Eldritch Horror Theatre

It seemed there really was merit in visiting home often.

When Yuan Shan took out the ball, she deliberately angled it away to spare Wen Li from the impact.

Eldest Miss Wen had always been good at taking advice. After receiving the warning, she immediately adopted a posture of eyes on nose, nose on heart, curbing her curiosity entirely.

For a moment, in the quiet air, Fu Qian was the only one left to admire it.

He was over ninety percent sure this was Chief Yuan's newly acquired gear.

After all, not too long ago, when Ariel caused trouble in Shangjing, she hadn't used it even in the most desperate circumstances.

No matter how he looked at it, this thing was far stronger than Old Man Logan's Siren Tear Mask.

Since Chief Yuan had come straight here after their meeting, she was clearly carrying it on her person.

Considering she had just visited her teacher in the Sacred Night Capital, its origin was practically self-evident.

Fu Qian gave a slight nod and asked casually.

"Yeah."

Yuan Shan didn't even raise her head. Controlling the item clearly demanded considerable energy.

The soft whip continued to stretch longer. Even the arcs of its swings seemed to be the purest incarnation of pain, threatening to shatter a person's mind and wrest away their control with a single misstep.

Of course, Yuan Shan wasn't too worried. Even though the Tier 2 beside her seemed to be idling about, he never dropped the ball at a critical moment.

Withstanding the negative influence without backing away, he would undoubtedly do everything in his power to ensure she wasn't interrupted.

Fortunately, she wouldn't need his protection for long.

The next moment, threads of black silk bloomed from her palm, intertwining with the nearly unraveled whip before abruptly shooting forward.

...

No wonder the old man had gifted his beloved disciple this item despite how difficult it was to control.

It paired incredibly well with Yuan Shan's abilities.

Fu Qian marveled inwardly as he watched the "snake" tear through the air, its trajectory so fast that even he could barely track it.

Even fused with the black strands from Yuan Shan's hand, the whip still didn't seem particularly responsive to guidance.

Right now, it was thrashing in a chaotic, almost erratic manner, tearing at the surrounding divinity like a starving predator.

Indeed, the item's effects were rather miraculous. Even though it hadn't struck him directly—likely thanks to Yuan Shan's strenuous control—

—he could still sense its ravenous urge to tear apart a certain concept within him.

In stark contrast, Wen Li was the very picture of peaceful years, completely unaffected.

The Whip of Deity Chastisement?

He didn't know its exact name, but its effects were undeniably eerie and domineering.

Considering the recent mounting tensions, with all sorts of ancient entities stirring and even the King of Ye Island having unfortunately perished, it made perfect sense for Old Man Henry to give his beloved disciple such an item for self-defense.

The only problem was that a cat giving someone a ball—even if it wasn't made of yarn—still felt a bit weird.

Of course, this was just Fu Qian's idle imagination at work. The gift soon proved its worth.

At one point, it plunged viciously into the void, as if its jaws had snapped shut around something.

...

Chief Yuan never hesitated at critical moments.

Though there had been no time to explain its properties, whipping out this newly acquired defensive item without a word made her intentions crystal clear.

A High-Tier Transcendent was lurking nearby, using a special method to conceal themselves from detection.

And for the moment, the entity's methods seemed nearly impossible to fend off.

Simply waiting around in this situation was out of the question, but taking the initiative required the right approach.

The item in Yuan Shan's hand was clearly highly sensitive to divinity, and its very existence seemed to transcend ordinary spatial concepts to some degree.

While there was no absolute guarantee of success, borrowing its killer instincts to hunt for the target was a perfectly sound strategy.

As it turned out, the results were quite ideal.

The visible portion of the soft whip was currently thrashing in a state of utter frenzy.

Paired with the bloodstains streaking across it, it looked exactly like a flayed but still-living snake.

This stalemate didn't last long, however. The soft whip soon reappeared, as if it had finally been slapped back, and Yuan Shan let out a muffled grunt.

But it didn't matter. Its mission had been accomplished perfectly.

Under Yuan Shan's control, it slowly coiled into a ball in a rather reluctant manner. Stuck to its tip was an unexpected object—a Feather.

...

"What is this?"

Yuan Shan frowned slightly, not rushing to touch their newfound prize.

First of all, this development undoubtedly confirmed their previous suspicion—

Something truly had been hiding nearby using an inconceivable method of concealment, orchestrating that sequential fish-eating scheme just now.

And while it had managed to escape their brief clash, they had still secured a trace of its presence.

The problem was—a Feather?

Wasn't this a bit different from what they had imagined?

It was undeniably a beautiful Feather, possessing a truly flawless white hue. Bathed in a pure, seemingly innate radiance, it almost made one doubt if it was a physical object at all.

"A Feather."

Fu Qian, who replied from beside her, was undeniably studying it just as intently. He even reached out on his own initiative, catching the object as it was flung into the air and drifted slowly downward.

Then, a magical scene unfolded—the Feather melted the moment it touched his hand, dissipating instantly before their eyes.

"And it doesn't look very real."

Deep in thought, Fu Qian gestured to Yuan Shan, showing her his bare palm.

"...Are you okay?"

Having finally finished coiling the soft whip in her hand, Yuan Shan watched their prize melt away and couldn't resist asking to confirm.

"Do I look like I'm hurt?"

Fu Qian shook his head with a counter-question, his eyes narrowing slightly as though he were gazing into some nonexistent expanse of space and time.

"Though, regrettably, it seems our friend here is also unhurt."

...

Yuan Shan stayed silent as well, mimicking his expression as she followed his gaze.

She clearly agreed with his assessment; the entity likely hadn't suffered any serious damage.

What was even more unfortunate was that the item in her hand clearly couldn't be used again anytime soon...

Things were getting more and more interesting.

Of course, what Yuan Shan didn't know was that Fu Qian wasn't entirely unscathed.

[SAN Value -1]

The very moment the Feather had touched his palm, a familiar notification had chimed, and his SAN Value had dropped yet again.

The fact that his face betrayed no reaction was partly due to sheer professionalism, and partly because this was the very result he had been anticipating.

Yuan Shan didn't look like she had ever seen this kind of Feather before, but he certainly had—back in the Angel Dungeon within that swamp of flesh and blood in the Wasteland, when he was trading blows with Ji Yicheng.

The moment it had looked familiar, Fu Qian had decisively chosen to touch it with his bare hands to test the effects.

As it turned out, it was fully capable of "purifying" him in the exact same way.

Aside from the Elena Squad, were there actually other remnants of the Angelic Faith?

Among all the bizarre and varied powers of the Transcendent Tier encountered so far, an "Angel" could almost be called one of the most specifically targeted.

The completely unreasonable special effect of synchronously deducting SAN Value alongside its attacks had cost him a double-digit amount of SAN Value during their very first encounter.

In comparison, Brother Sanxun in West Plain had to rely on much harsher conditions—such as his status as a senior, the authority of the genuine Law, assuming a non-human physique, and a much longer cooldown—to achieve a similar effect.

Therefore, Fu Qian had always been deeply impressed by the authority behind this purification.

Even though when he later reunited with Elena and the others, some simple manifestations of power were no longer able to cause him any SAN Value damage.

His understanding at the time was that because his traits had been solidified, his state of existence had become more stable.

Yet now, facing his Tier 2 self, it seemed capable of doing so once again.

A reasonable explanation seemed to be that the entity behind it had also received an upgrade.

For example, it might also be Tier 2, or even higher.

This point also aligned perfectly with Wen Li's prior experiences.

"Something seems a bit off."

Eldest Miss Wen, who was meditating with her eyes closed, unexpectedly offered some timely reference information.

"My own emotions, whether deep or shallow, all seem to be undergoing an irresistible fading, becoming completely flat... Do you have a similar feeling?"

And it was a highly professional assessment at that.

"Same here."

Fu Qian responded instantly, his tone genuinely devoid of any fluctuation as he turned to look at Yuan Shan.

"How many times?"

"Five times."

The latter sighed softly and continued counting.

"And this effect of annihilating one's humanity is accumulating with every repetition... It seems we've found the negative influence that can be inflicted during this process."

...

Annihilating humanity—this description was quite fitting.

Fu Qian naturally wasn't speaking nonsense; the change in emotional state that Wen Li mentioned was extremely distinct even to him.

At the same time, starting from when that Feather melted in his palm, this brief subsequent period of time had once again experienced that abstract repetition.

Naturally, Wen Li still couldn't sense it, but Chief Yuan, true to her status as a high-ranking official with rich combat experience, had precisely summarized that change the moment it happened.

Emotions were vanishing, as if struggling to flee from the mind, leaving behind only an empty shell called rationality.

In Fu Qian's view, even sitting face-to-face with a Dementor probably wouldn't produce such a thorough effect.

It wasn't just happiness; it was the genuine and complete flattening of all emotional fluctuations.

Thoughts like 'what joy is there in life and what pain in death', 'form is emptiness and emptiness is form', and 'originally there is nothing, where can dust alight' all surged to mind at once.

Additionally, although Chief Yuan had still miscounted by one, she was absolutely right.

Within that abstract repetition of time, this negative influence was the only thing that wasn't reset; instead, it was perfectly accumulating.

Just moments ago, they had been studying what meaning this special loop could have when it didn't even allow one to eat fish in different ways, and now they had their answer.

Moreover, it seemed to be a rather disempowering answer, because there was still no trace of that hidden "Angel."

And these two changes seemingly could not even be evaded.

"Yeah, it looks like we've fallen into a trap."

With a face like an ancient well without ripples and eyes as clear as water, Fu Qian casually described their current predicament with the tone of someone who had achieved complete enlightenment; all he lacked was clasping his hands together in prayer.

...

"Are you saying that the target of the entity just now wasn't actually Wen Li, but us?"

Fu Qian's words clearly sparked a brainstorm, yet when she finally voiced her deduction, Chief Yuan surprisingly also spoke in a peaceful tone.

"It knew Wen Li would seek our help, so it used this method to lure us here?"

The main reason for this behavior was naturally the influence of her lost humanity; she too lacked emotional fluctuations.

But in truth, there was another point: the two of them had been deliberately feeding lines to each other all along.

When conspiring in the office, they had already agreed to mind their words and actions after coming out, fully getting into character.

This trip was essentially a reverse probe directed at Kelin, who might be testing them.

However, their ostensible reason for being here was to help Wen Li deal with a threat.

Even though the opponent's methods were somewhat unexpected at this moment and didn't really support their previous identity judgment, Yuan Shan clearly hadn't forgotten this point.

"I'm sorry..."

At this moment, Wen Li, who had finally raised her head, seemed to have understood her meaning and cooperatively expressed her apologies.

"It's fine. This isn't your responsibility."

Instantly gesturing for Wen Li not to blame herself, Yuan Shan looked at Fu Qian and frowned, though the emotion behind it fell completely flat.

"But what is the purpose of setting this trap? Even if it turns us into walking corpses, what meaning does that have for it?"

"This seems to be the second time I've heard similar words."

Fu Qian's reaction was to shake his head slightly, giving her a meaningful look.

"Just a moment ago, you were saying that you didn't feel any negative influence—and then the negative influence arrived."

...

"Besides, don't always presume malice in others. What if that birdman's purpose is actually to purify polluted souls and save us from the bitter sea of ignorance and hatred?"

Yuan Shan didn't utter a word, so Fu Qian unapologetically continued.

Of course, the scenario he proposed was excessively harmonious and beautiful, so much so that even Eldest Miss Wen didn't chime in to agree.

"Give me some negative emotions. Create a turbulent ripple, just like when you advanced."

Fu Qian naturally didn't mind this, because in the very next moment, he approached her directly with a request.

"I'm not sure how effective it will be. I already tried stimulating my own emotions just now, but the result wasn't very obvious."

Naturally, Wen Li wouldn't refuse Fu Qian's request. However, as she instantly began to gather her power, she didn't forget to thoughtfully give a warning.

"It doesn't matter. Human nature is inherently complex and hard to describe; to see through it, the impermanence of worldly affairs is practically the first hurdle."

Fu Qian just waved his hand gently, gesturing for her not to take it to heart and to proceed freely.

"Here it comes again."

Yet right at this moment, Yuan Shan issued another warning, indicating that the special loop had just appeared again.

And just as she spoke, the instigator of human hearts, Eldest Miss Wen herself, visibly adopted an even more tranquil aura, faintly bearing the semblance of shattering the void.

The birdman who was hiding out of sight seemed deeply gratified by everyone's reactions, ready to help them achieve the Dao and ascend as quickly as possible.

Of course, amidst the billowing red dust of the mortal realm, wanting to reach complete enlightenment was no simple matter.

Wen Li eventually finished gathering her power, and in the next moment, Fu Qian was chosen as the primary target.

As flames filled with anger and pain flared up in his heart, Fu Qian could completely sense that this newly advanced Tier 4 had used every ounce of her strength.

Even for someone who had achieved complete enlightenment like him, his heart couldn't avoid a violent surge of turbulence.

But that was all there was to it; the intensity wasn't even enough to support a single Melancholy Ecstasy Palm, and it faded in a flash.

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