Eldritch Horror Theatre

The dimensions and texture were remarkably consistent. Lying flat on his back, he didn't even have room to sit up.

In a matter of moments, Fu Qian had felt around his immediate surroundings. He concluded that, aside from the lack of windows, this situation was remarkably similar to when he first woke up in the Realm of Bliss.

The question was, why?

Had he died in the incense hall and been dragged out to be buried?

Of course not. Setting aside the fact that it didn't fit the pattern of his previous experiences, he had just checked his knees, and both were perfectly intact.

That wasn't the only change. His clothing had shifted from a long robe to an elegant, well-tailored coat.

Not to mention, judging by the feel of his facial features, he could almost perfectly picture his current appearance.

So he had turned back into Old Man Lu?

Indeed. It wasn't just the location; Fu Qian was almost certain he had reverted to his state at the very beginning of the mission in every aspect—except the mission itself hadn't restarted.

His mind raced, and Fu Qian quickly arrived at a rather optimistic conclusion: he had likely taken a step further.

The depths of the darkness really were the way out. That place, even more profound than the Inhuman Samsara, actually led to an Upper Heaven.

Although the relationship between these higher and lower tiers of Heaven seemed quite subtle.

To think it required waking up from the layer below—this was practically the difference between illusion and reality.

...

There was no movement outside; it sounded incredibly quiet.

After taking a moment to adjust, he could even faintly see slivers of light piercing through the darkness.

It wasn't enough to illuminate anything, but it proved this coffin wasn't sealed tight.

After confirming there was nothing around he could use as a weapon, Fu Qian pushed upward, trying to lift the coffin lid before him.

It was heavy, but not to the point of being buried alive. Simply put, there shouldn't be any dirt piled on top of it.

Coupled with the loose gaps, it seemed it wasn't that he had never been dug up, but rather that he had been dug up and then covered over again.

Miraculous.

Marveling at this, Fu Qian chose a point of leverage and continued to push steadily and firmly. Soon, more light spilled in.

There was even sound.

It was the prolonged, highly rhythmic ringing of a bell. It didn't sound harsh; in fact, he could almost picture someone walking away, step by step, in time with the chimes.

Spending a few seconds listening and drawing his conclusion, Fu Qian chose not to shatter this tranquil atmosphere. Keeping his movements as quiet as possible, he finally slid his Coffin Lid aside a bit.

It really was exactly the same.

A moment later, gazing up at the clear, glass-like sky above, Fu Qian offered heartfelt praise for the familiar hue and threw off the coffin lid to rise.

...

Except there were far fewer people here to welcome him.

Not rushing to jump out of the coffin, Fu Qian looked around and spotted more than one familiar sight.

Tombs, stone steles, the graveyard... Everything was so similar to when the mission had just begun.

Only this time, when he woke up, there was no one around clapping in celebration.

Glancing into the distance, he could faintly make out a figure in a white robe walking away through the gaps between the graves, bringing to mind the legendary Tombkeepers.

The ringing of the bell was coming from him, and his footsteps possessed the exact rhythm Fu Qian had imagined.

Could this guy have just come over to put the Coffin Lid over him?

As this thought naturally arose, Fu Qian determined that the figure's back didn't look familiar.

He wasn't in a hurry to run up and interrogate the man, instead continuing to gaze further out.

The terrain was still very flat, to the point where he could faintly see rows of sprawling buildings in the distance.

And the architecture of those buildings looked far too familiar.

So the method of entering the Upper Heaven was to wake up in a place nearly identical to the City of Bliss?

Did that mean his previous experiences had happened while he was asleep, in some sort of collective hallucination akin to a Lucid Dream?

If that were truly the case, the gap between these different Heavens was a dimensional one.

And the actions he had previously deduced through pure logic now instantly gained theoretical backing—

The more one immersed themselves, feeling the dream as more real, the harder it became to wake up from it.

That abyss and darkness which blocked out observation were precisely manifestations of a weakening connection to the dream.

But with that in mind, the fleeting special sensation he'd felt when Madam Silk Scarf and the other had been bonding—and the nature of the vortex he had comprehended from it—undoubtedly became a very subtle question.

After all, during his final move, that had played a critical role.

If not for that unique sensation and his attempt to use it to deepen his descent, Fu Qian seriously doubted whether he would have succeeded.

Given his previous experiences, the sheer level of degradation in the Inhuman Samsara alone wouldn't have been enough to force him to wake up.

It hadn't just served as a wake-up prompt; it was an exceptional tool.

Though he believed that even if people like Kake and Brother Thick Eyebrows encountered it, they would avoid it like the plague, just as they abhorred falling into the Inhuman Samsara.

At the same time, their constant pursuit of various karmic ties seemed entirely counterproductive. It would only deepen their entanglement with the dream, increasing the difficulty of waking up—and it appeared they truly hadn't woken up.

Deep in thought, Fu Qian climbed out of the grave and began strolling around.

At a certain moment, he stopped, his gaze falling to one side.

It was another excavated tomb. The Coffin Lid was wide open, and someone was lying inside.

He had already spotted more than one sight like this around him, but the key point now was that the person lying inside looked familiar.

...

He couldn't name the man, but he was definitely one of the Brotherhood members who had participated in capturing him.

His outfit and styling were different from before, and even his expression had become kinder.

His eyes were squeezed shut, looking as if he were sound asleep.

Enthusiastically jumping down to give the man a physical checkup, Fu Qian confirmed that the sleeper's vital signs were still present.

So all those people he had met in the City of Bliss were just like this, sleeping away in other tombs?

It matched his earlier hypothesis, but a new question immediately followed: why was it that only his Coffin Lid had been closed?

"...What are you doing?"

Just as Fu Qian was pondering this, a voice drifted over from behind him, and the melodious ringing of the bell ceased.

"It was too stuffy, so I came out for some fresh air."

After all, they had been in the same hall once. Fu Qian didn't bother the man in the coffin any further. He stepped straight out, looking at the figure rushing up to him, and casually spouted some nonsense.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Tombkeeper who had just been walking away.

Given that he hadn't deliberately hidden his actions, getting spotted was just too easy.

And clearly, the man found the fact that he was standing there utterly inconceivable.

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