Eldritch Horror Theatre

So this was what the legendary disaster looked like.

Back in the familiar Warehouse, Fu Qian closed his eyes, slowly recalling the scene he had just witnessed.

Just a single glance was enough to continuously drain his SAN Value. That Tree of Flesh and Blood that appeared on the mountain peak likely possessed an incredibly high Rank.

In just that brief moment, his SAN Value had plummeted by over ten points.

The last time he encountered a similar situation was probably with that evil god progeny.

If he hadn’t upgraded to Brawler 2/3, which greatly increased his Mental Resistance, that single hit just now would probably have left him with almost no SAN Value remaining.

Was that tree the entity Ill Omen was sacrificing to?

Recalling the sight of the Huang Family members standing stiffly and staring up at the sky, he found it truly, exceptionally bizarre.

He imagined the rest of West Plain City wouldn’t look much different.

Perhaps some people hadn’t seen it immediately, but just like earlier, those who fell victim couldn’t give any warning, and those who hadn’t been hit yet would naturally want to see what was happening.Ultimately, they would all just line up to lose their minds, leaving behind a city full of walking corpses.

Was this the true form of the disaster? It was certainly much more imaginative than a volcanic eruption!

And much more terrifying!

In that case, was Ill Omen constantly murdering and sacrificing people to cause this thing’s Descent?

No, not necessarily a Descent.

During the incident with the evil god progeny, causing such a massive impact still required a host mother just to fight for a chance to be born.

For an entity that seemed far more terrifying, how could killing a few transcendents be enough to bring about its Descent?

Perhaps it was already there to begin with, only unable to be perceived, touched, or communicated with.

And what Ill Omen was doing wasn’t bringing about its Descent, but allowing it to be seen!

Through continuous brutal murders and sacrifices, Ill Omen had gathered enough power after killing Huang Jianyuan and his group to erase some kind of boundary, allowing that tree to appear before everyone.

”A dangerous Ill Omen is lurking, and Calamity gathers in its wake.”

Was this the true meaning of lurking?

Regardless, dropping over ten points of SAN Value in an instant made this trip a heavy loss.

However, it wasn’t completely without gain. He had at least obtained a name.

Huang Yuanchang.

Fu Qian recalled the roster he had seen earlier; this name was on it.

If he remembered correctly, this man was also a transcendent of the Huang Family, but his aptitude was average. Unable to practice the family’s inherited Human Sovereign Qi, he couldn’t be considered a core member of the family.

Based on the current situation, he was a massive suspect.

The time limit for this mission was far more urgent than he had imagined, leaving no time to eliminate every possibility one by one. Next time, he would target the man directly and kill him first.

As long as he didn’t look up at the sky, he still had plenty of opportunities for trial and error.

On that note, Fu Qian still harbored a lingering doubt.

The difficulty of this type of mission lay solely in finding the target. Once locked on, the rest was just a matter of beating them to death.

Even without using his brain, as long as he repeated the scenario a few times, he could easily lock onto the target through the process of elimination.

Theoretically, this remained the simplest type of mission.

But why did the description contain such desperate words like ”regardless of whether there’s a way”?

Could Ill Omen be so strong that he was completely unkillable?

Impossible!

If he were truly an invincible existence, he could just go on a massacre. Why would he let himself be chased everywhere by the Night Watchers, constantly forced into hiding?

Still filled with doubts, Fu Qian touched the Mist Door once again.

[Consumed 1 SAN Value point to attempt Containment again. Current SAN Value: 41]

[...1%...3%...7%...15%...31%...63%...100%, Containment Scenario loading complete]

”Sir, your meal.”

A familiar voice rang in his ears. Fu Qian opened his eyes, and the restaurant where the bloody murder had taken place appeared before him once more.

Taking a deep breath of the food’s aroma, Fu Qian did exactly as he had last time: he picked up the working meal from his plate and took a bite to soothe his wounded soul.

While enjoying the food, he looked toward the location of the crime scene from memory.

In the corner of the restaurant, a young woman in a black dress with a slender neck was sitting upright, showing only her back to him. The seat opposite her was empty.

It was exactly as he had seen last time.

But the next moment, as if growing impatient from the wait, the figure picked up the glass from the table and took a sip.

Hmm?

Hmm!

She wasn’t dead?

Fu Qian’s eyes sharpened.

Compared to his previous attempt, his actions hadn’t changed at all, yet someone who was supposed to be dead was now alive!

This worldline wasn’t right. It was his first time encountering a situation like this.

Fu Qian tried looking outside the restaurant and quickly spotted Lu Jun and his partner passing by.

However, the two had no intention of coming in; they hurried past and continued far down the street.

Last time, they must have entered because they noticed the anomaly inside the restaurant. But this time, because Geng Yue hadn’t died, they didn’t come in.

What was the reason?

Fu Qian’s mind began to race.

Compared to last time, his behavior had been completely identical. Theoretically, it shouldn’t have caused any impact on the original flow of events.

Furthermore, based on his previous experience, this woman should have died before he even regained his senses. Otherwise, at such a close distance, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed the murder taking place.

But this time she was indeed alive. Something must have caused this.

Wait a minute, experience!

A flash of insight struck Fu Qian.

If there was any difference between his current self and the last time, it was that he had learned a few names during the previous attempt.

Like Huang Yuanchang, and Lu Xing.

Because he knew Ill Omen’s name, this woman didn’t die?

Su Gao had once mentioned that Ill Omen possessed a beast-like intuition for danger, relying on it to repeatedly escape the Night Watchers.

If these changes were caused by that, then Ill Omen’s innate talent was probably far more than simple intuition.

This mission was getting more and more interesting!

Fu Qian pondered for a moment, then stood up and walked straight toward the woman in the corner, pulling out the chair opposite her and sitting down.

”I’m sorry, I’m waiting for someone...”

Clearly in a bad mood, Geng Yue was just about to impatiently drive him away when she suddenly realized that the wine glass in her hand had somehow ended up in the hands of the man hitting on her.

”Drinking before a meal is bad for your health.”

Fu Qian casually glanced into the glass.

”Miss, you’re waiting for someone?”

This guy isn’t an ordinary person!

Geng Yue’s eyes lit up. Three seconds later, she sighed, shaking her head as if on the verge of tears.

”Yes, but unfortunately, I’m afraid that person won’t be able to make it.”

”That’s incredibly rude of him!”

Fu Qian nodded, looking her up and down without missing a single detail.

Feeling his burning gaze, Geng Yue rejoiced inwardly. She quickly adjusted her mood, trying her utmost to display her most elegant posture.

After letting Fu Qian observe her like this for a moment, Geng Yue felt quite proud. The corners of her mouth curled up, and just as she was about to speak, she saw the wine glass being pushed back toward her.

”Then you should drink some more.”

...?

Geng Yue’s mind grew hazy for a moment. Before she could even process what had happened, Fu Qian was already walking away.

As expected, there’s something special on her neck.

Stepping outside the door, Fu Qian recalled the sight he had just seen.

On Geng Yue’s delicate, slender neck, there was a faint, nearly imperceptible fluctuation of power.

The source was a ring of transparent patterns just beneath her necklace. The difference between it and her skin was minimal; without looking closely, it was completely invisible.

The pattern completely encircled her neck, and its texture bore some resemblance to what he had discovered in Lu Xing’s small Workshop earlier.

There was a 99.9% chance that her husband, Lu Xing, had secretly drawn this on her neck.

And this thing, imbued with Talisman power, would activate at a specific time, cleanly slicing her head off her neck.