Eldritch Horror Theatre

They couldn’t even be bothered to pretend!

Ji Liushuang could see it, and Fu Qian had naturally noticed it long ago.

Seeing that figure briefly orient himself before walking toward the two of them at a leisurely pace, Fu Qian felt profound contempt for the Ji Clan’s perfunctory efforts.

Normally, the Ji Family Task Force would swarm the target. Alerted, the suspect would exploit a gap in their encirclement and flee in a blind panic straight toward this location, bumping right into the two of them.

But clearly, Ji Xun hadn’t orchestrated it that way. Instead, he went with the narrative that the target was simply too cunning. Before the assault team could even breach the perimeter, the suspect had already disguised himself and escaped, coincidentally choosing to flee in this exact direction.

While barely justifiable, the entire setup reeked of the arrogance of someone who had given up on putting on a show.

First concealing identities, then forcefully dominating the stage, huh? Well, our Ji Clan has a temper too!

Fu Qian imagined himself in the elder Ji Xun’s mindset.

Of course, this was assuming the absolute worst intentions.

There was also a more amicable possibility: the Ji Clan genuinely didn’t want to cause a massive scene and draw the attention of the Night Watchers. Thus, they settled for a third-rate script.This is the downside of having such a massive enterprise!

Amidst his sighs, Fu Qian stepped forward without the slightest hesitation.

In that instant, both Ji Liushuang beside him and the figure approaching from ahead had their attention abruptly drawn to him.

A moment later, however, they simply watched as Fu Qian crushed his paper soy milk cup and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.

...

Faced with this shift, the man marching toward them suffered a clear break in his emotional momentum. He even looked unsure of whether he should look away.

Fortunately, Fu Qian quickly made the choice for him.

Having done his part for the environment, Fu Qian didn’t break his stride. He sized the man up as he walked straight toward him, looking as though he were heading over to dispose of the next piece of trash.

The target wore the most ordinary gray shirt and trousers and didn’t possess a particularly burly physique. The strange part was that, even with Fu Qian’s eyesight, he couldn’t make out the man’s facial features from this distance.

It was clearly some sort of transcendent effect.

However, this didn’t matter much. Triggered by Fu Qian’s display of killing intent, the man was already striding forward, unwilling to show weakness.

Following suit were the Ji Clan elites who had failed their mission.

”Professor Andiel, hello there.”

The distance between them rapidly closed to less than a few dozen meters. The man suddenly stopped in his tracks and offered a greeting with a smile in his voice.

”Hello. And what should I call you?”

Fu Qian showed absolutely no sign of stopping, replying as he kept walking.

”That is a good question.”

The man laughed. He wiped a hand across his face, and the blurring effect vanished.

At that exact moment, Fu Qian seemed to hear a startled cry from Classmate Liushuang.

The reason was simple. Gaunt, covered in dense wrinkles, and entirely devoid of hair, eyebrows, or a beard, the visage that appeared before them was shockingly another face of Old Man Lu Ming.

A bit arrogant, aren’t we.

The man clearly hadn’t pulled this trick to prove he was Lu Ming, but rather to emphasize that a face meant absolutely nothing.

”It seems we have a bit of a coincidence here. My surname is also Lu.”

Delivering a literal in-your-face taunt, this guy’s arrogance had clearly reached its absolute peak.

”Your surname is Lu?”

The distance between them was already under ten meters. No emotion could be heard in Fu Qian’s voice.

”Yes, is there a problem with that?”

The arrogant man’s words came to an abrupt halt. In the very next instant, he completely lost sight of Fu Qian, along with any trace of his aura.

A fierce sense of crisis erupted in his heart. No longer caring about maintaining his elegant demeanor, his body rapidly expanded, turning bloated and slick.

Slap!

Unfortunately, before he could make another move, a crisp sound rang out.

His opponent, who had vanished without warning, was now standing right in front of him, naturally delivering a slap that knocked his face sideways.

”You bastard, your surname is Lu?”

His mask had been removed at some point. Wearing that same face of Old Man Lu, Fu Qian looked ice-cold and spoke with ferocious severity, acting as if the man had committed some utterly treasonous crime.

”You think you’re worthy of the Lu name?”

...

The arrogant man’s reason was clearly being put to the test.

His opponent had closed the distance with terrifying speed, yet hadn’t seized the chance to strike a vital point. Instead, he resorted to slapping and reprimanding. The whole situation felt bizarrely out of place.

He also completely failed to understand why this guy was so fixated on the issue of his surname.

Still, unwilling to back down, he locked his gaze onto his opponent the next second and let out a cold sneer.

”Apologies, but my surname is indeed—”

Slap!

Another crisp sound echoed out, forcefully slapping the second half of his sentence back down his throat.

In truth, the arrogant man had been on extremely high alert this time and had started to dodge immediately.

However, his opponent was incredibly treacherous. Compared to the first slap, Fu Qian had stealthily extended his arm a bit further.

This strike carried quite a bit of force, warping the bones on half of the man’s face.

”You dare to take the Lu name?”

Along with the strike came another sharp reprimand.

You bastard!

Having never suffered such an insult, the arrogant man finally felt a fire ignite in his heart, his killing intent surging.

Yet in the very next moment, his opponent’s figure vanished again.

Not good—

Knowing full well the deadliness of this move, there was no way he would allow his anger to blind him. He pulled back his hands almost instantly and dodged backward.

His reaction couldn’t have been more timely. However, just as he opened up some distance, the vanished figure reappeared in the exact same spot.

This guy never moved at all. He’s playing me!

Right as he realized this, his opponent stood with his hands clasped behind his back and gave a cold harrumph.

”If I hear you claim your surname is Lu one more time, two slaps will be the least of your worries!”

...

The previously bustling street was now deathly silent.

Just as Old Master Lu was putting his full bearing on display, Ji Xun and his group—having lost the suspect—finally surrounded the area. Together with the arrogant man, they successfully received a small dose of the Lu Family Members’ shock.

”Who are you? Why did you attempt to murder members of my Ji Clan?”

However, the elder Ji Xun was an experienced and steady man. He quickly got into character, first shouting a stern rebuke, and then expressing sheer shock at the identical faces the two men shared.

”Wait a minute, the two of you...”

”Just a petty buffoon. Killing him would only dirty my hands. Scram!”

Riding high on his momentum, Fu Qian immediately spoke with a face full of disdain.

You motherfucker...

The arrogant man’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

His original plan had indeed been to use a minor trick to mock them, cast doubt on their identities, and then leave, luring them into a pursuit.

But how was he supposed to leave now?

He had barely spoken two sentences before taking two slaps to the face, and then he was shooed away like a dog. How in the hell did that weaken the opponent’s momentum?

Getting stabbed twice wouldn’t have been this disgusting. This bastard!

”A fake acting so arrogant... Die!”

The arrogant man’s mind was still sharp. His recent experience had made him acutely aware that he was no match in a battle of words, so he opted for a direct, violent resolution.

Regardless, the numerical advantage is mine.

Amidst his declaration of death, his two arms bizarrely elongated, piercing through the air like whips.

Simultaneously, several streaks of bloody light shot out, arriving first despite being launched later, and directly tore through Fu Qian’s afterimage.

This looks seemingly familiar!

Having easily dodged the attack using Blood Crusade, Fu Qian watched thoughtfully.

He had seen it clearly just now—those were bloody fingernails.

Back in Dunis, a certain Origin Council member he had conveniently dealt with seemed to have used the exact same move. If he remembered correctly, the man’s name was Marco?