Eldritch Horror Theatre

Slicing tendons and scraping bone.

Her proud, heavily tempered Transcendent Tier flesh and blood had never felt so fragile.

There was nowhere to run, because the slicing originated from within her own body.

Xiao Ying stood trembling, pressing a hand to the right side of her chest. A moment later, a surge of warmth welled up from beneath her otherwise cold skin.

It was blood.

Blood welling from a wound that pierced all the way through her skin and internal organs.

Staring intently at the bright red on her hand, an image of the mangled corpse behind her naturally surfaced in her mind.

It really was pierced from the inside out... Even though there was only a wound, with no visible blade.

But how could this be...

A moment later, as if realizing something, she tried taking another careful step up the spiraling walkway.

"Ugh—"

This time, she only let out a low groan, her hand swiftly clutching the side of her abdomen.

In that brief instant, warmth had flowed out from there as well.

Impossible... is it really because of this?

It was undoubtedly another wound, but compared to the shock in her heart, the physical pain was practically negligible.

...

He had figured there wouldn't just be a new room for the Emperor.

The changes occurring in Madam Xiao Ying obviously could not be hidden from Fu Qian.

Compared to the victim, who lacked the theoretical understanding, Fu Qian—as a professional—found it much easier to comprehend this shift.

Sacred Protection was not merely manifested on certain lucky individuals; it clearly wandered within the Volcano as well.

It wasn't even limited to the confines of the Invisible Palace.

The cause of death for the corpse on the ground was simple: he had been walking upward.

Indeed, that meandering trail of blood must have sprayed out from inside his body as he walked, just like with Xiao Ying right now.

It wasn't that they couldn't retrace their steps, but rather that they couldn't go up.

Based on Fu Qian's understanding of domains governed by the Law, rigid strictness had always been its primary characteristic.

Therefore, he had observed very closely just now when Madam Xiao Ying made her return trip and conducted her test.

His conclusion was that the level of devastation inflicted upon flesh and blood was directly proportional to the change in elevation.

He could perfectly picture the scene of the man on the ground sprinting madly upward, ultimately tearing himself to pieces.

Judging from Madam Xiao Ying's reaction, Fu Qian believed similar images were likely flashing through her mind right now.

This was undoubtedly a major discovery, even if the despair it brought was heavy.

With a brief estimation, it was easy to gauge one's own climbing limit.

Given that not everyone was a flesh and blood expert like himself, realizing the rule even a little too late meant their return path had already become an impassable chasm.

This was also likely why, despite the tragic example lying right here, the others hadn't stopped their advance, instead delving so deep that he couldn't even see a Shadow of them.

An impassable chasm was an impassable chasm. It might look close, but if it couldn't be crossed even by pushing past one's absolute limits, it was no longer just a pity to abandon.

Anyone with a bit of decisiveness would know their only option was to keep heading down to find a way out.

Trading a deeper plunge for a sliver of hope to escape.

He had to admit, there was a certain Zen flavor to it.

Of course, Fu Qian had no interest in knowing whether Madam Xiao Ying wanted to meditate on this.

Just as her test moments ago hadn't been intentionally provoked by him.

Thus, throughout his observation of the whole process, his own footsteps never stopped.

...

The reason he had gone back halfway to change clothes was, of course, to differentiate himself from his previous appearance as Captain Qiao, thereby creating a misdirection.

The same went for casually shifting his face into Huang Jianyuan's just now.

However, the key point here lay in the setup. Maintaining his governing through non-action along the way created a charlatan's game where, no matter the choice, the consequences were inescapable.

Just like with Brother Hao Ke and the others, it didn't matter to Fu Qian whether Madam Xiao Ying chose to push deeper and realized the trick behind his identity after they regrouped, or successfully retreated the way she came and discovered Captain Qiao was already gone.

His target had never been the Huang Clan.

How could the Huang Clan, who had guarded this place for so many years without finding anything, possibly pull off a spectacle of this magnitude?

Even factoring in the returning prodigal, Blood Lion, it was hard to imagine him having such capability.

It felt as if the modest West Plain City was truly teeming with the Shadow.

Therefore, his visit to the Mid-Mountain Manor and all his theatricals had only ever been to muddy the waters.

The Huang Clan might lack the means to control the situation, but what if, aside from that tree, there was some other mastermind force behind the scenes?

Then the enigmatic puzzle he had been steering all along—involving a mysterious Demigod Realm entity, fake clansmen, and secret official visits—would inevitably draw the interest of those forces.

As long as it garnered a bit more attention and forced them into a few unnecessary moves, then breaking out this rarely worn outfit would have been worth it.

Amidst his musings, under Madam Xiao Ying's involuntary gaze, Fu Qian walked on air until his back was obscured by the cavern opening further down the stone wall.

...

No wonder, besides the one who had fallen, he couldn't see a single Shadow of the others.

There were no obstacles in front of the cave this time, but the moment Fu Qian stepped inside, he realized his footing was no longer on the dark cyan rock it had appeared to be from the outside.

However, it wasn't the kind of invisible path from before where nothing could be seen, either.

Instead, mirrors facing each other at clever angles in all directions formed a unique passage.

It seemed to possess special, highly erratic spatial rules.

Yet, while these mirrors didn't look overly smooth, their absolute reflective nature seemed to create a perfect isolating effect. It made it difficult to sense what lay behind them, making it impossible to determine an exact position.

Regardless, if the rescue team that chose to press on had encountered a similar situation, it made perfect sense why they couldn't be seen from above.

Of course, these mirrors weren't flawless in every aspect. For example, a visible defect lay right in front of him: the reflections they cast didn't look alike at all.

Although the overlapping reflections created a chaotic and dizzying array of figures, it was easy to see that not a single one was wearing his specially prepared outfit.

They were tall figures draped in gold-and-white hoods, though the faces beneath the hoods did match his current appearance.

Unfortunately, before he could observe much more, the chaotic myriad of figures vanished in an instant, as if they had hidden away in the world behind the mirrors—except for one.

Walking slowly within the mirror, that figure, exuding a brilliant and lofty aura, soon arrived at the spot closest to Fu Qian.

Yet under Fu Qian's gaze, that face identical to his own remained silent, simply returning his gaze with the same smile.

In the next moment, it raised its left hand. Slender fingers slashed across, carving a gruesome wound into its own body.

And the same happened to Fu Qian's body, a similarly horrific wound appearing in the exact same spot.

Although for him, such an injury was nothing to speak of.

Without moving, Fu Qian quietly watched the performance in the mirror until that body was far more mangled than the corpse from earlier.

At that point, the figure in the mirror finally stopped its left hand's movements. It switched to raising its other hand, pressing it against both eyes and forcefully gouging them out while staring straight at Fu Qian.

"SAN Value -1."

With two blood-red eye sockets, it spoke its first words, its smile undiminished.

And it wasn't even over yet.

[SAN Value -1]

Another familiar prompt echoed in Fu Qian's ears in perfect sync.

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