Chapter 946: “Shaman

When Jian Na asked the question, she glanced at Franca.

Franca gave a slight nod.

Rosan recalled the past, her emotions slightly calmed:

“Three times.”

“When and where was the first time?” Jian Na asked gently.

Rosan turned her gaze to the slightly illusory buildings around her, seeing the glass windows representing households shimmer faintly under the dim light emitted by the frozen storm:

“Right in the lobby of the complex—suddenly, there was a vending machine. The drinks inside were designed beautifully. I drew a blind box and got….”

Seeing Rosan suddenly fall silent, Franca, floating before a building, took a step forward, her expression eager to press further.

Several spirit forms corresponding to the complex’s residents drifted nearby—some wore glasses, some had elegant watches, some adorned their clothes with glittering ornaments.

Jian Na grabbed Franca’s arm and gave her a look to wait, then asked softly:

“What did you draw?”

“‘Shaman.’” Rosan named the drink.

“‘Shaman’… what ability did it give you?” Jian Na asked in a casual tone.

Rosan’s spirits lifted slightly:

“It lets me choose a region, set up totems, and perform rituals to anchor it. Then I can communicate with the sky, the earth, the water, the trees, and the creatures of that place, borrowing power from their spirits to cast different spells.”

Sounds incredibly powerful… stronger than any Sequence 9 I know—feels comparable to some Sequence 7 paths… Jian Na was awestruck.

She asked curiously:

“Can ‘Shaman’ only fight within a fixed area? Can’t you change your territory?”

“You can change it, but it requires a complex process and a long time—about three days.” Rosan explained enthusiastically. “Outside your territory, ‘Shaman’’s power rapidly fades—the farther you go, the weaker it becomes.”

Still heavily restricted… your own territory is a form of spatial authority? Jian Na pressed further:

“You guard the barrier to keep those monsters out because they’d destroy your territory?”

“That’s one reason,” Rosan sighed. “The other is that ‘Shaman’’s power lets me sense different dimensions, higher worlds, allowing my spirit to briefly touch them. This draws the attention of monsters—they notice me and target me for invasion.”

“The place you’re in now is essentially a unique space formed by the fusion of my spiritual world, the ‘Shaman’’s territory concept, and the Spirit Realm of Dechuang Garden. Those monsters want to use it as a springboard to invade reality—and they’re also attacking my mind and soul. If the barrier breaks, my soul will be controlled—or replaced.”

Sequence 9 already carries this much risk? No wonder ‘Shaman’ sounds so powerful… Xinhong Complex doesn’t have this, but Dechuang Garden does—because someone here is a ‘Shaman’… In a sense, ‘Shaman’ is a beacon drawing monsters into reality? Jian Na now roughly understood the basic nature of the ‘Shaman’ path.

Rosan added with a self-deprecating laugh:

“I’m no longer just a ‘Shaman.’ Even if the barrier breaks now, it won’t affect me.”

“The only problem is that everyone living in Dechuang Garden dies in their dreams—abdomens torn open, organs ripped out…”

As she spoke, Rosan fell silent.

After several seconds, she whispered:

“I brought this. I have to take responsibility…”

“If this weren’t your doing, and you faced this situation, would you choose to replace the previous Follower who fled and guard the barrier?” Jian Na phrased it as a question to deepen Rosan’s sense of duty.

Rosan’s lips moved slightly:

“I don’t know… maybe… probably…”

Jian Na didn’t press for a definite answer, instead asking with concern:

“You guard the barrier every night and still work during the day—aren’t you exhausted?”

“No. Imagine this place as my mind or my dream—I can be busy in my dream without affecting my body’s rest. I just need a nap during the day.” Rosan smiled.

This state made her feel like the protagonist of a novel or manga—saving humanity in the inner world at night, returning to being a salaryman by day.

After exchanging another glance with Franca, Jian Na said:

“What was the name of your second drink? Did you draw it from the vending machine too?”

“My second drink was ‘Reporter.’” Rosan recalled. “Once, while guarding the barrier, I got injured. When I woke up, I felt like I had a severe cold—coughing badly. I took leave and went to Mushi Hospital. The doctor prescribed cough syrup, but the pharmacist gave me ‘Reporter’ instead. I suddenly thought this must be the next drink after ‘Shaman,’ so I didn’t correct the pharmacist…”

“Later, I drank ‘Reporter’ again—but that one was fake. Among all those drinks, only the one given to Zhou Mingrui—the ‘Instigator’—was real… I shouldn’t have listened to that voice…”

At this, Rosan’s expression twisted, as if filled with deep regret.

Jian Na didn’t immediately ask about the origin of the voice, shifting to a less sensitive topic:

“What ability does ‘Reporter’ have?”

“Observation, investigation, and uncovering the truth of the world—with extreme speed.” Rosan’s mood sank again; her words were vague, with no concrete examples.

Slowly, she raised her hands and covered her ears, murmuring as if half-asleep:

“After drinking ‘Reporter,’ I sometimes felt myself change. I began to hate this world—hate every detail that didn’t match my imagination, hate the people and things I disliked. I wanted them all to explode, to reshape them until everything conformed to my fantasies.”

“And to reshape them, I had to beg for help from the truth of the world—from the higher, true world…”

“Then, I heard that voice…”

Jian Na pressed her lips together and changed the subject again:

“After ‘Reporter’ comes ‘Painter.’ What comes after ‘Painter’?”

“After ‘Painter’ should be ‘Literature Enthusiast’—someone skilled in fantasy. I haven’t drawn it yet…” Rosan answered simply, then raised her hands to claw at her hair. “That voice made me cruel, vicious, ruthless…”

Suddenly, Rosan erupted, screaming with raw anguish:

“I don’t want to be like this! I’m not this kind of person!”

Tears streamed down her eyes, one after another.

Seeing this, Jian Na floated closer, speaking softly:

“I know you’re not that kind of person.”

“Someone like that wouldn’t stay beside the barrier, preventing monsters from invading Dechuang Garden and killing its adults and children…”

“No, many of those monsters were drawn by me—they weren’t originally so powerful…” Rosan continued in painful self-reproach.

She tugged at the collar of her shirt, as if struggling to breathe.

Jian Na stepped in front of her and continued:

“Everyone makes mistakes. The difference between good and evil is that the good know how to make amends…”

Suddenly, Rosan lifted her head.

The top two buttons of her shirt had been undone, revealing clearly the painting drawn on her neck and chest.

The painting, like a tattoo, was a vivid, multicolored flower.

The flower suddenly expanded, its petals opening in a spectral form, revealing rows of sharp teeth and oozing pus within.

The invisible scent it had been emitting, combined with its physical manifestation, caused Jian Na to freeze—her head spun, her body uncontrollable.

The massive flower abruptly enveloped Jian Na’s body.

Seeing this, Rosan’s face twisted into a cold smile as she whispered silently:

“That fool was perfect for making people like you lower their guard…”

At that moment, a cracking sound echoed—like a mirror shattering.

Rosan’s expression shifted. She was about to attack Franca and find the real Jian Na, when her body suddenly stiffened—as if frozen.

With a jerky, halting motion, her astral form rapidly faded and departed from this space.

In reality, Room 1502.

Franca stood beside Rosan’s bed, driving the “Cold Blade” into Rosan’s shoulder as she slept.

She had already voluntarily left that spirit-realm-like space when Rosan mentioned drinking the drinks three times.

The Franca from seconds ago and the Franca after were both illusions created and manipulated by Jian Na using mirror magic, through the surrounding glass windows and eyeglass lenses!

After discovering Rosan’s unstable mental state and her prior actions against Zhou Mingrui, Franca and Jian Na had activated their contingency plan—one to create an illusion and hold Rosan, the other to return to reality, locate Rosan’s body, and control her at the source!

This might also eliminate the risk of them being kicked out of the dream.

After piercing Rosan with the “Cold Blade,” Franca immediately pulled out her phone and called Anthony:

“Come to Dechuang Garden, Building 5, Room 1502. Need you to treat a person with personality distortion caused by contamination.”

“Bring Ludwig with you.”

Although the current plan was for Jian Na, Franca, and Lu Mi’an and Anthony to operate separately, minimizing contact and deleting chat and call records with the “Information Shredder,” this emergency justified breaking protocol—only Anthony could now treat Rosan and be trusted.

Of course, Franca or Jian Na could repeatedly use “Enchantment” to make Rosan fall in love with one of them over time, making her—and even the distorted personality—obey their will, thus stabilizing her mental state. But with other options available, there was no need for such distortion—it might result in “the disease cured, but the patient dead.”

After Anthony replied “Received,” Franca exhaled, weaving layers of invisible spider silk to bind Rosan as she struggled to wake.

Then she removed her hair tie, letting her long hair cascade down and strangely extend, touching Rosan’s body.

Where it made contact, the flesh hardened like petrification.

PS: Thank you, Sakura Sawa Huling, for your Silver Alliance donation. Happy birthday to you—August 24th is a great day, since it’s also my wedding anniversary. Smile

(End of Chapter)