Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 40: That's Right, I Killed Him
Huang Zhaoyan's shout changed the way everyone looked at Fu Qian.
Didn't you say you found nothing? You couldn't have been lazy and just ran straight over, right?
I indeed was lazy and came straight over; there are naturally other people to do that kind of useless work.
Facing the numerous questioning gazes, Fu Qian was completely at ease, without any psychological burden.
Seeing Huang Zhaoyan run over amidst everyone's expectant gazes.
"Where?"
Li Weixuan still possessed the demeanor of a great general; there was only a slight hint of excitement in his tone.
"Over there, it takes about fifteen minutes."
Huang Zhaoyan pointed back.
"I found a corpse."
...
A corpse?
Including Li Weixuan, everyone's eyes dimmed once more, and morale dropped by another 99 points.
Huang Zhaoyan hadn't yet realized the misunderstanding caused by his words just now.
"A very bizarre corpse. I think you should go take a look."
Sure enough, he didn't report him, and even from beginning to end, didn't look at his face.
Fu Qian sighed inwardly. Don't be so guilty!
"Then let's go take a look."
Li Weixuan inhaled a breath and hurried the seated group up.
Having a discovery was always a good thing; at least they could find a clue.
When the group arrived, they stared blankly at the assassin's corpse for a long time.
For no other reason than it was simply too strange.
The twisting of the assassin's corpse was now even more severe than before. The two arms were almost about to come off, only attached by the last threads of flesh and tendon.
Ugh!
Fu Qian once again heard someone dry heaving.
"It is indeed strange. He should have died not long ago, but the state of this corpse is very unnatural. Is it related to the special environment in here?"
Li Weixuan frowned, similarly failing to understand the scene before him.
Then he suddenly thought of something and turned to face Fu Qian.
"On your way here, did you not discover this corpse?"
Fu Qian glanced at Huang Zhaoyan, who subconsciously shifted his gaze away.
"Of course I did."
He nodded, and the whole group was taken aback.
"Then how come we didn't hear you mention it?"
"What's there to mention?"
Fu Qian showed a look of astonishment, putting on a face that suggested they were making too much of a fuss.
"I was the one who killed him in the first place."
Indeed, whatever you say, it's just a strange corpse, not a way out—wait a minute, what did you say!
Everyone jumped in fright, looking at Fu Qian in disbelief.
"You're saying... you killed him?"
This time, even Li Weixuan let out an "ah," losing his composure.
"Yeah. When I came out to scout earlier, I was attacked by this guy, so I killed him along the way."
Fu Qian's tone sounded as if he was talking about casually tossing out some trash while running an errand.
"Just to declare, that guy made the first move. I was acting completely in self-defense."
"Do you know who he was?"
"I don't know him."
Fu Qian shook his head, noticing that Huang Zhaoyan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"He just stalked me for a bit before suddenly jumping out to say he was going to kill me, and even told me to run faster."
"He told you he was going to kill you, and told you to run faster?"
"Yeah! He even reminded me to fire the Arrow Bell and call for backup."
...
Li Weixuan's gaze grew sharp.
To kill a person, yet actually remind the other party to seek help.
The earlier actions could somewhat be explained, but this was completely unreasonable.
Li Weixuan subconsciously swept his gaze backward, realizing that the problem wasn't that simple.
He wasn't the kind of martial arts fanatic who didn't understand the ways of the world. In almost an instant, he made many associations.
The assassin's true target was someone else. Targeting Fu Qian was nothing but luring the tiger away from the mountain.
On an exploration mission led by him, someone actually dared to come and do this kind of thing. Do they really think his temper is too good!
Once they got out, this matter absolutely had to be clarified, otherwise where would the prestige of The Academy be?
"Check his belongings."
Li Weixuan gave the instruction, and then took a deep look at Fu Qian.
"Don't worry, after we get out, I will give you an explanation."
This student might have many secrets on him, but no one would tell such a boring lie to bring trouble upon themselves.
"It doesn't matter, this guy was incredibly weak."
Fu Qian wore a look of understatement.
"So to say, his time of death was very recent."
Li Weixuan's attention then returned to the corpse.
"Then it becoming like this is quite strange."
"It is indeed very strange. I already have a theory about this, and classmate Ji Liushuang happens to share the same view. We exchanged some thoughts."
Fu Qian spoke with a tone that implied an existing tacit understanding with Ji Liushuang.
He didn't want everything to be proposed by him; that would truly be too suspicious.
He happened to have exchanged thoughts with Ji Liushuang, so having this beloved disciple of The Academy come out to endorse him couldn't be more appropriate.
Ji Liushuang was currently frowning in thought. Hearing Fu Qian call her name, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
"Liushuang, you have thoughts on this?"
Fu Qian's words took Li Weixuan somewhat by surprise.
"I do have a bit of speculation. It feels like it might be related to this place."
Although a bit puzzled as to why Fu Qian pushed her out, Ji Liushuang nodded and stated her deduction.
"Think carefully. Since we entered here, we haven't seen a single living creature. The only corpse is the assassin who tracked us here. For a place that one can enter but not leave, isn't this a bit bizarre?"
"And from entering here until now, we have encountered two types of monsters: one made of black hair, and one palm monster composed of arms. They are all related to the human body.
"So I wondered if there was a possibility that under the influence of some special power in the ruins, the corpses of all creatures that strayed in here aggregated together in a special form after death, becoming those things?"
This...
Ji Liushuang's words clearly sparked a strong reaction. A considerable commotion arose within the crowd.
"If that's really the case, could this place actually be alive?"
"After we die, we'll be digested in this strange way?"
"Not only can we not get out, but we'll even turn into that kind of palm monster then?"
"This is way too disgusting!"
...
Seeing the chaotic mess, Li Weixuan extended his hand, signaling everyone to calm down.
He frowned. If that was truly the case, this place was extremely demonic.
"I actually think this is a good thing."
A good thing?
At this, everyone was astonished. Even Ji Liushuang looked at Fu Qian in horror.
How could this be a good thing? To satisfy your morbid curiosity?
Fu Qian pointed to the corpse on the ground.
"Have you ever thought about what it means for his body to be missing so many things?"
What does it mean?
What else could it mean besides being bizarre and bloody?
"Up until now, we've seen hair and arms, but we haven't seen any blood..."
Fu Qian counted on his fingers.
"This means..."
He pointed toward the depths of the ruins.
"Deep inside the ruins, there is a special resting place, the place where these things go."
"No matter what form it exists in, it might be fraught with danger, but it's always better than here where there's not a single crack to slip through."
"So I think we should head inside to take a look."
Comments
Post a Comment