Eldritch Horror Theatre

"You actually have one?"

He hadn't visited Eldest Miss Wen's mansion in a while. The security detail looked even sparser than before, lending the grounds a quiet, peaceful air under the slanting rays of the setting sun.

Considering Chief Yuan had been silent and in low spirits for the entire trip, the first thing Fu Qian did upon arriving was ask about a shooting range.

Wen Li readily agreed, quickly leading the two to a corner of the courtyard.

Studying the modest but fully equipped range, Yuan Shan finally found her desire to speak, voicing her surprise.

"You thought I was spouting nonsense? Or are you underestimating Student Wen Li's wealth?"

Before Wen Li could respond, Fu Qian snorted, airing a grievance on Eldest Miss Wen's behalf.

"I just can't understand why she, like a certain someone, would have this kind of meaningless hobby."

Her spirits lifted, Yuan Shan wasn't about to be outdone and offered a cold smile in return.

She had even deemed it "meaningless" back then.

Even though Wen Li was currently only at Tier 4, the destructive power of her bare hands was more than enough to render these kinds of regulated firearms practically useless.

Yet she had gone out of her way to build a dedicated shooting range. Yuan Shan couldn't help but feel the girl had been led astray.

"Wrong. Being meaningless is exactly what elevates the concept of a hobby into something remarkably refined."

Of course, compared to the widening gap in their Transcendent Tiers, the gap in their rhetorical skills was even larger.

Gesturing at the distant targets, Fu Qian shook his head repeatedly, correcting Yuan Shan's flawed perspective.

......

"Uh... actually, I just felt my offensive methods were still a bit too limited, so I wanted to supplement them however I could."

Seeing Chief Yuan lose the upper hand after just two exchanges, Wen Li, who had been watching them with a smile, immediately stepped in to smooth things over. As she spoke, she even took a handgun from a servant.

It was exquisite, finely crafted, and clearly cost a fortune.

Moreover, it was clearly not the one she previously carried.

Wen Li certainly didn't think Expert Fu's appearance at the Night Watchers' headquarters was a coincidence—that bullet wasn't just incredibly powerful; its activation really could be sensed.

Even though the subsequent handling of the situation made it clear that the threat was far from simple—and Mr. Fu had seemingly planned it all along, with her acting as a tool to some extent—Wen Li still didn't harbor the slightest bit of resentment.

Having seen enough of human nature, she had always known the world was never that simple.

Not to mention that by now, she had developed a profound understanding of just how treacherous and vicious the transcendent world could be.

To her, being able to repay Mr. Fu even a little for his protection was actually a comforting thought.

Not bad. Very meticulous.

Watching her performance, Fu Qian offered a word of silent praise.

She clearly remembered his earlier instructions perfectly—specifically, that Yuan Shan shouldn't know anything about the King of the Abandoned Prison for now.

Not only had she swapped out the gun, but she had also already scrubbed away any traces of her previous shots.

Managing such meticulous arrangements immediately after that kind of unexpected crisis was no small feat.

Of course, while information regarding the King of the Abandoned Prison had to be kept secret for now, he still intended to honor the principle of honesty, giving the heavily burdened Chief Yuan a firmer grasp on the details of the incident.

Such as how he knew something had gone wrong in the first place.

That was exactly why he had brought her here as their first stop.

Just as he had said earlier, this operation was a test of finding the perfect balance.

Regarding the King of the Abandoned Prison, he and Wen Li shared a secret and an unspoken understanding. And regarding the Needle Witch, he shared another one with Yuan Shan.

There was even one between the "administrator" and Excellency Kelin.

......

"It is commendable that you have that mindset."

While he performed his internal mapping and analysis, Yuan Shan managed to regain her imposing aura with Wen Li's help. She nodded slightly at the mortal weapon in the girl's hand.

"But the ceiling on these things is just too low. Best not to let a certain someone lead you astray and waste too much energy on them, unless they're being used for some special purpose."

True to her vast experience, Chief Yuan seemed to have immediately thought of a few such special purposes, stopping short of completely dismissing the weapon.

"What do you mean 'led astray'?"

Unfortunately, Expert Fu clearly wasn't satisfied, distinctly voicing his protest.

Not only that, he followed it up with action. Before Yuan Shan could respond, a silver-white handgun abruptly materialized in his grip.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He raised his hand, aimed, and fired in one fluid motion. Amid flashes of slightly overly-vibrant muzzle fire, the targets before them shattered into pieces.

"And who says the ceiling is low?"

While his audience stared in stunned silence, Fu Qian proceeded to blow at the muzzle, his cold snort projecting an aura of absolute dominance.

"The ammunition you swindled out of me... you just wasted it like this?"

Unfortunately, Yuan Shan clearly wasn't impressed. Recovering from her brief shock, she roared with an expression that looked ready to cough up blood, condemning his utter wastefulness.

Given their visual effects and destructive power, any idiot could tell that those three rounds were not ordinary bullets.

While they weren't exactly priceless, watching this guy squander the Night Watchers' inventory like this was still infuriating.

"What do you mean 'wasted'? Did you forget the last quality control incident?"

Unfortunately, the word 'shame' had never existed in Fu Qian's dictionary. He instantly fired back with a soul-piercing rhetorical question.

"Judging by the look of you, I'm guessing there hasn't been any feedback yet. I just gave them another chance to vindicate their name, what's there to be dissatisfied about?"

"How unenterprising. Don't tell me you think yours truly can't craft such simple items by hand?"

......

Yuan Shan naturally remembered the ammunition quality control incident in the Sacred Night Capital. After all, it was rare to see someone repeatedly shoot themselves in the head like that.

But she wouldn't believe it was actually a problem with the bullets even if her life depended on it.

Just as she equally didn't believe that Fu Qian would actually have the leisure to help test their quality again.

So he actually left her some kind of signal flare?

The moment Wen Li felt her safety was threatened, she would simply use this method to alert him?

No wonder she was so perfectly willing to put up with this guy without a single complaint.

From those few lines of dialogue, it wasn't hard for Yuan Shan to understand why Fu Qian had dragged her here. He was conveniently being forthright about how he had miraculously known to run back to her place and wait.

While it wasn't a particularly important issue, this attitude was still very much worth validating.

After all, they didn't have anything else to do right now anyway. They just needed to stand guard.

......

"Did you really just come here for this?"

With the targets completely annihilated, their trip to the shooting range came to a satisfying close. As the host, Wen Li once again stepped in to lighten the mood, leading her distinguished guests to the banquet that had already been prepared.

She was indeed true to her word, immediately ordering the servants to bring out the fish Chief Yuan had been longing for. This allowed the latter to enthusiastically gorge herself, showing such deep intoxication with the meal that Fu Qian felt he couldn't stand watching anymore.

"Why else would I be here?"

Yuan Shan snorted, sending another bite into her mouth with a blissful expression.

"This is exactly the taste..."

"The taste is fine, but do you even remember how many of them you've eaten?" Watching this blatant freeloading with a look of disdain, Fu Qian suddenly posed the question while tossing a bite into his own mouth.

"Huh? Isn't this just the first—"

"I remember."

Amid Wen Li's ensuing surprise, Yuan Shan sighed.

"A full seventeen."

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