Eldritch Horror Theatre

As it turned out, even if you were here to save the world, you still had to buy a ticket.

When Fu Qian snapped his fingers for her to foot the bill, Shen Yuan's resentment grew almost palpable, her expression visibly faltering.

This wasn't the faltering of a cognitive collapse, but of her trust in Fu Qian.

Clearly, in her mind, the likelihood that something was wrong with Fu Qian's head was growing by the second.

Of course, out of sheer inertia, she still pulled out her money and bought the tickets.

'I am letting you participate in saving the world. How can you look so unwilling in the face of such an honor?'

Fu Qian's skin was as thick as a city wall. Regardless of how sour her gaze turned, he simply took the lead and walked ahead.

He had already made his observations; if nothing else, the staff members here currently appeared perfectly normal.

Heading all the way into the museum, Fu Qian found that because it followed the building's original layout, the interior wasn't particularly spacious.

At a glance, they were practically the only two living souls inside, aside from a single uniformed staff member.

"Just a reminder: there are security cameras everywhere."

The staff member clearly hadn't expected visitors at this hour. After scrutinizing the two of them, he delivered the pointed remark.

Hmm?

His words seemed to jolt Shen Yuan awake.

She looked at Fu Qian with a highly complicated expression. After a quick appraisal, she subconsciously pulled away to put some distance between them.

'Declining public morals. Just what on earth is inside these people's heads!'

Naturally disdainful of this, Fu Qian focused entirely on exploring their surroundings.

Unfortunately, the entire museum only had three floors.

After he meticulously made a full lap around the place, he came up empty-handed. He didn't find a single suspicious spot.

'Had Kelly and the others misjudged?'

Given the circumstances, that seemed to be the only explanation.

"This joke isn't funny at all."

Shen Yuan, who had shadowed him the entire time, finally couldn't hold back from speaking up again.

Without a doubt, the scales in her mind had completely tipped by now.

And her impression of Fu Qian had already shifted toward an eccentric older weirdo.

Paying no mind to her doubts, Fu Qian thought for a moment before snapping his fingers again to summon the sole staff member.

"What do you want? We're very busy!"

Realizing that Fu Qian was calling him, the man dragged his feet for a long time before finally walking over with a reluctant face.

'Very busy? You spent at least eighty percent of the time just now staring over here gossiping. Did you think I wouldn't notice?'

Fu Qian scoffed at the man's boasting.

"Which is the most expensive exhibit in the entire museum?"

"The most expensive?"

Unexpectedly quizzed on his own expertise, the staff member huffed, fully putting on airs.

"Every single item has a unique value that cannot be measured in money. But if you must ask—"

Deliberately keeping them in suspense, the man calmly led the way until he brought them before a portrait.

"It's this one."

"This is a genuine original, completely different from those replicas over there."

"I can confidently tell you that even higher-tier museums rarely possess a collection of this caliber."

'Is that so?'

Fu Qian stroked his chin, staring at the voluptuous figure of the young woman in the painting.

Judging by his unblinking gaze, anyone would think he was trying to see right through her thin veil.

"As a manifestation of the humanist spirit, the artistic achievement of this canvas oil painting is so high that it can be called the treasure of our museum..."

Yet, right as the man spoke with deep emotion, Fu Qian stepped aside.

Now even Shen Yuan couldn't help but freeze in a daze. Both of them stared blankly at Fu Qian's actions.

Crash!

The next moment, under their dumbfounded gazes, Fu Qian punched straight through a nearby glass display case and retrieved a sword.

Casually twirling the blade, Fu Qian walked back without a word and slashed right into the humanist masterpiece.

...

As it turned out, this exhibition sword had been preserved incredibly well; it was far sharper than imagined.

With a few sweeping slashes, the museum's greatest treasure was reduced to shredded rags in a matter of seconds.

"Ah!"

As Fu Qian stopped in satisfaction, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.

"You, you, you... you actually..."

The staff member pointed at Fu Qian, his entire body trembling.

He didn't even dare look at the torn canvas. At the same time, his other hand subconsciously clawed at his own face; he looked utterly incapable of accepting the scene before him.

"It's like you're in a dream, right?"

Fu Qian casually tossed the sword aside, revealing an eerie smile.

"Or a Nightmare."

The next moment, perhaps because he had clawed too hard, the staff member let out another miserable shriek. A strip of flesh was torn straight off his already somewhat deformed face.

'To think his resistance was actually the weaker of the two.'

Fu Qian watched this scene coldly.

Judging by Kelly and Brooke's demeanor, they must have had a certain level of confidence to deduce that there was something fishy going on here.

It was a pity that there were no anomalies present; at a glance, the place was entirely peaceful and tranquil.

Fu Qian was not someone who gave up easily.

If he couldn't see any anomalies, he would just look from another angle.

His first thought was of that dilapidated world.

If a person's cognitive collapse could trigger a scene shift, then he had two excellent test subjects right in front of him.

Therefore, Fu Qian chose to play the art destroyer right in front of them.

Without a doubt, the shock value was quite impressive.

As blood flowed down the staff member's face, a rapid change occurred at the wound. A lump the size of a finger bulged outward.

As the lump squirmed, a shiny black antenna pierced through the thin flesh and thrust its way out.

The next moment, the flesh was forced open, and a black-and-yellow beetle crawled out.

This sight was undoubtedly nauseating, but it was only the beginning. As the first beetle crawled down his face, a second and a third soon followed...

"Bugs?"

A moment later, Fu Qian heard unspeakable terror beside his ear.

Turning to look, he saw that Shen Yuan was already frantically rubbing her own face, her voice manic.

"How can there be bugs inside a body? It's impossible!"

'Did this trigger a chain reaction?'

'My destruction of the artwork didn't scare her just now, but the staff member's face gave her a terrifying shock?'

Fu Qian didn't make a sound. The next moment, he watched Shen Yuan bend down and pick up the sword he had discarded.

She didn't try to attack anyone with it. Instead, she brought the blade straight across her own neck.

Blood surged as she pushed the blade down without much hesitation, slicing all the way around her neck.

"Get it out! Hurry!"

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