Eldritch Horror Theatre

It all happened in a split second. By the time Jiang En reacted, he was already right in front of Fu Qian.

Yet, despite his shock, the mysterious Dayun Mingwang didn’t go for the kill.

The next moment, the man clenched his left hand into a fist, extending only his pinky finger to point at him.

What is this...

Just as Jiang En regained a bit of his balance, he heard a muffled ”pew” from behind the mask.

An intense sense of danger washed over him, and his survival instincts drove him to twist his body to the absolute limit.

Even so, an invisible impact whistled past at point-blank range, tearing a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.

Pushing off the floor, Jiang En used the recoil to roll several paces away, saving himself from a near fall and widening the distance between them once more.

He sprang to his feet and stared fixedly at Fu Qian, unable to hide his shock.

If the man had fired a volley of those attacks just now, it would have been almost impossible for him to survive. Yet, after that single strike, he merely stood there.It seemed this Dayun Mingwang truly didn’t intend to deal a lethal blow. Or was it simply disdain?

Having narrowly escaped death, Jiang En was caught in a whirlwind of fear and uncertainty.

Recalling the array of techniques the man had just displayed, he was absolutely certain he had never met anyone like this before.

Where on earth did this guy come from?

At the same time, even knowing he couldn’t win a head-on fight, the pain flaring from his chest and shoulder made the violent emotions churning in his heart increasingly hard to suppress.

...

Even with the persona of a fallen genius, this guy’s patience is worse than Taylor’s!

Watching Jiang En’s eyes gradually turn bloodshot, Fu Qian silently critiqued him.

After their brief exchange, the young man’s shirt was left in tatters.

Beneath the torn sleeve on his left arm, a grayish-white, irregular ring was deeply embedded into his flesh.

Blood was actively seeping from its edges.

Without a doubt, this was what Jiang En had acquired at the gathering. Its spikes had already dug deep into his flesh.

According to the seller’s introduction, Jiang En’s irritability could certainly be explained as a side effect of the Toothed Throat.

But judging by Jiang En’s performance, he seemed to have already somewhat adapted to the negative emotion. The timeline didn’t quite add up...

Regardless, it was clear the seller hadn’t peddled a fake.

The multiple wounds on Jiang En’s chest were healing at a visible rate. As for the scrape on his shoulder, it stopped bleeding after just a few breaths.

As he thought, the sharp claws on Fu Qian’s right hand slowly retracted.

”Northern Jiang En is nothing much. Truly a massive disappointment!”

”Who exactly are you...”

Right on cue, Fu Qian received another familiar interrogation.

”A defeated opponent has no right to know my name.”

With a cold sneer, Fu Qian stretched out his hands, a gesture that made Jiang En’s heart pound in alarm.

However, the invisible attack did not reappear. Instead, the man’s laughter grew increasingly brazen.

”Relax, yours truly is no member of the Blood Clan. I just happen to be proficient in all the transcendent ultimate arts under heaven. I trust you’ve already witnessed the Mechanism Guiding Art of the Shangjing Chen Clan, as well as the Void-Cleaving Finger of the Youfeng Duan Clan.”

Although his tone was incredibly lofty, the actual content of his speech was so absurd it was hard to take seriously. For a moment, even Jiang En was left dumbfounded.

The Youfeng Duan Clan? Where is Youfeng? Is there even a transcendent family with the surname Duan?

I do know about the Mechanism Guiding Art, but its effects are clearly different from whatever you just did, right?

Uncontrollable exasperation welled up in his heart, but the next moment, realizing the Toothed Throat on his arm had been exposed, Jiang En’s scalp tingled with dread.

”You came here for this...”

He subconsciously covered his arm and barked the question. He clearly had no intention of handing over this hard-won Item to someone else.

Do you not understand human speech?

Fu Qian furrowed his brows.

However, it was getting late, and he had pretty much finished his grand entrance.

”So you are already injured.”

Completely ignoring Jiang En’s question, he pointed at the man’s body.

Aside from the two fresh wounds, crisscrossing marks covered the rest of his torso, looking as though they had only just healed.

”Though I don’t know how you ended up like this, I have never been one to take advantage of someone in peril. With the help of the thing on your body, a single day should be enough for you to recover, right?”

”Tomorrow at this time, I will visit again to seek guidance. I hope you won’t be as painfully weak as you are now.”

”Also, there’s no need to fear. After your defeat, you only need to kneel and admit that the so-called Northern Jiang En and South Taylor are nothing but unearned reputations. You won’t have to worry about your life.”

Following this bout of mockery, Fu Qian didn’t bother waiting for a response, turning and walking away amid boisterous laughter.

Where on earth did this lunatic come from...

Watching Fu Qian disappear behind the door, Jiang En ultimately suppressed his murderous urge. He couldn’t comprehend this undeserved calamity, but he didn’t chase after the man to make him pay for the broken door either.

”Tomorrow at this time...”

After confirming the man had truly left, he lowered his head and slowly repeated the words through gritted teeth.

...

This level of pressure should be enough for Brother Jiang En to push himself to the limit tonight, right?

Swaggering straight out the door and completely ignoring the alarms blaring in his wake, Fu Qian swiftly vanished into the night.

His performance just now naturally wasn’t due to some flair for the dramatic.

From the scars scattered across Jiang En’s body, he could tell things weren’t so simple.

Given the current situation, the guy was certainly preparing some sort of ritual—or was already in the middle of one—readying himself to astound the world and prove the adage ”do not bully a young person in poverty.”

However, considering his own task had a time limit, he needed to apply a little pressure to force him to act within this single day.

What was that? His task’s time limit wouldn’t even last until this time tomorrow, so his threat just now was destined to fall flat?

That wasn’t a problem at all.

This guy’s public persona was clearly that of someone wallowing in despair and wasting away at home all day. In all likelihood, he was just like Brother Taylor—staying obediently cooped up during the day and only taking action at night.

Therefore, now that the pressure had been applied, if Jiang En was willing to struggle even a little, tonight would be his only option.

Given that Fu Qian could track him down silently, there was no way Jiang En would risk someone stumbling upon him during his ritual. Thus, he definitely wouldn’t dare delay it until tomorrow.

As for how he would monitor Jiang En’s movements without keeping an eye on him in person?

The effect of the Thread of Attachment was still hanging on him.

...

Wait a minute.

Sensing something, Fu Qian seamlessly slowed his pace.

It was a gaze, originating from an entity whose Rank was not low.

An unexpected harvest? Fu Qian wasn’t startled; instead, he felt a surge of joy.

There was over a ninety percent chance this was due to his ”exchange” with Jiang En just now.

Considering the level he had displayed was merely that of someone who had just entered the Mid Tier, was there some big shot preparing to exact vengeance for Jiang En?

So it really is a Child of Destiny script!

Not only is there an auction scene that even scripts wouldn’t dare write, but he even has a portable grandpa spirit with him?

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