Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 38: Path to Survival
The first student who couldn't hold it in instantly triggered a chain reaction. For a while, the sound of vomiting echoed endlessly.
The main culprit, Fu Qian, stood to the side expressionlessly, looking at the "finger-hand" on the ground deep in thought.
"What we encountered last time was hair."
Ji Liushuang leaned in close to Fu Qian and whispered.
Earlier, she had merely dry heaved a few times and hadn't actually thrown up, but her face was still pale right now.
However, a beauty was a beauty. Even so, her charm hadn't diminished in the slightest; instead, it added a hint of pitiful endearment.
Fu Qian nodded.
"It's highly likely."
He knew what Ji Liushuang wanted to say.
Hair, arms—they were all body parts.
In fact, from the very beginning, Fu Qian felt there was a high probability that these things came from real human bodies.
Judging from the architecture in the ruins, this place had undoubtedly existed for many years.
Even if this place was extremely desolate, it was unlikely that absolutely no one had wandered in for such a long time.
And the characteristic of being able to enter but not exit dictated that the things inside would only accumulate more and more.
However, despite having entered the ruins for so long, not a single normal living creature had been seen.
Although it could be explained that all humans or animals that entered had already been trapped to death, the fact that they hadn't seen any corpses either made it somewhat bizarre.
As for the two types of monsters that had appeared, their designs made it hard for one's imagination not to run wild.
Ji Liushuang had realized this point, feeling they might be related to the people who had wandered in here in the past.
Actually, as early as when he saw that clump of hair, Fu Qian already had a similar speculation.
Because he remembered very clearly that the containment condition for 1-003, the Angel of Tranquility, was to "escape The Furnace."
The Furnace undoubtedly referred to the entire ruin within the barrier, but this name was very intriguing.
Just like The Furnace used for refining, except the targets weren't minerals, but the creatures that stumbled inside?
If this speculation was true, it could explain some of the situations they were currently encountering.
In fact, Fu Qian had already arranged a method to verify this.
As he lowered his head in thought, Fu Qian sensed a rather unfriendly gaze looking his way.
Looking up, it turned out to be the usually very proactive Yuan Xin staring at him, with a trace of unhappiness in his eyes.
Hmm...
Fu Qian spent half a second to figure out the reason.
Even a blind man could see that Yuan Xin was quite attentive toward Ji Liushuang.
Originally, as the two pillars of strength in the team, they also communicated quite a bit. Some issues were practically discussed and decided by the two of them.
Now that Ji Liushuang suddenly came to talk to him, did it make Yuan Xin mind, or feel left out?
Especially since he, a formerly marginalized figure, had just received an official Tier 6 certification.
It was understandable that he would have that kind of look.
But understanding aside, Fu Qian had absolutely no interest in accommodating this kind of hostility toward all "potential competitors" brought about by the arrival of mating season.
It was fine for people to be influenced by hormones, but ambitious young men should learn self-regulation, not to mention this guy looked a few years older than him.
Thus, Fu Qian had absolutely no thought of keeping a distance. He composedly continued to exchange a few words with Ji Liushuang.
At this time, sounds came from not far away. A group of people came rushing over—it was the third team arriving.
1, 2, 3, 4...
Fu Qian glanced over. This team still had a complete roster, and there was nothing unusual on them. It seemed their luck was quite good; they hadn't encountered an ambush.
Running at the very front of the team was a young man with long hair. At first glance, he looked extremely frail, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. But he moved nimbly, navigating the rugged path as if walking on flat ground.
"Vice Dean Li!"
The newcomer came to a halt, his gaze sweeping through the crowd. When he saw Li Weixuan, he decisively greeted him.
Fu Qian, however, keenly noticed that this guy was visibly stunned when he saw Ji Liushuang.
This person seemed very surprised that Ji Liushuang would be here...
If he remembered correctly, the signal sent to the third team just now was also using the Arrow Bell... Did he misunderstand something?
Fu Qian seemed to know who called that assassin.
Upon seeing the signal, this guy probably thought the assassin had succeeded and hurriedly rushed over to confirm, only to find Ji Liushuang standing there perfectly fine, which led to that surprised reaction.
If his guess was true, it was really hard to imagine exactly what kind of deep-seated hatred would prompt one to send an assassin directly after a classmate.
Of course, it was even more impossible for this guy to imagine where the assassin he arranged had gone now, and why they had delayed making a move.
Women were quite sensitive to the gazes of others. Ji Liushuang also seemed to notice that the other party was looking at her a bit strangely, though she definitely wouldn't be able to figure out the reason.
"Vice Dean Li, suddenly firing Arrow Bells repeatedly, did something happen?"
The long-haired young man looked at Li Weixuan with some confusion.
"The operation is canceled. From now on, no one is allowed to act without authorization."
Li Weixuan looked at the students gathered together.
These were all The Academy's treasures, practically assembling the elite of this stage.
"There are potential dangers inside these ruins. Two teams have been attacked successively, and two students have already sacrificed their lives."
"And that is not even the worst news at present."
As the group sucked in a breath of cold air, Li Weixuan added another sentence.
Very quickly, Li Weixuan explained the matter of the barrier to the members of the third team and proposed his plan.
"Next, I want you to split into two teams."
He made a gesture.
"So far, the outskirts of the ruins seem relatively safe. You will scout along the edge of the barrier in two directions, to confirm if there are any unseen gaps, and to get a general understanding of the overall terrain of the ruins."
"If unfortunately this barrier is truly impenetrable, then we should eventually converge at a single point."
Quickly, under Li Weixuan's lead, the group arrived at the edge of the barrier.
"All the wounded will be in a team with me, the rest of you will form another team. If you encounter a threat you cannot handle, send a signal immediately."
After Li Weixuan finished the arrangements, the long-haired youth walked over with a smile.
"You better not get in the way later."
Yuan Xin obviously didn't welcome him, and coupled with his already poor mood, he spoke very impolitely.
"Don't worry, when you're going to throw your life away, I definitely won't get in the way."
The long-haired youth named Huang Zhaoyan wasn't afraid of him, just sneering repeatedly.
It was apparent that the two probably didn't get along well normally.
"This is a life-and-death moment. I do not wish to see any conflict within the team. Otherwise, no matter what your status or position is outside, I will not hold back in the slightest."
Li Weixuan looked at Yuan Xin and the others with a cold face, saying something bearing a heavy tone of warning.
This peak Stage Four was clearly in a very bad mood, and murderous intent was already faintly seeping from his body.
No matter how much Yuan Xin and Huang Zhaoyan disliked each other, in this situation, they didn't dare butt heads anymore, honestly nodding and saying yes.
Sincere thanks to every book friend for your support. I am very happy that this book can bring joy to everyone; currently keeping my head down and paying back debts.
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