Chapter 660: Chapter 658: The Old Path (18)_1 Chapter 660: Chapter 658: The Old Path (18)_1 This line she had once uttered herself, now heard in Fran’s ears, sent her soul scattering and her spirit flying in terror.
At the same time, the sound of the hinge being pulled came through, and one could almost imagine the spikes inching closer to one’s body, about to be pierced at any moment.
“Stop joking around!”
In less than half a second, Fran’s voice turned into a scream.
Why was this happening? Could this guy be the hidden Mysterious Killer?
Did he do all these things? Why would he do this?
But Kateman and Lei were together when Jessica disappeared, he indeed was by himself in the room…
He always seemed calm and unhurried, as if the emotion of fear did not exist…
Chief Jones seemed to be very guarded against him…
It was his first time here, yet he seemed to know a lot of information…
When she had wanted to come back just now, he had readily agreed without hesitation…
“What exactly do you want to do?”
As numerous thoughts whirled through her mind, Fran couldn’t help but scream again.
Regrettably, the response to her was still the cold sound of the hinge.
After making the judgement, Fu Qian didn’t respond anymore.
And the silent terror that came brought a pressure that was suffocating.
Soon, Fran found that she could barely utter a scream, and her body was so stiff she couldn’t move.
…
If it really was as she thought–
At this moment in the basement, Fu Qian looked at the Iron Maiden with an expressionless face, idly swinging the chain in his hand.
From the beginning until now, all the encounters seemed to suggest the existence of a mysterious person.
He was ubiquitous and omnipotent.
Even the experienced Chief Jones, who had started with disdain, now deeply believed in it and had set traps specifically.
But what if this person didn’t exist?
There is a saying, “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.”
What would happen if one were to take a person who is so perfectly hidden, never seen, existing only in conjecture and deduction, and simply discard him from the equation?
The timid Harold had a bad relationship with his wife, and then his wife died…
The vacationing student Lei hit someone with his car, then the body couldn’t be found at the scene, and he got out of trouble…
In the old house, the most timid Jessica disappeared alone, seemingly passing through a dark passage, without a trace…
After being suspected by Jones, Harold fell off a bridge, and although he did not admit anything, he had almost cleared himself of the suspicion of murder…
In all these events, there seemed to be one consistent point–there were motives, but not enough ability.
Whether it was murder, escape, or clearing suspicion, these people might all want to do it but seemed beyond their capacities without professional help.
But what if at some moment, they “transcended” themselves?
Like suddenly transforming into Superman, empowered by Divine Beings, meaning things previously impossible suddenly became easy?
This was just a conjecture, and Fu Qian wasn’t sure of the reason why.
But regarding how to verify it, he had an existing method.
If the assumption was true, then from the prior situations, this kind of self-transcendence seemed to only occur under immense threat and intense emotion.
And this Iron Maiden was something even the tough guy Kateman didn’t dare to enter and try, let alone Fran.
After everything that had happened before, it was believed that at this moment, her fear could be triggered to the utmost extreme at any time.
…
At a certain moment, Fu Qian realized that the noise inside the torture device was no longer as loud as before.
Gone were not only Fran’s screams but also her heavy, bellows-like breathing.
“I can’t understand the motivation behind your actions,” she said.
The next moment, Fran’s voice came through, no longer tense but imploringly calm.
“The current evidence is enough to prove you have nothing to do with the cases.”
“And you don’t seem to want to kill me, but rather, you deliberately make me feel fear.”
“I just want to say that this joke isn’t funny, if possible please let me go, we should go home.”
It truly was like she had transcended herself, as if she had become a different person.
It looked like my guess had been confirmed.
In silent contemplation, Fu Qian reached out and slowly opened the Iron Maiden.
In the faint light, Fran’s pale face reappeared.
However, the newly freed woman didn’t immediately jump out; instead, she fixated her calm gaze on Fu Qian’s face.
“Thank you!”
She seemed to be proving with her actions that her words just now were heartfelt, not a lie to trick Fu Qian into opening the Iron Maiden.
Indeed, it was a fitting choice, given the vast disparity in force, Fu Qian could shove her back in at any time.
Yet under these circumstances, not many people would think and restrain themselves as she did.
[Current task updated: Transcend the cycle of rebirth with Laxik.]
At the same time, a voice appeared in Fu Qian’s mind.
Transcendence of the cycle… That’s it!
Fu Qian inwardly nodded, feeling that a series of questions had been answered in that instant.
Up to this point, there were two things that were difficult to explain: One was the citation with Laxik’s name on it.
Chief Jones had clearly stated that the officer who issued the citation had no recollection of it, and could not understand why such a citation existed.
The other was how the elusive, omnipotent Mysterious Character had just marked Fran’s room incorrectly.
Undoubtedly, this defied logic.
But the word “cycle” reminded Fu Qian of an explanation —
Could it be that the marking wasn’t wrong, but that it wasn’t for this particular cycle?
In some cycle, had Fran chosen that room?
The same might apply to the citation.
We are in a cycle in front of us, and a man named Laxik had repeatedly gone through all this and desperately tried to break free but failed.
In the end, whether it was resentment or a lingering soul, it merged with this world and had an incredible impact, leaving behind various illogical traces — like the citation and the mark.
This wasn’t a baseless mad speculation; in fact, Fu Qian had himself experienced such a world, which was why he had this guess.
The first time he encountered the Interlocutor, he had been told that the Nightmare Corridor was infused with the consciousness and conceptual projections of the failures.
As for Fran’s current state, in Fu Qian’s judgment, her self-awareness was still her own, but certain aspects had been forcibly elevated, as though under the protection of Divine Beings.
And this projecting Divine Being was the Laxik he was searching for, who now could only appear briefly in this fashion, on special vessels.
As for whether Laxik was also a predecessor or just a pitiable remnant soul trapped in a similar delusion, Fu Qian was unclear, nor did he need to be.
What needed to be considered at this moment was how to complete the task.
And obviously, it was not easy.
The ironclad reality was before him – a person with a cool head and exceptional execution ability had, until his spirit was shattered in this cycle, not found a way out.