Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was the inevitable finally here?

Ever since donning the Shroud, Excellency Ji Ning had practically become the team's walking pressure cooker.

Following her blind navigation, a single casual remark from her just now made the already suffocating atmosphere feel several atmospheres heavier.

For a moment, even Lu Yi—who had just been ready to set out—seemed to hit pause as he looked over.

"That is a good question."

As the eye of this high-pressure storm, however, Fu Qian reacted with perfect calm, even showing understanding toward the interrogation.

After all, it really was unusual.

Counting the recently rescued Lu Yi, there were five people on the team. His own Rank undoubtedly sat at the lowest tier, and his abilities were of the most brutish type.

Yet throughout their continuous operations, not only had Brother Lu Yi been secretly implanted twice, but even Excellency Aike had failed to withstand the pressure.

Yet he alone showed absolutely no signs of such "good news."

Excellency Ji Ning and the others must have harbored these doubts for a while, only choosing not to press the issue after weighing the situation.

As for why she was bringing it up now, when the situation was so critical?

It wasn't out of panic. In fact, it was a sign of a razor-sharp mind.

With the situation deteriorating so rapidly, Ji Ning clearly believed the risks brought by his suspicious nature could no longer be tolerated. She was preparing to act on the principle that to resist external threats one must first pacify internal troubles.

From here on, if he showed even the slightest hint of guilt—or merely tried to stall for time—he would have to seriously worry about her taking ruthless action.

"Actually, the answer is quite simple. It's the exact same reason why I was able to pull out this Dagger."

However, as an expert in reading the room, how could Fu Qian engage in such low-class stalling?

A moment later, he smiled, nodded, and cut straight to the core.

......

"So you knew you could open it all along?"

Fu Qian's words undoubtedly delivered quite a shock. The one asking the question was actually Aike, who had just managed to stabilize her condition.

When one really thought about it, the implications behind his statement were simply massive.

Not only had this guy shown an unconventional level of resistance to the erosion, but he also possessed a level of understanding about Excellency Ji Ning's secret methods that the rest of them lacked?

Combined with his already questionable origins, it was enough to let anyone's imagination run wild.

Judging by how everyone else was holding their breath and listening closely, it was obvious they were all dying to hear the answer.

"You could say that."

Silence often brewed crisis. Knowing full well that a sword could come cleaving toward him at any moment, Fu Qian slowly raised his right hand as he answered, sweeping it across his face.

"As I just said, I completely believe Excellency Ji Ning's words. This Dagger truly did originate from the traces of her Imprint. But there is one thing she might not know: she isn't the only one with ties to this Dagger."

Lowering his hand, Fu Qian blinked at the group.

"The first time I laid eyes on it, I recognized it. This is a gift from the Progenitor."

"Blood Clan!"

The shock that ripped through the team members in that moment was profound.

They saw that the eyes he had just swept his hand across now bore pupils glowing a deep, piercing scarlet.

It was an overly iconic physical trait—one that was far too easy to connect the dots with.

This guy was a member of the Blood Clan? And they hadn't noticed a thing earlier.

Then his real purpose for being here...

The one most visibly horrified by this revelation was Aike, the teammate he had encountered at the very beginning.

If he really was a member of the Blood Clan, it would perfectly explain his absurd level of flesh manipulation. But hadn't he hidden it a little too well—

"You're a demigod?"

Startled, Aike stared at Fu Qian as a sudden realization hit her.

......

For a Mid-Tier Transcendent to easily hide their true nature in front of a demigod was practically impossible.

With her specialized abilities, Aike at least had that much confidence in herself.

Yet from earlier until now, she hadn't detected a single clue.

The same went for Dean Li and the others.

The only explanation was that this guy was no Mid-Tier Transcendent. He held a Rank that was at least equal to her own...

That was also why his resistance to the erosion was even stronger than hers.

In that instant, all of her accumulated doubts seemed to be answered at once.

Even before Fu Qian had a chance to confirm it, Aike had already slipped into a state of full combat readiness.

Trapped in this bizarre predicament with a demigod who had been hiding his identity all along, the situation seemed far more perilous than they had imagined. It was impossible not to feel vigilant.

And it wasn't just her. Judging by the reactions of the other three, it was clear they felt the exact same way.

"A demigod, hehehe..."

Yet in the face of this explosive internal tension, the man in question merely let out a light chuckle. The hand he had just lowered was raised once again.

With everyone at each other's throats, this movement undoubtedly drew even more intense scrutiny than before.

However, he didn't suddenly attack. Under their watchful gazes, a night-sky blackness rapidly condensed and expanded over his hand, converging into a giant, pitch-black claw.

He really was a member of the Blood Clan!

This iconic form belonged exclusively to that ancient, alien race. Everyone present was highly experienced; there was absolutely no way they wouldn't recognize it.

But that wasn't the main point. The real issue was what accompanied this transformation. The aura seeping out from him carried a distinct, unmistakable divinity—he really was a demigod!

A vampire demigod who had been traveling alongside them the entire time, hiding his true identity.

......

It seemed he finally had a grasp on what was going on in this place.

As his little performance sent their minds spinning wildly, Fu Qian stared at that giant Darkness Claw and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The scarlet pupils were, of course, a knockoff. The Darkness Claw was too. But the divinity was completely real.

In that moment, he had transitioned from his complete Thug form, genuinely restoring his Rank to that of a demigod.

As for how he had managed to do it, the answer was actually quite simple—his team members believed he was a demigod.

As a professional task runner, how could he not know the value of keeping a low profile?

Fu Qian knew full well that his sharp, flashy performance along the way, while earning their appreciation, would undoubtedly trigger their vigilance.

But he had done it anyway.

On one hand, it was to improve his efficiency on the mission. On the other hand, it certainly wasn't to earn the admiration of these senior experts—it was to earn their suspicion.

Although they had yet to face an enemy head-on during this mission, the situation was nothing short of perilous.

But ever since they had rescued Lu Yi, when Old Man Li had invited him to deduce their current situation, a fleeting thought had crossed his mind—wasn't all of this going a little too smoothly?

Exactly. Despite the relentless erosion and the endless, prying eyes, this operation had been surprisingly smooth in Fu Qian's eyes. He had deduced that something was following them, and something was. He had deduced that the thing was a Tree Infant, and it was.

Especially that massive leap of logic in his later deductions—he had deliberately forced that conclusion himself.

In the eyes of his team members, it was highly likely just his absurd intuition, a lucky guess that happened to hit the mark.

But in his own mind, there was actually another explanation: it was exactly because he had made that deduction out loud that Old Man Li was able to discover the Tree Infant in the first place.

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