Eldritch Horror Theatre

There is a saying about taking shame as a spur to courage.

Spurred by Fu Qian calling him out by name, the crumbling Illusory Eye immediately began to flicker wildly.

But surprisingly, its rate of expansion stabilized right after.

Watching this, Fu Qian naturally felt deeply gratified.

"Sorry, I don't know what you mean by Wisdom King."

But as the person involved and the owner of the dream, the "Jiang En" before him finally couldn't hold back his words.

"Pinning the name of that Blood Clan member on me is one thing, but isn't impersonating me to my face taking it a bit too far?"

"That does sound like a bit much."

Facing this accusation, Fu Qian simply let out an "oh" and began to explain quite amiably.

"How could that vampire, who has lived for so long without making any progress, possibly compare to you?"

"Bearing the name of a pure-blood in vain, and even with massive family resources backing him, he still only managed that meager bit of achievement."

"To be grouped alongside such trash... honestly, even this seat finds it unbearable. It is truly an insult to your reputation—"

"Enough!"

Dayun Mingwang's righteous indignation was abruptly cut off. Even as the object of this flattery, Northern Jiang En of Shangjing was still gnashing his teeth.

"Could it be that you are unwilling to slander an opponent? Truly a noble character."

Fu Qian let out a sound of praise. Even through the mask, he couldn't hide his admiration.

"But this seat is absolutely telling the truth. If you were in his shoes, with your talent and methods, there absolutely wouldn't be any talk of the Twin Geniuses of Shangjing."

"Honestly, with how slow his progress is, I don't even see how he is any better than a half-blood vampire—"

"I told you to shut up!"

This time it was a full-blown roar. "Jiang En" looked as if he was about to rush forward and start a fight.

However, as his gaze fixed on the Head Cage for a moment, he seemed to realize he might have fallen for a taunt, and he forcefully stopped in his tracks.

"How did you know? I absolutely didn't show any flaws."

Of course, even so, he clearly gave up hoping for certain possibilities and just laid his cards on the table.

...

Not bad. Still flexible enough to know when to yield.

Fu Qian nodded again in approval.

Of course, what gratified him the most was that the Illusory Eye, the indicator of the dream's stability, had actually started to slowly close.

Powerless to resist this miserable reality, Brother Taylor was clearly starting to accept and even enjoy it.

Of course, what this guy didn't know was that he actually did have the power to resist.

If he had actually charged forward just now, Fu Qian really only had the use of one arm left to fight him off.

It was a pity. Driven by his "meticulous" thinking, he hadn't dismissed the possibility that Fu Qian was just tricking him into coming closer to snatch the Head Cage back.

Regardless, his control over this dream had grown once more.

As for exactly why he had begun to suspect this guy's identity?

It had actually started the very moment he entered the dream.

When he had been looking the victim on the bed up and down just now, it certainly wasn't because he was bored enough to admire human curves—he was admiring her facial curves.

Monks do not tell lies; that line about it "not being the first time meeting" was actually the truth.

He really had seen that young face on the bed once before. It was the night Ambor had been killed—she was the drunk girl sprawled out on a bench with her rear in the air, the one Taylor had chosen as bait for his little "waiting by the stump for a hare" scheme.

And considering that both the true culprit and the victim were conjured from the dream owner's imagination...

Seeing this victim who'd been picked up off the street wearing that exact face, it would have been impossible for Fu Qian not to suspect the outstanding young talent of the Blood Clan.

Especially after confirming "Jiang En's" true intentions.

How could that bunch from the Greed Worm who were waiting to feast on Carrion possibly let Jiang En end up in the awkward position of being strapped for cash?

If the man had any lingering obsessions, they almost certainly wouldn't be about money.

Furthermore, Fu Qian remembered clearly that the information about Jiang En recently attending secret gatherings had also come straight from Brother Taylor.

Even toward his equally famous counterpart who was already suffering from slight color loss, this member of the Twin Geniuses of Shangjing still paid quite a bit of attention.

Therefore, under the premise that this Jiang En was a fake, the man's overly natural reaction to Fu Qian deliberately dropping the word "benefactor" actually only made Taylor look even more suspicious.

...

Sigh!

Facing Taylor, who had all but admitted his identity, Fu Qian let out a long sigh.

"Gulade is, after all, an ancient Transcendent Tier family that has spanned a thousand years. Wouldn't it be better if its descendants put in a little effort to help maintain its dignity?"

"Your methods were certainly not bad. I can tell you put a lot of thought into this; you probably even utilized your sleeping hours to set it up."

"The problem is, you were impersonating the man right to his face. Is this what you call 'not showing any flaws'?"

"Don't even try to trick me... I'd recognize you even if you were turned to ash, Dayun Mingwang!"

Though completely outmatched when it came to a battle of words, he clearly retained the stubbornness of the pureblood Blood Clan.

After a brief moment of being at a loss for words, Taylor ground his teeth together, unwilling to easily deny himself—though, of course, that was after already denying a part of his previous claim.

The tone of his voice had clearly shifted, taking on the elegant bearing of the Blood Clan.

"When did I ever say I wasn't Dayun Mingwang? Think about it a bit more."

Considering his deep ties with this noble race, Fu Qian didn't decline the opportunity to graciously provide a free lesson in logic.

"What do you mean? Wait a minute, don't tell me you..."

Although his aptitude was slightly dull, with a true master pointing the way, Brother Taylor didn't take too long to catch on.

"Heh, forgive the display. I was actually hoping to keep a low profile."

Seeing that the young member of the Blood Clan had finally caught on, Fu Qian let out a gratified laugh.

And upon feeling his control over the dream increase yet again, his smile grew even wider.

"Dayun Mingwang is just one of Jiang En's identities. You're the one who has been behind everything happening in Shangjing... You broke through your bottleneck a long time ago. You were just using this method to pull the wool over everyone's eyes."

"Keep going."

Brother Taylor's tone was incredibly agitated. The ever-understanding Fu Qian magnanimously gestured for him to hurl as many accusations as he liked.

"It seems that gathering in the Underground really brought you quite a few benefits—but why did you fake my name to do these things?"

Taylor didn't hold back either. As he smoothed out his train of thought, he rapidly seized the moral high ground.

"Are you sure? I have never falsely claimed to be someone else or done anything like what you just pulled."

Unfortunately, he clearly still didn't realize what kind of character he was dealing with, and he found himself instantly checkmated.

...

The art of presenting facts and reasoning is endlessly profound. Faced with the situation Fu Qian laid out, Taylor found himself unexpectedly at a loss for words once again.

Strictly speaking, this street-lurking predator of Shangjing—who had never left so much as a single hair behind for anyone to catch—had indeed never left a name, either.

He only operated at night, exhibited signs of the Transcendent Tier, and left incredibly classic bite marks on the necks of his victims...

"What's the difference between doing these things and leaving my name directly? I don't believe you didn't think of that."

Having stumbled upon such a massive secret, Taylor naturally refused to be shackled by this petty sophistry.

"How is there no difference?"

Fu Qian's voice carried a note of surprise.

"If I had left your name directly, how could you possibly still be roaming around so freely?"

...

"You were waiting for me on purpose... You knew I would come..."

As the Illusory Eye trembled, the boundaries of Taylor's imagination expanded once more, and a second later, he snapped his gaze down to the Head Cage in his hands.

His five fingers, which had been clutching it in a death grip, finally wavered with a hint of uncertainty.

"Too late."

Yet Dayun Mingwang's voice didn't pause for a moment.

"Your traces have already been left on it, just like the previous victims."

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