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

"...Do you think this was an accidental incident, or was it an event deliberately 'created' to prevent us from coming down the mountain?"

Zhou Ke'er turned to look at the other two, a hint of displeasure in her eyes—if you're so capable, then try some underhanded tricks. Blocking off the road the moment something goes wrong, what's the difference between you and those trashy KPs?

“I don’t think it matters. It’s just a landslide, and the debris isn’t very high. We can easily climb over it.”

Duan Shuiliu said confidently, seemingly determined to leave.

As soon as he finished speaking, the rumbling sound that had stopped started again, and then the landslide that had stopped began again, piling up another layer on top of the pile of rubble and mud that was blocking the road, almost as tall as a person.

"Good heavens, your words have become law!"

## Chapter 464, page 459: Strange Tales of a Deserted Village (Part Six)

"What is this?! How could such a thing happen?!"

Even Duan Shuiliu himself was completely baffled, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him.

"What...what do we do now? It looks like we can't go any further down this road...do we have to go back?"

With a look of panic on her face, Honghe asked in a very cold tone, forcing herself to stutter.

"It seems that this is the only way. Obviously, there are only two possibilities in this situation. The first is that it was completely accidental, and the landslide happened just as I said those words... But the possibility of that is too small."

Duan Shuiliu forced himself to calm down and reluctantly analyzed, "Then there's only the second possibility: every move we make is under the watchful eyes of some being... or some group of beings. And they don't want us to go down the mountain now, so they've used this almost direct, explicit method to stop us..."

So, it seems we have no choice but to do as they say and turn back.

"No... but I refuse! The thing I love most in my life is saying no to those guys who think they're in control!"

Zhou Ke'er snorted coldly and said in a serious tone, "I just cast a divination for myself, and it says this trip will be very auspicious. Don't worry, it's just a few rocks and soil about the height of a person. We can easily flip them over. Does that mean they're determined to stop us from going down the mountain? If that's the case, why don't they just cause a landslide and turn this mountain path into a cliff? That way, we definitely wouldn't be able to get through. Since it's not an absolutely insurmountable situation, it means they don't necessarily want to stop us."

As she spoke, ignoring the slightly increased sense of incongruity, Zhou Ke'er tried to climb over the pile of rubble blocking the road.

A faint rumbling sound emanated from the mountainside, as if it were roaring, seemingly angered by Zhou Ke'er's disobedient behavior, or perhaps trying to intimidate her and make her stop immediately.

But Zhou Ke'er wasn't afraid at all. Even if a mudslide really came crashing down, he could escape. Even if he were trapped inside, it wouldn't kill him. At most, it would just add a slight sense of incongruity due to the need to use evil magic.

However, although the mountain wall kept making a sound, it didn't actually fall down; it was just background music added to the scene of Zhou Ke'er crossing the obstacle.

In just two or three seconds, Zhou Ke'er, who was as light as a swallow, had already easily flipped over.

"Look, there's no obstruction at all, it's very safe. You guys come over quickly, we'll be coming down the mountain soon. It's getting darker and darker, and if this continues and night really falls, our situation will be very bad."

Zhou Ke'er called out to Duan Shuiliu and Honghe from the other side of the mound.

"Are you really okay? I'm still so scared!"

When Honghe's voice came, Zhou Ke'er thought she might have to say a few more words to persuade him for the sake of his character. But before she could finish speaking, Honghe had already flipped over very quickly.

Hmm, while saying how scared she was, she didn't hesitate to start doing it... Even if you're just going to do it half-heartedly, you should at least put in a little effort!

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er and Honghe had already gone over, the stream naturally had no reason to stay there any longer.

Glancing disdainfully at her clothes, which were completely soaked and covered in mud, Zhou Ke'er shifted her body unhappily and checked her character status panel.

So far, Zhou Ke'er's sense of incongruity has accumulated to 27 points. Although it doesn't seem like much, considering that this module has only just started... she seems to need to be careful with the remaining consumption balance.

The status bar already shows a series of debuffs such as "starving and freezing", but fortunately, Zhou Ke'er can alleviate these discomforts with the evil energy in her body, so these effects are negligible for her, but may have a greater impact on Duan Shuiliu and Honghe.

For example, with the flamingo, I hadn't noticed it before, but now, upon closer inspection, I can clearly see that her lips are already white from the cold, and her fingernails have turned an unnatural bluish-purple. If she continues to stay in this environment, she will likely enter a state of continuous energy depletion.

"Oh right, do you guys remember? We probably put all our suitcases in that car we just saw—although suitcases might not mean much to us now, but look... there are neither our suitcases nor that car on the road ahead..."

Duan Shuiliu took a few breaths, then pointed ahead and spoke somewhat incoherently.

"That's normal, right? After all, the drivers are paper figures, so the cars they drive are also very likely paper cars or something... The paper figures have all disappeared, so the paper cars have disappeared just like that."

As Zhou Ke'er spoke, she walked forward, "But that's not important right now. The most urgent thing is to get down the mountain as soon as possible. Although I think it's very likely that we won't be able to get down... we at least need to find a cave or something to take shelter from the rain. Otherwise, if this continues, our bodies definitely won't be able to take it."

"Waaah, I'm so scared! Are we going to die here? Why did this have to happen to us?"

Honghe feigned tears without any emotion.

Zhou Ke'er deliberately avoided exposing this, and even tried to comfort him... which only added to the awkwardness—because he's supposed to be an observant person! How could he not see through the fake crying?! Why does his teammate's terrible acting also make him feel awkward?!

"Wait, did you hear anything strange? There seem to be faint footsteps coming from ahead..."

Just then, Duan Shuiliu suddenly spoke up and quickly gestured for Zhou Ke'er and Honghe to hide with him.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide along the way. There was no grass at all, and there wasn't even a guardrail on the outer side.

"Goodness, they came way too fast! They should have at least waited a while before we left..."

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but mutter to himself, then gestured to Duan Shuiliu and Honghe to stay put. He then tiptoed forward a short distance—he had originally intended to walk along the mountain wall, which would help him conceal himself.

But the fear is that the mountain wall will collapse directly. It doesn't matter if it collapses or traps him, but the concern is that if he escapes after being trapped, the noise will be too loud and might be noticed by something coming this way.

Soon, Zhou Ke'er turned a corner and saw a large group of people walking towards her. They were all wearing white clothes, which were covered in mud, but there were no stains.

The group of people all had their heads down, holding something that looked like a lit candle, but it emitted an eerie green glow. The drizzling rain poured down on it, but didn't extinguish it, making it look incredibly strange.

A low chanting sound came from behind, just mumbling and babbling, it was unclear what it was saying.

## Chapter 465, Section 460: Strange Tales of a Deserted Village (Part 7)

Just then, the person at the front slowly raised his head, his pale face smeared with an unnatural blush, making him look like a cheap paper doll.

He looked up and stared straight in Zhou Ke'er's direction, then grinned, revealing a strange smile, and seemed to say a few words to Zhou Ke'er.

Because they were too far apart, and the guy was speaking too softly, Zhou Ke'er couldn't hear what he was saying at all. But this didn't stump Zhou Ke'er, he could barely read from the guy's lips that he seemed to be saying, "Come on, we're just waiting for you guys."

Zhou Ke'er stood there, watching the group approach. She stroked her chin, pondered for a moment, and then muttered to herself, "If my previous speculation was correct, they shouldn't have any ill intentions towards us. However, since it's just speculation, it can't be guaranteed to be true. Therefore, I must gather enough evidence to prove whether this is the case and see if my speculation is correct. And the best way to gather evidence is to go over there myself and verify whether they will attack me."

After saying that, Zhou Ke'er walked seriously toward the group of people.

A moment later, he walked up to the group and, with a very friendly demeanor, asked the leader, "What do you mean by 'we're still here'? What are you doing? What do you need our help with?"

The leader did not answer Zhou Ke'er's question, but instead handed her the still-burning candle.

Everyone else is giving gifts, so how could Zhou Ke'er not accept them? That's impossible.

Zhou Ke'er naturally took the candle as a matter of course, and then casually tossed it at the candle with a "Let me see" gesture.

(Note: You might not remember this, but it was a skill similar to Appraisal.)

【Name: The Candle of Guidance】

[Category: Quest Item]

[Special Effect: Sees through illusion, guiding the holder to a designated location.]

[Note: When the living wish to go to the underworld, the phosphorescent lights of the underworld will transform into a guiding light for them.]

Can the module be taken out of the country? No

When the man handed the candle to Zhou Ke'er, her pale robe, which was previously impervious to rain, was instantly covered in mud and water, leaving large patches of stains.

Finally, the person completely melted into the rainwater, fell to the ground, and turned into an inconspicuous puddle.

At the same time, Zhou Ke'er felt that the rain that had been dripping on her body had suddenly stopped. The candle flame in her hand, though it looked very cold, actually conveyed a warm feeling, removing much of the dampness and coldness from her body.

Zhou Ke'er thought for a moment, observing the group of white-robed men who had stopped because their leader had melted. After a brief pause, she continued speaking to herself, "It seems my prediction was correct. They pose no threat to us; on the contrary, they want to help us. Everything they've done so far should just be to protect us as we reach somewhere. Therefore, if I ask them for something, they should give it to me. Of course, this could be a wrong prediction. To prove it correct, I think I need to test it myself."

After finishing her long speech, Zhou Ke'er randomly picked someone and held out her hand, "Give me one more candle, oh no, give me two more candles. Who can give me their candle?"

They look completely shameless.

But everyone else remained unmoved, as if they hadn't heard Zhou Ke'er's words at all, standing motionless with their heads down.

"We can't pretend we didn't hear that. There's only one candle, which isn't enough for the three of us. We need to get two more, you should understand, right?"

Seeing that they didn't move, Zhou Ke'er made up some high-sounding excuses while reaching out to one of the white-robed men, trying to snatch the candle from his hand.

The person did not resist, but simply obediently let Zhou Ke'er take away the candle. Then, just like the first person, the candle gradually melted into a puddle on the ground under the rain.

"Yes, that's more like it. Thanks. Let me randomly pick another lucky audience member~"

Zhou Ke'er said this deliberately, then glanced at the remaining white-robed men, trying to see if they really had no reaction at all, or if there were any flaws in their demeanor.

Unfortunately, they seemed completely unresponsive and indifferent to Zhou Ke'er's words.

There was no other way, so Zhou Ke'er could only grab candles from a few people—yes, from several people, of course. Three candles for three people wouldn't be enough, so she had to take six, seven, eight, or nine. Besides, Zhou Ke'er had just tested the candlelight on the group of people in white robes, and the candlelight wouldn't light their clothes at all, so Zhou Ke'er simply stuffed the extra candles into her pockets, taking six candles back with her at once.

Duan Shuiliu and Honghe waited for a while before Zhou Ke'er finally arrived. They saw that he was holding a candle with a green flame in each hand, and his pockets were bulging, with a faint light shining through the fabric.

"What's going on? What are you holding in your hand?"

Before Zhou Ke'er could get close, Duan Shuiliu hurriedly asked—because no matter what, Zhou Ke'er's appearance was really too strange.

"I don't know the principle behind it either, but as long as we have these candles, the rain won't fall on us. It can alleviate the damp and cold situation a little, and with the light source, we can move around for a longer period of time."

Zhou Ke'er explained to Duan Shuiliu and handed him the candle.

Duan Shuiliu hesitated for a moment, but still chose to accept the candle.

"Take both of them, just in case. I brought several back with me."

Zhou Ke'er casually stuffed all the cigarettes in her hand into Duan Shuiliu's hands, and then took out two more from her pocket.

Duan Shuiliu's eyes widened—the candle was still burning, yet he could just stuff it into his pocket?! Does that make sense?

"What did you encounter up ahead? Where did these candles come from?"

Honghe looked terrified, but she took the candle from Zhou Ke'er without hesitation.

"Oh, I see. I met a group of kind people ahead, and they gave me candles. But some of them were a little shy and hesitated to give them to me, so I made the decision for them and just took the candles."

Zhou Ke'er explained in a serious tone.

"Kind person? What do you mean?"

Duan Shuiliu ignored the last paragraph and quickly asked Zhou Ke'er.

"It was a group of people wearing white robes and holding candles. When they saw me lighting them, they said something like, 'We're still missing,' and then they gave me the candles."

Zhou Ke'er replied succinctly, "Or you can go and see for yourselves—although I think they should have disappeared by the time I turned around and came back."

## Chapter 466, 461. Ghost Stories of a Deserted Village...? No way!

"Wait, didn't you guys notice... something seems a bit off?"

Just then, Honghe suddenly pointed to the sky with the finger holding the candle, "The sky should be dark and gloomy right now, but look... it looks like a huge cloud of fire, clearly red... even a bit close to dark blood red."