Eldritch Horror Theatre

”You flatter me.”

While offering Fu Qian high praise, Sha Ming was undoubtedly a bit harsh in his commentary on the others.

However, after a glance at Old Man Huang Leji and the others, Fu Qian merely offered a plain word of thanks, looking every bit the picture of worldly detachment.

By this point, the situation seemed quite clear.

Everything unfolding before them was entirely the work of the visiting trio.

Huang Zhixun had organized this team in search of an opportunity for advancement, keeping it a secret from the Huang Clan.

Unfortunately for the Blood Lion, someone had also been keeping secrets from him.

Sha Ming, the volunteer he had brought in, clearly knew more and was plotting something far larger.

Even the Huang Clansmen he had tried so hard to shake off were part of Sha Ming’s scheme, drawn all the way in to arrive at the ”finish line” right at this very moment.

Perhaps Sha Ming was a little too slick with his reveal as a mastermind, but the credibility of the information was still quite high.Of course, acknowledging it was one thing. As a veteran mastermind himself, Fu Qian was already immune to verbal encouragement.

A mere ”you can do more” wasn’t going to make him actually do more.

Fu Qian believed Brother Sha Ming was well aware of this, too.

So, after his modest reply, he had no intention of elaborating. He simply continued to watch the man, waiting for a genuine show of sincerity.

...

”There’s no need to be overly modest at a time like this.”

Not disappointing him, Sha Ming instantly withdrew his gaze from Old Man Huang Leji and the rest, treating them like worthless trash he couldn’t be bothered to look at again.

”Remember when I said you don’t understand what the title of Followers actually represents?”

Immediately after, he reached out his hand, gesturing in the air as he revisited the topic.

”I have to admit, your disguise and posture are quite good, but the better they are, the more they expose that earlier issue. Do you know why?”

”If I knew what they were, I definitely wouldn’t have chosen to adopt their appearance?”

Faced with Excellency Sha Ming’s patient guidance, Fu Qian wasn’t polite either. Adopting an equally dismissive attitude toward everyone else present, he hazarded a guess.

”As expected. I must say, I’m getting more and more curious about your purpose in coming here.”

Sha Ming’s reaction sounded almost like a mix of surprise and joy.

”You’re exactly right. The Followers have one fundamental characteristic: they despise divinity.”

He didn’t keep him in suspense, pointing straight to the core of the matter.

...

So that was it.

Although he had already vaguely guessed as much, the moment Excellency Sha Ming spoke, Fu Qian sighed inwardly once again at the sheer weirdness of Brother Sanxun and his group.

One question that had been puzzling him earlier was why, in contrast to himself being heavily guarded one-on-one, Old Man Huang Leji and the others were so thoroughly ignored.

Now, it seemed he knew the reason. The Followers only reacted to intruding targets possessing divinity—and their reaction was entirely negative.

Once he accepted this, the logic behind the problem Sha Ming had just mentioned became very easy to understand—

The more closely his disguise resembled the Followers, even to the point of using their title, the more it merely proved that he had faced them directly before, thereby exposing his own Rank.

This completely contradicted his original intention of hiding his identity. It was a textbook case of drawing a snake with feet.

”Although you hid it well, the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were a High-Tier Transcendent, completely different from this group, no matter how unassuming you tried to be.”

Sure enough, Sha Ming had absolutely no intention of helping him cover it up. He exposed him directly, drawing a chorus of gasps.

”Demigod Realm—”

Even Old Man Huang Leji and the others, who hadn’t been triggered by being cast aside like old shoes earlier, instantly shot him looks of horror and despair.

While Sha Ming’s words had been impolite, their inescapable predicament was already laid out before them. Compared to finding a way to survive, taking a harsh critique was truly nothing.

However, the fact that this mysterious figure who had appeared halfway through was now exposed as a genuine member of the Demigod Realm made the severity of the situation seem even more extreme.

For one thing, with someone like this involved, the entire operation looked far more like a massive conspiracy.

For another, for a group of people who were essentially captives, the only bargaining chip they had left to offer seemed to be their ”team bond.”

Yet, with such an overwhelmingly massive gap in Rank, it was hard to say this wouldn’t weaken the weight of that threat.

Having their bargaining chips shrink while already in a desperate situation was undoubtedly rubbing salt in the wound—completely unacceptable.

”So that’s how it is. It seems I actually did something unnecessary.”

Unfortunately, Fu Qian’s next reaction forced them to accept it whether they wanted to or not.

With absolutely no intention of denying it, Fu Qian gave a generous nod. His mood didn’t even seem affected by having his secret exposed.

Because it hadn’t mattered much in the first place.

The act of drawing a snake with feet was always meant to add those feet.

...

Impersonating a group he had only just come into contact with and knew very little about was obviously a highly reckless move, something a mature expert would never choose to do.

Furthermore, given the investigative nature of his mission, he spent most of his time merely existing as an observer. There was genuinely no need to use such grand-scale antics to vie for attention.

The reason he had done it anyway despite all this was very simple: Fu Qian was highly interested in the Followers and wanted to know more.

Compared to explaining what something truly was straight out, many people clearly preferred to expose a fake.

In Fu Qian’s eyes, showing up disguised as one of the Followers was far better than shouting his questions at the top of his lungs.

In this kind of situation where there was peril at every step, if anyone present knew more about the Followers, it would be very difficult for them to completely suppress a reaction upon seeing his entrance.

For example, Excellency Sha Ming right now.

But this wasn’t enough.

He had spent so much effort carefully crafting his persona; how could he be satisfied with such a meager harvest?

”But to be honest, if it’s just this, it’s still not enough to make me do more.”

”Although with great power comes great responsibility, I’m not the only one here with great power.”

Even though he had acknowledged the other party’s words, Fu Qian still looked unwilling to change his slack, unbothered posture.

”Heh... you’re right. Since I know this much, and can even evaluate that your disguise is quite good, there is naturally a reason for it.”

Sha Ming didn’t seem surprised by his reaction in the slightest. Letting out a string of chuckles, he continued to trace out the previous pattern in the air.

”But even if we are all High-Tier Transcendents, we are still different from one another.”

”Just as you don’t know what the Followers are, you don’t know what I am either.”

”And while I have a very beautiful metaphor for this question, time is limited right now. Someone needs to give you a reason you can’t refuse—is he here?”

Finally lowering his hand, Sha Ming shifted the topic and abruptly asked a question.

”He’s here.”

Fu Qian didn’t push the issue. Looking up at the thousands of rays of light that had suddenly flared as if shooting from an infinite distance away, and at Brother Sanxun who stood at their very center, woven entirely from those beams, he gave an honest nod.