Chapter 744: Chapter 742: Curse of Breakage (Part 1)_1 Chapter 744: Chapter 742: Curse of Breakage (Part 1)_1 “`
[Today’s work content has been updated: Enter containment scene 3-0129 and complete re-containment.]
[Current SAN Points: 144, Current Inspiration: 99]
The prompts continued in Fu Qian’s ear while he, initially contemplating slacking off for a bit, decided to pay close attention upon realizing the task was simply one starting with a three, looking at the blood-red mess in front of him resembling a shattered turtle shell.
If the task was manageable, he thought, he might as well take care of it.
[Select your items and skills]
Hmm… a task beginning with three and no restrictions on abilities or items?
Wasn’t this a little too accommodating?
Did they know he was busy and were purposely going easy on him?
The overly generous conditions made Fu Qian suspect for a moment whether there was some kind of conspiracy involved.
After all, the warehouse had a notorious track record.
But despite his suspicions, he quickly and efficiently set up his skills and items.
After all, the principle remained the same: there was no upper limit so one might as well bring whatever was necessary.
[Now entering containment scene 3-0129]
[…1%…5%…15%…45%…75%…95%…100%, containment scene loading complete.]
[On this remote peninsula, seldom tread by humans, the ruins of a massive structure have stood for a thousand years.
As the Tomb Guardians of an unnamed deity, the Kamakura Family has protected this place generation after generation.
Such devoted service granted them a magical gift known as the Severance Divine Seal.
In each generation of the family, there was at least one member marked with a symbol of divine power in their blood.
As they grew, these bloodstains would gradually spread over their entire bodies.
It was said that during battle, these bloodstains would actually ooze blood, luckily, their opponents would bleed far more–wounded or not.
However, recently, this ferocious blessing began to manifest uncontrollably in ways that defied understanding.
More than one Tomb Guardian found their bloodstains splitting and growing day by day, even without the presence of any enemy.
This unprecedented phenomenon plunged them into an uncontrollable panic.
After trying everything with no improvement, they finally decided to seek help from more experienced researchers.
In response to this call, the Academy formed an investigation team composed of elites from all four institutes, aiming to uncover the truth behind the ancient power’s fracturing.]
This… an Academy investigation team?
That sounds somewhat eerie!
Of course, that’s not the main issue. If the time frame is recent, it seems I’m not in a good position to interact with people from the Academy.
Especially since not long ago, as a demigod hunter of the Academy, I personally took the life of a Demigod from the Divine Ashes Institute with ninety-nine steps to transcendence.
Considering I left immediately after, I’m truly not sure about the Academy’s stance on the matter.
In fact, Fu Qian later made some inquiries and found out that the Academy had publicly claimed the professor from a certain institute had died due to a research accident, with no further information disclosed.
As he reflected, the scene in front of him changed fluidly, still overwhelmingly gloomy.
As his senses returned, Fu Qian found himself inside an ancient building, facing a shattered statue that was unrecognizable in its original form.
At first glance, the only impression was that it certainly didn’t resemble a person.
Indeed, although parts resembling legs were vaguely visible, the remnants of the statue still exuded a non-human eeriness.
Aside from that, the surroundings were fairly dry, but the obviously stale air indicated the location must be underground.
Based on the content of the task introduction, this looked more like an ancient tomb than a temple.
The name Tomb Guardian was well deserved.
Of course, none of these were the main point. At this moment, another scent lingered in the air–the pungent smell of blood.
Fu Qian even spotted the source of the odor.
He was standing to the left side of the deity statue, and a face-down corpse lay not far from the front of the statue.
From this angle, the body could be described as dismembered and scattered.
“`
Wounds, either straight or crooked, sprawled all over the body, crisscrossing each other, as the blood continued to seep out from them.
The time of death didn’t seem recent, but the blood on the stone floor looked as if it hadn’t clotted at all.
Still bright red in color and pungent in smell.
And yet, even stranger was the fact that, although the clothing on the corpse was soaked in blood, there was not a single tear to be seen upon inspection.
These wounds appeared as if they had grown from the body itself.
Walking up to the corpse, Fu Qian picked up a long sword from the side, examining it up and down.
An effect of a divine seal gone out of control?
According to the mission briefing, this conjecture came easily.
It seemed the situation was even more severe than described in the briefing; people had already begun to die.
Amidst his sigh, Fu Qian shook his arm, flourishing the sword skillfully.
It had to be said, the design of the sword was quite unique–a nearly one-meter blade that was hollow from tip to hilt, visually resembling irregular cracks, while still being quite heavy.
And during the swinging motion, one could seemingly hear a strange whistling of the wind.
Besides these, there wasn’t much else in the room, the only exit being the tightly shut stone door behind him.
Of course, outside the stone door was far more lively.
“Who’s in there?”
Fu Qian could even hear someone shouting already.
Was there really a demigod present?
A mere stone door, naturally, was no obstacle to sensory perception.
Fu Qian could clearly discern that more than one person stood outside at that moment, trying to open the stone door.
And the leader among them was indeed a demigod, whose presence felt unfamiliar.
It had to be said, the present situation was somewhat awkward.
Here and now, the scene completely resembled that of a crime scene, and being cornered inside would seem hard to explain.
Especially in Fu Qian’s estimation, the likelihood was great that those outside were from the Academy’s ranks of demigods.
Before confirming the current year and his standing within the Academy, it would be best to hide his identity for a while.
And it needed to be a reasonably plausible one.
Fu Qian thought it over, keeping his back to the stone door as his facial features began to rapidly shift.
Right when his face had just been adjusted, the sound of the stone door being opened echoed, and several figures filed in.
“They have arrived?”
Fu Qian turned naturally to look.
Standing before him were three people.
The leader was an elderly man cloaked in a gray robe, standing in a peculiar posture, with brown vertical pupils like a snake’s, staring at him intently.
A genuine surprise, a framework of bones, an unfamiliar demigod.
Fu Qian’s first internal verdict.
Luckily, by his side, there happened to be a familiar face with meticulously combed hair.
It took Fu Qian a moment to recall the name associated with this face–Jian Jingzheng, an instructor from the Swordsmanship Department.
As for the last person, their identity was apparent at a glance.
Appearing in his late forties, with thick eyebrows and fine eyes, he had a mournful expression, and dark red stripes crisscrossed his entire body, sparing not even his face.
This must be the troubled member of the Kamakura Family.
“What’s going on here?”
Confronted with the ghastly scene of the corpse on the ground, the Kamakura Family’s Transcendent couldn’t help but demand in a stern voice.
“A demigod?”
Fu Qian didn’t rush to respond to him, but instead it was the brown vertical-pupiled elder demigod who uttered a questioning sound.