Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 176: Secret War (Part 4)
"This is..."
In that instant, everyone, including Lanaya, couldn't help but freeze.
"It is indeed Sword Intent, but the murderous nature is simply too heavy."
After forcing out Fu Qian's reaction, Li Weixuan commented expressionlessly.
"Could you tell me which sword you comprehended?"
*This has absolutely nothing to do with any sword,* Fu Qian thought to himself while suppressing the physical reaction.
"Dean..."
Before he could speak, Jian Jingzheng suddenly stepped forward and whispered something into Li Weixuan's ear.
Almost instantly, the latter's gaze sharpened.
Fu Qian could roughly guess what Jian Jingzheng had said.
Lanaya had already given him the relevant files earlier, and he had naturally read the contents.
Anyone with a bit of imagination could connect the Sword Intent just displayed with the slaughter scene in the Warehouse.
And Ruan Shuo was wearing a mask the entire time.
To think the trap had begun even outside the Academy.
Ruan Shuo's ambush was, on one hand, an attempt to kill him. However, its primary goal was to make Fu Qian look suspicious through such anomalous behavior.
Even his subsequent reactions were within "Its" calculations, instantly doubling the level of suspicion.
By this time, Li Weixuan had taken the documents handed over by Jian Jingzheng. After flipping through them briefly, he frowned and looked at Lanaya.
"A mere Tier 7 student consecutively killed nearly ten Beyonders, including those in the Middle Tier. Isn't this a bit too bizarre?"
"The strength Ruan Shuo displayed indeed far surpassed his own realm."
Lanaya couldn't ignore Li Weixuan's opinion and immediately explained.
"However, we caught Ruan Shuo red-handed at the scene of the crime. At the time, not only had he injured and killed several more people, but he also attempted a sneak attack on Fu Qian. It felt as though his mind had already descended into madness."
"Descended into madness..."
Li Weixuan repeated in a low voice, turning to look at Fu Qian.
"So, instead of fleeing, he chose to ambush you? That is indeed irrationally mad."
"Actually, I am also quite curious as to how Professor Fu knew about Ruan Shuo's next target," Jian Jingzheng interjected from the side.
That was indeed a problem!
Lanaya couldn't help but cast a sidelong glance. Fu Qian's previous explanation was a Swordsman's intuition, which certainly couldn't serve as a valid excuse now.
"In my view, there are many suspicious points regarding this matter. It is not appropriate to jump to conclusions."
Li Weixuan's expression directed at Fu Qian had turned quite hostile.
"If possible, I would like to invite the two of you to come with me to the Committee."
This...
Lanaya looked up. Intuitively, she still leaned towards Fu Qian.
It wasn't that they were particularly close, but from their brief interactions, Fu Qian had left a profoundly striking impression.
He gave off the feeling that even if he wanted to commit murder, he wouldn't bother with such complicated schemes.
However, intuition couldn't be used as evidence, and the current situation was undoubtedly quite unfavorable for Fu Qian.
*Why did you have to strike so ruthlessly!*
Lanaya sighed inwardly. Although she had dealt the final blow, Ruan Shuo's life force had undeniably already been severed at that point.
It should have been a very straightforward situation: the murderer caught in the act. As long as a breath remained, there were plenty of ways to verify the truth.
*What an intricate chain of events!*
Looking at Li Weixuan, whose killing intent was subtly manifesting, Fu Qian sighed emotionally in his heart.
It seemed he had still underestimated "Its" capabilities.
Although his previous intuition suggested it was akin to a wild beast, through the invisible control over the Swarm's members, that entity undoubtedly possessed an extremely high capacity for manipulation. Every casual move formed a flawless trap.
Through just a few simple actions by Li Weixuan and Ruan Shuo, he had been cornered into a position where clearing his suspicion was almost impossible.
The last time he felt this way was when catching the Omen in Xiyuan City.
In fact, it might be even worse this time, because he was already a member of the Swarm.
Directly dealing a lethal blow to Ruan Shuo, leading to a dead end with no witness—his action back then might have very well been influenced by "It."
Looking at Li Weixuan before him, Fu Qian had no doubts about his resolve.
What he just said was less of a suggestion and more of an order.
Under the current circumstances, as long as he was suspected to be the mastermind, his movements would undoubtedly be severely restricted.
Crucially, because of the slaughterous Sword Intent on his body, clearing his name would be nearly impossible.
*What a nuisance!*
"Alright!"
Fu Qian nodded.
There was no other choice in the current situation. Refusing to go would likely result in Li Weixuan attacking directly.
Besides the fact that the Academy was full of experts, it had already been proven before that physical destruction was useless.
However, as venomous as this trap was, there was one thing "It" had failed to realize.
Earlier, in order to destroy his sanity, "It" had subjected him to a frantic bombardment of Sword Intent. It was extremely painful, yes, but it also allowed him to reap some gains.
For instance, every shift in the Sword Intent represented a process of the old giving way to the new. After experiencing it thousands of times, Fu Qian had faintly grasped something.
As someone who had never used a sword, the Sword Intent had been forcefully instilled into him; the integration wasn't that tight.
If "It" could instill it into him, he might be able to strip it away in reverse.
As long as they arrived at the Academy and no slaughterous Sword Intent could be found on his body, the matter would be much easier to handle.
"Then let us go immediately."
Seeing Fu Qian agree, Li Weixuan didn't hesitate and motioned for Lanaya to set off. Even Jian Jingzheng followed closely behind.
Walking in the middle, Fu Qian glanced back and saw Lanaya's gaze, which was a mixture of worry and relief.
*Was she worried I wouldn't cooperate and just start a fight? It seems I left quite a deep impression earlier!*
Fu Qian chuckled inwardly and began attempting to strip the Sword Intent from his body.
Almost instantly, he felt the fusion loosen.
*Wait a minute!*
Just as he was about to proceed further, Fu Qian came to a halt.
*Something's wrong! There's a problem with "me"!*
He looked at Lanaya again, realizing what he had overlooked.
Lanaya's reaction just now was undoubtedly rooted in her perception of his personality.
Because in her view, faced with such accusations, even if he were innocent, he would very likely refuse to cooperate.
This stereotype stemmed from his previous behavior, and it was actually very accurate.
But when he was questioned just now, his first reaction was to clear himself of suspicion. This was inconsistent with his usual self!
Every event that had happened recently flashed rapidly through Fu Qian's mind, and he realized "Its" true objective.
The trap "It" had designed wasn't meant to make him unable to wash away his suspicion even if he jumped into the Yellow River, but to make him voluntarily detach from the Sword Intent!
Judging from its previous performance, "It" could bombard him with an overwhelming stream of Sword Intent, but it couldn't sever the connection once established.
This connection was extremely solid—unless he initiated the severance himself.
By forcing him into a conventional dead end through multiple factors, and then deliberately showing a slight flaw, "It" let him master the method to detach from the Sword Intent.
If his guess was right, had he just put in a little more effort a moment ago, "It" would have happily taken back the Sword Intent instilled in him.
Once detached from the Swarm, he would lose his threat against "It."
At that time, he would directly face the same situation as last time, resulting in certain death.
Stripping away the Sword Intent meant losing his threat. He had completely failed to realize such an obvious problem just now.
Sure enough, "It" could distort the cognition of every individual within the Swarm to a certain extent, including himself.
Fortunately, he had chosen to act like a real tough guy, leaving a profound impression on Lanaya.
"That's right, I killed him."
Fu Qian suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Comments
Post a Comment