Eldritch Horror Theatre

The Realm of the Fallen Gods.

If his guess held true, then each bubble represented a grave.

To keep from wasting the Red Moon’s help, it seemed he’d still have to do a little grave-dancing here.

The moment his finger touched the bubble, Fu Qian felt himself restored from that abstract, two-dimensional state.

What appeared before his eyes was not the wilderness he had just left, but a genuine building—a Corridor with a rather unique design.

It lacked windows or lights, yet it was unexpectedly bright.

With his vastly improved discernment, Fu Qian could tell that despite its ordinary appearance, the structure formed an almost perfect circle.

He had clearly arrived directly inside a bizarre building, just like that time he’d followed in Senior Liliana’s footsteps.

The problem, however, was that based on his earlier deductions, even if it looked like a building, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was Deity Remains.

At the same time, there was one very obvious change: inside, his perception was suppressed far more intensely than in Liliana’s Hideout.And the most striking point—the tide had stopped.

That was right. The invisible tide that scraped flesh and corroded bone had vanished without a trace the moment he entered.

Was it because he was indoors, shielded from the wind?

Such classical physics clearly didn’t apply in a place like this.

The tides he’d encountered in the past had always treated inside and outside equally.

Whether it was the interior of the hideout earlier or the flesh beneath his own Armor, both proved this point.

Beyond that, he could faintly sense that the moment he entered, something distinct began influencing him.

Should he return to the city for now? He’d already locked onto the location to some extent. In theory, he could just ask the Red Moon to open a door directly here next time.

Fu Qian turned to glance at the wall behind him and found that with his arrival, a circular door had silently opened on it, revealing a blurry, illusory scene.

It was the Red Moon’s handiwork, leading to the Lands Between.

Moreover, it hadn’t exactly forced a passage open for him. The moment he entered, Fu Qian had confirmed that, just like when he entered the Blood Lake, the threshold connecting back to the outside world was right here.

Although the entry points to these places were random, they still largely adhered to the principle of leaving from where you entered.

So the question remained: why would the obviously depleted Red Moon spend extra effort doing this?

To help mark the spot in case he forgot, or—

”Danger. Leave quickly.”

The moment the question arose, a thought was stamped directly into his mind.

...

It was the Red Moon.

Having dealt with it many times, Fu Qian was quite certain of this.

And it seemed he had found the reason for its extra effort. The Red Moon was doing its best to warn him to retreat using this method.

Though it didn’t say why.

Fu Qian naturally recalled that peculiar sense of discomfort.

Was it because of this?

Was this place really that dangerous?

After all, last time in the Blood Lake, he’d nearly soaked into a rotting corpse, and the Red Moon hadn’t said a single word.

Or could it be that a Deity even more powerful than the one in the Blood Lake lay inside here?

Or was it because he had brought his identification?

As he pondered, Fu Qian looked down at the Umbilical Cord in his hand.

Did holding this thing not only draw the special attention of the tide, but also trigger other targeted attacks?

He couldn’t rule it out, nor could he be certain.

Fu Qian didn’t try to toss the Umbilical Cord away, either.

There was a reason he’d chosen this bubble.

The tide earlier had brought with it more than one unique aura.

And the reason it was unique—aside from the Blood Lake he had previously visited—was a faint connection it formed with the Umbilical Cord in his hand.

Considering the Umbilical Cord seemed to be a mixture of various ancient higher powers, Fu Qian had locked onto this place in an instant.

Although his original plan hadn’t necessarily required finding any specific Deity Remains, if this place was truly related to the Gods of Akons, he might reap unexpected rewards.

Who would have thought the first reward would be a warning from ”Mother.”

Estimating the remaining time on his Pseudo-God Incarnation and the status of his Health Bar, Fu Qian advanced instead of retreating, darting deeper into the Corridor.

Sorry, but let me take a peek at the poetic horizon first.

...

You couldn’t tell from the outside that the interior would be such an incredible place.

Sprinting wildly, passing through doors and descending stairs, Fu Qian carved the route into his mind and analyzed the architectural layout before him, silently marveling at its low-key restraint.

Back at the boundary, there had been no shortage of stunning, dazzling bubbles that immediately looked anything but simple.

Yet this one belonged to the most utterly unremarkable category. Without that special connection, it would have been hard to notice at all.

And yet, just from what he was seeing now, the interior was far more magnificent than the senior’s hideout.

It was also much livelier—

Clang!

Amid the crisp ring of clashing metal, Fu Qian slapped his palm against a massive shield almost as tall as he was.

A mountain-like force abruptly knocked his momentum into the negatives.

Retreating rapidly, he narrowly dodged a swinging fist.

Yes, it really was a fist. The attack came from a huge figure fully encased in armor, wielding a massive shield in its right hand.

In its left hand rested a long-handled Heavy Hammer of seemingly the same material, its head shaped like a crude fist.

Now, it had taken a clear combat stance, blocking the path forward.

Simple, yet far from ordinary.

Fu Qian flexed his hand, feeling his Armor slowly recovering from its deformation, and marveled silently.

This walking iron can looked bulky, but its speed was nothing to scoff at.

It had originally been standing sideways. Because Fu Qian’s speed had been a bit too fast for its left-hand weapon to reach, it had forcefully intercepted him with just the shield.

And why hadn’t he struck first?

The reason was simple. Along the way here, there had been more than one of these things standing around, completely unresponsive to his actions, acting like mere decorations.

At the same time, because his perception was suppressed, he couldn’t confirm what was inside the armor. Who would have thought this one would actually move?

Moreover, even though he couldn’t feel any transcendent aura from it, its sheer physical force was staggering.

Although the Armor the Red Moon gave him was mainly to prevent him from exposing himself, it had been forcefully beaten out of shape—yet the shield didn’t even have a dent on it.

As for why he called it simple?

Though it shared the same metal-can style as him, and its design looked heavy and imposing, it fell far short in terms of refinement. There were hardly any meaningless decorations on it.

The shield in its hand was so plain that it gave off the feeling of a Wordless Stele.

At the same time, he was quite interested in adding some decorations to it.

Fu Qian didn’t try to bypass it anymore. Instead, the damaged gauntlet on his hand rapidly vanished, revealing the fist underneath.