Eldritch Horror Theatre

It truly was a bizarre connection.

Old Man Huang Zhen’s unflinching march toward death was genuinely shocking.

Fu Qian looked down at his own body. Even as a Tier 2 Transcendent, his wounds were not the slightest bit smaller than anyone else’s.

This bond of agony was not just a simple reflection of physical trauma; it directly broadcast a severe chain of cause and effect.

The final result was that, even though Old Man Huang Zhen’s Rank was lower than Huang Leji’s, he posed a very real, tangible threat—to everyone present.

Fu Qian finally looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

He at least had his absurd regenerative abilities. For the rest of the team, the pressure brought on by Huang Zhen’s actions was far more immense.

Yet, just as he had praised them earlier, their tacit coordination in stepping forward in unison to drag everyone else down with them was on full display once more.

The group clutched their respective wounds. In the face of Old Man Huang Zhen’s soul-stirring feat, not a single person voiced an objection.

”Want to test if I’ll stop pacing up and down here before I die?”Old Man Huang Zhen’s voice rang out again.

The platform was not particularly high. He had already reached the top, and new wounds had opened across his body.

Yet without a hint of hesitation, he turned right back around and began to walk down in an unsteady but resolute gait, casually asking for Fu Qian’s opinion.

To his surprise, both Huang Leji and Sha Ming kept their faces perfectly blank and said nothing.

...

Silence speaks louder than words at this moment.

The dead quiet, paired with Old Man Huang Zhen’s staggering footsteps, made the atmosphere increasingly oppressive.

It was as if the fear and malice brewed along this desperate journey had materialized into something solid; their unity of will forms a fortress, vowing to force him into submission.

It was exactly as he had noted earlier: never underestimate the power of the will to live.

”Alright.”

As the focal point of this tension, Fu Qian marveled at the sight, but he did not let the suffocating atmosphere drag on.

Not only did he finally stand up from his seat, but in the next second, he accepted the invitation. A Pale Gold Handbell appeared in his hand, aimed squarely at Old Man Huang Zhen nearby.

That was right. These were the very same sedatives he had used multiple times to cast a Forbidden Curse Technique.

Swish—

Without uttering another word, a Frost Spear howled through the air, aimed directly at Huang Zhen.

His movements were so fluid that the freezing chill, cold enough to freeze flowing blood, arrived at the platform in an instant, leaving almost no time to react.

Yet amidst a crisp shattering sound, Old Man Huang’s figure streaked with a bright yellow glow, narrowly dodging the strike.

”Look out!”

And amid Huang Leji’s alarmed shout, he crashed right into another attack.

Who said a Forbidden Curse Technique could not be chain-cast?

Following just a split second behind, an Air Bullet struck the airborne target with pinpoint accuracy, blowing the old man’s head to pieces.

”Looks like you will stop.”

As the corpse hit the ground, Fu Qian put away his Bell Staff and gave a slight nod to the crowd, delivering the test results.

Unfortunately, once the dumbfounded audience realized what had just happened, they clearly had no desire to share their thoughts on the matter.

The heart-flower blooming wildly on Huang Zhen’s body failed to display its Sublimation aspect in this situation. The old man was as dead as could be.

And even this Death was rapidly propagating outward through their connection.

...

If one suffers, all suffer, yet he wasn’t afraid of death?

Under this special bond, the more reckless a person was, the greater their influence. In principle, Old Man Huang Zhen’s logic was completely sound.

It was just a pity that, on top of picking the wrong target, his self-awareness was severely lacking.

That first strike would have been impossible to dodge if his will to live had been even slightly weaker. Of course, even if he had not dodged it, he wouldn’t have suffered a fatal headshot thanks to where Fu Qian had aimed.

Sadly, Huang Zhen’s supposed fearlessness in the face of death was not nearly as absolute as he made it out to be. He had not even met the lowered standard Fu Qian set for him.

So much so that it looked like Fu Qian would have to inherit this dying wish himself.

”You’re insane!”

As Death spread through their bond, the first to roar in outrage was naturally the person in charge, Huang Leji.

But as he faced the corpse sprawled on the ground, his posture of strategizing within the command tent completely crumbled. Yet, he still made no move against the culprit.

In fact, after that initial roar, he could not make another sound.

Because his entire face was rapidly withering away from the center outward.

The exact same change appeared on everyone’s faces.

Perhaps because the damage was caused by an Air Bullet rather than the rules of this place, their heads did not actually explode in unison. Instead, the fate of a shattered skull spread to them in this manner—in an irresistible, unstoppable fashion.

Even though the bright yellow light of the Human Sovereign Qi constantly flared up, it clearly could not reverse the rapid loss of vitality.

The rescue team, which he had just deemed to be in pretty good shape, had their faces shrivel like tree bark in the blink of an eye. Fu Qian was no exception.

As mentioned earlier, what propagated through the connection was not a direct physical attack, but the concept of Death itself.

It wouldn’t go so far as to actually kill them, but the resulting devastation was far worse than what a single Air Bullet could inflict.

And Fu Qian’s reaction to this was no reaction at all.

He suppressed his own regeneration to avoid sticking out, and simply stood there, showing zero intention of trying to stop it.

Boom!

Just then, an unusual sound finally rang out.

A blazing white Electric Sphere crashed into Huang Zhen’s corpse and detonated violently, successfully sparking a wave of silent wails.

...

”If I don’t do it, someone else surely will”—that truly was a golden rule.

The wails naturally came from the team members. Even though their withered heads prevented them from making any decent sounds, Fu Qian completely understood how they felt.

It was already a desperate situation, yet someone was actually double-tapping the corpse. No matter how you looked at it, that would only make everyone die faster.

Of course, ”everyone” did not include Fu Qian.

Because to him—someone who always trusted professionals—the one making the move was very likely the most professional person on the team: Sha Ming.

The Electric Sphere had flown straight out of his hand. While its power was not overly exaggerated, its accuracy was impeccable; it landed dead center on the blossoming wound on the corpse’s chest.

And as the electricity dissipated from this spot—arguably the most unique part of Old Man Huang Zhen’s corpse—it was neither shattered nor charred. Instead, as if stimulated by the blast, it began to rapidly proliferate in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the corpse completely lost its human shape, transforming into a dense cluster of blooming flowers.

Yet this horrifying transformation ultimately did not propagate through the connection.

Because the moment this change occurred, the chains linked to the corpse melted away in complete silence.

”Good work.”

Sensing that Death was no longer spreading, Fu Qian smiled and nodded at Sha Ming, praising this excessively professional handling of the situation.