Eldritch Horror Theatre

Even compared to Lotte, Young Master Qin and his group were as fragile as paper.

So when Fu Qian realized Yarakil had dragged him into the Divine Dream to seek an escape mechanism from the fragments of will, they were the first people to come to mind.

It was hard to imagine Yarakil possessing the ability to shatter two layers of barriers in succession, and Young Master Qin and the others hadn’t even appeared in that dream.

But in Fu Qian’s view, it was best to check and root out any hidden risks just in case.

Following a preliminary remote diagnosis, the few people he had established contact with were all completely normal.

To some extent, this once again proved the connection between the Nightmare Corridor and the Bookstore World.

The Corridor clearly held a transcendent status just like the Warehouse. It could bridge different planes, and its internal elements were a chaotic mix.

When brainstorming the Persuader’s origins earlier, Fu Qian—who hated restraining his imagination—had naturally been curious about this specific attribute of the Nightmare Corridor.

However, judging from its subsequent behavior, the four consecutive dreams were undoubtedly one hundred percent from the Bookstore World, and Young Master Qin’s group hadn’t been affected at all.

Based on probability, the Corridor was likely far more deeply tied to the Bookstore World.Therefore, Yarakil and that group of Gods most likely shared this connection...

The reason he cared so much about those entities—who were locked in permanent confinement with seemingly zero chance of ever escaping to cause trouble—was quite simple.

They couldn’t come out, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t go back in.

It wasn’t as if he would never use the Extreme Hunger Infection again.

At least based on the current situation, every time he, the Outland Knight, went to seek an audience with the Pope, he had to take a trip through the Corridor.

Of course, that was a matter for the future.

Right now, he needed to finish this deep inspection and completely eliminate the risk.

Fu Qian tapped his forehead and once again focused his will on the voices in his mind.

...

It truly lived up to being a place where he had maneuvered with sweeping control for twenty years.

Returning this time as a Tier 2, the voices of Young Master Qin and his group were more than a whole dimension clearer than those of Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s party.

It was no longer as simple as just seeing images or transmitting his will.

Fu Qian was quite certain he could use his contacted targets as anchor points to infiltrate his supernatural power and influence the surroundings.

To some extent, this was exactly the effect the Greed Worms had wanted.

Naturally, this didn’t stop Fu Qian from maintaining his VIP treatment of Young Master Qin and the rest—letting the voices ring out while making no observations and establishing no connections unless absolutely necessary.

That remained true right now.

Fu Qian quickly locked onto a relatively softer voice—a certain victim of unprovoked disaster, Student Pei Yanqing.

Although he had just performed a preliminary scan, if anyone in this group was the most susceptible to influence, it was absolutely her.

Because of her initial overexposure to the Commandment Residue, she seemed uniquely sensitive to receiving any information related to him.

Given that, she made the perfect target for his first spot check.

She was also the most suitable choice for another reason—she was fast asleep, saving him the trouble of administering anesthesia.

The next moment, blue light flickered over Fu Qian’s hand as he activated the Lucid Dream.

...

Such enviable youth.

Swiftly pulling Pei Yanqing into it, Fu Qian—once again acting as the Dream Dominator—took a moment to sigh in admiration at the wonderful life of a college student.

Logically, this kind of inspection would be most accurate if performed offline.

But he hadn’t taken that route. For one thing, his own poor physical condition would easily scare someone. For another, he had already confirmed that today was Tuesday.

Unlike an unemployed vagrant like himself, his acquaintances presumably all had their own business to attend to.

However, Fu Qian didn’t think Student Pei was slacking off. Besides her, the other three beds in this four-person dorm were also fully occupied.

Given the current point in time, this was unmistakably the classic post-final exam sleep-in.

By comparison, Student Pei was a bit more rested. She looked like she could wake up at any moment—such as right now.

”Mmm...”

Waking leisurely from her dream, Pei Yanqing stretched comfortably before noticing the eerie silence of her surroundings.

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and looked around. Finding the room completely empty, her expression went slack, her sense of reality utterly challenged.

”What’s going on... Where did everyone go?”

Muttering to herself, she subconsciously grabbed her phone to check the time. It wasn’t too late in the day, making the situation before her all the more incomprehensible.

”There’s a... bug?”

After a mere moment of hesitation, an explanation surfaced in her mind with undeniable naturalness—everyone had been scared away by a bug.

The soothing relief of having her doubts resolved lasted for less than half a second. Realizing what she had just accepted, Pei Yanqing nearly jumped straight out of bed.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, but with her scalp tingling in terror, she scrambled out of bed with astonishing agility.

The second her feet hit the floor, her urge to bolt out the door miraculously slammed to a halt.

Biting her lip, she scanned the room again, her heart suddenly swelling with a sense of mission.

She had to find that bug to keep it from scaring anyone else.

Come to think of it, what kind of bug was it? A spider.

As more information surfaced in her mind, her gaze grew sharp and resolute, scouring every possible hiding spot for the vicious creature.

...

”I’ve looked everywhere...”

A moment later, Pei Yanqing returned to her starting point in the silent space, her brows locked in a tight frown.

She had checked every place she could think of, yet there wasn’t a single trace.

But an incredibly firm thought in her mind told her the spider was definitely in here, or perhaps even...

Suddenly realizing something, she dashed over to a mirror and stared at her reflection.

Upon confirming that the hideous creature wasn’t clinging to her body either, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. Yet, her burning desire to find the target only grew stronger.

But where else could it be...

Driven by her craving, her mind raced, and all sorts of unimaginable thoughts surfaced in her heart.

Giving in to the urge, Pei Yanqing pulled up her sleeves and urgently scoured the delicate skin of her arms for anything resembling an incision.

And for anything that might be hiding inside...

After a fruitless search, however, she finally shook her head. Grabbing her own hand as it tried to check other parts of her body, she ruthlessly suppressed the crazy impulse—

Gasp.

With a long, drawn-out gasp, a figure suddenly sat up in bed.

Feeling her violent heartbeat, Pei Yanqing looked around alertly.

The curtains were drawn tight, the room was dim, and the other three girls were sound asleep.

Was I dreaming?

She gradually realized the nature of what she had just experienced. Yet, driven by a lingering, restless agitation in her mind, she reached out again, tracing the skin on her arm.