Eldritch Horror Theatre

The toll was actually quite heavy. Fortunately, he had long ago developed good habits; he never wore even his Ring on easily destroyed body parts.

Stepping onto the next lower level, he found an empty path stretching out before him.

Dismissing his Blood Crusade and the Commandment Residue, Fu Qian immediately checked himself over.

Fighting two Knights of the Apocalypse back-to-back—especially the second, who had been a genuine Tier 2—and deliberately choosing not to dodge every attack to gauge his opponent's abilities had ultimately come at a cost.

His right hand wouldn't be growing back for the time being. Fortunately, he hadn't lost any Items.

Aside from that, there was a distinctly bad piece of news: the progression of his Crimson Frenzy had surged forward.

The burning sensation was quite pronounced by now, and clear blood lines could be seen on the back of his hand.

If indicated by a progress bar, it had already reached the level Madam Jill's group had been at when they went to the prison to rescue the others.

Sure enough, strenuous exercise wasn't recommended when one was already unwell—especially the murdering and amputating kind.

As the curse deepened, the odds of him sensing her would theoretically increase.

This had been one of his initial theories for solving the problem. For now, however, it only served as a backup plan—because it seemed the third Knight of the Apocalypse had arrived.

Fu Qian looked up at a prison cell door in front of him.

His surroundings matched his earlier hypothesis. Following the White-Hot Knight's fall, those continuously blinking stars had indeed permeated everywhere like drifting fireflies.

Moreover, unlike the previous times, there was no freshly hatched Scarlet Angel banging against the walls inside this cell.

The next moment, the heavy metal door was unexpectedly pulled open from the inside.

A figure stood there looking out with an indescribable expression.

Indeed. Following the non-human-looking Dragon of Pestilence and the faceless Ornate Swordsman, the entity before him was not only a living human, but one with a visible face.

He had long brown hair and a prominent scar beneath his left eye, with the lower half of his face buried under a thick hood.

"A pleasure. You've been working hard."

Faced with an appearance that clearly warned he was not to be trifled with, Fu Qian's expression didn't change at all. He gave a slight nod in greeting.

"The weather is a bit chilly today."

......

A greeting with words of hardship surely marks the jianghu.

It was a pity the man didn't seem to understand the jargon.

Including the opening remark about the weather that followed, it left one entirely unsure of how to comment.

Although it was indeed a fact.

The guy in the cell didn't rush to say anything. His gaze swept up and down before finally settling on Fu Qian's feet.

Walking around barefoot on such a freezing day was indeed a rare sight.

Not to mention, his feet seemed to have excellent blood circulation and showed no signs of being eroded by the cold.

"It is a bit cold. Are you a prisoner here?"

Not minding at all, Fu Qian stood there openly to let the other party observe him until the hooded fellow finally spoke.

Truly not bad. Fu Qian felt deeply gratified for a moment.

Having step-by-step confirmed that the Knights of the Apocalypse possessed personal sentience and could understand his words, he had decisively chosen to initiate polite communication this time, and had finally received a remarkably ideal response.

As for why he had instantly guessed this was the number three knight the moment he discovered him in his perception?

Simple: it was yet another High-Tier Transcendent.

Not quite as high as the White-Hot Knight, but still very high.

"I am. What about you?"

Fu Qian readily admitted to his persona.

"A transcendent prisoner?"

Unfortunately, the man ignored his counter-question, even sizing up their surroundings as he spoke.

"A transcendent prisoner."

Fu Qian didn't mind, answering once again.

This was obvious at a glance, considering he was still covered in Fish Scale Armor.

"You can call me Wanderer."

And his high-quality human response seemingly finally paid off; the man inside stepped out of the cell while introducing himself.

Oh, Wanderer?

Fu Qian nodded for a moment, returning the courtesy.

"Sinner."

......

He had to admit, this Third Knight was truly rather special.

It had been almost a minute since he showed up, yet he still showed no intention of attacking.

"So you aren't a prisoner?"

The man clearly had no reaction to the title of sinner, so Fu Qian naturally continued to ask.

There was a reason he had found his way here.

While exploring down below just now, he had distinctly sensed divinity appearing from nothing, and the location was this very cell.

"No. I don't know why I'm here either, though there is indeed a set of prisoner's clothes inside."

After observing his surroundings, Wanderer didn't rush to do anything and finally spoke a bit more, while the way he shook his head looked quite human-like.

"Then why did you open the door and come out?"

The answer didn't sound like it had much substance, but Fu Qian was already quite satisfied with it for the moment.

Having sentience and being able to communicate verified his earlier theory to a certain extent; the Knights of the Apocalypse were not purely combat puppets, and were very likely real people.

And "not knowing why I am here" proved that this summoning ritual did not even require the knights' consent, meaning they might not even know they were "Knights of the Apocalypse."

"The door wasn't locked."

Faced with Fu Qian's questioning, Wanderer replied very naturally, his gaze still searching.

"It wasn't locked so you came out? Even if it was staff negligence, that isn't a reason for you to do so."

Faced with this obvious display of a weak sense of rules, Fu Qian put on a stern face.

"Because I need to find a woman."

Unfortunately, Wanderer really didn't seem to have much awareness, answering just as naturally.

This reason really was... somewhat realistic.

"Looking for who?"

Fu Qian grew momentarily thoughtful.

"My wife."

......

"I've been searching for her for many years, but I can never find her."

Moving his body, he dodged the cutting generated by two stars shifting from bright to dark. As Wanderer carefully studied his surroundings, his interest in this place seemed to be gradually thickening. The next moment, before Fu Qian could ask again, he directly took the initiative to explain.

"But earlier, while my consciousness was chaotic, I smelled the scent of a woman, so I worked hard to wake myself up, and then found the door open.

"Are you planning to lock me back inside? Honestly, I don't recommend you do that."

He was actually quite talkative this time, introducing his entire mental journey.

"I have no interest in doing that."

In fact, even the door being open very likely had a certain connection to him.

Fu Qian shook his head, not rushing to say the latter sentence out loud.

Under normal circumstances, a cell door should obviously be closed. Why did it look completely undamaged, yet it was open? Simple: someone had unlocked it with a key.

It seemed the trio had really fulfilled their previous promise and was attempting to search everywhere for La Nina.

And the one who opened this door was very likely Jill; hence the "scent of a woman."

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