Eldritch Horror Theatre

”What is my name?”

Black T-Shirt was clearly baffled by Fu Qian’s question. He felt it was entirely out of place given their situation.

”Liang Yuntian. Why?”

”Good name.”

Fu Qian offered the casual praise without answering the question.

Fu Qian turned, walked over to the window, and pressed his face against the glass.

In the thick, rolling fog outside, visibility was zero; he couldn’t see a thing at this distance anyway.

From the waves of roars, however, he could faintly make out the voice of their monster friend.

Of course, the voice was gradually distorting now. It sounded as if the vocal cords had been torn apart and shattered under a reckless, devastating strain.

Sister Ox-Head truly was formidable!However, Fu Qian’s attention wasn’t on that, but on the name Black T-Shirt had just given.

Under these circumstances, the probability of him lying about his name was extremely low. But the name Liang Yuntian...

If his earlier inference was correct, it meant that everyone on campus infected by the parasite had gotten it from reading the book currently sitting in his backpack.

Considering the book was now in his hands, anyone other than himself and Liu Yi must have borrowed it previously. They had been implanted with the parasite back then, and it had lain dormant until this Darkest Night arrived to activate it.

That was exactly why Fu Qian cared what Black T-Shirt was called.

The time span covered by the Library Card used as a bookmark inside the book was very long, and Fu Qian had already memorized all the names written on it.

He was absolutely certain that there was no one named Liang Yuntian among them.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible. Liu Yi had been infected simply by glancing at it a few times while he flipped through the pages.

But if that was the case, there absolutely had to be another infected person, one who was most likely very familiar with Liang Yuntian.

So where did that person go? That was an intriguing question.

Fu Qian clearly remembered Liang Yuntian stating that, besides himself, there were no normal people left in the dormitories.

For safety’s sake, Fu Qian hadn’t turned on the overhead light earlier, opting instead to switch on only a single desk lamp in the corner.

Now, by that faint light, Fu Qian turned back around and looked Liang Yuntian up and down.

Overall, the guy still looked relatively normal.

However, across both his face and neck, dense, tangled patches of blue veins were faintly visible.

”Is it? Actually, I think so too.”

As he noticed Fu Qian’s gaze, Liang Yuntian’s expression suddenly became somewhat strange.

The next moment, the corners of his mouth curled up. A hint of a smile surfaced on his face as he unceremoniously boasted in return.

The young man was quite arrogant!

Fu Qian turned a blind eye to this, directly withdrawing his gaze. Acting as if nothing had happened, he held his right hand out under the light of the desk lamp to examine it.

At some unknown point, his entire right hand had been covered by a layer of pitch-black carapace. Fine, hair-like yellow stripes linked together across it to form a dizzying pattern, and his fingernails had grown out an extra length.

Listening to Sister Ox-Head’s roars up close just now had almost severed the connection he had established with this body.

Yet in the process of trying to readjust, he could feel his integration with the body had become even higher than before. The body itself also seemed to be undergoing a mutation.

He just hadn’t expected it to be this extreme.

Fu Qian clenched his fist. He could feel the surge in power as his razor-sharp nails nearly dug into his flesh.

It could be considered an alternative form of destruction precedes creation.

...

Across from him, Liang Yuntian noticed Fu Qian’s actions and followed his gaze.

Upon witnessing this sight, however, his eyes instantly froze and his smile faded away.

”It seems that thing is trapped?”

Having run to the window to listen for a while, Liu Yi had also distinguished the sound of the monster in the fog.

Confirming that the monster was still out there and hadn’t caught up, she spoke with a burst of excitement.

Because all her attention was focused outside, she hadn’t noticed the strange atmosphere in the room. She was merely somewhat puzzled by the two men’s conversation.

At such a tense moment, these two grown men were actually discussing whether a name was good or not?

It was truly a thought process she couldn’t understand.

”Wait a minute, it seems something’s changed again...”

Before Fu Qian and Liang Yuntian could reply, Liu Yi’s expression turned serious again.

”It does seem like it.”

Standing nearby, Fu Qian could naturally hear it too.

The monster’s roars were slowly coming to a stop.

This situation was rather difficult to judge. Thinking optimistically, it was possible the guy was already done for and couldn’t even manage a scream anymore.

At the same time, it was also possible that he had broken free of his restraints.

”What should we do? Has it escaped? Will it track us here?”

Liu Yi couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

”I’ll go take a look.”

Unexpectedly, Liang Yuntian suddenly spoke up from the side.

”No, that’s too dangerous!”

Never imagining that Liang Yuntian would say such a thing, Liu Yi shook her head almost subconsciously.

”Don’t worry, I’ll just take a quick look from a distance. I won’t let it spot me.”

Liang Yuntian pretended not to see the half-smile playing on Fu Qian’s face and continued speaking.

”Earlier it was a sneak attack. Now that I’m on guard, it won’t be so easy for it to catch me.”

”If I really do get discovered... I’ll lead it down another path and try my best not to expose this place.”

”Much appreciated.”

After listening to this unflinching declaration, Fu Qian simply nodded and made no other response.

”But—”

Liu Yi still wanted to say something, but Liang Yuntian had already walked to the door.

Pressing his ear against it to listen, he confirmed there was no movement outside before pulling the door open and walking straight out.

...

”It’s still too dangerous!”

Sending Liang Yuntian off with a worried look, Liu Yi took a long time to withdraw her gaze.

”How are you feeling?”

Fu Qian offered no opinion on this. Instead, he suddenly asked the question.

”Me? I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Liu Yi subconsciously shook her head.

”I was a bit uncomfortable just now, and my head was spinning from the roaring, but I feel much better now.”

”Is that so?”

”Yeah. It’s just that I seem to be having a bit of an allergic reaction. I’ve been feeling slightly itchy all over since then. Do you think this fog is toxic?”

Reaching out to scratch her arm, Liu Yi was still trying to explain their current predicament in a way she could understand.

”Perhaps.”

Fu Qian’s eyes fell on the back of her hand.

Coin-sized red spots were currently surfacing on her fair skin.

Noticing Fu Qian’s gaze, Liu Yi somewhat embarrassedly hid her arms behind her back.

The next moment, however, she almost couldn’t stop herself from crying out in alarm.

”Your... your hand?”

After hiding her arms, she subconsciously glanced at Fu Qian and finally noticed his sharp claws, which radiated an aura of pure evil.

”It seems it really is toxic. I’m allergic too.”

Fu Qian spoke as if it were nothing, even placing his hand on the office desk beside him.

Applying pressure with his fingers the next moment, his razor-sharp nails effortlessly carved a groove across the tabletop.

In that instant, Liu Yi felt an overwhelming urge to flee for her life.