Eldritch Horror Theatre

It certainly invited a few grim theories.

Though the scene inside the room was gruesome, it failed to elicit the slightest reaction from Fu Qian.

Taking in the situation at a glance, he could easily understand the subtle, strange expressions on the faces of Hao Ke and the rest—

Though Qiu was overcome with grief, combining the scene before them with her earlier account made her role in this tragedy undeniably eerie.

The two bodies were undoubtedly Youli and her boyfriend. According to Qiu, after they hosted her, she had suddenly left without saying goodbye.

Everyone present was accustomed to violent conflict. With the bodies right in front of them, rough estimates were easy enough to make.

It was easy to tell that their time of death roughly coincided with her departure.

Putting the two together, Qiu's previously unexplainable behavior seemed to have a very natural explanation: when she left, the couple was already dead.

That was why no one had urged her to stay when she left without a word.

Because she had found them dead and felt no need to say goodbye?

Or because she had killed them herself, removing any need for discovery at all?

Either possibility challenged all reason—and meant that Qiu had been lying earlier.

Even last night, when they couldn't find Youli, she hadn't mentioned this place at all, though her later excuse was that she hadn't felt the need to disturb her friend just yet.

Hao Ke and the other two clearly refused to accept this possibility, their emotions clashing heavily against logic.

"Could it be that after someone killed them, they exerted a mental influence on Qiu, compelling her to leave to avoid detection?"

And this intense psychological pushback wasn't completely fruitless. After staring at the other severed head for a while, Brother Decent, who still seemed the calmest of the group, managed to force out another theory.

...

"That actually makes sense!"

This new line of thought was instantly welcomed.

Hao Ke slapped his thigh and nearly jumped up, the commotion successfully snapping the grieving Qiu out of her daze.

"What did you find?"

Her voice was frighteningly hoarse. The palpable grief made Brother Decent's theory resonate even more deeply with the group.

"We're worried you were already under some mental influence when you left earlier."

It was Hao Ke who rushed to speak, his tone treating the theory as the only possibility.

"Because Youli and her boyfriend had already been murdered, and the killer didn't want you to find out."

"...Then why not just kill me too?"

To their surprise, the person involved was the first to object.

After a brief silence, rather than feeling relieved by this "reasonable" explanation, Qiu turned back to look at her dear friend's corpse.

"I don't think Youli was weaker than me, but she looks like she barely put up a fight."

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the severed head nearby.

Compared to the other victim, his expression was undeniably more horrific.

The terror frozen on his face practically radiated the shock he had felt right before death.

But at the same time, Youli's hands were completely empty, and her posture showed no signs of a struggle.

"If they didn't want me to find out, wouldn't it have been simpler to just dispose of me too? It would have taken you guys even more effort to find this place."

Qiu, in a dark mood, wore a cold smile dripping with aggression—even if that aggression was aimed at herself.

...

"It is strange. But maybe there are considerations we can't fathom yet. Why don't we first consider why a slaughter like this would happen at all?"

Her logical self-denial and the innocence her behavior implied clearly pushed Qiu's image into a complex stalemate.

As Hao Ke and the other two exchanged silent glances, Brother Decent finally spoke up, suggesting they shelve the debate and consider the implications of the act if the hypothesis held true.

Of course, the way he looked at Fu Qian almost immediately upon speaking gave his true thoughts away.

The Shadow looming over the West Plain... did it really exist?

And was it already starting to manifest in this way?

Had the threat of Death already Descended upon them without their knowledge? Could what happened to Youli happen to anyone else in this room?

"Excellency, is this the Shadow you mentioned?"

He clearly wasn't the only one thinking this. The person who asked directly was Qiu, whose mental state was teetering on the edge of collapse from the tragedy.

"It looks very likely."

"And of course, I am deeply sorry for what happened to your friends."

Suddenly the center of attention, Fu Qian's observations remained entirely unaffected. He even offered a casual confirmation.

"...I can't understand why this would happen, but it seems the Shadow isn't an abstract concept. Is it just a group of people directly creating these tragedies?"

Fu Qian's demeanor made Qiu falter slightly, but the flames of vengeance quickly flared up in her eyes as she deliberately emphasized the word 'people.'

"It looks like you could say that, yes."

Fu Qian remained overly easygoing. He even stepped forward, picked up the severed head, inspected it, and helped put it back in place.

"So, Excellency, do you know where to find them?"

Her will was indeed resolute. Before anyone else could weigh in, Qiu fell into a vengeful stance.

"I might."

Yet under the worried gazes of Hao Ke and the others, Fu Qian actually nodded.

"Where?"

Qiu ignored the others, her spirits instantly lifting.

"This room."

He answered smoothly. As he spoke, Excellency Grimshaw reached out and pointed right at her.

...

"Me?"

The facts proved that Qiu's rationality had not been washed away by her anger.

She froze for only a second before reacting just as quickly as the rest of them.

This mysterious figure actually thought she was the killer?

Even though that was exactly the point she had just tried to argue.

"It's only a possibility. It still needs to be confirmed."

Facing the bewildered and shocked Qiu, Fu Qian gave a slight nod, sighing inwardly at the thought of Yesterday Once More.

"And how do we confirm it?"

Qiu was as fierce as ever. Before Hao Ke or the others could even try to stop her, she ground out a smile through gritted teeth and stared fearlessly at Fu Qian.

"Like this."

Answering her was Fu Qian's eternally mild tone, along with a Frost Lance that coalesced from his raised fingertips without a moment's hesitation.

Just as expected.

But there was only that single strike. A moment later, sighing, Fu Qian drew his hand back and rested it upon his own head instead.

"It seems it really was you who sentenced her and her boyfriend to the Punishment of Decapitation."

As he spoke, Fu Qian tightened his grip, smoothly lifting his entire head off his neck to offer a polite salute.

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