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

"Why do you say that? How can we..."

Shi An was about to deny it when Zhou Ke'er nodded seriously and solemnly, admitting, "That's right, Young Hero Shi and I are in cahoots. I'm a member of the Prince of Yan's Guard, and he's a member of the Prince of Zhenbei's Guard. We're both from the imperial court, so of course we're in cahoots. Is there any problem with that? Isn't this an established fact from the beginning?"

Shi An was taken aback upon hearing this, glancing at Zhou Ke'er with a hint of confusion. He didn't understand what was going on with this guy, but he did understand what he was saying. He knew that Zhou Ke'er was a member of the imperial court and now intended to join forces with him—although he didn't know why.

"What is your purpose in doing this?! Could it be that this is all just a conspiracy by your imperial court?!"

Huangfu Song suddenly revealed a shocked expression mixed with sudden realization. He staggered back a few steps, his voice trembling, and said in disbelief, "I understand, I understand! So that's how it is! All of this was just a play staged by the imperial court. This grand competition in the capital was a trap, a conspiracy! The Prince of Zhenbei's army is pressing in, not as a rebellion, but to destroy the entire martial arts world! Those unscrupulous demonic sect members have probably already surrendered to your court, and for those in the martial arts world who, like me, know a little about this, they devised a scheme to deceive them, waiting for the right moment to eliminate them one by one... Truly a brilliant tactic!"

"Ah, my friend, you're really overthinking things. No matter how much you want to destroy the martial arts world, the Emperor won't allow the Prince of Zhenbei to bring a large army to invade... What on earth are you thinking?"

Zhou Ke'er looked Huangfu Song up and down with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, extremely glad she hadn't agreed to his proposal and started cooperating with him. What a rip-off it would be to cooperate with a fool! Hmm, but isn't this a situation where it's relatively easy to fool the other person...?

“That’s right. The proper order of ruler and subject, father and son is paramount. Even though the Prince of Zhenbei is a member of the royal family, he would never do something so outrageous, and His Majesty would never allow it.”

Upon hearing this, Shi An nodded in agreement and said, "In the end, it's just that you're overthinking things. I have no intention of plotting against you. I just heard that you seem to have a lot of opinions about the Prince of Zhenbei, so I came to explain."

"That's right, no matter what, I'm a member of the Prince of Yan's Guard, a member of the imperial court! You still want to make a deal with me using false information that is detrimental to the Prince of Zhenbei... Could it be that you not only want to get something for nothing, but also want to sow discord and divide the court?"

Zhou Ke'er crossed her arms, looking like she was saying "it's all your fault," and spoke righteously, while also putting a big accusation on Huangfu Song.

## Chapter 305 300. The Grand Imperial Examination (Fifteen)

"Why are you slandering me, young lady?! I have done everything I could to be kind to you. You may not remember my kindness, but why repay kindness with enmity?!"

Huangfu Song was so angry that his blood almost boiled. He took two steps back with a gloomy expression and looked at Zhou Ke'er, who looked aggrieved, and questioned her.

“I haven’t even said that you saved me just now because you were actually acting with that woman. That would be slander, wouldn’t it? All of the previous ones were reasonable speculations—just like you using those rumors you got from who-knows-where, without verifying their truth or falsehood, to deceive us with your own guesses. Isn’t that the same as you? I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine.”

Zhou Ke'er looked completely innocent and replied in a leisurely tone as if to say, "I'm doing this for your own good."

"Hahaha, what a great saying, 'an eye for an eye,' I love it! Now I'm actually a little reluctant to kill you."

Just then, a figure gracefully descended from mid-air in the distance. Accompanied by the woman's laughter, she lightly touched the eaves with her toes and stood on the roof, looking down at Zhou Ke'er.

"Depend on!"

Seeing this, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but curse inwardly. Huangfu Song really chose a good hiding place. Not only could the Prince of Zhenbei's men come to their door, but even that woman just now followed them so easily... Was he doing this on purpose?

"May I ask you a question, young lady... why must you kill me?! We have no grudge against each other, why bother? Isn't your enemy Huangfu Song? What does he have to do with me?"

Zhou Ke'er looked at the woman who was relentlessly pursuing her with great displeasure, and sold Huangfu Song without hesitation.

"?!"

Huangfu Song was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Zhou Ke'er in disbelief again. He really didn't expect that Zhou Ke'er could say such shameless things. How could there be such nonsense in the world?

"?"

Even the woman was taken aback by Zhou Ke'er's words, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Eh? What you said... seems to make some sense? That's true, there's no point in me killing you, it's better to kill him first, that makes sense."

Shi An, standing to the side, was confused about the situation. He scratched his head and whispered, "Since it seems you gentlemen have some private matters to attend to, I won't disturb you any longer and will take my leave now..."

"Yes, yes, yes, your private affairs as martial arts practitioners have nothing to do with our imperial court. You can handle it yourselves, we won't bother you anymore."

Before Shi An could finish speaking, Zhou Ke'er chuckled and continued, conveniently absolving herself of any responsibility. As she spoke, she dashed to Shi An's side, looking quite serious.

"Huh?"

Shi An tilted her head and stared blankly at Zhou Ke'er, who was talking to herself.

"You...you...I..."

Huangfu Song was so angry at Zhou Ke'er's state that he couldn't even speak properly. In all his years of wandering the martial world, he had never encountered such a despicable person. Although this woman couldn't possibly stop him, at most causing him some minor injuries, and logically, escaping alone would be much easier than protecting Zhou Ke'er... But this situation was just incredibly frustrating!

"Stop with the 'you' and 'me' stuff. Weren't you speaking so fluently just now? Why are you stuttering now? Oh, I know, it must be because I'm interrupting your performance, right? I understand, I'll get lost, I'll crawl away, I'm the best at crawling!"

Seeing Huangfu Song speechless, Zhou Ke'er pretended to suddenly understand, then quickly grabbed Shi An and ran away—mainly because Zhou Ke'er really didn't want to get involved anymore. These two guys were really strong. If that woman suddenly had a brain fart and gave Zhou Ke'er a needle, or if Huangfu Song lost his mind because of Zhou Ke'er and insisted on killing him after the crisis was over, he really couldn't withstand it. So he had to take advantage of their confrontation to draw hatred and leave quickly.

As for Shi An, it's unclear whether he genuinely didn't understand the situation or was pretending not to. In any case, he was completely bewildered and didn't struggle at all, even though Zhou Ke'er was dragging him along.

Where are you taking me?

Moreover, he leisurely asked Zhou Ke'er a question while being dragged along.

"You're asking me? Who should I ask?"

Zhou Ke'er replied matter-of-factly, "Of course I don't know! I don't even know the way. You should be the one leading me!"

"But I don't know where you want to go."

Surprisingly, Shi An didn't criticize Zhou Ke'er's illogical reasoning. Instead, he continued to ask questions with a puzzled look, as if he had completely missed the point.

"I need to go into an ancient tomb. Can you take me in?"

Zhou Ke'er retorted in a very argumentative manner.

"...Can."

Shi An seemed oblivious to Zhou Ke'er's sarcasm. After pondering for a while, he actually nodded with a serious expression and asked Zhou Ke'er for confirmation: "It's that ancient tomb complex in the capital, right? I can take you in."

"???"

Zhou Ke'er gave her the look of an old man on the subway looking at his phone, "Aren't you one of the Prince of Zhenbei's men?"

"no."

Shi An blinked and shook his head without any remorse, as if he wasn't the one who had just been saying he was a subordinate of the Prince of Zhenbei.

"Then you're not a member of the imperial court?"

Zhou Ke'er was shocked. There were actually people as shameless as him. She immediately pressed for more information.

"I am a member of the imperial court."

Shi An still maintained a gentle demeanor, speaking at the same pace as when he first appeared, patiently explaining things to Zhou Ke'er.

"???"

This confused Zhou Ke'er. "So you're not one of the Prince of Zhenbei's men, but you're one of the imperial court's men... You're not wearing a uniform or carrying a token, so you're probably not one of the Prince of Yan's guards either... And judging from what you're saying, you can bring people into the ancient tomb at will, so who are you? Some kind of imperial secret agent?"

"No, they're just ordinary members of the royal family."

Shi An shook his head and calmly said something that made Zhou Ke'er utterly astonished.

"Just an ordinary member of the royal family?"

Zhou Ke'er tilted her head, then suddenly and without warning pointed to the oil-paper umbrella in Shi An's hand, abruptly changing the subject and asking, "Is this an umbrella sword?"

"correct."

Shi An nodded, and even reached into the umbrella handle to pull out the slender sword and show it to Zhou Ke'er.

"What's wrong with this guy?!"

Zhou Ke'er felt that when she communicated with Shi An, it was like punching cotton; no matter what she did, she couldn't exert any force, which was very uncomfortable.

However... since this guy has this kind of personality, then Zhou Ke'er doesn't need to resort to such petty tricks. It seems that all she needs to do is ask him for help shamelessly and confidently. Even if she doesn't give a reason or offer any reward, Shi An doesn't seem to refuse.

Wow, what a great utility character! Is this the kind of perk we give to players? I love it!

Zhou Ke'er looked at Shi An and made no attempt to hide her fox-like expression.

## Chapter 306, Section 301: The Grand Imperial Examination (Sixteen)

"Oh? In that case... I've suddenly become curious and want to ask you..."

Zhou Ke'er tilted her head, her face full of curiosity, and asked Shi An, "Although it might be a bit offensive, but... what exactly is your purpose? Why are you helping me? Just now, it seemed like it had nothing to do with you, but you got involved yourself... Don't you have anything to do of your own?"

"Well..."

Shi An was slightly puzzled upon hearing this, and asked gently, "Why should I help you? But...didn't you ask me to help you? However, I really don't have anything to do for the time being."

"You'll help me just because I ask you to?"

Zhou Ke'er tiptoed closer to Shi An, blinked, and asked, "Do you... secretly like me?"

"Um..."

Shi An blinked innocently, took two steps back without making a sound, and pretended to have thought about it before replying, "I have considered this matter in depth, but unfortunately, it seems that I have no improper thoughts about you, young lady."

"Okay, okay, I'm so incredibly grateful to you, Mr. Shi, who doesn't like me but has been helping me all along!

Zhou Ke'er also took two steps back at the same time, and looked at Shi An with a playful smile, teasingly saying, "But since you're so sure, you must stick to it to the end, don't suddenly fall in love with me."

"Well..."

Shi An finally couldn't help but show an indescribable expression under Zhou Ke'er's shameless remarks, frowning slightly: "Please rest assured, young lady..."

Before they could finish speaking, a horse's neighing suddenly rang out without warning. Then, a carriage came to a stop right in front of Zhou Ke'er and Shi An, the horse pulling the carriage raising its hooves high and neighing loudly.

"I wondered what you were up to by sneaking out of the palace, my brother. I thought you were going to the capital to join in the excitement of the imperial examinations, but it turns out you were having a secret rendezvous with this young lady! If Father finds out, things won't be good, will they?"

A young man dressed in a python robe lifted the carriage curtain, leaned out, and looked at Shi An with a hint of smugness and mockery on his face. He spoke to Shi An in a sarcastic tone.

This guy... seems to be the one sitting in the carriage from the opening animation. I don't know how he ended up here. Could he have been following Shi An? But... Zhou Ke'er really didn't expect that Shi An was actually the current emperor's son? He just said he was just an ordinary member of the royal family, and this guy calls himself an ordinary member of the royal family?

Ah, men. A man's mouth is a deceitful devil.

As Zhou Ke'er thought this, she couldn't help but purse her lips and glance at Shi An.

To his surprise... Shi An looked slightly puzzled, his eyes revealing the expression one would give a stranger? It was as if... Shi An had never met this so-called imperial brother before? That didn't make sense.

No matter how bad the relationship is, the subconscious expression that would appear after meeting is at most disgust, mockery, or revulsion. How could it be like this...estrangement?

"May I ask who you are?"

Alright, now Zhou Ke'er didn't even need to speculate anymore. Shi An bowed slightly to the newcomer and asked directly.

"you?!"

The newcomer was taken aback upon hearing this, then pointed at Shi An for a long while with a furious laugh, "You... you're still pretending not to know me?! Am I really that unpopular with you?"

Hearing this, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Huh? Judging from this guy's words, it didn't seem to be the typical story of a vicious older brother looking down on his younger brother and making things difficult for him. And for some reason, Zhou Ke'er had a... strange feeling about it. Could it be that this was actually a BL (Boys' Love) subplot?

No...

Shi An shook his head innocently, "But the problem is... so who exactly are you? How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?"

"Well, you've really grown up now, daring to say you don't recognize me... Fine, very well! If this is your choice, then I understand!"

The man snorted angrily, slammed down the carriage curtain, and muttered an order to the coachman, who had been silent and pretending not to hear anything: "To the martial arts arena for the grand competition in the capital!"

"Hey, do you want to go with him to that grand competition in the capital?"