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

"That's quite a vivid description."

Ying Kuo straightened his neck as he spoke, lest Zhou Ke'er shake his throat open with one hand.

"Huh? How come she's the main character now? What about me? Didn't you set this up to catch me?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yang immediately pointed to himself, looking bewildered, and asked with a somewhat comical expression.

"You were just an afterthought."

Ying Kuo mercilessly exposed the truth, saying, "You're just a minor troublemaker. Do you really need to set up a scheme to solve this? You overestimate yourself. You're just a thief. We've kept you around as a pawn to set up a trap for Constable Zhou."

Wei Yang was shocked: "How could this be?! So you mean my title of 'Master Thief' is undeserved?!"

"Is that even a question? Your lightness skill isn't even as fast as mine when I run around casually. How dare you call yourself the Saint of Thieves?"

Before Ying Kuo could say anything, Zhou Ke'er delivered a fatal blow to Wei Yang's young heart, saying, "This reputation might have been deliberately spread by them. Why do you look so smug?"

"That's true."

Ying Kuo was about to nod in agreement, but then he remembered that Zhou Ke'er's dagger was still pressed against his throat, so he stopped moving his head.

"What are you agreeing with? Did I give you permission to speak?"

Zhou Ke'er patted Ying Kuo's cheek with the dagger and said in a low voice, "You still haven't said what your purpose is. You don't think I'll just do nothing after I take you hostage, do you?"

"Of course, now that I've shown myself, I'm prepared to reveal my purpose under your coercion."

Ying Kuo answered without hesitation, "However, are you sure you want to find out here? It's a long story, and what if someone discovers what's going on here..."

Do you think I'm afraid?

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ke'er interrupted, "Stop stalling for time, and don't even think about being taken anywhere by us. Just say it here. You don't really think anyone can catch me, do you? I obediently went into jail this time just to wait for your move."

"That's such a pity..."

A red light, shrouded in black mist, flashed in Ying Kuo's eyes. "It seems your situation is beyond resolution for the time being. I truly feel ashamed of failing His Majesty's high regard for you. However, it seems you are also a bit too confident in yourself!"

As Ying Kuo finished speaking, a massive black mist surged out of his body and rushed towards Zhou Ke'er, who was closest to him.

"...This doesn't fall into the category of normal 'martial arts' anymore. It even has a slightly sinister feel to it—though not entirely. It's based on 'martial arts' but also incorporates elements of...a power system similar to that derived from 'divine faith'..."

Zhou Ke'er thought for a moment, but she did not let go of Ying Kuo's hand, nor did she directly cut his neck—she originally intended to do so, but changed her mind after sensing this power.

Although this power had an evil aura, it was still no threat to Zhou Ke'er, who was protected by spiritual energy, based solely on martial arts. Not to mention the trace amount of evil energy, which was almost immeasurable, it was completely crushed by Zhou Ke'er.

"Too confident? Are you talking about yourself?"

Zhou Ke'er's charming voice rang out from the black mist, and this time... Ying Kuo's expression finally changed drastically, revealing an expression of disbelief.

## Chapter 491, Section 486: The Chapter of Stealing Heaven (Part 5)

"How...how is this possible!"

Ying Kuo exclaimed in disbelief, his face, already pale from the sudden sneak attack, now turning even more ashen. "That power... it had absolutely no effect on you?!"

"Still trying to show off your skills in front of Guan Yu? When it comes to playing the supernatural, my technique is on par with your ancestor's!"

Zhou Ke'er curled her lips in disdain, reached out with her other hand, pinched Ying Kuo's cheek hard, and then slammed it down hard, pressing it against the already swaying tree branch.

The branch immediately made a dying snapping sound, and then with a "crack," the branch that Ying Kuo had been stepping on broke off.

Zhou Ke'er naturally wouldn't fall down with him. The instant the branch broke, she teleported to Wei Yang's side.

Unable to control his body, Ying Kuo fell miserably from the tree branch, crashing heavily onto the roof of the house below, shattering a pile of tiles with a series of "crashing" sounds.

"Hey, isn't this too loud? It's probably attracting everyone else... Should we slip away?"

Upon seeing this, Wei Yang couldn't help but swallow hard—although he was indeed known as the "Master Thief," in reality he was just a slightly more outstanding thief, the most skilled in light-footed martial arts...

He had never seen anything like it before, and he dared not stay any longer—he had wanted to run away ever since he saw Ying Kuo. He had faced that guy before and knew he was no match for him; he just didn't know why Ying Kuo had let him go that time.

At the time, he didn't think much of it, assuming Ying Kuo was just using a bandit as a means to enhance his own prestige. Besides, he himself had only gradually gained the reputation of the "Thief Saint" after that encounter, so he didn't bother to investigate the mutually beneficial arrangement further. But now it seems... there's more to it than meets the eye!

But... Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but frown deeply at this moment—even though things were already in this situation, not to mention the first main quest, they hadn't even completed the second main quest.

Is this reasonable?

The first main quest could be considered incomplete because Zhou Ke'er hadn't truly escaped this place yet, which is a barely valid reason. But the second main quest...

The Thief Saint... Wei Yang has been standing here for quite a while now, making no attempt to conceal his identity. Why hasn't he counted Zhou Ke'er's mission as complete yet?

However... thinking about it this way, logically speaking, it's not that easy. After all, Wei Yang never hid his identity from the beginning; he even voluntarily revealed it. If that's really the case, then the second main quest is practically a freebie.

So, where might the problem lie?

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes and subtly sized up Wei Yang. She couldn't see what was so great about him, and even felt that he was not as strong as Ying Kuo, whom she had just easily defeated.

Either this guy is a fake, and the real "Master Thief" is someone else. His appearance in front of Zhou Ke'er now is obviously for ulterior motives; he might actually be in cahoots with Ying Kuo, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.

Or... although this guy is indeed a "master thief," the "master thief" that Zhou Ke'er is supposed to find in the mission is not him, but the arrogant guy who appears in the opening animation.

"Run? Then tell me, where are you planning to run to?"

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Ying Kuo, who was now completely still, and asked Wei Yang in a nonchalant manner, "Speaking of which... I am quite curious about something—what are you doing here now? Did you come to let me know that you weren't the one who came to steal the things before? Then there's no point in telling me."

No, I'm here to rescue you.

Wei Yang said in a matter-of-fact manner, "There are rumors going around that the somewhat famous Constable Zhou is in jail because he failed to catch the Thief Saint, but it was clearly not me who did it. This is simply an insult to my professional ethics! It's as if they're saying that if I did it myself, I couldn't have done it and had to find a stunt double?"

"So you're here to help me escape from prison? That's a really lame excuse."

Zhou Ke'er rolled her eyes. "Then you might as well just say it publicly: you didn't do this at all, someone stole your name, and I'm innocent—and then you can look forward to a fair and square showdown with me, right? A prison break? Wouldn't that just push me into a fire pit?"

"Oh! That's right! How come I didn't think of that!"

Wei Yang stared wide-eyed in shock, as if stunned by Zhou Ke'er's brilliant idea.

"That won't do... otherwise he'll be useless."

Just then, a muffled sound suddenly came from Wei Yang's... body?!

Upon hearing this, Wei Yang froze on the spot, looking completely bewildered. He pointed to himself and stammered, "Was there... a sound coming from me just now?"

"Hmm. I feel like you're about to die. Who knows, a monster might crawl out of your mouth right away, or it might just rip your belly open and crawl out of your stomach... If it's going to be even more spectacular, you'll just explode like a firework, revealing the monster inside your body."

Zhou Ke'er nodded in agreement and analyzed the situation seriously, offering several conjectures in the process.

"Don't say that! I don't want to die!"

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's confident demeanor, Wei Yang, in his panic, began to believe her to some extent. He immediately asked, "You must know what's going on, right? Please save me! Considering I came to help you escape from prison, I'll send you a small token of my appreciation, though it's a small gift, it carries great meaning!"

"Save your breath... It's really hard for you to have realized it yet. No wonder the higher-ups decided to choose you as the 'Master Thief'."

A weak voice came from the ruins on the rooftop. Ying Kuo struggled to sit up, coughing up blood, and said to Wei Yang, "Use your almost unused brain to think carefully about why I deliberately let you go that time when you clearly had nowhere to escape... Also, why do rumors about other 'master thieves' always appear when you're asleep, and not far from where you're staying?"

"Pfft!"

As he spoke, Ying Kuo spat out another mouthful of blood. "Don't you understand? In a way, you are the Saint of Thieves... but the Saint of Thieves is not 'you'..."

"Alright, alright, why so much talk? They say villains die from talking too much, how come you're about to die and still talking so much? Can't you be a little more discreet about deliberately leaking information? Who wouldn't see through your deliberate act? He's an idiot, but I'm not."

Before Ying Kuo could finish speaking, his head was grabbed again by Zhou Ke'er, who had teleported there, and slammed hard against the roof tiles.

Are you kidding me? If he keeps talking, isn't he really going to reveal the true identity of the Thief Saint? That's not how you complete a mission. Of course, you have to find out the truth yourself by following the clues. At the very least, Zhou Ke'er should coerce or entice you to tell the truth, instead of just handing it over to you like this!

This made Zhou Ke'er feel no sense of accomplishment at all; it was so boring!

"I told you to speak, so speak again, understand? I haven't even given you permission to speak yet. If you dare say anything more nonsense, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Zhou Ke'er grabbed Ying Kuo's hair, lifted his head, and brought it close to his blood-stained cheek, asking in a soft yet chilling tone.

## Chapter 492, Section 487: The Chapter of Stealing Heaven (Part Six)

"... "

Ying Kuo narrowed his eyes slightly. Blood seeping from the top of his head flowed down, wetting his eyelids. The warm blood condensed slightly on his eyelashes, making them appear somewhat sticky.

He was now certain that the alluring woman before him... was actually a madwoman.

What's even more terrifying is that none of the previous background checks and status assessments of her revealed this—to have consistently concealed her true nature. What incredible forbearance, what terrifying!

"I...did not come here...to be your enemy..."

Ying Kuo managed to utter these words with difficulty and indistinctness.

"Of course I know, otherwise you would have already slipped away when I instantly kidnapped your double, so why would you have shown up?"

Zhou Ke'er smiled radiantly, as if she had already seen through this. "Moreover, deliberately revealing so much information is also to serve as... something like a pledge of allegiance?"

"Huh?! What do you mean? Does that guy want to defect to us? But what about the things inside me..."

Wei Yang, who was still struggling with his decision, was shocked upon hearing this and quickly asked.

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ke'er coldly interrupted him, saying, "To be precise, you've pledged allegiance to me. And...did I ask you to speak?"

Zhou Ke'er's alluring yet chilling gaze pierced Wei Yang like a knife, startling him and causing him to instinctively shut his mouth.

"The original plan was... to form an alliance. But your strength far exceeds... my expectations."

Ying Kuo coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, "I am no match for you. Therefore...it is obvious that I am willing to submit..."

"boom!"

Zhou Ke'er's delicate face showed a hint of impatience. She grabbed Ying Kuo's hair and slammed his face against the roof. "Why all this nonsense? What's the point of wasting time with these meaningless words? It's a waste of time. If I want to, I can, but you can't without my permission, understand?!"

After saying that, Zhou Ke'er grabbed Ying Kuo's hair, lifted his head up, and brought it close to his face. Her eyes narrowed into long, narrow shapes, adding a touch of foxy charm to her already alluring appearance. "Now, I'll ask, and you answer. First of all... what's the reason for doing this? Why did you, who was doing so well as the God of Arrest, suddenly come to do such a thankless and arduous task?"

Wei Yang, standing to the side, wanted to complain. He knew that Ying Kuo would probably explain the reason himself later, but Zhou Ke'er insisted on torturing him before asking... It was too cruel, she was practically a madwoman! But he didn't dare to ask or say anything, and just stood there awkwardly, watching Ying Kuo get tortured.

"Because... the capital is currently in a state of turmoil, and unrest in various places is about to surface. If this continues, not to mention those ignorant and fearless common people, even we will not be able to protect ourselves... In order to find a way out, we can only turn to the point of breaking the deadlock for help... which is you, Constable Zhou."

Ying Kuo's eyes were covered in blood, his vision was crimson and he couldn't see anything clearly, but he still tried his best to look at Zhou Ke'er.

"First, what unrest has occurred in the capital? Second... why am I the key to breaking the deadlock?"

Zhou Ke'er frowned slightly and asked the question in a concise and direct manner.

Behind him, Wei Yang, carrying the unconscious stand-in for Ying Kuo, awkwardly scratched his cheek—to be honest, he was just a thief, and he had no desire to get involved in such a mess, especially since it was a scheme orchestrated by those big shots in the capital. If he went in, he'd be left with nothing but bones. But the problem was, he was now forced into the game, and who knew what was on him—he'd just suddenly spoken a moment ago, but now he wasn't responding, ignoring him no matter how much he called him.

Damn it, I can't shake him off, he's so annoying.

"This is not the place to talk..."

Ying Kuo said weakly.