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

The answer he received was a violent explosion—Zhou Ke'er's spiritual energy needles not only had an explosive effect, but also had a corrosive effect on objects contaminated by the splashed spiritual energy. Shi An, in his haste to dodge, could not possibly avoid it. He was immediately thrown off balance by the aftershocks of the explosion and slammed heavily against the wall with a dull thud.

"Cough cough..."

Hissing blue smoke rose from the areas on his body where the spiritual energy had splashed, indicating minor burns. However, Dio and Song Yi didn't dwell on it much, since they hadn't clearly seen Zhou Ke'er's movements and simply assumed she had used some kind of poisonous, explosive hidden weapon.

"Come on, get this straight, you were the one who pulled out the fire lance first!"

Seeing that Shi An was trying to shift the blame, Zhou Ke'er immediately retorted, "Do you expect me to wait until you've loaded your bullets and fired at me before I make a move? Are you out of your mind?"

Meanwhile, Dio, who had finally realized what was happening, didn't stand still. He immediately rushed forward, grabbed the fire tube that Shi An had thrown on the ground, and then staggered back several steps before letting out a sigh of relief: "Hmph... You actually pulled out such a powerful weapon from a mere piece of bread. It seems you really have something going on. You just wanted to hurt someone at the slightest disagreement... Hmph, what exactly is your purpose?!"

"Ahem...you...misunderstood..."

Shi An shook his head repeatedly, as if he wanted to explain something.

But Zhou Ke'er was naturally not going to give him that chance—in fact, the instant Zhou Ke'er made her move, she realized that she seemed to have misunderstood something, but... would he really stop because of that? No way!

"What do you mean 'we'? Ha, as expected, they've been lurking around us from the very beginning, they had a hidden purpose all along!"

Zhou Ke'er added fuel to the fire by interrupting Shi An's explanation.

To prevent Shi An from escaping or resisting, Dio immediately stepped forward and restrained the injured Shi An.

## Chapter 318, Section 313: The Grand Imperial Examination (Twenty-Eight)

"...No, that's not right. The problem isn't what my purpose is, but rather...what your purpose is!"

Shi An, who was being controlled by Dio, suddenly seemed to realize something. She barely managed to raise her head and looked at Zhou Ke'er, asking her word by word, "From the moment we heard the gunfire, you've been secretly... no, you've been openly targeting me, trying to divert everyone's attention from the gunfire to me, and you've been sowing discord... You're the one trying to weaken our mutual support and divert our attention! Shouldn't we be asking what your purpose is?"

"A relationship of mutual help? That's quite a noble way of putting it. You want to shift the blame, fine, but unfortunately, you're doing it in the wrong direction!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow, shamelessly... no, she explained righteously, "I need to find out your true identity and what you're hiding precisely to maintain our relationship. After all, we're just strangers who've met by chance. Why should we trust each other just because we say we'll help each other? That's impossible, isn't it? We can only achieve this mutual assistance if we have a limited understanding of each other—and you're the one who's been confusing things, giving false identities, and causing trouble! Stop trying to shift the blame onto me! Anyone with eyes can see who's really at fault!"

"That's true. Compared to that shelling that didn't really affect us much, the intelligence we need to exchange is much more important. And the basic requirement for exchanging intelligence is a minimum level of mutual trust, which is the crux of the problem."

Whether Dio genuinely agreed or not was unclear, but she certainly delivered a brilliant assist to Zhou Ke'er, saying in a serious tone, "So, it wasn't her who tried to divert attention, it was you! You're the one who wanted to use that fabricated cannon blast that has nothing to do with us to distract us from the most important issue of identity!"

"Cough cough..."

Shi An was speechless for a moment after being confronted by Zhou Ke'er and Dio, who were quick to launch into long-winded arguments at the drop of a hat. He had a lot to say in his head, but for some reason, he just couldn't say it, which made him very angry.

"Hmph, speechless now!"

Zhou Ke'er flicked her sleeve, forcing a righteous (not really) expression onto her seductive and shameless face—though she actually looked like a wicked female supporting character who had succeeded in her evil scheme—and sneered at Shi An, who was being held captive by Dio: "Since that's the case, we gave you a chance but you didn't cherish it. You refused to listen to reason and are now forced to drink the penalty cup. It seems that for our own safety, we have no choice but to get rid of you. This is all your own choice, so you can't blame us! Now, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you!"

"Help! Help! Help!"

Just then, a cry for help suddenly came from outside the room, and judging from the sound... it was clearly not from the street outside the courtyard or anywhere else, but right inside the courtyard!

"What's going on?! Is there someone else in this yard?"

Zhou Ke'er was startled by the sound and didn't have time to target the pitiful Shi An anymore. She quickly turned to Song Yi, who hadn't spoken until now, and asked, "And... she's still calling for help? Does she know we're still in this courtyard? Is she someone you know? Or... someone you've imprisoned here?"

"How could this be! How could I possibly do such a thing!"

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's questioning, Song Yi immediately shook his head and denied it, saying, "I would never commit such a heinous act as imprisoning someone! How can you slander me like this! Besides, no one ever comes into this courtyard normally, and I don't know anyone in the capital who would likely come here!"

At this point, Song Yi paused, then added, "Also... if it really is someone I know, how could they not know the way to this room? Since they got lost in the courtyard, they must be a stranger who wandered into the garden by mistake."

"Wandered into the garden by mistake? Ha... what a wonderful excuse. You wouldn't just wander into someone else's house for no reason, would you?"

Zhou Ke'er curled her lip and scoffed, "Forget it, I doubt you can explain it clearly anyway. Since that's the case... let's go and find out who this person is!"

"What should we do with this guy?"

Dio pointed to Shi An lying on the ground and asked Zhou Ke'er, licking his lips as he did so, "Should we let him go for now, or... finish him off? If we're going to finish him off, then how about I 'take care' of him? I'm getting a little thirsty..."

"Thirsty? Do you think you're a vampire? I don't recall any such legends from Rome... no, the Qin Dynasty."

Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow—although from the moment she heard this guy's name, and given her undisguised behavior, she was already certain that Dio was definitely related to vampires, she didn't know if it was a characteristic given by the background of this module, or a characteristic she, as a player, acquired outside of this module.

If it's outside of the module... this does remind him a bit of Long Aotian, who also activated the vampire character template. Could these two be related? Long Aotian's connections are truly... extensive.

However, she didn't react in any particular way when she saw Zhou Ke'er in human form, so it probably has nothing to do with Long Aotian, since Long Aotian has also seen Zhou Ke'er in human form.

"Hmm...you know about vampires too? But not by that name..."

Dio was taken aback for a moment, but then immediately burst into arrogant laughter: "I'm not some weak species, I'm... immortal, the strongest in the world..."

"Alright, alright, I got it, that's enough. Let's go see what's going on with that guy who suddenly appeared. As for Shi An... let's spare his life for now."

Zhou Ke'er knew immediately that Dio was about to say something meaningless, nonsensical, and childish, so she immediately interrupted him.

Dior didn't say anything more after hearing this, but just put on a regretful expression and muttered something under his breath.

"Alright, then... Little Song, lead the way!"

So Zhou Ke'er started gesturing and bossing around the seriously injured Song Yi in a huff, "Let us go and meet that guy who trespassed here!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Song Yi's eyelids twitched violently, but there was nothing he could do. The situation was beyond his control, and Zhou Ke'er had clearly seized the initiative. He had no choice but to swallow his anger and obey her orders.

## Chapter 319, Section 314: The Grand Imperial Examination (Twenty-Nine)

Before long, led by Song Yi, Zhou Ke'er and the others carefully approached the place where cries for help were coming from, passing through the winding courtyard paths.

only...

For some reason, the closer Zhou Ke'er got, the more familiar the cries for help sounded, as if they belonged to someone she knew.

"..."

However, regardless of the situation, Zhou Ke'er had already prepared to use a spiritual energy needle on the other party at any time.

"It should be just around this corner..."

Reaching a certain corner, Song Yi stopped and turned to remind Zhou Ke'er and the others.

Before he could finish speaking, a figure suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"!!!"

Zhou Ke'er almost instinctively threw a spiritual energy needle at the other party to smash their skull, but luckily she realized at the last moment that the newcomer was actually that guy, Cold-Eating Rabbit!

Now things are going to be much more difficult, and... once Lengchitu reveals that she knows Zhou Ke'er, everyone's suspicions will shift to Zhou Ke'er! After all... it's very suspicious that someone who knows Zhou Ke'er would suddenly appear here without warning!

We must distance ourselves from this!

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er hurriedly shouted, "Who goes there! How did you get in here?! What is your purpose here?!"

The subtext of these words is undoubtedly: "I don't know who you are, so you probably don't know who I am either, understand?!"

Unfortunately...

Cold-cooked rabbit said she knew nothing.

"No, no, no, don't do it! I'm the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei, you can't kill me! A very skilled eunuch sent me here! I don't know why he sent me here... Damn! I thought it was someone else, you scared me half to death! Zhou Ke'er, you're really incompetent..."

At first, Lengchitu was taken aback by Zhou Ke'er's sudden outburst and hurriedly spilled all the information like beans pouring from a bamboo tube. But halfway through, she suddenly recognized her... The person in front of her with the face of a vicious female supporting character and a seductive slut was none other than the humanized form of Zhou Ke'er that she had seen in another module before!

Zhou Ke'er... she actually scared even her?! She's really asking for trouble!

However, what she didn't know was that Zhou Ke'er was almost driven half to death by her quick wit and suspected that she was deliberately trying to mess with him.

"Zhou Ke'er? Who? Who else here is hiding their identity?! Oh right, she just said she's the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei, and the person here who's connected to the Prince of Zhenbei... Shi An! And you say you're not the traitor!"

But Zhou Ke'er reacted quickly and immediately shifted the blame, abruptly interrupting Leng Chi Tu's words and questioning the others—especially Shi An, who had been captured by Dio.

The subtext... no, it's no longer a subtext, it's an explicit message from Lengchitu: "I'm not Zhou Ke'er anymore, so you better watch your step and stop rigging me! I've already provided you with a scapegoat, just screw him over!"

"...She's obviously talking to you, isn't she?"

However, the others weren't stupid either. Dio looked at Zhou Ke'er with a suspicious expression and pointed at the cold-cooked rabbit.

"How could that be? I don't even know her."

Zhou Ke'er immediately denied it.

"Hey! You! Now you're saying you don't recognize me! You called me 'Sweetie' when you were useful, and now you're saying you don't know me? That's just too much! Sure enough, love can fade away, right!"

Cold-cooked Rabbit completely missed Zhou Ke'er's crazy hints and direct statements, and thought that Zhou Ke'er wanted to sever ties with her. She immediately looked at Zhou Ke'er with a wronged expression and said.

"??? Wake up! Girl, please have some self-respect! I have nothing to do with you, why are you trying to smear me!"

Zhou Ke'er was furious and immediately launched into a triple denial. Then, bracing herself for the suspicious looks of the others, she preemptively changed the subject, saying, "No, none of that matters! The most important question is! How did you get here, and how did you know there were people here?! What do you mean by that eunuch sending you?!"

"You're yelling at me?! You actually yelled at me?! I'm the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei! Believe me or not, I'll have my father arrest you and throw you in the dungeon!"

Cold-Eat Rabbit retorted, extremely annoyed, "And let me tell you a shocking secret: the Prince of Zhenbei is the current Emperor, and the current Emperor is the Prince of Zhenbei! So I am the current Emperor's son, and you'd better bow down to me immediately! Otherwise, I'll punish you for disrespect!"

"What the hell..."

Zhou Ke'er sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Had this cold-cooked rabbit suffered some kind of shock and gone mad?

However, before he could say anything, Dio had already made his move.

She casually tossed Shi An aside and then charged towards the cold-cooked rabbit. "Hey, I don't know what's going on, but since this guy has revealed his identity, and such an important one at that... it seems there's more to it than meets the eye. Should we arrest him first?"

"Hmm...you're right, I think so too! Let's arrest them first!"

Zhou Ke'er nodded in agreement. "That Cold-Cooked Rabbit really needs to be taught a lesson by society."

"Hey, hey, hey! Damn it, stop! What are you doing, hitting me?! I won't fight back, I won't lay a hand on you, I surrender, I surrender! Don't hit me! I'll tell you whatever you want me to say!"

Cold-cooked Rabbit was initially quite confident because Zhou Ke'er was there, but she was shocked when the blonde woman next to her suddenly rushed towards her. She quickly admitted defeat and surrendered.

"call out!"

Dior's hand stopped abruptly in front of Cold Rabbit's eyes. She looked at him with a "What the hell is this?" expression and repeated in confusion, "You surrender? You'll tell me everything?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I'm a law-abiding citizen! A very law-abiding citizen!"

Cold-cooked rabbit immediately nodded repeatedly.

Damn it! That guy Cold-Cooked Rabbit plagiarized his lines! Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but feel indignant.

"Then tell me how you found this place. Remember, give me a detailed account of how you got here!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er immediately asked first—Damn it, there was no way around it. He was afraid that if Dio directly asked Leng Chi Tu if she knew him, Zhou Ke'er, or what their relationship was, given Leng Chi Tu's brain capacity, which was no bigger than a booger, she would definitely expose everything! Then all his previous efforts would be wasted.

"Didn't I tell you? It was a eunuch who sent me here!"

Cold-Eating Rabbit could only glare at Zhou Ke'er and helplessly replied, "Just now I was being chased by some bastard with a gavel, and he almost killed me. Then a eunuch named Li Yu, who claimed to be sent by the emperor, suddenly appeared and saved me. After he chased that bastard away, he sent me here."