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

Xu Qingming shrugged.

"Come on, do you think I don't know you? Tell me the truth."

Zhou Ke'er rolled her eyes, not believing Xu Qingming's flattery at all.

"Hey, I knew I couldn't fool you. Actually, it's like this: among all the people I know, you're the best at Old Age linguistics. I don't trust the experts... If they trick us, we'll lose a lot of money! Those experts are all damn old foxes."

Xu Qingming scratched his head, explaining sheepishly, "The records on the recording stone contain some ancient script that I can't understand. I couldn't find it even after searching through the materials. I thought maybe you could understand it..."

"...I see. But I can't guarantee I will, after all, I'm just an ordinary person who knows a little bit of the Old Era's writing system."

Zhou Ke'er nodded. "Do you remember any of the words? Write one down first and let me see. If I don't know it... then there's no need to waste time."

"Hmm... let me think... ah, there's a shorter one that I think I remember how to write... I can just copy it, right?"

Xu Qingming recalled for a moment, then took a pen from the pen holder on the table and wrote a few words on a piece of white paper: R. orz pro nabis

"Um..."

Zhou Ke'er looked at the words, frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "They look familiar... I should recognize them, but what you wrote doesn't match the meaning in my memory... I suspect you wrote them wrong. If it's the kind of writing I remember, it should be written like this."

Zhou Ke'er took a pen and rewrote the words Xu Qingming had written below: R. ora pro nobis.

"This... I don't remember clearly either, because I didn't specifically try to memorize it... I was only able to write this line because I barely remembered it when I was looking through some materials before. It's possible that I remembered it wrong."

Xu Qingming scratched his head and replied uncertainly, "So, what does this line of text mean?"

"R. ora pro nobis, pray for us. This is a prayer from a Western sect in the Old Age... Its New Age translation is available in the library; you should be able to find it if you look carefully. The book is titled 'Litaniae Sanctorum,' which translates to 'Prayers of the Saints.'"

Zhou Ke'er pondered for a moment before replying, "My mentor mentioned it to me a few times before, so I took the opportunity to learn this kind of writing as well. However... the image-recording stone should be a product of the mythological system of the Far East in the Old Era, so how could it be related to this thing?"

"I don't know either. I can't understand it... In that case, how about I show you the recording from the recording stone first?"

Xu Qingming also couldn't figure out what was going on, as it was indeed difficult to explain.

"Are you crazy? Showing me this thing here?"

Zhou Ke'er's eyes widened. "Most hospitals, even mental hospitals, have surveillance cameras! It's fine for us to talk here, but you put a recording stone here? And you even took out a bronze sword? You want to get arrested already, don't you?"

"What should we do then? How about I come to your place tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingming finally realized what was happening and frowned, saying, "But delay could lead to unforeseen problems... Although nothing has gone wrong in the past two weeks, who knows?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Ke'er sighed and said to Xu Qingming, "Let's talk about this later. Something's probably going on right now... You can sit over there and wait for a bit."

As Zhou Ke'er spoke, she pointed to the sofa next to her and then said loudly, "Please come in."

Then... the door was pushed open, and a girl walked in looking flustered.

Isn't this Chen Tian? She was just here yesterday, what happened this time?

"Chen Tian? What happened?"

Zhou Ke'er rubbed her temples helplessly. "According to our agreement, I don't guarantee after-sales service. If you and your mother have a falling out and the truth is discovered, don't blame me."

"No...no, that's not the issue."

Chen Tian quickly shook her head, and after closing the door, she didn't even notice the resentful Xu Qingming beside her, and said in a flustered voice, "It's not me who's in trouble, it's Chen Tian who's in trouble!"

It took Zhou Ke'er two seconds to distinguish the difference in tone, then she looked completely bewildered: "Chen Tian? Isn't that your second... cough cough, no, what happened to that guy?"

When Zhou Ke'er first realized the name "Chen Tian," she was suddenly startled. She remembered that at the end of the first module she played last night, the god who claimed to be Kronos had also mentioned this name...

And just at that moment... Chen Tian ran into trouble? What a coincidence!

"Chen...Chen Tian? You just said Chen Tian?"

Before Chen Tian could say anything, Xu Qingming, who had been drawing circles in the corner, suddenly jumped out with a surprised look, "Isn't that right? It's Chen Tian?"

"Yes...yes? What's wrong?"

Chen Tian was startled and took several steps back, leaning against the door as she asked.

"Although I think it might just be a case of the same name...but..."

Xu Qingming calmed down a bit, then looked at Zhou Ke'er and slowly said, "Chen Tian... I've heard that name in the memory stone."

"...You go to the side first, don't scare them."

Zhou Ke'er took a deep breath, waved to Xu Qingming, signaling him to step aside, and then asked Chen Tian, ​​"Um... what did you mean by saying Chen Tian was in trouble?"

Can a second personality cause trouble? Zhou Ke'er has almost never encountered such a situation.

"Yes...that's how it is."

Chen Tian glanced at Xu Qingming, who was hiding to the side, then looked at Zhou Ke'er and slowly said, "Last night, I searched online for a lot of information about the Old Era and showed it to Chen Tian... because I happened to say that the history he was talking about seemed somewhat similar to that of the Old Era..."

"At first, it was fine. He seemed to believe that he really came from the Old Era, but when he saw the great cataclysm that destroyed the Old Era, it was as if he had suddenly been stimulated by something..."

Suddenly he started muttering incoherently, and now he doesn't respond to being called anymore; it's like he's fainted or died!

"So I logged into the game last night, intending to ask you what happened, but you were always in the game... I had no choice but to come over first thing this morning!"

"Wait, wait... what does 'from the old era' mean? What does that mean?"

After waiting for Chen Tian to finish speaking, Xu Qingming finally couldn't help but ask a question.

"This... is a bit hard to explain, since I didn't believe it at first either... In short, it's about time travel, or rather, rebirth?"

Zhou Ke'er looked at Xu Qingming with a conflicted expression, hesitated for a moment, and then explained.

"Um, sir...did you just...do you know Chen Tian? Or have you heard of him?"

Seeing Xu Qingming's utterly horrified expression, Chen Tian couldn't help but ask.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingming took a deep breath, glanced at Zhou Ke'er, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and patted Zhou Ke'er's shoulder, nodding.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er rolled her eyes, realizing what this guy was up to.

"Hmm... how about this? Although I can't guarantee I'll figure out what's going on, but... if we do it this way, you'll probably understand it a little better."

Zhou Ke'er sighed... He originally wanted to be a psychiatrist, just drifting through life, slacking off at work, living a carefree life, but... it seems something has gotten involved with him.

Since that's the case... he naturally couldn't back down, after all, before becoming a psychiatrist, he was an archaeological researcher!

Thinking this, Zhou Ke'er said to Chen Tian, ​​"Tonight... no, never mind, let's do it now. Let's go to my house right now!!"

Before Chen Tian could react, Zhou Ke'er pushed open the door and said to Hu Tao, who happened to be passing by, "Jia Zi, please ask for a day off for me. I have something urgent to attend to, please!"

------------

46. ​​The Distant Truth

"What...what are they trying to do?"

Chen Tian was taken to Zhou Ke'er's house without any clear understanding of the situation.

"Phew... this is fine."

Zhou Ke'er cleared a space in the living room, indicating that Xu Qingming could begin his performance.

Xu Qingming nodded, put the large bag on the ground, and took out a long, narrow box and a small box from it.

Once opened, you can see that it is wrapped in a special material to prevent damage caused by vibration and bumps.

Xu Qingming painstakingly removed that layer of material and finally took out the bronze sword he had mentioned earlier and a strangely shaped small stone.

Just as Xu Qingming said, the bronze sword was still golden in color, and it did not seem to have been stained with rust due to the passage of time. It looked brand new.

"This is..."

Although she had already heard Xu Qingming's description, Zhou Ke'er still couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise.

"Taijia... the Dingguang Sword! This is the Dingguang Sword!"

Unexpectedly, Chen Tian suddenly clutched his head, looked at the bronze sword with a pained expression, and said in a broken voice.

"Ok?"

Xu Qingming and Zhou Ke'er were both taken aback.

"Dingguang Sword"? Neither Zhou Ke'er nor Xu Qingming had ever heard of it... Either the information about this sword was too obscure for Zhou Ke'er to have seen, or... it was not recorded in any ancient books.

However... Chen Tian just mentioned "Taijia," which Zhou Ke'er knows a little about. That should be the Far East region of the Old Era, which, even by the standards of the Old Era, could be considered an ancient celestial empire... At that time, it should be called the Shang Dynasty, and it refers to one of the rulers of the Yin Shang Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er rushed to the computer that was already turned on on the table and logged into the special website that he used to search for information when he was an archaeological researcher.

"Taijia... Dingguang... This isn't it, it's not this one... Yin Taijia, that's right, it's this one!"

Zhou Ke'er quickly browsed through most of the information and finally found a few sentences related to this:

"Casted by Yin Taijia, the inscription reads: Dingguang."

"Two feet. Taijia reigned for thirty-two years, and forged a sword in the fourth year of the Jiazi cycle, named: Dingguang."

Besides that, there was no other information. No, rather, it was quite unexpected that Zhou Ke'er could actually find such ancient information.

Chen Tian murmured to herself for a while, and finally gradually returned to normal. Then she looked at the sword with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong? What just happened?"

Xu Qingming, who had been startled by Chen Tian's reaction and instinctively held the bronze sword tightly behind his back, breathed a sigh of relief and asked Chen Tian.

"Chen Tian said... he seemed to recognize the sword; it was a last gift from an old friend, but he couldn't remember anything else about it."

Chen Tian shook her head in confusion, "He seems to be in a very confused state right now, and he won't answer my questions."

"A gift from an old friend? But if what she just said is true, then it's... a bronze sword forged during the ancient Yin Dynasty... Could Chen Tian be from the Yin Dynasty? No, he described modern life before; even according to the few remaining records, the ancient Yin Dynasty couldn't have reached that level..."

Zhou Ke'er's thoughts were also somewhat confused. "Otherwise, it could be that his old friend lived on until... But it's also possible that it was passed down through generations? But... the sword is still golden yellow, without any rust or oxidation... How did they manage to do that?"

"Um... how about I play the recording from the memory stone first? Maybe Chen Tian will remember something?"

On the way, Zhou Ke'er had already given Xu Qingming a general overview of Chen Tian's situation. Although Xu Qingming was quite surprised, he believed her even faster than Zhou Ke'er.

"Okay... okay."

Chen Tian rubbed her temples, sat on the sofa Zhou Ke'er had prepared, and nodded obediently.

Zhou Ke'er nodded to Xu Qingming, indicating that he could begin.

Xu Qingming carefully placed the recording stone on the bronze sword, and then gently tore off a small piece of the paper talisman-like thing wrapped around the hilt.