Eldritch Horror Theatre

In truth, the moment Su Gao was put in charge, this outcome became practically inevitable.

It was obvious Chief Yuan had deliberated for a long time before he even arrived.

The proof lay in their brief conversation just now—every single sentence had struck right at the heart of the matter.

First, as Yuan Shan had pointed out, with Kelin as their hypothetical enemy, Su Gao would undoubtedly be lumped in with them whether Yuan Shan had recommended her or not. They were now bound to the same sinking ship.

Second, simply sitting back and waiting for the results under these circumstances was out of the question.

They had been attacked for no reason, and no matter how one looked at it, the Meteor was clearly a tracking method left behind by their assailant.

If they tracked it back to the source but pretended nothing had happened—keeping the Night Watchers' upper echelon entirely in the dark—Kelin would see it as absolute proof of a guilty conscience.

Yet if they did report it, how much should they reveal? And how far should they take their subsequent response?

Demigod Su was powerful, but she knew far too little of the inside story. It was hard not to worry that she might miss crucial clues.

The only question was: who should go?

Yuan Shan was certainly an option. While her involvement might seem like an overreaction, it was justifiable given the unprovoked ambush they had just endured.

But as coincidence would have it, the person in charge was Su Gao, which instantly presented a far more suitable candidate—

The existence of the Bookstore Owner, Fang Xun, was hardly a closely guarded secret among the Night Watchers. Even Old Man Logan had known the name during his first visit.

Back when Gulade caused chaos in Shangjing, he had even helped Yuan Shan and Su Gao bring the situation under control.

Under the current circumstances, it was perfectly logical for him to investigate the incident at Chief Yuan's request while simultaneously doing a favor for his acquaintance, Su Gao.

The only drawback was that he would officially step into the Night Watchers' line of sight in this capacity, opening himself up to scrutiny and the risk of exposing his alternate persona.

...

But was it truly a risk?

Yuan Shan could already vaguely guess the connection between Fang Xun and the Academy's Professor Fu.

If the Night Watchers actually set their minds to it, digging up the truth wouldn't be all that difficult.

After all, even Yuan Fang and Li Weixuan had managed to uncover his glorious assassination exploits in the Archipelago.

The core reason this alternate persona had enjoyed such peaceful years up until now was entirely due to Chief Yuan's endorsement.

Continuing to hide it was essentially pointless. If anything, this presented an opportunity to show his stance and completely clear his name.

Though for Yuan Shan's part, she still ultimately respected his choice in the matter.

That was exactly why she had hurriedly called him over to ask for his opinion before making her final decision.

So, should he accept this opportunity?

Why wouldn't he?

He had maxed out Professor Fu's Merit Value at the Academy specifically to step into the Night Watchers' sights, thereby guiding them to handle even more matters, hadn't he?

Following the Globe-Pointing Incident, wasn't this yet another perfect opportunity falling right into his lap?

Although...

"Why not try reporting her directly?"

Instead of rushing to agree, Fu Qian looked at Yuan Shan and posed the question with a faint smile.

...

In theory, setting aside the covert suspicions and power plays, Chief Yuan had another option.

She could use this incident to lay all her cards on the table and take her suspicions about the Needle Witch straight to the Council.

For her own personal safety, it was actually the optimal choice.

Uncovering definitive proof would be ideal.

If Kelin were innocent, she might be disgruntled about being reported, but at the end of the day, they were still colleagues.

If Kelin were guilty, yet an investigation failed to turn up any hard evidence, Yuan Shan's position—despite having seemingly abused the reporting system—would ironically become even safer.

To avoid further suspicion, unless Kelin was prepared to go completely rogue, she would absolutely never make an attempt on Yuan Shan's life afterward.

"There hasn't been any news out of West Plain..."

It was clear she had already weighed the pros and cons. At Fu Qian's suggestion, Yuan Shan sighed softly and shook her head without a moment's hesitation.

Had the pollution been covered up?

It seemed that following the return of the essence of law, the tree that had forged a Golden Body really had changed its approach. Rather than displaying itself for all to see, it now preferred to stay hidden. Yuan Shan's response was brief, but the lack of news was the biggest news of all.

Several days had already passed with no anomalies reported from West Plain, meaning someone had undoubtedly covered up the incident.

It was impossible to say how many bodies had been destroyed to erase the evidence, but the most crucial prerequisite for such a cover-up was that the source of the disaster had to have quieted down.

If the absurdly high-Rank Golden Tree had continued to wreak havoc, it was hard to imagine any powerhouse capable of sweeping the mess under the rug.

Of course, he had also helped out a little in that regard—the other source of the chaos, the Record of True Transcription, had been taken away and eaten.

All things considered, it truly wouldn't have been too difficult for Excellency Kelin to orchestrate a cover-up in the aftermath.

"Even so, a warning might make her lay low for a while, sparing a few innocent people from being victimized?"

Acknowledging the difficulty of reporting her under these circumstances, Fu Qian pressed on anyway.

"That's entirely possible... but what about the ones she has already victimized?"

Glancing at him, Yuan Shan shook her head.

"Besides, if what you say is true, someone like that wouldn't repent so easily. At best, she would just become more covert in her operations."

...

He had to admit, although her work attitude could be a bit unreliable, Chief Yuan never faltered when it came to the big issues.

She clearly had absolutely no interest in giving Kelin a chance to put down the Butcher's Cleaver and turn over a new leaf.

Nor did she believe such a thing was possible.

Even if it meant significantly reducing the risk to her own life.

"So it's settled, then?"

Realizing they had been chatting for quite a while, Yuan Shan looked directly into Fu Qian's eyes to confirm.

"No problem."

Fu Qian didn't try to haggle.

"I knew it... Should I have Su Gao look for you at the store?"

Smiling, Yuan Shan looked thoroughly relieved.

"That works."

"Alright, I'll go take care of it now. Oh, by the way—"

Having successfully roped in her recruit, Chief Yuan suddenly remembered something in her excitement.

"Do you want to drop by and see Wen Li before you leave? She's mostly recovered and will be setting off soon."

She pointed outside.

"She's also been working very hard these past two days looking for those documents you asked for."

"Sure."

Continuing his surprising streak of agreeableness, Fu Qian gladly accepted the suggestion.

It was obvious that despite claiming there wasn't much point to it, Yuan Shan had still insisted on keeping Wen Li around for a few days.

Of course, when she mentioned that Wen Li would also be heading to the Academy soon, the smirk on her lips gave off the distinct impression of someone who just wanted to watch the world burn.

...

"Mister Fang."

For someone who had severely overdrawn her limits, Eldest Miss Wen had recovered quite well.

After Xiao Mingyue led him to the room, Wen Li—who had been poring over a pile of documents—looked up with impressive sharpness, her eyes practically sparkling.

"You're dressed quite formally today... As for the documents regarding the Laria Royal Family you asked me to look into, I've just managed to find something rather interesting."

After looking Fu Qian up and down and offering her bright-eyed appraisal, Wen Li's expression turned serious a second later. Pulling out a file, she gestured for him to take a seat.

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