Eldritch Horror Theatre

The Furnace Ruins covered an even larger area than they had imagined.

Fu Qian trailed behind the group, casually surveying the surroundings.

He held little hope of finding an opening to slip through, but he understood Li Weixuan's intentions behind this arrangement.

First, no matter how slim their chances were in this desperate situation, they couldn't just give up hope; they still had to try.

Second, having everyone personally sweep the area to confirm their current predicament would save a lot of breath.

Huang Zhaoyan, the newest addition to the team, clearly clashed with Yuan Xin and the others. Although he didn't dare start any direct conflicts after Li Weixuan's warning, they still engaged in fierce verbal sparring along the way, neither willing to yield an inch.

Surprisingly, Ji Liushuang stepped in to act as a mediator between the two.

Yuan Xin was a given, but even Huang Zhaoyan put on an attitude of 'I won't stoop to his level out of respect for you.'

Looking at this harmonious scene, it was hard to imagine he was the one who had secretly hired an assassin to kill her.

Unlike newly wealthy upstarts like Wen Li's family, or even someone like Eldest Young Master Ye, they belonged to authentic, century-old transcendent families.

They even shared deep historical ties with one another, though whether those bonds were a blessing or a curse was hard to say.

Ji Liushuang and the others were all prodigies of their generation, chosen and sent to the Academy to study together.

What a complicated web of relationships!

Fu Qian had no interest whatsoever in the grudges among the three. To him, the only thing that mattered was finishing his task and walking out of here.

How these three chose to engage in intricate strategic maneuvering was their own business, but if they got in his way, he wouldn't mind eliminating them all together.

At first, the group had been intensely focused on searching the barrier for an opening, terrified of missing any chance of escape.

However, they quickly lost their enthusiasm. Despair began to spread, leaving behind only mechanical tapping and knocking.

After pressing on for some time, the group finally grew physically and mentally exhausted, so they decided to stop and rest for a while.

Fu Qian had no objections. Once the group sat down, he simply stated that he wasn't tired and would go on ahead.

"Dean Li told us to move together."

Yuan Xin stared at Fu Qian with a serious expression.

"I know. You can follow me."

"Everyone needs to rest."

"So you can't keep up?"

"...Why should we follow you?"

"Maybe—"

Fu Qian blinked.

"Because I'm Tier 6?"

"You can take your time and trail behind. I don't mind the dead weight."

"You..."

Yuan Xin trembled with anger, but it was the truth; he couldn't refute it.

See, this was the benefit of a world governed by martial might—a fist just one tier higher could crush a person to death.

Thoroughly satisfied, Fu Qian turned around and set off alone under the crowd's complicated gazes.

If he remembered correctly, the spot where he had buried the assassin should be just a short distance ahead.

He had something to confirm.

However, Fu Qian hadn't gone far before he noticed someone tailing him.

Surprisingly, Huang Zhaoyan hadn't stopped to rest either. Instead, he was cautiously trailing close behind.

Had this guy noticed something unusual? Or had he sneaked out to rendezvous with the assassin?

Both were entirely possible. After all, if they were truly trapped in here together, they would bump into each other sooner or later. It would be incredibly awkward if his secret were exposed then.

Regardless of the reason, his timing was perfect!

Fu Qian didn't mind the extra tail in the slightest. He minded his own business as he walked on, soon locating the spot where he had disposed of the corpse.

Without a hint of hesitation, he lifted the stone slab he had pressed over the body.

He drew a sharp breath.

Though he had expected it, the sight before him still left him deeply amazed.

The assassin, who had only been dead for a short while, had already turned into a mummified corpse.

His entire body was as shriveled as dry wood, without a single drop of blood in sight.

Even more bizarrely, the already sparse hair on his head was completely gone, vanishing without a trace.

Not only that, but his withered body looked like a melted wax figure from top to bottom. It was twisted into a grotesque posture, with some parts unnaturally elongated.

For instance, the skin at his shoulders had been stretched almost transparent, as if his two arms were about to tear themselves away from his body.

A literal furnace indeed!

Fu Qian mused inwardly; this place was truly bizarre beyond measure.

His previous guess had been entirely correct. All living beings that died after entering this place were dissociated by some special rule, only to coalesce into those hair and hand monsters.

He wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he saw a chunk of coagulated blood later on.

After observing the body carefully, Fu Qian stepped away from the scene.

This time, he didn't cover the body back up with the stone slab. Instead, he casually tossed the stone aside, not caring at all if someone discovered the corpse.

Fu Qian was perfectly aware that Huang Zhaoyan was secretly watching from behind a nearby building. He was quite curious to see how the man would react to the corpse.

As it turned out, Huang Zhaoyan quietly crept up to the body the moment Fu Qian walked away, standing rooted to the spot in a daze for several minutes.

This guy was indeed highly suspicious, Fu Qian thought, nodding to himself as he watched from the side.

What he had just done couldn't have been more obvious. He had practically made a beeline for the stone slab and dug out the corpse; even a fool could guess that this person's death was tied to him.

And he had blatantly flaunted the body right in front of his stalker.

If he had the guilty conscience of a thief, he would be absolutely certain that Fu Qian knew something and was showing it to him on purpose.

Later, when they met up with Li Weixuan, it would be perfectly normal if this guy publicly revealed that Fu Qian had dug up the corpse.

But if he hid the incident and said nothing, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that he was the one who had sent the assassin.

Of course, if he was stupid enough to think his cover was blown and tried to silence him, Fu Qian wouldn't mind finishing him off either.

After all, theoretically speaking, his scheme had arranged for Fu Qian to be targeted by a transcendent assassin, even aiming to have him killed.

He who kills others shall in turn be killed.

Suddenly, Fu Qian found himself looking forward to that scenario a little.

Unfortunately, after Fu Qian waited for a while, Huang Zhaoyan just remained standing there in a daze, prompting Fu Qian to leave in deep disappointment.

It didn't take long for Fu Qian to run into Li Weixuan and his group, all of whom wore terrible expressions.

The team's morale had clearly hit rock bottom. Without even asking, it was obvious they hadn't found anything.

"Where are the others?"

Li Weixuan frowned as he looked at the lone Fu Qian.

"They needed to rest, so I came ahead to scout the path."

Fu Qian looked completely unbothered.

Li Weixuan was clearly in a bad mood and lacked the energy to pursue Fu Qian's minor violation.

"Did you find any way out?"

"No."

The slightly hopeful gleam in the group's eyes dimmed once more.

Clearly not expecting much anyway, Li Weixuan nodded, gestured for Fu Qian to rejoin the group, and ordered everyone to rest where they were.

After waiting for a while, they saw a large group of people marching over in the distance.

The man leading them had flowing long hair and moved with ethereal grace. Before he even arrived, he shouted loudly.

"Dean Li, we found something!"

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