Eldritch Horror Theatre

The downhill path stretched on.

Old Man Huang Leji truly hadn't been speaking nonsense; the path ahead stretched out without a single switchback in sight.

However, every member of the team he led had undoubtedly suffered new injuries.

Setting aside the widely known taboo against turning back, the sheer narrowness of this downhill path meant that even if someone lost their mind and tried to go against the flow, they would easily be blocked.

Therefore, from a logical standpoint, Old Man Huang's accusation was highly credible.

Even if it sounded somewhat terrifying.

Even walking downward would incur a severe penalty? Had they been subverting the heavenly order without even realizing it?

"Don't be afraid. You can try it out however you see fit."

Sha Ming, who had caught up by now, maintained his uninhibited demeanor.

...

Sha Ming's overly blunt tone from earlier had clearly cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

So much so that, faced with this suggestion, Old Man Huang's heart was now as ashen as his face.

But as an old veteran of the jianghu who had wielded great power for years, he would never easily extinguish a single sliver of hope in this desperate situation just because of someone else's words.

"No matter what changes occur, do not move."

Glancing around, he quickly delivered the cold instruction.

After saying this, Huang Leji fell silent again. He took a deep breath and, staring dead at Sha Ming, took a step upward.

One step, two steps...

Ugh—

Just as he was about to brush past Sha Ming, the breath Huang Leji had drawn in burst out as a cry of pain.

"Why..."

Glancing down at the new scarlet marks on his body, Huang Leji looked back at Sha Ming with undisguised hatred.

"Why did you deliberately trick us into coming here?"

It was truly the worst-case scenario. Going up or down would both trigger severe punishment.

This practically meant they would be trapped here to die.

"Trick? I believe I said that once you got here, you wouldn't need to walk anymore, didn't I?"

The furious Huang Leji was right in front of him, but Sha Ming didn't seem the least bit worried about a sudden attack. He merely defended himself amid a low chuckle.

"A destination simply means a place where you are forced to stop; it's not necessarily a specific point... The essential nature of the world is far beyond your imagination."

"Am I right, Excellency Followers?"

The next moment, he even looked toward Fu Qian to seek agreement.

"I have no problem with that. After all, you only said there was no need to walk anymore, not that we would see Huang Zhixun."

Fu Qian naturally stepped up, offering a very detailed critique.

At the same time, seeing that Old Man Huang was on the verge of a cerebral hemorrhage—a state not even his withered face could conceal—Fu Qian displayed a touch of humanitarian care, casually offering comfort.

"You have to look on the bright side. Fundamentally, your situation isn't much different from before, is it?"

...

Huang Leji naturally hated Sha Ming to the bone for tricking everyone into this dead end, but that didn't mean he had a good impression of Fu Qian either.

He clearly remembered that Fu Qian had also given a positive opinion on continuing forward to this place.

However, even harboring that resentment, hearing Fu Qian's words now still left Huang Leji stunned in confusion.

"You don't dare go up, and you don't dare go down. You can only stay where you are. The only difference is that your room to move is a bit smaller."

Fu Qian continued to speak with assurance.

"I know you can probably deduce quite easily where the boundary for the 'no going down' rule takes effect."

"But before taking any action, I advise you to think it over carefully. Even if you pay the price to escape this range, would it have any meaning?"

"Not to mention what Excellency Sha Ming just brought up—that the essential nature of the world is far beyond your imagination. The boundaries you deduce through conventional logic might not even be useful."

Maintaining the air of a charlatan, Fu Qian used an emotionless voice to genuinely help Huang Leji's group analyze their situation and clarify their fate.

"...You just don't want us to walk around blindly and implicate you, right? I can see it very clearly. That special bond is still there."

Unfortunately, having struggled continuously only for things to get increasingly worse, even Old Man Huang found it hard to keep his emotions stable. He merely sneered at Fu Qian's words.

"No, but of course, this only represents my own opinion. You can confirm it again with Excellency Sha Ming."

Having a fortune-telling stall flipped over because the prediction wasn't ideal was a common occurrence in the charlatan trade. Naturally, Fu Qian didn't mind a few cold remarks.

"Please, feel free."

And Sha Ming, the other party involved, stated his stance almost instantly.

"Besides, regarding Huang Zhixun, I wasn't just giving random directions. We really are getting closer and closer to him here."

Not only that, but Sha Ming deliberately turned to Fu Qian to explain that he wasn't a liar.

"It's just that breaking through that boundary to see him won't be easy."

"Oh?"

Even though Sha Ming looked every bit the mastermind behind the scenes, Fu Qian was quite interested in his self-defense.

"So what you said earlier about what happened last night was all true? Like Huang Zhixun stealing your things and returning here alone?"

"Of course."

There wasn't a hint of a guilty conscience in Sha Ming's tone.

"Then did he know you let him steal it on purpose?"

Fu Qian nodded with utmost naturalness and followed up with the question.

...

"Hehehe... He probably didn't know."

The brief silence was quickly broken by Sha Ming's laughter, and he actually answered Fu Qian's question.

The sheer volume of information in those words was enough to completely reverse the events of the previous night once again.

It wasn't that Blood Lion had schemed against his teammates and found an opportunity to return here to hog the spoils, but rather that he had been manipulated into returning with such thoughts.

He wasn't even the only victim, because a sizable rescue team had subsequently been organized under Sha Ming's urgent appeals.

The underlying implications were truly terrifying upon deeper reflection, harboring malicious intent deserving of condemnation.

Though it didn't seem strange to Fu Qian.

He had crossed paths with Brother Blood Lion long ago. The man's scheming and methods were truly lacking; Classmate Su Gao's assessment of him being "incompetent" was perfectly fitting.

And since this time involved something as important as the Demigod Realm bottleneck, could he really have found such a loophole to exploit?

Because of this, he had held reservations about the story Sha Ming told from the very beginning.

"I thought so, too."

"But why would you volunteer such important information as him actually being very close?"

While agreeing with this new version of the story, Fu Qian made no effort to hide his curiosity.

"Very simple. You are different from them."

Pointing at Huang Leji's group, Sha Ming sounded exaggeratedly honest.

"They have already reached the destination, but you clearly still have the energy to do more. You need a little encouragement."

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