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

Unfortunately, a man wielding a wooden staff appeared at the cell door just in time, looking like a magician. His ears were slightly pointed, and he seemed quite confused and conflicted, not paying any attention to the matter at all. He simply casually cast several debuffs on Zhao Ritian, such as [Slow], [Gravity Enhancement], and [Power Decrease], as if it were a routine task.

Caught off guard by the numerous debuffs, Zhao Ritian had no means to resist the magic and was immediately pressed to the ground by gravity. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and immediately put the iron hammer back into his system inventory. He probably anticipated that he would really fall into the clutches of the demons and become a prisoner.

With Zhao Ritian no longer able to hold off the enemy, the remaining players, who had been detained by the guards, were no match for so many guards and quickly began to retreat.

The mage outside glanced at the situation inside with little interest, figuring he was done, before leaving with a bewildered expression, muttering under his breath, "Destroying the Ancient Tree of the Elves... Have the royal family gone mad? Why would they do something like this? I don't understand..."

With the mage gone and Zhao Ritian collapsed, the small commotion inside the cell quickly subsided. All the players were severely beaten, tied up, and thrown back into their cells. Zhao Ritian, in particular, was now bruised and battered, his body covered in bruises. Had the soldiers not been somewhat restrained, he might have been beaten to death.

The atmosphere in the cell turned desolate as the guards left. The players were too exhausted to even curse or complain; they were simply tied up and lay on the ground in despair, too lazy to move.

Zhou Ke'er and Hong He left the cell at the right time.

Honghe glanced around, her tone flat and even: "With such weak fighting force... are you sure releasing them will cause any trouble? They'll probably be caught again in no time."

Perhaps because many guards and jailers were injured, and the prisoners in this cell had just been severely beaten and were now completely powerless, and were also tightly bound, with the strongest one already bound by a persistent debuff and posing no threat, there were no jailers guarding the cell door for the time being.

Zhou Ke'er shrugged noncommittally: "Anyway, we didn't lose anything. They might make a small profit, but I definitely didn't lose anything."

As she spoke, Zhou Ke'er walked back into the cell first, looking like she was sneaking in, and a strangely simulated cell key quietly appeared in her hand.

Honghe squinted: "I think we can do something more meaningful during this time—after all, it seems we don't have much time."

Despite saying that, Honghe still reluctantly followed Zhou Ke'er back.

Just as Zhou Ke'er was putting on her superb acting skills, stirring up the players' gratitude while slowly opening the cell door with the key, a native who was also imprisoned in the same cell suddenly screamed, then convulsed all over, his body twisted strangely and he fell to the ground, his pupils dilated instantly, and his entire eyes turned pitch black.

The other players were unaware of what had happened; they were simply startled.

Zhou Ke'er's pupils suddenly contracted—this was a sign of being corrupted by evil!

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631. Inviting a wolf into the house

Zhou Ke'er immediately quickened her pace, while a sense of doubt crept into her mind: This shouldn't be happening! After escaping from the Ancient Elf Tree, she hadn't sensed any malevolent energy here that could corrupt humans...

Wait, right, those locked up here are all people whose clothing or appearance is different from the locals of the capital. In other words... the guards of the capital have probably arrested all the foreigners who have recently entered the capital as a precaution. If the measures were more comprehensive, the capital should have already closed its gates and stopped people from entering or leaving.

The subtext is... at least within the ruling class of the Grand Duchy of Fuya, there are people who know about, or even participate in, this strange catastrophe?

While pondering, Zhou Ke'er quickly opened the cell door, signaling Honghe to help untie the ropes binding those people. She then rushed over and, amidst the chaos, beheaded the infected person who was convulsing on the ground with a single sword strike.

The infection by the evil is irreversible, and even Zhou Ke'er couldn't help it. If it were like the people in the capital of Wright who were dazed due to the infection and were guided there by the bishop, because the infection was not deep, as long as they regained their senses and were careful not to be further eroded, they could still barely maintain their human sanity. But for someone like this who collapsed to the ground, convulsing and whose eyes turned black, the evil had penetrated deep into their marrow and there was no way to save them.

Compared to the panic of the NPC prisoners in the same cell, the players seemed much calmer. After one of them was untied, he immediately helped untie the others, and soon everyone was freed from their restraints.

Although Zhao Ritian was still weakened due to the lingering effects of the debuff, he managed to stand up with difficulty. Staring at the red crane, he wore a thoughtful expression and asked in confusion, "Eh? Haven't I... seen you somewhere before? You're a player, right? Oh... I remember now, when we were being chased by that bastard Long Aotian. I haven't thanked you guys for what happened before. Hey, where's that male player who was with you back then?"

Honghe squinted and pointed at Zhou Ke'er.

Zhou Ke'er greeted him with a smile: "Oh, long time no see!"

Zhao Ritian scratched his head in bewilderment, his small eyes filled with great confusion. He pointed at Zhou Ke'er and said, "This... this game can change gender? Don't lie to me. I can tell that this lady is the player who often appears in the pinned game videos on the forum, right?"

Honghe stared helplessly at Zhou Ke'er with dead fish eyes and said in a monotone voice, "It's just a disguise."

Zhao Ritian was stunned for a moment, then showed a look of sudden realization: "Oh! I understand now. You were afraid of being harassed and chased by that bastard Long Aotian, so this young lady disguised herself as a man, right? I completely understand now."

Zhou Ke'er revealed the same dead fish eyes as the flamingo, thinking to herself: No, you don't understand at all!

However, now is not the time for chatting, nor is this the place for it. A crucial question now is—how do we get such a large group of people out of here? If they were to storm out in a grand procession, they would inevitably be surrounded and annihilated.

At that point, aside from a lucky few and some skilled players, most players will probably be captured again. They might even anger the guards and be executed on the spot.

To be honest, what Zhou Ke'er found most puzzling was that Zhao Ritian, who had just started a riot in the prison cell, was simply put in a debuff and locked up without any further action. There was no execution, not even any punishment.

There must be some conspiracy involved.

Therefore, Zhou Ke'er planned to let these players take the risk themselves so that he could find out what was going on from the shadows.

What? You're saying that letting these players out only to have them re-arrested is a pointless waste of time? Huh? Isn't the point to let Zhou Ke'er figure out what the conspiracy is all about? They were rescued by Zhou Ke'er in the first place, so it's only natural that they get re-arrested for her sake, right?

However, Zhao Ritian can be protected. As can be seen from the battle just now, compared to those other weak players, Zhao Ritian's strength is much stronger, and he is roughly on par with a first-tier player.

Although the debuff he's wearing is a bit troublesome, he can just wait for it to expire.

Zhou Ke'er sensed that the concentration of evil energy on the other NPCs in the cell seemed to be drawn up by the guy who had just mutated, and they were all starting to rise. If this continued, they would soon become infected with evil energy.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer, let's go quickly."

Zhou Ke'er quickly said, "When we came in from outside, most of the guards went to receive treatment. Now is the weakest point in the defense, which is a good opportunity for us to escape. However, even so, there is a good chance that some people will be caught again. At that time, they may not only be imprisoned here, but may be executed directly. Everyone should be prepared."

After saying that, without waiting for the other players to say anything, he grabbed Red Crane and ran out of the cell. Red Crane figured that Zhao Ritian, who was under a debuff, probably couldn't run anymore, so he took out the Death Scythe, hooked the blade onto Zhao Ritian, and ran away with him.

However, upon leaving the cell, the expected pursuit did not occur; instead, the guards who had been stationed outside were now in chaos.

After observing closely for a while, Zhou Ke'er roughly understood what was going on—it seemed that on the way here, several guards were escorting people when the detained NPCs fell into a state of severe corruption and transformed into infected individuals, causing chaos in the prison. Presumably, the situation outside the guarded prison was even more chaotic.

But logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case. Since the rulers in the palace took precautions before the chaos occurred, it means that their prediction of the outbreak time should not be too far off. But now the situation has suddenly broken out halfway through, which is full of doubts no matter how you look at it.

and many more...

A thought flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind—although it was unlikely, could it be because of the performance she and the Red Crane had given over the capital not long ago? Would that make the rulers think it was better to let the people be in chaos and unable to attend to anything else than to let them protest and question because of pointless speculation? In that case, their plans would be easier to implement.

Honghe tugged at Zhou Ke'er's sleeve. "What are you daydreaming about? This is a great opportunity. Let's run now."

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632. A Long March

"No, it's nothing... I just suddenly felt a familiar presence coming from afar."

Zhou Ke'er came to her senses and shook her head.

Immediately, the remaining players rushed out of the cell door and scattered without hesitation, fleeing in all directions. The entire cell of prisoners rushed out, and although they didn't appear to be in a unified formation, the sheer number of them created a powerful sense of oppression.

They probably didn't know why the prison was in chaos, but they just felt that this was the perfect opportunity for them to escape immediately.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Zhou Ke'er, along with Honghe and Zhao Ritian, concealed themselves and quietly left from the side.

Zhao Ritian was a little confused: "Are we just going to leave like this? Don't we need to worry about them?"

Zhou Ke'er replied matter-of-factly, "You saw it too, they were running around in all directions just now, there was no way we could control them, right? I don't think that if I shouted for them to stop running like that and to gather together in a more organized way, they would actually come together."

Furthermore, with no clear explanation for what happened, and even the prison in chaos, the capital is even more in turmoil. The outside world is fraught with unknown dangers. In this situation, joining a group of high-profile fugitives running wildly is practically suicide!

Honghe squinted at Zhou Ke'er. She knew very well that although Zhou Ke'er's words seemed to make sense, they were actually completely different from what she was thinking. She was just making up a few words to appease others when asked.

I guess this guy just uses those players as tools. Poor guys, completely manipulated by Zhou Ke'er.

The three concealed themselves, walking silently down the street. Zhou Ke'er frowned, observing her surroundings. The capital, which had been orderly just a short while ago, had fallen to such a state in such a short time; it was completely illogical. If there wasn't something pulling the strings behind the scenes, Zhou Ke'er didn't believe that the evil power had erupted so quickly.

"call out!"

Just then, with a whooshing sound, Zhou Ke'er had already made her move before the sound even reached her ears. She lightly touched the ground with her toes, reached out and grabbed Honghe and Zhao Ritian, and leaped back a large step.

Almost simultaneously, a deep green arrow pierced the ground where Zhou Ke'er and the others had been standing. Judging from its trajectory, if Zhou Ke'er hadn't dodged, she would probably have been pierced through the heart.

A man with sharp ears and long golden hair, dressed in light armor, appeared in front of them. However, apart from his pointed ears, he did not have any other elven features, and his eyes were just like those of a normal person, suggesting that his elven bloodline was not very strong.

He swiftly strapped the bow back to his back, then drew his sharp sword from his waist: "I am Lottie, captain of the Royal Guard. You are here to immediately dispel your invisibility spells and come with me for questioning. Otherwise, I have the authority to kill you all on the spot!"

"Judging from that arrow you just shot, it didn't seem like a warning. If I hadn't dodged it, I would be dead already."

Zhou Ke'er scoffed and pointed to the chaos on the street: "Besides... as the captain of the guard, shouldn't you immediately take action to resolve the chaos in the capital? Just letting them fall into riots and then coming after us innocent and pitiful civilians is a bit too much, isn't it?"

Lottie's expression was indifferent: "Everything was within the plan, and this was a necessary sacrifice. Besides, this was originally your fault. If it weren't for the inexplicable show you put on above the palace, they wouldn't be in this state now."

Zhou Ke'er's smile faded slightly: "Don't talk as if it's really our problem—even if we hadn't acted out that play, they would still have died."

Lottie didn't refute, but nodded: "They'll die anyway. But not so soon."

"Should we be grateful to you? We were originally planning to let them live a little longer!"

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes, and the Jade Trace Sword appeared in her hand.

Lottie looked puzzled upon hearing this, and said matter-of-factly, "Isn't this only natural? If they aren't grateful to us, why should they be grateful to you?"

Honghe coughed and stared with dead fish eyes as she read aloud, “Sophistry! You’ve made a presupposition that the people must be grateful to someone, and if they’re not grateful to you, they should be grateful to us, and if they’re not grateful to us, they should be grateful to you. But clearly, this is illogical.”

Zhou Ke'er nudged Honghe quietly and whispered, "We're here to talk trash, not to debate."

Honghe stared blankly at Zhou Ke'er: "But I exposed his sophistry, didn't that make him lose face too?"

Zhou Ke'er stroked her chin: "It's embarrassing, but if I act like this, that guy will usually get furious immediately..."

As expected, before Zhou Ke'er could finish speaking, Lottie snorted coldly and charged at him without hesitation, sword in hand.

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips. If it were those two elven men who came, she would actually be a little scared, but this guy in front of her...

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared beside Lottie from nowhere with astonishing speed. Then, with a dull "thud," the unsuspecting Lottie was violently sent flying. She not only instantly embedded herself in the wall of a nearby house, but also passed through it without any obstruction, smashing through several walls before finally coming to a stop.

"How dare you attempt to lay a hand on me?! What blasphemy! Who gave you the audacity to do this!"

The figure revealed itself, angrily berating Lottie who had been blasted away. Then, without hesitation, it turned and walked towards Zhou Ke'er, hurriedly saying, "It was my fault that such a lowly fellow disturbed my master!"

Zhou Ke'er's lips twitched.

Good grief, why is Politics joining in at this time? And saying such embarrassing things...

Honghe squinted and quietly nudged Zhou Ke'er, but Bolius, with his head down, didn't see it: "Who... is this? Another rich guy you hooked up with? That's outrageous."

"Hey! What are you saying! Can't people just succumb to my personal charm? Besides, where am I supposed to be hooking up with rich guys... um... where am I supposed to be hooking up with rich guys everywhere!"

Zhou Ke'er retorted with her hands on her hips, then turned to Porius and asked, "You can still recognize me like this? How did you find me?"

Bolyus replied matter-of-factly, "Of course. Appearance is not important. I can sense my master's divinity, so no matter how far away I am, I can find my way here!"

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633. Unable to resist

Of course, this is just an analogy. In reality, Bolius was initially located in the far north of the central continent, near the outer ocean. He had been sensing Zhou Ke'er's divine aura the whole way and had been rushing there at full speed without stopping for a moment.

It's worth noting that Zhou Ke'er moved several times using the teleportation array during this period, forcing Bolius to change direction halfway through his journey. However, no sooner had he changed direction than he discovered Zhou Ke'er's location had shifted again. In just over half a day, Bolius had practically traversed the entire central continent.

However, he would never say these things to Zhou Ke'er to curry favor.

"Crackling..."

Lottie struggled to pull himself out of the wall. He had been momentarily stunned for almost half a minute before realizing what had happened. The situation was utterly unbelievable—he had been blasted away! Without any warning or preparation, and without even being able to defend himself!