Eldritch Horror Theatre

After Miyamoto left, a long silence fell over the tent.

"Could he just be fearmongering? Trying to scare us into staying here?"

In the end, the Balding Archer was the first to speak.

It was obvious he had absolutely no desire to remain here any longer.

"I wouldn't rule it out. They haven't shown any signs of being that kindhearted," someone immediately chimed in.

"But that group today really did look like they were coming straight for us."

Delin shook his head, his expression increasingly gloomy.

"I was wondering about that earlier... Now it seems to be the most likely explanation. We're already their targets."

"But even if we stay, things might not end well for us," the Balding Archer couldn't help but speak up again.

"Actually, there's another piece of information you should all know."

Seeing the discussion hit a stalemate, Delin looked up at Fu Qian.

Unfortunately, Fu Qian remained completely indifferent. Left with no choice, Delin spoke up himself.

"Last night, Fu Qian discovered someone spying on us... someone from outside this camp."

Something like that had actually happened!

At those words, everyone stared at Fu Qian in shock and suspicion.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"The responsibility for this is mine."

Delin owned up to it straightforwardly.

"I asked him to keep it a secret to avoid unnecessary suspicion."

"Is this why you were so dead set on staying? And here I thought you really just weren't afraid of death!"

With Delin taking the blame, it was hard for the others to lash out. However, the team's sole female member—who already had a strong prejudice against Fu Qian—couldn't resist seizing the opportunity to sneer.

"No," Fu Qian replied lazily.

"I told you earlier, it's out of interest... As for this discussion about staying or leaving, it's completely meaningless to me."

"What do you mean?" the woman demanded coldly.

"The right to choose is a very precious thing. Not everyone has it."

Fu Qian fully leveraged his talent for mockery, irritating the woman so much her eyelids twitched.

"You're sitting here analyzing the situation and discussing countermeasures as if you actually have a choice. In reality, if you think about it, you lost that choice a long time ago."

He held up two fingers.

"Right now, it looks like there are two paths in front of you, but in truth, neither option makes much of a difference to Miyamoto and his people.

"Either you willingly stay here as cannon fodder, taking on massive risks to help Miyamoto's group search for bait and capture the Doll.

"Or you take an even bigger risk and walk away, only to most likely end up acting as free bait anyway. Is there really a huge difference between the two?"

Fu Qian's words plunged the team's morale to the freezing point.

"However, Miyamoto didn't seem to be faking it. He probably really does want you to stay. I imagine that if you just left, the outcome wouldn't be optimal for him."

"What are you so smug about? Aren't you trapped here too?"

"I've said it twice now. The scenery here is beautiful, a place of illustrious people and blessed land. I'm quite happy staying here."

...

The meeting ended in silence, leaving behind a sea of ashen faces.

Fu Qian wasn't intentionally trying to scare them—he wasn't that bored.

The predicament this team currently faced was very real—a true dilemma with no way forward or backward.

But at the end of the day, being weak was the original sin.

The seeds of this crisis had been sown the moment they accepted a commission beyond their capabilities.

Everything that followed was simply a march toward an unsalvageable dead end.

After the meeting, Delin sat rigidly in his tent for a long time before finally going to seek out Miyamoto.

Fu Qian didn't care what they discussed, but judging by Delin's expression when he emerged, they had likely reached a temporary cooperation agreement once again.

It had to be said that Miyamoto was a man of his word.

Very soon, his entourage joined the camp's guard duties, helping to shoulder some of the pressure on Delin and the others.

Even Miyamoto himself pitched in, bringing out more specially made nets to set up traps.

It was obvious now that the equipment used earlier had also been provided by them.

Among all these people, the only one who took no action was Mister Luo.

From beginning to end, he remained hidden beneath a thick cloak, observing the comings and goings in the camp like a reclusive expert.

Judging by his previous performance, his status was not only exceptional, but his strength was unquestionably formidable.

It wasn't until the camp was surrounded by multiple layers of traps that Delin and his team finally seemed to sigh in relief, finding a small sense of security.

However, even after they finished their preparations, the Doll still hadn't appeared.

Of course, that didn't mean nothing happened.

Not long after, several team members rushed out, carrying an unconscious person straight toward Mister Luo's location.

"He's been unconscious for a while now. Could you please check if he inhaled some kind of seed too?"

Unconscious?

Mister Luo finally reacted. After a quick glance, he signaled the others to put the man down.

Fu Qian recognized him at a glance; the unconscious man was the very same casualty from the daytime operation.

A minor flesh wound wasn't considered a serious condition for a transcendent. His sudden coma understandably made the others nervous.

However, it was clear that he had fully absorbed the lessons from the previous victim. His entire body was wrapped tightly in multiple layers, and even his nose and mouth were covered.

Mister Luo inspected him up and down but didn't seem to find any clues.

Thus, repeating his earlier method, dense black light appeared once again, shrouding the wounded man on the stretcher.

This was the same trick he had used before. It carried an effect akin to an Aging Curse, which could delay mutations to a certain extent.

Unexpectedly, under the effects of this technique, the unconscious man not only failed to wake up, but even began to convulse violently.

Riiip!

Mister Luo's eyes grew solemn, and he ripped open the clothes over the injured man's chest.

The sight that revealed itself made everyone present gasp in horror.

There, right on his chest, was an exceptionally hideous vortex formed by overlapping layers of flesh and blood.

The very center of it even had a faintly translucent quality.

This is...

Before the crowd could recover from their shock, the vortex suddenly began to bulge. The next moment, a crack in the center rapidly expanded.

With a flash of bloody light, something leaped out from inside, shooting straight toward Mister Luo's face at an unbelievable speed.

Mister Luo had been crouching down to observe. This sudden attack arrived before his eyes in a split second.

At this critical moment, he raised one hand and shielded his left eye.

Accompanied by a muffled thud, the red light tore through his glove, ripping a long gash across his palm.

But at the very least, he managed to save his eye.

At this moment, the crowd finally got a clear look at the thing that had jumped out. Shockingly, it was also a Doll.

However, unlike its kin that enjoyed bathing in flesh and blood, the crimson hue on this one seemed to originate from within its own body.

Right now, its entire body was radiating a dark red, bloody light, looking just like a leech gorged on blood.

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