Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Ah? Ah—"

Sincerity truly did move people. The two gasps of surprise, each carrying a different meaning, rang out almost simultaneously.

"What's wrong? Don't you think I have enough enemies?"

Fu Qian gave them a look that suggested they were making a fuss over nothing.

"Knowing your style, I have absolutely no doubt about that... But if that's the case, why wouldn't they come straight for you instead of harassing Wen Li?"

Chief Yuan proved to have more composure. Speaking up after a moment of intense staring, she expressed absolute confidence in Fu Qian's ability to attract hostility, though she made no effort to hide her confusion.

"It's simple. They can't find me. They might not even be entirely sure of my identity, but they suspect my relationship with Wen Li is anything but ordinary."

Gesturing for Eldest Miss Wen to drink her tea and casually refilling her cup, Fu Qian continued to display an astonishing level of candor.

That is certainly not ordinary. How many people get to enjoy the privilege of a dignified Tier 2 serving them tea like this?

The profound look in her eyes made Wen Li's face stiffen involuntarily with awkwardness.

However, it was clear that while the victim was surprised, she accepted the situation quickly. She wasn't overly questioning reality right now.

The problem was that for Yuan Shan—who was privy to one more crucial piece of information—the severity of the situation was on an entirely different level.

A member of the Night Watchers was targeting her top strategist right on her own turf, and they had absolutely no intention of informing her.

Her strategist, on the other hand, didn't mind telling her about it at all, completely unconcerned that she might try to intervene upon finding out.

"So... do you know how you offended this person?"

Carefully weighing her words, Yuan Shan wore an unprecedentedly serious expression.

"I do. With a secret that could bring them a lot of trouble."

Fu Qian remained as unbothered as ever.

"I see... Does the person you suspect have any special abilities?"

Seeming unsurprised by this answer, Yuan Shan murmured the acknowledgment before quickly pressing further.

"What a coincidence. That's actually the only thing I know."

Fu Qian let out a bright laugh, then reached out and gestured with his hands.

"A ragdoll. A very crudely made ragdoll dressed in beautiful clothes. It's brutal, bloodthirsty, and possesses considerable concealment abilities."

...

A strategist who couldn't make their leader question reality was never a good strategist.

It was just that Chief Yuan remained silent for quite a long time.

So much so that, transitioning from shock to confusion and finally to awkwardness, Eldest Miss Wen eventually had to find something to do with her hands just to maintain the peaceful demeanor of an uninvolved listener.

Fu Qian naturally sensed this and obligingly shoved the teapot into her hands.

"Thank you..."

Seemingly roused by the soft sound of the pouring tea, Yuan Shan glanced at Wen Li, her tone unusually polite.

"If that's the case, wouldn't showing yourself be enough to spare Wen Li from any unnecessary danger?"

With furrowed brows, she chose to follow Fu Qian's line of reasoning to its logical conclusion and offered a suggestion.

"Unfortunately, if this is really the situation I suspect, I lean toward the possibility that they'll dispose of anyone who might know about it."

From Yuan Shan's reaction, he could practically confirm that the ragdoll detail had sparked a connection in her mind—one that matched the identity of Tan Mingxue's superior.

Even so, Fu Qian chose slightly tactful wording to spare Chief Yuan's feelings.

At the same time, the reason he gave was by no means a flimsy excuse.

In an incident with such massive implications, the hidden risks absolutely had to be minimized.

After all, Yuan Shan had mentioned back in the Sacred Night Capital that different factions existed within the Night Watchers.

The level of caution involved was evident in how the West Plain branch tried to make their operational arrangements appear as natural as possible.

Of course, Yuan Shan asking that question didn't mean she hadn't thought of this herself.

She had merely chosen to be similarly tactful because Wen Li was present.

In truth, that question could be simply translated as: Just how severe is this secret?

And his answer was: Extremely severe.

"Wen Li, go rest in the next room for a moment."

Facts proved that Yuan Shan was quick to take a hint.

After a brief hesitation, she took a sip of tea and called Xiao Mingyue in, signaling for Wen Li to stop worrying and go get some rest.

"Understood. Sorry to be a bother."

Wen Li, who had always been highly perceptive, had clearly long since realized that there was more to this matter than met the eye. She quickly stood up, thanked them, and followed Xiao Mingyue out.

...

"Kelin."

Almost the moment the door closed behind them, Yuan Shan looked at Fu Qian and dropped a name.

"Or you could call her the Needle Witch. A Tier 2 Transcendent. Even though she is a woman younger than my teacher, she belongs to the Conservative Faction within the Night Watchers."

The Conservative Faction? Are you sure?

Chief Yuan's tone was incredibly certain, proving that the details he had provided were a perfect match. Fu Qian felt highly satisfied.

However, when it came to the organization's internal factional divisions, he couldn't hold back the urge to mock them.

If the Conservative Faction operates like this, to what absurd heights has the radical faction soared?

And she's actually a Tier 2 Transcendent. The Night Watchers' talent pool truly is ridiculously deep.

"A Tier 2 ran off to a small place like that?"

Whenever you didn't understand something, you had to ask. Fu Qian frowned, expressing his confusion.

While Wen Li's hometown could be considered a bustling place, it was still visibly inferior to Shangjing. And even Yuan Shan, who watched over Shangjing, was merely a Demigod.

"I don't know the exact details. I only heard that due to some disputes back in the day, she turned down most of her duties and even voluntarily withdrew from the Council, though she never officially retired."

Yuan Shan shook her head slightly.

"Her current position is nothing more than an empty title. I imagine she isn't even around most of the time."

Like when I was helping Wen Li advance to the Mid Tier? So, back then, I actually could have activated Asura Mode and bathed the Night Watchers Base in blood?

Clicking his tongue, Fu Qian felt a fleeting sense of wistful admiration for this level of slacking off, which far surpassed even Chief Yuan's.

"Kelin's abilities are quite mysterious. Even my teacher doesn't know much about them."

Seeing Fu Qian listening with keen interest and showing zero signs of fear, Yuan Shan let out an unsurprised sigh of resignation and continued.

"I only know that compared to direct combat, she is far more skilled at remote control, curses, puppets, and parasitism... By utilizing similar methods, she can even traverse space, making her one of the very few within the Night Watchers capable of doing so."

"That's already quite a lot."

Chief Yuan was being a bit too modest. Just the information she'd provided so far was enough to illustrate how troublesome Kelin would be to deal with.

"So, what exactly is this secret?"

Yuan Shan clearly paid no mind to his minor compliment. She leaned forward, her nose almost touching Fu Qian's face, and asked the question she cared about the most.

"Not afraid of getting killed?"

Fu Qian chuckled, teasing her in response.

"Our old friend Blood Lion recently went to a place called West Plain to visit relatives."

Conversing with karmic obstacles and associating with none pure of heart.

Though it wasn't an absolute rule, as a man with a wide social circle, Fu Qian understood traitors intimately.

A Divine Emissary of considerable seniority—one who had even penetrated the highest power echelon within the Night Watchers.

Taking down a figure like that likely couldn't be accomplished with a simple anonymous tip.

Still, one had to look on the bright side. If that same figure decided to deal with him instead, it would likely be far easier.

Given those circumstances, Chief Yuan's insistence on knowing the exact details of the secret certainly earned her praise for courage.

"Huang Zhixun?"

It seemed her memory was sharp, too. She hadn't forgotten her old friend's name.

"He actually returned to the West Plain Huang Clan—for advancement?"

Nor had she forgotten his character.

Catching the crucial point almost instantly, it was obvious Yuan Shan didn't believe a man like Huang Zhixun would return just to cure a bout of homesickness.

Considering this was a genius who had enjoyed limitless glory his entire life, only to suffer a crushing defeat in Shangjing recently before being unceremoniously kicked out.

Undoubtedly, his most likely move now was to seek a new opportunity to advance.

"So what? Didn't you say earlier that anyone even slightly suspected wouldn't be able to extract themselves? How was I supposed to know I'd walk right into such a headache the moment I got back? If I'd known, I would have stayed two more days. I could've even kept an eye on that guy so he'd lose less money—"

Before Fu Qian could even answer, Yuan Shan's urge to complain was sparked anew by his earlier teasing. Her gaze turned incredibly resentful as her regrets poured out in an endless stream.

"It might not necessarily be that bad."

Showing excellent manners, Fu Qian waited for the victim to finish venting her emotions before finally interrupting.

"Oh? How so?"

Yuan Shan's gaze instantly cleared. She even poured her strategist a fresh cup of tea before sitting back down to press for details.

"Since the other party is already suspicious, it's going to be very hard to keep your identity hidden, isn't it? Don't tell me you plan to completely avoid showing your face this time?"

Her brows furrowed tighter as she spoke. In Yuan Shan's estimation, the chances of him actually washing his hands of the whole affair were definitely not zero.

"How could I? I'll continue to exercise my duty as an outstanding citizen and remain involved from start to finish."

Fu Qian spoke with righteous sincerity, instantly dispelling his superior's concerns.

"I'm just confident I can make her misidentify me. Otherwise, why do you think I went out of my way to come here?"

...

Just as he'd noted before, when an evil deity took action, they always favored achieving multiple benefits with one move.

Although he had only just learned her name, his dealings with Excellency Kelin had actually begun much earlier.

The bullet he'd given to Wen Li was primarily meant to increase her safety, of course, but it also doubled as a probe.

He had risked exposing a sliver of information regarding the King of the Abandoned Prison to detect any potential little tricks.

Thanks to Wen Li's outstanding performance, it was actually hard to say whether Excellency Kelin had managed to glean anything about the King of the Abandoned Prison at all.

After all, when the shot was fired, she had likely only just cast her gaze over. Even if she possessed spatial abilities, her true body wouldn't have been able to arrive quite so fast.

But aside from this potential informational advantage, there was another, far more important factor: the gift from the Pope. It was Grimshaw—a deadly disguise perfect for deceiving a higher entity.

The moment he first saw the effects of Burning Frost, his immediate reaction was that the Witch had catered precisely to his needs, handing him the most suitable gift possible.

By cloaking all supernatural effects in an icy facade, the persona of Grimshaw—a man who excelled in frost powers—served as a massive misdirection for High-Tier Transcendents accustomed to identifying people by the essence of their power.

Furthermore, with Brother Patches' help, he had maintained a sorcerer persona for the entirety of his time in West Plain.

Given the current situation, even if he walked straight out into the open right now, Excellency Kelin would most likely just conclude: It really isn't the same person.

"...Are you really that confident?"

This naturally defied all common sense. Even Chief Yuan, who usually possessed total faith in Fu Qian, sat with her mouth slightly agape, needing to confirm it one more time.

"And if that's true, doesn't coming here still seem like an unnecessary move? Since you knew Wen Li was in trouble, couldn't you have just gone straight to her? Which means you came here just to—"

Taking a sharp breath, a look of sudden realization washed over Yuan Shan's face.

"Exactly. To confirm whether you wanted to know that secret."

Fu Qian smiled, looking thoroughly gratified.

"If you didn't want to know, the topic would have ended here, and we could have gone to handle Wen Li's situation together."

"Given that Excellency Kelin is attending to myriad affairs daily, I'm sure she wouldn't pester us too much about it."

...

"Forget it. Now that you've dropped the name of the West Plain Huang Clan, I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress my curiosity..."

Sighing with enough weariness to span five millennia of history, Yuan Shan waved her hand in resignation, thoroughly helpless against her strategist's calculations.

"Let's hear it."

"Chief Yuan is deeply righteous, as expected. Having you in charge of Shangjing is truly a blessing for its people."

Given what an excellent, agreeable leader she was, Fu Qian naturally didn't hold back on the flattery.

But his wording was a bit too exaggerated. Yuan Shan shot him a fierce glare, looking as though she were on the verge of backing out.

That was only a look, of course. Though her sigh had been long, there had been almost no hesitation behind it.

"Blood Lion didn't go alone. He brought two companions with him."

Fu Qian naturally didn't waste any time. Having successfully lightened the mood a little, he began to truthfully recount the events in West Plain.

"Their objective was very clear. Recently, some kind of anomaly occurred in the mountains behind the Huang Clan's manor."

"At the same time, your team in West Plain had just reinforced their ranks. The current person in charge is actually a former subordinate of Kelin's."

"She brought along one of those ragdolls I mentioned earlier to help ensure there wouldn't be any accidents."

"It's just a pity that the anomaly was too cunning. It actually dodged their surveillance, silently spreading chaos across the entire city—"

"Bastards!"

With a sharp crack, Yuan Shan crushed the teacup in her hand, spilling tea all over the table.

Fu Qian's narration was devoid of emotion, but as she pieced the sequence of events together, it was far too easy for her to extract infuriating details from it.

"How bad was the chaos?"

But now was not the time to vent. Tossing the broken porcelain shards aside, Yuan Shan pressed on with a cold expression.

"There were casualties among ordinary civilians, exact numbers unknown. Blood Lion and the Huang Clan also suffered heavy losses... But the situation is already under control. From here on out, it should just be a matter of managing the aftermath."

Fu Qian answered fluently.

"Managing the aftermath, heh... But if that's all, it's not enough to prove much. Is there more?"

With a cold sneer, Yuan Shan gestured for Fu Qian to continue.

"Then that ragdoll parasitized Madam Miranda—one of the team members Blood Lion recruited—and even somewhat joined the exploration."

Fu Qian naturally obliged her.

"...So what's your plan?"

After a brief silence, Yuan Shan didn't even ask how Fu Qian knew all this. Instead, she abruptly changed the subject.

"Interested in heading over to Wen Li's place to freeload some food and drinks?"

Fu Qian gestured toward the door.

...

"Did you know she even has a shooting range over there?"

"...Alright."

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