Eldritch Horror Theatre

”All done. Time to clock out!”

Fu Qian nodded in satisfaction and glanced back at Su Gao.

She was practically the only person in the room who still dared to look up at him.

When he had grabbed her arm just moments ago, what he felt beneath her clothes hardly seemed like a human body.

As if sensing his thoughts, she let the corner of her mouth tick up, offering him a rather uncoordinated smile.

[Mission complete. Containment of 2-103 successful.]

The scenery before him rapidly dissipated. Fu Qian found himself back in the Warehouse, leisurely listening to the mission summary.

[Rating: Blasphemer]

[The Ill Omen has dissipated; the crisis remains hidden.

Mysterious entities require the Power of Law to manifest in this world. The one who resonates with the Seed of Law becomes the Ill Omen.As an unimaginable power, the Law grows by feeding on sacrifices. Naturally, even in its infancy, it still wields immense authority to protect its path of growth.

Unfortunately, with all those paths severed, the Seed of Law had no time left to wait.

In the end, it was forced to stake everything on a single throw, overdrawing its form to deeply integrate with the Ill Omen. Yet even so, it still fell to despicable deceit.

Congratulations on achieving the impossible and saving an ancient town.

Although your killing methods were excessively shocking, the Yama Enforcer Su Gao intimidated everyone present and single-handedly wrote the accident report. You did not draw too much attention.]

[Kills: None]

[Special Kill: Ill Omen (Mercury Law form)]

[Reward: SAN Value +20; inspiration +5]

[Special Kill Reward: Commandment Residue]

[Current SAN Value: 60, Current inspiration: 26]

[Play event replay?]

His SAN Value had finally recovered a bit!

Commandment Residue... what was this?

Fu Qian took stock of his haul from the trip, swiftly flipping to the rewards section.

[Commandment Residue: Skill. Residue forged from the woven patterns of a commandment, containing lingering traces of a special power form. Upon activation, the radiance of the Law can manifest upon you once more.]

[Chaotic residue, its power so weak that it is almost purely a visual effect.]

Law?

Fu Qian had perked up at the first half of the description, naturally recalling those severed heads flying everywhere.

But that last sentence... are you kidding me?

Did that mean this skill was now reduced to a mere visual effect? Activating it would just make him look impressive?

Frowning deeply, Fu Qian tried activating the skill.

A barely perceptible golden pattern flashed and vanished.

If this was just a visual effect, it was leagues worse than the one Huang Yuanchang had, wasn’t it?

Even though a trace of gold had just flickered, the other guy’s glow had been bright enough to blind someone.

It truly lived up to the name ”residue”!

Was it because he had struck too ruthlessly at the end, shattering it entirely?

It seemed there was merit in showing mercy after all.

Whatever. A trash skill was a trash skill. Today’s haul was already pretty good.

Fu Qian had always been open-minded. The thing literally had ”residue” in its name; what more could he demand of it?

[Current clearance elevated.]

Having finished checking his rewards, Fu Qian was just about to clock out and rest when an unprecedented prompt appeared.

Clearance elevated? That should be his clearance for the Warehouse.

Was this a promotion and a raise?

[You may now view all synchronized items at any time.]

All synchronized items... could it be the things he had placed into Containment before?

Fu Qian thought for a moment. He didn’t rush to take off his Work Badge. Instead, he walked down the aisle of shelves.

He had inspected them previously; every silver-white box on the shelves bore a number, following the exact same format he encountered during Containment.

It was just that all these boxes had been sealed tight, completely impossible to open.

What was the number for Ill Omen Must Die again?

Fu Qian recalled his previous mission details and quickly located the box numbered [2-103].

Staring at the seamless silver-white box, he hesitated before tentatively placing his hand on it.

Soundlessly, the lid of the square box slowly parted to the sides, revealing the contents within.

For the first time, Fu Qian saw the true form of Ill Omen Must Die.

Inside the box rested an irregular stone slab that resembled a meteorite, shaped somewhat like a miniature stele.

The slab was covered in scorch marks from intense heat, and profound patterns crept along its edges like moss.

This was...

Fu Qian leaned in closer. He discovered that the stone slab was densely engraved with text. The carvings varied in depth, and most of it was blurred out, with only the lowest section remaining somewhat legible.

”The mysterious hunter Fu Qian appeared in the restaurant, searching for traces of the Ill Omen.”

”Meanwhile, the Talisman that Lu Xing had drawn on his wife Geng Yue’s neck suffered an accident. A tiny flaw caused it to activate prematurely. Geng Yue died before her lover could arrive, which attracted the attention of a passing member of the Night Watchers.”

...

”Even after witnessing the murder unfold right before his eyes, Fu Qian did not hesitate at all. Instead, he chose to leave the restaurant immediately. The Night Watchers were a step too late and failed to stop him in time.”

”Hiding within the Huang Manor, Huang Yuanchang suddenly found himself unable to suppress his murderous urges and decided to advance his plans.”

”Huang Haoxin and his young lover were fast asleep, completely defenseless against the infiltrating Huang Yuanchang.”

...

”Fu Qian rushed straight to the Huang Manor, but he arrived a step too late, narrowly missing Huang Yuanchang, who had left early.”

”Due to his mysterious origins, the Huang Clansmen would not believe Fu Qian’s words. Moreover, Huang Haoxin’s residence was incredibly secluded; it would typically take a long time for the servants to notice the bloody murder that took place here.”

...

”Displaying extreme hostility, Fu Qian forced his way into the Huang Manor and headed straight for Huang Haoxin’s residence, where he discovered the corpses.”

”Fortunately, the guards were highly dutiful and sounded the alarm without a moment’s delay. Having just discovered the bodies, Fu Qian found himself surrounded by the Huang Clansmen, a development that was bound to stall his pursuit.”

...

”To everyone’s surprise, Fu Qian did not even attempt to explain himself. Instead, he chose to shape-shift into Huang Yuanchang’s appearance. Unfortunately, since he had only seen photographs, his transformation was imperfect.”

”Incredibly, the crude mask Fu Qian casually slapped onto his face yielded unexpected results. The Huang Clansmen did not suspect the face beneath was fake at all. To avoid the threat of this madman, they decided to recall all clan members back to the manor.”

”Although unsure, Huang Leji still chose to report Fu Qian to the Night Watchers as the Ill Omen, hoping to borrow their power to eliminate him.”

”The Yama Enforcer Su Gao happened to be operating nearby and received the Huang clan’s notice immediately.”

”Fu Qian was careless during his escape, allowing Su Gao to quickly track him down. She arrived just in time to witness Fu Qian committing a murder.”

”Unbelievably, Su Gao displayed an utterly irrational level of trust in Fu Qian and followed his instructions to the letter, drastically shrinking Huang Yuanchang’s room to maneuver.”

”Huang Yuanchang sensed the danger and gave up on heading to... Huang Yuanchang sensed the danger and gave up on heading to... Huang Yuanchang sensed the danger, headed to... and successfully killed Lu Xing...”

”Aside from the heavily guarded Huang Manor, all the transcendents in West Plain City had been gathered at the Night Watchers Base. The sacrifice was incomplete. Even though Huang Yuanchang tried his hardest to hold back, his inner thirst for slaughter remained uncontrollable.”

...

”Faced with a desperate situation, the Seed of Law inside Huang Yuanchang was forced to downgrade and take form.”

A dense, profound string of mercury-colored patterns.

”But it didn’t matter. As long as enough transcendents were sacrificed, there was still hope to recast the Law.”

”Huang Yuanchang gained the protection of the Mercury-Grade Law. Any living soul coming within five meters of him would be summarily decapitated.”

...

”Unbelievable. Fu Qian found the loophole in the Law with unimaginable speed.”

”Huang Yuanchang died. The Law in his mind shattered and dissipated completely, losing all possibility of taking form.”

A string of golden patterns exuding a chaotic aura appeared, cracks spreading across the stone beneath them.

”The Golden Law, ’Mortals May Look Upon a Deity,’ failed to condense.”