking words rang out, but before Long Aotian could retort, she vanished instantly, her sarcastic voice echoing from behind him, "No way, no way, no way? You didn't even notice me secretly adjusting your spatial coordinates? You really think you're so great?"

"laugh!"

At the same time, the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out. Before Long Aotian could even transform into a bat, he was stabbed squarely by Zhou Ke'er's spider leg.

"Um...uh..."

Long Aotian staggered forward two steps in disbelief before his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground—he had been on guard against Zhou Ke'er's move the whole time, so why... hadn't he reacted at all?! This is impossible!

"The pull from the underworld is released."

Just then, Red Crane spoke up, "You seem quite confused? Well then, I'll mercifully explain it to you. Back in that building, I already put a traction tag on you, a 0.5-second mental lapse, which is coming in handy now."

"That was a brilliant catch! You're amazing, we have such great teamwork!"

Zhou Ke'er gave Honghe a thumbs up.

"Ha, men."

The flamingo rolled its eyes.

"...To fail at this? Useless. We shouldn't have teamed up with that organization..."

The eight-foot-tall woman, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, finally couldn't help but speak up, but before she could finish, she was interrupted again.

"...cough cough...pfft..."

Long Aotian's heart was pierced through by a spider leg; even transforming into a bat wouldn't save him. It was a hopeless situation. However, he still had one last trump card...

"Saya...Saya's Song - Advanced - Saya Descends!"

Before he could finish speaking, a beam of light, emanating a repulsive aura, suddenly pierced through the dimly lit sky and struck Long Aotian.