Eldritch Horror Theatre

So the prerequisite for peaceful coexistence really was tying their fates together?

Sha Ming’s words proved once again that their unspoken agreement just now had a single purpose: to drag him on board.

And his earlier judgment that the rules here were hidden and unpredictable had also been dead on.

Even though Sha Ming had kept it brief, Fu Qian could still hear how they had become trapped by this bond, as well as their struggles against it.

It seemed this bond had appeared without warning. Then, by unspoken agreement, they had quickly repeated their earlier actions to drag everyone else down with them.

Though Fu Qian could roughly guess the likely trigger: the number of people.

If something could be chalked up to a simple factor, there was no need to overcomplicate it.

Compared to that tunneling squad, the sheer size of this group was the most obvious difference.

After they split up and entered the House of Mirrors in the other direction, their headcount had exceeded a certain limit, automatically triggering this team bond. It was a simple, straightforward explanation.

From that perspective, Miranda and her group had actually found a blessing in disguise.If they hadn’t broken off from the main group beforehand, or if their smaller squad had been assigned a few more people, they might have drowned in this ”team spirit” as well.

As for why they had split up with such lopsided numbers?

It seemed strange at first glance, but it was actually very easy to understand—the old man, Huang Leji, had never wanted to divide their strength in the first place.

This arrangement actually revealed his deeper caution regarding the potential risks waiting down here.

The main reason he had sent the double flower red pole, Huang Lezhan, out to lead the other team was likely because of Miranda.

Any outsider could see that the Blood Lion trio hadn’t returned with pure intentions.

Then an incident suddenly occurred, and one of them went missing.

At that point, the rescue team had decisively moved in. Their primary goal, of course, was to prevent the Blood Lion’s group from monopolizing any potential windfalls.

But throughout this process, risk control was also mandatory—which meant managing Sha Ming and Miranda.

If the trio was scheming something—if Huang Zhixun’s disappearance had been deliberately staged, for instance—then these two had to be watched closely.

Furthermore, the stranger the situation became, the more necessary it was to keep them separated.

The main purpose of Huang Lezhan’s small squad was simply to keep Miranda from grouping up with Sha Ming, and he had clearly overdelivered on that task.

As for Sha Ming—who seemed more dangerous and troublesome, and who had even been the one to discover the disappearance in the first place—Old Man Huang had kept him firmly by his own side.

A logical arrangement.

And the results seemed excellent. Fettered by this unexpected chain of shared suffering, Sha Ming would have to carefully weigh the consequences of any petty tricks.

...

Of course, this all fell under the umbrella of optimistic thinking.

But even as these thoughts flashed through his mind, it didn’t delay Fu Qian from taking Sha Ming’s advice to sense the changes in his own state.

Heart blooming with joy.

This was the most fitting description possible.

He could clearly feel the flesh on the left side of his chest slowly peeling back with every beat of his heart.

From the surface down to the core, layer by layer, it tore and bloomed like a flower.

This visual was so classic that Fu Qian’s first thought was of a certain false history where Ill Omen had successfully completed his sacrifice—a scene he had witnessed with his own eyes, where the tree trunk constantly tore and bloomed.

And everyone else was experiencing the exact same thing.

This specific flesh mutation was rippling over through that special connection.

It formed a wound that even he couldn’t resist or rapidly heal.

There was no doubt this was what Sha Ming wanted him to feel, but this was not the most important part.

The crucial point was that this mutation had clearly already existed, yet just a moment ago he hadn’t sensed it on them at all.

This was even more absurd than the Decapitation Aura, which merely did its good deeds without leaving a name.

If the source of this effect was indeed that tree, then it certainly wasn’t as completely docile as the Night Watchers’ intel suggested. It wasn’t just in an unstable state, indiscriminately tossing out garbage everywhere, either. If anything, it seemed to be experiencing a second youth.

”This thing.”

Pointing a thumb back at his own chest, Fu Qian’s gaze finally swept across the group as he asked a casual question, completely unconcerned about whether the others would understand him.

”Who did it appear on first?”

The team bond was one thing; the heart blooming with joy was another.

Even though they had both latched onto him at almost the exact same time, Fu Qian wasn’t going to just assume they were one and the same.

...

”It really is a breeze dealing with smart people!”

Unsurprisingly, Old Man Huang Zhen let out an uninhibited laugh the next moment.

Taking two steps closer, he shockingly ripped his clothes open, exposing his bare chest beneath.

Sure enough, his flesh was blooming layer by layer, like a flawless demonstration of layered carving techniques wrought in flesh and blood.

One could even see the snow-white bone, along with the violently pulsing heart beneath it.

At the moment, Fu Qian’s primary concern was the aesthetic style of this sculpture. He had to admit, the artistic flair was indeed consistent with that tree.

”That’s right. This is my gift to everyone.”

Seeing all eyes focused on him, Old Man Huang Zhen’s smile was even more radiant than the flower on his chest, and he seemed utterly dedicated to spreading this good mood to the rest of the group.

”Don’t worry. I acquired this long before we even came inside, and it has only expanded to this extent so far.”

”Not to mention, I am absolutely certain that the endpoint of continuing like this will absolutely not be Death. Quite the opposite—it will bring us an unimaginable Sublimation...”

”Before this, my only concern was how to share it with everyone. Fortunately, that sudden change just now completely eliminated this worry.”

Sure enough, he was a lucky soul who had obtained this protection before they even entered.

This was likely one of the reasons why someone of his esteemed status had still accompanied the team to brave the dangers, wasn’t it?

Since it was both a terrifying mutation and a catalyst for Sublimation, it was only natural that he hadn’t been able to sit idly by.

Old Man Huang Zhen’s passionate speech had been incredibly enlightening.

But the surprises he brought were not over yet.

”Sir.”

Pulling his clothes back into place, the old man’s expression instantly turned ice-cold the next moment as he looked over.

”I believe what was just said is enough for you to recognize our current situation.”

”No matter who you are or what your purpose is here, everyone is now truly bound together. And given the current situation, we clearly shouldn’t waste any time—tell us everything you know, without holding anything back.”

Oh?

He had to admit, that speech, paired with his white-haired visage, carried quite an imposing aura.

”But logically speaking, this shouldn’t be enough to threaten me, right?”

”After all, if one suffers, all suffer. If I do nothing, it seems you can’t do anything to me, either?”

Unfortunately for him, as a professional, Fu Qian was not only unfazed by the display of authority, he even rapidly pointed out its logical loophole.

”Heh, heh, heh... Is it possible that, even though I said the mutation on our chests wouldn’t kill us, I am actually not afraid of dying at all?”

However, Old Man Huang Zhen appeared to be quite skilled in logic himself, casually replying almost instantly.

As if to prove his point, under everyone’s watchful eyes, he abruptly turned and walked to the side.

There was a protruding high platform nearby. The old man, who previously hadn’t even been willing to sit down and rest, now began to walk up the adjacent ladder step by step.

Accompanying his movements were fresh splashes of blood across his haphazardly readjusted clothes.

And the exact same wounds were synchronously replicated on everyone else’s bodies.