Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 39: Bizarre Disintegration
The entire area of The Furnace ruins was even larger than imagined.
Fu Qian followed behind the group, casually observing his surroundings.
He didn't hold much hope of finding some loophole to slip through, but he understood the intention behind Li Weixuan's arrangement.
Firstly, in such a desperate situation, no matter how low the probability, one couldn't just casually give up hope; trying was still necessary.
Secondly, letting everyone personally take a lap to confirm their current predicament could save a lot of breath trying to explain.
The newly added Huang Zhaoyan in the team obviously didn't get along with Yuan Xin and his group. Although they didn't dare start any direct conflicts under Li Weixuan's warning, they traded verbal jabs along the way, neither yielding to the other.
Unexpectedly, Ji Liushuang actually acted as a mediator between the two.
It went without saying for Yuan Xin, while Huang Zhaoyan also put on a look of 'for your sake, I won't stoop to his level.'
Looking at this harmonious scene, it was hard to imagine that he would be the one to secretly find someone to kill Ji Liushuang.
From the words exchanged between the three and the surrounding people, Fu Qian got the gist that they all hailed from powerful, aristocratic families.
Different from newly risen nouveau riche families like Wen Li's, and even incomparable to people like Young Master Ye, they were proper Beyonder aristocratic families with legacies spanning over a hundred years.
They even had quite some history between them. As for whether it was a good bond or bad blood, that was hard to say.
As for Ji Liushuang and the other few, they were all outstanding figures among the youths of their generation, chosen and sent to The Academy to become classmates.
What a complicated set of interpersonal relationships!
Fu Qian had no interest whatsoever in the grievances between the three. To him, the only important thing was completing the mission and getting out of here.
How these three liked to ally and conspire was their business, but if they got in his way because of it, he wouldn't mind finishing them all off together.
At the beginning, the group was still very focused on searching for flaws in the barrier, afraid of missing any possibility of escape.
However, they quickly lost their enthusiasm. Feelings of despair began to spread, leaving only mechanical knocking and tapping.
After marching continuously for a while, the group was finally exhausted physically and mentally, and decided to stop and rest for a bit.
Fu Qian had no objections to this, and after the group sat down, he stated that he wasn't tired and would go ahead first.
"Vice Dean Li told us to act together."
Yuan Xin stared at Fu Qian with a solemn face.
"I know, you can follow me."
"Everyone needs to rest."
"So you're saying you can't keep up?"
"...Why should we follow you?"
"Maybe—"
Fu Qian blinked.
"Because I'm Tier 6?"
"You can slowly trail behind. I don't mind being held back."
"You..."
Yuan Xin's body trembled with anger, but it was the truth, and he was completely unable to refute it.
You see, this was the advantage of a world where might makes right; a bigger fist was enough to crush others.
Fu Qian turned around in satisfaction, and under everyone's complicated gazes, set out alone.
If he remembered correctly, not far ahead should be assassin bro's burial spot.
He had something he needed to confirm.
However, Fu Qian hadn't gone far when he realized there was an extra person behind him.
Huang Zhaoyan actually hadn't stopped to rest either, but was cautiously tailing behind him.
Did this guy notice something unusual? Or did he come out to rendezvous with assassin bro?
Both should be possible. After all, if they were truly all trapped inside, they would run into him sooner or later. If the secret was exposed then, it would be very awkward.
But no matter the reason, he came at a good time!
Fu Qian didn't mind having an extra tail in the slightest. He minded his own business and walked all the way, quickly finding the place where he had disposed of the corpse.
Without any hesitation, he directly lifted the stone slab he had pressed over the body.
Hss!
Although he had anticipated it, the scene before him still made him feel a profound sense of wonder.
Assassin bro, who had only been dead for a short while, had already turned into a mummified corpse.
His entire body from top to bottom was shriveled like firewood, without a single drop of blood to be seen.
Even more bizarre, the hair on his head, which had already been sparse, was now completely gone without a trace, not a single strand remaining.
Not only that, the entire desiccated body, from top to bottom, looked like a melted wax statue, presenting a weirdly twisted posture, with some parts bizarrely elongated.
For instance, at the two shoulders, the skin there had been stretched to the point of being nearly transparent, as if the two arms were about to detach from the body.
It really is The Furnace!
Fu Qian secretly sighed. This place was truly sinister to the extreme.
His previous speculation was indeed correct. All creatures that entered here and died were dissociated under a special rule, and then aggregated into the forms of monsters like hair or palms.
If he saw a block of blood tofu or something similar later on somewhere, Fu Qian wouldn't be surprised at all.
After observing it meticulously, Fu Qian directly strode away from the scene.
This time, he didn't cover it back up with the stone slab, but tossed it aside directly, completely unconcerned about it being discovered.
Fu Qian was quite clear that Huang Zhaoyan was secretly observing from behind some building not far away. He was very curious about this gentleman's reaction upon seeing the corpse.
The truth proved that Huang Zhaoyan, who quietly crept up to the corpse as soon as he left, stood rooted to the spot in a daze for several minutes.
This guy's suspicion really isn't small, Fu Qian, who was watching from the sidelines, nodded secretly.
What he did just now couldn't have been more obvious. He basically headed straight for the stone slab and dug out the corpse. Even a fool could guess that the person's death was related to him.
And he had directly shown the corpse to his face.
If he had a guilty conscience, then he would 100% think that Fu Qian knew something and was deliberately putting on a show for him.
Later when they met Li Weixuan, if this guy made it public that he was the one who dug up the corpse, that would be considered normal.
But if he concealed this part and didn't mention it, then there was a 99% chance that he was the one who sent the assassin.
Of course, if he was stupid enough to think the matter was exposed and wanted to kill to silence him, Fu Qian wouldn't mind finishing him off either.
After all, theoretically speaking, his planned arrangements caused him to be targeted by a Beyonder assassin, even to the point of wanting him dead.
He who kills will forever be killed.
Fu Qian suddenly looked forward to that scene a little.
Regrettably, Fu Qian waited a while, and Huang Zhaoyan still stood staring blankly in place, causing him to leave in deep disappointment.
He hadn't walked far when Fu Qian encountered Li Weixuan and his group, who had very poor expressions.
The morale of this team was obviously almost completely depleted. Without asking, it was certain they hadn't gained anything.
"Where are the others?"
Li Weixuan looked at the solitary Fu Qian and frowned.
"They needed to rest. I came ahead to scout the path."
Fu Qian looked completely at ease.
Li Weixuan was clearly in a bad mood, and didn't have the energy to pursue Fu Qian's minor infraction.
"Did you find any place that allows entry or exit?"
"No."
The somewhat expectant gazes of the group dimmed again.
Li Weixuan obviously hadn't held much hope either. He nodded, signaling Fu Qian to fall in, and ordered everyone to rest on the spot.
Waiting like this for a while, they saw a large group of people marching over from afar.
The person at the lead had long flowing hair and elegant footwork. Before even arriving, he shouted loudly.
"Vice Dean Li, we found something!"
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