A dreamy smile appeared on Qin Qin’s face. This made her really resemble some eternally wandering fortune-telling maiden who communicated with evil spirits. Then she suddenly grabbed Kou Tong by the hand. Her palm was icy cold, as if it belonged to some cold-blooded animal, so cold that Kou Tong shivered. 

Don’t make physical contact with her—this was Kou Tong’s first reaction. This made his fingers subconsciously twist in a dodging gesture. Then Dr. Kou noticed in despair that it seemed to be too late. 

Ordinarily, sufferers of delusional disorder had an underlying paranoid personality disorder. Everything they saw made a very deep impression on them. There could be many types of delusions; all kinds of novelties were possible. Details of everyday life that ordinary people wouldn’t notice could become carriers of intense hidden meaning for a sufferer of delusional disorder. 

There were systematic delusions and nonsystematic delusions. The latter would usually be fairly confused, and their duration fairly limited. 

Most unfortunately, this Miss Qin Qin’s delusional disorder was a typical case of systematic delusions, and they were rather deep-rooted ones. 

As Kou Tong was led along by her like a dear sweetheart, he recalled—the professor had said a few words about her illness at the time. He hadn’t said much, only that this girl’s situation was very complex. She perhaps had many types of delusions. Apart from the fairly obvious “delusion of reference,” she also showed signs of a “delusion of love.” 

Having traveled through the nameless island, Kou Tong was deeply aware of the complexity of this young lady’s circumstances. 

“This is my castle.” As his mind wandered, Qin Qin’s voice sounded. She was a head shorter than Kou Tong. Holding his hand, she could perfectly snuggle up to him. In high spirits, she explained, “My servants and I all live here. Everything on this island is under my control.” 

Kou Tong had a thought and asked, “The rats and crows, too?” 

“The crows are the Magician’s props,” Qin Qin said without any hesitation. “The rats are our country’s means of communication. They’re very well-behaved children. At first they told me that they had found an intruder. I didn’t know then that it was you.” 

A sweet smile that chilled Kou Tong to the bone appeared on her face. 

“It’s pretty good, right?” Qin Qin said. “The scenery is also beautiful. There’s a little hill behind the castle, covered in wildflowers. My servants use magic so the flowers won’t wilt no matter what the season. Behind the hill is the sea, the boundless ocean at a glance…” 

Kou Tong frowned. Why was her degree of control over this space so high? Was it because of her paranoia? 

“Do you like it here?” Qin Qin shook Kou Tong’s arm. Then, seeing the somewhat grave expression on Kou Tong’s face, the smile at the corners of her mouth disappeared. “You don’t like it?” 

“Qin Qin, do you know what this place is?” Kou Tong pulled his arm out of her grasp, pulled up a chair, and sat down. He looked at her very seriously—in fact, he had absolutely no idea where he stood. There were too many things on this island that went beyond the scope of his knowledge. How far out of control had the program gone? 

Qin Qin froze, her expression a little doubtful, then nodded. “This is the nameless island.” 

Kou Tong said, “No, I’m not talking about this place, I’m talking about the whole dimension this world is in. Haven’t you noticed that the dimension we’re in now isn’t the dimension of the real world?” 

Kou Tong tilted her head. This made her face, still half-covered with the strange black veil, look somewhat cute and clever. She asked, “What are you talking about?” 

“All right.” Kou Tong shrugged and changed to an explanation that was comparatively easy to accept. “I was in the Projector, recording a patient’s circumstances—not the ordinary type of slide show projector, a special supplementary instrument for psychological treatment. It can project people’s consciousnesses into a space in a different dimension. But suddenly, there was a bit of an accident… I apologize. Because of a malfunction in the instrument, my principal privilege settings were stripped away, and now I’m unable to make contact with people outside, and I don’t know what the malfunction in the Projector was. At any rate, you, me, and five other people have been drawn together into this unknown program…” 

Before he could finish, Qin Qin suddenly reached out a hand and put it on his forehead. This body language needed no explanation—Dr. Kou, are you running a fever? 

Kou Tong immediately shut his mouth. 

Qin Qin considerately asked, “Dr. Kou, have you been very tired lately? With me, you won’t need to work anymore.” 

“You don’t believe me?” Kou Tong asked. 

As though afraid of displeasing him, Qin Qin quickly nodded. “I believe you, I believe anything you say. But this different dimension or whatever you’re talking about…that’s no big deal. I’ve always lived here.” 

Kou Tong knew that this was the worst outcome—the whole nameless island had previously appeared in Qin Qin’s delusions, and now the delusions had been turned into reality by the Projector. 

What the hell was the Projector? For the first time, Kou Tong questioned the invention he was proudest of. 

He felt his head ache a little. Qin Qin took the opportunity to gently draw near and rub his temples. Female body odor came from her. There was nowhere for Kou Tong to go. He could only fall backwards, avoiding her fingers. 

The smile on Qin Qin’s face froze. Her expression cooled. She asked, “What’s wrong, Dr. Kou? Why does it seem like you’re giving me the cold shoulder?” 

Kou Tong stood up. With a natural expression, he said, “No, you’ve misunderstood. I’ve had a lot of worries lately.” 

Qin Qin looked at him with an intensely doubtful gaze. “Worries? You mean what you were just talking about?” 

“That’s right. Because a program I once jotted down has drawn everyone in here, strictly speaking, it’s my fault,” Kou Tong explained as sincerely and patiently as possible. “So I have to think of a way to repair the program and return everyone to their original places—you’ll help me, won’t you?” 

Qin Qin’s expression warmed slightly, but it still seemed very dubious. Kou Tong knew that his avoidance just now had been a signal for this girl, holding some meaning others didn’t know about. The problem was, he didn’t know how she had interpreted this simple gesture. 

Each time handling a patient with a cognitive impairment that required extreme care in communication was a major challenge to a psychologist’s physiology and psychology. 

Patient and doctor would mutually probe each other with caution, expending a great deal of thought and effort. That especially went for the complicated situation before him. This made Kou Tong more and more nervous—this wasn’t a girl in front of him but a ticking time bomb, and he was the hard-pressed bomb clearer without an instruction manual. 

Qin Qin hesitated for a moment. As soon as the warm, likable smile left her face, it appeared morbidly sly and callous. Kou Tong’s palms were about to start sweating when Qin Qin finally spoke: “I think you should rest here with me for a few days. You’ve come a long way today. You must be tired.” 

“I…” 

Qin Qin clapped lightly. A row of knights all covered in armor with not even their faces showing came running in unison, giving off an unfriendly “you’re under arrest” atmosphere, surrounding Kou Tong. 

Qin Qin uncompromisingly instructed: “Take Dr. Kou to rest.” 

Kou Tong hesitated for three seconds, then abandoned resistance—who knew what other weird powers there were in this girl’s territory? She really might call down a bolt of lightning to drive him into the earth, and he might drop dead. 

He decided that the great physician could adapt as circumstances required and obediently followed these “knights” who had him surrounded like an Arab lady. Just as he was about to leave the hall, Kou Tong paused in his steps. He knew that Qin Qin was behind him, watching him. 

He currently had no way to determine the circuit of Qin Qin’s complex delusions, which part linked to which other. There was only one thing he was sure of—that in her impression, he, a person who had only spoken to her briefly in a single chance encounter, had changed into her mutually devoted lover, whom she hadn’t seen for many years. 

Kou Tong didn’t want to use this. After three seconds of tug-of-war with his morals, his morals, something always abandoned in a crisis, were trampled. 

Resting a hand on the ancient castle’s stone pillar, Kou Tong made a looking back gesture. It was an extremely natural movement, as if he was parting from the person he was closest to and was subconsciously looking back to determine that person’s location in search of a sense of security. 

Qin Qin had already pulled up her veil, making her face look somewhat gloomy. But the moment she met Kou Tong’s eyes when he looked back, Kou Tong clearly saw her expression relax. 

A person…especially a delusional disorder sufferer like this, who was unusually sensitive towards hints, in fact had a sensitivity towards gestures that was no less than their sensitivity towards language. It was even easier to receive information from body language. 

No matter what, first he would plant the seeds. For the rest…he would think of something later. 

Kou Tong was taken in countless circles through this maze-like castle, then tossed into a room. The door was closed behind him. Kou Tong heard the sound of it being locked. 

He plopped down onto the bed. Finding joy in sorrow, he muttered, “So this is how Brother Tripitaka felt when the Queen of Women’s Country forced him into a marriage. It really is an indescribable feeling.” 

Then he splayed out on his back on the bed. The bed was very soft. Kou Tong sank into it. Then he rolled around, covered his face, and said to himself, “Fuck, what do you like about me? Can’t I change it?” 

An encounter with a beautiful woman…truly was a sweet burden. 

Kou Tong rolled to the left. “Royal brother¹, I’ll never say you’re a male public enemy again.” 

From some other time and space, the royal brother probably reached out to stroke Dr. Kou’s head, smiling wordlessly. 

Then, like a dead fish, Kou Tong straightened out and rolled to the right, howling, “Wukong, come save me now…” 

But Wukong wasn’t a creature to be summoned. He obviously didn’t receive resentful brainwaves. 

However, while Wukong didn’t come, someone else did. There was a sudden slight movement outside the window. Kou Tong quickly sat up and looked wide-eyed out the window. He saw Huang Jinchen holding the window lattice with one hand, giving him a radiant grin like a Colgate advertisement. 

Kou Tong immediately jumped off the bed and opened the window, sneakily letting Huang Jinchen in. 

Master Huang nimbly leapt inside and looked back to make sure he hadn’t been discovered. “Well?” 

“Negotiations have broken down,” Kou Tong said. “This conscious subject suffers from delusional disorder, and she wants me to be her kept man.” 

Huang Jinchen put on an expression of feigned horror. 

“Hurry up and get me the hell out of here. I’ve even sunk to selling sex appeal today,” Kou Tong said. 

“OK!” But while he said this, Huang Jinchen took Kou Tong’s hand and skillfully kissed it with one hand in front of his chest. In an affected tone, he said, “Beautiful princess, your great knight has come to rescue you!” 

Kou Tong rolled his eyes. “Could you hurry it up, sir? Ideally before I shout myself hoarse.” 

Huang Jinchen blinked. Before he could speak, there came clustered footsteps. Both their expressions turned serious simultaneously. Next, the door locking Kou Tong in was suddenly opened, and the black-veiled lady Qin Qin furiously appeared at the door with a crowd of sparkling armored knights behind her. 

“You betrayed me!” she said, gnashing her teeth. 

Kou Tong hopelessly thought that he really had betrayed her to a certain point—so he poked Huang Jinchen in the chest with his elbow. “Er-Pang, are you doing all right? You’ve been found out so quickly.” 

Huang Jinchen said, “Bullshit. The witch must have a crystal ball. She was planning to watch you bathe and go to bed, so she accidentally discovered me.” 

Then the two of them glared at each other and simultaneously acted in concert. 

Huang Jinchen raised his gun and went forward, pulling the trigger without hesitation. Kou Tong went back and smashed the window. Amidst his busy affairs, he yelled, “Don’t kill the ‘real person’!” 

“I know what to do and not to do!” Huang Jinchen said. 

The window shattered. Kou Tong nimbly squeezed out. “Jump!” 

Huang Jinchen brought down a big chandelier with one shot. It fell right in front of a group of knights coming towards him. He followed Kou Tong like a cheetah.