Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was the sun far?

Not far.

If you had the sun in your heart, how could it be far?

During the last flare-up of the Etched Intellect, the image of twin suns blazing in the sky, vying for brilliance, remained vivid in his mind.

He wondered if that mighty power could allow the victim to retain a shred of clarity in their eyes during such an unimaginable crisis.

Filled with expectations for an old acquaintance, Fu Qian bypassed any rigid carpet search and guided A Fei forward with a clear destination in mind.

Although Fu Qian had already executed one ”return and exchange” on him, the hunter had more than made up for the cost and proven his worth.

Not only was he physically crippled yet strong-willed, but his lingering killing intent simply refused to scatter.

His perception was also rather sharp, making him prone to attracting demonic and ghostly entities.

With a few casual pointers, he was perfectly adapted to their current situation. It would be a massive waste not to put him to good use—the Laboratory was still up ahead.The journey was not easy, but they arrived at their destination quickly.

The building had indeed decayed severely. Its overall framework was still intact, but many sections had collapsed. Visually, it was only slightly better than the time he had encountered the Brain Jellyfish.

Despite the numerous obstacles along the way, the good news was that they hadn’t run into any living ones.

Even the Burlap Dolls were remarkably pure. After being scared off, they had genuinely fled in a panic, showing no intention of sneaking back for a peek.

After a brief detour, Fu Qian and his companion reached the location from his memory—the exact spot where the supernova had flared last time.

Judging from the surroundings, the structure was still relatively well-preserved, so much so that its main doors remained tightly shut.

”It is calling.”

Just as Fu Qian was evaluating the scene, A Fei unexpectedly spoke up. His voice was hoarse, his words cryptic.

Given their previous experiences, it was easy to assume one possibility: just like the laughter of the children, their target was greeting him first.

Yet, upon turning to look at him, Fu Qian sensed that wasn’t the case.

The hunter, whose complexion had slightly improved from before, wasn’t even looking at the door blocking their way. Instead, he stared straight at the Atypical Rapier in his hand.

He gently stroked it with his other hand, head tilted as if listening closely, projecting an entirely ethereal demeanor.

That’s right. The hand he had used to staunch his bleeding had never returned to his wound after he let go.

As for why he hadn’t bled out completely?

Many things had their pros and cons. At this moment, the Stardust Curse spreading from his back had already covered more than half of his limbs.

The direct result was that his movements had grown increasingly sluggish, leaving him looking as if he were sleepwalking.

His consciousness was also half-asleep, giving the impression that his mind was disconnecting every few seconds.

The accompanying benefit, however, was that his flesh and blood seemed to have fallen asleep as well, slowing the drain of his life force.

In short, a serendipitous combination of factors had conspired to produce this remarkably striking scene.

”Is it possible that your heart simply isn’t pure?”

But when it came to a striking demeanor, how could Dayun Mingwang lose to anyone?

Sighing softly, Fu Qian’s gaze turned profound as he spouted his own cryptic nonsense.

”Not pure...”

A Fei, in his current state, was indeed perfectly suited for this kind of conversation.

”So it actually isn’t calling?”

Sounding as though he found nothing unreasonable about this, he murmured the words back, even managing a plain, logical deduction.

”No. As long as you feel it’s calling, it’s calling.”

Fu Qian shook his head, continuing to ”enlighten” him.

”So damn—noisy!”

Unfortunately, someone always had to spoil the mood. Their Zen-filled conversation was abruptly interrupted.

...

The voice was resounding and powerful, piercing straight through the wall.

It clearly came from behind the door. The articulation was so crisp that, even without seeing the speaker, one could easily picture an individual brimming with vitality.

Was the sun truly shielding His believer?

Fu Qian realized the voice was actually familiar. It was, incredibly, the very same person who had shouted about the Wheel That Cannot Be Looked Upon earlier.

The place was right, and even the person sounded completely fine.

Every other researcher they had encountered so far was either crawling across the floor or turned into a mount. Their conditions were undoubtedly terrible.

This stark contrast immediately suggested that faith was genuinely useful.

Brother Apostle’s decision to abandon his studies and convert had been the right one.

”...There’s someone behind it.”

As Fu Qian reminisced about this old acquaintance, A Fei clearly heard the voice as well. After some slight difficulty, he processed a conclusion.

This seemingly meaningless sentence almost indisputably confirmed Fu Qian’s previous guess—that A Fei had truly meant his sword was calling.

”Sigh... If you think it’s there, it’s there. If you think it’s not, it’s not.”

Fu Qian shook his head, unable to bear seeing him get distracted at such a critical juncture and lose out on this serendipitous opportunity.

”So it’s still... not pure.”

Fortunately, he seemed to possess some innate spiritual wisdom after all. A Fei instantly withdrew his attention from the noise and muttered silently, his head bowed.

Clang!

What a pity. The path to enlightenment was always fraught with inner demons. After merely a few seconds of comprehension, an even louder noise interrupted him.

”Are you two... ever going to stop?”

At that moment, the tightly shut doors opened on their own. The resulting commotion, coupled with the voice coming from inside, radiated a profound irritability.

...

Not bad. This was clearly a victory of style.

Fu Qian certainly hadn’t experienced a sudden surge of Zen enlightenment. He was simply trying to out-posture the person behind the door.

As a local staff member who was presumably still clear-headed, it was impossible that he hadn’t noticed them walking up to his door.

Yet, while he and Brother A Fei stood outside discussing the Dao for quite some time, the other party had stubbornly remained silent.

From this alone, one could almost feel the reserved dignity of the person they were visiting.

When he had finally been unable to hold back and interrupted with an angry scolding, only to fall completely silent again, he had perfectly displayed the act of playing hard to get.

In light of this, Fu Qian had decisively escalated his act, continuing to ignore him.

The result was extremely gratifying. The opponent, having lost the battle of patience, took the initiative to open the door, skipping regular pleasantries and aggressively demanding accountability.

In short, they were already antagonistic the moment they met. No matter how one looked at it, this was a pretty good ice-breaking effect.

At this point, he dropped the silent treatment. Fu Qian turned to look through the open doors and spotted an imposing figure.

Wearing the same researcher’s robes, his physique wasn’t exactly burly, but his posture was exceptionally straight.

Just as expected, this person hadn’t undergone the same physical mutations as the others.

Even more movingly, this was the first character they had encountered so far who actually remembered to wear a hat with his uniform.

It was just that its design was a bit too bizarre. Was this why the rest of the researchers hadn’t worn theirs?

As Fu Qian studied the head of the Sun Apostle, he seemed to understand why the group’s attire had been so non-standard.

Made of the same material as the robe but boasting a completely different style, it was a hood that wrapped completely around his head and neck.

The entire thing was unusually large, making his head look somewhat like a bulging lightbulb.

And on the surface of that lightbulb were the familiar Silver Dot-Lines, twisting and outlining the shape of a human face.