Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1279: Chapter 1277: Loss of Image (21)

Indeed, learning never has an end.

Orintel’s shocking statement successfully piqued Fu Qian’s interest.

Don’t forget, the mission’s objective this time is to complete the purification before sunrise.

From the start until now, Fu Qian had been pondering the significance of this particular timing.

Now it seemed a faint clue had emerged—by that time, would the “Blasphemous Blood” in Jane’s body be exposed?

Because those ruthless Hunters from the Sect would have especially sharp noses after sunrise?

Of course, this heightened sense of smell might merely be a metaphor. In any case, the Hunters had special methods to achieve higher sensitivity to unclean things?

This was undoubtedly somewhat unexpected.

Given his previous experiences, Fu Qian had assumed they embodied the Sect’s ultimate style—active at night, limp by day, hanging in caves to rest, and so on.

Yet, it turned out they planned their approach in the day and acted at night.

Such commitment—this must be the power of faith?

“It’s not her fault…”

Sadly, Orintel’s logical and well-reasoned remarks did not seem particularly convincing to Mr. Winslow.

Looking sorrowfully at his prostrate daughter, Orintel’s so-called rational choices elicited nothing but a dazed shake of the head from Mr. Winslow.

“She’s a kind child; she shouldn’t have to endure any kind of harm…”

“I understand… but she was unlucky.”

This sentence brought a brief silence from Orintel.

“Most of the suffering in this world is never punishment for wrongdoing; it’s simply because of bad luck—”

“Dr. Orintel, I might need to remind you, the patient hasn’t even come down from above yet.”

Unfortunately, this somber and oppressive atmosphere was broken by a single line from Fu Qian.

“Are you certain your diagnosis is correct?”

“As certain as I am about needing you to come with me for a walk later.”

Fu Qian clearly managed to provoke anger with remarkable efficiency once again.

Orintel’s expression shifted instantly, his tone icy.

“I’ll admit you’re indeed unusual, maintaining such composure under circumstances like this.”

“Precisely, which means that whatever is on Jane hasn’t yet dissipated, even if the severest parts were cleared.”

“That’s not surprising. From our experience dealing with those things, they are never so easy to handle. So, more work is necessary going forward.”

“The entities within the dense fog?”

Faced with Orintel’s explanation, Fu Qian nodded slightly, continuing his provocative statements, racing down the road to ruin.

“If Jane’s condition truly owes to those entities, I must apologize—it’s hard for me not to notice one thing. Just now, you even mistook them for blessings from the Stars Association… Are those entities so distinct in nature?”

“… How could you know?”

Orintel’s bloodlust was no longer metaphorical—it had become palpable.

The Lead Flame Python, which had earlier sunk its fangs into Jane, coiled once again up his arm.

“Now I remember… I’ve seen you before!”

Before Fu Qian could respond, Natalie suddenly shrieked, pointing at Fu Qian’s hand with a trembling finger.

“That day, you were lost too, and I ran into you… No wonder your face looked somewhat familiar… Is that why you know my name? You overheard others calling out to me… Wait—”

Her gaze swept the surroundings as unease spread across her face.

“You must know more than just my name, don’t you…”

Quick on the uptake, I see.

Watching Natalie’s emotionally charged performance, Fu Qian silently praised her in his heart.

The claim about getting lost together was, of course, laughably implausible.

Based on prior experience, the warehouse was likely a fabrication, forcibly implanting a fabricated social connection into him.

As for why Natalie lied, well, that was all too easy to understand.

If Fu Qian answered Orintel’s questions truthfully, it would be significantly disadvantageous for her.

So why not strike preemptively, accusing Fu Qian of possibly being tainted by the fog as well?

Admittedly, this was a rather clever maneuver, perfectly explaining how he knew there were things in the mist while also aligning with two previous pieces of information—

How he knew her name, and how he had known this was the Winslow Mansion all along.

Finally, with a single exclamation, Fu Qian’s supposed motive for coming here as a physician became all the more ambiguous, spurring unrestrained conjecture.

Needless to say, Mrs. Winslow, who had been utterly panicked by her daughter’s severe injury, was now looking at Fu Qian with an expression tinged with terror.

Of course, even such impeccably timed lies couldn’t convince everyone.

At least Mr. Winslow’s gaze, directed at Natalie, had taken on a more profound significance.

But that wasn’t important. Clearly, for Natalie, she only needed Orintel to believe her—and it seemed he did.

“So, you knew Jane had been exposed to the mist, then fell ill later, and today, before her leg became like that, it was you who had been treating her all along…”

Imagination is perhaps humanity’s greatest power; in an instant, Orintel had constructed an entire narrative.

Its motives were so reasonable, its logic so seamless, that he didn’t even bother to verify more details with Natalie.

“You are no ordinary person, only someone highly adept at concealment. What exactly did you do to Jane?”

Coldly eyeing Fu Qian, Orintel had fully assumed a posture of vigilance.

…

This statement wasn’t entirely off the mark either.

“As the attending physician, my duty is, of course, to arrive at the correct diagnosis and refute the erroneous ones—”

Fu Qian’s demeanor was strikingly composed, and Orintel was not slow to listen attentively.

Before Fu Qian could finish speaking, a metallic-colored Fire Snake roared forth.

Accompanying it was a declaration drenched in malice.

“Sometimes, it’s indeed necessary to take a page from the Hunters’ methods…”

Clearly, Orintel seemed immensely confident in his thorough deduction just moments earlier and had resolved to use Fu Qian’s corpse to substantiate it—but unfortunately…

In the field of view, Fu Qian, who was targeted by the Fire Snake, moved in a leisurely manner as if an old man were meandering about a bird-and-flower market.

Yet it was precisely this unhurried pace that allowed him to effortlessly evade the Fire Snake, which bizarrely mirrored his speed.

The deadly move that had so easily pursued Jane now seemed as though mired in tar, its movements sluggish.

After being led on a couple of circles, it dissipated reluctantly in frustration.

“What’s going on?”

Not just Orintel, but the rationality of everyone present seemed to be put to the test.

“As a Doctor, your powers of observation still leave much to be desired.”

Fu Qian let out a long sigh, gesturing around him.

“Aside from my earlier reminder that the patient hasn’t come down yet, there have been several new symptoms you’ve entirely failed to notice.”

“In this room, everything’s physical speed has been restricted to an unusually low level—since Jane lost her ability to walk. And one more thing…”

Fu Qian gestured upwards with his hand.

“We’re even witnessing a slight degree of temporal reversal.”

As his voice trailed off, the scattered ashes on the ceiling, which had been drifting in all directions, began to faintly pulsate and writhe, converging toward Jane’s severed limb, returning to their original positions.

“Those ashes never fell to the ground. Did it never occur to you what that might signify?”