Eldritch Horror Theatre

”The kind of thing from outside?”

The wooden door was mottled and decayed, and the stone walls cast a deep, gloomy glow. Coupled with the white bone studded with spikes, the scene was undeniably terrifying.

For Lisa, however, the immediate sensation was relief that the stillness of this silent place had finally been broken. She looked at Fu Qian, softly asking for confirmation.

”Yes. The reports from Linghui weren’t nonsense after all. These things really do wander in.”

Fu Qian didn’t mince words, casually offering his assessment.

”Should we strike first and kill it, then?”

”Based on our past experiences, they’re invariably highly aggressive. Even if we wanted to coexist peacefully, it might not agree.”

Free from any lingering worries, Professor Lisa’s demeanor grew far more uninhibited, leaving her looking eager for action.

”That makes sense, but is it possible it hasn’t actually noticed us and is just coincidentally crawling out?”

Fu Qian nodded, but he didn’t move.’Huh?’

Fu Qian’s perspective was clearly unexpected, but Lisa dutifully observed the creature again.

As they spoke, she watched its dense cluster of slender limbs flutter in the air, dragging the rest of its body out bit by bit like a floating phantom.

It really was one of the things from outside.

This movement reaffirmed her judgment.

Attached behind those slender limbs was a long, strip-like body formed by what looked like embracing ribs.

Through the tiny gaps between the ribs, a faint jade-green glow was clearly visible inside.

Just like the ones outside, it was a combination of spirit and bone.

Its physical structure also vaguely corroborated Fu Qian’s assessment—it conspicuously lacked a head or eyes.

Having almost completely wriggled out into the open, its body looked like a decapitated White Bone Centipede.

After exiting the door, it paid no attention to their side at all, instead floating off in another direction.

However, Lisa’s surprise wasn’t directed at the creature. Since when had Demigod Fu become so peaceful?

Refraining from striking unless attacked first... it was hard to imagine he would actually adhere to such a principle.

Retracting her gaze, she voiced her doubt without hesitation.

”What do you think it’s doing?”

Fu Qian merely offered this casual counter-question, already stepping forward as he spoke.

...

”It’s looking for corpses, too? Do you think following it might help us find them faster? But what does it want with them?”

Quickly catching up to ensure she stayed under his protection, Professor Lisa’s comprehension suddenly flared as she murmured her questions.

”I don’t know, but this doesn’t look like ordinary wandering.”

Fu Qian motioned with his chin. The creature’s body had already vanished behind another door.

”Also, doesn’t this explain why corpses are so hard to find despite there being so many empty rooms?”

Indeed...

His attitude was exceptionally easygoing, perfectly adopting a conversational tone.

Even without hard evidence, it still made one instinctively sense the logic in his words.

”But is it possible that after determining how dangerous we are, it’s deliberately putting on an act to confuse us?”

Of course, this didn’t stop Lisa from raising another theory of her own.

”Missing out on a batch of materials doesn’t matter, but constantly following it in that situation might end up wasting our time.”

”If that’s really the case, I’d argue it makes following it even more worthwhile.”

Fu Qian, however, signaled that there was no need for overconcern.

”For a construct possessing that level of sentience, I’m much more inclined to see what it’s doing down here.”

...

Without much struggle, Lisa thought it over briefly and allowed herself to be convinced, agreeing with Fu Qian’s strategy.

In theory, of course, he didn’t need to convince her at all.

At this Depth, she would find it impossible to take a single step without his protection.

”Do you think dead souls really lived here once?”

By now, the two of them had arrived outside the door where the White Bone Centipede first appeared.

Peering inside through the gap, they could see a bizarrely styled layout that genuinely resembled an everyday residence.

Unsurprisingly, there were neither people nor corpses inside, prompting Professor Lisa to ask with a sudden, emotional sigh.

”It truly is hard to imagine that this place once operated as complexly as the world we live in.”

Sweeping his gaze over the area, Fu Qian shook his head.

”However, if an afterlife really exists, I actually find this format a bit cuter than the legendary judgments of sin—does Professor Lisa have some thoughts on the matter?”

Halfway through his sentence, Fu Qian cast a glance at her. Sure enough, she wore a strange expression, looking very much like she had misunderstood his reasons for disliking the judgment of sin.

”Relax, this has nothing to do with personal worries. Someone like me would skip the judgment process entirely.”

Without waiting for her to explain, Fu Qian let out the sigh of the misunderstood.

”Understood—wait a second, something feels a little off.”

Seeing him mock himself so naturally, Lisa could only marvel for a moment before suddenly becoming alert.

The White Bone Centipede had crawled out of the second room very quickly to continue its wandering, appearing to have found nothing.

However, as she prepared to follow it according to their original plan, she noticed an anomaly. The skin on her hands was rapidly losing its color.

”That feeling of Death invading seems to have returned. It’s still faint, but—”

She turned to look at Fu Qian.

”Did you drop the protection?”

”No.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

”Then how could it... or is this withering power too strong to be completely blocked now?”

Brows locked tight, Lisa vigilantly scanned their surroundings and quickly spotted something.

”Could it be this?”

She gestured toward a stone pillar not far away.

The stone pillar wasn’t particularly large, nor were there any special marks on its surface. However, crouched atop it was a statue with a human face and a beast’s body. The carvings of both its facial features and the wings on its back were exceedingly crude.

”Yes.”

Fu Qian’s response was equally concise.

”A Gargoyle? But no matter how I look at it, it just seems like an ordinary statue.”

For a moment, Lisa felt a flash of doubt in her own judgment.

”It is indeed a statue, but not an ordinary one.”

Fu Qian adopted the posture of an off-site instructor, reminding her to be careful.

”From the moment we stepped within a certain range just now, it has been directionally siphoning life force in a specific way.”

”So that’s how it is... Should we figure out a way to destroy it, then?”

Holding absolutely no doubts about Fu Qian’s judgment, Lisa instantly focused all her attention on the object and quickly stepped closer.

”You can try, but be careful. Despite absorbing life force, this thing hasn’t shown the slightest sign of coming to life.”

Fu Qian gave a noncommittal reply.

”Isn’t that a good thing?”

Lisa was momentarily confused.

”I just feel it couldn’t have absorbed all that for nothing. If it isn’t coming alive, it has to have some way to release it.”

Fu Qian, however, continued to uphold the principle of moving his mouth without moving his hands. He wore a look of miraculous foresight, falling short only of stroking a non-existent beard on his chin.

And reality did not let him down. Almost the instant his voice faded, a ball of eerie green flame shot out from the statue’s mouth, rocketing straight for Lisa’s face.