Eldritch Horror Theatre

So that was where those things came from? They had all been swallowed and left undigested?

Brother Peeker’s words were undeniably horrifying, but Fu Qian’s first reaction was that he finally had an explanation for why there were so few people.

As for how it happened—

Fu Qian could easily imagine someone climbing up and down, acting as a Scavenger in such a place, swallowing everything in sight, and returning to the workshop perfectly content at the end.

Of course, this also seemed to hint at a rather troublesome possibility—the people had been eaten, and the Key he was looking for wasn’t among those left behind?

Was there still any point in him staying here? Should he figure out a way to return to the Real World and continue his efforts there?

...

Was it possible that the two young people he was looking for had also fallen into the Inner World?

This speculation had lingered in Fu Qian’s mind ever since his experience at the breakfast shop, and it was one of his motives for intentionally entering the Inner World.

Now, judging by both Brother Peeker’s current state and the clothes they had found earlier, the situation seemed far from good.The clothes hinted that someone had been here, but it was entirely possible they were already gone, with no Key to be found.

”Oh? Which one tasted the best?”

Despite the pessimistic outlook, Fu Qian still chose to press the issue, completely ignoring the torment evident in Brother Peeker’s recollections.

...Which one tasted the best?

Fortunately, the question was mundane enough that the contrast momentarily eased the man’s pain, allowing him to immerse himself in the memories.

”That girl, she tasted the best...”

Sure enough, memory had a dimension for taste; his speed of recollection was even faster this time.

Even as he answered, amidst a struggle where he could go mad at any moment, there was a genuine hint of intoxication over the food. But the answer itself—a girl?

Had one of his targets really fallen prey to this?

”Why was she the best?”

Guiding him patiently, Fu Qian smoothly slipped in another minor question.

”She was cold... tasty, ugh... hehe...”

It was slightly surprising. The reason wasn’t about a smooth texture or anything of the sort, but rather the temperature.

Of course, the temperature down here truly wasn’t very high. If Brother Peeker was eating corpses, it made sense that they would be cold after lying around for a while...

”Which way?”

Giving a slight nod, Fu Qian interrupted Brother Peeker’s increasingly abstract tone. Another fork in the road already lay before them.

”I... don’t remember.”

This time, however, the man’s performance left much to be desired. He simply stared at the fork in a daze.

Ding—

Almost the instant he gave his useless answer, a coin was flicked into the air before falling into Fu Qian’s palm.

His palm was laid wide open, completely unbothered by anyone seeing the result.

Heads.

But it was only a fleeting glimpse. Fu Qian quickly pocketed the coin and chose the left fork to continue onward.

...

He had indeed decided by flipping a coin—pure randomness.

There simply wasn’t enough information to make an informed judgment in every situation.

And do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. Only a person who truly dared to gamble in the face of the unknown could exert the most terrifying pressure when forcing others to make a similar choice.

Human ability had its limits. Given Brother Peeker’s current state, Fu Qian had no intention of harshly criticizing him for failing to remember the way.

The two forks in front of them showed almost no noticeable difference, so he had decided to choose randomly in an instant, executing the decision without the slightest hesitation.

As for why he hadn’t just picked one directly instead of wasting the extra effort to flip a coin?

It was a classic psychological suppression tactic, meant to solidify Brother Peeker’s preconceived notions—making him believe that his only purpose on this trip was to act as a guidepost, and that even this role was dispensable.

As for choosing the path this way, what if they couldn’t find their way out later?

That concern was too naive. With such an abstract layout, Fu Qian had never expected to find a way out by merely walking.

One had to hold a sense of reverence toward the Transcendent Tier. It was hard to say whether a place like this even had an end.

The distance the two of them had ventured so far was nearly enough to circle the Art Prison entirely.

Even turning back the way they came would be a dead end in Fu Qian’s eyes.

Although it seemed he had done every terrible thing along the way, oppressing the person behind him with cruel methods, in essence, this was a highly unstable state maintained solely by his flawless guidance.

If he showed even a sliver of weakness, there was a high probability that all this accumulated fear would erupt, turning him into a part of that body as well.

This was a Road of No Return. From the moment he made that decision, his only chance of survival was practically reduced to finding a way to switch back to the Real World.

”So which one tasted the worst?”

Amidst the flickering light, he could tell that Brother Peeker had chosen to keep following.

And while Fu Qian didn’t reprimand him, he didn’t hold back either, continuing his questioning.

”Ivan.”

Compared to the best-tasting one, Brother Peeker’s answer was even faster this time, and his tone was firm.

...

Had even that person met his end down here?

This answer actually wasn’t all that surprising.

Although the style of the Inner World was rather horrifying, there still had to be a reason for corpses to be down here.

The things Ivan had been doing certainly seemed very off, but he still wasn’t Fu Qian’s primary suspect.

The Old Hunter.

Judging from previous events, his competitor’s understanding of this town was quite deep. For such a special location, Fu Qian felt the chances of him not thinking to take a look were extremely slim.

Even if his other hypothesis were true—that Hake was actually the Old Hunter, rather than the Old Hunter playing the part of Hake—his act of prompting Fu Qian to come here and search still made perfect sense.

Since Fu Qian hadn’t lost yet, it meant the other party hadn’t found the White Key here either.

And given his suspicions about Fu Qian, guiding him here to explore—thereby observing his performance or even attempting to be the oriole behind—was a fairly common strategy.

So no matter what, he could assume that the Old Hunter had already ravaged this place. Ivan might not even be qualified to be the mastermind behind their current situation.

”Why did he taste the worst?”

Even though, once one considered that possibility, the endless darkness before them seemed to grow far more dangerous.

”He had gone bad, just like... wood.”

Behind him, Brother Peeker’s contemplation continued as he recalled more details through his pain.

Like wood? That sounded like an interesting way to put it.

Recalling the scenes they had passed on their way down and the elements everywhere that seemed related to wood, Fu Qian gave a slight mental shake of his head and pushed open yet another door.

This time, it was finally no longer the same monotonous scene.

First, at a glance, he could see that the space behind the door was almost spherical, marking the dead end of this path.

Second, tossed inside this spherical space was something rather conspicuous.

Black, bagged, and about the length of a human body.

He thought he knew why being cold meant it tasted better...

Could it be that the person didn’t die here, but was transported over after dying?

And purposely frozen, at that.