Eldritch Horror Theatre

”The effect is incredibly faint.”

As Fu Qian sensed this, Chief Yuan analyzed her own state and quickly reached the same pessimistic conclusion.

Her expression confirmed it; those echoing ripples had instantly dissipated into nothingness.

”What do we do now? Just sitting here and watching isn’t a good idea. I’m afraid these changes will soon become irreversible.”

Before Fu Qian could answer, Yuan Shan was already surveying their surroundings.

”Unlike this abstract time loop, there don’t seem to be any physical barriers around us. I can even sense people walking outside. Should we try leaving here first?”

Despite the urgency of the topic, she asked with a remarkably casual demeanor.

”There really don’t seem to be any spatial restrictions.”

Fu Qian replied with the exact same easygoing demeanor.

”But honestly, without a way to lock onto the target, the odds of escaping just by moving around aren’t great.”Despite the pessimistic outlook, his expression remained perfectly peaceful and serene.

”True.”

Stripped of emotional interference, Yuan Shan accepted this objective judgment without the slightest friction.

The entity that had dropped the Feather earlier couldn’t possibly be something like an earthbound spirit.

If they couldn’t root it out and deal with it, moving wouldn’t make much difference. The entity could simply follow them.

”So what do you think we should do? We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

”Why not?”

In response to Yuan Shan’s thoughtful inquiry, Fu Qian simply flicked his nonexistent sleeves and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

He raised his head, gazing out the window at the darkening night sky.

”What joy is there in life, and what sorrow is there in death? Joy, anger, grief, and happiness are all illusions. Toward the entity hiding in the dark, this seat holds only gratitude.”

”I see that you two laywomen are also deeply rooted in wisdom. Why not join me in letting go of your worldly attachments to find immediate liberation and achieve true freedom?”

...

As the saying goes, utmost sincerity moves even metal and stone.

For a moment, Fu Qian’s display of profound grace actually seemed far more effective than the skill Eldest Miss Wen had unleashed with all her might.

Unlike Wen Li, who was maintaining an eyes on nose, nose on heart posture to concentrate on her recovery, a trace of absolute bewilderment actually forced its way onto Chief Yuan’s face.

He was simply too professional. There wasn’t the slightest hint of incongruity when this guy pulled stunts like this!

After finally capping off her thoughts with an exclamation mark, Yuan Shan surprisingly didn’t argue.

She obviously didn’t believe this poison strategist had truly achieved complete enlightenment. There was only one explanation for this act: he believed there was no harm in just sitting around, and that it wouldn’t lead to any serious consequences.

Considering his track record and the sheer gap in their strength, Yuan Shan decisively chose to trust him.

After making this decision, she instinctively glanced at Wen Li beside her.

The younger woman took a deep breath and opened her eyes, having just recovered her stamina.

Having clearly overheard their conversation, Wen Li immediately sat there quietly, without saying a single extra word.

It was an entirely unsurprising level of trust.

Yuan Shan gave a slight nod.

”Do it again.”

Yet, unexpectedly, the silent Wen Li was singled out by Fu Qian once more.

Seeing that she had caught her breath, he bluntly signaled for her to unleash that skill again.

”Alright.”

Without asking why, Wen Li took another deep breath.

...

Is he truly not afraid of working her to death?

Even with her emotions thoroughly flatlined, the question still inevitably surfaced in Yuan Shan’s mind.

Yuan Shan knew perfectly well that to affect two High-Tier Transcendents under these circumstances, Wen Li had to severely drain herself to use that skill. A few more rounds of this, and she might just collapse on the spot.

It would be one thing if it actually accomplished something, but no matter how she looked at it, the results were negligible.

”It’s happening again. How exactly is it doing this?”

However, she didn’t voice the question. A moment later, Yuan Shan nodded slightly, indicating they had just endured another cycle.

”Good question. It’s hard to call this something like time regression, because in this endless repetition of the same timeframe, absolutely nothing can be changed aside from our constantly dissipating humanity.”

Shifting his gaze away from Wen Li as she gathered her strength, Fu Qian calmly analyzed what they had experienced so far.

”If I had to make a comparison, it feels more like a special kind of mental cage.”

A cage...

That term clearly sparked Yuan Shan’s thoughts. It couldn’t be called her interest, simply because she could no longer feel any trace of such a thing.

Thinking back rapidly, she easily admitted that his description was surprisingly accurate.

It was less a true time loop and more like trapping their wills inside this specific slice of experience, using it as an arena to ravage them.

Looked at from that angle, the situation was no longer quite so incomprehensible.

But that was exactly the problem—even if they understood it, it didn’t seem to do them any good.

They still couldn’t see a way to stop it, and the three of them were truly on the verge of seeing through their humanity here.

As she pondered, seemingly familiar negative emotions surged in her heart once more. Wen Li had opened her eyes again, her face visibly haggard.

Unfortunately, it remained a drop in the bucket. Yuan Shan vividly felt as though she had become a sieve; the negative emotions completely drained away without lingering for even a second. Not a single drop left—Boom!

Just as she was about to revert to a walking corpse, Yuan Shan suddenly registered a shocking change—namely, that she was actually capable of feeling shock.

Along with fury, resentment, and agony...

The dark side of humanity that had seemingly been severed from her came crashing back all at once. The onslaught left her reason teetering on the brink of collapse, and that pure, flawless version of herself could no longer be reached...

Rip!

The soft whip she had already retracted into her hand was nearly dropped in that moment, tearing into her palm and drawing blood...

”What’s going on?”

Fighting with everything she had to suppress the urge to let go and whip everything around her to pieces, Yuan Shan stared at Fu Qian, her voice hoarse.

She didn’t even need to look to know her face must be twisted into a ferocious scowl. The same went for Wen Li beside her, who was desperately trying to keep herself under control.

”Good question.”

Faced with her question, the First Poison Strategist appeared to have adapted to this change far better than she had, even having the spare capacity to offer another compliment.

”Sadly, it seems we haven’t actually transcended our humanity. Our darker sides didn’t disappear earlier; they were merely separated from us... and under Wen Li’s continuous stimulation, it’s now their turn to take the upper hand.”

Their humanity had only been separated, not annihilated...

Both Yuan Shan and Wen Li were clearly shocked by this conclusion.

Ignoring them completely, Fu Qian’s mind flashed back to their joint exploration of the Dungeon, recalling how Kelsen and the others had constantly shifted between the states of Saints and Thugs.

It really was the remnants of the Angelic Faith.

And their Rank was evidently quite high, capable of manually generating that exact separation effect they had seen in the Dungeon.