Chapter 988

"Yes," Jenna also expressed confusion. "I thought I would be kicked out of the dream immediately at the time, but nothing happened."

Franca thought for a while and said:

"Is it that telling the truth about this world to dream images other than Zhou Mingrui and a few others won't provoke an abnormal reaction, or is it that Luo Shan is relatively special, belonging to a character lightly corrupted by that evil god from the 'Fantasy Society,' and the connection between her and the dream's main consciousness is no longer tight?"

Jenna shook her head and answered very honestly:

"I don't know."

She paused for a moment, her eyes turning slightly:

"If we can soothe Luo Shan this time, we can find an opportunity to mention Mr. 'Fool' to her later to see if there will be any special reaction, and whether it will cause me to be kicked out of the dream."

"We can also experiment by telling other dream images corresponding things to see what the results will be." Franca said "Hmm," stretched out her hands, supported Jenna, and stood up from the toilet.

After she finished washing up, she returned to the living room and saw Lu Mianna watching TV.

Her heart moved, and she said to Jenna:

"Should we invite Luo Shan to play cards? Four people can play Upgrade."

"I'll ask to see if she's willing." Jenna understood that Franca wanted to find something for Luo Shan to do and find some entertainment to alleviate her emotional state, and they could also use the opportunity of playing cards to conduct covert psychological counseling.

Jenna immediately picked up her phone and sent a message to Luo Shan.

After seven or eight minutes, Luo Shan replied:

"Okay, wait until I finish breakfast, I just got up."

"She's willing to come," Jenna said to Franca and Lu Mianna.

Lu Mianna knew Luo Shan and knew this was her colleague, so she hurriedly stood up and said:

"Should I change back into men's clothing?"

"No need, no need. You pretend not to know her, just say you're another friend of ours," Franca shook her head hurriedly.

If she really changed into men's clothing, wouldn't that make Luo Shan think of Li Ming?

After all, you two still look a bit alike!

Of course, as long as Lu Mianna didn't wear men's clothing or dress as a man, no one would connect her with the security guard Li Ming. Not to mention the issue of one being a man and one being a woman, even in appearance, at first glance, the difference was very large, because Lu Mian used the "Lie" earring to lower his appearance and modify details when playing the identity of Li Ming.

Seeing this, Jenna replaced Franca, whose brain was still somewhat muddled, and went over the problems that might arise when Lu Mianna and Luo Shan met in her mind. Then, she chatted with Anthony on WeChat about Luo Shan knowing the truth of the world and consulted on the direction and strategy of psychological counseling.

Not long after, Luo Shan arrived on the 23rd floor and rang the doorbell.

At the same time, Jenna also received a message from "Anrede" in reply:

"Talk to her about her past."

Using the certain, experienced, and very real past she felt to reduce the current disillusionment? Jenna roughly understood Anthony's intention.

She immediately followed Franca's instructions and rummaged out two decks of playing cards.

The four of them played "Upgrade" at the coffee table. Lu Mianna and Jenna were opponents, while Franca and Luo Shan were partners.

They didn't bet money. Jenna, Franca, and Lu Mianna didn't have spare money to gamble. They bet on which pair of partners would reach 'A' first, and they could stick five small paper strips on the loser's face or draw funny patterns with washable paint.

After successfully reaching "3," Jenna looked at Luo Shan and chatted casually:

"You said before that your father was a police officer?"

"Hmm." Luo Shan's mood hadn't been too high. While pushing the cards to the middle of the coffee table, she said, "He was, was seriously injured while pursuing a cult leader with a blood debt, and died in the hospital."

"Was he awarded as a martyr?" Franca asked.

"Yes." Luo Shan suddenly laughed at herself. "When I graduated from university, I actually had the opportunity to go to the police department to be a civilian staff member, but I also received an offer from the Intis Group's administrative department. I hesitated for a long time, feeling that I was just an ordinary person and didn't love sports, so I wasn't suitable to be a police officer. In the end, I chose the Intis Group."

Maybe that wasn't the only reason? Franca didn't pursue it.

She just felt simply that ordinary people without too much ambition couldn't refuse a position in a public department, and that was just being a civilian staff member, not needing to capture criminals.

While waiting for the cards to be dealt, Luo Shan said "Hmm":

"This was actually my mother's wish too. Whenever she saw a police officer, she would think of my father's death."

"Your mother is in your hometown, didn't she come to live with you?" Jenna asked knowing the answer.

Luo Shan looked at the cards in front of her, her voice gradually becoming ethereal:

"When I was in university, she got sick and was hospitalized... Sometimes better, sometimes worse, she struggled for two years but still didn't make it..."

Before Franca and Jenna could comfort Luo Shan, Lu Mianna suddenly spoke:

"My mother also had a serious illness once and often went to the hospital. At that time, I was still young, standing at the entrance of the hospital, watching her being pushed in. My father was bent over, accompanying her by her side... I don't remember who was watching me at the time. I only remember I was very quiet, didn't cry, and didn't make a fuss...

"What I'm luckier than you about is that my mother was cured later."

Speaking of this, Lu Mianna's eyes suddenly became hazy, and her voice became heavy:

"I miss her so much..."

Franca and Jenna looked at each other suddenly, their expressions both somewhat surprised.

This wasn't Li Ming's background information, nor was it content they had instilled.

Could it be... Franca quickly had a guess.

"I also miss my mother very much," Luo Shan responded to Lu Mianna.

She seemed to recall her past life, recalled the days of depending on her mother for survival. Although her emotions were sad, that kind of dead and lifeless feeling had faded quite a bit.

In the following time, Luo Shan's state recovered somewhat—Jenna and Franca chatted with her about university days and workplace careers while playing cards. Luo Shan told all the things she remembered deeply.

Franca and Jenna could clearly hear that by the time Luo Shan finished speaking, she was excited, as if she wanted to prove something with this.

"Finished, it's noon, I'll go make lunch for you guys," Jenna stood up and said with a smile.

Today's losers were Franca and Luo Shan. Both of their faces were covered with paper strips with various funny words written on them, and they were tragically photographed as a souvenir.

"I don't accept this! You guys are taking advantage of my illness to take my life." Franca was still in a sick state, her brain wasn't very clear, and she had dragged Luo Shan's legs well in the card game. She hummed and haw-ed and said, "The children in the south village bully me for being sick and weak!"

Jenna was amused by her:

"Try again when you're better. You used to lose to me often too."

This referred to the period when she was a "flamboyant woman," often being pulled to play cards by the market district's bully, "Red Boots" Franca.

Wasn't that letting you win? Otherwise, as a dignified "Witch," wouldn't it be simple to use mystical powers to cheat a little and want to win? Franca muttered in her heart.

At this moment, Lu Mianna followed and stood up, saying to Jenna:

"I'll help you cut the vegetables."

"I'll help too," Luo Shan raised her hand. "The patient is responsible for resting!"

She took the opportunity to tear off the paper strips on her face and walked into the kitchen with light footsteps.

Watching the three of them busy in the kitchen, with laughter and joy coming from time to time, Franca leaned back on the sofa, tore off the paper strips on her face, and thought naturally:

"If only this wasn't a dream..."

After happily finishing lunch, washing the bowls and chopsticks, and scrubbing the pots and pans, Luo Shan said goodbye and left.

She had an appointment with a good friend from university in the afternoon.

Jenna and Franca, who was still walking somewhat unsteadily, sent her to the door.

Luo Shan turned her body sideways, her mouth opened, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, she withdrew her gaze and waved her hand:

"Bye-bye."

She quickened her pace and walked straight toward the elevator.

Franca and Jenna watched her enter the elevator before turning back into the room, each picking up their own mobile phone.

Seeing the performance of the two, Lu Mianna finally remembered that she had lost an important item:

"Where's my phone?"

It seemed to have disappeared last night...

"It's with me," Franca took out Lu Mian's phone from her "Traveler's Bag."

Before this operation, they had formulated contingency plans for different developments. Except for Franca, everyone was prepared to be kicked out of the dream, so they simply didn't bring their phones, or handed them to Franca for safekeeping, or left them at home. In this way, when kicked out of the dream, they basically wouldn't be found by the Celestial Worthy following the phone's contacts, nor would they need to delete the address book again—adding them back later was too troublesome.

Lu Mianna took the phone and unlocked the screen with her fingerprint.

"'Intis Group Green' sent me a message... Why did the director send me a message?" Lu Mianna looked confused.

Franca leaned over and saw Green had sent a "thumbs up" emoji:

"As expected of you!"

Clearly, Green recognized that the woman who walked out of the screen with Zarathustra was Lu Mianna, so he believed that Zarathustra's death was caused by the god's child.

Jenna's thoughts raced, looking for an excuse to explain the relationship between Green and Lu Mianna without involving the supernatural.

She deliberated and made up:

"Green has seen you in women's clothing and deeply admires you, and he is a masochist who treats you as his master. The more arrogant and cold you are to him, the more satisfied he is. Anyway, don't pay attention to him, let him fantasize on his own."

"Eww... pervert," Lu Mianna looked disgusted.

Immediately after, she asked:

"What does he mean by 'as expected of you'?"

"Maybe he saw a video or photo of you appearing with Zarathustra and felt that Zarathustra was killed by you," Jenna felt a fatigue from overworking her brain. "Don't worry, he won't betray you, instead, he will keep this secret even more strictly and then be moved by himself."

"..." Franca listened in silence, feeling that Jenna had been polluted by the internet a bit during this period.

"I see," Lu Mianna breathed a sigh of relief.

The three occupied one position each, playing with their phones quietly to digest the things they had eaten at noon.

Suddenly, Franca scrolled to a local news item:

"The Red Moon Hospital's affiliated restaurant launched a variety of mushroom set meals yesterday, which were well-received."

Devil set meal, no, mushroom set meal? Franca, who had heard Lu Mian talk about Li Keji's matter and had also watched the latest episode of "The Great Adventurer," had her eyelids jump.

She remembered that not long ago, Lu Mian had gone to instigate Li Keji to create a new type of mushroom that could cure the vegetative patient An Xiaotian.

PS: Wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

Because it's impossible for everyone to go home for a reunion, I will send a poem:

A bright moon rises above the sea, we share this moment across the horizon.

(End of chapter)