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

The flamingo crouched down and carefully examined the thing that Zhou Ke'er had fished up—its paws were still tightly gripping Zhou Ke'er's ankles.

"You just realized this game doesn't even need to go through censorship? Tell me, in every mod we've ever made, we haven't encountered anything restricted. Restricted is just the tip of the iceberg, not to mention those things that give you a splitting headache and make you almost faint just by looking at them."

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips, complained about Honghe's slow reaction, then squatted down, casually broke the guy's hand at the wrist, and pulled it off forcefully.

He didn't pull it off cleanly; two fingers were still stubbornly clinging to Zhou Ke'er's ankle, but he easily patted them off.

The grotesque, unrecognizable but still somewhat human-shaped ghostly creature huddled on the ground, emitting hoarse sounds, but they were all meaningless syllables.

Zhou Ke'er painstakingly found the thing's head, then raised her hand and slapped it twice across the face.

"pat"

Just then, before the ghost that Zhou Ke'er had slapped could react, a sound of something hitting the ground was heard.

Looking up, they saw a ferryman-like figure with a bamboo pole stuck in the ground not far from Zhou Ke'er and Honghe. He didn't say anything, just looked at them with a serious expression, then pointed to the ghostly thing on the ground, as if asking what was going on.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Ke'er immediately put on a look of fear, pointed to the river, and mumbled a few words.

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's appearance, the man frowned and walked over with a strange expression. He also leaned out to look at the river to see what had happened.

Then Zhou Ke'er stood up, secretly grabbed the man's bamboo pole from behind, and then kicked him hard in the lower back.

"Get down here, hahaha!"

With Zhou Ke'er's arrogant and rampant laughter, the ferryman was caught off guard and kicked in the lower back. He fell into the river with a "plop" and was then grabbed by countless withered arms that suddenly appeared. Within a few breaths, he sank into the river and disappeared without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Ke'er grabbed the bamboo pole and poked it into the river.

Soon, a tremendous force came, and before the bamboo pole even reached the bottom of the river, countless hands had already grabbed it.

Then Zhou Ke'er turned her head and glanced at the flamingo.

Honghe instantly understood, sighed helplessly, then took out the Faceless Man's Mask, put it on her face, and waved her hand at Zhou Ke'er with disdain, signaling her to quickly crawl away and not interfere with her next move.

Zhou Ke'er respectfully presented the bamboo shoots with both hands, and then consciously crawled away.

It wasn't that he couldn't pull it, but mainly he wasn't sure if using too much evil energy at once would cause any adverse reactions. After all, this kind of eerie place could easily have some kind of stress response mechanism, and if some being sensed the evil aura and came looking for him, it would be pointless.

Therefore, it's better to let the flamingos pull it up using brute force.

Then, as if in a tug-of-war, the red crane suddenly pulled the bamboo pole backward.

"Splash!"

As the flamingo moved, the bamboo stalks instantly bent into a very dangerous arc, even emitting a creaking sound as it struggled under the weight.

Fortunately, the flamingo was so fast that the bamboo pole didn't even have time to react (not really). Before the bamboo pole broke, it pulled out the whole bunch of weird things that were holding onto it from the bottom of the river.

This was quite a scene; it was as if blood was raining down. Water from the River Styx dripped down from the sky, accompanied by grotesque figures curled up in a ball.

"What happened?!"

The scene quickly attracted several ferrymen, who abandoned their boats and ran over. Looking at the chaotic scene, one of the ferrymen couldn't help but frown and ask.

"Aba aba aba"

Although they didn't seem to be asking other spirits for advice, but rather seeking advice from other ferrymen, it seemed they didn't think these dazed spirits could have any intelligence.

However, Zhou Ke'er still dutifully opened her mouth and started babbling, trying to attract attention.

After all, although Honghe wasn't discovered immediately because the bamboo pole had slipped out of her hand at the last moment, the blood rain obscured her vision, and the group of ghostly things on the ground distracted her, her masked appearance was suspicious no matter how you looked at it. So Zhou Ke'er had to attract attention first and prevent the ferrymen from noticing Honghe's abnormality.

Sure enough, Zhou Ke'er's "Aba Aba" quickly attracted the attention of the other ferrymen.

Seeing that everyone's attention had turned to him, Zhou Ke'er began his performance. He pointed to the group of ferrymen, then to the bamboo poles in their hands, and gestured as if he were putting the bamboo poles into the river.

Immediately afterwards, he made a sudden upward pull, like fishing, and finally assumed a diving posture, moving slightly towards the river.

“I understand! It means that a ferryman used his oars to fish up a large group of corpses, and then jumped into the river himself.”

One of the ferrymen instantly understood Zhou Ke'er's meaning. "Looks like another one driven mad by pressure. Five or six people have already committed suicide recently. This job is too stressful. I'm actually considering asking my superiors for a change of job. Being in contact with these ghouls every day, breathing in their filthy air, and hearing the same old New Year's greetings... it would be strange if you didn't get sick from all this stress!"

## Chapter 469, Section 464: Reincarnation? No way!

"Yeah, the job itself is already so boring and unbearable. Not to mention the low pay, no pay raises are a thing of the past. What's worse is that there are no days off all year round... Oh, no, not all year round. Anyway, we don't have a concept of time here. After all, we're already dead, so we won't die from overwork. Since we won't die from overwork, we might as well work ourselves to death."

These words resonated with many of the ferrymen around, and they couldn't help but start complaining.

Zhou Ke'er was stunned. Good heavens, this guy is even more capitalist than a capitalist! He's a business genius.

"Sigh, if it weren't for the fact that I really didn't want to become a ghost like those corpses, and instead ended my own life like that ferryman who just committed suicide, it wouldn't be so bad. Hey? Right, who was that who just committed suicide?"

One of the ferrymen, while complaining, suddenly spoke up and asked, "Everyone, look who that ferryman who just jumped into the river was. You know, without a ferryman, everyone's workload has increased, and we can't even slack off properly. That's such an irresponsible way to die."

"Forget it, what's there to see? You know that if a ferryman falls into the river, his body will float to the surface on its own after a day or two once his soul has been completely consumed. There's no need to look for him now."

Another ferryman waved his hand dismissively, looking rather unenthusiastic. "What are you all standing here for? Taking the opportunity to slack off? I personally have no problem with it, since I also want to be lazy. But if we get caught and they find out we didn't meet our work standards today, then we'll all be in trouble."

With that, he shook his head and, without waiting for the other ferrymen to answer, slowly walked away.

"This guy really knows how to ruin the mood."

Distracted like this, the other ferrymen lost their desire to continue chatting and slacking off, and left with complaints.

Zhou Ke'er stroked her chin. With the work attitude of these ferrymen, as long as the next move was done discreetly, even if she kicked them all into the river, it would only be a waste of time.

By the way, where did that flamingo guy go...?

As Zhou Ke'er was thinking this, she turned her head and saw that the ferryman who had interrupted her was standing right behind her, staring straight at her.

Good heavens, didn't that thing just leave? How did it suddenly reappear here? Can it teleport?

Zhou Ke'er immediately composed herself and made a "baba baba" gesture, looking at the other person with great confusion, as if asking "What are you doing here?"

"Alright, alright, stop pretending. You were the one who caused all that trouble, weren't you? If you can talk, just say it. All that babbling is pointless."

The ferryman waved his hand dismissively. "Don't think we can't see it. Those ferrymen were just pretending not to know, too lazy to work overtime. But we can't all turn a blind eye; someone has to step in. So they were just standing here waiting for someone to step forward. Well, this time it's my turn."

Now you understand, right? I personally hate working overtime, so I don't care if you have some grievance or if you ended up here by some accident, and I have no interest in figuring out why you still retain your consciousness—that's none of my business. My job is to quickly take you to be reincarnated. Whether you drink the Meng Po soup or not, whether you have memories after reincarnation, is none of my concern, understand? As long as you don't cause me trouble, it's like you've lived another life. Alright, that's all I have to say. Hurry up and come with me.”

Zhou Ke'er nodded. It seemed that it wasn't his acting that was too exaggerated, but rather that the spirits here, apart from these ferrymen, were all without intelligence. No wonder even when Zhou Ke'er just babbled "Aba aba," it was obvious that something was wrong (no, that's the most strange thing!).

"Living another lifetime? That sounds quite tempting. And I really do have to cross the river to be reborn, so there's no reason for me to refuse."

Since the other party had already been so direct, Zhou Ke'er stopped babbling on. "But... what if I just go and reincarnate like this? Wouldn't that be such a pointless end to this module? Wouldn't that be absurd? So... Red Crane, let's do it!"

As Zhou Ke'er finished speaking, the red crane, which had been waiting for a long time, suddenly rushed out from its hiding place, leaped up, and kicked the ferryman.

The ferryman was truly taken aback, because he hadn't noticed the flamingo at all and had assumed that Zhou Ke'er was the only exception.

Caught off guard, the ferryman was kicked to the side without any chance to fight back—and on the other side was the river.

Zhou Ke'er chuckled and casually pulled the bamboo hat off his head. "Judging from your clothes, apart from the bamboo hats, you're no different from those spirits. In that case... well, I'll take care of your wife and daughter, so don't worry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "plop" sound, and the ferryman also fell into the river, instantly swallowed up by countless hands.

Zhou Ke'er looked at the river surface, which hadn't splashed much water and wasn't turbulent at all, and nodded in satisfaction. She then turned to Honghe and said, "Where did you hide just now? Even I couldn't find you. I was worried that they might have discovered you."

"This is a skill that comes with the character template. In places like the River Styx, I can synchronize my aura with the surrounding environment to conceal myself."

Honghe casually explained that she hadn't hidden anywhere; she hadn't moved at all, she had simply become invisible.

"I see... By the way, there was a chance to clear the game directly just now, but I declined. You don't mind, do you?"

Zhou Ke'er put on the straw hat with a grin, "It's no use if you mind. But I think as a typical person who enjoys having fun, you shouldn't mind."

"Wow, you know me pretty well, huh?"

The flamingo squinted and praised in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey, that's for sure. I can't be ignorant of anyone else but you, right?"

Zhou Ke'er shrugged. "Let's go and see if there are any roads leading to other places. Since those people were talking about higher-ups coming to inspect our work, it means this place must be connected to other places."

"Whatever. But... by the way, I can sense that there are a few places in this place where the atmosphere is slightly different from the rest, or out of place. Perhaps those are the entrances and exits to other places."

The flamingo looked around and then pointed in a certain direction. "Look, the closest one should be in that direction. It should be a short walk away, not too far."

## Chapter 470, Section 465: The Main World? The River of Oblivion

Following the direction the flamingo pointed—which, to put it bluntly, was simply walking along the riverbank—we followed the direction the flamingo was pointing.

As we reached a certain point, it was as if an invisible curtain had been suddenly drawn open, and a bridge gradually and vaguely appeared in front of us, like ink spreading out.

Countless dazed and confused souls descended from the bridge, arriving at the ferry crossing where Zhou Ke'er and Honghe were—beneath the bridge still flowed a river. The river water beneath the bridge was a dark yellowish-brown, faintly tinged with blood, teeming with insects and snakes, and a foul stench filled the air. Countless twisted figures lingered within, struggling incessantly, all lonely ghosts unable to reincarnate—unlike the river Zhou Ke'er had just seen, which at least had been calm and still.

"Good heavens, does reincarnation mean crossing two rivers?"

Zhou Ke'er pointed to the bridge in surprise, "If this river on our side is the River Styx, then what is this?"

"Can't you see those big words on the bridge? Since it's called Naihe Bridge, it must be Naihe River."

Honghe glanced at Zhou Ke'er, who seemed like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, and curled her lip.

"This is the River of Oblivion."

A hoarse voice came from not far away. Zhou Ke'er and Hong He looked over instinctively and saw a figure in the river that was not human. Its empty eyes stared straight at Zhou Ke'er and Hong He. Its eyes seemed to contain ancient resentment and pain, but within this pain, there seemed to be expectation and hope. "How did you manage to cross this bridge without drinking Meng Po soup?"

"you guess?"

Zhou Ke'er walked over, squatted down, and asked in return with a grin.

"I can't guess. If I could, I wouldn't be struggling in this River of Oblivion."

The figure gave a sinister, bitter smile.

"You're already on the shore, why don't you come up?"

Zhou Ke'er pressed for an answer.

"I can't get up."

The figure seemed somewhat surprised upon hearing this. "How could you not know these things? Could it be that you didn't come here from across the bridge?"

"In order to see the person you want to see again in the next life, you can avoid drinking Meng Po soup. But you must jump into the River of Oblivion and wait for a thousand years before you can be reincarnated. During those thousand years, you may see the person you want to see walking across the bridge, but you cannot communicate with each other, and you cannot recognize each other. You can see that person, but that person cannot see you."

Drinking the Meng Po soup means severing all ties with past lives, ending all causes and consequences. One forgets all the ups and downs of this life, all the loves and hates, and in the next life, they will be strangers. Jumping into the River of Oblivion, one is subjected to the torment of being bitten by copper snakes and iron dogs in its turbid waves, suffering endless torture with no escape.

A voice came from behind Zhou Ke'er, "Therefore, there will always be wandering ghosts who cannot bear the torment, waiting on the riverbank year after year for other passing spirits, and dragging them into the river to temporarily alleviate their pain. Be careful not to get caught by them."

The figure in the river had already quietly sank into the water halfway through speaking.

Zhou Ke'er turned her head and saw a person dressed in a plain white robe, with extremely pale skin, but not deathly pale, as if he had never seen the sun before, standing expressionlessly behind her. His appearance was very androgynous, and at first glance, it was indeed impossible to tell whether he was male or female. However, judging from his voice, he should be male.