Eldritch Horror Theatre

Where exactly was the "abhorred Abandoned Prison"?

For his exploration into the Divine Skin of the King of the Abandoned Prison, and even the Calamity Authority, this was undoubtedly an issue of the utmost importance.

Beyond that, Fu Qian was eagerly looking forward to uncovering more ancient secrets within it.

The information gained from using Insight on the Tyrant's Fist undoubtedly proved the tragic end of the ancient King of the Abandoned Prison.

As for what exactly had abhorred Him—leading to ultimate pollution and the absurd extreme of dismemberment—it truly sparked the imagination.

Regarding this question, the golden flames that had appeared multiple times were clearly a valuable clue.

As it stood, the core effect of this fire was undoubtedly targeted at the mental level, destroying sanity and ravaging consciousness.

During their trip to the Ehm Palace, the former Academy Dean, Old Man Li He, had helped confirm a lingering, distinct suspicion: the flame's effect wasn't ordinary mental corruption or the madness born from gazing directly at a Deity. Instead, it was closer to the erasure of the concept of self.

Fu Qian's understanding of the difference was like that between scrambling one's brains into mush and scooping out a spoonful directly.

At first glance, the final result might not look much different, but Old Man Li He had provided another crucial piece of information: someone else he had inspired could also distinguish this difference to some extent—the Tier 2 Night Watcher, Stoss.

As a teammate during the Unseen Hill operation, Stoss had indeed demonstrated that Flame of Frenzy right in front of him.

He had even revealed something to Old Man Li He: this flame originated from a special "conceptual domain."

Whether or not that referred to the Abandoned Prison, having a chat with Old Man Stoss was highly necessary.

Considering the remarkably high Merit Value he had already accumulated, finding an opportunity to visit him directly wasn't out of the question.

The only problem was that he didn't know how much Stoss knew about the Abandoned Prison, or even what the Night Watchers' attitude toward it was.

When it came to such ancient secrets, the Night Watchers' attitude so far could be described as ambiguous and awkward.

One careless step, and a purely academic inquiry could become extremely complicated.

In summary, rather than finding an excuse to visit Old Man Stoss himself, it would be better to have Old Man Stoss visit him.

...

"Golden flames?"

In that instant, Excellency Aike wasn't the only one visibly surprised.

This detail, omitted from the report by Classmate Liushuang, was entirely new to Chang Mo and the others as well.

And since Fu Qian's description actually contradicted the facts—namely, that the golden flames had originated from him—Classmate Liushuang, who wrote the report, very naturally feigned surprise right along with them.

"It wasn't just the color that was special. If the appearance of the White-Headed Sanctuary represented the materialization of ultimate desire, then that flame was like a fire of the mind using it as fuel, brimming with an aura of frenzy."

Professor Fu nodded slightly, clearly lost in recollection.

"Regarding this part, the report states that my destructive actions caused the projection of the White-Headed Sanctuary to become unstable and eventually collapse. That is perfectly fine, of course. I believe any of you would have come to the same conclusion had you been there."

His gaze swept past the group before finally landing on the scientific assistant's face. Fu Qian sounded incredibly certain; no one could have seen more than she did.

"Because even for me, whether I truly saw such a scene was something I couldn't be entirely sure of."

"But Excellency Aike's question made me recall this point... because in that vague perception, I seemed to realize that it wasn't a manifestation of the White-Headed Sanctuary breaking down, but rather a completely different power."

"It had been waiting all along, only flaring up in that instant when I made a move and disrupted a certain balance."

"What destroyed the White-Headed Sanctuary wasn't my simple act of destruction, but it—or the will behind it."

Amidst his slightly deepened voice, Fu Qian finally finished his recollection and tapped a finger against his temple.

"Of course, this all lacks proof. You could say it's fundamentally no different from a madman's delusions, which is why I left it out of the report."

When it came to the Spring and Autumn brush style, Fu Qian was undoubtedly a grandmaster. While leading everyone's thoughts astray, he smoothly explained why the report had failed to mention this point.

His initial choice to conceal it was, naturally, to minimize the risk of exposing the Divine Skin of the King of the Abandoned Prison.

But since Excellency Aike had taken the initiative to deliver herself to his doorstep, it would truly be a waste of the opportunity not to take advantage of it.

...

"Are you suggesting that a will hidden behind the golden flames might have been driving the entire incident?"

As expected, Excellency Aike's comprehension did not disappoint.

After listening alongside the others, her expression growing increasingly solemn, she finally summarized the conspiracy theory flawlessly.

"Just a possibility... regarding your pessimistic conjecture just now about the will of a higher entity."

Raising a single finger, Fu Qian still looked reluctant to jump to any hasty conclusions.

"The White-Headed Sanctuary truly felt far from simple. Along with its astonishing, twisted profanity, I seemed to sense its true body existing somewhere else in a special way."

"But if you insist on asking me whether there was some sort of active scheme behind this series of events, I actually think that vague flame is the more likely culprit."

"By the way, why would you have such concerns?"

...

It was apparent that Excellency Aike didn't really want to answer this question.

Though for Fu Qian, it wasn't hard to guess the general reason.

High Rank powers might easily disrupt order, but the Night Watchers were clearly far more sensitive to ancient higher entities.

If Senior Liliana's hiding place truly was the Bone Burial Ground of an ancient higher entity, the Night Watchers had certainly planted a bunch of surveillance devices inside it.

Not to mention how they had used deliberately convoluted myths to let the true names of higher entities fade into history.

Now that an incident involving high-tier powers had suddenly occurred—and even slipped past the Night Watchers' eyes at first—their first reaction being to rule out the existence of a special will behind it was a perfectly normal response.

Unfortunately, reality went against their wishes. Based solely on what was currently known, a certain ancient higher entity was indeed involved: the King of the Abandoned Prison.

He was even standing right in front of her.

And although Aike hid it well, Fu Qian believed that the mention of golden flames was still enough to remind her of Old Man Stoss's signature move.

For this increasingly peculiar incident, it was clearly becoming necessary to invite more guest consultants to participate.

Out of the three-person team from the Unseen Hill operation, Old Man Stoss was the only one who hadn't paid a visit to the Academy yet.

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