Eldritch Horror Theatre

Decisive!

Seeing Jiang En take only a few seconds to choose flight, Fu Qian silently applauded him from the shadows.

Setting aside the wisdom of the choice, that mental fortitude alone was worthy of a Child of Destiny.

Naturally, Fu Qian was the one who had shattered the glass. He had briefly dropped his Blood Crusade State, using the commotion to help Brother Jiang En suppress his urges.

After all, from any perspective, the man was in no condition to continue.

Given the noise, Jiang En clearly didn't dare gamble on whether anyone would come to investigate. He had immediately chosen to bolt.

At this moment, the room was a complete wreck.

Aside from the shattered glass on the floor, splattered blood stained every surface.

In contrast, the naked, intoxicated woman slept soundly, completely oblivious to everything that had just transpired.

Regardless, tonight's encounter had clearly been far more intense than usual.

By tomorrow, this incident was going to put immense pressure on the Night Watchers.

Amidst his musings, Fu Qian maintained his concealment and slipped silently out of the room.

...

Upon landing outside, Fu Qian didn't rush to leave. Instead, he slipped into a corner before finally dropping his Blood Crusade.

Brother Jiang En was quite formidable. That sequence of maneuvers had drained him more than killing a demigod. As for now—

Fu Qian straightened his clothes and stepped out from the corner. He walked over to the window, scrutinized it for a moment, and then leapt straight up, vaulting back into the room exactly the way he had left.

Though the lighting was dim, the mask on his face remained fiercely terrifying and instantly recognizable.

And this action undoubtedly fell into the eyes of a certain someone outside the window.

"Dayun Mingwang!"

In a lightless corner nearby, a blood-drenched Jiang En gritted his teeth, his voice seething with pure hatred.

That was right. After escaping, he hadn't fled the scene immediately. Instead, he had boldly hidden himself nearby.

Having his actions disrupted had clearly infuriated him, but more than that, he was entirely unwilling to be kept in the dark.

So, despite his injuries and the risk of discovery, he had stayed behind to see if someone was sabotaging him—and exactly who had the nerve to do it.

And it seemed this gamble had yielded a very valuable reward.

...

'This bastard... he's been tracking me the entire time?'

Through the gap in the curtains, he could see Fu Qian looking around the room.

'Doesn't that mean he likely knows everything I just did?'

Alongside his fury, an uncontrollable wave of terror washed over Jiang En.

If that was true, the slightest misstep would mean the total ruin of his reputation. He might even become a prisoner of the Night Watchers.

'His Rank clearly isn't much higher than mine. Why didn't I sense him at all? How on earth did he pull this off?'

Fear and confusion madly tortured Jiang En's nerves.

Of course, he wasn't about to bury his head in the sand and delude himself into hoping the man had only just arrived.

Judging from their previous encounter, this guy possessed a multitude of tricks. Tailing him undetected wasn't impossible.

So the pressing question was: how should he handle the fallout?

Considering the consequences if his actions were exposed, Jiang En was already tempted to rush back in, kill the bastard on the spot, and pin the entire mess on him to carve out a chance of survival.

But just as Jiang En was frantically psyching himself up to bolster his odds of success, the man's next actions left him stunned.

After glancing around, Dayun Mingwang's right hand morphed into a ferocious, vicious claw in a matter of seconds.

Before Jiang En could even process it, the man slashed his arm wildly, gouging deep claw marks into the walls and the floorboards.

'What the hell is this guy trying to do—'

Deeply shaken, Jiang En suddenly realized the implication of those actions.

'Deliberately leaving these kinds of marks... is this guy trying to pin it on Taylor?'

Especially since Taylor was already under heavy suspicion. If the Night Watchers saw the state of this hotel room, the man wouldn't be able to defend himself at all.

'Am I hallucinating? Is he actually helping me cover this up?'

Amidst his shock, Jiang En seemed to see a ray of hope.

'But why? What reason does he have to do this? Wait—this guy seems utterly obsessed with empty fame, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically targeted me and Taylor.'

'He might be confident in beating me, but Taylor is a Mid Tier now. After clashing with him once, he likely realized he didn't stand a chance...'

In the cover of the night, Jiang En's eyes lit up. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense.

'Just as they say, the tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.'

'I severely underestimated him by treating him like a simple lunatic.'

'His move just now kills two birds with one stone. Not only will it likely doom Taylor beyond redemption, but he'll also hold blackmail over me for the rest of my life.'

'But regardless, I can rest a little easier about tonight's mess.'

With that thought, Jiang En let out a long, heavy exhale.

He didn't linger to watch any further. Carefully shifting his body, he silently slipped away from the scene of the crime.

...

'He reacts pretty quickly. No wonder the Jiang Clan values him so highly.'

'If his path to the Transcendent Tier had been a bit smoother, he really could have become the pillar of his family's resurgence.'

Knowing clearly that Jiang En was already far away, and having finished setting the scene just as the people investigating the commotion approached the door, Fu Qian vaulted out the window once more.

His objective for that little performance was simple: to give Jiang En a reason to take a more measured approach.

It was still early. There was no need to back him into a corner and force a fight to the death just yet.

The traits Jiang En had exhibited earlier were actually quite fascinating.

To Fu Qian's senses, if it went just one step further, it was practically the Ecstasy he had encountered previously.

Of course, compared to Professor Yi'an's great invention back at the Academy, its Rank was far too inferior.

Furthermore, it seemed Jiang En was taking the exact opposite approach. He wasn't cultivating this Ecstasy; he was doing everything in his power to smother it.

Yet, ironically, this suppression seemed to act as an alternative advancement ritual. A ritual that just might succeed—and the very one the Warehouse wanted him to destroy.

Moreover, he had just intervened to stop Jiang En's efforts, but the mission hadn't registered as complete. This meant the advancement ritual was likely a continuous process linked to his previous actions. A simple interruption or two wouldn't truly break it.

So, to actually complete the mission, the simplest solution was likely just killing the guy.

All in all, it was a bit bizarre, but the ritual itself didn't seem too complicated.

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