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

It's hard to say. Although Zhou Ke'er subconsciously felt that such a person shouldn't exist, he couldn't deny that every organization, in order to be established, must have some powerful force behind it. While the possibility of knowing this in advance through such a force was small, it wasn't impossible.

Although Zhou Ke'er felt that even if such power existed, it shouldn't be used on him like this. It obviously wouldn't make much sense.

Soon, just as Zhou Ke'er was pondering, a human-shaped object slowly rose up from under the front desk.

A man with a completely rotten face—as if he had been gnawed on by some animal and the wound had repeatedly festered and rotted away because it hadn't been treated—stood up and turned to stare straight at Zhou Ke'er and Zhijiansha.

There was a small hole in its throat, from which a thin red tube of flesh extended straight down—if there were still people under that counter, that would probably be the organ that the monster used to feed on or control them.

"Troublesome, let's go to another store."

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips and turned around to leave.

Sand between Fingers stared wide-eyed, pointing at the monster, and said incredulously, "Wh...what? Aren't we going to deal with that guy? Isn't this your shop?! Are we really just going to leave like this?"

"Sand between your fingers, you really are like a cold-cooked rabbit right now. Stupid, so stupid."

Zhou Ke'er sighed helplessly, as if to say, "Why are you asking such a stupid question again so soon?" "Didn't I already say? I'm hungry. Look at this restaurant, does it look like they even have a chef to cook for us? You have to prioritize things, you know."

"Your criteria for prioritizing is so weird!" Finger Sand blurted out, but the next second her eyes widened and she pointed ahead: "Hey, watch out! That guy suddenly charged at us!"

"There's no need to talk about such trivial things. You might as well ask me what we're going to eat later. That's a more meaningful question—like, what foods you can't eat."

Zhou Ke'er answered casually, waving her hand behind her without turning her head. Immediately, the evil energy automatically condensed, binding the monster charging towards them and slamming it down...

"Oh, I forgot. It's my family's property. Never mind, it'd be too much trouble to renovate anyway."

As Zhou Ke'er muttered to herself, the monster that was about to crash heavily to the ground suddenly stopped in mid-air. Then, the evil spirit that was binding it changed from binding to wrapping it up, forming a shape similar to a coffin—or more like… Iron Woman.

Then they snapped shut, and a sickening squeaking sound of flesh and bone being squeezed came from inside.

The last pile of bloody, minced meat was thrown on the ground—it was much easier to clean up this way than to leave several large craters on the ground.

In short, Zhou Ke'er's current strength can probably be considered a threshold that is about to cause a "qualitative change"? Below this threshold, things like these worldly "tricksters" can be easily dealt with. But above this threshold... there are obviously very few ways to deal with them.

However, Zhou Ke'er now possesses a wide variety of skills, and he doesn't know how to take it to the next level. He can only continue to familiarize himself with Tavel's knowledge.

Seeing this scene, Zhijiansha couldn't help but click her tongue in disgust. "Couldn't you use a more elegant method? — And are you sure you won't get arrested by the police like this?"

However, it would only be a little disgusting; the kind of nonsense like screaming "Aaaaah, how could you kill people! They're still human even though they've turned into this!" would obviously not happen to Finger Sand.

None of Zhou Ke'er's teammates are brainless.

"The way you're saying that makes it sound like you're not a member of the Qiao family."

Zhou Ke'er revealed the ugly face of the ZB family: "Do we need to be afraid of this situation?"

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698. Surface

Just as Zhou Ke'er placed her hand on the doorknob, she heard footsteps coming from behind her.

"I apologize for our poor hospitality earlier—but since you're here, why rush off? I've prepared a banquet and look forward to your presence."

A slightly hoarse voice rang out from above. Zhou Ke'er turned her head and saw a figure slowly walking down the stairs leading to the second floor, speaking as he went.

An extremely strong aura of malevolence emanates from this guy. He's dangerous. Although his level of malevolence is far lower than Zhou Ke'er's, his overall strength is clearly comparable. Moreover—he's "weird," purely "weird."

But now he looks presentable, and he's dressed quite formally. Although his appearance is still a bit gloomy, he doesn't look like a good person.

The moment this creature appeared, Zhijiansha, standing beside Zhou Ke'er, nearly bristled. Having only recently begun cultivating, she was no match for such a monstrous existence. She froze on the spot, unable to move, cold sweat pouring down her back. Fortunately, Zhou Ke'er patted her shoulder in time, taking a small step forward to shield her, and Zhijiansha immediately relaxed.

"Hospitality? Perhaps our understanding of hospitality is different? — To seize someone else's place without reason, kill their employees, and even attempt to attack them — is that hospitality? Your bizarre way of treating guests is truly intriguing."

Zhou Ke'er's expression remained unchanged, perfectly capturing the essence of Honghe's style, but her tone was sarcastic and ironic.

The ghost bowed slightly, looking apologetic, and said, "I'm very sorry, you know—some of us ghosts, uh, always can't control our instincts. And... such a fellow should have already received the appropriate punishment, right?"

As it spoke, it glanced at the pool of blood and flesh on the ground, a look of disgust in its eyes.

"Really? I thought you charlatans were irrational and couldn't control your instincts." Zhou Ke'er's lips curled down, revealing a hint of contempt.

However, this did not anger the other party—at least not on the surface—but it shook its head: "You should know that falling into chaos due to a lack of reason and embracing chaos while possessing reason are two completely different things. Regaining reason is an inevitable path for a monster in its growth."

After explaining, it made a "please" gesture: "The banquet is ready, would you do me the honor of joining us? Also—on behalf of the Mystery Order, I have something important to discuss with you."

Well, yet another new organization. Now all these hidden guys are eager to surface, like fish before the rain, aren't they?

"I have no objection, but..."

Zhou Ke'er shrugged, walked towards the ghost, and pointed to the front desk: "Don't forget to pay the money for the business losses and the compensation for the murder. I've already made that ghost pay with its life, but you guys behind it at least have to help it sort out these messes it left behind, right?"

The monster clearly hadn't expected Zhou Ke'er to say these things, and after a moment of surprise, it nodded and said, "Of course—since it's your order."

Before Zhijiansha could figure out what was going on, she saw that Zhou Ke'er had already gone over, so she hurriedly followed—after all, in this kind of weird place, it would be too unsafe not to be by Zhou Ke'er's side.

Before long, the three of them were all seated. The dishes on the table were indeed plentiful; it was unclear whether they had been specially cooked by a ghost or if the chef of the restaurant had been kidnapped.

However, Zhou Ke'er was too lazy to dwell on these things, so she picked up her chopsticks and started eating without any hesitation: "Just say what you want to say, there's no need to wait for me to finish eating. Don't waste time."

Zhijiansha, standing to the side, was dumbfounded—what if there was poison in the food? This question was stuck in her throat, and before she could ask it, she saw that Zhou Ke'er had already eaten a lot, like a glutton. She didn't know what to say for a moment—in addition, she was indeed a little hungry, and she couldn't get a word in edgewise anyway. Helpless, she gave up and started eating and drinking.

"Actually, there's nothing particularly important to discuss. We just wanted to leave you with a good impression on behalf of our organization so that we could continue to work together in the future—but it seems that this step has been a failure so far."

The ghost said helplessly, "You know, the living environment for us ghosts is quite harsh right now, and we are short of talent. Even for something as important as hosting you, we have to use those guys who aren't very rational because of the lack of manpower. I didn't expect things to really go wrong."

"Stop playing the victim. If you want to host me, just pay for the venue and maybe inscribe a spell to ward off unwanted people. What else do you need?"

Zhou Ke'er pouted and tapped the table with her finger: "What kind of talent do you need to receive me? Besides, I didn't see a bunch of ghosts laying out a red carpet for me outside, bowing and scraping to welcome me in."

"No...it's not for this purpose."

The ghost awkwardly turned its head away and explained in a low voice, "It's to prevent those exorcists from disturbing this place, so we have to release a batch of ghosts to attract their attention, or rather... let them accumulate merit points. Otherwise, the exorcists might come knocking on our door while we're chatting."

"Huh? What... you guys are actually really enemies with the exorcists?"

Zhou Ke'er frowned—even though asking this question seemed silly.

"Isn't that obvious! We are the devils, and they are the devil-slayers. If we are not enemies, then who are?"

The strange creature answered matter-of-factly, seemingly puzzled as to why Zhou Ke'er was asking such a meaningless question.

"But behind the exorcists are also great beings, aren't there?" Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes and asked doubtfully.

“Of course we know that. But you misspoke with a word—'also'. Our Mystery Order doesn’t have any great beings backing us up!” the ghost explained pitifully. “We’re just a bunch of ghosts struggling to survive, a group we formed to help each other out. Those great beings don’t care about our lives. They only care about humans.”

Oh, I get it. It means that the great beings have gotten tired of the "ghostly" thing, so now they've just left it aside to fend for itself. It's completely in a state of being unloved and neglected, with no one to back it up, and it's even being used by those who exorcise ghosts to boost their performance.

How tragic.

"Then what use are you to me? I'm also one of the exorcists. Besides..."

Zhou Ke'er looked up at the other person and emphasized, "The exorcists are just people who have become exorcised. Once they have completely degenerated into exorcists, won't they become the people you can recruit? If you think about it that way, the exorcists are just your reserve force."

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699. Nowhere to go

"Of course, these are all irrelevant matters. Whether you lack the ability to do such a thing or simply reject them, it doesn't matter; it has nothing to do with me. The problem now is..."

Zhou Ke'er looked at the ghost opposite her, and before it could answer the previous question, she continued, "Why are you looking for me? In fact, you don't know me at all, right? I can tell."

The creature looked slightly embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and finally shook its head: "I'm sorry, this matter involves the secrets of our organization, and I can't tell you casually for the time being—of course, if one day we achieve a close cooperative relationship, then you will definitely know the truth."

"So there's nothing to talk about?" Zhou Ke'er asked casually, her tone seemingly unconcerned, while she continued to eat heartily without stopping.

The ghost paused for a moment, then said, "We'll have many more opportunities in the future, there's no need to rush. Perhaps you'll understand the reason yourself when that time comes."

Well, why are there riddle-solving people everywhere in this game? Is it because you finally regained your sanity that you can't help but want to show off?

Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow: "Alright. Since you have nothing to say, let me ask a question—in my opinion, given my abilities, what level would I be considered based on what's on the surface in the current reality?"

This was indeed a question Zhou Ke'er desperately needed an answer to. To be honest, he knew very little about it and didn't have a definitive understanding yet. This was extremely dangerous; what if he accidentally fell into a trap one day…

This is not impossible.

The ghost pondered for a moment: "I don't know your true strength, but judging from what you showed when you made your move just now, and from what I instinctively sensed, you should be among the top in terms of strength on the surface, no matter which faction you are compared to."

But you know, for people of our strength, it's one thing to be openly bullied by laymen, but in reality, we don't have much of an effect behind the scenes—of course, your evil rank is high enough, although I can't explain it clearly, but its upper limit can definitely reach that threshold.”

Generally speaking, it was within expectations.

Her true strength might be higher than what the other party claimed—after all, Zhou Ke'er believed she could beat the guy in front of her, otherwise she wouldn't be so confident.

But ultimately, from the moment he first realized he had gained power and began to grow, until now, only a short period of time has passed. Even including the very beginning, it's been less than a month in total, and a great deal of foundational work has been skipped. For everyone else, whether they are demons or exorcists, the long process of going from zero to something and from something to more is something Zhou Ke'er has never experienced. Her journey has basically been one of being empowered, then empowered again, and then empowered once more.

This situation is what has led to Zhou Ke'er's current predicament: although her evil rank is very high, her actual strength is far from matching it.

Just as Zhou Ke'er was lost in thought, the ghost suddenly spoke up and continued, "I'm sorry, it seems the exorcists have already dealt with all the bait I set up and are now heading this way. We can't engage in direct combat with the exorcists for the time being, so I have to leave first. I'm truly sorry for the poor hospitality. As for the compensation you mentioned, I will arrange it immediately after this is over."

As it spoke, it stood up and nodded to Zhou Ke'er, as if to express its apology.

Zhou Ke'er nodded slightly in agreement. In any case, her original purpose was just to eat, and chatting with this guy was just a side thing. She had already gotten the answers to the questions she wanted to ask, so there was no need to force him to stay.

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er had no objection, the ghost seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and immediately turned into a cloud of black mist and disappeared.

Seeing that the ghost had finally left, Zhijiansha, who had only dared to eat in silence, finally raised his head, looked around for a while, and couldn't help but ask Zhou Ke'er, "Goodness, I've never seen more in my entire life than I have today. Can you give me a hint? What exactly is your identity?"

Zhou Ke'er pouted and handed a tissue to Zhijiansha: "Wipe your mouth first. Why do I suspect you've been possessed by Lengchitu today? You used to seem so smart, how come you're so naive now? What kind of identity could I have? Just an ordinary gamer."

"If I believed your nonsense, I'd be the one possessed by Cold-Cooked Rabbit!"

Sand Between Fingers couldn't help but roll her eyes: "I already thought what you were saying in the car about those great beings in the game and the old era was ridiculous enough, but I never thought that such ridiculous things actually exist in reality... Now I have nowhere to go, and you can't just leave me here, can you?"

“If I were to abandon you, I would have already abandoned you back in that department.”

Zhou Ke'er continued to enjoy her dessert, "What, you mean you want to stay here? Let me warn you, things like today happen here from time to time. It's very exciting, not as safe as you think."

With a helpless shrug, she said, "What can I do? I can't go home now, and it would be a real problem if it involved my family. I don't dare to go out and find somewhere to hide by myself. You won't just abandon me, will you?"

"What do you think? Not only that, I also need to teach you about cultivation. With your current strength, you're in danger no matter what you encounter."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the sand between her fingers: "Take that guy you met today who turned into a half-human, half-monster for example. If you had given him another half a day to adapt, or if he had completely transformed into a monster... your shield, which was as thin as a sheet of paper, wouldn't have been enough for him to smash with one hand."

"You're planning to continue teaching me cultivation? Great!"

The sand between his fingers was so happy that he raised his arms and shouted.

Just then, the space around the two of them distorted, revealing a narrow crack just big enough for one person to pass through.

The person who walked out was none other than Ming Mengjing; the exorcist who had just arrived must have been her.

Then it left too early. Mingmengjing's arrival has nothing to do with the other exorcists. The other exorcists are probably still dealing with the other ghosts it left behind.