Eldritch Horror Theatre

"How long have you guys been here?"

Fu Qian asked suddenly, his gaze lingering on Pei Yanqing's long, shapely legs beneath her jeans.

"For a while now."

Pei Yanqing covered her mouth with a laugh.

"I'm not really into aliens and all that, but it's nice to just get out for a walk."

"Just standing here feels kind of magical. It puts me in such a good mood for some reason."

"The moon seems especially bright today too."

A magical feeling? A good mood?

"Is that right?"

Which eye of yours saw any difference between this moon and the usual one?

But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something else. Bathed in the pale moonlight, everyone—Qin Mingze included—wore an indescribable look of sheer intoxication.

Even Wu Qingyu, who usually looked half-dead from exhaustion, wore an expression of deep yearning.

Something was wrong!

Fu Qian took a deep breath.

He looked back at Pei Yanqing and found her wearing a distant expression, staring straight at the railing beside her hand.

The bridge was an old-fashioned arched structure flanked by carved bluestone railings. A uniquely shaped stone lion crowned every single baluster.

However, decades of wind and rain had taken their toll, leaving most of them severely weathered and damaged.

The one right in front of her, for instance, only had half a head left.

Seeming to notice his gaze, Pei Yanqing offered a faint smile and leaned in close.

"Don't you think..."

She glanced around, then pointed at the stone lion in front of her.

"This lion is glowing, isn't it? For a second there, I almost thought it was alive. Do you think there's something wrong with my eyes, or am I just losing my mind?"

There was nothing wrong with her eyes or her mind.

Fu Qian had already spotted the anomaly.

A faint, nearly imperceptible glow was indeed radiating from the stone lion's surface, only failing to stand out because of the already snow-white moonlight.

The fact that Pei Yanqing could see it directly was likely tied to what she had been through recently.

Because of the Commandment Residue's effects, she had become unusually sensitive to certain things.

As for it looking alive, the faint glow did pulse slightly, lending the stone a lustrous, almost translucent wickedness.

Fu Qian was absolutely certain this anomaly hadn't been here yesterday.

Its sudden appearance had to be connected to yesterday's events.

He had unleashed a skill right here—the Commandment Residue, empowered by Mythical Form.

That was almost certainly what triggered this anomaly.

And aside from this specific stone lion, nothing else in the vicinity seemed abnormal.

It must have been so close to him at the time that it absorbed the strongest effect.

Being more perceptive than the others, Pei Yanqing had instinctively gravitated toward it despite having no idea what it was.

He couldn't leave this thing here. Given enough time, it was bound to cause trouble.

Glancing around at the circle of mesmerized faces, Fu Qian blinked, quietly lifted his foot, and stomped down without hesitation.

A faint, barely perceptible tremor ran through the mossy span of the bridge.

Perfect!

Test complete. Fu Qian stomped down a second time.

Boom!

This time, everyone noticed the anomaly.

Jolted from their moonlit stupor, the crowd looked around in shock, having no idea what had happened.

"The bridge is going to collapse!"

The next moment, someone shouted and bolted for the end of the bridge.

This move rapidly triggered a chain reaction. The entire group, amateur enthusiasts included, snatched up their equipment and fled.

Fu Qian followed among them. To motivate the group to run a little faster, he secretly stomped twice more.

The swaying of the bridge became even more obvious.

In the chaos, Fu Qian rested a hand on the railing and applied a little pressure. A crack snapped open along the stone lion's base, and it plummeted into the water below.

The group quickly retreated off the bridge. Even after the swaying slowly stopped, no one dared to step back onto it.

Scanning the crowd, Fu Qian noticed a lingering sense of loss on almost every face.

Pei Yanqing most of all.

Fu Qian snapped his fingers, waking the people beside him.

"I'm heading back to eat. Are you guys leaving or what?"

"Yeah... let's go."

Young Master Qin agreed almost instantly.

This was basically just a check-in activity anyway; not many people seriously expected to spot a UFO here.

Now that the excitement was over and the bridge was dangerous, there was no point in sticking around.

"See you... Classmate Fu."

Pei Yanqing finally regained her senses. She gave him a small wave and left with He Xian.

...

Late that night, Fu Qian returned to the bridge, which was now completely deserted.

Resting a hand on the railing, he closed his eyes and quietly sensed for any abnormalities in the area.

It didn't take long to lock onto his target in the water.

The next moment, a black-and-red tentacle sprouted from his hand, sliding slowly down into the dark water.

When it retracted, its tip was securely coiled around the dripping stone lion, which still pulsed with a pale white glow beneath the moon.

Spoils in hand, Fu Qian hurried home, set the stone lion on his table, and examined it closely.

A strange aura permeated the stone lion—faint, but incredibly stable.

As the faint light pulsed, it seemed to condense a kind of eternal rhythm.

This thing was a dangerous item!

Fu Qian picked it up with one hand, weighed it in his palm, and then squeezed.

Amidst a series of crisp cracking sounds, a crisscrossing web of fractures appeared across the stone lion's surface.

He set the stone lion back down, only to witness something surprising.

Despite being completely crushed, the lion didn't crumble apart; instead, it maintained its shape, as if held together by some strange connection.

Not only that, but the strange aura clinging to it hadn't diminished in the slightest.

Interesting!

Fu Qian toyed with the fractured lion.

This anomaly was almost certainly caused by his use of Demigod Level power.

If that was the case, if he actually advanced to the Demigod Realm in the future, would his every move leave behind this kind of effect?

Could it be that this world can no longer accommodate a man like me!

Fu Qian tilted his head to gaze up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, sighing deeply for a full twenty seconds.

But jokes aside, what was he supposed to do with this thing?

Forcefully crushing it was an option, but as long as the aura on it didn't dissipate, there was no guarantee it wouldn't cause trouble down the line.

Keep it at home? That didn't seem like a great idea either.

Fu Qian thought for a moment before his gaze fell onto his wrist.

Ever since the Work Badge vanished, a mark of the same shape had appeared on his wrist, serving as his new Pass.

In fact, Fu Qian was fairly confident that no one else could even see the mark.

Come to think of it, while the items he could bring into a Containment Scenario were strictly limited, there didn't seem to be any such restrictions for entering the Warehouse.

Worth a shot?

Clutching the stone lion in his hand, Fu Qian focused his attention on the Work Badge mark and activated it with his mind.

The familiar surroundings of the Warehouse materialized before his eyes.

Fu Qian immediately looked down at his hand.

The broken stone lion was radiating a faint, eerie blue glow.

However, it only lasted for a fraction of a second before the glow dissolved into the gloom of the surrounding space.

The next moment, with a crisp clatter, the stone lion crumbled into pieces of gravel and spilled onto the floor.

The strange aura was completely gone.

So that worked too!

Fu Qian dusted the stone powder off his hands and peered into the depths of the Warehouse.

This place really was incredible!

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