Eldritch Horror Theatre

"An inch of time is an inch of gold."

Finishing his stretches, Fu Qian beamed at Tan Mingxue.

"But don't worry, you'll soon be freed from this boring business."

Tan Mingxue's response was simple. Her hair trembled, and countless fine threads sliced inward, converging on Fu Qian from all sides.

The same trick would not work on a Saint.

Fu Qian took another deep breath and raised his right foot.

Boom!

He stomped the ground with violent force. Explosive energy rushed outward in all directions, scattering the cloud of fine threads.

Tan Mingxue's signature move was naturally not that simple. The fine threads fluttered and recoiled, but the disruption lasted only a single breath before they surged back together.

With the piercing screech of tearing metal, Fu Qian tore the top off the nearby dining table.

Almost everything inside the Safe House was made of special metal. This tabletop, in particular, was an absurdly thick slab of solid metal, incredibly heavy in his hands.

Watching this unfold, a ripple of emotion finally broke through Tan Mingxue's poker face.

It was too late for regrets now.

Fu Qian didn't give her a chance to show any exaggerated facial expressions. He raised the heavy tabletop to his chest.

He spun and hurled it.

The tabletop instantly became a flying shield, hurtling toward Tan Mingxue's head with violent kinetic energy.

At the same time, Fu Qian spread the fingers of his left hand and silently fired five Air Bullets in succession.

Tan Mingxue's three thousand zhang of white hair retracted almost instinctively, gathering into a dense shield in front of her to block the tabletop that looked capable of crushing anything in its path.

Debris filled the air amid an endless, screeching cacophony.

The sharpness of the fine threads was staggering. The seemingly indestructible metal tabletop was instantly torn apart, sliced into pieces.

Sharp, but ultimately meaningless.

Fu Qian had been right. Even shredded, each piece of metal maintained its original trajectory, hurtling relentlessly toward Tan Mingxue's head.

In fact, the fragmentation had effectively turned it into a blast of buckshot.

Tan Mingxue clearly realized this. As her threads intercepted the makeshift shield, she shifted several meters laterally in an incredibly awkward posture, narrowly dodging this volley of Storm Pear Blossom Needles.

The metal fragments blasted directly into the wall behind her, chewing out a deep, honeycomb-like crater.

Yet in the very next instant, Tan Mingxue's pupils dilated. Having barely dodged a lethal headshot, her nearly off-balance body lunged to the side once more.

Even so, an invisible bullet still clipped her waist, spraying a mist of blood.

'Not bad!'

'She actually didn't go down.'

'As expected of a Night Watchers team leader. That reaction was much better than Mister Ji's.'

Huff, huff!

Panting heavily with one hand clamped over the wound on her waist, Tan Mingxue looked incredibly grim.

She had heard a general description of him when she received the intel, but she had never expected this guy to be so much more terrifying than she had imagined.

'Just where the hell did this monster come from?'

"Sneak attacks... how despicable and shameless!"

"Someone who uses that thing as a weapon has no right to judge me."

Fu Qian pointed at her hair.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Tan Mingxue had zero interest in making conversation with this guy, but she absolutely didn't mind buying time to tend to her wound.

"Your last words."

Fu Qian slowly spat out the words. However, his eyes weren't looking at her; he was staring at Wen Li in the corner.

She had her head turned, her mouth hanging open in a small 'O' shape, seemingly struggling to process the scene playing out in front of her.

The moment she made eye contact with Fu Qian, Wen Li snapped her head back around as if electrocuted. She clamped her eyes shut, maintaining a posture of eyes on nose, nose on heart.

"Just who exactly are you?"

Tan Mingxue delivered a classic death flag.

"An otherworldly master."

Fu Qian answered while picking up an ashtray from the floor.

It had fallen off the table earlier.

"Hold him off! I'll secure her!"

Right at that moment, a dark silhouette flashed overhead. Someone had actually jumped down from above.

He was in his thirties, wearing a black top and gold-rimmed glasses.

"Qi Xue!"

Seeing the newcomer, Tan Mingxue seemed to regain her strength instantly, her voice swelling with renewed vigor.

The ferocious strength the opponent had displayed moments ago had nearly broken her confidence.

Seeing Qi Xue dart toward Wen Li, she felt it might be unnecessary, but she still gritted her teeth and mobilized all her transparent threads to launch another attack on Fu Qian.

Clang!

With a loud crash, Qi Xue's figure skidded to a sudden halt, stopping just a few meters away from Wen Li.

The ashtray Fu Qian had thrown was embedded in the wall right in front of him, smashing a deep dent into the metal.

"You'd better stay away from her."

Fu Qian dodged Tan Mingxue's attacks as casually as if he were taking a stroll. Gripping two freshly yanked table legs, he walked straight up to the man.

He then turned to look at Wen Li, who was on the verge of standing up.

"Do you really think he's here to save you?"

"What do you mean?"

Seeing new reinforcements arrive moments ago had left Wen Li thrilled; she had nearly scrambled to her feet in trembling excitement.

But Fu Qian's words immediately threw her back into confusion.

Fu Qian didn't answer. He simply pointed at her head.

'This is...'

Realizing how panicked she had been, Wen Li took a deep breath to steady her emotions.

The next moment, she jerked a step back, staring in sheer terror at the Qi Xue standing just a few meters away.

"You're not... Who are you?!"

"I'm not."

Qi Xue suddenly broke into a hideous smile. His facial features rapidly melted and shifted, transforming into an entirely different man's face in the blink of an eye.

Ignoring Wen Li completely, he turned to look at Fu Qian.

"I'm a bit curious. How did you know?"

"Isn't it obvious? This is the guy hired to kill you."

Fu Qian answered the dumbfounded Wen Li.

"You sure are popular. The ones trying to kill you and the ones trying to save you are all rushing to get in."

"As for how I knew?"

Fu Qian turned his gaze back to the fake Qi Xue.

"Take a guess, hehehe."

Fu Qian obviously wasn't going to tell the man that he had recognized him because he had already killed him once before and had memorized his aura.

That's right. This was the exact same guy who had manipulated Wen Xiuxian last time.

"My disguise was absolutely flawless," the man said through gritted teeth.

"It was a great copy, admittedly. Just look at that brainless woman over there—she completely fell for it."

Fu Qian pointed at Tan Mingxue. The woman's face instantly flushed crimson.

"What do I call you?"

After mocking Tan Mingxue, Fu Qian redirected his attention back to the assassin.

"If you want to keep it a secret out of professional ethics, that's fine too. Your traits are pretty distinct; I can easily just look you up after I kill you."

Last time, this guy had caused his mission to fail due to Wen Li's shattered psyche. There was absolutely no way he was letting him walk out of here today.

"Shadow Nightmare. And yes, I'm just getting paid to do a job," the man laughed, staring at Fu Qian.

"You're very strong. I admit I'm not confident I can beat you, but if you're really dead set on killing me, I strongly advise you not to be impulsive."

Riiiip!

He abruptly tore off his shirt.

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