Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 4: Seeking Counsel
Having just caught his breath, Fu Qian immediately realized something was wrong.
So hot!
His body felt like a candle inside an oven, a sensation that he was about to melt at any moment.
No, he was *already* melting.
In just that short span of time, every cell in his body began to grow restless, struggling to break free from its restraints.
His muscles started to writhe uncontrollably, and his body felt as though it was on the verge of disintegrating.
Fu Qian looked up at the flowerbeds ahead; within the mercury-like river formed by the petals, it looked as if countless moons were flowing.
Innumerable bright flares were reflecting back onto his body.
There was a problem with the moonlight?
It wasn't obvious before, but these petals were focusing moonlight—amplified countless times over—directly onto him, bringing out its horrific effects.
Fu Qian quickly made a judgment.
By this point, things were already sprouting from his arms.
They were several twitching tendrils of flesh, twisting and swelling rapidly.
Birthing an alien?
Fu Qian wasn't intimidated by the sight before him; instead, he grabbed one of the tendrils and yanked it hard.
A sharp pain shot through him as the flesh tendril was torn off forcefully.
However, more tendrils popped out in no time, and soon his entire arm was completely deformed.
It was hopeless!
Fu Qian decisively gave up on clearing them. Instead, he focused his mind on the endlessly growing tentacles and discovered he could even manipulate them to sway slightly.
These things were rapidly burning through his life force. It wouldn't be long before he turned into a twisted pile of rotting flesh.
He couldn't stay here!
Fu Qian quickly scanned his surroundings. Regrettably, he didn't find any exits, so he spun around and bolted back.
Yet, even with such a rapid reaction time, before he could retreat inside the stone doors, both his legs had completely melted and deformed, even beginning to fuse with the ground.
Struggling back into the courtyard, he could no longer maintain his balance and face-planted onto the dirt.
This undoubtedly disturbed the werewolf inside the gate.
With a howl, a dark shadow lunged forward without hesitation.
[Containment Failed. Survival Time: 25 minutes]
He had thought the werewolf wouldn't be interested in him after he turned into a slime-like form; he didn't expect the opponent to not be a picky eater at all.
Inside the Warehouse, Fu Qian recalled the scene of the werewolf feasting on him, the crisp chewing sounds echoing in his ears.
The situation was far from good!
The flowers in the garden were clearly uncanny. The critical issue was that, given the speed of the mutation, he had absolutely no time to destroy them.
If he couldn't destroy them, he definitely couldn't stay in the garden. Even if he slowed down all the previous steps to their absolute limits, it was impossible to stall for an entire hour.
It was a dead end at every turn!
How does the saying go? All dead ends stem from a lack of power.
If he could kick over the Old Man with one foot and punch the werewolf to death with two fists, he would have found life in every dead end a long time ago!
Fu Qian remained undiscouraged. Instead, he smacked his head to free up his thinking.
Setting aside whether it was possible or not, if he really had to pick one to kill, who would he choose?
The Old Man's cunning and strength seemed unfathomable. The werewolf felt a bit more manageable; at least it appeared to have average intelligence.
So here came the problem.
For a guy like this—one size larger than him, vastly superior in strength and speed, and exceptionally quick to react—what kind of martial arts could he use to kill it?
Fu Qian silently took off his Work Badge and returned home from the Warehouse.
Quickly firing up his computer, Fu Qian pondered for a moment and typed in a search.
[How to 1v1 an adult tiger, bare-handed?]
He sifted through the search results, reading them one by one.
"People's physiques cannot be lumped together. I once, in a state of extreme anger..."
"1v1ing a tiger, it's very simple..."
"First, you need to be very strong... don't panic... don't turn your back to it..."
"Stare into the tiger's eyes. When it pounces, go straight into a Sliding Tackle..."
"...Tackle it a few more times, and the tiger will die from being overstuffed by you."
Amidst the screen full of wild, nonsensical internet bravado, one particular piece of content caught his eye.
Sliding Tackle...
This idea... is somewhat interesting.
[Sanity Value -1. Entering Containment Scene]
Fu Qian entered the Full Moon Garden for the 8th time.
Persuade with reason, get up, exit the room, take cover—same as before.
Fu Qian opened the garden door as usual.
But this time, he didn't cross the threshold; he only stuck his two hands outside.
The specks of flares reflected by the petals instantly illuminated his hands brilliantly.
Soon, tentacle-like fleshy tendrils sprouted out.
Excellent!
Fu Qian pulled his arms back and turned his head.
Under the moonlight, the werewolf had already stood up, facing his direction straight on without making a single sound.
This damn sense of oppression!
Killing this guy was the only possible way to complete the mission.
Fu Qian stared at it coldly, unblinking.
He didn't have to wait long. With a mournful howl, the moonlit werewolf leaped high into the air and lunged forward like a bolt of black lightning.
Don't turn your back to it... stare into its eyes...
Fu Qian took a deep breath, advancing instead of retreating.
After dashing two steps toward the werewolf, he dropped flat and slid right under its belly.
Secret Technique—Internet Forum Ultimate Art—Sliding Tackle!
Slipping past the werewolf's maw full of ghastly white fangs, Fu Qian forcefully shoved his arm—swollen to the point of being almost unrecognizable—straight into its mouth.
A wave of agonizing pain hit him. The werewolf clamped its fangs shut almost immediately, and Fu Qian felt as if his arm had been bitten in two.
That's it!
Fu Qian tightly wrapped his other arm around the werewolf's neck to prevent himself from falling.
Meanwhile, on the arm inside the werewolf's mouth, every single fleshy tendril was growing frantically according to his will.
The tendrils extended all the way down the werewolf's mouth and esophagus. Fu Qian controlled them to tear at everything they encountered, deeply intertwining with the opponent's internal organs.
What was that idiom again—deeply touching the heart and lungs?
The next moment, Fu Qian used every ounce of his strength to grab onto anything he could inside and frantically yanked outward.
A horrific howl ripped out of the werewolf's mouth.
Under this "deeply touching" assault, it completely lost control of its movements, frantically thrashing and destroying everything in its surroundings.
However, relying on his already deformed arm, Fu Qian pressed himself tightly against its chest and neck—the blind spot of its claws' attacks.
Eventually, by the time the entire courtyard had been reduced to near-ruin, the werewolf completely collapsed.
Crawling out from under the werewolf's corpse with great difficulty, Fu Qian impassively tore off the last remaining piece of skin and flesh on his left hand.
"A Sliding Tackle, then stuff it to death."
The forum bro's idea actually worked.
Finishing his sigh, Fu Qian plopped down onto the dirt, panting heavily.
The sensation of his cells rebelling was creeping up his arm bit by bit.
Fortunately, the speed wasn't too fast; he should be able to hold out for an hour.
Unless *that guy* made a move.
Fu Qian looked up and found that the Old Man from inside the cabin had somehow arrived in the courtyard.
The Old Man had put away his sickle and was staring at him with a strange expression.
After a long while, the other party nodded.
"Very impressive!"
"Your fighting style is unforgettable!"
"Facing such a monster, what made you think of fighting back, let alone killing it?"
As long as he was just here to chat nonsense, that was fine.
Seeing the time ticking closer to the one-hour mark, Fu Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I see you really don't understand..."
"To a true gamer, as long as it has a health bar, we'll even kill a god for you to see."
...
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Post a Comment