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

For some reason, she felt as if she had forgotten something important, something so important that it made her feel uneasy.

"That's right!"

Her pupils contracted sharply, and Lu Qing finally realized what she had forgotten.

The secondary objective has not been completed!

If all the assassins in black had been dealt with, the notice board should have displayed a message that the secondary objective had been completed, but instead, the notice board remained silent.

Thinking of this, Lu Qing quickly looked at the headless corpse on the ground. Sometime during the day, a wisp of black gas was emanating from the severed head.

Startled, she quickly distanced herself from the corpse on the ground, and at the same time picked up Shanara and retreated.

Seeing Lu Qing's reaction, the others also noticed the unusual state of the corpse on the ground. Lu Qing looked at Fang Qingrou and called out:

"We need weapons, please, Xiaorou!"

"I see!"

Fang Qingrou nodded and ran towards the dressing room without looking back. All of their props were in that room.

She had no weapons and would only be a burden if she stayed here.

Watching Fang Qingrou walk away, Lu Qing gripped her short sword and cautiously looked at the corpse on the ground.

She squeezed the snowflake pendant on her chest. The only weapons she could use right now, besides the short sword she picked up from the corpse and the throwing knife hidden in her clothes, were this necklace.

Moreover, this necklace is currently the only weapon with extraordinary abilities.

More and more black gas was gushing out from the severed head, gathering above the corpse. Lu Qing and the old man dared not approach, after all, no one knew what unknown dangers might be involved.

After waiting a while longer, seeing the black mist growing larger and larger, Lu Qing gritted her teeth and prepared to go up and try it herself.

She has the blessing of the Ice Fairy, and this item can provide her with a shield. The shield is currently at full energy, so testing it shouldn't cause any problems.

It's a blue-quality item after all, so the shield's protective capabilities shouldn't be too bad.

However, while that's true, Lu Qing didn't actually have much confidence in herself.

"If you don't have any trump cards up your sleeve, I advise you not to go over there," the old man said, watching Lu Qing approach.

"Don't worry, I have my own plans," Lu Qing said.

Seeing this, the old man stopped trying to stop her. He knew Lu Qing's identity as a mercenary. Since she felt she had no problem, he would let her go. Even if she died, he couldn't be blamed, since he had already tried to dissuade her.

"Perfect, I need to observe what this black mist is all about," the old man thought to himself.

Lu Qing walked step by step towards the black mist. The attack she had imagined did not occur. Lu Qing poked the black mist with her short sword, but it passed right through without touching anything.

Even if you put your hand into the black mist, it's the same; the black mist in front of you seems to be just a pile of ordinary gas.

"If physical methods don't work, what about magic?" Lu Qing wondered.

"Wait, magic?"

Lu Qing suddenly thought of a question. She turned to look at Shanara in the distance and asked, "Where are the Scott mages?"

Logically speaking, this is precisely the time when these mages are needed, but where are they?

It's one thing for the other actors and audience members who can't fight to run away, but these mages who can cast spells, especially Scott, can't possibly run away at a time like this.

However, Shanara replied, "Mr. Scott doesn't know any combat-related magic, and he doesn't have much combat experience. For the apprentice's safety, he should have run away by now, since we only have a simple employer-employee relationship."

"They actually ran away..." Lu Qing thought in disbelief.

"Alright, looks like I'll have to do it myself."

After carefully recalling the time Lu Qing spent in the Demon Castle, she remembered that she had specifically asked Vina how to pronounce the words "Frost Gauntlets" in Elvish.

According to Vina's recollection, Lu Qing began by saying:

“Mos frias”.

A slight chill ran down her neck, and a strange power surged from the necklace, seeping into Lu Qing's palm.

Controlling this power to entwine around the short sword, Lu Qing glanced at the shield value and was somewhat surprised to find that the shield value had actually decreased by 5 points!

"Does using Frost Gauntlets consume shield points?" Lu Qing wondered to herself.

Looking at the short sword radiating a chilling aura in her hand, Lu Qing raised her arm and slashed at the black mist with the sword!

"I can feel it!"

This time, the short sword seemed to have struck some kind of adhesive, generating a sense of resistance. Before it could even feel happy, the black mist that had been struck changed.

A surge of air engulfed Lu Qing, with countless black gases surrounding her.

The Ice Sprite Shield did not react at all, because Lu Qing had not been attacked. However, for no reason, a wave of regret rose in her heart.

In a corner unseen by Lu Qing, the corpses of the dead assassins, also emanating black energy, burrowed into the black mist where Lu Qing was.

Clutching her head in pain, Lu Qing opened her bloodshot eyes, and a series of images flooded her mind.

A slightly pungent smell of disinfectant wafted into her nose, and Lu Qing found herself in a clean white hospital room. The world before her was filled with gray and black lines, intertwined and looking messy.

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair stood beside the hospital bed. Beside her, a maid with almond-shaped eyes stood with her head bowed, while a doctor in a white coat held a form and addressed the woman:

"You're too late. The old man has been dead for half an hour."

"boom!"

The moment the doctor finished speaking, the whole world collapsed, and Lu Qing returned to the fog, her mind filled with all sorts of chaotic emotions.

Emerging swiftly from the black mist, Lu Qing slumped into a seat not far away, breathing heavily in the air. Her body was already covered in sweat.

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

Chapter 109: The Monster of Negative Emotions

"What was that just now?"

As Lu Qing breathed in the air inside the opera house, she wondered aloud.

The scene she just saw was clearly not the scene in this dream. Judging from the style of the rooms inside the hospital, it should be a modern hospital.

The blonde woman standing in front of the hospital bed is Shanara, the maid next to her is Alice, and the person lying on the bed is Shanara's grandfather.

"What exactly does that mean?"

Lu Qing frowned as she glanced at the energetic old man not far away and Shanara.

"So, is there anything dangerous about this cloud of black mist?"

The old man saw Lu Qing emerge from the black mist and asked her a question.

Recalling what had just happened, Lu Qing hesitated and said, "There is still danger. I felt a bit of a headache when I went in."

She concealed the fact that she had seen hallucinations, since it's hard to say anything about things related to the real world.

Footsteps approached, and Fang Qingrou arrived with a large sword sheath on her back and a pile of things in her arms.

"I've brought the weapon," Fang Qingrou said, running to Lu Qing's side.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Lu Qing took the mithril dagger, hidden blade, agile cloak, and throwing knife sheath from Fang Qingrou's hands and quickly put them on.

While putting on her weapons, she explained to Fang Qingrou what had just happened.

"So we're in a situation where we don't know what to do next, right?" Fang Qingrou said after thinking for a moment after hearing Lu Qing's explanation.

"That's true, but it's better to keep those kinds of things to yourself in the future," Lu Qing said helplessly.

Indeed, they had no way to deal with the black mist, which had to be admitted, but it was still quite embarrassing to have it said out loud.

“We can’t just watch this thing get bigger and bigger,” Fang Qingrou said, looking at the ever-growing black mist.

"Should we try it with fire?" Lu Qing suggested after thinking for a while.

"I think it's a good idea," the old man nodded in agreement.

They did whatever came to mind, and after a while, Lu Qing and the others lit a wooden stick and held it up to the black mist.

"call!"

The moment the blazing flames came into contact with the black mist, they ignited as if they had encountered pure oxygen, and the rising flames instantly enveloped the entire cloud of black mist.

Lu Qing quickly extinguished the wooden stick in her hand, threw it to the ground some distance away, and then took several steps back.

Looking up, the black mist was now covered by flames, floating in the air like a giant fireball.

A scream suddenly came from the black mist. The next moment, the black mist, which was surrounded by flames, began to writhe violently, as if it had suddenly come to life.

Upon seeing this, Lu Qing and the others immediately drew their weapons and looked warily at the black mist.

The flames on the black mist gradually began to die out, and then a monster that looked like a ghost appeared in mid-air.

The monster was completely black, the same color as the previous black mist, but for some reason, looking at the black mist in front of her, Lu Qing had a feeling that the other party had come to life.

This feeling was so strange that a sense of fear inexplicably rose in Lu Qing's heart.

Sensing the fear in her heart, and in order to prevent it from spreading, Lu Qing pinched her thigh hard with her fingers.

The pain immediately dispelled the fear, but before Lu Qing could think about the source of her fear, a whooshing sound suddenly came from beside her.

She quickly dodged to the side, looking at the person who attacked her with a surprised expression.

"Shanara?"

Lu Qing called out the other person's name, but Shanara seemed not to hear her.

"Something's wrong with her. Everyone stay away from her and the black mist!" the old man frowned and shouted.

This was something the other party didn't need to say. They slowly retreated, creating distance between themselves and Shanara.

However, to everyone's surprise, after they distanced themselves from Shanara, she did not continue to attack, but instead retreated as well.

Upon seeing what was behind the other party, Lu Qing and the others all changed their expressions.

Behind Shanara was a black mist!

Shanara threw the wooden stick she had picked up to the ground, her figure blending into the black mist.

"!"

Upon seeing the scene before him, the old man couldn't resist and charged forward, sword in hand.

However, just as he arrived in front of the black mist, the black mist that had merged with Shanara suddenly expanded, releasing a ring of gale-force winds centered on the black mist, which directly blew the old man away.