Eldritch Horror Theatre

”And then? Those are at least two Divine Emissaries. What kind of divine artifact are you planning to lend me to take them out?”

Fu Qian wasn’t exactly surprised by Yuan Fang’s trap.

”You don’t need to lift a finger.”

Yuan Fang shook his head.

”The fire in The Lake comes from a saint whose Rank is near that of a Deity. She is locked in a state of continuous annihilation, which produces the flames.”

”As long as the Hunting Squad wants the fire, they are guaranteed to be her enemies.”

”I see. That sounds much more reasonable.”

Fu Qian commented after hearing Yuan Fang out.

”But there’s a minor flaw. Aside from Ballard and his group, there have to be other insane demigods around here, right?”

”The members of that squad are all cunning old foxes. Harvesting those insane demigods might be slower, but there’s no reason for them to stubbornly try butchering a god.””You’re right. There are indeed some madmen who couldn’t care less about Death, let alone heed our warnings.”

”But that’s not a problem, because I am far more efficient at finding those people than they are.”

Yuan Fang tapped his own head.

”Ballard’s group is about to make their move. Those madmen will either follow them back or re-enter samsara.”

For a brief moment, the middle-aged man revealed a ruthless edge.

”Great minds think alike.”

Fu Qian couldn’t help but admire the sheer resolve of Brother Yuan Fang’s scorched-earth strategy.

”Now you can tell me how to find that saint.”

...

”So you really don’t have anything else to do?”

A moment later, stepping downstairs, Fu Qian looked at Akasha in surprise.

”Ballard didn’t draft you into his labor force?”

”Ballard specifically told me to stay behind and keep an eye on you.”

Akasha, usually so thoroughly flirtatious and alluring, looked a little conflicted right now, but she still answered honestly.

”He doesn’t trust you.”

”Completely understandable.”

Fu Qian nodded and looked at the ice wolf nearby.

”You too?”

”I’m here to keep an eye on Akasha.”

The ice wolf demigod named Crystal spoke just as frankly, even casting a sideways glance at Akasha.

It was the first time Fu Qian had seen such a distinct look of contempt on an animal’s face.

”I don’t believe Akasha can handle you.”

Then couldn’t they have just swapped her for someone else?

Fu Qian felt an immediate urge to complain.

Things might not be as simple as they claimed, but regardless, agreeing to leave two demigods behind showed that Ballard was quite confident about the situation.

And at the same time, highly suspicious of Fu Qian.

”Alright, then I’m heading to The Lake now.”

Fu Qian nodded.

”Do you know how to drive?”

Hesitating briefly, he examined her physical structure and realized he was asking the impossible.

”Or pull a cart?”

Before he even finished speaking, a biting wind howled, and two ice spikes shot straight toward his head and chest.

Fu Qian had to rapidly flick his fingers, shattering them one by one.

Even so, the intense cold clinging to them spilled into the air, and the surrounding visibility visibly plummeted.

The wolf clearly had quite a temper, but fortunately, Fu Qian hadn’t planned on playing nice anyway.

”Let’s get going. There’s no time to lose.”

...

The distance to The Lake wasn’t too far. For three demigods, traveling without a vehicle was perfectly fine.

Because of Fu Qian’s provocation, however, Crystal ultimately chose to follow from a distance, unwilling to get close to the two of them.

”Have you ever died?”

As they ran, Fu Qian looked at Akasha and asked a surprisingly profound question.

...

Once she grasped the meaning of the question, Akasha actually fell into a brief internal struggle.

”It seems you have.”

Fu Qian instantly had his answer.

”So in what form were you reborn?”

”As a clown with abundant death experience, you’re really asking me about this?”

Unwilling to yield the upper hand, Akasha winked at him and shot back a whispered question.

”I don’t remember.”

Fu Qian said casually.

”The Prophet said this will be our fate.”

His tone was incredibly perfunctory, but directly invoking Yuan Fang to back himself up left Akasha briefly speechless.

”Then things might be a bit better for you after you reach the Demigod Realm.”

After thinking for a moment, Akasha finally answered.

”At least for me, during my one and only experience with death, I didn’t feel like I forgot anything. The process of reappearing was also very simple—”

Akasha glanced back.

”One of Crystal’s friends was bitten by a spider. This tiny wound made her increasingly thirsty, and after the spider eggs inside her hatched, she realized who she truly was.”

”No wonder that one seems to have quite a prejudice against you.”

Fu Qian looked thoughtful.

This return was undeniably dramatic. Were demigods really this cheap?

Or to put it another way, the demigods in here seemed to sprout straight from the ground. They operated under an entirely different set of rules from the outside world.

”So is it true about the fire?”

Fu Qian shifted the topic, and Akasha naturally leaned in closer.

”The fire does exist, but the Prophet believes it won’t help anyone leave this place.”

Fu Qian answered honestly.

”Speaking of which, you must have tried this yourself, right?”

”I have, but it didn’t work.”

Akasha sighed, sounding distinctly disappointed.

”I’ve tracked the outsiders. The way they leave is very simple; they just need to find certain special areas on the outskirts of the city.”

”It is an indescribable, almost erratic existence. Most of the time, you can only confirm it’s there by the changes in the surroundings.”

”And as long as they enter it, they disappear very quickly.”

”I tried to go inside, too.”

Meeting Fu Qian’s gaze, Akasha nodded.

”It didn’t work. I even nearly got lost inside, and barely managed to get out.”

”Even turning into eggs and parasitizing an outsider doesn’t work. After they disappear, you just drop right back where you were.”

”I see.”

Fu Qian nodded.

Akasha probably wasn’t the only one who had tried. This was likely why the demigods considered themselves prisoners.

But at the same time, the doubts in Fu Qian’s mind grew heavier.

Yuan Fang’s plan sounded reasonable at first glance.

To prevent the demigods from being hunted down and ravaged, he had decided to borrow a knife to kill, using a third party to directly eliminate the Hunting Squad.

But upon closer thought, there was an obvious problem.

Judging from the descriptions by Akasha and the others, the existence of this place wasn’t some top secret.

If this expedition team truly perished here in its entirety, wasn’t he worried about the subsequent backlash? That more people would flood in to investigate?

It was hard to say whether things wouldn’t become even more tragic by then.

There was another issue. If Chaumont and the others really died, according to the rules, they would eventually be reborn at Unseen Hill.

As Divine Emissaries who firmly believed the fire could let people escape this place, was he sure they wouldn’t collect it even more frantically to get out sooner?

It would actually be more reasonable to assume Yuan Fang’s true purpose was to point the way so Chaumont and the others could make a massive haul and be sent off quickly.

”We’re here.”

Amidst his thoughts, Akasha’s reminder rang out.

Fu Qian looked up and discovered that what lay before the two of them was already an expanse of The Deep.