Eldritch Horror Theatre

The truth arrived completely without warning.

Until now, Wen Li and her group had advanced cautiously, gritting their teeth to forge a path forward on incredibly limited information and severely stretched time.

It had been a grueling but standard progression, and everyone’s reactions were highly commendable.

Yet right as things reached a fever pitch, they had unexpectedly unearthed a master of spoilers.

Executive Yama Su hadn’t even blinked before delivering the final answer. It was a thoroughly pessimistic one: Professor Lisa was the culprit, but the crisis she had orchestrated was virtually unsolvable.

”Looks like I can save some energy.”

A spoiler guaranteeing tragedy—this kind of blow would undoubtedly be unbearable for an ordinary person.

Fortunately, Eldest Miss Wen possessed the demeanor of a true leader. After remaining expressionless for a mere two seconds, she regained her ability to communicate and even fully dismissed the Mythical Form on her hand.

”I won’t ask for your reasons. Just tell me how to undo it.”

Staring coldly at Professor Lisa, she seemed to already have a plan for her next step.She was clearly still rational. Asking ”why” with a look of grief and indignation right now would be a completely meaningless waste of time.

They had only managed to lock onto this suspect with Su Gao’s help. What made anyone think they had the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood if the other party just casually spewed some nonsense?

Furthermore, this question was obviously the one everyone else cared about the most.

”What a pity. There is no way.”

However, Professor Lisa simply chuckled, unexpectedly confirming Su Gao’s claim outright.

”You heard her just now. I merely induced a few things; the aftermath is completely beyond my control. I am even polluted myself.”

Lisa made a door-pulling motion, as if helping everyone recall the earlier scene.

”Or do you think I was pretending when I couldn’t open that door before?”

...

She had fallen victim to it as well. At least that much was true.

Professor Lisa’s answer was so thoroughly negative that the mood inside the Sanctuary was momentarily infected by it.

But her answer was incredibly difficult to refute. The core point, for instance, remained true: Lisa herself had also been affected.

Otherwise, in such a small space with so many eyes watching, any anomalies would have been discovered long ago.

”If that’s the case, then I’m afraid I must apologize. Even if the probability isn’t that high, I have to try and see if you can remember anything while on the verge of death.”

Dire as the situation was, they still had to press on.

Wen Li merely offered a brief sigh before the Mythical Form reappeared on her hand. She made no attempt to conceal her threat.

”I understand. It’s only natural.”

Lisa seemed rather nonchalant about it, bluntly stating she had already mentally prepared herself to be cut down.

In addition, she clearly didn’t dare underestimate Wen Li’s methods. She subtly prepared to act, quietly loosening the scarf around her neck.

”She cannot die.”

Yet right as tensions reached a breaking point, Su Gao’s voice rang out again, forcefully pressing the pause button on the escalating conflict.

”...Why?”

This time, even Yuan Shan couldn’t quite hold back, unable to understand this sudden display of mercy.

Wen Li, who had always wanted to be the person in charge, was personally applying pressure to try and find a glimmer of hope.

For the rest of the audience, this was obviously something they were happy to see happen.

”Because I won’t let her die.”

Unfortunately, Su Gao’s response remained as concise as ever—offering neither a reason nor any room for negotiation.

...

It was clear that in that moment, the group might very well have felt the urge to swarm her.

No matter how imposing her aura was, she couldn’t just bully them like this, could she?

She refused to explain and wouldn’t let anyone ask questions. Were they just supposed to sit here and suffocate to death?

Thanks to Wen Li’s efforts to hold things together along the way, this loose alliance of shared interests was hovering on the verge of breaking but hadn’t quite shattered, giving her a chance to exert her organizational role.

And Wen Li genuinely seemed to be considering it. The Mythical Form had already spread up her entire arm—clatter!

Right then, a series of light clinking sounds echoed out. The chain on her other arm had been casually tugged by someone.

Cough, cough...

Successfully interrupting at the most delicate juncture, Fu Qian cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention with the least amount of effort possible.

Facts proved that Wen Li gave him enough face; she didn’t restrict him from speaking.

It wasn’t that he intentionally wanted to push things to the limit. The main issue was that his current condition was truly quite poor.

No matter how resilient one’s will was, the frail flesh and blood of an ordinary person still had its limits. Right now, the total strength he could muster across his entire body wasn’t even enough to support him standing up. Naturally, he had to save whatever energy he could.

Besides, it wasn’t as if there was absolutely no good news—hey! Hey, hey!

After clearing his throat, Fu Qian seemed to realize something and gave his voice an extra test.

Sure enough, apart from the voice squeezing out of his own throat, there was an unexpected resonance echoing within the Sanctuary, originating from a small niche higher up above his head.

As for why this was happening—it wasn’t strange at all, okay?

From just now until this moment, while everyone had been engaged in lively debate, Fu Qian’s own body had grown even more vividly bizarre.

Aside from his heart and stomach from before, the most eye-catching part of him was undoubtedly his neck. At a glance, the whole thing had transformed into a structure comparable to gill slits, and touching it felt absolutely superb.

The throat that had been manipulated by Wen Li along the entire journey had seemingly found a resonance within the Sanctuary.

...

This was far more domineering than any chest or head resonance.

The group, their attention drawn to him, clearly couldn’t guess what Fu Qian was thinking in that moment.

”So, does the situation over at the checkpoint have anything to do with you?”

As for discerning anything, that was even more impossible. While relishing the peculiar acoustic effect, Fu Qian maintained a perfectly unfazed expression and immediately cut straight to the point.

The audience didn’t mind being sidelined either, turning their gazes toward the target of his inquiry: Lisa.

He wasn’t wrong; it was indeed a highly important question.

Since they couldn’t use her life as a threat, it seemed they could only take things slowly and methodically.

If they could confirm a thing or two regarding this matter, it could be considered decent progress.

”It seems... you can’t wait?”

Lisa gazed at Fu Qian and didn’t ignore him.

Only, she furrowed her brow slightly, seemingly unable to understand why he was being so proactive.

’Of course, that’s this seat’s mission objective.’

Fu Qian merely said this inwardly.

Lisa’s confusion was, logically speaking, completely justified. She had heard the group’s earlier exchanges and knew he was currently being escorted through the checkpoint toward the Sanctuary.

Under these circumstances, having the checkpoint sealed off and a whole group of people trapped here didn’t seem like a bad thing for him at all. Yet here he was, jumping out to ask for directions?

”Yeah, I’m very interested in that true Sanctuary.”

However, Fu Qian truly proved that her line of thought was too mundane. Completely ignoring his own battered and hole-riddled body, he told the unvarnished truth.

”...Unfortunately, it was already like that by the time I got there.”

It was hard to say whether Professor Lisa believed him or not. After staring at Fu Qian meaningfully for a long while, she let out a soft sigh and gave an apologetic answer.