Chapter 998: Psychological Trauma

Mu Shu Hospital?

Franca and Jianna suddenly felt as if struck by lightning, a prickling numbness racing from their tailbones straight to the back of their skulls.

How did we end up at Mu Shu Hospital?

Is this real or not?

Franca didn’t need a mirror—through “Magic Mirror Divination,” her spiritual intuition already told her this was almost certainly Mu Shu Hospital.

Though she didn’t understand how she and Jianna had been sleeping peacefully in Room 2303 of Dechuang Garden, only to wake up here without realizing it, she chose to trust her spiritual intuition.

Jianna made a similar judgment; after exchanging a glance with Franca, she stood still, closed her eyes, and swiftly entered meditation, imagining herself standing at the edge of a cliff.

In her imagination, she leapt forward into an abyss with no visible bottom.

She fell faster and faster, yet no darkness shattered, no awakening from the dream occurred.

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

She meant: here, they could not exit the Dream City and return to the real world!

“Hss… Could the upper floors of Mu Shu Hospital have similar restrictions? This might not be the upper levels—it’s probably the underground section…” Franca instantly formed a new hypothesis.

Her already highly tensed spirit neared its breaking point.

“What’s wrong?” Rosan still looked utterly confused.

Hearing Rosan’s question, Franca suddenly made a chain of associations:

“Just now, Rosan said this was her dream…

“But this is undeniably Mu Shu Hospital—quite possibly its underground section…

“Her dream connected to this place, transferring all nearby Non-Ordinary individuals here?

“Why could it connect? Why could it transfer?

“Wait—according to our earlier judgment, every character in the Dream City is constructed by the dream subconscious from its own cognition and social relationships. Rosan is one of them. And the dream subconscious is a fusion of the Fool’s subconscious and the Heavenly Sovereign’s subconscious. That means Rosan is essentially a fragment of the dream subconscious, a Fenhua of the Fool’s subconscious.

“Her psychological trauma from realizing this world is the Dream City is equivalent to a fragment of the Fool’s subconscious developing psychological trauma—and the underground section of Mu Shu Hospital is precisely where the Fool’s psychological trauma converges and manifests…

“So everything links together. Hmm. The psychological trauma manifested in Mu Shu Hospital’s underground section doesn’t originate solely from the Fool—it also includes the Heavenly Sovereign’s. More accurately, it stems from the dream subconscious, which is itself a fusion of the Fool’s and the Heavenly Sovereign’s subconscious. Oh my god, could we even encounter the Heavenly Sovereign’s psychological trauma?

“But there’s a silver lining: if we learn what the Heavenly Sovereign’s psychological trauma is, and survive escaping, we might deduce a way to weaken him.

“Hmm… Merely sharing mystical similarities and close mystical connections isn’t enough for Rosan to have teleported us here. There must be some force pushing and utilizing this connection…

“Rosan first heard ‘True can become False, False can become True, Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Heavenly Sovereign’… That means she’s already been targeted by some force, identified as the problem—but that force held back, perhaps to fish or wait for the right moment?

“Zarathustra’s group? No—if it were them, Zarathustra would have definitely guarded against the possibility of Zhou Mingrui being invited to a hotpot restaurant…”

As Franca’s thoughts raced, she dared not waste time on deeper analysis; she carefully chose her words and said to Rosan:

“This is likely the underground section of Mu Shu Hospital—and it’s not your dream. It’s real.”

Before Rosan could ask further, Franca fabricated an explanation based on her earlier guess:

“There’s probably an enemy hiding in your room or nearby. While you slept, they influenced you, using your ‘Shaman’ world to teleport us here.”

Rosan blinked and said:

“No wonder my dream started out just like usual, then gradually became clearer and clearer…

“Why bring us to the underground section of Mu Shu Hospital? Is there something seriously wrong here?”

As they spoke, Jianna began rummaging through her “Traveler’s Satchel.”

She had intended to call or send a WeChat message to alert someone or contact Lu Mi’an—but since they’d placed their phones beside their pillows before sleeping, not carried them, both she and Franca were now “phoneless.”

Jianna pulled out her last remaining “Ice Mirror Talisman,” gripping it in her palm—she also had another “Ice Mirror Talisman,” usable four times, which Lu Mi’an had made for all team members after being kicked out of the dream the day before.

“I don’t know,” Franca replied to Rosan, scanning both directions, “but I’m certain this place is dangerous. We must leave as soon as possible. Let’s find the elevator lobby—take the elevator or stairs to the first floor.”

Rosan’s nerves tightened too; she followed Franca’s movements, scanning the surroundings.

At that moment, Jianna activated the “Ice Mirror Talisman,” testing whether the mirror could help them escape the current area.

But as she was bathed in the talisman’s glow, she saw the world beyond the mirror was deep, dark, and radiated an intensely dangerous aura.

She dared not step through the glass into the mirror world.

“The mirror world is abnormal too,” Jianna said, lifting her head to Franca.

As she spoke, the “Ice Mirror Talisman” in her hand dissolved into glittering fragments, swiftly scattering and vanishing.

“Normal,” Franca said, unsurprised. “In a place like this, only normal exits and designated pathways work. Let’s find the elevator lobby now.”

Rosan first murmured “Mm,” then remembered her ability and asked eagerly:

“Do you have paint and brushes? Pencils or pens would do.”

“You want to draw a door out?” Jianna understood.

“Yes,” Rosan nodded firmly.

Franca frowned slightly and said:

“Are you sure the door you draw leads to the upper levels or the entrance of Mu Shu Hospital—and not some other underground section?”

“I could draw my own door, and it would take me home—but there’s a distance limit. I’m not sure if the distance between Mu Shu Hospital and Dechuang Garden meets the condition…” Rosan’s voice faded.

Franca made a swift decision:

“First, find a real-world exit—look for the elevator lobby. If we can’t find one, or get trapped, then we risk using your drawn ‘door.’”

Seeing Jianna nod in agreement, Rosan reluctantly abandoned the idea of drawing a door.

After giving Rosan one ink pen and one sharpened pencil, Franca turned, partly guided by observation, partly by spiritual intuition, and walked down the other end of the corridor.

Soon, the three saw a door: a pair of wooden doors with glass panels.

Franca led, pressing her face against the glass to peer through.

But beyond the glass lay only deep darkness—even the Witch’s night vision couldn’t discern what lay inside.

Franca felt as if her eyes had been covered by black cloth, not simply deprived of light.

After a quick “Magic Mirror Divination,” Franca extended both hands and pushed open the dark wooden double doors.

Ahead was not a continuation of the corridor, but a dimly lit hall, its far end bearing another identical pair of wooden doors.

What Franca, Jianna, and Rosan noticed first were not the doors, but the corpses hanging from the ceiling.

They swayed gently.

As they swung, some partially turned, revealing their faces to Franca and the others.

There was Ai Nana, the principal of Dream Tutoring Center; Huang Jiajia; and other teachers from Dream Tutoring Center whom Jianna had met.

“Ugh…” Rosan instinctively screamed—but Jianna clamped a hand over her mouth in time.

“How?” Franca’s scalp prickled.

She knew Ai Nana and Huang Jiajia, as dream figures, were essentially dead, and might once have been hung like the Divine Messenger Danzi—but she never imagined they’d still be hanging here, suspended together, densely packed like dried sausages.

“They’re hung here? Then who are the ones outside?

“Didn’t their corpses gain ‘new life’ and escape?

“Lu Mi’an said fate is continuous…”

Jianna had similar doubts; a possibility occurred to her:

“Psychological trauma manifested?”

Yes. The underground section of Mu Shu Hospital was where the dream subconscious’s psychological trauma manifested. The trauma caused by hanging Ai Nana and Huang Jiajia, and the “rebirth” of their corpses escaping, could coexist—Franca accepted this explanation and had no intention of probing deeper now.

She said to Jianna and Rosan:

“Go through. Head to the door on the other side.”

Rosan, encountering such a horrifying scene for the first time, was utterly lost and could only follow Franca and Jianna, squeezing past areas where the hanging corpses were sparser.

Wind occasionally blew through the hall, making the corpses sway and swing—several times nearly brushing Rosan’s head.

Rosan used every ounce of strength to suppress any violent reaction.

Finally, they “squeezed” through the hanging corpses and reached the pair of wooden doors marking the exit.

After going through the same ritual and receiving the same result, Franca extended both hands and pushed open the door again.

Ahead was a corridor—its light extremely dim.

At the end of the corridor stood a blurred figure.

Franca and the others immediately raised their guard, stepping cautiously through the door into the corridor.

The scene before them sharpened.

They clearly saw the blurred figure:

It was a giant mushroom, two meters tall!

Its cap was crimson as blood, streaked with white patterns; its body was composed of countless tiny mushrooms whose textures together formed a handsome yet bizarre face, with two identical mushroom extensions on each side, forming long arms.

Plop!

The double wooden doors behind Franca, Jianna, and Rosan slammed shut.

(End of Chapter)