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

Zhou Ke'er pointed to Shi An, who hadn't said much since then, and took the opportunity to shift the blame, saying, "This is the current emperor's son, Prince Shi An! As a prince of the country, he must know much more than we do. It's just a pity that I haven't had a chance to ask him yet. Now you can ask him."

This wasn't just a way of shifting blame; it was also a test—a probe to see if Shi An was an NPC or a player. Dio was undoubtedly a player, but Shi An was still debatable. If he was a player, his identity allowed him access to some secrets, making him a key figure; if he wasn't, some of the details and even his subconscious actions just now strongly suggested he was.

This made Zhou Ke'er feel a little conflicted, so she took this opportunity to test him.

"Whoa?!"

Upon hearing this news, not only was Song Yi somewhat surprised, but even Dio couldn't help but exclaim, "Whoa!" He continued, "I never expected there to be a prince here! He's actually hanging out with us commoners. Where are your guards? Didn't the dog emperor send anyone to protect you?"

"...But His Majesty only has one son?"

Just then, Song Yi seemed to realize something and looked at Shi An and Zhou Ke'er with a strange expression. He hesitated and said, "Moreover... the current Crown Prince is not named Shi An. Could this be some kind of palace secret? I have never heard of such a thing before."

"?"

Hearing this, Zhou Ke'er, who was originally full of confidence and waiting to see a good show, was also stunned for a moment and turned to look at Shi An in confusion.

However, before Shi An could answer, Zhou Ke'er seemed to realize something and suddenly remembered what Wu Yu had said when they met near the martial arts arena in the capital—Shi An seemed to be born out of wedlock, which meant he was like an illegitimate child? If that was the case, although the possibility was not very high, it was not impossible that his identity was hidden due to some special reason.

However... although Zhou Ke'er already had some guesses in his heart, it didn't stop him from remaining silent and waiting for Shi An's answer.

"Hmm...that's right. I've said it from the beginning: I'm not a prince, just an ordinary person..."

Shi An paused here, then replied with an innocent look, "Just an ordinary subordinate of the Prince of Zhenbei. I am merely a lowly servant under the Prince of Zhenbei, how dare I presume to claim that I am the son of the current emperor?"

Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Not long ago, this guy had just said that he wasn't one of the Prince of Zhenbei's men, and now he was going back on his word and spouting nonsense. This left Zhou Ke'er a little confused about which of his statements were true and which were false.

Ha, a man's mouth is a deceitful devil.

"Ha, what's the point of telling me this kind of lie? Or do you think I'd help you cover it up? From the moment I exposed your identity the moment I opened my mouth, you should have realized it was impossible, right?"

Zhou Ke'er, with the face of a vicious supporting female character, crossed her arms and said unreasonably, "Just a short while ago, that prince was still entangled with you, calling you 'brother prince, brother prince,' and now you're already so eager to distance yourself? What an old scumbag!"

"Young lady, you've really misunderstood!"

Shi An looked helpless and explained, "I really don't know that prince. I suppose it's because of my appearance or some other reason that he mistook me for someone else!"

"But he said your name exactly."

Zhou Ke'er pointed out the flaws in Shi An's words incisively.

"..."

Shi An's expression darkened slightly for a moment, as if he was about to say something. Zhou Ke'er noticed Shi An's subtle expression and had already secretly prepared a spiritual needle in a hidden place. Just then, a violent explosion was heard from a distance, followed by a tremor in the ground.

"What's going on?! Has the earth dragon turned over?"

Song Yi nearly fell to the ground and exclaimed in surprise.

"An earthquake? No... no, it's not an earthquake, is it artillery fire?"

At the same time, Shi An's expression changed instantly, returning to the gentle look he had maintained before. He showed a slight look of doubt and spoke as if to himself.

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes slightly upon hearing this—the wording was problematic.

Song Yi subconsciously said "earth dragon turning over," which was indeed a special colloquial term for earthquakes in the ancient Celestial Dynasty of the old era. As for the word "earthquake," it is generally used in written form, such as some records about earthquakes in "In Search of the Supernatural," but it is at least not used in spoken language... However, Shi An immediately and very naturally said the word "earthquake."

While we can't be certain that Shi An is definitely up to something, considering the previous situation, the probability of him being problematic is quite high!

## Chapter 314, Section 309: The Grand Imperial Examination (Twenty-Four)

The words are divided into two parts.

Just a short time ago...

"Clang!"

The storyteller... oh, now we should call him Wei Mingquan.

He quickly caught up with Lengchitu and Zhang Buyan again, and with his right index and middle fingers together, he made a sword-like gesture, as if he was about to stab them. The air being torn apart by the sword-like gesture even made a buzzing sound.

At such a high speed, and with no means of stalling for time left, Cold-Eat Rabbit and Zhang Buyan had virtually no chance of dodging this attack.

"stop!"

Just then, knowing that he could no longer avoid it, Zhang Buyan suddenly turned around without warning, stood still, and looked directly at Wei Mingquan, shouting loudly without moving, "Spare him!"

"...?"

Wei Mingquan narrowed his eyes in confusion, and actually stopped what he was doing. His fingertip just touched Zhang Buyan's brow. If it had been any closer, Zhang Buyan's brains would have been splattered everywhere.

The atmosphere fell silent; for a moment, the place was completely still. For some reason, there were no pedestrians on the street, as if they had been evacuated.

"Are you teaching me what to do?"

After a moment of silence, Wei Mingquan finally spoke again. During this silence, he kept his hand still, not stopping, and continued to point his fingertips at Zhang Buyan's brow, so frightening that Zhang didn't dare to move or even swallow.

After all... who knows if Wei Mingquan would just smash Zhang Buyan's head open if he accidentally moved even slightly.

"No, no, I only wish to ask you a question before I die, a small and insignificant question..."

Zhang Buyan didn't dare shake his head, but immediately denied it.

"...oh?"

Wei Mingquan raised an eyebrow as if interested, then withdrew his hand. "Ask."

Zhang Buyan watched Wei Mingquan's reaction and subtly narrowed his eyes—you see, when Zhou Ke'er and Shi An were near the martial arts arena in the capital, Zhang Buyan had already secretly hidden nearby to spy on them, and Wei Mingquan's behavior then was completely different from now!

Back then, Wei Mingquan looked bloodthirsty and tyrannical, like he had gone mad with killing. Forget about communication and negotiation, looking at him like that... people would believe he had mishaped with his internal energy, suffered a qi deviation, and was about to die. But now... he seems to have regained his senses?

No... it's not just that he regained his senses, it's more like... he's almost become a completely different person, his personality has completely changed!

Could it be that if one goes mad with evil, another personality can emerge?

Although he was very puzzled by these questions, Zhang Buyan didn't have much time to let his mind wander, so he immediately replied, "Senior...why did you want to kill me? I have no grudge against you, and we've never had any dealings before. If I offended you by blocking your way, then I apologize a thousand times over. Senior has your own things to do, so why bother with such a small fry like me?"

Cold-cooked Rabbit shrank behind Zhang Buyan, trying to minimize her presence—it would be a miracle if she could even fight against someone of this caliber, let alone escape. For now, she could only pretend to be invisible. Maybe she would have a chance to run away once they all forgot about her?

Unfortunately, her little wish was not fulfilled.

"The answer is simple. This matter has nothing to do with you, but you insist on following someone who is doomed to die. What can I do? I can only treat it as crushing an ant on the side."

Wei Mingquan put on a helpless expression, but his tone was anything but helpless; instead, it was chillingly cold.

"A person who's definitely going to die?! I'm not..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Buyan instinctively wanted to retort, but quickly realized that something seemed amiss. He immediately turned around with slight shock to look at Lengchitu hiding behind him: "You... what is your identity? What have you done?"

"How would I know! I didn't do anything! I don't even know this old man, how would I know why he would want to kill me... No, he definitely didn't come to kill me, don't get me wrong!"

Cold-cooked Rabbit immediately launched into a triple denial: "I didn't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!" and shook its head repeatedly.

"Ha... The eldest daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei dares to openly show her face in the capital, especially... she actually dares to appear in front of me. Does she really think I don't know her? Does she really think I don't dare to provoke the Prince of Zhenbei!"

Wei Mingquan snorted coldly and immediately revealed Lengchitu's random identity in this module. His eyes narrowed slightly, "There are still a bunch of old scores to settle with the Prince of Zhenbei. Today, I'll collect the interest from you first!"

"Hey! What does this have to do with me? I don't even know you. There's a reason for this!"

Cold-cooked rabbit was almost in tears; this unexpected surprise was something she hadn't anticipated at all.

But... to make an innocent scapegoat is one thing, but at least since she's the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei, why doesn't she have a single guard on the street?! Where are all her protectors?! Are they really that careless about the security situation in the capital?!

"drink!"

However, Wei Mingquan completely ignored her and directly stabbed at the cold-cooked rabbit with an astonishing speed.

"Help me!!!"

The cold-cooked rabbit had no time to dodge and could only scream for help at the top of its lungs.

Zhang Buyan couldn't save her now either. After all, he had only helped her because he felt that this guy seemed to have a strange identity, different from the other ordinary people passing by. He hadn't gone so far as to sacrifice himself for her, so there was nothing he could do.

He wouldn't just stand by and watch the cold-cooked rabbit get killed; he would close his eyes.

"Clang!"

Just then, a hand unexpectedly appeared in front of Lengchitu, colliding fiercely with Wei Mingquan's thrusting sword finger, producing a loud clanging sound.

"His Majesty said that if you seek revenge, you can do whatever you want to others, as long as you can kill them. But you cannot touch the people of the Prince of Zhenbei."

A soft, feminine voice rang out in front of Lengchitu. Lengchitu and Zhang Buyan opened their eyes and looked over. They saw a person dressed like a eunuch in the palace, with a face as white as if powdered. However, he looked quite young and could be described as having a feminine beauty.

"Who goes there?!"

Wei Mingquan's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately asked.

"Li Yu, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial."

The visitor lightly dusted himself off and replied.

"...Hmph, a mere dead eunuch...I'm going to kill her today, and even the Jade Emperor himself can't save her, I said it!"

Wei Mingquan frowned, his face contorted with rage, and a hint of crimson appeared in his pupils as he roared with a touch of fury.

"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! His Majesty has decreed that even the King of Hell himself cannot take her away today! She's nothing but a pawn; does she really think she's someone important?!"

Li Yu frowned slightly and said sarcastically.

## Chapter 315 310. The Grand Imperial Examination in the Capital (Twenty-Five)

"Today I am going to kill her. Do you think a mere dead eunuch like you can stop me?"

Wei Mingquan snorted coldly, but despite his sarcastic words, he did not let his guard down. Instead, he drew the short sword that he had been carrying at his waist but had never drawn, took a deep breath, twirled the sword, and then thrust it fiercely at Li Yu.

"Do you really think you'll have no worries after mastering your technique? You're so narrow-minded... Wei Mingquan, the Dragon Spring Sword user who has no idea what's going on, is still in the hands of the Prince of Yan's guards!"

Li Yu narrowed his eyes, his tone cold and threatening. At the same time, his right index and middle fingers twitched slightly, and several nearly transparent, seemingly soft yet strong, unidentified threads shot out from under his fingernails with lightning speed, striking Wei Mingquan's short sword. They then spun around several times, tightly binding the tip of the short sword.

"What on earth has your court gone mad! You can't possibly not know that the Prince of Zhenbei has brought a large army to attack the capital this time! The Jingnan Rebellion, the Jingnan Rebellion, how could you not know what such a familiar situation means?!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Mingquan's pupils contracted slightly. His right hand suddenly trembled at an uncanny angle, forcefully shaking off Li Yu's thin threads. He then casually reversed his grip and lunged at Li Yu with his sword, while simultaneously changing his words, saying, "Isn't it to your advantage that I'm attacking the Prince of Zhenbei's men? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Why is your court... no, why is His Majesty protecting the Prince of Zhenbei?!"

"Wrong! Utterly wrong! First of all, who said that what you did would benefit our court? If you say that it's understandable to take action against the other subordinates of the Prince of Zhenbei, then taking action against the Prince of Zhenbei's eldest daughter... Hmph, you've really done a great favor by escalating the conflict!"

Li Yu curled his lip in disdain, his right hand slightly hooking back, the thin thread instantly retracting between his fingers. After a brief pause, he flicked his fingers again, and several more thin threads shot out, tightly binding Wei Mingquan's sword, preventing him from advancing an inch. "Secondly..."

As he spoke, Li Yu glanced at the silent Cold-Eating Rabbit hiding to the side, "Do you think that without His Majesty's tacit approval and secret care, the Prince of Zhenbei could have led his troops all the way here? That's just wishful thinking!"

"How could that be! How could the emperor possibly allow a treacherous minister who plots to usurp the throne to lead a large army to approach the capital!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Mingquan couldn't help but ask in surprise, his voice trembling for a moment, and even the movement of his hands paused for a second.

"You're not qualified to know."