Is it a time card?
Fu Qian naturally didn't refuse. He reached out and took it, curious about his prize.
It was hard to blame him for wondering. On one hand, the female doorkeeper's tone had been so evocative; on the other, the thing in his hand looked the part.
Bright yellow, rectangular, and thin and translucent.
It was only half the size of his palm, yet at a glance it gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
There was no information or photo on it. Instead, it was covered in intersecting marks.
The marks were embedded inside, and the surface still felt smooth and warm to the touch.
"It will take you through the miasma and into the Great Court."
As Fu Qian turned it over in his hands, the male doorkeeper promptly explained, his tone solemn.
"So how do I use it?"
Fu Qian continued to show his curiosity.
"Hold it, and let the wound it cuts soak it through."
His companion patiently continued to explain.
"Like this?"
Before the words had left his mouth, Fu Qian was already putting the instructions into practice.
He didn't ask how to make a wound. The one thing that made the card least like office supplies was its razor-sharp edge.
For an ordinary person, gripping it with even a little force would be enough to draw blood.
"Excellent. Keep it up."
Both doorkeepers seemed quite pleased with his decisiveness.
"I know it's terribly painful, but trust me. Soon, it will become a pleasure beyond anything you've ever imagined... the very thing you once coveted and pursued in your unknowable, delirious dreams..."
As well as praising him generously, the female doorkeeper even spoke in a lilting cadence, as though reciting scripture.
The thing he'd coveted and pursued... a thirst for slaughter?