Eldritch Horror Theatre

"So you were after it from the very beginning?"

While Miyamoto was paralyzed with fear, Delin, having watched the spectacle for quite some time, finally spoke up.

Rationally, he knew he shouldn't ask, but after so many consecutive shocks, he simply couldn't rein in his emotions.

"Of course. Why else would I leave my blood on it?"

Mister Luo flashed his hand.

"Back then, you..."

Delin suddenly realized something.

"You injured yourself on purpose?"

"Yes. I wasn't entirely sure at the time, and confirming it in front of a crowd would have been a hassle."

He had planned to slip in during the chaos from the very start!

An indescribable sigh welled up inside Delin.

From beginning to end, their entire group had been nothing but pawns.

Just as the man said, they knew absolutely nothing!

"You are not the first."

As if reading Delin's thoughts, Mister Luo let out a low chuckle.

"Monsters rarely make as effective bait as humans do—especially transcendents."

"That is why a heavily funded mercenary team comes along every time there's a harvest. You can ask him how many times his people have been here."

"Of course, none of those people ever went back. And neither will you..."

"Heh."

Delin offered a miserable smile.

Though he already had a sinking feeling, hearing it stated so explicitly still plunged him into unavoidable despair.

His two team members looked absolutely ashen.

"So what exactly is it?"

Knowing his chances of survival were gone, Delin threw caution to the wind and asked, simply to satisfy his curiosity.

"That is a meaningful question.

"To a certain extent, you can think of these dolls as very High Tier transcendent creatures.

"As for the one in my hand, all you need to know is that it's highly unique. It is their perfect form."

Mister Luo answered his question quite generously.

"Alright, that's enough chatting.

"I still have a lot of things to do, so I will be sending you on your way now."

With that said, several Green Flame Spears condensed simultaneously around the Frenzied Spirit in Mister Luo's hand. The power radiating from them seemed even stronger than the original versions.

An instant later, they locked onto their respective targets and shot forward.

No one had expected Mister Luo to attack so abruptly.

Faced with this terrifying strike, the group frantically scrambled to dodge.

Flames erupted in all directions.

Hindered by his lack of mobility, the priest could only conjure a Grey Curtain to take the hit head-on.

He barely managed to block the Green Flame Spear, but several more cracks webbed across his Doll.

The show had gone on long enough.

Seeing the group break into a fight, Fu Qian pushed off the ground and leaped into the fray.

"It isn't very nice to bully the elderly."

Amidst a sea of shocked and uncertain gazes, Fu Qian spoke in a slow, leisurely tone.

"Finally willing to show yourself?"

Mister Luo was the only one who didn't look surprised.

"It's a pity this old man is extremely ruthless. You probably haven't seen him flay and butcher people."

"I wasn't talking about him... though I'm not the least bit surprised by what you described."

Fu Qian shook his head and pointed to the side.

"There's another elderly person over there."

What? There was no one in the direction he pointed.

The next moment, under everyone's gathered gaze, a partially scorched tree gave a timely twitch. A painful groan escaped it, accompanied by a wafting stench.

Indeed, the battlefield the group had chosen happened to be right next to Grandpa Ai Lei.

As an entity incapable of walking, he seemed to have been trying to lay low and avoid detection, but unfortunately ended up caught in a case of bringing disaster to the fish in the pond anyway.

"Oh?"

Mister Luo shot Fu Qian a curious look, apparently not expecting him to care about such a thing.

"Actually, I was wondering when you would finally step out."

"Your strength is far greater than you let on. That made it hard for me to understand your purpose in joining a team like this, so I had to keep my guard up.

"When I noticed you had suddenly left, I even had to move my plans forward...

"Of course, none of that matters now."

Mister Luo raised the Doll in his hand.

"Thanks to you standing by and watching, I have achieved seventy or eighty percent synchronization with it. That is more than enough."

"Did you really think I just enjoyed talking nonsense?"

Mister Luo scoffed.

"As for now... if you aren't planning to stop me, step aside."

"I wouldn't go so far as to stop you. I just came out here with a small request."

"What request?"

Mister Luo looked at Fu Qian with suspicion.

Fu Qian blinked and pointed at the Frenzied Spirit in the man's hand.

"Can I touch this perfect High Tier creature?"

"..."

At this, not just Mister Luo, but everyone present gave him a look that screamed, 'Are you fucking kidding me?'

What they didn't know, however, was that Fu Qian was completely serious.

His current task was still [Search for the Perfect White Porcelain Doll].

As it stood, despite a slight difference in color, this Frenzied Spirit was still the closest match to the task's requirements.

Unfortunately, his task hadn't updated during their last clash.

This made Fu Qian suspect that it only counted if he held it in his hands, just like Mister Luo was doing now.

He had intended to verify this the moment he stepped out, but he hadn't expected the old man to beat him to it.

"Heh!"

Even Mister Luo let out a laugh at that.

"Alright, come on over then."

"Thanks for understanding. Here I come."

Appearing completely oblivious to the malice in Mister Luo's tone, Fu Qian strode straight forward, making a beeline for the Doll in the man's hand.

He's actually going to touch it?

The spectators, whose lives were hanging by a thread, watched in utter disbelief.

"Why are you here?"

Delin blurted out.

"It's a long story. Anyway, I'm quite busy too."

Delin was left speechless, but Mister Luo was clearly wary of this mysterious subordinate. This inexplicably sparked a glimmer of hope in Delin's previously despairing heart.

"Careful he doesn't ambush you!"

Seeing Fu Qian's unbroken stride, Delin roared a warning.

"Thanks for the reminder. It's fine."

Fu Qian answered casually. A moment later, however, he came to an abrupt halt just a few paces away from Mister Luo.

It wasn't because he was afraid of an ambush. Rather, right at that moment, the task in his mind had changed.

[Task complete. Current task has been updated.]

[Destroy the Perfect White Porcelain Doll]

What was going on?

The new task itself didn't surprise Fu Qian; what confused him was the timing of the update.

He had been much closer than this when he whipped the Frenzied Spirit earlier.

Could it be that it hadn't eaten its fill back then, so it wasn't considered perfect yet?

"What's wrong? Scared I might sneak attack you?"

Seeing Fu Qian stop in his tracks, Mister Luo gave a mocking smile.

"Not at all."

"Hmph!"

Unable to read anything from Fu Qian's expression, Mister Luo ultimately let out a cold scoff.

"Senseless fool. I still have a lot to do, and I have no time to waste on you!"

As he spoke, Mister Luo turned around and looked toward the Small Island.

"Heretic! I will absolutely not allow you near the Sacred Tree!"

Witnessing this, the priest reacted with unusual intensity, leaping up to attack.

Unfortunately, before his Grey Curtain could even take form this time, Mister Luo swatted it away with a casual wave of his hand.

"How strange. I didn't even know what I planted all those years ago was a Sacred Tree."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!