Eldritch Horror Theatre

Being unable to see the mountain from within was a limitation most people could not avoid.

It was certainly reassuring to see Old Man Lu and his companion looking so hale and hearty, but Fu Qian wasn't actually that surprised.

But for them to realize it so clearly while inside the Divine Dream?

Breaking through a cognitive barrier was the hardest part; in Fu Qian's experience, this was quite a remarkable achievement.

Furthermore, Kikuchi not only looked completely confident, but he even seemed to have a nuanced understanding of the Divine Dream's state.

"Do you remember what happened the last time you said that?"

Old Man Lu seemed to tacitly agree. He showed no intention of attacking, merely offering that cold question in return.

What happened—

That question clearly struck a nerve; Kikuchi immediately fell silent.

It was the same person in the exact same place. Last time, he had also suggested dealing with Fu Qian quickly, only for the situation to slip out of control entirely—

"But that was a good thing."

However, Kikuchi's attempt to keep a low profile failed. Faced with Old Man Lu's deeply impolite words, Fu Qian happily chimed in to defend him.

"If I hadn't seized the opportunity for a sneak attack back then, would you have comprehended a higher realm of limb grafting like you have now?"

It wasn't just an emotional outburst. Using someone's spear against their own shield, he offered a perfectly reasoned rebuttal.

This time, even Lu Ming was left speechless for a moment.

It just went to show that distinguishing right from wrong was easy in theory, but far too difficult in practice.

By that logic, the man shedding skin right in front of them was actually their benefactor.

But considering they had opened with a barrage of ice and fire, these two certainly hadn't shown up to reminisce and bury the hatchet.

"Your glove looks quite special—"

When he finally broke the awkward silence, the old man changed the subject so stiffly that the mood grew even more awkward.

"Naturally."

Fortunately, Fu Qian didn't mind playing along, gesturing to show that the old man had a good eye.

Strictly speaking, however, this didn't require much of an eye.

After he had grown in size and taken their combined attack head-on, Annalise's Lies was the only piece of clothing he had left that wasn't completely ruined.

While the rest of his body was covered by temporarily manifested armor, his gloved hand was the only spot without a single scorch mark.

"Where did you steal this one from?"

Unfortunately, Old Man Lu couldn't discern any further mysteries. He merely gave it a couple of glances before asking with a cold, curious sneer.

"What do you mean 'steal'? This is a proper scholar's business. At most, it counts as borrowing."

The wording was incredibly inappropriate. Recalling how long he had spent studying the True Word Notebook, Fu Qian frowned slightly and corrected him.

"I'd like to believe you—but could you undo your transformation first?

"This place is becoming unstable. Believe me, that isn't a good thing for you either."

Lu Ming seemed to struggle with the logic of Fu Qian's statement, but after a moment of hesitation, he went along with it and carefully asked if Fu Qian could deactivate the Resplendent Tyrant.

Kikuchi had already made it clear that the form was destroying the Divine Dream, so there was no point in hiding it.

Given Fu Qian's usual style, however, making such a request was bound to come with a heavy price.

"Sure."

But truly, one had to look with new eyes after three days apart. Fu Qian, who had only made "a little progress," actually nodded in agreement right then and there.

The Resplendent Tyrant was deactivated, and his body rapidly returned to normal.

"You don't seem to be in a hurry?"

Clearly not expecting it to go so smoothly, Lu Ming glanced to the side, exchanging a look with Kikuchi.

With that movement, the tentacles coiling around them naturally drew taut, pulling their two heads slightly closer together.

"Was everyone else who came in here in a hurry?"

Old Man Lu's question seemed a bit abrupt, but as Fu Qian took in the amusing sight before him, he casually answered the question with one of his own.

He even noticed that the two old men's various other limbs were popping out here and there as they spoke.

At a glance, they looked like two rather ugly dolls that had been smashed to pieces and tossed into the same garbage heap.

Furthermore, while their limbs were still held together by "living threads," those threads were essentially all part of the same strand. In theory, the two men had been completely stitched together.

A single tug moved both bodies; it was no longer easy to tell them apart.

From that perspective, had Old Man Lu and his companion really reached a new realm of limb grafting?

Learning has no bounds; Fu Qian felt he had gained some new insight.

As for the issue of time, he was theoretically in a hurry.

He certainly hadn't forgotten the very clear warning he had received before entering.

His Excellency the Master had repeatedly warned him that fifteen minutes was the absolute limit for his exploration. Any longer would exceed his ability to protect him, and there would be no further chances for cooperation—though Fu Qian simply hadn't accepted his warning.

It was true that he was acting in his capacity as an Academy professor, but who ever said an Academy professor couldn't court death?

Fu Qian didn't think the Master was merely trying to scare him. He simply had no intention of staying within the safe zone the Master had drawn, taking full responsibility for his own actions.

"How did you know anyone else had come in?"

Unfortunately, Old Man Lu was still stuck in his own train of thought, and actually had the nerve to answer the question with another question.

"Then how did you know I was in a hurry?"

It was like wielding an axe before Lu Ban's gate. Fu Qian casually shot another question right back.

This—

Sure enough, the old man fell silent once again.

"Is it because of this?"

Fu Qian didn't let him off the hook, raising his left hand to show him.

His flesh and skin had clearly regenerated, but the ghostly blue color that had splashed onto it earlier was still there. It even felt as if it had seeped deeper into his bones, looking exactly like an unwashable tattoo.

These days, people charged money just to keep someone company and chat, let alone an enemy doing it.

First of all, the fact that Old Man Lu had the patience to chat for this long clearly didn't mean he wanted to clear up misunderstandings and make peace.

Secondly, managing to verbally persuade Fu Qian to deactivate the Resplendent Tyrant had obviously been an unexpected bonus for him.

If neither of those things was his true goal, then why was he wasting time here? To waste time.

By using a simple process of elimination, the answer was incredibly obvious.

It didn't matter that Fu Qian didn't currently feel any obvious effects from the color change on his body, or that the old man had just urged him to leave quickly.

In Fu Qian's eyes, there was a very high chance that Lu Ming and Kikuchi were simply biding their time like this, waiting for the corruption on his body to worsen.

They didn't want him to leave quickly at all.

Of course, there was no need to scold them for being sinister.

After all, considering it from the old man's perspective, look at the situation they were in.

They had been happily minding their own business, diligently researching the Great Art of Dismemberment and Limb Grafting, when suddenly the murderous thug from their past barged in again and immediately started tearing the place apart.

If they didn't use every trick in the book right now, were they really supposed to just laugh away old grudges?

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