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

and many more……

Zhou Ke'er suddenly sensed something was off.

It's very strange, really very strange.

Whether it was the black fog that filled the forest from the very beginning, or these strange creatures that have been inexplicably appearing and wandering around in front of us since then, everything is incredibly bizarre.

Feeling numerous inconsistencies, Zhou Ke'er finally managed to get her slightly sluggish thoughts running again, and then discovered a fallacy that she should have noticed long ago: Logically speaking, the black mist should have just emerged from Dragon Sleep Valley at this moment, how could it have spread here so quickly!

Therefore, either this black mist is not the same as the other black mist, but was created by some monster in this forest, or... everything Zhou Ke'er and the others saw from the very beginning was an illusion! It was a dream constructed by combining the superficial consciousness of Zhou Ke'er and the others!

That's where the problem lies! If everything she just saw was from Zhou Ke'er's own subconscious, she should have noticed something was wrong long ago. But because it was mixed with the thoughts of the other people present, Zhou Ke'er only felt that although there were some coincidences, it wasn't that outrageous!

In other words...

Zhou Ke'er suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, what do you think about those monsters turning into human form? Logically speaking, if they were going to transform, they should have turned into tentacle monsters, right?"

Upon hearing this, Cold-Eating Rabbit retorted without hesitation, "What tentacle monster? Zhou Ke'er, what kind of unhealthy things are you thinking about all day long... In a godforsaken place like this, it's normal for strange things that can turn into humans to appear!"

Okay, the evidence is clear right away.

The problem lies with you, Cold-Cooked Rabbit!

You actually caused Zhou Ke'er to see such disgusting insect-men! What is your punishment?

Zhou Ke'er has already written down the cold-cooked rabbit in her mental notebook! She's taking revenge from morning till night!

However, Zhou Ke'er didn't continue speaking, nor did she tell anyone else about her guess. She just frowned slightly and glanced around discreetly: This is bad. If we were trapped in an illusion from the beginning, then the direction we're heading in might not be the direction of Dragon Sleep Valley anymore! Even if we didn't point wrong at the beginning, we can't guarantee that we didn't go the wrong way in the illusion.

Zhou Ke'er subconsciously exchanged a glance with Honghe, only to see Honghe nod at her. Honghe's expressionless face did not express any meaning, but Zhou Ke'er immediately understood—Honghe must have noticed this as well, but just hadn't said it yet.

After all, we don't know how this illusion was formed. If it was formed automatically by the forest being corrupted by evil forces, that would be fine. But if there is a so-called mastermind manipulating it, then it would be terrible if Zhou Ke'er and Hong He blurted out their guesses without thinking.

To make it easier to read next time, you can click the "Add to Favorites" button below to save this reading progress (Chapter 694, 682. "Evolution"...Illusion). You can then find it in your bookshelf next time you open it!

If you enjoy *The Dream of the Mist*, please recommend it to your friends (via QQ, blog, WeChat, etc.). Thank you for your support!

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

683. Truth

"..."

Zhou Ke'er pondered for a moment, then silently severed the simulated senses—the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and tongue—that were transmitted through the sensory organs she had constructed using evil magic.

By abandoning her senses as a "human," Zhou Ke'er repositioned herself as a "monstrous entity," directly perceiving her surroundings through this uncanny ability.

Suddenly, everything in front of me changed.

There was no pitch-black fog, no strange "people," and it seemed as if they were still in the place where they had just entered the forest.

And, most importantly—a huge, deformed and disgusting monster stood calmly and steadily in front of them, with five disgusting, slimy tentacles extending from its body, covering their heads like facehuggers—it might look a bit like a virtual reality game headset.

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but feel a chill. The thought that she had been hugged by this monster for so long made her feel nauseous.

He immediately shattered his head with a "boom," transforming it into a pile of unformed evil entities. Before the creature could react, he broke free of control, rushed in front of it, and transformed his hands into sharp spikes, piercing straight into its body. He then made a small opening at the tip of the spikes and began rapidly absorbing the creature's evil energy from that opening.

The monster was still engrossed in slowly devouring Honghe and the others after pulling them into an illusion, probably wondering why Zhou Ke'er had suddenly become uncontrollable in the illusion, and hadn't even realized what was happening. By the time it realized what was going on, it was already too late to turn the tide—after all, Zhou Ke'er's evil absorption technique was extremely effective against these non-high-level evil creations.

After a nauseating, eerie wail, the monster, stripped of its malevolent support, collapsed to the ground, turning into nothing more than a pile of flesh.

At the same time, the others who were trapped in the illusion also woke up one after another, and felt a moderate nausea and dizziness in unison - this was caused by the absorption of a large amount of energy - and after seeing the situation on the scene and realizing that their heads had been covered by the monster's tentacles, they felt extremely nauseous both physically and mentally. Cold-cooked Rabbit and Dragon Proud even began to gag.

Honghe didn't have a particularly strong reaction. After all, she had already anticipated this situation, but she just didn't have any immediate countermeasures. Naturally, apart from physical exhaustion, she didn't feel much else.

As for Chen Tian—logically speaking, she shouldn't have been unaware of what had just happened, and she should even have had a way to resolve it, after all, she was a protagonist-level character who transmigrated from the old era—but the problem was, ever since she met up with the others in the Grand Duchy of Fuya, she seemed to have been lost in thought, completely ignoring her surroundings and barely speaking a word the entire way. Clearly, even just now, she was still immersed in her own world, lost in her own thoughts.

Perhaps she felt that such a monster posed no threat to her, or that Zhou Ke'er and the others were enough to solve the problem.

But it was clear that there was a real problem – they had only just entered the territory of the Duchy of Dragon, and before they had even taken a few steps, they had already fallen under the control of some kind of monster without realizing it. It was only after so long that they felt something was wrong, and they were almost drained of their energy, dying before they even got started!

Although Zhou Ke'er quickly dealt with the monster after realizing the truth, there were still two problems. First, what if she hadn't realized it? Second, this was only the outermost edge of the Duchy of Dragon, and such an unpredictable monster had already appeared. Wouldn't the further they went in, the stronger and more difficult the monsters they would encounter?

As Zhou Ke'er pondered, she restored the disintegrated, monstrous head to its original state. However, she only restored part of the mimicry hearing and the mimicry vision of one eye. The other eye was filled with black mist and was directly composed of the unformed monstrous form. Through it, she could directly perceive the real external situation, so she would not encounter the situation before, where she was trapped in an illusion and it took her a long time to react.

Cold-Eat Rabbit struggled to sit up, looking disgusted at the monster lying on the ground as nothing but a pile of lifeless chunks of flesh. He couldn't help but ask, "What happened? This is still where we first entered the forest?! We were attacked by this monster as soon as we came in, and then we fell into a hallucination?!"

Zhou Ke'er nodded. "Obviously, that's true. And my suggestion is—we need to speed things up."

He sensed that countless more troublesome beings were slowly awakening in this forest, and if he were any slower, he might run into these damned things.

If they were to run into them, they would be troublesome, but they certainly wouldn't be stronger than Luo Yeer. They should still be within the range that Zhou Ke'er and the others could handle. However, the biggest problem is that this would delay things, and time is exactly what Zhou Ke'er and the others need right now.

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

"!"

Long Aotian suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction, "There, a strange aura suddenly erupted!"

They had only just stepped into the forest when Long Aotian sensed an eerie aura emanating from afar.

He had a feeling that he should go there and see what was going on.

Dior nodded in agreement: "Yes, I felt it too—so should we go around there, or..."

"Of course we should hurry over and check the situation!" Long Aotian answered without hesitation—although reason told him that he shouldn't waste time on this and should rush to Dragon's Rest Valley, for some reason, he had a strong premonition urging him to go there—besides, that eerie aura seemed somewhat familiar…

Since Long Aotian had spoken, the others naturally had no objections—after all, Edwards and Elon had come with him and didn't sense anything sinister, so they naturally wouldn't object. Zhang He and Chunkunqiufei were also with him, and since Chunkunqiufei was always slacking off, he didn't want to have a say. And as long as it wasn't something bad, Zhang He wasn't likely to refuse, so he didn't offer any opinions either.

When Long Aotian and his group finally arrived at the place where the evil spirits had appeared, they only found the monster's corpse lying on the ground, nothing but lifeless chunks of flesh.

“Footprints…the group that killed this monster went in this direction.”

Long Aotian pondered for a moment: "This is the direction leading to Dragon's Rest Valley. They should be players too! Let's hurry and catch up!"

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

684. Behind the Scenes

Just as Zhou Ke'er and the others were on their way...

In some unknown, empty void, as space slightly distorted, a figure appeared before Rae.

Reyer glanced up at the newcomer. Although he couldn't see the man's expression, he could hear a slight emotional fluctuation in his voice: "You shouldn't have shown up here so directly and without any regard for others, Reyno. It's dangerous, very dangerous."

Reno's figure was ethereal and he didn't speak. To prevent being eavesdropped on, he simply reached out and touched Rael's forehead, whispering in his mind, "Of course I know—that's why I'm only coming to find you now. I'm here to inform you that it's time for our plan to truly begin."

"...Are you sure now is the right time?" After a long silence, Rae couldn't help but ask in his mind the same way: "The one you have high hopes for, the one who underwent the same evil transformation as you... 'that guy' is far from growing up, and Chen Tian has not yet recovered all his memories, and his strength is less than one-hundredth of what it used to be. Not to mention the others... I don't think now is a good time."

Renault didn't refute, nodding in agreement with Rier's statement, but then shook his head: "You're right, I know all that. But the problem now is, we can't wait for that so-called 'good time' anymore. We're out of time."

Rae lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Is the hope that slim?"

Renault did not hesitate: "Perhaps it's even more unlikely than you think."

"You could at least lie to me a little—just say we still have a good chance," Rae said with a helpless smile. "Aren't you afraid that I've been a double agent for so long, I might actually switch sides now?"

“I’m afraid. But there’s no point in lying to you. You can see perfectly well what the situation is like.” Renault stared intently at Rieu. “It’s not that no one else has chosen to give up. There are many former colleagues who are content with the status quo, and as you said, quite a few have already chosen to defect. I respect their choices, and now I respect yours.”

"...Using such rhetoric, Renault, you're being despicable!" Rae gritted his teeth. "What can I do now that you've put it that way? Tell me, what are you planning to do? At least give me a hint first, okay?"

Renault blinked innocently, then replied in a serious tone, "The world those beings chose this time was obviously chosen intentionally, but there's nothing we can do. Knowing it's a conspiracy, we can only jump in—Huang Quan's 'spirit' is sealed and slumbering here, and I've already given 'that thing' to Zhou Ke'er. As long as she gets close to the sealed place, 'that thing' will automatically awaken Huang Quan, and what we need to do is to rescue her before those beings make their move."

Upon hearing this, Rael's face, hidden beneath the illusory veil, revealed a look of surprise: "The 'spirit' of the Yellow Springs?! No... I thought you had secretly rescued the 'spirit' of the Yellow Springs long ago and temporarily entrusted it to 'her'?! She clearly does have the aura of the Yellow Springs on her, doesn't she?"

“It’s not that easy to secretly rescue them. You’re well aware of the disparity in strength between us and the enemy—but since they chose to do this this time, it means they share the same doubts as you. In this respect, my little trick has probably succeeded to some extent.”

Renault shook his head: "What resides in her is not the 'spirit' of the underworld, but the weapon of the underworld. The Grim Reaper's Scythe, the handle most tainted with the aura of the underworld—since she won't need that thing after she awakens, it's better to make use of it."

Rae suddenly realized, but then frowned: "Wait a minute, who among you could come up with such a plan? You even said you came up with it? Don't be ridiculous, do you think I don't know you? This isn't some kind of clever trick—it feels a bit like Pompey's... Hey! Could it be that that guy is really not dead yet?!"

Renault raised an eyebrow: "Don't be so perceptive unnecessarily..."

"Goodness, why don't you reveal more inside information to me! Since Pompelo is still alive and is even strategizing behind your backs, I can rest assured! Isn't this a great hope? Once Huang Quan is resurrected, won't Chen Tian, ​​Pompelo, and Huang Quan be able to reunite?"

Rayle's eyes widened: "That was a good move!"

Renault narrowed his eyes: "It's about time to leave. I shouldn't stay here any longer."

After saying that, Renault gradually disappeared into a spatial distortion—his expression instantly turned serious—he had completely deceived Rae, and intentionally at that.

Everything he said from beginning to end was a lie.

Pompey is indeed dead. Although he has a backup plan, it won't be completed so quickly. Pretending that he is still alive is more of a deterrent, a way to buy time until he is truly resurrected.

They had secretly rescued Huang Quan's "spirit" long ago, and what is now sealed and buried in that world is not Huang Quan, but something else entirely.

Clearly, Renault was deliberately saying those lies to Rieu.

He didn't believe that a simple mind link could stop those eavesdroppers; it was just for show.

He was certain that those beings would only secretly gather intelligence, not kill him on the spot—that wasn't their style, and if they wanted to, Renault would have been dead countless times over.

Shortly after he left, Rae finally spoke again: "Why are you still hiding? You're making me very embarrassed."

"Hey~ I just happened to be passing by and wanted to have a drink with you, but I didn't expect to hear such exciting news~ But don't worry, I won't tell anyone!"

A single ahoge (cowlick) popped out of thin air, and Nyarlathotep, carrying a bottle of liquor, skipped and hopped over to Rae, grinning from ear to ear, looking incredibly happy: "Pomberlo and Chen Tian are still alive? Those guys didn't tell me, and I was heartbroken for so long. Looks like humans are pretty capable after all! Well done, you guys did a great job!"

Rayle's lips twitched, but he didn't answer.

Suddenly, Nyarko seemed to have a flash of inspiration. She clenched her right fist and slammed it into her left palm, saying, "I've got it—I'm going to help them revive Yomi! That would be more interesting! An epic crossover event between the previous and current versions, yay! A new event has begun! They'll definitely find it very interesting!"

Only you would find this interesting!

Rae quickly stopped him: "No! You can't go on stage. Have you forgotten the rules? If you go on stage, everything will fall apart. Once you start acting recklessly, the other beings will follow suit!"

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

685. Deceiving the heavens to cross the sea

The night passed without incident, and everyone continued on in silence. Fortunately, they did not encounter anything more troublesome than the monster they had met at the beginning, and they made it through the forest without any major incidents.

As dawn broke, the distant canyon came into view. The canyon was completely shrouded in black mist, obscuring everything inside. The mist continued to spread outwards, though it seemed to have only just filled the canyon and hadn't yet extended much further outwards.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Cold-Eating Rabbit even plopped down on the ground, saying weakly, "Finally here, finally here! I was worried about what would happen if we went the wrong way. Thank goodness! I'm exhausted, I really can't walk anymore. I didn't sleep all night, and I barely ate anything yesterday. I'm so tired and sleepy... Before we enter Dragon's Rest Valley, shall we rest here for a bit?"

Although Zhou Ke'er wanted to go and check the situation immediately, it seemed that everyone else was in a similar situation to Leng Chi Tu, and they probably didn't have the strength to continue high-intensity operations—indeed, human strength has its limits.

With no other option, Zhou Ke'er and the others simply set up camp on the spot and rested for a while. Moreover, Long Aojiao, who had come along, had the foresight to bring some dry food, which she stored in her storage ring—after all, game backpacks cannot store non-item equipment from the mod world, so these storage items were still somewhat useful—they could help the tired and hungry group recover a little.

However, Zhou Ke'er did not need to resupply. He gazed at Dragon Sleep Valley from afar, feeling as if something within him was resonating with some being within the valley.