Eldritch Horror Theatre

Suffered a curse?

The faith benefits provided by this seat might be average, but leaving such a blatant negative review—wasn’t he afraid of retaliation?

The Tyrant had said hello, yet he responded by complaining. Nobody had even asked him what was wrong, and he just blurted out that he had suffered a curse?

Had Brother Jiang En caught something from Taylor? Had he forgotten the essential principle of mutual flattery when walking the jianghu?

”Is that so? I’m here too, so why haven’t I felt any curse?”

Clicking his tongue, Fu Qian readily accepted the good advice, straightforwardly calling out the man’s nonsense.

”It really is a curse! Wounds inexplicably appear on my body, and I suffer random bouts of weakness...”

Sure enough, Brother Jiang En was quite flustered today. He shouted back anxiously the moment Fu Qian finished speaking.

That made sense. Where else would he get the nerve to open his mouth and mock this seat’s garden?

In response, Fu Qian merely nodded slightly, his speculation confirmed.What else could it be?

Brother Jiang En might have been riding high on success lately, but just as he had no idea where that success came from, he naturally didn’t know the hidden dangers beneath it—the Greed Worms shared their damage.

Sometimes, you couldn’t sever a connection just because you wanted to.

Following the previous advancement ritual that fed back into the team and allowed Laurie and the others to feast, the Greed Worms had been stirring up quite a bit of trouble lately. It wasn’t strange that some of their damage fed back to this worm’s tail.

And in Jiang En’s eyes, calling it a curse was actually quite fitting.

It was formless and traceless, coming and going without warning, and completely impossible to avoid.

It was like an automatic payment you couldn’t remember authorizing. It wouldn’t bankrupt you, but your sanity crumbled every time a deduction text arrived.

”Don’t be nervous. As they say, everything has two sides. What you see as a curse might just be a blessing.”

Deeply empathizing with the man’s terrible mood, Fu Qian remembered to display a host’s courtesy, casually offering a word of comfort.

...

”How could wounds be a blessing? By that logic, is death a gift?”

Jiang En fell silent for a brief moment, clearly not comforted in the slightest.

Even while making that rather blunt remark, he seemed completely unconcerned about who he was talking to.

Not in a normal conversational state? That made sense.

Fu Qian naturally wouldn’t hold it against him; he merely drew a silent conclusion.

He had immediately noticed that Jiang En’s demeanor was different from usual, and naturally, there had to be a reason.

It seemed this temporarily cobbled-together reception system still had a few flaws.

Jiang En had most likely arrived here by calling upon the King of the Abandoned Prison, yet the man himself didn’t seem to remember doing so.

His overall state was entirely akin to sleepwalking.

As an experienced Nightmare Dominator, Fu Qian believed he had some authority on the matter.

Jiang En’s current state was exactly like being in a deep dream.

At this moment, his physical body might not even be aware of what kind of information it was receiving.

Even though this information would still silently and imperceptibly influence him.

All in all, it was exactly because the ignorant are fearless that Jiang En maintained an attitude unyielding to martial might in the face of the King of the Abandoned Prison.

Besides, saying that the curse was a blessing wasn’t entirely nonsense.

True, Jiang En’s situation was indeed annoying, but one couldn’t forget that he had profited from it as well.

During that special advancement ritual, if not for the support of Laurie and the others’ Health Bars, the results probably wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

As one of the relatively weaker Greed Worms, possessing such Soul Chains was akin to buying insurance for his Health Bar. Some people would likely beg for it—wait, was there actually someone else?

Mid-analysis, Fu Qian’s gaze fell on another spot in the churning red mist, where a second humanoid silhouette was slowly manifesting.

...

So lively today?

With his experience from Brother Jiang En, Fu Qian instantly recognized the arrival of another guest. He deeply felt that the Abandoned Prison wasn’t so desolate anymore.

However, the two of them had arrived barely minutes apart. Had the recent promotional campaign for the King of the Abandoned Prison been a little too successful?

Wait a minute, he seemed to know the reason for this synchronicity.

There was a reason Northern Jiang En and South Taylor were equally renowned as outstanding young talents in Shangjing. To think they wouldn’t even fall behind each other in something like this.

Yes, Fu Qian was confident he wasn’t mistaken. This new silhouette seemed to be his other acquaintance from Shangjing.

Wiggling a finger, the other Scarlet Angel next to the humanoid silhouette immediately mirrored the motion, rapidly climbing up and merging into it to gradually sharpen the outline.

”Pardon the lack of manners.”

While receiving his new visitor, Fu Qian didn’t neglect his old one.

Along with the casual apology, a translucent circular platform the same color as the surrounding flowers appeared, enclosing the first guest.

Making a guest stand the whole time while talking was indeed a bit impolite.

But the guest’s form was truly bizarre, looking as though even the simple act of sitting would be difficult, so he could only offer this compromise.

Furthermore, to project the majesty of the Abandoned Prison, not only did Fu Qian create a circular platform for guest number two, he also manifested ten empty ones in a ring around his throne.

In short, this was the joy of being a custom player.

”Good afternoon.”

Having finished all this, he similarly greeted the now quite recognizable figure.

”Who’s there?”

This guest, however, was rather tense. He fired back the question almost instantly, sounding hurried and completely unprepared for anyone to speak.

The only reassuring thing was that he was, sure enough, just as impolite as Brother Jiang En.

That was right. It really was South Taylor.

...

Had he not even intentionally established contact with the King of the Abandoned Prison?

Brother Taylor always brought interesting things to the table. In that moment, Fu Qian wasn’t in a hurry to answer; he was merely curious.

Compared to Jiang En, he had just recently interacted with this guy, making it even easier to empathize.

It was actually very easy to understand why the former had called upon the King of the Abandoned Prison.

Suffering an unknown curse and potentially being in mortal danger at any moment, he naturally had to find the cause.

For Jiang En, after thinking it over, the most suspicious thing was undoubtedly that Emblem he had previously encountered.

Although nothing unusual had manifested back then, when seeking any doctor in desperation, it was perfectly normal logic to try calling out to it again now.

Furthermore, after a little verification, he could take whatever he discovered and report it to the Night Watchers, exchanging it for a chance to be cured...

For Jiang En, who had always been aggressively proactive in trying to keep his life in his own hands, this was a move completely in line with his character.

In theory, the probability of Taylor actively contacting the King of the Abandoned Prison was indeed quite low.

He had stirred up way too much trouble recently. It had already gotten to the point where he wasn’t allowed to sleep, and Grantham and the others had definitely issued severe warnings forbidding him from carelessly calling out names.

So how exactly had Taylor gotten here—

”And who are you?”

The facts proved he didn’t even need to ask; someone was already helping.

Worthy of being destined rivals, Jiang En hadn’t just heard the question, he had even fired one right back.