Chapter 2289: Chapter 2284: Throwing Oneself into the Trap

No wonder shutting yourself in to build a cart is no good; even if you’ve read ten thousand books, you still have to walk ten thousand miles.

Once you actually experience it in person, everything suddenly becomes much easier to understand.

Even though, in theory, the scene behind the door is actually a bit abstract—the stairs are somehow going upwards.

Just like I said before, the biggest thing about this door is its symbolic meaning.

Once you’ve chosen to push it open yourself, with all these elements mixing together, there’s not much need to follow boring rules; the intent comes before the form.

Since that’s the case, might as well properly savor the main idea the book wants to express.

Ignoring that nasty smell, Fu Qian simply stepped straight into the sound of sobbing.

"Heh... haha..."

And without the slightest warning, in that instant the sobbing turned into a neurotic laugh.

...

So is this a stress reaction, or just pure coincidence?

With the sudden change, Fu Qian’s steps still didn’t stop.

Looking around as he walked, he even didn’t forget to be curious about the cause of this shift.

On one hand, the switch between the two sounds was completely without warning; on the other, the laughter right now was just as infectious, making you feel an urge to tear the whole world apart.

That’s right, even though she was laughing, the emotional instability hadn’t lessened; if anything it had gotten worse, practically reaching the stage where darkness invades the heart and you fall into demonhood.

But it was still the same person, the same young woman.

What a pity, the book wasn’t just stream-of-consciousness, it was also obviously missing a huge chunk.

So not only did I never flip to her name, I didn’t even flip to any mention of this particular mental state.

And up to this moment, no one had come out to greet me and help with an introduction or commentary or anything.

...

For Lady Nepheli to have invited me so earnestly, only to be this negligent now, does feel a bit unreasonable.

But it’s fine, reading is a very subjective thing to begin with.

Given everyone’s different stances and experiences, it’s easy to end up with different interpretations.

Not to mention Lady Nepheli had already given me her reading notes—

I distinctly remember, when she gave me this eyeball back then, she’d introduced its origin—a relic left behind after a certain noble person was executed.

Consumed by regret and pain, the Queen stubbornly wanted to witness her own dismemberment, and in the end this pair of eyes full of resentment was born.

And besides the fact that the one making the sound was definitely a young woman, this place itself was actually looking more and more luxurious and refined.

He’d already finished climbing the upward stairs; judging by normal sense of distance and spatial position, Fu Qian reckoned he ought to be standing in air higher than the second-floor bedroom.

Yet the building before his eyes was not only towering and grand, it even had quite a retro style.

Add the inescapably lavish decorations, and you could say it matched the title of "Executioner" more and more.

So this isn’t just a communication device, it even comes with a projection function?

When her call to me went unanswered, did Lady Nepheli trigger the ancient residual resentment inside it?

It did sound pretty coherent, but everything has to have a purpose.

Lady Nepheli shouldn’t be petty enough to play this kind of childish retaliation just because I didn’t pick up—or is the not-so-childish retaliation still to come?

At that moment Fu Qian halted and looked up.

On the arched dome, besides the glittering golden patterns, there were even paintings.

And the artist’s skill was so superb that, after fully taking into account angles and changes of light and shadow, the figure in the painting was rendered so vividly that the eyeballs densely covering its body seemed to really be staring this way.

Without a doubt, despite the superb craftsmanship, the subject matter was a bit on the grotesque side.

This wasn’t some conventional Angel Sanctuary motif; at a glance it was far more stirring.

What bloomed warmly in the background was not brilliant holy radiance, but a blood-like scarlet.

So rich it felt ready to drip at any moment, yet with a sky-like clarity, it set off the coiled figure in the center as though it were gazing down from some distant cosmos.

The figure even looked a bit familiar, spider-like in shape, covered in eyes, with a huge abdomen completely out of proportion to the legs beneath it.

Rom?

Fu Qian recalled seeing a similar image back in Dunis—it was the very object of worship of that particular circle of mysticism enthusiasts, suspected to be the source of the Curse.

And in the end all the facts had pointed to a Superior Being named Rom.

He’d even had quite a few interactions with that one in other places.

So does Lord Rom actually look like this?

Honestly, in terms of image management this was pretty much the worst among all the Superior Beings he knew, enough to make you wonder whether, back in the Mythic Era, this thing could even attract believers.

Could this be an extra motivation behind wanting to swap into Ship-God Hamadus’s body?

Even as he silently dissed, the power of a Superior Being was fully on display.

As if it had heard this curiosity, the hazy red expanse suddenly grew even more dazzling in the next second.

Even Lord Rom’s body was lit up as if stained with blood—drip.

Real blood.

Though it didn’t fall directly onto Fu Qian’s head, at that moment a single crimson droplet truly did fall from above.

Waaah—

And the instant it shattered on the floor, a tender infant’s wail sounded in sync.

...

Order of Blood? So it really is Lord Rom?

That feeling of déjà vu was easily caught by Fu Qian at that moment.

He’d already found this shade of red extremely familiar earlier; now, layered with this crying, it was hard not to think of his Reminiscence Record experience back in the Em House Palace.

Back then the storeroom had already confirmed that the actions of Luyi, a core member of the Native Council, had Rom’s authority behind them.

With all these elements combined, this not only looked exactly like a personal descent of that Superior Being, it even felt distinctly unfriendly toward him.

So have I been a little too reckless?

Was this actually a trap set specifically for the overconfident?

Answering the call would just be walking right into the snare?

Though Lord Rom hadn’t made any further moves yet, everything about this felt like he’d stepped into Its domain; every extra second he lingered, the danger level ticked up another notch.

Reflecting on his conduct in silence, Fu Qian’s expression remained calm.

Facing the fine patter of blood-rain, he threaded his way through with such subtle precision that not a single drop touched him.

At the same time, he showed no intention of retreating, still locked onto the direction the "Executioner’s" voice was coming from.

Click!

And at a certain moment, with the sound of another door opening, that voice suddenly grew clearer—and more cheerful.

Yes, even though within the vast space beyond the door the floor was covered in searing scarlet, the chaos and gore unprecedented,

the figure hanging in the middle of it all by her hands, the one whose mouth the sounds were coming from, seemed already to be brimming with savage delight.

"Welcome."

And right beside her, the old acquaintance Luyi, who had just flashed through his mind a moment ago, was already looking over as if he’d been waiting for some time.

"Pleasure to meet you."

With a casual pleasantry, Fu Qian’s gaze stayed on the tortured woman.

That face... Nepheli?

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