Eldritch Horror Theatre

'Such a healthy appetite?'

Although she had spoken only a few sentences, the scene described by his special client, Claire, was undeniably bizarre.

Coupled with her tone, her expression, and even the goosebumps rising on her skin, her terror was conveyed vividly.

Imagine waking from a midnight dream, groggily opening your eyes in the dark, only to find the space beside you empty.

Squinting through the confusion, you spot your significant other crouching on the floor, holding a cat in both hands and licking its fur perfectly slick—his eyes closed all the while...

The fact that Claire had managed to keep her composure and slip out to find help was commendable enough.

After all, given his uninhibited behavior, there was a high chance he hadn't noticed her discovering him. In other words, she must have held back her screams at the time.

And her choice of whom to ask for help once she got out was clear proof of this holy occult city's caliber.

If something similar had happened in Shangjing, she most likely would have gone straight to Chief Yuan—even though she really ought to be looking for the Night Watchers.

For Claire to show up at his door describing such a fitting scene—it would be ridiculous to assume there was no connection.

Her dear husband was in all likelihood influenced by transcendent forces. This wasn't something that could be solved by drawing a tarot card or divining a hexagram.

Fortunately, Fu Qian had never been good at those tricks anyway.

Although he had instantly concluded that something was wrong, Fu Qian's overly flat reaction was clearly misinterpreted by Claire. She thought he was doubting her story.

"I know this is hard to believe. You might even suspect I was half-asleep, but please believe me, I would rather it had actually been a nightmare—"

"I believe you."

But before she could finish emphasizing her point, Fu Qian nodded without a change in expression.

...

Claire's demeanor faltered, her confidence momentarily shaken.

"Do you think I shouldn't be so calm? It seems you don't understand our industry well enough."

"Or perhaps you've dealt with too many second-rate hacks, giving you the wrong impression?"

Casually sliding the business card beneath his palm over to her, Fu Qian sighed and gestured at the room around them.

"Why else do you think this place is decorated like this?"

...

The question clearly gave Claire pause. For a moment, her gaze simply locked onto the business card in front of her.

It wasn't just the room. Even this card completely clashed with the image of a psychic.

"On one hand, I don't need all those props to show my professionalism. On the other, I've seen scenes far more bizarre than what you just described, to the point where I actually prefer looking at normal things."

At least he still had the self-awareness of someone in the service industry. Deciding not to tax his client's brain cells any further, Fu Qian casually gave her the reason.

As previously established, standing out required extreme measures.

From the beginning until now, this resolute contrast-marketing strategy finally seemed to be bearing fruit, firmly establishing a professional image in the client's mind.

"I understand. It seems I made the right choice today."

Taking a deep breath, Claire relaxed slightly, her willingness to communicate going up another notch.

"Actually, my reason for coming today is very simple. I just want to know what exactly is wrong with my husband, and if there's any way to help him."

"Without his knowledge?"

"Yes... Although I haven't formally discussed it with him, I know his personality. There's absolutely no way he would cooperate."

Claire paused, acknowledging this demanding condition.

It was exactly as Fu Qian had deduced earlier: she had only managed to come here by keeping her discovery a secret from him.

"That does make things much trickier... Did you bring any of his personal belongings with you?"

Fu Qian nodded slightly. Although he called it tricky, he didn't look troubled in the slightest as he posed the question after a moment of thought.

"I did..."

His calm demeanor undoubtedly gave Claire a bit more confidence. She quickly opened her bag and handed over a gleaming Wristwatch.

"This is one he wears often. Do you think it will be useful, Excellency?"

...

Sure enough, there was no need to worry about her being unable to afford his fee.

With a casual glance, anyone could tell the item was incredibly valuable. Unfortunately, Fu Qian didn't even spare it a second look.

"Useless."

He wasn't just talking nonsense. The only value that cat-licker's personal items held for Fu Qian was checking them for transcendent traces.

In fact, he had already done a sweep with his perception the moment she arrived, and the result was that Claire had absolutely no signs of such things on her.

Bringing it up deliberately right now was partly to verify that she had actually brought something of her husband's, and partly to lay some emotional groundwork for their continued conversation.

"...Huh?"

Faced with such an excessively blunt rejection, Claire was visibly at a loss.

"This thing is completely meaningless to me. You'd better provide a bit more information about your husband. You mentioned you've caught him doing that kind of thing more than once. How many times in total? When was the first time?"

Unfortunately, Fu Qian couldn't even be bothered to explain himself and simply pushed forward with his questions.

"If the target is purely me... then it's actually happened quite a lot. Ever since we got married, he's seemed to have some special... hobbies in that regard."

It proved that his earlier efforts to set the mood had paid off. The client was finally sharing intimate details much more freely.

While answering, Claire's face even flushed slightly.

"My initial assumption was that it might be due to his advancing age... even though his health has always been quite good."

"But he has never been as extreme as this time. It feels like any living creature in the house triggers an intense interest in him..."

"Yesterday was the third night in a row that I caught him doing something like that."

Claire wasn't particularly old herself, which meant this couple had quite an age gap.

"Just licking? He didn't do anything else?"

Fu Qian fell into thought for a moment.

"...No. When I pretended to be asleep, I was terrified he would tear into me like food. I could genuinely feel his body trembling with excitement."

Claire shook her head.

"But aside from the drool that seemed like it would never stop flowing, he never left a single mark on me in the end. Not even a tooth mark."

"Oh, right, his possessiveness has also been incredibly exaggerated lately. Even if I just have a normal conversation with someone else, he gets very upset."

"Understood. So, what is your husband's name?"

"Rick."

After hesitating for a moment, Claire finally offered the short name.

[Current task updated]

And at almost that exact same moment, a prompt actually sounded by his ear.

[Containment Fulfillment Conditions: Under the premise of avoiding pollution, thoroughly eradicate the source of the sin plague.]

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