Eldritch Horror Theatre

Nothing was greater than freeing the mind. Reverse thinking was essential.

After his previous failures, Fu Qian’s logic this time was incredibly simple: one cannot stay on guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Instead of trying to figure out how to keep Wen Li alive, he would throw her into an absolutely safe place and force her to complete her advancement as quickly as possible.

As the old saying went, give the task to time, rather than giving time to the task.

Wen Li spent a full ten minutes adjusting her emotions. Even though she had stopped crying, she remained clearly resistant.

”I don’t understand.”

Her voice was hoarse.

”You don’t need to understand. You just need to make a choice.”

”Seize every second to complete your advancement, or end up stark naked on the front page of tomorrow’s news.”

”Let me remind you of something else. Even if you die right here, it won’t change how I handle things tomorrow.”Fu Qian reminded the beauty of the cruel reality she was facing.

A beauty who wouldn’t forget to wipe her face even when her life hung in the balance.

He was confident that under this kind of threat, her potential would be limitless.

”Could you at least tell me why you’re doing this?”

Wen Li clearly possessed strong logical reasoning, and she quickly accepted her fate.

Even so, she couldn’t resist voicing her doubts.

Indeed, just why was he doing this?

To save her life? He had certainly saved her more than once already.

But why make such an extreme demand?

Was he some twisted expert who enjoyed toying with human nature?

”You’re probably overthinking it. I simply passed by, noticed your exceptional bone structure, and recognized you as a rare cultivation genius. I decided to enlighten you and grant you a fortuitous encounter.”

...

”Can I refuse this fortuitous encounter?”

”When heaven grants a gift, you do not refuse. It isn’t up to you.”

”But... my abilities are heavily influenced by my emotions. I really don’t have the confidence to advance under these circumstances.”

”Didn’t I already slap that Eldest Young Master Ye to cheer you up?”

”Why would that cheer me up... Ah, how did you know!”

...

In the end, Eldest Miss Wen was forced to accept her fate and gradually quieted down.

She sat up straight, lightly closed her eyes, and adjusted her breathing. In the quiet space, she took on a somewhat ethereal presence.

Dealing with smart people really was easy!

Fu Qian looked at Wen Li sitting with her back to him and felt deeply gratified.

”Uncarved jade cannot be made into a vessel. Seeing how motivated you are, I can rest easy.”

Wen Li’s upright body visibly shivered.

”A friendly reminder: you have twenty-three hours and thirty-five minutes left.”

He watched Wen Li’s shoulders twitch slightly. It seemed she was crying again.

After confirming she wouldn’t slack off in the slightest, Fu Qian nodded in satisfaction, stood his ground, and closed his eyes.

He wasn’t going to sleep. On the contrary, his five senses were wide open, blanketing every corner of the room.

Wen Xiuxian had described this place as an impenetrable fortress, but that was based on his own common sense.

Fu Qian was someone who had witnessed the Lightning Railgun. In his eyes, these iron walls and copper ramparts could only ward off minor trouble.

Like right now, for example.

Fu Qian suddenly opened his eyes and blew a breath of air forward.

The air in front of him distorted almost imperceptibly. A nearly transparent filament was blown aside by his breath.

Silently, a deep gouge appeared on the wall.

Its original target had been his neck.

The next moment, there was another disturbance in the air. Over ten identical filaments lashed toward him from all directions.

This time, Fu Qian didn’t move, allowing them to coil around his body.

The incomparably sharp filaments quickly bound him from head to toe. The next moment, they violently contracted, trying to slice him to pieces.

Feeling the filaments almost cutting into his flesh, Fu Qian took a deep breath.

The next moment, sharp cracks echoed through the room. The filaments binding his entire body snapped inch by inch and scattered into the air.

Found you.

At the same time, Fu Qian leaped high into the air and tore open the ventilation duct above him.

More filaments tried to wrap around his hand, but he grabbed them tightly and gave a violent yank.

”Hmph!”

A figure dropped out of the ventilation duct and glared fiercely at Fu Qian.

Unexpectedly, it was an acquaintance.

He looked at the Poker Face middle-aged woman in front of him.

”Team Leader Tan, you’re growing gray hairs a bit early.”

Fu Qian blew the broken filaments in his hand toward her.

Having lost their power, the filaments were no longer transparent. Instead, they had turned into strands of grayish-white hair.

Looking at a noticeably shorter patch of Tan Mingxue’s hair, it was obvious where the strands had come from—unless her hairstylist had suffered a terrible accident.

The Night Watchers had arrived quite fast.

Thinking back to Mister Ji cosplaying as the Jade Emperor just now, Fu Qian couldn’t help but marvel at their high efficiency in calling for backup.

”Who are you?”

Age truly was a terrifying weapon against women. Initially, Tan Mingxue’s expression had held three parts solemnity and two parts confusion.

But the moment Fu Qian spoke, nothing was left but pure killing intent.

A visible murderous aura wildly spilled from her body.

Fu Qian had no reaction. Judging by his previous experience dealing with her, this woman had a fairly explosive temper.

Given the current situation, it looked exactly like he had kidnapped the Eldest Miss of the Wen Family and injured innocent bystanders. The only possibility for peaceful communication was to surrender without a fight and go with her.

And that was a condition he could not possibly accept.

It was much more productive to enrage the woman, letting her expose a few more flaws in her hot-headed state.

”Team Leader Tan wanted me dead just now, yet you don’t even know who I am?”

Fu Qian blinked.

”There’s a problem with your law enforcement attitude.”

”That is not for you to judge. Answer my question or leave your last words—choose one.”

Tan Mingxue’s eyes were icy. Ultimately, she was an experienced transcendent and hadn’t completely lost her reasoning to anger, which left Fu Qian quite disappointed.

”Ah—”

Fu Qian ignored her and instead gave a long, leisurely stretch.

”Neither.”

”Stubbornly incorrigible!”

Tan Mingxue didn’t speak again. The next moment, her long hair moved without any wind, fanning out in all directions with a sharp swish.

It stood perfectly straight, as if she were touching a static electricity ball.

The ends of her hair extended once again, turning into those transparent filaments that almost entirely enveloped the room.

As the filaments danced, the air was sliced and churned countless times over.

The whole room turned into an invisible meat grinder. A single wrong step would result in death by a thousand cuts.

Since you’re so ruthless, you can’t blame me.

Fu Qian raised both arms horizontally and did a chest-expanding stretch.

He needed to resolve this quickly. Eldest Miss Wen’s attention was clearly drawn by the arrival of reinforcements. Even though she was still sitting there, she was no longer focusing on her advancement, even secretly glancing backward.

He had to help her concentrate as soon as possible.

After all, she was running out of time.