Eldritch Horror Theatre

A gentleman helps others fulfill their wishes. Since the bride wants it so badly, this half-bottle of elixir might as well serve as this seat's wedding gift.

Fu Qian's movements were so natural and precise that they showed not the slightest hint of strain, perfectly calculating the acceleration and deceleration—even accounting for Madam Bride's gesture and grip strength.

By the time she reacted and looked down, the liquid inside the bottle barely swayed, as if it had been resting in her satin glove all along.

"Happy wedding."

Seeing that she didn't decline, Fu Qian offered his blessing with a gratified expression.

"You're... giving this to me?"

Just as the old saying goes, taking gifts ties one's hands.

Madam Bride, who had been completely manic just moments ago, calmed down with astonishing speed after accepting the gift. She examined the item in her hand, seemingly at a loss for what to do with it.

"Yes. Just a small token of my regard."

"This is... the so-called Blessed Potion."

Another brief silence followed. From her words, it was clear that Madam Bride recognized the item.

"That's right. The kind Old Granny gave it to me. She said applying it under the nose would help uncover more interesting things in the dark. Also, she seemed quite worried about you."

In contrast, Fu Qian's response was completely casual.

"Of course, it's fine. When I go back, I'll tell her that you successfully found the truth and are feeling absolutely wonderful now."

...

This silence lasted much longer. Even through her glove, the stiffness of her palm was palpable.

She gripped it so tightly that the already fragile little transparent bottle looked as if it might shatter at any second.

"More..."

During this process, those writhing traces, like living asphalt, had already crept past her forehead and gathered around her eye sockets.

Framed by this bizarre, radiating eyeshadow, Madam Bride's especially large eyes remained fixed on Fu Qian's face, as if trying to confirm whether the gift was sincere.

Naturally, she would never find any reason to doubt his sincerity; the abundant well wishes in Fu Qian's eyes were plain to see.

Hahaha...

Madam Bride seemed to grasp that sincerity, too. When she finally opened her mouth, she let out an exaggerated peal of laughter to express her deep joy, even weeping from the sheer delight of it.

"Thank you for your blessing... outsider!"

She didn't stop until she was gasping for breath, her entire upper body trembling uncontrollably.

"Your gift is excellent. I like it very much."

Sure enough, her intense outburst of emotion stemmed purely from her fondness for the gift.

Even after solemnly declaring her appreciation, Madam Bride still seemed worried she hadn't shown enough gratitude. The very next moment, she hoisted the bottle and, with the jade-green liquid swaying inside, slowly twisted off the cap.

Without the slightest hesitation or another word, she opened her mouth impossibly wide and poured the entirety of this sole light in the darkness—an item strictly designated for external use—straight down her throat.

...

What an honor.

As everyone knew, opening a gift right in front of the giver was a sign of respect in many places.

For her to actually consume it right on the spot... well, one couldn't help but feel flattered.

Smash!

The very next second, she violently hurled the bottle to the ground and shattered it to pieces, fully demonstrating her firm resolve not to return the gift.

"Wonderful! I can already feel more..."

Before Fu Qian even had a chance to ask, Madam Bride volunteered a review of her user experience, and it certainly didn't sound like a polite platitude.

The sheer intoxication and Sublimation in her words possessed an almost irresistible infectiousness.

"So the warning against drinking it... was out of fear that the potion's effects would be too potent to endure?"

Seeing this, Fu Qian muttered to himself, suddenly struck by realization.

"Also, this 'more' you mentioned—did you smell it or see it?"

Even now, he hadn't forgotten to confirm the details.

"Haha, thank you so much..."

Unfortunately, Madam Bride was clearly drowning in a sea of euphoria. She was far too intoxicated to hear his question.

After tossing out another word of thanks, she whirled around. No longer fixated on inviting Fu Qian to join her, she sprinted madly into the darkness all by herself.

Such enviable joy. How fitting for her big day.

Fu Qian watched her go with a look of profound admiration.

Listening closely, he heard absolutely no sound of her tripping. Evidently, even while sprinting madly through the darkness, Madam Bride was traversing it as easily as flat ground.

It seemed that the bottle of elixir had allowed her—someone who had already attained enlightenment—to achieve Sublimation once again.

Of course, considering Madam Bride's previous physical state, it was hard to say whether this Sublimation was actually a good thing.

Even what awaited her at the destination of her ecstatic sprint didn't inspire much optimism.

In addition, perhaps out of some twisted empathy, the sensation of Fu Qian's own skin being gnawed away seemed to intensify.

The elixir from the Old Granny was miraculous indeed. Even though she hadn't followed the instructions, her newly invented application method still yielded quite a result.

Fu Qian reached out and grasped at the empty air. Stripped of the elixir's faint glimmer, the darkness felt as thick and oppressive as a lead door.

With every breath he took, it felt as though he was inviting the gloom to erode his very lungs.

...

"Ah—haha..."

Just as he was musing over this, Madam Bride's shrieking laughter echoed from the distance.

Indeed, Fu Qian couldn't think of a better phrase to describe that sound.

It was undoubtedly filled with agony, like a deer being carved open and tortured alive.

Yet at the same time, the laughter was incredibly genuine. She seemed to be embracing the sensation from the very bottom of her heart.

Since the actual scene was completely hidden in darkness, it left everything to the imagination, making it even more evocative.

Calling it a special application method truly wasn't an exaggeration.

Although he hadn't used the potion to grant himself any special detection abilities, it seemed he had successfully utilized it to develop a detector.

A safe, mobile, and remarkably user-friendly detector.

Even now, that highly infectious noise drifted near and far, seemingly wandering the perimeter.

It felt as though, if he didn't want to end up like Madam Bride, he'd better keep his word and immediately return to the Church to share his findings—but Fu Qian didn't turn back.

Despite the surging sense of oppression, he completely ignored the valuable intel provided by his new detector and remained rooted to the spot.

Although the outcome looked like a resounding success, his own special application method wasn't actually meant to be interpreted that way.

His goal in giving Madam Bride the potion had never been to use her as a sacrifice—he merely wanted to see if she would sacrifice herself.

As it turned out, while she had seemed completely at odds with the others, from a certain perspective, the nature of her behavior was actually identical to theirs.

For instance, they all wanted to make him believe that the darkness was incredibly dangerous, and that he needed to flee back to the Church as soon as possible.

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