Eldritch Horror Theatre

So he really did do it on purpose?

The execution of this mission plan was so meticulous it felt like he had peeked at the source code.

Whether anyone else believed it or not, Fu Qian actually bought Old Man Ji's claim.

Frankly, there were plenty of ways to deal with the real groom to impersonate him at the altar without getting caught. Using a special method to turn him into a wooden puppet was actually on the milder side.

Even after turning him into a puppet, there were countless better ways to hide him rather than casually tossing him into a wardrobe in the exact same room.

Combined with his blunt confession just now that the real groom had been turned into wood, the whole setup could only be described as far too deliberate.

It was a true case of playing hard to get—he had hidden the guy, sure, but only so he would be found at this exact moment.

This unbelievably precise and seamless scheme was exactly the special detail he had noted earlier.

It seemed like a brilliant arrangement, but in reality, a single mistake in the details would have caused the whole thing to collapse.

And what made him so confident that the initial swap hadn't been seen by the man in the first place?

Old Man Ji had even been brazen enough to apologize to the victim while taking his clothes. Wasn't he afraid His Excellency Jose would hear him, ensuring he'd never even make it to the altar?

The only explanation was that he was absolutely certain Jose couldn't perceive the scene at the time.

Since the man knew Ehm Palace like the back of his hand, why wouldn't he have noticed?

The answer was simple. Either Jose had been too busy at that specific moment to pay attention.

Or the room had been specially disguised, so even if Jose looked, he would only see a fabricated normalcy.

The former required top-tier intelligence, which could theoretically be achieved through endless trial and error.

The latter required top-tier technical support, which almost certainly involved the shadow of the Warehouse.

In short, as he had noted earlier, his predecessor's working conditions were truly enviable, allowing him to pull off such a highly entertaining scheme—but why go through all that trouble?

By now, the core purpose of Old Man Ji's plan seemed clear: to use the critical moment of Don Juan signing the contract to blur the lines between truth and falsehood, aiming to rile up Jose's emotions as much as possible.

It was a move steeped in pure malice, but beyond just tormenting the man's nerves, what was the actual goal?

Fu Qian felt he had finally touched upon the most brilliant part of the entire Blood Wedding. He naturally recalled the spectacular sight he had witnessed back with the Bronze Madam—that bloated brain enveloping a smaller one.

Could it be that the corpse with the swollen brain hadn't been the groom at all?

"Heh... what a fun little game."

Whatever the truth was, His Excellency Jose had already stolen the groom's spotlight with the sheer authority of a king.

Gripping the smooth wooden puppet, he let a low laugh rumble in his throat. It made one worry he might crush the thing in his hand at any second.

However, he ultimately refrained from such a slightly undignified act.

Instead, he turned it around, making Puppet Don Juan's face point directly at him.

"It is a pity. When you reach my age, you will learn that the only thing you can trust is your own eyes."

...

Just as expected. This was the inescapable trap for a higher entity.

Because it is lonely at the top, the only thing they could trust was their own judgment.

His Excellency Jose's declaration was incredibly domineering, yet it didn't surprise Fu Qian in the slightest.

After all, he had done similar things himself. Relying on the Ring given by the Witch to alter the manifestation of his Transcendent Tier power, he had woven a Lie that became more effective the higher one's Rank was—a perfect second identity.

Old Man Ji was clearly taking advantage of this exact mindset. Having stood at the pinnacle of the world for so many years, Jose was undoubtedly full of absolute confidence in his own judgment, flatly refusing to be swayed by mere words.

And in his eyes, there was clearly nothing wrong with either Don Juan or the puppet.

To him, this entire incident from start to finish simply looked like the petty prank of a groom with cold feet.

"Is that so? Shall I continue, then?"

Such overwhelming confidence seemed to even affect the person involved.

Old Man Ji gave an affirming hum, actually agreeing that it was just a little game. He then signaled the man to release his restraints so he could finish signing.

This reaction was practically begging for a beating; he was still trying to mess with Jose's head.

Everyone here was a seasoned veteran. You didn't even need to use your brain to taste the distinct strategy of releasing in order to capture in his words—the kind of bait where reacting meant you lost.

"So, is this wedding still happening or not? Or do you want to sign it?"

Unfortunately, five seconds after Don Juan spoke, the tip of the pen on the Marriage Contract still hadn't moved an inch.

This prompted him to let out a soft sigh, taking the initiative to show some filial piety toward his father.

...

Way too arrogant. There was no way the usual Don Juan would ever dare act this insolent.

At that moment, Fu Qian thought he could hear the extremely stifled gasps of the audience, as if they were desperately trying to stop their own hearts from beating.

It was obvious that even they sensed something was wrong with the groom. Of course, what they feared more was the impending thunderous rage of His Excellency Jose.

As it turned out, the latter really did place an immense amount of importance on this final step of the wedding.

Even if the groom's behavior was 99.99 percent pure prank, Jose still refused to allow for any mishaps.

Then, how would he verify that final one-in-a-ten-thousand chance? Fu Qian felt he already knew the answer—

"I understand your confidence. But I am truly not Don Juan, and neither is the thing in your hand."

Just as expected. After his request was denied, Old Man Ji let out a low chuckle, his tone faintly delivering the final blow.

"Because the real Don Juan is you. I told you right from the start—this is your wedding..."

Though his body couldn't move, he still strained his eyes to gesture toward the audience.

"You were the one who bestowed pleasure upon them all along... Haven't you felt it? That call echoing in their hearts at this very moment, their desperate yearning to become one with you."

...

Now that was taking filial piety to the extreme. Not only was he giving up his wedding for his father to complete, he was even handing over his lovers?

The groom's speech was a bit abstract, but it wasn't hard to grasp.

Now, revealing the dagger as the map unrolled, he brought things full circle to his very first statement: that Don Juan lacked an independent personality and was nothing more than an extension of His Excellency Jose's life.

That even seemed to explain why the private rendezvous in the small cabin had happened earlier.

After teasing the lovers' lust to the absolute maximum, he had repeatedly pulled and pushed them back and forth in the Sanctuary, whipping their intense emotions into a boiling frenzy.

At this moment, an invisible 'web of lust' had been teased to its absolute breaking point within the hall, calling out for a certain name to join in.

One had to admit, this father and son were incredibly fascinating. They had elevated the concept of a love-hate relationship to an unimaginable height.

The father had sought out a virtuous wife for his son, and it seemed he had even handled the romance for him.

The son then returned the favor, directly framing his father for the crime of debauching the court, adding yet another layer of joy to today's festivities at Ehm Palace.

As for his true goal—Squelch!

After he glared fixedly at Don Juan for several breaths, an even more horrifying scene unfolded.

The wooden puppet in Jose's hand, which had looked like it might be crushed to splinters at any second, still wasn't broken. Instead, he violently plunged it straight into a lower abdomen.

His own lower abdomen.

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