Eldritch Horror Theatre

After a literal brainstorm, a wave of transcendent feedback allowed Fu Qian to faintly confirm he had recovered the "forgotten knowledge" tied to the Glove.

Except this knowledge... made sense, yet at the same time, it didn't!

[Mind Calamity: Condenses a Resonance Spike. Upon striking a target, both the victim and the user will suffer a severe Mental Shock.]

Setting aside the fact that an item with such a domineering design was actually a spellcasting tool, Fu Qian found the ability itself easy enough to understand—it was a mental version of the seven injuries fist, simultaneously striking the sanity of both the target and the user.

But the real question was, why?

If this equipment belonged to a transcendent, Fu Qian could accept it. But its current users were mentally fragile ordinary people. Who were they supposed to hit with this spike?

A transcendent? The user would probably go mad before the target did.

An ordinary person? If they were just normal people, wouldn't it be easier to just shoot them?

Looking at the team in front of him, Fu Qian highly doubted they lacked the means to procure firearms.

He felt no disappointment. Instead, Fu Qian's interest in this team had just grown by a few notches.

As everyone knew, those who walked the jianghu wielding unorthodox weapons usually had some real skill to back it up.

"It really is as dangerous as we anticipated."

Ais's voice rang out again. Following the sound, Fu Qian saw her take another piece of equipment from Old Man Saint, tracing her fingers over it with a sigh.

He didn't need to ask—another member had failed to wake up.

Out of a nine-person team, two were already gone in the blink of an eye. For an operation that had barely just begun, the casualty rate was staggeringly high.

Even so, Fu Qian didn't sense much genuine grief behind Ais's heavy sighs.

They seemed to have fully anticipated this development. Her words felt less like mourning and more like an attempt to stabilize team morale.

Take Brother Round Shield, for example. Having mostly recovered, he was currently staring at this second sacrificed member with a somewhat wooden expression.

Based on his earlier guess, if everyone outside of Old Man Saint's trio were just cannon fodder, then even counting himself, they had already lost forty percent of their expendable forces.

The only good news was that the remaining member had clearly woken up and was currently resting.

"This journey was never meant to be a test of brute force."

As if responding to Ais's lament, Old Man Saint let out a long sigh of his own before speaking, his tone brimming with compassion.

"Remember what I said before we set out. Here, knowledge is the only power you can rely on. The dangers we face will far surpass the sharp claws of any monster."

"True. But look on the bright side—at least this proves we found the right place, and that our methods are effective."

Scrooge remained the most relaxed of the bunch, chuckling off to the side.

"I simply can't wait to witness the ancient secrets that lie ahead."

"Great. You can walk in front later."

Charlotte, who had suffered a loss to him earlier, clearly had no intention of melting away past animosity. Casually taking the piece of equipment from Ais, Charlotte coldly interjected.

"Sage, can we set off now?"

Handing the equipment over to Brother Round Shield for safekeeping, Charlotte looked toward the old man.

Sage. The title really did fit the man exactly as one would expect.

"Of course. We still have a long road ahead of us."

With those words, the old man now known as Sage pointed his Golden Staff toward a corner, indicating a terribly narrow stone corridor sloping downward.

Judging by the traces around it, no one had passed through there in many years.

Yet Old Man Sage was clearly brimming with absolute confidence in his chosen route.

Without even waiting for the others, he chose to lead from the front, striding right into it.

"Of course, the upside is that the odds of us running into another puzzle seem much lower now."

With that remark, Brother Round Shield seemed to have finished mentally fortifying himself. He accepted the equipment from Charlotte and tucked it safely away.

So, a person can only equip one item at a time?

Fu Qian nodded inwardly as he watched.

Based on his experience mastering the Glove just a moment ago, a user had to forge a mental connection based on the symbols on the equipment to truly harness the power within it.

But just as every piece of equipment was styled differently, the symbols on them were likely unique as well. Judging by the group's behavior, it was impossible to maintain a connection with two items simultaneously.

Otherwise, no matter how mismatched the styles were, Fu Qian was certain Ais and the others would have strapped a few more pieces to themselves.

...

The patterns here don't look all that similar to the ones back at Fenghou Monastery!

Although Old Man Sage had set off first with an imposing presence, the fate of the cannon-fodder squad remained unchanged.

After descending only a few steps down the stone corridor, Fu Qian, at Brother Round Shield's suggestion, ended up walking near the front alongside him.

The final brother to wake up was left at the back of the group to bring up the rear.

Fu Qian had absolutely no complaints about this arrangement; it gave him the perfect excuse to openly observe his surroundings.

The architecture of the Underground they were traversing was incredibly complex.

Not only did the corridors slope up and down unevenly, but there seemed to be a forked path every few steps.

Fortunately, Sage carried himself with the demeanor of a mastermind strategizing within the command tent. With a simple point of his Golden Staff, he determined their direction without a single second of hesitation.

Furthermore, compared to the Holy Temples and shrines he had seen in the past, there weren't many patterns or Emblems carved into the walls. Only in a few isolated spots could he spot the shape of an eye lacking a pupil.

He had to admit, this was somewhat unexpected.

Based on his initial deductions, he had assumed this place was just another stronghold for the Holy Grail Cult.

But looking at it now, the style was distinctly different from the ruins beneath The Monastery, and it felt far more ancient.

However, upon spotting the eye markings, Ais and her companions seemed rather excited. They clearly knew what it meant.

It was a pity that as they ventured deeper, even the motor-mouthed Scrooge kept his lips securely sealed, leaving Fu Qian with no one to help satisfy his curiosity—

Before he could finish the thought, both Fu Qian and Brother Round Shield came to a sudden halt.

Blocking their only path forward was a humanoid figure draped in a thick, heavy black robe, crawling across the ground. Seemingly startled by the beams of their lights, the figure slowly turned around.

Under the stark glare of the light, they could see that its facial features and limbs were all grotesquely twisted, and the skin of its face was so pale it was almost translucent.

Someone's here. A local, no less.

Faced with this horrifying sight, Fu Qian felt no fear—only delight.

Although it didn't look capable of verbal communication, that was fine. There were plenty of other ways to communicate.

"Left Hand!"

Just as expected, the call rang out instantly, with Old Man Sage issuing the command personally.

Good thing I did my rehab earlier, otherwise this would be really awkward right now.

Fu Qian mused inwardly. The next moment, a phantom spike gleaming with golden light, swirling with countless brown fragments inside, slowly materialized in his hand.

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