Eldritch Horror Theatre

Compared to the Lucid Dream, this was still a bit lacking in user-friendliness!

Pressing forward, Fu Qian took care not to step on the statues' clothes, evaluating his luxurious surroundings as he went.

If this were the Lucid Dream, subtle hints of guidance would have appeared by now.

Instead, aside from a rich variety of musty odors, nothing new had presented itself along the way.

It seemed that making any discoveries here would rely entirely on a task runner's intuition.

And observation.

Following the trail of statues, he climbed the steps and slipped through the gap in a magnificent set of partially open doors.

Unsurprisingly, a palatial hall lay beyond. The red carpet across the floor remained vibrant, and perched high along both sides of the room were even more headless statues—plus one with a head.

Spotting that unique figure immediately, Fu Qian clicked his tongue in wonder, bypassing the rest to approach it directly.

Approaching his target in silence, he scrutinized her conservative nightgown. He stopped a short distance away and casually commented.

"Your look is a little out of place here."

He wasn't wrong. The person kneeling on the ground in the exact same posture as the statues was none other than Madam Sissi, who had gone to rest alongside Tan Ying. Judging by her attire, she had indeed gone to bed—just in the wrong place.

"You..."

Unsurprisingly, the figure on the ground instinctively trembled at the sudden voice, seemingly startled.

People were always highly sensitive to movement behind them.

Madam Sissi's hearing, however, was excellent. She quickly recognized the voice.

"Mr. Consultant?"

After voicing her disbelief, she finally looked back, not even bothering to get up.

"Why are you here?"

Once she confirmed it was indeed Fu Qian, Madam Sissi's expression grew rather meaningful.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Fu Qian gestured between the two of them, employing a practiced conversational shift, like the dipper turning and stars shifting.

"Between the two of us, I'm clearly the normal one here, right?"

"...You're not wrong about that."

The remark left her visibly at a loss, but Madam Sissi quickly adjusted her mindset.

"So this is all real. I thought I was just having a dream, influenced by your fantastical descriptions during dinner."

Wearing the same expression she'd had during their first meeting, she narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Fu Qian from head to toe, her tone devoid of discernible emotion.

"I didn't expect it to actually be... influenced by you."

"But I believe I mentioned at dinner that I don't care for overly magical aesthetics?"

"Are you sure? It looks to me like you're having quite a bit of fun."

Fu Qian remained completely unfazed by Madam Sissi's displeasure.

"You caught me!"

With a sudden giggle, the coldness on Madam Sissi's face vanished, melting away like ice and snow in a single second to leave a radiant smile.

"I just felt it would be a bit impolite not to match the local aesthetic."

"Understandable. But in my opinion, your posture isn't exactly the key to maintaining that aesthetic."

Taking two steps forward, Fu Qian offered her his hand.

She frowned initially, but a moment later, she reached out with a faint look of relief, letting Fu Qian pull her up.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not as long as you."

Fu Qian replied casually as he pulled her to her feet one-handed.

She was noticeably heavier to pull up than normal; she really had been kneeling there for quite a while.

Her legs were clearly stiff, leaving her unable to stand on her own, yet she hadn't wanted to show weakness.

Judging by the timing, it was highly likely she had entered this place at the exact same time he did.

Why?

He certainly hadn't responded to any summons from her, or anything of the sort.

Ignoring Madam Sissi, who was quietly recovering beside him, Fu Qian pondered the cause of their current situation.

Blood?

Very quickly, he hit upon a potential factor.

When Madam Sissi had acted as his guide, her emotional instability had caused her to cut herself while removing her helmet. Her blood must have gotten on it.

To think she could ride his coattails in such a manner—she sure was blessed with deep fortune!

At this possibility, Fu Qian marveled inwardly.

"Regardless, this isn't very polite behavior. Even a prank show would give some kind of warning, wouldn't it?"

By now, Madam Sissi was standing noticeably more comfortably. She began to protest as she sized up her surroundings.

"A place like this is definitely a massive undertaking. Did you transport me here while I was asleep?"

Clearly, she was using her own logic to comprehend everything happening around her.

The key point was that, strictly speaking, she wasn't entirely wrong. He really was the one who had 'transported' her here.

"We haven't been apart for long, have we? You fell asleep rather quickly."

"I always maintain a regular sleep schedule."

Madam Sissi's answer naturally brought to mind the distress she suffered whenever she occasionally woke up late.

The credibility of that statement was quite high.

"But considering your actions just now were reasonably polite, I won't hold it against you."

Before Fu Qian could even speak in his own defense, Madam Sissi unilaterally offered her forgiveness.

"Did you deliberately keep your distance when you spoke just now so you wouldn't scare me?"

"I need you to answer my questions calmly."

Fu Qian admitted it straightforwardly.

He had serious business to attend to. If he actually scared her witless, he wouldn't have time to wait for her to catch her breath.

As it stood, Madam Sissi's appearance here seemed to be a complete accident.

At the same time, her cognitive issues actually afforded her some resistance to this bizarre turn of events, keeping her from screaming and shouting like most people would.

Even so, Fu Qian had no interest in taking a patient along on a field exploration.

The scenes he was about to face would likely prove far too potent a dose of medicine for her.

"So what were you originally planning to do?"

Just as Fu Qian was pondering how to send Madam Sissi back directly, she asked this, seemingly extremely satisfied with his previous answer.

"To find their heads."

Fu Qian's answer remained sincere.

Their heads...

Suddenly realizing something, Madam Sissi whipped her head around.

And amidst the air of Suffocation, she finally muttered to herself.

"They are all... Bronze Madams, not statues..."

Oh well!

Take the money, do the job.

At this sight, Fu Qian let out a long sigh inwardly.

"Are we going or not? Time is tight."

Haha...

Madam Sissi genuinely froze for a moment. Then, staring straight at Fu Qian, her smile returned little by little.

"How did you figure it out?"

"Was there any need? If you were truly afraid, you wouldn't have reacted like this."

Fu Qian shook his head.

"You really do understand me... Then why don't you tell me why I wanted to tag along for a look?"

Madam Sissi's tone turned ever so slightly hostile.

Feigning inexplicable shock over such a trivial matter? He was an expert; what didn't he understand?

Fu Qian scoffed coldly.

"Following me here to pay your respects was one reason, wasn't it?"

"Absolutely correct!"

Madam Sissi's laughter was just one step away from being utterly classless.

"I'm so sorry for causing you trouble... Fortunately, I enjoy causing trouble."

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