Eldritch Horror Theatre

To think he actually had an explanation?

Her question had been a subconscious, defensive reflex, yet his guidance followed without a moment's hesitation.

This development once again shattered the limits of her imagination, leaving Professor Lisa momentarily stunned.

But what shocked her even more was the explanation itself.

The Underworld was dead?

As the very concept of the destination of the dead, how could it die?

"You're not joking?"

Staring at the "family of three," she blurted out the question the second she regained her senses.

"In such a serious setting, you're asking such an imprecise question?"

"...But how could the Underworld die?"

His composure was truly impeccable. As Lisa forced her mind to frantically deduce the logic behind his words, she did not hesitate to ask for guidance.

"If an abstract concept like faith can die, why not the Underworld?"

Fu Qian finally glanced back and tapped his temple.

"As a scientific researcher, the most important thing is to never let habitual thinking bind your mind."

"Do you remember the reason you gave earlier for why you thought the Underworld couldn't exist?"

"Uh... if it really existed, the will of a transcendent should be capable of breaking the barrier and clearly transmitting that information out—"

With her brain already racing from the warm-up, Lisa quickly recalled their previous conversation.

Before she even finished speaking, she realized what he was getting at.

"Since a transcendent can break the barrier, why couldn't they just destroy the Underworld entirely... Is that what you mean?"

"Exactly. At their core, there is no fundamental difference between the two. It's just a matter of degree."

Fu Qian gave her a look of approval, as if looking at a child worthy of teaching.

"But the inertia of your perception meant that even when you no longer viewed the Underworld as supreme, you still subconsciously ignored the possibility of its complete destruction."

"If you want to be worthy of the uniform you're wearing, you need to kick that bad habit. Though it's just a hypothesis, the paradox seems to be gone now, isn't it?"

A hypothesis...

She did not rush to reply, no longer even worrying whether the thing outside had wandered far away.

Repeating the word in her mind, Lisa let her gaze fall upon the two humans and the sheep again, subconsciously wondering what role they played in that hypothesis.

Dying a second time in the eternal realm of the dead. This reunion in the basement had completely returned to nothingness, forever frozen in this moment.

"Let me summarize your view. This is the real, legendary Underworld."

As if afraid of disturbing the scene before them, Lisa took a quiet breath, quickly organizing everything they had gleaned so far.

"The souls of the dead arrive here, with no judgment or karmic retribution. They simply enjoy eternal peace in some abstract way... and beings like the Gargoyle watch over them?"

"Correct."

Fu Qian nodded in approval, gesturing for her to continue.

"Then one day, for some incomprehensible reason, the Underworld also withered and died, along with everything in it."

Lisa immediately followed up.

"The souls turned into mummified corpses, the Gargoyle became a real stone statue, and the afterlife ceased to exist?"

It actually wasn't that hard to understand.

Fu Qian nodded again, silently adding that thought in his mind.

It might sound abstract, but some things were much easier to grasp when making an analogy.

The Underworld or the Yellow Springs might be unfamiliar, but he had come into contact with the Unseen Hill of the Abyssal Symbol more than once.

It was similarly a realm of the unknown, and similarly impossible to leave once fully assimilated into it.

In fact, for the two targets he had sent there using the Ash-Bestowing Ring, didn't the role he played make him equivalent to a guide of the Underworld?

And such a place had clearly suffered the intrusion of the Mother of Gospel before, proving its state was not eternal.

If that place could eventually collapse or mutate, what fundamental difference was there between it and the withering of the Underworld?

Regardless of what Professor Lisa thought, to Fu Qian, this had always been a serious academic discussion.

And this was indeed the thought he had held regarding that paradox from the very beginning.

Of course, for Fu Qian, this was not some difficult mental hurdle to overcome. After all, long before accepting the Warehouse Invitation Letter, he had been widely praised for the virtue of lacking reverence.

And after becoming a transcendent, benefiting from a higher-level perspective, that trait had only intensified.

A transcendent, special realm related to the authority of Death—one could easily assign such a definition to the Underworld.

Not to mention, according to A Wei, even the classic representative of this authority, the God of Death, was in a rather precarious state.

"Such is the impermanence of worldly affairs, and affairs after death are no exception."

As his thoughts raced, Fu Qian followed Lisa's gaze, seemingly understanding the lament in her heart.

"At least their little security measure kept their final reunion free from intrusion, didn't it?"

"What do you think... the three of them were doing originally?"

After a moment of hesitation, Professor Lisa temporarily accepted the notion of grouping the two humans and one sheep together as a family.

"Hard to say. I don't think that's a pot; it looks more like a brazier... Maybe they were originally warming themselves by a fire?"

Fu Qian pointed at a flat container on the small table. It was the only container there, and it was noticeably placed closer to the small corpse.

...

Given their previous exchange with the stone statue, the concept of fire obviously brought many things to mind.

"...Why do you think that thing was looking for corpses?"

However, Lisa did not let herself wallow in her emotions any longer. She forced her gaze away and shifted to the core issue.

"Although it's extremely faint, there seems to be a tiny remnant of that withering power inside these corpses. I suppose, to them, it might hold a bit of nutritional value."

"Linghui's report didn't mention this? I'm sure that if they were smashed open, even you would be able to sense it."

Fu Qian casually shared what he had perceived.

"Looking for food..."

She was not the least bit offended by his blunt assessment. Muttering to herself, Lisa clearly agreed with his theory, though she ultimately refrained from stepping forward to touch the mummified bodies.

"At the very least, I haven't seen anything about it in the reports. They probably never found this place before. Are we going to keep tracking that thing?"

A moment later, she shook her head and asked Fu Qian about his next plan.

"Of course. We haven't even gathered the materials yet."

Even after deducing such a monumental hypothesis, Fu Qian still demonstrated the meaning of staying true to one's original aspiration.

"Given that thing's speed, it shouldn't have gotten too far."

"Alright."

It wasn't too unexpected, and Lisa did not hesitate.

Backing out carefully the way they came, she took one last look at the three corpses before swiftly and gently closing the cover plate.

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