126 COI

After suspecting that Zaratulstra had replaced the teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes and Star Tutoring Classes to target the image of Gehrman Sparrow, who didn't actually exist in the dream city, Lumian and the others discussed this for quite a while, but still couldn't figure out the significance and purpose of doing so.

They decided to write a letter, which Franca and Jenna would take to Star Dream Provisions Store tomorrow to mail out, to see what opinions the Major Arcana card holders would give.

As they stood up, preparing to leave the rented apartment in Xinhong District, Franca remembered something and curiously looked at Lumian. "You said earlier that Li Keji's pregnancy was because Grimm's cognition, the Omebella bloodline in you, and the Celestial Worthy's subconscious taking dominance because of Mushu Hospital's environment, equating you with the Child of God Omebella in the dream, making your casual comment 'he's already pregnant' become reality. So, as the Child of God Omebella, can you now use the Beyonder powers of a Planter, Apothecary, and Heretic Spellmaster pathways?"

Franca's eyes gleamed, feeling this had a bit of a "I guess that went well" flavor to it.

Of course, this "I" referred to the dream subconscious.

As long as the dream subconscious believed it, anything could happen!

Lumian tried to see if he could use the abilities related to Vampire, Harvest Priest, and Heretic Spellmaster, but all attempts failed.

"It doesn't work." He shook his head.

Before Franca could respond, he added thoughtfully, "Maybe it's possible in Mushu Hospital."

As Franca nodded in agreement, Jenna reminded Lumian, "If that's really the case, frequent visits to Mushu Hospital might cause you to become more and more like Omebella, until you're completely equivalent."

Lumian pondered for a few seconds, then said gravely, "It's a possibility."

Franca immediately hissed. "How sinister is the Great Mother's style, always making people fall into traps unknowingly? Sometimes, being vigilant seems useless…"

At this point, Franca answered her own question, "Judging by the name, perhaps the Great Mother symbolizes the 'yin'—'darkness' in the term 'yin-yang'…"

…

The next day, which was Sunday, Lumian again brought Ludwig to Dream Tutoring Classes.

While sending the child into the classroom, he discreetly observed the front desk, every teacher he encountered, and Anderson Hood with his Eye of Calamity.

Except for the latter, the mercury-colored river of fate corresponding to the others all showed a black color representing death at some point in the past. Some of these black patches had become blurred, while others were still relatively clear, flowing forward with the illusory river, getting further and further behind, becoming harder to see.

They are indeed reborn people… Lumian didn't engage in conversation with Anderson Hood, but stepped back and sat in his usual spot.

Just as he was about to contemplate how to handle this situation, he suddenly saw Zhou Mingrui, wearing a loose sky-blue T-shirt, walking towards him.

How dedicated, to still remember to come for Business English class after witnessing Zaratulstra being shot and observing Mr. Cui… Lumian mused, standing up to greet Zhou Mingrui.

As fellow employees of Intis Group who had met more than once, this was expected courtesy.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingrui returned the greeting.

Just when Lumian thought he would smoothly turn into the classroom, Zhou Mingrui stopped, right in front of him.

Zhou Mingrui looked around and asked, "Has Mr. Da resigned? I haven't seen him every time I've come recently.

"You know Mr. Da, right?"

"Yes, Da Nizi. I brought my child here to enroll after seeing the flier he handed out," Lumian answered simply.

He hadn't expected Zhou Mingrui to initiate casual conversation with him, and even ask about the Oracle Danitz.

Stimulated by the Zaratulstra incident, has Zhou Mingrui started to more actively explore the hidden anomalies around him, more boldly engaging with us problematic people, and thus discovered that Teacher Da from Dream Tutoring Classes hasn't appeared recently? This is good news! Hmm, there's also a downside, if he keeps investigating like this, who knows when my team and I might be kicked out of the dream without warning, just like Mr. Cui… Lumian's thoughts raced, forming a rough judgment.

Before Zhou Mingrui could ask further, he sighed and said, "Mr. Da didn't resign, he passed away."

"Ah?" Zhou Mingrui's gaze suddenly froze.

His shock and surprise showed on his face.

This was also the expected reaction of a normal person hearing such news.

"When did this happen? What happened?" Zhou Mingrui didn't hide his astonishment.

Lumian glanced towards the front desk.

"I heard Ms. Ai say that he seemed to have encountered a psychopathic killer and was strangled to death.

"At first, Ms. Ai and Mr. Anderson thought he was just missing, and because they didn't have much confidence in Mr. Da's ability to survive alone, they quickly reported it to the police. Later, after searching, the police found Mr. Da in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital, in the form of a corpse."

Lumian's words were all information that Ms. Ai Nana had previously mentioned and could be found online, so he wasn't worried about being kicked out of the dream again because of this—after re-entering the dream, he planned to behave for two or three days in front of Zhou Mingrui.

"Killed…" Zhou Mingrui's eyes flickered as he fell into deep thought.

"Yes, the body was discovered in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital," Lumian deliberately emphasized.

He was trying to guide Zhou Mingrui to notice that there might be problems with Mushu Hospital through normal conversation.

"The killer deliberately sent Mr. Da's body to the underground morgue?" Zhou Mingrui expressed his confusion.

Lumian shook his head. "It might not have been the killer, it could have been a passerby who discovered the body and sent it there."

"How is that possible? A passerby who sees a body would call the police directly." Zhou Mingrui increasingly felt that there was something fishy about this matter.

"But why would the killer have to send Mr. Da's body to the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital? Did he think it wouldn't be discovered if hidden there? What made him think that…" Lumian was responsible for raising questions, emphasizing Mushu Hospital, but not providing answers.

For him now, providing answers was too dangerous.

Zhou Mingrui nodded thoughtfully, then pointed to the Business English classroom. "I'm going to class now."

"Alright," Lumian sat down accordingly.

He leaned against the classroom wall, his thoughts gradually spreading:

The secret replacement of teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes and Star Tutoring Classes is really difficult to resolve…

If this were in the real world, I would find an opportunity to blow up the underground part of Mushu Hospital, completely eliminating the hidden danger. But in the dream city, with the underground part of Mushu Hospital being the psychological trauma of a great existence and an infiltration point for the power of other great existences, I'm afraid even the owner of Star Dream Provisions Store and Stianos wouldn't dare to venture there easily, even if they weren't restricted…

Using the Eye of Calamity to distinguish whether the target is a reborn person, should we kill all those who have been replaced, like Huang Jiajia, Ai Nana, and others, to eliminate them?

I'm confident I could cover up the traces and not be discovered if I kill one, but killing so many? Do they think the dream city's police department and Chief Yagates are dead? This would be openly challenging the dream's main consciousness, and I might be identified the next day…

Moreover, with Huang Jiajia and others being related to the identity of Gehrman Sparrow, if they all exit the stage of the dream city, it might bring about unfavorable changes, or cause the subsequent awakening plan to be doomed to failure from the start…

Report it? Without sufficient clues, it might end up like the previous report about Zaratulstra, with no response at all…

What clues could make the police investigate deeply and discover the abnormalities?

I hope the Major Arcana card holders can provide good ideas…

Hmm…

As Lumian's thoughts became more and more scattered, he caught sight of Zhou Mingrui coming out of the classroom with his phone, walking towards the restroom.

Lumian tilted his head, using his Hunter ears to eavesdrop on what Zhou Mingrui was saying from a distance.

He heard Zhou Mingrui ask in surprise, "Weren't you scheduled to come on Monday? Why has it been postponed to Wednesday?"

From the other end of the phone, a female voice faintly reached Lumian's ears.

"I thought about it, you have to work during the week and can't take me out, so I might as well just go directly to report in."

Zhou Mingrui was silent for a moment, then said, "I have annual leave."

"It's fine, you can take me out on the weekend." The female voice on the phone said cheerfully.

Zhou Mingrui sighed and said, "Alright then, what time is your train on Wednesday?"

Hearing this, Lumian roughly understood what was going on.

According to the information provided by the Major Arcana, Zhou Mingrui's sister Zhou Shasha had been admitted to a university in Yangdu and was about to come here to study.

Zhou Shasha will arrive in Yangdu next Wednesday? As one of the dream manifestations closest to Zhou Mingrui, what changes will her arrival bring? Lumian raised his right hand to rub his temples, feeling that one wave of events was following another without pause.

…

Star Dream Provisions Store.

Franca and Jenna, who had taken a taxi, walked into the dimly lit interior of the shop.

The former politely asked the shop owner if they could mail a letter, while the latter lingered in the entrance area, both examining the antiques on the shelves and observing the situation outside.

After getting the shop owner's permission, Franca turned to the shelf and dropped the letter in her hand into the silver-inlaid black mailbox.

As her gaze swept across, she noticed that the Pride Armor that once belonged to her was standing quietly on the edge of the inner side of the right shelf.

The surface of this silver-white full-body armor was somehow stained with patches and spots of dark red blood. Just seeing it gave Franca a feeling of rapidly weakening, as if her serious illness had returned.

It's become even more sinister… Franca didn't dare ask the shop owner what had happened to the Pride Armor, and quickly averted her gaze, walking towards the door.

At this moment, Jenna raised her hand slightly, discreetly pointing to the diagonal opposite side of the street.

There, perched on the branch of a street tree, was a white pigeon.

-x-X-x-

Luo Shan sat in a café near the police station, monitoring Franca and Jenna's whereabouts using a white pigeon she had temporarily modified.

She had drawn her own mark on the pigeon, as well as a hidden miniature camera. By wearing sunglasses with a receiving device drawn on them, she could obtain the corresponding signal. At the same time, she could use the connection between a Painter and a painting to drive the corresponding mark, thereby directing the pigeon.

Of course, this had to be maintained within a certain distance.

After seeing Franca and Jenna come out of Star Dream Provisions Store, Luo Shan quickly had the white pigeon follow them.

As she followed, she found that the two targets were approaching the police station area, which was where she was.

Luo Shan's heart skipped a beat.

Fortunately, her anxiety didn't last too long. Franca and Jenna only came to this street and didn't actually walk to the café door.

Phew… Just as Luo Shan breathed a sigh of relief, she saw Franca and Jenna, who were already five or six steps away from the café, disappear into thin air simultaneously.

Wh— Luo Shan's pupils suddenly dilated.

The next second, two people sat down opposite her.

One was Luo Fu, the other was Jian Na.

Luo Shan's movements froze instantly, as if she had turned into a statue.

"Were you monitoring us?" Jenna asked in a friendly manner.

Franca put the two mirrors in her hand on the coffee table, creating a Mirror Maze.

"I-I wanted to see what you were really doing, if you were deceiving me, if you were bad people." Luo Shan's voice gradually rose.

It's still the aftereffects of the talk about the dreamscape… I wonder if the Mirror Maze can deceive a Reporter's ability to explore the truth? Probably not… How to guard against this kind of prying in the future? Communicate important things via phone and delete chat records afterwards using the Information Shredder? No, except for me, Lumian, Jenna, Anthony and Ludwig don't speak Chinese, phone communication is done through voice conversion, which can also be heard… The Bottle of Fiction probably can't isolate it either, unless it's the Realm of Mysteries… Can we only communicate in places far away from a Reporter in the future? Franca thought of many things in an instant.

Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration and looked at Luo Shan.

"You can follow us openly if you want, you can watch from the side if you want to see, it's just that some things will be more dangerous, we may not even be able to protect ourselves well. Um, if we're going to face this kind of thing, we'll tell you in advance, and you can weigh whether you want to follow or not."

Luo Shan didn't expect Franca and others to be so honest, and was momentarily speechless.

Franca took the opportunity to say, "We're going to a place next to confirm whether certain people have become more fake. Do you want to go?"

Confirm if they've become more fake? Luo Shan suddenly felt a bit scared, but she didn't want to deceive herself forever and not uncover the answer.

After a moment's hesitation, she said, "I'll go."

Franca laughed. "It's good that you have the ability to explore the truth, you can intuitively help us confirm, without us having to devise dangerous plans."

She didn't know yet if Lumian's Eye of Calamity could discover the problems with Huang Jiajia, Ai Nana and others, so she planned to use a Reporter's ability.

This way, they might even discover the aspects in which the fake people were fake, and thus obtain key evidence that could be reported to the police.

Moreover, Jenna had previously told Franca that since Luo Shan already knew the current world was a dream and was in a state of unwillingness to believe, full of doubt but unable to completely deceive herself, they shouldn't delay, lest she did something stupid because of it, or her mental state became problematic and was exploited by that evil god of the Fantasy Association.

Jenna felt that, having already chosen to be honest and truthful, they should continue this style. On the one hand, stabilize Luo Shan's mental and emotional state through psychological treatment, and on the other hand, let Luo Shan face the truth step by step under their control, confirm the facts, and not let her imagine, try, or do things blindly, which could likely bring greater disaster.

In other words, when problems had already appeared and couldn't be avoided, it was better to place them under one's own control and release them with precautions, rather than letting the problems develop on their own.

So, for something that could have been done with the Mystery Prying Glasses, they chose to ask Luo Shan for "help".

…

Outside Star Tutoring Classes.

Franca and Jenna brought Luo Shan to a white car that was unlocked and unoccupied.

Anthony, who had received a WeChat message from Franca, was already on standby nearby, ready to treat Luo Shan if she had a mental breakdown.

"This is?" Luo Shan didn't expect there would be such a car waiting by the roadside for them to use.

"Our companion drove it over; to convenience our observations," Franca explained simply.

Luo Shan asked in understanding, "Lumina who played cards with us?"

That's how Franca and the others had introduced her.

"Sort of," Jenna had no intention of letting the Spectator onto the stage.

After a while, they saw Huang Jiajia walk out of Star Tutoring Classes.

"It's her," Franca quickly informed Luo Shan.

Luo Shan raised her right hand through the car window, pinching the sides of her eye sockets.

She then saw the target person overlapping with windows, street trees, and cars.

She also saw a large number of invisible threads floating out from the target's body, extending towards the sky.

These threads were tied to the target's joints and organs.

With the pulling of these invisible threads, the target made corresponding movements, walking towards the nearest bus stop.

It's just like a puppet on strings… Luo Shan's hair stood on end.

When she had explored the truth before, she hadn't seen similar situations with people around, or rather, similar situations weren't obvious enough to be noticed by her.

Taking advantage of the time she had, Luo Shan observed the passing pedestrians.

She saw that these pedestrians also had a large number of invisible thin threads floating towards the sky, but these threads were all very loose, without the tension of pulling the human body to make movements.

"…" Luo Shan's body suddenly tensed, then slumped, leaning sideways against the backrest of the car's rear seat.

She ended her exploration and said as if sleep-talking, "It's indeed more fake…"

"What are the specific details?" Jenna tried to alleviate the emotional impact on Luo Shan by discussing business.

Franca sent a message to Anthony: "Closely monitor the target's state."

Luo Shan described in a floating voice the scene she had seen and the comparison between the target and normal people.

During this process, Anthony, who was in disguise, pretended to be a middle-aged man smoking by the roadside, drawing closer to Luo Shan, and quietly using Placate.

After Luo Shan finished speaking, she fell completely silent, not saying a word.

Jenna and Franca looked at her sympathetically, temporarily not starting a new topic.

They were waiting for Anthony's notification. Only when Anthony said it was okay would they speak, and only when Anthony said what aspects to talk about would they construct corresponding language.

"I want, I want to go to the North City Cemetery," Luo Shan finally spoke.

"Okay," Franca immediately agreed.

At the same time, she received a message from Anthony, who had turned his back and used voice input: "The target's emotional state has stabilized to some extent, but there are still remnants of negativity, pessimism, and despair.

"Don't talk about anything, any casual words in the current situation might stimulate the target. Only answer when she asks."

Franca forwarded these messages to Jenna, then started the car and drove onto the main road.

The car was silent again, with only the faint sound of the engine.

After the vehicle reached the North City overpass, Luo Shan, who seemed to have become a clay puppet, muttered to herself, "In realit—in that world outside, is there another me?"

"Yes," Jenna answered.

She strictly followed the Psychiatrist's instructions, only answering Luo Shan's questions without any expansion.

Luo Shan fell silent again.

Finally, the car arrived at North City Cemetery and stopped in the parking lot.

Luo Shan pressed the door handle, paused for a few seconds, and said, "I'll go in by myself, you don't need to follow."

"Okay," Jenna and Franca responded in unison.

Luo Shan opened the car door and put one foot out.

At this moment, she half-turned her body and asked with dark eyes, "Are you here to awaken Zhou Mingrui?"

"Yes." Jenna didn't hide it.

On this topic, she felt it necessary to say a few more words, so she added, "If Zhou Mingrui isn't awakened, everything will be destroyed when the apocalypse comes, including this dream.

"And the apocalypse is only a few years away."

Luo Shan looked at the seat cover in front of her with empty eyes, as if wanting to confirm details, "Why did Zhou Mingrui need to sleep?"

"To fight against an evil force," Franca explained concisely.

This was consistent with the core of the story she had made up before.

Luo Shan maintained her previous posture and asked subconsciously, "Has that evil force been defeated, so Zhou Mingrui can be awakened?"

Wh— Hearing this question, both Franca and Jenna were shocked.

They looked at each other, unable to answer Luo Shan's question for a moment.

Yes, if the Celestial Worthy's consciousness has been defeated, Mr. Fool could wake up on his own. If He hadn't been defeated, how would forcibly awakening him be essentially different from the situation before he went to sleep?

Or does the act of "awakening" itself symbolize the defeat of the Celestial Worthy's consciousness?

Mr. Fool wakes up while the Celestial Worthy is still asleep, will there be a change in the balance of power, with the scales of victory tilting towards Mr. Fool?

If this guess is correct, that's fine, but if it's wrong, does it mean our direction isn't right?

The Major Arcana have always focused on "awakening", but should we actually weaken the Celestial Worthy first?

"We're currently still in the stage of confirming the situation, we're not sure if that evil force has been defeated yet," Franca answered truthfully.

Luo Shan bit her lip and didn't ask any more questions.

She got out of the car completely and walked into the cemetery's attached flower shop, buying two bunches of white chrysanthemums.

She walked slowly forward, her figure gradually disappearing among the tombstones.

-x-X-x-

At Xinhong District, in the rented apartment.

Franca recounted the results of Luo Shan's observations and the questions she raised, finally saying, "The more I think about it, the more I feel something is amiss. The Major Arcana clearly mentioned in their materials that Mr. Fool went to sleep to fight against the Celestial Worthy's consciousness, so why are they solely focused on awakening Mr. Fool instead of helping to weaken the Celestial Worthy? And we too, with sufficient background information, never considered this direction before. It's as if we've been bewitched, no, as if we've been hit with a spell of stupidity…"

At this point, Franca suddenly paused.

Everyone present instantly thought of one word: Fooled!

In the unspeakable silence, only Ludwig was completely unaffected, munching on his boiled corn.

After serious contemplation, Jenna said, "Perhaps the act of awakening Mr. Fool itself will weaken the Celestial Worthy and strengthen our advantage."

Lumian shook his head. "Even if this symbolism holds true, we shouldn't have completely overlooked the direction of weakening the Celestial Worthy to help Mr. Fool awaken."

"Does that mean this direction is correct? So the dream fooled everyone to prevent us from thinking in this direction." Franca suddenly became excited.

"Not necessarily," Anthony replied, "That Celestial Worthy is the being at the very top of the Swindler pathway. Initially fooling us to prevent us from considering the possibility of weakening Him might be to make us believe it's the only correct path after we've made some progress in our later explorations, causing us to rush headlong into it."

"The enemy's opposition indicates we're doing the right thing, but what if the enemy is deliberately opposing… Feigning weakness when actually strong…" Franca understood Anthony's meaning and said frustratedly, "How should we choose?"

"Why choose?" Lumian laughed, "Awakening Mr. Fool and weakening the Celestial Worthy are two things we can do simultaneously."

He stood up and began pacing in the small living room, speaking as he walked, "Let's re-analyze the possible goals Zaratulstra wanted to achieve with those actions:

"Contacting Zhou Mingrui was likely to find a way to make Zhou Mingrui drink the subsequent potion, become a Witch, thus creating a fixed, long-term Mirror Person, and to some extent shake Zhou Mingrui's self-perception;

"The merger and restructuring negotiations with the Intis Group were to obtain more money and resources, and using the mirrored Roselle to erode and influence Huang Tao was likely for the same purpose;

"Eliminating and replacing the dream manifestations related to Gehrman Sparrow's life experiences might be to weaken The World, indirectly weakening Mr. Fool…

"These actions currently don't show any intent to awaken the Celestial Worthy, though accumulating money and resources could barely count…"

As Jenna, Franca, and Anthony nodded slightly, Lumian began to contradict himself, "No, creating a fixed Mirror Person for Zhou Mingrui could also be for the Celestial Worthy to gain more initiative through the Mirror Person, gradually gain the upper hand, and thus awaken. Eliminating the dream manifestations related to Gehrman Sparrow is to weaken Mr. Fool, but replacing them with his own people and taking away Jia Yu is to later confuse the real with the fake, making The World identity point to the Celestial Worthy instead of Mr. Fool? This is also a kind of awakening…

"However, these awakenings all come with weakening Mr. Fool, the two can't be separated."

Lumian's point was that both weakening the Celestial Worthy and awakening Mr. Fool need to be done, and sometimes they are actually different aspects of the same thing.

Franca concurred succinctly, "But how can we weaken the Celestial Worthy?"

The Major Arcana card holders didn't know about the Celestial Worthy's past situation, nor did they mention which character in the dream city was closely related to the Celestial Worthy. Franca couldn't find a target to weaken the Celestial Worthy, there was no starting point.

"Currently, only Peng Deng is suspected to be related to the Celestial Worthy, but it can't be confirmed yet," Anthony said."What can be confirmed is that Peng Deng definitely has a special status in the dream city," Lumian nodded slightly.

This conclusion was drawn from Anthony's encounter and Peng Deng's rental of the magic mirror Arrodes.

Lumian then said, "Actually, there is one place that can be confirmed to be closely related to the Celestial Worthy."

Seeing Franca and Jenna's thoughtful expressions, Lumian directly gave the answer.

"Mushu Hospital!

"Without a close relationship, without a prior cooperation intention, the Celestial Worthy wouldn't send the corpses of Gehrman Sparrow-related dream manifestations to the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital, letting them 'reborn' there, and that kind of 'rebirth' would also cause the corresponding manifestation to completely become the Celestial Worthy's sole puppet."

"The underground part of Mushu Hospital…" Franca said, unable to help but draw in a sharp breath.

That was where the psychological trauma of a great existence materialized, the key node for other great existences to infiltrate their power, the place where the Celestial Worthy created exclusive marionettes, a place that even Sequence 0 true gods dared not easily intrude!

Lumian chuckled in response. "I'll be contacting an important person from Mushu Hospital tonight to see if I can obtain any useful intelligence."

…

Late at night.

Luo Shan still chose to lie down on the bed, trying to enter deep sleep.

If the world doesn't explode, I won't take a holiday. Even if this is really a dream, before the dream shatters, I still have to go to work when I need to… Luo Shan murmured, half self-mockingly and half self-comfortingly.

Then, she closed her eyes, and after a long while, finally suppressed her troubled thoughts and emotions, falling asleep.

This time, after falling asleep, she didn't immediately enter her Shaman world to continue guarding the semi-transparent barrier, but became muddle-headed, just like when she slept before becoming a Beyonder.

She vaguely heard a voice echoing in her ears:

"Truth can become false, falsehood can become true. The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings…

"Truth can become false, falsehood can become true. The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings…"

…

At the edge of Crimson Moon Hospital, in a secluded corner growing many mushrooms.

Lumian, transformed into a Demoness of Despair and dressed in a blouse, patiently waited for a while. He saw Grimm suddenly appear not far ahead with a person, as if walking into the real area from another world.

"Respected Child of God, this is Lu Yong'an, the dean of obstetrics at Mushu Hospital," Grimm introduced his companion, "She is also a child of the Mother."

Lu Yong'an appeared to be in her forties, with fair skin and a beautiful face, round like the full moon, looking gentle and motherly.

She was carrying a medical box and bowed slightly to Lumian, saying, "Praise the Mother, and praise you, Child of God."

The important person from Mushu Hospital that Lumian had previously said he wanted to meet was precisely this obstetrics dean, Lu Yong'an—Grimm was very true to his word. As soon as the one-week deadline was met, he sent a message to Lumian, reminding him that tonight he should go help Li Keji with reproduction, both mystically and scientifically.

Lumian hadn't rushed to abort the fetus in Li Keji's belly, precisely because he wanted to fool Grimm first, to avoid reaching the point of needing to put on an act to cover up. After this, he would have at least two to three weeks to perform the abortion.

Hearing Lu Yong'an's greeting, Lumian, with his long black hair, nodded slightly and said, "Let's go in and take care of business first."

He didn't rush to inquire about the internal affairs of Mushu Hospital from Lu Yong'an.

This had to be done slowly, with proper groundwork, thinking through which things the Child of God should already know and not need to ask about.

"Yes, Child of God," Grimm and Lu Yong'an responded in unison, their expressions turning serious.

Lumian walked towards them and grabbed their shoulders.

Then, he activated the black mark on his right shoulder, using Spirit World Traversal to appear directly in Li Keji's hospital room.

Li Keji, who had been touching his belly lost in thought, sat up straight, and the jellyfish-like mushroom on the ceiling sank down slightly.

Seeing Li Keji looking at him with slight surprise, Lumian winked his left eye at him, hinting that there was a reason for this and to play along for now.

Li Keji showed an expression of sudden realization. "You're here to help me?"

Hearing these words, Grimm couldn't help but turn his head to look at the Child of God's stunningly beautiful face:

When did she manage to deceive Li Keji?

Grimm and Lu Yong'an had both anticipated needing to use their abilities to control the target.

Lu Yong'an sat down beside Li Keji's bed with her medical box and began a serious examination.

After nearly a minute, she turned her head and said, "The fetus is very healthy and developing well and quickly."

Grimm immediately gave a thumbs up to the Child of God, praising again, "As expected of you!"

Lumian was already numb to this, nodding slightly, focusing intently on watching Lu Yong'an take out a syringe, draw some kind of drug, and give Li Keji an injection in the belly.

Then, Lu Yong'an's maternal radiance became even more obvious as she began to virtually caress Li Keji's belly with both hands.

Lumian saw Li Keji's belly begin to swell and enlarge at a visible rate. In just a minute or two, it looked like a six-month pregnancy.

"I can feel her heartbeat." Li Keji touched his belly again.

Lu Yong'an put away her instruments and drugs, and smiled at Lumian.

"Child of God, come again in two weeks and we can enter the stage of imminent birth."

"Excellent." Lumian nodded insincerely.

I'll abort it shortly! The earlier it's aborted, the safer!

"We'll be leaving now." Lumian gave Li Keji another meaningful look.

Then, he teleported back to the previous secluded corner with Lu Yong'an, who had walked back, and Grimm, who was already by his side.

Lumian didn't give Grimm and Lu Yong'an a chance to say goodbye and leave. He looked at the latter, slightly raising his chin, and said, "How are things going inside Mushu Hospital?"

He planned to ask vaguely at first, in the tone of a Child of God wanting to get feedback from his subordinates, and then selectively delve deeper based on Lu Yong'an's response.

Lu Yong'an replied with a kindly manner mixed with obvious respect, "The underground area is almost finished being renovated, and above ground it's still just us few and those who frequently enter and exit the underground."

The underground is almost "renovated"? Those who frequently enter and exit the underground don't count as people? Lumian raised an eyebrow.

-x-X-x-

Lumian thought of the Mushu Hospital orderly he had encountered before and the situations he had observed during his several visits to Mushu Hospital. He felt that those who frequently entered and exited the underground of Mushu Hospital might truly no longer be considered human.

More than this, what concerned him more was that the underground part of Mushu Hospital was nearly "renovated".

When that happens, what changes would occur?

What does this symbolize?

Amidst his swirling thoughts, Lumian wished he could go blow up the underground of Mushu Hospital right now and be done with it.

Unfortunately, leaving aside whether he had the ability to break into Mushu Hospital's underground and completely destroy it, just the fact that the above-ground part of Mushu Hospital was still relatively normal, with many patients and ordinary medical staff coming and going, prevented him from acting rashly.

There was no way to blow up the underground part without affecting the above-ground area!

That would turn into a full-blown terrorist attack, causing Lumian to be rejected by the dream's main consciousness to the greatest extent, likely preventing him from entering again afterward.

First think of a way to get Mushu Hospital to stop admitting patients for a few days and transfer away the inpatients? This would be very difficult… Lumian looked at Lu Yong'an and carefully asked, "Are there still corpses waiting for 'rebirth' in the underground morgue?"

"Not at the moment. No one has brought corpses needing 'rebirth' over these past couple of days," Lu Yong'an answered truthfully.

After Zaratulstra and Mr. Cui were kicked out of the dream, did the corresponding activities stop? This shows we're doing well… Theoretically, the Celestial Worthy should have more than just these few subordinates, and should have found a way or medium for subordinates to enter the dream city… Were the others kicked out before, like the Major Arcana and the former Lucky Coin holders? That's right, there's no reason why the Celestial Worthy would only recently have subordinates who could enter, no reason why in the past only the Celestial Worthy could kick people out and Mr. Fool couldn't… Lumian nodded slightly and changed his question.

"Who is the current dean of Mushu Hospital?"

He wasn't afraid of Lu Yong'an becoming suspicious because of this inquiry, as he had previously asked Xu Xinyang and secretly asked Grimm, and even Grimm, a child of the Great Mother, didn't know.

"You don't know?" Lu Yong'an looked at Lumian's face in surprise.

She then turned to Grimm and asked, "You didn't tell the Child of God?"

Grimm shook his head. "I don't know either. No one ever told me."

Lu Yong'an was stunned for a moment, then showed an expression of understanding.

"It's normal that you don't know. But it doesn't matter. The previous dean has left, and not knowing who it is doesn't affect anything. The new dean will arrive in a few days."

"Who is the new dean?" Grimm asked on Lumian's behalf.

Lu Yong'an shook her head. "It's not clear yet. We'll know when they arrive. Maybe it will be a surprise."

A surprise? For us, it's probably going to be a shock… Lumian made a sound of acknowledgment and said, "Have you been to the underground areas other than the morgue?"

He wasn't trying to pry specific information about Mushu Hospital's underground from Lu Yong'an, but rather intended to judge from her answer whether Beyonders blessed by the Great Mother could infrequently enter the non-morgue areas of the underground.

"I've been there, but can't go deep, can't go to B2." Lu Yong'an didn't think there was anything wrong with the Child of God asking this, after all, the underground part of Mushu Hospital didn't belong solely to the Great Mother, other great existences also exerted influence there.

Even children of the Great Mother can't go to B2? What's there? Lumian nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Are the Mother Tree's followers also doing something?"

As the Child of God of the Great Mother, he had to show a bit less respect for other existences.

"Yes, but I don't know what," Lu Yong'an took out her phone and said with a smile, "Child of God, shall we add each other on WeChat? If I discover any issues in other areas of the underground later, I'll tell you immediately."

She really knows how the world works… Lumian let Lu Yong'an scan his WeChat QR code.

Her WeChat name was just her real name.

Lumian didn't rush to look through Lu Yong'an's Moments. He casually said, "Have you found Zedus?"

Zedus was supposedly the true name of the Abscessed Hand, and the remnant consciousness in Omebella's remains had once shouted this name at Lumian.

Lumian was trying to probe whether the children of the Great Mother had heard of Zedus.

"Not yet." Lu Yong'an lowered her head, "Mother is very disappointed."

Zedus really is closely related to the Great Mother… Lumian stopped there, not asking further.

Seeing this, Grimm respectfully asked, "Child of God, starting tomorrow you're on the night shift rotation. If you don't want to work it, I can find an excuse to switch you to the morning shift."

"Night shift is fine," Lumian chose not to switch.

This way, he could effectively increase his activity time during the day and evening.

Then, he glanced at the bright moon high in the sky and said to Grimm and Lu Yong'an, "Head back."

"Yes, Child of God!" Lu Yong'an and Grimm responded in unison.

Lumian didn't see them off, but teleported away first.

About a quarter of an hour later, his figure appeared again in this secluded corner, and Grimm and Lu Yong'an were already gone.

Only then did Lumian take out his phone and start looking through Lu Yong'an's Moments.

The Moments of this obstetrics dean of Mushu Hospital mostly shared obstetrics and gynecology knowledge, instances of receiving thank-you banners, achievements of Mushu Hospital, and updates about her own children. There was nothing that particularly caught Lumian's eye.

Because she had set it to only show the most recent month, Lumian could only return to the top of her Moments and look at her background settings and personal signature.

The background was set to a blurry silhouette holding a baby, and her personal signature was: "Be a guardian for women and children."

All very fitting for her identity and nature… Lumian put away his phone and teleported to Li Keji's hospital room.

Li Keji wasn't surprised by this beautiful woman's return. Looking at her, he hesitantly asked, "Do we really have to abort it?"

As the fetus grew, his maternal radiance seemed to have intensified.

Lumian chuckled. "You must have already felt the frenzied absorption of your flesh and spirit by the child of the evil god, right?"

"Yes." Li Keji nodded honestly.

Lumian continued, "And don't you want to see what innovative qualities might emerge from the crossbreeding of the evil god's offspring and the mushroom?"

He was now very adept at grasping Li Keji's obsessions and weaknesses.

This was an Instigator.

Li Keji's eyes immediately lit up. "Alright, let's begin!"

Could you at least hesitate a bit to make me feel your maternal radiance is genuine? Lumian grumbled inwardly as he walked to Li Keji's bedside, extended his right palm, and said in a moderate tone, "It will be quite painful. Bear with it."

"Okay." Li Keji stretched out his arm, letting it hang in the air.

The fungal filaments hanging down from the jellyfish-like mushroom quickly floated over, wrapping around Li Keji's arm, their tips piercing into it.

"It has some anesthetic ability," Li Keji happily explained to Lumian.

Lumian didn't speak, letting his palm ignite with quiet and sinister black flames.

He then pressed his right palm against the surface of Li Keji's belly, and the Demoness's black flames immediately bored into it.

Li Keji's highly protruding belly suddenly began to writhe, as if something inside was struggling desperately.

Along with this struggle, Li Keji's face twisted slightly. Even with the anesthesia, he was experiencing unspeakable pain.

Meanwhile, the Demoness's black flames gradually dimmed and thinned. Even as Lumian continued to pour them in, they couldn't truly burn away the vile thing in Li Keji's belly.

Fortunately, Lumian had never thought from the beginning that the Demoness's black flames could achieve the goal, because one of his objectives was something that the Demoness's black flames, which only burned spirit and life, couldn't accomplish.

He used the Demoness's black flames first mainly to probe.

Suddenly, the quiet black flames in Lumian's palm became agitated, as if madness, violence, and destruction were being generated!

Flames of Destruction!

As the Flames of Destruction poured in, the clothes on Li Keji's belly abruptly burst into flames, as did his skin and flesh.

The fetus in his belly pushed upwards, as if trying to escape the burning of the Flames of Destruction, but currently unable to break free from the constraints of the mother's body, it ultimately collapsed back down.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian heard illusory sounds of weeping and screaming. He felt as if a vast green wilderness had appeared around him, where every flower and blade of grass first grew vigorously, full of life, and then was engulfed by sweeping black flames.

"Ah!"

Li Keji also screamed in agony, the pain of having his abdomen burned through was more than most people could endure.

However, Lumian had already used the Bottle of Fiction to seal off this hospital room, allowing only faint traces of Li Keji's voice to seep out.

This wasn't something worth paying attention to in the psychiatric ward.

Finally, the fetus in Li Keji's belly was burned to ashes, and these ashes, affected by the convection winds from the high temperature of the flames, swirled up into the air, flying towards the ceiling and scattering around.

"Completely eliminated." Lumian stepped back, preparing to take out a healing agent for Li Keji to drink.

Li Keji glanced at his charred abdomen and said with extreme disappointment, enduring the pain, "It's all burned away? There's nothing left?"

"I initially only wanted to burn its life and spirit, leaving the corpse, but as you saw, that didn't work," Lumian explained sincerely.

"Ah…" Li Keji waved his hand, directing the filaments of the jellyfish-like mushroom to move to his abdomen, absorbing the charred parts and promoting flesh regeneration.

Looks like I don't need to provide treatment… Lumian gave a deep look at the jellyfish-like mushroom that had descended.

After Li Keji's wound had healed and the pain had subsided, Lumian nodded slightly and said,

"Rest more these couple of days, then please speed up the pace of your research. My vegetative friend might not be able to wait too long."

"I can start again tomorrow!" Li Keji's enthusiasm for experimentation reignited.

"Thank you." Lumian politely left the room.

Returning to the rented apartment in Xinhong District, he lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

In his hazy state, he heard crying.

The crying voice was calling "Mommy" "Mommy", filled with intense pain, unwillingness, and resentment.

-x-X-x-

"Mommy…"

"Mommy…"

Lumian heard crying calls coming from the surrounding darkness, shrill and pitiful, as if clawing at his heart and soul.

Suddenly, black flames that suppressed madness and destruction ignited on Lumian's body.

These flames spread to the surroundings, burning away the darkness and everything hidden within it.

The crying calls abruptly became piercing, then quickly dissipated.

Lumian let out a cold laugh.

"If you had called me 'Daddy', I might have felt a bit reluctant and affectionate, but 'Mommy'? Who are you trying to fool?"

Just as he finished muttering this to himself, the surrounding darkness shattered inch by inch.

Lumian then awoke, opening his eyes to see the ceiling with its hanging chandelier, hidden in the deep night.

Was I just dreaming?

The fetus in Li Keji's belly died at the hands of its 'mother', its resentment unresolved, it latched onto me, and I thoroughly burned it away?

Your 'mother' is Omebella, what does that have to do with me, Lumian?

Lumian grumbled a few words, reached for his phone, selected "Intis Group Grimm", and used voice input to say: "I heard the cries of my child, who encountered a disaster leading to death.

"Someone must have helped Li Keji abort."

After sending this WeChat message, Lumian copied the content and sent it to Lu Yong'an as well.

Within ten to twenty seconds, Lu Yong'an replied: "Should we go to Crimson Moon Hospital now?"

Lumian brought the phone to his mouth, shook his head and said, "It's too late, the matter is already over.

"Rushing over now could very likely lead us into a trap set by the enemy.

"Since the matter can't be undone, let's wait until tomorrow, or the day after, until we're sure there's no ambush around Li Keji, then go investigate the situation, find the culprit, and think of ways to remedy this."

"Wise of you, Child of God." Lu Yong'an replied in a formal tone.

At this time, Grimm also responded, expressing the same meaning as Lu Yong'an. Lumian chose to copy and paste what he had said.

After reassuring Grimm, Lumian was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly saw a new message from Lu Yong'an: "Child of God, I just saw someone standing outside the hospital from my window."

"Who?" Lumian understood that the reason Lu Yong'an mentioned this must be because she recognized the person, or they were very important.

After a few seconds, Lu Yong'an replied: "It's Zhou Mingrui."

Zhou Mingrui? Such a strong initiative, only learning about the Oracle's corpse appearing in Mushu Hospital's underground morgue during the day, and wanting to sneak in to investigate at night? Isn't this too rash? Or is it just a preliminary observation? Lumian became fully alert, all traces of sleepiness gone.

He brought the phone to his mouth again and used voice input to say: "Don't worry about it for now, notify me when Zhou Mingrui enters the hospital."

…

Outside Mushu Hospital, Zhou Mingrui, still wearing a sky-blue T-shirt, pretended to make a phone call while casually surveying his surroundings, focusing on the emergency center.

After learning about Da Nizi's death and confirming the relevant details through public reports, Zhou Mingrui felt that Mushu Hospital seemed to have significant issues, especially the underground morgue.

So, when night fell deeper, he took a taxi here, planning to pretend to seek emergency treatment while actually taking a tour of Mushu Hospital to see if he could discover anything.

He hadn't planned to investigate the underground morgue today; he didn't want to take potentially significant risks before gathering sufficient information.

While saying words like "okay," "no problem," "alright," "can do," and "that's it," Zhou Mingrui's gaze swept across the emergency center, across the patients and family members coming and going, but he couldn't see anything unusual.

This wasn't actually his first time at Mushu Hospital. He had come for treatment twice before, as it was one of the closest hospitals to Intis Group and his residence. It had only been open for a few years, so whether for emergency or outpatient services, there weren't many people, no need to queue for long, and no worries about not being able to make appointments online.

The district-level hospital closer to his residence, he felt, wasn't very reliable, while the other well-established hospitals were always overcrowded.

The only difference from last time is that Mushu Hospital's reputation is growing, and more people are coming for treatment… It's a good thing I recovered midway from having some health issues after listening to heavy metal and was thinking of coming here for treatment because there weren't many people… Zhou Mingrui recalled his experience of seeking emergency treatment half a year ago, as well as the incident a few weeks ago when he took sick leave to come to Mushu Hospital, but his illness got better before he even reached his destination.

Thinking of this, he suddenly had a realization.

That sick leave made me miss the formal meeting with Zaratulstra…

And I didn't actually enter Mushu Hospital…

My hearing that song 'Advance' wasn't a coincidence, the melody and sound of that song were mixed with mystical powers?

Does this mean that Zaratulstra and Mushu Hospital really have issues?

But when I came half a year ago, nothing happened, I didn't notice anything unusual…

Are the problems at Mushu Hospital gradually worsening?

As Zhou Mingrui muttered to himself, his gaze moved up from the emergency center to the entire building.

Suddenly, he heard his own heartbeat.

Thump!

Thump!

Zhou Mingrui inexplicably felt fear, making his heart feel as if it had been violently squeezed by an invisible hand, uncontrollably speeding up its beating.

Thump!

Thump!

He felt as if something he feared and dreaded most was hidden in that building, as if it were the source of his fear.

There really is a problem… Zhou Mingrui's pupils rapidly dilated.

Half a year ago, he had also come for emergency treatment at night, and had also looked at Mushu Hospital's main building, but at that time he didn't have any feeling that terrifying things were hiding inside.

Zhou Mingrui steadied himself, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing.

When his heartbeat calmed down, he looked at the Mushu Hospital building again.

Thump!

Thump!

He once again experienced a sudden burst of fear, instinctively believing that deep inside Mushu Hospital were things he didn't want to face and was afraid to encounter.

Zhou Mingrui subconsciously wanted to turn and leave, but ultimately endured.

Just do a preliminary observation, just do a preliminary observation…

Avoiding won't solve the problem, avoiding won't solve the problem…

As he muttered to himself, Zhou Mingrui's right palm, not holding the phone, naturally hung down, clenching and unclenching, unclenching and clenching.

After about ten seconds, he hung up the phone, took a step forward, and walked towards the entrance of the emergency center.

…

In Room 2303 of Dechuang Garden.

After Franca and Jenna fell asleep, they quickly gained lucidity.

This was something that inevitably happened when Beyonders entered Luo Shan's Shaman world, and neither of them was surprised.

But in the next second, what met their eyes was not the frozen storm, wandering Astral Projections, and semi-transparent barriers, but a dimly lit corridor.

The walls of the corridor were painted white, giving off a slight green tinge under the dim light.

"Where is this?" Franca blurted out in astonishment.

Where has Luo Shan's Shaman world gone?

Amidst her surprise, Jenna thought of a possibility. "Could something have happened to Luo Shan? Because of confirming that Huang Jiajia and others were more fake?"

That would make Luo Shan further face the fact that this was a dream.

"But didn't Anthony say that Luo Shan's emotions had stabilized to some extent?

"Did she experience some shock after going home?" Franca responded with confusion.

"Anyway, let's find Luo Shan first. This might be the Shaman world after some change." Jenna looked around and concentrated on listening.

Faced with a situation different from usual, Franca instinctively put her hand into her Traveler's Bag, preparing to take out her Beyonder items.

Suddenly, she paused. "No, that's not right!"

Seeing Jenna turn her gaze towards her, Franca said with a serious expression,

"The Traveler's Bag is still here, and the items inside are still there."

Jenna's gaze instantly froze, understanding what Franca meant: Only Astral ProjectionS could enter Luo Shan's Shaman world to fight monsters, and Astral Projections obviously wouldn't carry a Traveler's Bag and corresponding items. Even if they did, it would only be something conjured by the dream, with no actual ability!

"This isn't Luo Shan's Shaman world? What exactly have we encountered?" Jenna furrowed her brow.

She tried to leave this place through Cogitation, to make her Astral Projection return to her body.

But this had no effect.

"We're not Astral Projections on an excursion, entering Luo Shan's dream or Shaman world. We've been directly transferred to this place," Franca gave her conclusion, "How is this possible? I didn't feel anything at all…"

Just as she finished speaking, she suddenly heard Luo Shan's voice coming from a room ahead.

"No, no, I refuse!"

A few seconds later, the door of that room was pulled open, and Luo Shan, wearing pajamas, rushed out.

Luo Shan saw Franca and Jenna, stopped in her tracks, and asked in surprise, "You're here too?"

Franca and Jenna first lowered their heads, examining their own clothes, finding that they were both wearing nightgowns, then Franca addressed Luo Shan, "Where is this? Why shouldn't we be here?"

"This is my dream… Did I dream about you?" Luo Shan looked bewildered and confused.

Franca and Jenna exchanged a glance, then carefully asked, "What did you dream about?"

"I dreamed that someone was whispering strange words in my ear, and I dreamed of many fragmented scenes. There was a pregnant woman with a big belly, it seemed like the flesh on her face and one eyeball had been clawed off, with head-like lumps growing on both sides of her shoulders. There was also a man whose heart had been dug out, and the cries of infants…

"Finally, I dreamed of this corridor, dreamed that I was in a room, and a voice told me…" Luo Shan suddenly stopped as she recalled her dream.

"Told you what?" Jenna pressed.

Luo Shan hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "It said, said it could help me masquerade as the genuine article, replace the me outside, so that even if the dream shatters, I could live on truly…

"I-I couldn't accept that, how could I, how could I harm an innocent person?"

Hearing Luo Shan's words, Franca and Jenna's pupils dilated simultaneously.

The former swallowed hard and asked, "Do you remember the strange words at the beginning of the dream?"

Luo Shan tried her best to recall. "It seemed, seemed to be 'Truth can become false, falsehood can become true. The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings…'"

At this moment, Jenna and Franca both seemed to turn into statues.

Franca suddenly "woke up" and said in a deep voice, "Quickly, let's confirm where this place is!"

"Isn't this my dream…" Luo Shan said softly.

"Are you usually this lucid in your dreams?" Jenna asked rhetorically while looking for identifiable signs.

"That's true…" As Luo Shan muttered in confusion, Franca and Jenna simultaneously discovered a bulletin board on the wall ahead.

The two strode forward, rushing over, and with the help of the dim light, they immediately saw large characters in a certain part of the bulletin board: "Mushu Hospital."

-x-X-x-

Mushu Hospital?

Franca and Jenna suddenly felt as if they had been struck by lightning, a tingling sensation rapidly shooting up from their tailbones to the backs of their heads.

How did they end up at Mushu Hospital?

Was this real or fake?

Franca didn't need to take out a mirror and use Magic Mirror Divination to get an answer. Her spiritual intuition had already told her that this was most likely the real Mushu Hospital!

Although she didn't understand how she and Jenna had been sleeping peacefully in Room 2303 of Dechuang Garden and then unknowingly arrived at Mushu Hospital, she chose to trust her spiritual intuition.

Jenna had a similar judgment. After exchanging a glance with Franca, she stood still, closed her eyes, and quickly entered a Cogitative state, imagining herself standing on the edge of a cliff.

In her imagination, she leaped off, jumping towards a bottomless abyss.

She fell faster and faster, but there was no shattering of darkness, no waking up startled from a dream.

Jenna opened her eyes and slowly shook her head at Franca.

Her meaning was clear: here, they couldn't exit the dream city and return to the real world!

Hiss… Would the above-ground floors of Mushu Hospital have similar restrictions? This might be in the underground area of Mushu Hospital… Franca instantly came up with a new speculation.

Her already highly tense mental state drew even closer to its limit.

"What's wrong?" Luo Shan still looked bewildered.

Hearing Luo Shan's question, Franca suddenly had a series of thoughts:

Just now, Luo Shan said this was her dream…

But this is the real Mushu Hospital, quite possibly the underground part of Mushu Hospital…

Did her dream connect to this place, transferring Beyonders within a certain range here?

Why could it connect, why could it transfer us?

Wait, according to our previous judgment, every character in the dream city is constructed by the dream subconscious based on its own cognition and social relationships. Luo Shan is the same, and the dream subconscious is a blend of Mr. Fool's subconscious and the Celestial Worthy's subconscious. In other words, Luo Shan is equivalent to a part of the dream subconscious, equivalent to a division of Mr. Fool's subconscious.

She developed psychological trauma from the shock that the current world is a dream city, which is equivalent to a part of Mr. Fool's divided subconscious developing psychological trauma, while the underground area of Mushu Hospital is where Mr. Fool's psychological traumas converge and manifest…

This connects everything together. Hmm, the psychological traumas manifesting in the underground area of Mushu Hospital should not only be from Mr. Fool, but also include those of the Celestial Worthy. More accurately, they come from the dream subconscious, which is formed by blending Mr. Fool's and the Celestial Worthy's subconsciouses. My goodness, will we encounter the Celestial Worthy's psychological traumas later?

However, this also has a good side. If we know what the Celestial Worthy's psychological traumas are, and can escape alive, we could deduce ways to weaken the Celestial Worthy.

Hmm… Purely having mystical similarities and close mystical connections is not enough for Luo Shan to bring me and Jenna to appear out of thin air in the underground area of Mushu Hospital. There needs to be a force to push, to utilize…

At first, Luo Shan heard 'Truth can become false, falsehood can become true. The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings'… This indicates that she has actually been targeted by some faction, the problem has been identified, but that faction wanted to fish or wait for an opportunity before taking action?

Zaratulstra's group? No, if it were them, Zaratulstra would have absolutely guarded against the possibility of Zhou Mingrui being invited to eat at the hot pot restaurant…

As thoughts flashed through Franca's mind, she didn't dare waste time on deep thinking and analysis. She carefully chose her words and said to Luo Shan, "This might be the underground part of Mushu Hospital, and it's not something you dreamed up, it's real."

Without waiting for Luo Shan to ask further questions, Franca made up a reason based on her recent speculation. "There's likely an enemy hidden in or near your room who, while you were sleeping, exerted influence and used your Shaman world to transfer us here out of thin air."

Luo Shan blinked and said, "No wonder at first it was like my usual dreams, but then I became more and more lucid…

"Why bring us to the underground of Mushu Hospital? Is there a big problem here?"

As the two conversed, Jenna searched through her Traveler's Bag.

She originally wanted to make a phone call or send a WeChat message to try to call for help or contact Lumian, but she and Franca had put their phones beside their pillows before sleeping, not holding them tightly or carrying them on their persons. Therefore, they were both currently "phoneless".

Jenna took out the Ice Mirror Charm with only one use left and held it in her palm—she had another Ice Mirror Charm that could be used four times, which Lumian had found an opportunity to remake for all team members after being kicked out of the dream the day before yesterday.

"I don't know, I'm only sure that it's very dangerous here, we need to leave as soon as possible," Franca replied to Luo Shan, looking back and forth. "Let's quickly find the elevator lobby and go up to the first floor by elevator or stairs."

Luo Shan's spirits also tensed up as she followed Franca's actions, surveying their surroundings.

At this moment, Jenna activated the Ice Mirror Charm to see if she could leave the current area through the mirror she carried.

But after being enveloped by the charm's light, she found that the world behind the mirror was deep and dark, giving her an extremely dangerous feeling.

She didn't dare to pass through the glass mirror surface and enter the mirror world.

"The mirror world is also abnormal," Jenna raised her head and said to Franca.

As she spoke, the Ice Mirror Charm in her hand turned into sparkling fragments, quickly scattering and disappearing.

"That's normal," Franca wasn't particularly surprised by this. "In a place like this, maybe we can only leave through normal means and predetermined exits. Let's go find the elevator lobby now."

Luo Shan first made a sound of agreement, then remembered her ability and asked with some expectation, "Do you have any paint and brushes? Pencils or pens would work too."

"You want to draw a door to get out?" Jenna understood.

"Yes." Luo Shan nodded heavily.

Franca frowned slightly and said, "Are you sure the door you draw will lead to the upper levels of Mushu Hospital or the entrance, and not to other areas of the underground part?"

"I can draw the door of my home, that way we can return home, but there's a distance limit. I'm not sure if the distance between Mushu Hospital and Dechuang Garden meets the conditions…" Luo Shan's voice gradually lowered.

Franca quickly made a decision.

"Let's first look for a real exit, first find the elevator lobby. If we can't find it, or if we're trapped, then we'll risk using your drawn 'door'."

Seeing Jenna nod in agreement, Luo Shan could only temporarily abandon the idea of drawing a door to exit.

After giving Luo Shan a fountain pen and a sharpened pencil, Franca turned around, partly relying on observing the environment and partly following her spiritual intuition, and walked towards the other end of the corridor.

Soon, the three saw a door, a double wooden door with glass.

Franca, walking in front, brought her face close to the glass on the door, trying to observe the situation behind it.

But beyond the glass was pitch black. Even with a Demoness's night vision, she couldn't clearly see what was hidden inside.

Franca felt as if her eyes were covered by a black cloth, rather than the corresponding environment losing light.

After performing a simple Magic Mirror Divination, Franca stretched out both hands and pushed open the large double wooden doors.

What lay ahead was not an extension of the corridor, but a dimly lit hall with similar double wooden doors at the far end.

What Franca, Jenna, and Luo Shan noticed first was not these, but the corpses hanging from the ceiling.

They were gently swaying.

As they swayed, some of the bodies half-turned, allowing Franca and the others to clearly see their appearances.

There was Ai Nana, the principal of Dream Tutoring Classes, Huang Jiajia, and other teachers from the Dream Tutoring Classes that Jenna had seen before.

"Mmph…" Luo Shan instinctively wanted to scream, but was quickly muffled by Jenna's hand.

"How is this possible?" Franca's scalp tingled.

She knew that the dream manifestations of Ai Nana and Huang Jiajia had essentially died and might have been hung up like the Oracle Da Nizi before, but she never imagined they would still be hanging, hanging together, densely packed like wind-dried cured meat.

"They're hanging here? Then who are the ones outside?

"Didn't their corpses gain 'new life' and run out?

"Lumian said their fates were also connected…"

Jenna had similar questions, and she thought of a possibility.

"Manifestation of psychological trauma?"

Yes, the underground area of Mushu Hospital is where the dream subconscious's psychological traumas manifest. The psychological trauma created by Ai Nana and Huang Jiajia being hung up and the "rebirth" of corpses running out could exist simultaneously and occur in parallel… Franca accepted this explanation and had no intention of delving deeper into the truth right now.

She said to Jenna and Luo Shan, "Let's go through, to the door on the other side."

Luo Shan, encountering such a horrifying scene for the first time, was completely at a loss and could only choose to follow Franca and Jenna's lead, passing through where the hanging corpses were less dense.

Wind occasionally blew through the hall, causing the corpses to sway back and forth, sometimes swinging left and right, nearly brushing against Luo Shan's head several times.

Luo Shan used all her strength to keep herself from reacting excessively.

Finally, they "squeezed" through the hanging corpses and reached the double wooden doors representing the exit.

After going through the process and getting the same result as before, Franca once again stretched out both hands and pushed open the doors.

Ahead was a corridor, an extremely dimly lit corridor.

At the end of the corridor stood a blurry figure.

Franca and the others simultaneously raised their guard, carefully passing through the wooden doors and entering the corridor.

The scene before their eyes gradually became clear.

They could now clearly see that blurry figure: it was a giant mushroom, over two meters tall!

The top of the giant mushroom was blood-red, interspersed with white patterns. Its body was composed of countless similar small mushrooms, their patterns collectively depicting a handsome yet strange face. On each side, identical mushrooms extended out, forming slender arms.

Smack!

The double wooden doors behind Franca, Jenna, and Luo Shan closed.

-x-X-x-

Seeing that bizarrely shaped giant mushroom person, even Franca, a veteran gamer, felt a sense of morbid curiosity and horror.

My goodness, what kind of monstrosity is this?

As expected of something evolved from a great existence's psychological trauma, who knows if it's from Mr. Fool or the Celestial Worthy…

As similar thoughts flashed through her mind, Franca and Jenna tacitly split to the sides, one hiding in the shadows, the other concealing her form.

Luo Shan had never cooperated with them in Beyonder combat before, and this was her first time encountering a monster without barriers separating them. Moreover, this wasn't the domain of her Shaman abilities, so she was momentarily at a loss.

She instinctively turned around, wanting to run back to the previous hall, moving so fast she left an afterimage in place.

However, although she chose the double doors behind her, she was shocked to find herself rapidly approaching the blood-red giant mushroom person with white patterns.

At the same time, Franca emerged from the shadows.

She felt the shadows she was hiding in strangely come alive, as if trying to control and erode her.

The next second, she and Luo Shan saw the giant mushroom person suddenly swell and grow larger, a giant lava sword burning with pale blue flames coalescing in its hand.

The giant mushroom person took a step closer, swinging down the great sword that seemed formed of red-hot lava.

Franca didn't dodge backward, but instead shot forward, lowering her body. Before the lava sword could strike, she darted past the scorching heat waves to the mushroom person's side.

Jenna's body quickly outlined against the ceiling position, holding a brass-colored revolver aimed at the giant mushroom's head.

Bang!

The giant mushroom person's sword strike hit the inexperienced Luo Shan, shattering this Painter like a mirror.

The Mirror Substitution that Jenna and Franca had previously made for Luo Shan finally came in handy.

The lava sword didn't stop after shattering Luo Shan, heavily striking the corridor floor and sending out pale blue sulfur fireballs.

Rumble!

Jenna had just pulled the trigger, firing a bright yellow bullet at the giant mushroom person's head, when she was engulfed by the chain reaction of explosions.

Most of the corridor, including Franca and the giant mushroom person itself, was affected by the explosion created by over a dozen sulfur fireballs.

Franca and Jenna's Mirror Substitutions were passively triggered, their bodies first thinning, then developing cracks, and finally shattering into pieces.

When the explosive wind in the narrow environment subsided, the figures of Franca, Jenna, and Luo Shan outlined at the giant mushroom person's original position, at the end of this corridor, next to the other set of double doors.

They saw that half of the giant mushroom person's head had collapsed, oozing dark red blood, white mycelium, and tiny spores. They saw its body similarly torn open by the explosion, revealing large wounds filled with both mycelium and flesh.

As the flesh writhed and the mycelium grew, the giant mushroom person's wounds rapidly healed.

Seeing this, Franca's scalp tingled. She turned around, pushed open the door, and rushed out of this corridor.

She felt that fighting in this narrow environment wasn't advantageous for them, while the terrifying mushroom person with its exaggerated self-healing ability and explosive methods was clearly more in its element!

So, she had to escape from here, firstly to try to shake off the giant mushroom person, and secondly to find a scene more suitable for Demonesses and a Painter to fight.

Jenna didn't hesitate, closely following Franca.

Luo Shan, who thought she would die, was surprised that the Mirror Substitution actually worked, and having gained experience, chose to imitate Franca and Jenna's actions.

The trio quickly passed through the open door, entering a new dimly lit corridor.

Behind them, the two halves of the wooden door swayed several times before finally closing completely.

Franca moved forward while vigilantly observing whether the giant mushroom person was pursuing them, but found that behind the door was dead silence, with no further movement.

"Uh… does each type of psychological trauma only operate in a fixed area?" Franca slowed her pace, making a guess based on her experience and imagination.

Jenna nodded, looking around and said, "Now we need to be alert to the psychological trauma in this area?"

"What psychological trauma?" Luo Shan looked confused.

"Monsters similar to that mushroom person just now," Franca explained simply.

Luo Shan's eyes turned slightly, and she blurted out, "Monsters transformed from Zhou Mingrui's psychological trauma?"

Very smart… Franca pondered for a moment and said, "It also includes the psychological trauma of evil forces."

Luo Shan was silent for two seconds, about to say something more when she suddenly started coughing.

"Cough cough cough…" She paused and said, "Why do I feel like I've suddenly fallen ill?"

Disease? Can that mushroom person also create mystical pathogens? Jenna and I are both Demoness of Affliction with some resistance to Disease abilities. Brief contact won't infect us, but Luo Shan can't resist, showing symptoms? The symptoms appeared very quickly, this isn't at the level of Sequence 7… After Zhou Mingrui was stimulated, did the power level of the dream city change, starting from the underground part of Mushu Hospital, with no corresponding manifestation in the outside world yet? Jenna vaguely understood the reason and took out a bottle of healing agent from her Traveler's Bag.

She didn't rush to provide treatment for Luo Shan, but pondered and asked, "Can you draw efficacious medicine for yourself?"

Even if the drawn medicine had a limited duration, it could truly cure diseases—as long as all the mystical pathogens were eliminated before the effect wore off, it would work!

At this time, Franca had also figured out the reason and muttered, "That mushroom person is too terrifying!

"What kind of monster is this exactly!"

Luo Shan already felt her forehead burning up. She shook her head and said,

"I don't know exactly what this disease is, nor do I know what medicine to draw to cure it."

"Then drink this." Jenna handed the healing agent to Luo Shan.

She and Franca always maintained a state of having two bottles of healing agent on them, with previously consumed ones either coming from Lumian or being replenished by him.

After experiencing the substitute's death, Luo Shan now fully trusted Franca and Jenna. She took the healing agent, immediately unscrewed the cap, and gulped it down.

In just about ten seconds, she blinked and said, "I think I'm fine now, the illness is gone…

"It's really amazing!"

"Your ability to draw is also amazing," Franca said humbly, pointing to the end of the current corridor, "Let's continue forward, we need to find the elevator lobby quickly, otherwise who knows what we'll encounter…"

She was still shaken by that giant mushroom person.

Jenna and Luo Shan felt the same, quickening their pace to follow behind Franca.

They had just taken two or three steps when the double doors at the end of the corridor suddenly swung open.

Franca and Jenna reflexively used Invisibility, then considered how to help Luo Shan hide.

Luo Shan had somewhat adapted to the current situation. Using a pencil, she quickly drew a simple, inconspicuous, childlike doodle of a door on the side wall in just two seconds.

This door had no markings and wouldn't lead anywhere. Luo Shan placed her palm on the handle and yanked it backward sharply.

The door, just drawn on the wall, miraculously opened, revealing a dark area about the size of Room 2303's bathroom.

Luo Shan hid inside, then carefully closed the paper-thin door.

The wall surface was left with only a few faint, barely noticeable pencil marks resembling a door outline.

By this time, the double doors at the end of the corridor had fully opened, and an orderly wearing light blue clothing and a white mask slowly entered the current area, pushing a transfer bed.

Franca held her breath and turned her gaze towards the orderly and the transfer bed.

She saw that the orderly's eyes were both empty and wooden, yet seemed to hide deep malice. She saw that the surface of the transfer bed was covered with a thin blanket, but there was no patient or corpse sleeping on it.

What made the back of Franca's neck go cold was that the thin blanket appeared to be in a bulging state, yet there was clearly nothing underneath it.

Covering an invisible object? Franca and Jenna pressed their backs tightly against the side wall, trying hard to increase the distance between themselves and the orderly and the transfer bed.

Amidst the sound of wheels rolling over floor cracks, the orderly maintained a slow, stiff posture, pushing the transfer bed past Franca and Jenna, towards the double doors leading to the corridor with the giant mushroom person.

Only when this transfer bed had pushed open the doors, slowly left the current area, and disappeared from their sight did Franca and Jenna end their Invisibility and return to the middle of the corridor.

Luo Shan also opened the door on the wall and nimbly leaped out.

She didn't forget to casually "close the door".

"How did you know it was safe to come out?" Jenna, who was about to knock on the door, asked.

Luo Shan raised the pencil in her hand and said with a smile, "I drew a peephole inside."

"Mm, let's continue looking for the elevator lobby." Franca took the lead without hesitation.

Just as they reached the exit at the end of the corridor, that set of double doors suddenly swung open.

It had opened again, when Franca, Jenna, and Luo Shan were less than three meters away from it.

…

Mushu Hospital, Emergency Center.

Based on his experience from the last hospital visit, Zhou Mingrui described the symptoms of acute gastroenteritis and successfully obtained a lab test order from the doctor.

He took this order and turned into the right passageway, heading towards the emergency blood drawing area.

While waiting for his number to be called at the blood drawing area, he clutched his stomach, pretending he could no longer hold on, and quickly left the area, entering the first-floor lobby and walking towards the nearest public restroom.

During this process, he naturally looked around, seeing if he could find any odd details.

He hadn't discovered anything in the emergency center before.

The nearest public restroom was adjacent to elevators 6 to 10. In the dim light, Zhou Mingrui quickly circled to the elevator lobby.

He pressed both "Up" and "Down" simultaneously, observing the elevators' operation.

Soon, two elevators arrived on the first floor, their doors opening almost simultaneously.

Zhou Mingrui glanced left and right, finding nothing unusual about the upward elevator, but the downward one gave him a feeling of leading to hell, to the source of fear.

Is Mushu Hospital's problem underground? Zhou Mingrui silently mused to himself.

-x-X-x-

Zhou Mingrui stared at the downward elevator until its doors closed.

He suppressed the urge within him, choosing not to take the elevator now to explore the underground area of Mushu Hospital.

He needed more intelligence.

Zhou Mingrui withdrew his gaze and walked towards the elevator lobby exit, intending to go to the nearby public restroom as he had pretended earlier.

Suddenly, he looked towards a corner to the side, as if something was hidden in the darkness there.

Zhou Mingrui stared for a while but found nothing unusual.

He continued walking diagonally forward, turning into the public restroom.

After a few seconds, he hid in the shadows, melting into the darkness, and circled back to this area to quietly observe.

After patiently waiting for nearly five minutes and confirming there were no potential observers in the corresponding corner, he returned to the public restroom, feigning the appearance of having just finished his business, and slowly walked out towards the emergency blood drawing area.

It wasn't until Zhou Mingrui's figure entered the brightly lit area that Lumian's image, with flowing black hair and striking beauty, reflected on the metal elevator doors of the surgery-specific elevator in the lobby.

He wore a light gray T-shirt, a jacket slightly lighter than black water, and off-white trousers that were a bit short due to his height, revealing the edges of his socks.

Strong spirituality, keen intuition, this doesn't seem like just a Sequence 9 Assassin… Lumian sighed softly.

Of course, he knew Zhou Mingrui couldn't be merely a Sequence 9 Assassin.

Earlier, he had hidden in that corner using Invisibility. If Zhou Mingrui had made any move towards the hospital's underground area, he would have immediately tried to stop him. Who knew, he was almost discovered by Zhou Mingrui.

Fortunately, he wasn't just a Hunter and a Demoness. With a Blink, he transferred his position, hiding completely within the metal mirror surface formed by the elevator doors.

Lumian walked out of the elevator, about to stealthily approach the emergency center along the largely unlit lobby, when he suddenly felt a vibration under his feet.

It was like a subtle earthquake, or as if a not-too-violent explosion had occurred underground.

Lumian stopped, lowered his head, and stared at the stone-tiled floor.

Has something changed in the underground area? Lumian pondered to himself.

…

Seeing the wooden doors swing open before them, Franca pulled Luo Shan, her feet sliding, quickly hiding in the shadows cast by the dim light to the side.

Then, she merged with the shadows, letting Luo Shan press against the wall behind her, using herself as a "shadow" to provide better cover.

Meanwhile, Jenna used Invisibility.

In the blink of an eye, before the wooden doors were fully open, the three had completed their concealment.

This time, it was again an orderly wearing light blue clothing and a white mask pushing a transfer bed in.

But unlike before, there was a patient covered with a thin blanket lying on the transfer bed.

The patient was in her twenties, wearing a loose blue and white checkered hospital gown, her golden long hair docilely spread to both sides, her forehead neither wide nor narrow, smooth and beautiful, her eyes a jade green, her demeanor melancholic and serene.

The most noticeable thing about her was her abdomen, which was greatly swollen, seeming to be over seven months pregnant.

Pushing a patient… there are no wards or examination rooms in the underground area… Franca pondered inwardly.

Of course, she knew that in a place where the dream subconscious's psychological trauma and the Mother Tree of Desire's abyssal symbol merged, rationality was a scarce element.

The foreign pregnant woman lying on the transfer bed might well be a psychological trauma of Mr. Fool or that Celestial Worthy!

Luo Shan, shielded behind Franca, only saw the foreign pregnant woman after the transfer bed had passed their hiding spot.

Her gaze suddenly froze.

That was, that was the woman she had just seen in her dream!

Although at that time one of her eyes had been gouged out, hanging near the socket, her face covered with very deep, fleshless wounds, and head-sized bloody tumors growing from both shoulders, Luo Shan still recognized her at a glance.

Luo Shan bit her lip, not letting herself make any sound of surprise.

Just then, from the highly swollen belly of the pregnant woman on the transfer bed came the cry of an infant.

"Waaa!"

Franca instantly bristled.

What the hell are you crying for when you're not even born yet?

This cry caused the latent fear in Franca, Jenna, and Luo Shan to explode simultaneously, uncontrollably causing them to make extra movements.

Franca consequently emerged from the shadows, and Jenna could no longer maintain her Invisibility state.

In a flash, the orderly with empty and wooden eyes turned to look at Jenna, and the foreign pregnant woman on the transfer bed also sat up, looking towards Franca and Luo Shan.

Let's go for it! Franca gritted her teeth and concealed her form.

Her idea was to temporarily repel the orderly and the foreign pregnant woman, then seize the opportunity to escape to the next area through the open double doors.

Based on their previous experience, the "monsters" in the current area would not leave their own "territory".

The next second, the whites of the orderly's eyes became more pronounced, a cold aura emanating from his body as he took a large step towards Jenna.

Jenna once again vanished, causing the orderly to grasp at empty air.

Immediately after, her figure quickly outlined behind the orderly, thrusting the sharp dagger in her hand towards the orderly's back.

Pfft!

Her dagger seemed to strike metal and ironwood, only piercing the clothing, unable to penetrate the skin.

Jenna wasn't shocked. She let the quiet, vile Demoness black flame appear on the surface of the dagger, quickly infusing into the orderly's body.

With a whoosh, the orderly, feeling increasingly inhuman, burst into Demoness black flames from the inside out. He silently wailed as his spirituality and life began to rapidly fade.

On the other side, the first thing Franca did was also use Invisibility, while Luo Shan strode forward, darting out over ten meters in an instant.

Franca appeared in front of the transfer bed, a mirror now in her hand, reflecting the image of the foreign pregnant woman.

Almost simultaneously, she pressed her palm, covered in quiet black flames, towards the mirror surface.

Throughout this process, the foreign pregnant woman's reactions seemed rather slow, just like an ordinary person.

She then saw black flames erupting from her belly, hearing the baby's cries becoming more pronounced.

She let out a shrill and agonized scream, her figure instantly disappearing from the transfer bed.

But when she reappeared in Franca's planned escape direction, the evil black flames were still burning on her body, growing stronger.

Plop! Plop! Plop! The foreign pregnant woman's flesh seemed to melt away, falling to the ground piece by piece.

Feeling her aura rapidly dissipating, seeing the orderly collapse to the ground motionless, Franca actually felt a sense of unreal bewilderment.

Is it resolved just like that?

Was that giant mushroom person from earlier actually an exception, and the "monsters" in Mushu Hospital's underground area are also suppressed at Sequence 7?

No, I shouldn't think like that, raising a flag is bad…

Before Franca could correct her thoughts, she saw the foreign pregnant woman fall, her abdomen tearing inch by inch, as if something was trying to burrow out.

At the same time, the pieces of flesh that had fallen to the ground from the foreign pregnant woman also underwent abnormal changes.

Some merged with the floor tiles, transforming into womb-like shapes, giving birth to square-shaped infants with eyebrows and eyes. Some touched the transfer bed, causing the bluish mechanical bed surface to suddenly bulge, sprouting one after another small beds with human heads and wheels for limbs. Some splattered onto the ceiling, causing the energy-saving lights to suddenly brighten, producing dozens of children with human bodies and light bulb heads…

Franca and Jenna instinctively retreated seven or eight steps towards the direction of the mushroom person, seeming to have been stunned.

Is this the psychological trauma of a great existence?

As expected of a great existence's psychological trauma!

Don't come over here!

I don't want to give birth!

In her terror, Franca drew out the iron-black Inevitable Gun.

She found that the foreign pregnant woman was not completely dead yet, still producing more flesh, and those pieces of flesh were wriggling, seeking new wombs or fathers, constantly giving birth, constantly reproducing.

Moreover, the foreign pregnant woman's abdomen had completely torn open, and the fetus inside was about to crawl out.

Franca forced herself to calm down, aimed at the foreign pregnant woman's abdomen, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A bullet exuding a dim blue-green color shot out, passing through the numerous, oddly shaped infants, accurately hitting the target, burrowing into the foreign pregnant woman's abdomen.

Certain Death!

The cry of the baby in the foreign pregnant woman's belly suddenly became intense and resentful, but it ceased abruptly in the blink of an eye.

Similarly, the foreign pregnant woman stopped secreting flesh, and those that had already separated also withered after giving birth to a new fetus.

Thankfully, Certain Death worked… Seeing this, Franca secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Just then, she, Jenna, and Luo Shan felt the earth tremble.

The tremor only lasted for a second, but Franca and the others saw the new corridor outside the double doors collapsing inch by inch. The walls, rooms, and ceiling there were also falling into an abyss of dense blackness with no visible bottom.

This collapse slowly spread towards the current area.

Franca and Jenna sensed something, one looking up towards the ceiling, the other turning to look at the area where the giant mushroom person was, blocked by the wooden doors.

Franca discovered that the ceiling above them was also falling, but instead of crashing down on them, it was falling directly into the seemingly bottomless dense darkness. Jenna saw that the area where the giant mushroom person was also began to collapse, the collapse spreading towards where they were staying.

Does killing that foreign pregnant woman trigger a change in the underground area?

No, this might be the true appearance of Mushu Hospital's underground area now, a dark abyss containing various psychological traumas… What we walked through and saw earlier was just a disguise influenced by the dream city, with corridors and some rooms symbolizing safe zones…

Franca suddenly had this realization.

"What, what should we do?" Luo Shan finally overcame her terror.

She had first needed eyebleach from the sight of hundreds and thousands of monster infants and their birth process. It shocked her mind before she realized that she and the others seemed to have nowhere to go.

-x-X-x-