Chapter 45 | Jormungandr in the Labyrinth River

“Stop!” Lane called out, carrying a small box filled with various bottles and jars. He ran over at a light jog, his voice punctuated by heavy breaths.

Li Yue retracted her killing intent, and the blood threads swirling around her fingertips vanished along with it. The burly man before her was startled and gave Lane an awkward smile.

“This is my patient.”

“Sorry about that, Doctor Lane. This little lady is an educated one; I didn’t quite understand the words she was using,” the burly man said with a forced smile.

“Let’s go.” Lane opened his office door. Li Yue looked up and composed her expression, which was hard to define—not quite fear, not quite anger, but something more like disappointment.

Lane’s office was filled with various bottles and jars, and a constant scent of incense drifted through the air, making one feel at ease.

Thick research notebooks were filled with reports on various patients. It seemed he truly wanted to solve the madness symptoms within the city.

Li Yue found a seat and sat down. For some reason, after that momentary loss of emotional control, she felt even more mentally exhausted. She could faintly hear the innocent laughter of children in the distance, but she knew clearly that there could be no children here.

Has my mind really developed a problem? Am I being cursed by some unknown magic user? Should I talk to Clo about it? She would probably worry... Never mind, I’ll find a chance to ask Lane later.

“I have some special incense here. If you are willing, I will enter your subconscious,” Lane said while mixing a potion.

Li Yue frowned.

“Don’t be afraid. I cannot touch those memories you resist. Simply put, I can only glimpse the memories your subconscious allows me to see.”

Li Yue nodded. In truth, she didn’t have much she particularly resisted; she was just afraid the doctor would be frightened out of his wits if he saw her memories.

Li Yue lay back in the chair and soon fell asleep. Her eyes were closed, but her body was not fully relaxed. her brow was slightly furrowed, as if she were still experiencing unpleasant things in her dreams.

Lane silently activated his magic. He opened his eyes to find himself on a rain slicked road. Everything was shrouded in mist, and the distant buildings were pitch black, giving him an extremely oppressive feeling.

Is this... the Royal Court? No, it looks different. The current architecture of the Royal Court isn’t this vintage. Where is this?

Her internal psychological anchor is actually here. Is she someone from the Royal Court? Her eyes and hair are indeed similar, but in terms of detail, this place is clearly not the Royal Court. Starting from decades ago, the serpent god statues in the Royal Court became much fewer, far from the glory seen here.

Lane withdrew from this scene because he found he could not move easily here. Based on his abilities, he felt that if he acted rashly, he would likely suffer harm.

He walked through Li Yue’s memories. There was a very warm memory recently, but it occurred during a period of low spirits. Perhaps she had received comfort from someone when she was feeling down.

He looked further ahead, where a vast expanse of blood red memories lay, which even he dared not touch easily.

Are these memories... the dangers she has faced? Mental instability caused by a long term high pressure environment? Surely she hasn’t been killing people every single day.

He tried to cast a spell to amplify that warm memory and fade the blood red ones, but he was surprised to find it had little effect.

His body froze. He felt something grab his ankle—a blood red claw growing out of the pitch black ground beneath his feet.

What is this? Subconscious resistance? Impossible. These activities are usually carried out by the person themselves. For example, if someone’s subconscious believes they are a magic user or a knight, they would often launch an attack at this moment.

He hovered into the air without hesitation, a chilling sensation running down his spine. Looking at the scene before him, he was reminded of a madness patient he had treated years ago. He had seen a similar scene in that patient’s subconscious, but it was nowhere near as absurd as this.

Countless blood red eyes opened beneath the abyss, and blood red hands clawed their way out of the pitch black sea, seeking to crush him in their palms.

Is this the manifestation of madness? Could this be an external influence? No, I must leave immediately.

Lane’s figure vanished from the subconscious instantly. A moment after he disappeared, a girl wearing a blood red gown appeared above the pitch black abyss. The frantic blood red arms submissively retreated back into the depths, and a hint of shock appeared in the blood red eyes before they too slowly closed.

“Do you miss me that much?” she asked, her face devoid of expression.

She let out a yawn and returned to the throne within the Royal Court architecture of the consciousness. She rested her chin on her hand, her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked into the far distance. Her gaze reached beyond the world, all the way to the extremely distant astral realm.

Inside the clinic within the Asylum, Li Yue watched Lane, who was gasping for air, with her eyes open. She had woken up long ago, though she didn't know why she could wake up while Lane was still in her subconscious.

“Do you feel any discomfort?” Lane held his head. The scene just now had left him with a dull ache. It was the first time he had ever seen such a scene—endless blood red and darkness. Even serial killers about to be executed didn’t have this much blood in their memories.

“Sleepy,” Li Yue replied simply. “Did you see anything strange?”

“For now, quite a lot...” Lane recalled. It seemed he hadn't seen anything normal at all. “But there seem to be commonalities with patients I’ve dealt with before.”

“I see. Is this symptom being influenced by a magic user?” Li Yue stood up and yawned.

“I suspect it might be an external influence, but it’s hard to say. I might need your cooperation over the next few days.”

“Do I have to come every day?”

“That would work, but if you’re busy, you don’t have to.” Lane ran a hand through his messy white hair.

“What are the living conditions like here?” Li Yue asked suddenly.

“For the best wards, there are single person rooms. The staff bathrooms also have single person stalls, usually used by the warden.” Lane paused. “The warden is also a woman.”

“You aren’t thinking of staying here, are you?” Lane frowned.

“I’m afraid something might happen if I stay outside, especially for some people who don’t know any better.” Li Yue took out a gold coin. She had about a dozen gold coins left—not many, but enough for the short term, especially for someone like her who had few material desires.

“I’ll send someone to set it up. You can look around for now, but stay safe.” Lane took the gold coin and remained silent for a moment. “You can use magic too, right? Many of the prisoners here can as well. Don’t be overconfident.”

“Alright.” Li Yue smiled faintly.

This prison certainly couldn’t hold anyone capable of hurting her.

At least for Li Yue, destroying this iron made prison wouldn't be difficult.

Lane looked at the gold coin in his hand and called over a few guards, telling them to purchase some furniture and wallpaper. Once this young lady moved out, the room could also serve as a guest room. The scent in his own office was far too easy to fall asleep to for normal people.

Li Yue walked down the dark corridor. She could faintly hear a noisy commotion. A number of prisoners were gathered nearby, and an inmate who seemed to have just recently entered was exaggeratingly bragging about how he had committed a string of crimes.

“The fuzz couldn't catch me at all in the beginning; I never left a single shred of evidence at the scene.” He shrugged with feigned helplessness. “................(omitted here). If I hadn't been so immersed in the thrill of torturing and killing hostages later on, how could those people have possibly slipped into my manor without a sound?”

“I killed fifteen people in a row!”

Li Yue stood in the crowd. There were professional killers present, yet none of them noticed a person appearing silently and undetected by their defenseless sides.