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

—The sixth chapter of the Mysterious Monarch's Seven Secret Scriptures, the Illusionary Realm Spirit Ascension Register, also known as... "The Gate of Kadas".

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578. Taking shortcuts

Blood from the wound slid down the thorns that pierced the body, dripping into the open crack and wisps of smoke rising from it.

A powerful suction force erupted from the door, which was only as long as a forearm—a suction force specifically designed for evil beings. The octopus monster didn't even have time to react before it was sucked into the door and vanished from the world.

As the octopus monster was sucked away, the thorns that had pierced Zhou Ke'er's body were also suddenly pulled out, along with a spray of blood.

Originally, this was an ability to draw oneself into a dream world, but Zhou Ke'er used it as a skill to banish enemies.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. As the octopus monster completely disappeared into the door, the crack that Zhou Ke'er had created slowly shrank until it disappeared completely.

He breathed a sigh of relief, half-kneeling on the ground, blood dripping from his wound.

Although both evil spirits and spiritual energy are working together to heal the body, the injuries are indeed too severe. While they are not yet life-threatening, a full recovery will not be instantaneous.

But Zhou Ke'er had no choice but to do this just now—although she could suppress the opponent in terms of the evil rank, thus creating the illusion that Zhou Ke'er was stronger than it and that it was powerless to fight back for a short time, as long as time dragged on, it would find that... Zhou Ke'er couldn't kill it at all.

By then, the other party will realize that Zhou Ke'er is just bluffing because of her evil status. As long as it doesn't try to use mental attacks or suppress evil, and instead launches a normal attack, Zhou Ke'er will only be able to stall for a while before running away.

Therefore, even if it meant getting injured, Zhou Ke'er would use the safest method to control the opponent at close range, and then use the Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Secret Scripture to summon the Gate of Kadas and banish the monster to the Dream Realm.

After all, if she hadn't been able to control him and he hadn't been sucked into the Gate of Kadas, then Zhou Ke'er's trump card would have been exposed, and the other party would have realized that Zhou Ke'er was just a tough cookie who could only rely on unorthodox methods to fight.

Fortunately, everything proceeded smoothly as Zhou Ke'er had anticipated.

Just then, a series of unhurried footsteps came from the corridor outside the room, which sounded particularly clear in the empty and deserted corridor.

Zhou Ke'er's pupils contracted slightly, and she couldn't help but frown. She turned to look at the door—it was obvious that they were coming for him.

It wasn't Long Aotian; he went to evacuate the others in the palace and wouldn't be back so soon. Even if he had entrusted the matter to the guards and rushed back first, his pace wouldn't have been this leisurely.

Trouble.

Countless solutions flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind in an instant, but she quickly rejected them all.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him—thanks in large part to the knowledge about the supernatural that Tavel had previously instilled in his mind.

Immediately, a black mist emerged from Zhou Ke'er's body and quickly condensed into a body that was identical to Zhou Ke'er's current body.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Ke'er dragged her still-healing body a few steps, flipped down from the window, and landed lightly in the flowerbed. She hid herself in the dense flowers, while at the same time diverting a part of her mind to control the body that had just separated from her.

Soon, a figure appeared in the doorway, looking down at Zhou Ke'er, who was leaning against the desk and slumped on the floor.

The visitor turned out to be Duke Timius, whom Zhou Ke'er had met not long ago.

It wasn't entirely unexpected. From the moment Zhou Ke'er arrived and met the King, only to find Duke Timius nowhere to be seen, she had already harbored suspicions. She just hadn't expected him to appear so quickly; Zhou Ke'er had assumed he would remain hidden for a while longer.

A soft round of applause followed, and Duke Timius nodded slightly to Zhou Ke'er. "Excellent. I truly didn't expect you to discover the truth so directly and come to me, let alone that you could actually take care of His Majesty. This is truly beyond my expectations."

"Oh? So you're so eager to come and die right now? Come on, I'm happy to help, I can do it for you right away."

Zhou Ke'er's lips curled into a mocking smile as she spoke coldly.

"Sigh, why is your temper so bad? If you had spoken properly like you did in the Duke's mansion, you might have lived a little longer."

Before he could finish speaking, Duke Timius drew the rapier from his cane with incredible speed and, in an instant invisible to the naked eye, severed Zhou Ke'er's head.

Zhou Ke'er's head flew off in the direction the sword was swung, slammed against the wall, and fell to the ground, rolling a few times.

But no blood splattered three feet high, because it was a body constructed of evil, and there was no blood inside.

A wisp of black mist spread out from the severed opening in Zhou Ke'er's neck and reattached it to her head. A moment later, her head floated back to its original position along with the black mist.

Reaching out to settle her head, Zhou Ke'er pouted, "Why resort to violence at the slightest disagreement? Is this how you nobles treat your guests? I'm not worthy of such hospitality."

Before he could finish speaking, Duke Timius stepped forward again and plunged his sword into Zhou Ke'er's chest, pinning him firmly to the leg of the desk. "You talk too much. Is it because you're about to die that you want to finish saying everything you haven't said in this life? I should have stabbed you in the mouth so you wouldn't be able to speak."

Zhou Ke'er's eyes widened in surprise: "Which sword?!"

Duke Timius had a question mark on his head—this guy still had the mind to tell dirty jokes? Was he not afraid of death at all, or did he not believe he could kill her?

Then Zhou Ke'er looked Duke Timius up and down and asked in confusion, "You should be in the same situation as that king, right? Hey, I'm really curious. After you took over the body, have you had any sex life? I don't think I've ever seen Lady Timius."

Duke Timius's temples bulged with veins. He reached out and pinched Zhou Ke'er's cheeks hard, silencing her. "You're asking for it! Are you crazy?!"

With a "pop," Zhou Ke'er's neck, which had just been severed, split open again, and her voice came from her throat: "You're getting impatient! You've lost your temper! You have no sex life!"

Duke Timius finally lost his temper. He immediately drew his sword and swung it again, sending Zhou Ke'er's head flying once more.

This time, however, Long Aotian finally made it. Not only did he make it, but Elon and the others who had rushed over after hearing the explosion also made it. After meeting at the palace gate, they listened to Long Aotian recount what had just happened (an embellished version) as they hurried toward the room.

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579. Translate this sentence: What does "XX's surprise" mean?

Good heavens, this was like a bolt from the blue at the beginning of the day. Everyone was in a state of unexpected elation... no, more like utter bewilderment.

Along with Long Aotian, only Lannister, Isaac, and Elon arrived at the scene. Nosha and Izmi took Edwards away for treatment first.

"Father! What are you doing, Father!"

Lannister stared in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief as he watched Duke Timius bring down the knife. He couldn't help but gasp and instinctively reached out to step forward.

Isaac, standing to the side, frowned, his eyes seemingly lost in thought. He grabbed Lannis and said in a deep voice, "My foolish brother! After listening to what this Mr. Long Aotian said all the way here, and seeing this scene now, didn't you notice anything? This guy is definitely not our father. He's just like the monster Mr. Long Aotian mentioned, the one who wanted to impersonate His Majesty—a monster disguised as our father!"

Zhou Ke'er, whose head had flown to the side, seemed to understand something upon hearing this. So Long Aotian had made up this excuse to fool them.

Elon was caught off guard when he witnessed Zhou Ke'er being beheaded. He immediately froze on the spot, his eyes glazed over, as if he had suffered a severe mental blow and was petrified for a moment.

As for Long Aotian... although he was initially shocked by the scene, he quickly recovered. Being extremely sensitive to blood, he instantly realized that there wasn't a single drop of blood in the headless corpse in front of him, so it couldn't possibly be Zhou Ke'er—he had already clearly remembered the smell of Zhou Ke'er's blood when she was injured earlier.

“Isaac...you’ve always been very smart, in fact, smarter than your elders. But you’ve made a mistake in this matter.”

Although he was speaking to Isaac, Duke Timius did not look up at him. Instead, he walked slowly to Zhou Ke'er's head and plunged his sword into the ground again, pinning Zhou Ke'er's head to the floor. "I am indeed your father, Isaac, my offspring, there is no doubt about it."

Isaac's pupils contracted sharply. It was too similar, no, it was exactly the same—the way this guy spoke and his tone were exactly the same as Duke Timius in his memory! It was as if his father was really speaking to him here!