Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Why does it have to be one of us?"

Fu Qian shifted targets so smoothly that Winona froze for a moment before collecting herself and firing the question back.

"Mostly because I can sense just how overwhelmingly powerful you two are, and I've heard a thing or two about the Night Watchers' style here in Loss."

By now, a fine layer of condensation had beaded on the glass in his hand. Fu Qian drained the last of his milk and answered with a smile.

"It's just a fraud case, with no proof of any supernatural involvement. Deploying such a powerhouse team and reacting this fast seems a little unusual to me."

"Claire happened to mention something earlier, so I guessed there might be a personal connection involved."

"...You certainly have a vivid imagination."

The bald Raylan didn't interrupt their exchange. After hearing Fu Qian's explanation, Winona broke into a sudden smile.

"That's right. Claire has been a good friend of mine for years, though naturally, she doesn't know the full extent of things."

Fu Qian nodded repeatedly, not holding back his praise.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with imagination.

The Night Watcher friend Claire had mentioned was certainly what gave her the confidence to rule out supernatural elements, but it was also a factor Fu Qian had counted on from the start.

Brother Tommy's assessment that the Night Watchers wouldn't mobilize so quickly was clearly born of years of experience.

But while Fu Qian wasn't in a rush, he wasn't about to waste his time on a drawn-out stakeout here either.

Without this extra catalyst, he definitely would have needed to act a little more suspicious.

The current outcome was undoubtedly an ideal one.

Not only had they arrived promptly, but they had brought heavy hitters.

...

"I appreciate the compliment, but I'd much rather you grasp the necessity of answering our questions."

Having admitted that her swift arrival was born of concern for her friend, Winona began to apply pressure much more bluntly.

"Of course. I've always been a man of my word."

Fu Qian waved a hand, taking no issue with this.

"The reason Rick Weasley fled is very simple. He knew he'd been found out."

"Found out about what?"

This time, Raylan coldly pressed him.

"Found out that he wasn't an ordinary person—"

"Bullshit!"

Fu Qian's answer was instantly cut off. Winona's face frosted over, clearly furious with his response.

"Claire might not have mentioned this to you, but I met with the couple not too long ago. Are you saying I can't even tell whether or not someone is a transcendent? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Yes."

Fu Qian gave a completely serious nod. At the same time, his Lucid Dream flashed, enveloping the room.

"Just like how you can't tell if I'm one right now."

"You..."

In that moment, not just Winona, but even the stoic Raylan's eyes flickered.

To their senses, the man sitting across from them—still holding his glass of milk—had suddenly become indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

...

As a Tier 2, even if his pathway wasn't perfectly tailored for it, the massive gap in sheer level suppression meant he didn't even need the Mask of the Witch to fool the senses of the two people before him.

And however Raylan and Winona interpreted this, their preconceived notions about Rick—the actual subject of his interest—would inevitably be shaken.

"Something's wrong, Raylan! Careful, you're being hypnotized!"

As it turned out, Winona's reaction was quite fierce.

Amidst her sheer disbelief, she seemed to snap to her senses. She roared at Raylan and simultaneously launched an attack without hesitation—in reality.

Just like with Claire, the Lucid Dream's effects on her were minimal.

Since Fu Qian hadn't put any real effort into targeting her, she broke free from the influence in an instant.

Bang, bang—

Her methods were incredibly ruthless. She emptied the magazine of her gun in a split second.

A storm of scorching flames and dark light flew through the air, completely obliterating the spot where Fu Qian had just been sitting.

But silently, the man across the table had already vanished.

Swish!

At the same time, two brilliant arcs of blade light flashed, nearly cleaving half the room in two.

Winona's warning hadn't been in vain. The dream that had just tried to hypnotize the two of them dissipated as its caster fled.

Instantly lucid, Raylan didn't hesitate. He swung his blade twice at the empty spaces where their target might be hiding.

Bang!

The next moment, another gunshot rang out as a shower of fine, emerald beads blanketed the direction of the open window Winona had entered through.

When his slashes found nothing, Raylan had immediately drawn a gun of his own.

The moment that cluster of fine beads struck, it let out a sharp, crisp sound like shattering ice.

The glass, the curtains, and even the walls instantly transformed into shattered green crystals that exploded outward.

Unfortunately for them, this lightning-fast combo didn't seem to hit anything.

...

He'd been right—the people here really did love their guns.

Standing in his original spot under his Blood Crusade State, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

He naturally had no complaints about this turn of events.

His actions just now were never meant to kill anyone, or drag them into a dream to whisper sweet nothings.

Winona's reaction had been the goal all along.

As it turned out, this Tier 4 Transcendent who had just met the Weasleys now possessed a trait similar to Claire's—a significant resistance to his Lucid Dream.

Mister Weasley obviously couldn't have given her a tongue bath too. This meant his earlier worries weren't just a case of the man of Qi worrying about the sky falling.

As a source of spreading pollution, just a face-to-face encounter with Rick was enough to risk infection.

The process didn't even leave any obvious supernatural traces, otherwise Winona wouldn't be so completely oblivious to it.

His decision to monitor things indirectly had been the right call.

Verifying this was essentially the biggest takeaway from talking with these two Night Watchers.

Of course, this was just the beginning.

The next step was confirming whether Rick was indeed the mission target—the source of the sin plague.

Though if he was, that would lead to a rather awkward situation.

It would mean Fu Qian had to kill the man without making any contact with him—not even on an abstract level.

It would be a thorny problem, but he could worry about that later. Right now, he just needed to confirm whether he'd actually have to face that problem.

For instance, by going to Mister Weasley's house and checking out that room he refused to let anyone into.

Of course, before that, there was one more little thing he needed to take care of.

...

"Where did he go?"

Inside the room, Winona watched Raylan's actions, staring at the scene in sheer disbelief.

He vanished without a trace, not leaving a single mark behind?

"It doesn't make sense, but it looks like it—look out!"

Raylan had frowned in thought, but halfway through his sentence, he barked out a warning.

A crystal-clear Frost Lance, conjured by a figure that suddenly flashed into existence in the corner, went whistling straight for Winona.

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