Eldritch Horror Theatre

[Tyrant’s Fist: Weapon]

[Effect: Unleashes the Crimson Long Whip to ravage enemies. Every strike drives the target to lose their sanity.]

[The fist of a Tyrant, typically manifesting in the form of a whip.]

Fu Qian examined his special kill reward.

This was the first weapon he had received.

Its appearance, however, truly challenged the imagination.

Despite an overbearing name like Tyrant’s Fist, it was actually a Ring!

The Ring clearly wasn’t made of metal. It was woven from countless lustrous, fine threads, completely dark red, and even felt slightly warm to the touch.

Crimson Frenzy? It was hard not to draw the connection.

Fu Qian had never worn a Ring in his entire life.He picked up the Tyrant’s Fist, hesitated a moment, then struck a domineering pose with his right hand and slipped the Ring on.

Blood surged. Fu Qian flicked his right hand, and a long whip twisted from blood vessels and sinews flashed through the air.

Its power and speed were decent. The activation was also highly concealed, acting almost as an extension of his arm.

Not bad. It made up for his lack of mid-range attacks.

He already had Air Bullet for long range and feared nothing in close-quarters combat. With this thing, he could extend and retract at will, going long or short—an unfailing golden spear... ptui!

As for the sanity-destroying effect...

Fu Qian considered it for a moment. With a flick of his arm, the Crimson Long Whip lashed against his own back.

Amidst splattering blood, a surge of frenzied killing intent flashed through his mind.

Very good!

After eating something so disgusting, this was finally a bit of consolation.

Fu Qian nodded in satisfaction, reaching out to touch the Mist Door in front of him.

[Consumed 1 SAN Value to attempt Containment once more.]

[...1%... 5%... 18%... 50%... 5%... 100%. Containment Scenario loading complete.]

Now, it was time to finish his work.

Working overtime was impossible.

[Skills: Air Bullet, Visceral Attack, Cat School]

[Weapon: Tyrant’s Fist]

[Current SAN Value: 32]

The shimmering waters at the Wen Family’s Lakeside Mansion came into view once more.

”Don’t look around!”

Faced with a stern-looking Captain Gu, Fu Qian simply patted the slacker-in-chief on the shoulder.

”I know.”

He snapped the pillar to slip in, kicked open the door, and shattered the bowl.

Shattering the flying stone pillar with a single kick, Fu Qian scooped up Eldest Miss Wen and carried her all the way to the Underground Safe House.

The moment the Safe House door closed, Fu Qian caught a glimpse of Eldest Young Master Ye—who had rushed over at the commotion—being firmly held back by Mister Ji.

...

”How long are we going to stay in here?”

Inside the Safe House, facing Wen Li’s question, Fu Qian once again held up a single finger.

”A week?”

”No, an hour.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

”If you haven’t reached Tier 6 in an hour, I’ll peel off your—skin!”

...

”I’m sorry, but that’s an impossible task for me. Perhaps you should just do it.”

Wen Li stared blankly at Fu Qian’s face. After a long while, she offered a miserable smile.

”This was never your task to begin with.”

Fu Qian blinked.

”Come out!”

”I don’t know what you mean...”

Wen Li’s large eyes were filled with confusion.

Screech!

Fu Qian ripped off the heavy metal tabletop once again.

The next moment, he hurled the tabletop upward, instantly smashing the opening of the ventilation duct and blocking it solidly.

With a resounding crash, the entire Safe House shook violently.

”You have 58 minutes left.”

Fu Qian continued to stare expressionlessly at Wen Li.

She stared right back at him. After a long while, her expression relaxed, and a bright smile broke across her face.

”There really is no dealing with you! But one hour truly isn’t enough!”

Her previous pitiful hesitation had vanished without a trace. Wen Li walked over with an elegant demeanor and took a seat.

’As expected. I knew there was something weird going on with you.’

”What should I call you?”

”Isn’t Wen Li fine? We’re essentially the same person, anyway.”

”Wen Li” blinked, crossing her legs.

”Although I don’t know why you insisted on forcing me out, having someone to talk to is rather nice.”

”Often, possessing a gift is not a stroke of luck.”

”Growing up forced to listen to the inner thoughts of countless people and sense their emotions... those voices are so loud that you end up forgetting what your own original emotions were.”

”Amidst the endless torment and hesitation, one day, ’I’ became ’we’—”

”Nice story. It’s a shame I hate people wasting my time.”

Before ”Wen Li” could finish her sentence, an Air Bullet grazed her forehead. Her scalp stung, and countless strands of black hair fluttered down.

”You could be anything, but you absolutely aren’t Wen Li.”

Fu Qian lowered his hand, speaking lazily.

”Why do you say that?”

”Wen Li” immediately sat up straight, her expression turning grave for the first time.

’Nonsense. If you were just a product of Wen Li’s split personality, I wouldn’t bother with you.’

’Regardless of which of you reaches Tier 6, my task would be complete. You could do whatever you wanted after that.’

’But the problem is, she clearly succeeded in promoting to Tier 6 last time, yet the prompt I received stated that Wen Li had died and the task failed.’

’The only explanation is that despite sharing the same body, this thing and Wen Li are two completely different entities.’

That was also why Fu Qian only gave them one hour this time, and why his threat had escalated from stripping her naked and throwing her out to killing her directly.

Last time, facing the threat of being stripped, this entity had never revealed herself, proving she didn’t care much about such things.

Sure enough, while Wen Li had been frightened out of her wits at the prospect of being stripped and was prepared to face death, this entity clearly valued life more, instantly surfacing to show herself.

Of course, Fu Qian wouldn’t speak these thoughts aloud. He just snorted coldly.

”This old master has roamed the jianghu for many years, seen countless women, and long cultivated a pair of piercing golden eyes. Do you think your petty tricks can fool me?”

”You can continue to spin your tales, but as a friendly reminder, you only have 50 minutes left.”

”You can call me Eve.”

The fake Wen Li’s expression turned completely cold.

”You truly are quite extraordinary!”

”Thanks for the compliment. Mind revealing your true origins?”

This was exactly what Fu Qian was curious about. His intuition told him that this was the key to Wen Li’s connection with the Containment Object.

[Cocoon Chamber 2-292]

”Your guess is correct. Although I was born from her, I am indeed not her.”

”But what I said just now wasn’t entirely false, either.”

”The pain and confusion Wen Li experienced were real, and I was born within that unresolvable emotional turbulence. Of course, she never knew of my existence. In a sense, I am the power of the Transcendent Tier itself; Wen Li is merely the soil for my growth.”

”Because of this, as long as she promotes to Tier 6, I will fully awaken from within her body, and she will dissipate forever.”

”I think what I’ve said has shown enough sincerity?”

Eve stared at Fu Qian.

”Regardless of your goal, I must tell you clearly that reaching Tier 6 within an hour is impossible.”

”Now that I’ve completely taken over this body, coupled with the fact her accumulation has reached a bottleneck, you only need to give me one more day—no, five hours—and I can try to fulfill your demand.”

Eve revealed a sweet smile. She grabbed Fu Qian’s hand and pressed it against her dazzlingly white thigh.

”I don’t necessarily need it to be quiet during the process. You can use the extra time however you please.”

The touch was as smooth as creamy jade. Fu Qian took a close look; even under the most critical scrutiny, he couldn’t find a single flaw.

”What a coincidence. I happen to have a special technique for using it.”