Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was it really this seamlessly self-consistent?

Though it matched his expectations, Resen's smooth logic still made Fu Qian sigh inwardly.

Decades of experience, essentially just one night's Nightmare.

And the cause of the Nightmare was simply viewing a special painting at an exhibition.

Though terrifying upon deeper reflection, it really couldn't be logically denied outright.

"The moment you mentioned the Art Gallery, I knew why you were here." Seeing Fu Qian stay silent, Resen continued, "That place is very special... something is seeping out through the exhibits. Working there is absolutely dangerous."

"So that's why our salary is so generous? There really is no free lunch!" Fu Qian murmured, borrowing Mrs. Harper's perspective to voice a natural doubt. "But if it's really that dangerous, why is it still open to the public instead of being shut down completely?"

"The people from The Order should know, right? Even though Amira didn't directly admit it."

"She didn't tell me either, but we discussed this and came up with a guess..." Resen glanced at his wife beside him. "They're looking for the source."

"Exactly." Mister Resen lowered his voice. "The Order tightly controls information, but the way I see it, the victims have to number far more than just a few people, and it all happened over a very short period of time. I think The Order is trying to extract information from the victims to figure out exactly how the invasion started, so they can root out the threat entirely."

Sound reasoning. The Rayson Couple truly had put a lot of thought into ridding themselves of the Nightmare.

Fu Qian nodded slightly. If things were exactly as he said, all the strange anomalies suddenly made sense: the generous staff salaries, the overly swift police response, and the rapid arrival of members of The Order the moment he recounted his Nightmare experience.

"But looking on the bright side, the situation is clearly improving, so there's no need to over-worry." Giving the junior who came for advice some time to process the information, Resen smiled again. "For instance, you were only troubled by it for a single day this time, weren't you?"

"Indeed." Fu Qian remained noncommittal. A moment later, he suddenly remembered something. "Can I ask, when exactly was this concentrated outbreak you mentioned?"

"About a month ago," Madam Resen, who hadn't gotten a word in until now, chimed in directly. "At least, that was the case for victims like us."

"Why are you so sure?" Fu Qian nodded slightly.

"Because during that time, we ran into more than one familiar face at The Order. Faces that had appeared in the Nightmare..." Resen's expression grew a little unnatural as he asked this. "Although most of them are blurry now, we could still faintly sense it. From those faces, I could tell they were suffering from the same affliction, just like you are now... Do you remember anything?"

"Like you said, I was only there for a day." Fu Qian shook his head slowly. He understood that some experiences in the Nightmare were far from pleasant, and whether they involved oneself or others, they were best forgotten. He had no malicious desire to pry. "I don't remember much. The thing that left the deepest impression on me was the eight streaks of light in the sky."

"How could it be eight?" This time, The Rayson Couple expressed their astonishment almost in unison.

"Is there a problem? Isn't that how it is in the painting?" Fu Qian looked puzzled. "The exact same colors and shapes. That was what stuck with me the most."

"We're very certain about this. In that long Nightmare, the number was always seven," Resen said with absolute certainty. "The eighth streak on the painting you mentioned... we actually went back specifically to look at it later. It felt more like graffiti left by a latecomer, rather than part of the original piece. Even the shape looked like a handprint."

Logical... It even matched reality. Fu Qian sighed in admiration. But if this statement was true, the underlying implications were far from good.

"I suppose that's just the Nightmare."

"So how did you finally escape it? Did you both suddenly wake up together one day? Did your memory of the Nightmare stop at a certain point?"

"Yes, I still remember the feeling at that moment..." Madam Resen rushed to describe it, an incredibly infectious smile of pure, unfeigned relief on her face. "The freezing cold, the rot, the terror of fading away at any second—it all vanished in an instant, unable to threaten you in the slightest anymore."

So not only was the Painting World just an illusory Nightmare, but to this world, the Witch was an entity that hadn't even existed in the dream?

Unfortunately, Fu Qian felt nothing about this; he only frowned inwardly.

Based on what he had seen, Madam Resen had clearly converted to the Dark Moon Faith. In that scenario, if nothing else, the fear of fading away shouldn't have troubled her anymore.

Combined with the claim about the seven streaks of light, there was only one explanation for her description just now: their memory of the Painting World stopped right before he had crossed over.

Everything that happened after that had vanished for them.

As for why it vanished, that was truly hard to say.

Fu Qian rubbed the Dark Moon Ring.

Things were getting increasingly thorny.

He had deliberately tracked down these two, only to find they couldn't provide a single piece of valuable information about what happened next. It even sounded like the result would be exactly the same if he sought out the others.

Not to mention, he lacked the time and the conditions to keep harassing people.

He needed to apply the right stimulus to get the Celestial Sphere Cult, who might actually know something, to provide some new details.

"I completely understand how you feel. The Nightmare is so real that it's impossible to tell whether you're waking up or falling into a dream. In fact, the way I see it, that's the exact manifestation of the erosion."

"The Nightmare is polluting our world through this method, but I believe you'll eventually get your life back."

Resen offered his concluding remarks and added a word of encouragement.

"Thank you for the blessing. From what you just said, are there other people being invaded by different Nightmares?" Fu Qian activated the Lucid Dream.

"I do know of one possible victim... You want to compare notes? That's actually a good idea, though it's best not to let The Order know." Resen pondered briefly before answering sincerely.

"Do you have his address?"

"...I'll write it down for you."

...

"The inability to distinguish between waking up and falling into a dream is the exact manifestation of the pollution. That makes perfect sense."

Politely declining the enthusiastic couple's dinner invitation, Fu Qian quickly headed back.

Yet, almost the second he was out of sight of the building, he looked at the address in his hand and sneered.

"What a pity. I don't need this to confirm which side is the reality."

The next moment, Fu Qian crumpled the thick letter paper into a ball and casually tossed it into a ditch.

He was completely "unaware" that a figure hiding in the dark was watching his every move.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!