Eldritch Horror Theatre

As the weapon was returned to its owner, the task completion notification chimed in his ear.

By now, the Longsword had taken on a classic ice-crackle pattern. It was completely beyond salvage.

Its only remaining use would be as a wall decoration.

While Ji Liushuang stared at it blankly, the scenery shifted before Fu Qian’s eyes. The next moment, he appeared in the Warehouse.

The ghastly cuts covering his body vanished instantly, and the freezing gaze was severed along with them. The task summary sounded.

[Task Evaluation: apostle of the Mad God]

[In response to the Tombkeeper Clan’s request, the investigation team from the Academy achieved complete success, and the extermination crisis plaguing the Kamakura Family was smoothly resolved.

After a long passage of time, the Kamakura Clan’s career as tombkeepers has come to an end. Even at the very last moment, they never understood why they had been abandoned.

Just as they never understood why a certain mysterious expert of the Demigod Realm was willing to help them.

The investigation team from the Academy stayed for a few brief days, choosing to leave only after confirming the curse hadn’t relapsed.Having lost the Severing Divine Seal, the Kamakura Family wisely abandoned this ancient residence.

The Ruins they had guarded for so many years immediately became a place anyone could set foot in.

However, the Night Watchers, arriving after receiving their report, immediately locked down the lower levels of the Ruins and barred anyone from entering.

In the time that followed, some members of the Kamakura Clan who had traveled far from home tried to quietly call upon the Nameless Divine Entity, but unfortunately, they never received another response.

The sublime gaze has been confined by special means and will no longer easily grant its blessing.]

[Kills: None]

[Rewards: SAN Value +20, Mark of Old Days]

[Current SAN Value: 164, current inspiration: 99]

[Play event recap?]

So the Kamakura Family has become completely ordinary? Isn’t the effect of this Decree of Return a little too good!

Fu Qian marveled inwardly as he listened to the task summary.

Also, this task evaluation is rather interesting. Does ”apostle of the Mad God” refer to the moment I successfully established contact?

The Mad God is undoubtedly the Nameless Divine Entity on the other end. Does this title mean the Nameless Divine Entity had actually gone mad a long time ago?

That would explain why there was such a bizarre statue, as well as that unique pool.

As he pondered, Fu Qian located his reward.

[Name: Mark of Old Days]

[Description: The conceptual manifestation of a ”wound,” backed by the power of the Deity Tier. Although only a remnant of its past glory remains, even lifeless stone will sprout scars under its gaze.

Upon activation, gain the gaze of the Mad God. Yourself and all surrounding entities will be simultaneously marked with wounds.]

[Note: Only madness remains within the corpse of the old god. Worse yet, her authority still lingers.]

This... is karma!

After reading the reward description, Fu Qian looked up and let out a long sigh.

No matter how I look at it, this was an effect I worked so hard to achieve by establishing contact, and the Warehouse just shamelessly tossed it to me as a reward?

I just used an employee’s money to give them a bonus, and now I’m being treated the exact same way?

And this is a straight-up self-harm skill. Its only saving grace is that its Rank is absurdly high!

Complaints aside, Fu Qian quickly began to seriously evaluate it.

First, the skill description made it clear that the damaging power stemmed from a Deity Level authority, and it indiscriminately swept through everything.

He figured that even a Divine Emissary would find it hard to be immune to it.

Naturally, the drawback was also obvious: it didn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

Fortunately, I’m an expert in flesh and blood power, so my resistance in this area should be relatively high. Taking it out to trade blows in a critical moment is definitely a viable option.

Also, the skill’s note seemed to carry a deeper implication.

Old god, corpse, lingering authority—that was a massive amount of information.

Combined with my earlier guesses, could it mean that the Nameless Divine Entity is indeed dead, but the corresponding Divine Station remains, with only a maddened corpse seated upon it?

And this led to the Kamakura Family’s rituals still receiving a response, except the effects were uncontrollable.

Moreover, that was in the past. According to the task summary, the current Kamakura clansmen can no longer gain its gaze through the same methods.

As for the reason, judging by the explanation, it was likely because the Nameless Divine Entity suffered certain restrictions after he completed the task.

This authority could now likely only be manifested through his skill.

Has this evolved from ruining someone’s future to stealing their fortuitous encounters?

The path of cultivation is truly fraught with hardships!

Clicking his tongue in wonder, Fu Qian activated the skill.

Almost instantly, the familiar pain reappeared.

Straight to maximum firepower?

Fu Qian looked down at his body and found that the cuts were multiplying at a frantic pace. As they warred against his own flesh and blood power, they repeatedly opened and closed like fish mouths.

Honestly, the visual effect alone is shocking enough. If I actually use this in a fight, it might inflict psychological trauma on top of the physical damage.

I also wonder what would happen if I activated this in front of the Red Moon.

That would be the equivalent of receiving the gaze of two Deities simultaneously. I wonder if they would fight each other.

The Nameless Divine Entity is certainly crazy, but the Red Moon’s state is clearly abnormal as well.

Alright, testing time is over. Time to get down to business.

After experiencing it for ten seconds, Fu Qian deactivated his new skill.

Given the exploding eyeball incident last time, a lot of the things on the table had been lost, making it quite easy to sort through what remained.

Considering his current situation, Fu Qian naturally didn’t hold back. He picked out everything convenient to carry, then put on the Emissary Mask.

...

The weather remained clear and sunny.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Fu Qian confirmed that he had successfully returned to the mansion, and at the exact time he had left.

He glanced in the mirror. In that short amount of time, the wounds caused by his experiment had already completely healed.

Nodding in satisfaction, Fu Qian opened the door and walked straight back to the living room.

Inside, Su Gao was dutifully drinking her tea, strictly following Fu Qian’s instructions.

”Mister Dancy.”

Seeing Fu Qian return so quickly, Su Gao greeted him softly without asking any unnecessary questions.

”Here, this is for you.”

Fu Qian was equally straightforward. Plonking himself down, he tossed an item over.

”This is...”

Su Gao looked at the black notebook in front of her.

Although she had never seen it before, she could clearly sense that it was anything but ordinary.

”The Abyss Notes.”

Fu Qian gave a brief explanation of its effects.

”Of course, the side effect is that it will also remember you, so you need to think carefully before opening it. For example, a certain unnamed Night Watchers chief of the Shangjing Region absolutely refused to open it no matter what.”

”It’s fine. Thank you.”

After pondering for barely a second, Su Gao smiled and shook her head.

She understood how precious the item was, so she didn’t feign excessive modesty or ask where Fu Qian had obtained it.

You’re welcome. After all, theoretically speaking, a certain transcendent item of yours called the Hidden Thread was also destroyed by my hands.

Fu Qian remarked to himself in response to Su Gao’s gratitude.