Eldritch Horror Theatre

'It seems Jiang En is deliberately drawing out something inside his body, just to forcefully suppress it.'

Fu Qian offered this silent assessment as he closely observed the bizarre scene unfolding before him.

As if in response to his guess, Jiang En, who had been standing perfectly still, suddenly reached out.

He did not reach for the naked, unconscious woman on the bed. Instead, he brought his hands together in front of his chest and choked the "snake's head."

The "snake," which had been greedily slithering toward its food, instantly reacted with violent thrashing.

In its frantic struggle, more of Jiang En's old wounds tore open, spraying fresh blood in all directions.

Although this was essentially just chaotic flesh and blood churning within his own body, Jiang En's hands clamped down like iron tongs, refusing to loosen their grip by even a fraction.

This literal battle against himself lasted for nearly ten minutes.

By the time the "giant snake" finally exhausted its strength and went limp, Jiang En was an absolute mess.

Moreover, his blood had splattered everywhere, soaking the snow-white bedsheets and coating his prey.

Wen Li hadn't mentioned any details like this during their earlier conversation. Given how grisly the scene was, it would have been almost impossible to overlook. Clearly, his previous incidents of taking home unconscious victims hadn't been nearly as bloody.

Fu Qian pondered the situation as he watched.

The reason wasn't hard to figure out—tonight's actions had not originally been part of Jiang En's plans.

He was supposed to wait until his wounds fully healed before making his next move.

Unfortunately, faced with the threat of Dayun Mingwang, Jiang En had been forced to change his plans.

In fact, his two acquisitions from the exchange meeting—the Mermaid Serum and the Toothed Throat—were highly likely meant to accelerate this process.

Jiang En must have felt like he had struck gold the first time he discovered the Toothed Throat.

Its glaring side effects made it a tough item to sell, which bought him the time he needed to gather the necessary materials and make the exchange.

Fate had worked out perfectly for him. Sadly, he had no idea that everything had been arranged by the higher-ups.

They really went to great lengths. Even his own father wouldn't have been this considerate, right?

Going to such extremes, what was this group of people actually scheming?

Fu Qian recalled the mention of "Carrion" in the mission briefing.

Did it refer to Jiang En?

...

As Fu Qian pondered, the heavily battered Jiang En let out a long, ragged breath.

Simultaneously, the "snake" coiled within his body began to slowly dissolve, and his deformed figure gradually mended itself.

Under the effects of the Toothed Throat, the freshly torn wounds also began healing at a visible rate.

This process lasted for a few minutes. Once he had basically returned to his original shape, Jiang En surveyed the utter mess around him and fell into a momentary silence.

Despite the gruesome process, there was a palpable shift; compared to earlier, he seemed to possess an extra trace of something transcendent.

It truly looked as though he was using this brutal method to break through his physical limitations and achieve a new, stable form.

Watching from the sidelines, Fu Qian clicked his tongue in admiration, deeply feeling the profound wonders of the transcendent world.

At the same time, he couldn't help but be curious about one thing: where exactly did Jiang En get the inspiration for such a twisted ritual?

Was it also provided by the higher-ups?

Fu Qian naturally thought of Daneta, who had faked her death.

If that was really the case, how did they know about it?

Moreover, it seemed Brother Jiang En's actions weren't quite finished yet.

After assessing how much energy Blood Crusade was draining from him, Fu Qian figured he could afford to watch a little more of the show.

Jiang En didn't make him wait long. Taking a step forward, he actually lay down on the bed, pressing himself closely against the drunk woman.

He didn't make any moves to take off his pants or anything of the sort. Instead, he extended his tongue and gently licked a stray drop of blood off her neck.

With this action, Jiang En's breathing grew visibly rapid. He pressed his mouth and nose tightly against her throat, seemingly sensing the scent of the blood beneath her skin.

It seemed this guy really hadn't been intentionally trying to frame Brother Taylor.

Fu Qian nodded silently.

At this very moment, Jiang En seemed to have developed a certain craving to feed on blood.

Just as the thought arose, Jiang En uncontrollably opened his mouth and clamped his pearly white teeth down on the woman's neck.

He began to tremble even more violently than before. It was obvious he was relying on his final shreds of willpower to fight the urge to bite down.

This stalemate lasted for over a minute. Ultimately, Jiang En managed to conquer his desire, forcefully pulling his mouth away.

Even so, bite marks had still been left behind on the victim's neck.

This was undoubtedly the origin of the suspected bloodsucking marks found on the victims.

But it looked like the tug-of-war was far from over.

Although Jiang En had pulled his mouth away, strands of pink, fleshy tendrils resembling long worms with suction cups forced their way out from between his teeth, desperately straining to reach the wound.

This feeding urge was a bit exaggerated; it was as if his entire digestive tract had come to life!

Faced with such a scene, Fu Qian actually watched with keen interest, analyzing the underlying logic behind it.

'Food and sex are human nature. They really are the greatest enemies of human Sublimation.'

Fortunately, the speed at which Brother Jiang En conquered his appetite was even more efficient than before.

Biting down hard on the fleshy tendrils protruding from his mouth, he refused to let them advance a single inch. After several minutes of this deadlock, the grotesque worm-like extensions finally went limp.

With trembling hands, he shoved them all back into his mouth, gagging repeatedly as he swallowed them down. Jiang En then tumbled off the bed, clutching the window as he panted heavily for a good while.

As he slowly recovered, that non-human aura around him seemed to grow just a fraction more pronounced.

Fu Qian had made no rush to intervene throughout this entire process, because he sensed that while the ritual might be effective, Jiang En was still quite a ways off from undergoing a true metamorphosis.

Willpower had its limits, and so did the physical body.

Of course, Jiang En clearly didn't think so.

After recovering slightly, he closed his eyes to assess his internal state. His expression visibly shifted into one of disappointment.

It was glaringly obvious that tonight's gains were not enough for him to face tomorrow's challenges.

A moment later, the unsatisfied Jiang En gritted his teeth and tentatively tried to move forward again.

However, just then, a sharp crack pierced the quiet night, giving him a massive fright.

It was the sound of breaking glass.

Instantly freezing his movements, Jiang En took two steps back and lifted the corner of the curtain.

For some unknown reason, a spiderweb of cracks had appeared on the very window he had just been leaning against to rest.

A sense of dread washed over him. But before he could make any further moves, the massive pane of glass abruptly shattered.

Shards of glass rained down, the sharp noise exceptionally piercing against the backdrop of the silent night.

This sudden change left Jiang En momentarily stunned for a few seconds.

When he finally snapped out of it, without another word, he scooped up his clothes from the floor and leaped straight out through the shattered window.

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