There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"........."

Lu Qing was well aware of Wayne's situation, and upon hearing his words, she immediately knew that relying on him was impossible; she could only find a solution herself.

"To dispel the black fog, we need a strong light or a torch. But what about those two monsters hiding in the shadows?"

Her mind raced. It wasn't that Lu Qing couldn't deal with the Black Mist Splitter, but rather that she couldn't because her feet were pinned down. So, to defeat the Black Mist Splitter, she first had to eliminate the two shadowy figures.

"I wonder if flames will work..."

Gritting her teeth, Lu Qing quickly pulled out the flamethrower she had just scavenged, aimed it at the two shadows chasing her on the ground, and pulled the trigger.

"call!"

A burst of intense flame erupted from the flamethrower, illuminating the previously dark room. The two shadows that were touched by the flames instantly turned to ashes.

"Great, it works!"

Lu Qing's spirits lifted, and she immediately aimed the flamethrower at the black mist-headed man.

"........."

There was no response. Lu Qing was slightly taken aback, and her first thought was that the flamethrower was broken.

But then she thought about it again and realized it was unlikely. How could a purple-quality item just break like that?

Fortunately, because of the spray, the entire room was already ablaze, and the mist on the Black Mist Splitter disappeared completely in a short while under the light of the fire.

"Roar!"

The Split-Headed One glanced fearfully at the flamethrower in Lu Qing's hand, then looked back at the road behind it blocked by flames, and roared as it charged toward Lu Qing.

However, without the protection of the black mist, how could it possibly be a match for Lu Qing...?

"Cough cough cough..."

Two minutes later, Lu Qing looked at the corpse on the ground and couldn't help but cough.

The flames in the room were burning very brightly, and the thick smoke stung the eyes, making it impossible not to shed tears.

With a kick, Lu Qing shattered the reinforced wooden window and leaped out of it.

------------

I have something very important to do tomorrow.

It's just getting vaccinated. I was planning to go in a couple of days, but today the school suddenly sent a message that we all have to get vaccinated together, and we don't even need to make an appointment.

Is there really such a useful thing?

But since I have to get up early tomorrow morning, I need to go to bed early.

I just received this news myself, and I wasn't prepared at all. Otherwise, I would have definitely written and updated this morning. My mistake, I'm sorry everyone.

Hmm, does getting a vaccination hurt? Last time they drew blood, it gave me a real phobia of it...

------------

Chapter 388: An Unexpected Joy

In the end, the forest fire that Lu Qing had hoped for did not occur. After the fire spread to the trees on both sides of the wooden house, the trees automatically cut off the burning parts and secreted a viscous white liquid to cover the flames.

Although somewhat disappointed, Lu Qing was still able to accept the current outcome.

She hadn't expected the fire to burn very fiercely, as she was well aware of the fire suppression mechanisms of the Dark Forest.

Secondary Objective: Participate in the Ghost Marriage (Completed!)

The message from the mental bulletin board invigorated Lu Qing, signifying that she had accomplished all the secondary objectives of this dream.

As for the difficulty of the secondary objective of "participating in the Ghost Marriage"...

Lu Qing felt there was nothing to say. The reason this time it felt easier than the previous times was simply because the attributes she gained from the [Nightmare] skill were sufficient.

She currently possesses 29 points of Strength, 35 points of Agility, 41 points of Constitution, and 45 points of Spirit. If we disregard her Strength and Agility attributes, she would be a normal blue-tier Dream Summoner.

Well, if we disregard strength and agility...

A normal blue Dream Summoner's attributes are around 40-45 points, while Lu Qing's attribute limit is 50 points.

After all, white-tier attribute points can only be allocated up to 50. Speaking of which, Lu Qing once saw a post that mentioned that after reaching 50 attribute points, it would take even more attribute points to continue improving.

At this point, some people might wonder: if we look at it this way, isn't it too early to upgrade Lu Qing's extraordinary sequence [Nightmare] level? Wouldn't she have gained more attributes if she had waited until her attributes reached 50 before upgrading [Nightmare]?

Of course not. After all, you've already reached the blue tier. How could a low-level upgrade in the Extraordinary Sequence possibly bring you more attribute bonuses?

So don't worry about losses. Upgrade whenever you can. If you don't upgrade today, you might die someday because your attributes are a little worse.

"what?"

While cleaning up the battlefield, Lu Qing suddenly found two clumps of pitch-black gel-like substance. Upon picking them up, she discovered that they were actually blue-quality solid shadows.

Solid Shadows can eliminate the side effects of the Nightmare skill. They dropped from the Light-Fearing Ghosts that Lu Qing killed before, but they were all of white quality.

And the two shadow monsters she burned to death today actually dropped solid shadows, and they were even blue quality!

"A pleasant surprise."

With a smile on her face, Lu Qing put away the solid shadow. After carefully searching the ruins and confirming that there was really nothing good left, she couldn't wait to return home.

The first thing she did when she got home was to make a Nightmare Potion with solidified shadows added, and then drink it.

[Congratulations to player [Nightmare] for gaining 0 experience points in the Extraordinary Sequence!]

The player's Extraordinary Sequence [Nightmare] level has been upgraded to the maximum. To further upgrade the Extraordinary Sequence [Nightmare] level, please first upgrade it to blue!

[You have used Solid Shadow, which can eliminate the side effects of a skill. Please select a skill:]

[Moth, keen vision, chameleon, emergency recovery, voracious appetite.]

"I choose Chameleon." Looking at the skill that Solid Shadow could eliminate the side effects, Lu Qing said without hesitation.

If she could, she would of course want to eliminate all the side effects of all the skills, but that's not displayed. Since she can only choose one, she can only choose the most important one.

The side effects of moths aren't that serious, as it only slows down wound healing in dimly lit environments. It's not that difficult to create a well-lit environment if you're willing to do so.

As for the ability to see into the darkness, she won't easily remove the side effects of this skill until she knows the location of the target in the darkness.

The skills "Emergency Recovery" and "Great Appetite" have the side effects of faster digestion and increased appetite, respectively, meaning she can eat more.

If it were the old Lu Qing, she might have considered eliminating the side effects of these two skills, but now that she can even eat wooden planks, what does it matter if she gets hungry a little faster?

Anyway, there's no shortage of wood in the dark forest. If she gets too hungry, she can just find a tree, hug it, and gnaw on it like a squirrel until it's all gone.

Do squirrels gnaw on trees? I don't think so...

Shaking her head, Lu Qing banished the jumbled thoughts from her mind and prepared to face the night ahead.

The outer and inner areas of the dark forest are different, perhaps because there is much less food in the outer area than in the inner area. The creatures here do not mind enduring the smell of the gas stove and rushing into human rooms.

Of course, this only applies to monsters that are very hungry. Monsters that are full will not go near the gas furnace, since the smell of the gas furnace is really disgusting to them.

As for leaving the forest by going down the river, Lu Qing would postpone that for a while.

There's no use in being anxious; preparation is also very important before you go out.

First, she needs to go there to survey the terrain. She just needs to take a general look and get a feel for it so that she can make preparations in advance.

In addition, there is the issue of protection for scientists and the elderly. There are many mutated creatures shrouded in black mist at the river's outlet. Going in without any protection is almost tantamount to suicide.

Lu Qing couldn't guarantee that the two of them would be protected from any harm by the mutated creatures shrouded in black mist, so armor was essential. It would serve some purpose and could even be a lifesaver in critical moments!

As for where to get the armor, it's quite simple. She just needs to spend reputation to buy it from the Trio. However, she doesn't have enough reputation right now, so she needs to go out and explore for a few days to raise some money.

To be honest, the house repair work is not yet finished; only two rooms have been roughly repaired.

However, it doesn't really matter whether the remaining rooms are repaired or not, since they'll be leaving in a few days, and there's no point in making the rooms too nice.

"rustle........"

"Ok?"

Lu Qing's ears twitched slightly, and she heard a sound like digging a hole in the soil.

"I never expected to actually run into you." After a slight pause, she slowly spoke.

Stepping out of the wooden house, Lu Qing listened carefully to the sounds coming from the distant underground, determining the approximate direction of the creature that was heading towards the house.

“As long as I stand on their inevitable path…” Lu Qing moved her legs and walked to the position she had in mind.

"Roar!"

Two humanoid monsters covered in arms burst out of the ground, their scorpion tails stabbing straight at Lu Qing.

A slight smile appeared on her lips, and two pale purple tentacles emerged from behind her trench coat, each holding a small knife. They plunged the tentacles into the necks of the two mutated creatures, pinning them to the ground!

"They'll definitely crawl out from underground and ambush me." Lu Qing said confidently as she retracted the tentacles.

P.S.: The vaccination didn't have any major effects, except I got carsick in the taxi on the way home. I felt nauseous when I got home, ugh, I was hoping to go out and buy some good food...

------------

Chapter 389: The Black Mist Hound Pack

"Ok?"

Lu Qing suddenly sensed something was off about the corpse on the ground. She activated her Eagle Vision and examined it carefully, feeling as if something was wriggling inside the corpse.

"Pfft..."

The sharp dagger pierced the corpse, splashing out a little dark green liquid. Lu Qing controlled the tentacles to lift them upwards, instantly picking out two huge centipedes!

"roar........"

The centipedes screamed and struggled on the ground. Clearly, these two centipedes were parasitizing the two creatures that had just attacked her.

Or perhaps it is because of these two centipedes that the humans who were parasitized were transformed into these monsters.

After killing the two centipedes, I used a dagger to pull out a jet-black, thread-like object from their bodies; this was the core of the centipedes' flesh and blood.

The Flesh Core is currently of little use to Lu Qing, but she still wants to collect some. If she can put it on the loot shelf in her hut, it will increase her experience points considerably.

As for the other parts of the mutated centipede, she planned to sell them to the trio, but she didn't know how much they would fetch.

........