Eldritch Horror Theatre

There was no reaction.

Even as Fu Qian walked right up beside Brother Round Shield, the canopy of eyes above made no move, merely staring down in silence.

Sacrificing five Two-Dimensional Living Corpses to wipe out Sage and himself in one go would have been an acceptable trade.

But wasting that trump card just to kill him alone? The Holy Grail apparently wasn't interested in a deal like that.

This didn't exactly come as a surprise.

In fact, Fu Qian had already figured out how to handle this deadly trap that eluded his Insight.

The simplest method was exactly what they were doing right now.

Enter one by one, open the passage, and ensure there was never more than one person inside this chamber at a time.

As long as Old Man Sage—who possessed the ability to perceive and counter the threat—stayed behind, the worst-case scenario was merely sacrificing a few pawns.

I don't care what your goal is, but the Holy Grail naturally rejects being perceived by anything, and I'm shoving you right into its face.

Now that was a masterstroke!

...

Drawn with the blood of a Fallen Star Beast? The name is certainly fitting.

Withdrawing his gaze from the domed ceiling, Fu Qian thoughtfully patted Brother Round Shield on the shoulder.

On the face that slowly turned toward him, the eyes remained entirely unfocused.

The massive influx of information had shattered his will once again.

His expression unchanged, Fu Qian casually unbuckled the Golden Shield and strapped it to his own arm.

It was a perfectly reasonable precaution. The team members waiting at the entrance didn't rush him.

Fu Qian didn't waste any more time, either. He strode straight over to the base of the stone statue.

He even chose the exact spot where Old Man Sage had stood previously.

The others had little reaction, but Old Man Sage seemed even more pleased.

...

"Just above the left knee, there are two separate hollow cavities. Tap around and find them."

Sage issued the instruction without a second's hesitation.

What an honest sharing of information.

Recalling the old man's movements from before, he really had been searching along the left leg, Fu Qian silently noted.

Extending two fingers, Fu Qian began tapping upwards, spacing each strike about half a palm apart.

Soon, two distinct hollow thuds echoed out, revealing the hidden cavities beneath the stone.

Marking the two spots with his fingers, Fu Qian glanced back at Sage.

"Tap them in the sequence I give you. Your timing must be exact."

The old man didn't hesitate. He raised two fingers and tapped the air, humming a very specific rhythm as he did.

It sounded almost like a string of binary code—an ancient yet brilliant mechanism for opening a door.

And with such a generous display of sharing, the old man was really playing the part to the hilt!

Marveling at the act, Fu Qian turned back to the statue. His fingers danced over the stone, tapping the two spots with flawless precision.

He quickly understood why Sage had been so emphatic about the timing.

With every tap, strange reverberations rippled from within the statue, rapidly intertwining with subsequent strikes to throw off the rhythm.

Silently resisting the auditory interference, Fu Qian calmly and steadily tapped out the entire sequence.

The moment he finished, the jumbled rhythms echoing within the stone merged perfectly into a single, cohesive sound.

Was that... crying?

Though it sounded slightly synthetic and devoid of soul, it was undeniably the sound of a weeping woman.

It certainly fit the statue's motif.

Clicking his tongue in wonder, Fu Qian waited patiently for a few seconds.

The eyes overhead remained entirely still, and the weeping gradually faded away.

Rumble!

The heavy grinding of stone finally echoed out.

Fu Qian followed the statue as it slowly began to rotate counterclockwise.

When it finally came to a halt, a spiral stone staircase had appeared where the statue once stood.

"Good."

Sage's praise was entirely devoid of emotion. It was impossible to tell whether he considered the current situation ideal or not.

"Below is the Clock Tower Hall, where the Holy Grail is kept. You head in first."

Having given the order, Sage turned back to look at Ais and the other two.

"Wait here for my signal before you move. Remember, only one person can enter at a time."

That guy gets to go in, and we have to wait outside?

With the path forward smoothly opened, the trio had been eager to proceed. This sudden order sent a surge of frustration through them.

Unfortunately, Sage gave them no chance to argue, striding straight into the statue chamber.

The canopy of eyes overhead still showed no reaction, and Fu Qian, following his orders, was already making his way down the stone steps.

...

It was much cleaner down here, completely free of that chaotic mess of eyes from above.

But why was it called the Clock Tower Hall?

No matter how you looked at it, this place was buried deep in the Underground.

Despite his doubts, Fu Qian had zero intention of waiting for the old man. He followed the lone passage straight ahead.

The spiral staircase ended at a straight Corridor. Fu Qian walked all the way to its end, his flashlight beam revealing a chamber highly similar to the one above.

Standing precisely where the statue would be on the floor above was a stone platform etched with bizarre symbols. Resting atop it was a "cup" nearly half the height of a man.

The Blind Eye Holy Grail?

The name was certainly apt, but the design was a bit too eccentric!

Shining his flashlight over the Stone Seat, Fu Qian carefully scrutinized his mission objective.

First off, it was undeniably gleaming with a golden hue, but it didn't look like real Gold. It hardly even looked like metal.

The main body of this massive cup was actually shaped like a gigantic human head. Though its proportions were heavily deformed, the facial features were still faintly visible.

Like the two teammates who had died during the puzzle earlier, those features were arranged in a bizarrely twisted, grotesque configuration. Merely glancing at them was enough to induce intense vertigo and nausea.

And despite the two eyes being completely asymmetrical, the handles on either side of the cup still underwent a bizarre contortion, clamping down over them just like a pair of arms.

"Absolutely magnificent, isn't it?"

A deeply intoxicated sigh rang out behind him. Sage had already caught up and was now staring at the Holy Grail, completely entranced.

"Why haven't you gone in? Do you have some doubts?"

Finishing his sigh, he sized up the primary contributor, his tone laden with meaning.

"I was just pondering a question, actually."

Fu Qian knew the old man's suspicions hadn't diminished in the slightest, but a question like that was hardly enough to stump him.

"I was wondering why this place is called the Clock Tower Hall... Though I think I've mostly figured it out by now."

As he spoke, Fu Qian tilted his head to look up at the ceiling.

Instead of the eye-covered stones from outside, there was now a massive clock on the ceiling.

At a glance, its structure was incredibly complex. Beneath its hands, dials of varying sizes were intricately layered and intertwined.

As for the material, it actually looked like real Gold.

The only problem was that it seemed to be broken.

With that silent observation, Fu Qian took a step forward and officially entered the Clock Tower Hall.

[Mission Complete]

[Current mission updated: Become the sole Anchor Point for the Blind Eye Holy Grail]

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