Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Looks like everyone's here!"

As the waiter closed the door behind him, Fu Qian looked at the four familiar faces in the room and offered a casual greeting.

"So, why did you call me over in such a rush?"

"We didn't interrupt anything?"

Looking even more dashing than he had a few days ago, Young Master Qin kicked the chair next to him, his tone pointed.

"That depends on how you define it."

Seeing that Qin Mingze's question had drawn curious looks from Tan Ying and the others, Fu Qian sat down without waiting for an invitation.

"When I got your call, I was on the receiving end of an earnest lecture from my neighbor, Grandma Liu."

"You ran off to mingle with the senior citizens' club again..."

"Besides, the sun has already set. Don't these grandpas and grandmas need to cook for their grandkids or something?"

"That was my initial thought too, so I was in no rush to leave. Thanks to that naive assumption, I was forced to listen for another half hour."

With a long sigh, Fu Qian slumped in his seat, recalling today's ordeal.

That was right. The reason the sun had set once more was that, having decided to take a short break, he had successfully spent an entire day doing absolutely nothing.

His greatest reward was that all this rest and relaxation had finally restored his physical condition to full strength.

"I told you he wouldn't join any weird groups, didn't I?"

Qin Mingze listened to his plight with obvious schadenfreude, then turned to Tan Ying.

"Even lawbreakers have to work hard. None of them would have this much free time."

"Don't twist my words. I merely said his social circle was a bit strange."

Tan Ying snorted, while Pei Yanqing, sitting beside her, covered her mouth and giggled.

It was clear that Fu Qian's reaction had set the whole group quite at ease.

"So what exactly were you saying behind my back?"

"The food here is quite good. You should try some in a bit."

Faced with Fu Qian's curiosity, Tan Ying instantly derailed the conversation.

"We just got back from an art exhibition. Today was really exhausting,"

Qin Mingze added from the side.

An art exhibition?

Fu Qian looked at Tan Ying.

"Your exhibition?"

"Do I really lack that much self-knowledge in your eyes?"

Tan Ying rolled her eyes at him, then sighed.

"Of course not. It's just that walking around alone is too boring."

"Art is always a solitary pursuit. Your cultivation is still shallow; you still need to temper your state of mind."

Fu Qian shook his head, immediately sharing his insights in an earnest tone.

Unfortunately, these well-intentioned words clearly stirred up some rather unpleasant memories for the person in question.

For a moment, not only did Tan Ying take a deep breath, but Young Master Qin's expression stiffened beside her.

......

"I can understand them being tired, but for someone like you who considers running a half-marathon a vacation, how could walking around an art exhibition tire you out?"

Having easily scored a double kill, Fu Qian hid his achievements and fame while casually directing his concern to Wu Qingyu, who sat furthest away.

This heavily oppressed brother normally experienced a miraculous return of vitality at any opportunity to slack off.

But today, aside from a feeble greeting at the very beginning, he had spent the entire time staring blankly at the ceiling.

"That's simple... I didn't go to the exhibition. I only got here five minutes before you did."

His answer was enough to make listeners weep.

"Thinking I'd have time on a Saturday to browse an art exhibition... you must have some grave misunderstandings about my life..."

"Cut the crap. I heard from Little Ying that you hooked up with another rich lady—"

In that short time, Young Master Qin had regained some of his vitality and decisively cut to the main point.

"Private consultant."

Unfortunately for him, Fu Qian cut him off before he could finish.

"Fine, fine, consultant."

Without dwelling on the details, Young Master Qin stared at him with bright, eager eyes.

"I heard she's an unhinged beauty?"

"Don't blame your bro for not warning you. When those traits are combined, the danger level is comparable to a black widow."

"You're overthinking it. I just provide a little psychological counseling."

Though he was teasing, Young Master Qin's warning was genuine, so Fu Qian didn't mind his slightly skewed assumptions.

While explaining, he also glanced at Tan Ying, whose mood had slightly recovered.

It seemed Madam Sissi had frightened her to some extent; she had probably sought out Young Master Qin specifically to discuss it.

The reason he assumed so was that Fu Qian granted everyone in this room top-tier VIP treatment. The specifics of this treatment being: unless their summons were extremely intense, he wouldn't check their spheres of light.

So he genuinely didn't know why the group had called him over.

Respecting the privacy of VIP clients wasn't just empty talk.

......

Psychological counseling. That did sound a lot more reasonable.

She had originally been a bit worried that Fu Qian might be displeased. Seeing that he showed no signs of it and even gave a plausible reason, Tan Ying relaxed even further.

"So has her condition improved at all?"

She actually had quite a good impression of that elegant and poised young lady.

But precisely because of that, she felt even more pity for her condition.

"The patient's condition is quite complex."

Looking as if he'd just remembered something, Fu Qian put on a serious expression.

"Strictly speaking, following last night's treatment, the patient's condition has only worsened."

......

While Tan Ying was staring blankly, the waiter began serving the dishes. The taste was indeed as she had described, worthy of being called excellent.

Everyone present obviously had a good appetite. Coupled with the fact that they didn't often gather together, the atmosphere grew quite joyous and harmonious.

"By the way, where is your bracelet?"

Amidst this cheerful atmosphere, Fu Qian suddenly seemed to notice something, staring at Tan Ying's bare wrist in surprise.

"You actually noticed that. Not bad observation skills!"

Tan Ying wore an exaggerated look of surprise.

"Men usually don't pay much attention to this kind of thing."

'That's way too fake. When you were serving soup just now, you practically shoved your wrist in my face,' Fu Qian grumbled inwardly.

"As for where it went, Mr. Consultant might as well take a guess."

It seemed the title Madam Sissi habitually used had left a deep impression on Tan Ying as well.

"Let me think."

Fu Qian was still very much in vacation mode, so he played along with the atmosphere, pinching his fingers in a mock divination.

"Did you go and sell it for 180,000 again?"

'180,000 my ass!'

Tan Ying nearly choked, successfully having her sad memories triggered yet again.

Out of sheer exasperation, she abandoned the suspense, grabbing Pei Yanqing's arm and tugging up her sleeve.

Revealed upon that slender, snow-white wrist was a clear, transparent Green Bracelet.

"Didn't expect that, did you?"

Having managed to pull one over on Fu Qian, however slightly, Tan Ying's expression carried a hint of smugness.

'Naive. I noticed it the second I walked through the door!'

Unfortunately, she clearly didn't know what Fu Qian was thinking.

To Fu Qian, where the bracelet went was no question at all. His only purpose for asking was to find out why it was being worn on Pei Yanqing's wrist.

Although he had acted casually, this was still a test of sorts.

With a slightly unusual symptom present, how could he not pay attention?

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