Eldritch Horror Theatre

It really was in here?

Nothing could be more obvious—this had to be the missing pupa.

It might not even be his own.

After all, according to the description of the Seed of Writhing, the thing was supposed to go through a ”relatively long” incubation period.

Yet not even two minutes had passed since he planted it—just as he thought.

Fu Qian quickly lifted the lid of the chalice beside it and looked at another pupa inside, shaped like an olive and roughly the same size as one.

So the bigger one belonged to Serana? Truly worthy of the Blood Clan—she even fed her parasites until they were plump, pale, and tender.

Clicking his tongue in admiration, Fu Qian was in no hurry to exterminate the pests. Instead, he opened the last communion chalice as well.

Unsurprisingly, it was empty. Only the traces of corrosion on himself and Serana were in this place; the Red Moon was still hiding very well.

Still, it didn’t matter. This was already another gain, a further theoretical breakthrough.That the buffet offered such a narrow selection did not dampen Fu Qian’s mood in the slightest. Just then, he even set the lid in his hand right back on.

This wasn’t luck; it was a triumph of theory. If this life-corroding power hadn’t been purified, why had it vanished from his body?

That seemingly unanswerable question from earlier was what had guided Fu Qian here.

As for how he answered it, that was actually simple—besides purification, didn’t places of faith like this also perform sacrifices?

Although modern religions didn’t go in for anything too bloody, the concept was clearly still present, and communion was its classic expression.

Yes, he had just pointed out that the entire dream was becoming conceptualized, and had even used that principle to guide Serana.

Now that it involved his own situation, how could he forget that guiding principle?

While pondering where the Seed of Writhing could have gone, Fu Qian had likewise tried matching every possible element to the concept, quickly locking onto ”communion.”

As a power that corroded life, wasn’t it theoretically partaking in communion all along?

As the facts proved, this leap of association—wild enough to rival a mental patient’s train of thought—had actually been validated.

”How could this be?”

Unfortunately, no matter how smooth a train of thought was, it wasn’t easy for someone who hadn’t come up with it to keep pace.

As Fu Qian observed the two chalices without moving to dig in, Serana finally couldn’t contain her shock. ...

Even she didn’t know this thing was here? Surely her perception wasn’t at zero too?

Though it was just an emotional outburst, Fu Qian still found it valuable.

Serana’s shock at the contents of the chalice practically proved she hadn’t known what was inside either.

She was the host of such a large pupa, after all. Shouldn’t she have a stronger sense of something fed by her own flesh and blood?

Not to mention that the thing still looked as if it were being fed right now.

Indeed, in the brief time since he lifted the lids, both pupae had grown visibly, as though they were still being nourished inside living flesh.

”Does it feel familiar at all?”

Not wanting to leave the Blood Clan Demigod out, Fu Qian raised his eyes and asked in return.

”No.”

The way he phrased the question left Serana dazed. Gazing from afar at that form bursting with vital tension, she made it clear she really couldn’t bring herself to warm up to it.

Even staring right at it, she felt no blood-is-thicker-than-water connection? He wasn’t asking out of malice just to scare her, of course; Serana’s answer left Fu Qian thoughtful once again.

Despite maintaining a bond of flesh-and-blood nourishment, a full-fledged demigod lacked any perception of it on the Transcendent Tier...

It couldn’t even be blamed on the chalice’s isolating effect anymore, since he had taken the lids completely off...

”Don’t rush.”

Mid-thought, Fu Qian noticed the churning ”red” in his field of vision again and offered a casual reminder.

After being briefly frightened back earlier, it actually looked like it was starting to climb up his body again now that he was delving deeper.

Fortunately, it still listened to reason, and the red slowed its pace once more.

”What do you mean, don’t rush? Didn’t you just say this place would be polluted by you before long?”

Unfortunately, his remark also caused a misunderstanding. Serana, who had been waiting for his commentary the whole time, asked in confusion.

”Right, so from my standpoint, shouldn’t I be telling you not to rush?”

Fu Qian quite appreciated that little bit of logical thinking and played along at once.

... ”The way you talk reminds me of someone.”

Serana really was in a hurry; the fact that only this single version of her had been paying attention over here from start to finish was proof enough.

That also made it even harder for her to handle Professor Fu’s logic. After a stretch of silence, she still had no answer for him.

And when she finally spoke, both her tone and the look she gave him had turned noticeably strange.

Interesting... Even under these circumstances, she still couldn’t recognize him?

Fu Qian naturally knew who she was thinking of.

Though they hadn’t known each other long, this Blood Clan Demigod had been burned by him plenty of times. Since he wasn’t deliberately holding back right now, it could not have been more normal for her to find him familiar.

Yet even so, she still couldn’t recognize that the person right in front of her was the culprit himself?

He was even wearing the Bookstore Owner’s face, without a single alteration.

With a performance like that, she could practically become sworn sisters with the face-blind girl in Demon Mountain.

Herbert’s curse was terrifying to this degree!

The person of her ”longing” had clearly answered the call and come, yet could never be recognized—it was practically like being hit by a law of causality.

”Actually, I am the person you’re looking for.”

Marveling at the First Apostle’s miraculous handiwork, Fu Qian nodded and actually decided to challenge the law of causality.

...

The dream was trembling.

Fu Qian didn’t need Transcendent Perception to confirm that.

His earlier concern had been spot on. Revealing his identity under the current circumstances was quite dangerous.

The ”Night Demon” power that had allowed him to trace her longing all the way here also carried a law-like restriction, causing intense confusion for Serana, who should have been able to recognize an old acquaintance with ease.

It was like encountering too huge a logical contradiction while dreaming—breaking straight through the upper limit of self-deception and challenging the stability of the entire dream.

All of these were completely predictable changes; the key lay in the specific way the dream was destabilizing.

Unlike before, when ripples would spread and threaten to shatter the dream into countless fragments if left unchecked, the entire dream was actually ”dissociating.”

That was right—like a complete object breaking down according to some special rule. For instance, the once-ubiquitous blood-red hue was peeling away from the surface of everything.

What showed beneath were outlines stripped of the very concept of color.

Yes, the concept of color itself was separating out, as if that sprawling two-dimensional creature were a single whole and about to ascend at any moment.

So that was it... The entire dream wasn’t just abstract; it was completely pieced together out of distinct concepts?

Was that also why the Seed of Writhing wasn’t inside his body, but had merged with the communion instead?

Because they were one and the same to begin with.

”That’s right, welcome to the Rebirth Club.”

Having reached a preliminary conclusion from his test, Fu Qian tossed out a casual follow-up, not intending to let the dream actually collapse.