Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Has it always been like this?"

The Old Man's eye seemed to twitch slightly, but he ultimately held his temper in check.

Leaving aside his glaringly relaxed posture, Fu Qian's tone alone made it hard to interpret his words as pure sympathy—there was a much heavier dose of gloating.

Clearly deciding this wasn't the time to let emotions take over, the Old Man sat down beside him and asked softly.

"What else would it be? What did that guy just say to you?"

Tossing the question back casually, Fu Qian took a deep draw of the dark green local beverage in his hand, quite satisfied with his decision to try it.

It had a rather unique flavor. For a traditional local brew to earn such high praise on the very first taste was already quite an achievement.

"Internal members only. Not open to the public."

The Old Man seemed fairly honest. After a brief hesitation, he answered truthfully.

He took the initiative to introduce himself, though this time he was far less truthful.

They had just toured a popular tourist attraction together. They hadn't interacted much, but Fu Qian still knew this wasn't the man's real name.

While the identity he had given A Lian might have been forged, Fu Qian firmly believed he wouldn't just hand his real name over to a suspicious stranger either.

The most likely scenario was that, despite the polite inquiry, he had layered a second false identity over the first.

However, considering the Old Man was scheming something important, his caution was entirely understandable.

"Mr. Sanhao... not bad."

Being an easygoing person, Fu Qian didn't mind and simply went along with the chosen name.

"As for me, just call me Lao Wang."

Uh...

Unfortunately, the other party lacked that same free-spiritedness. For a moment, Old Man Sanhao's expression turned stiff.

...

"Excellency Lao Wang... you seem to know them very well. I wonder if you have any way to introduce me?"

But he knew his priorities. Even though this self-introduction lacked sincerity, Sanhao swallowed his annoyance and cut straight to the chase.

"Just call me Lao Wang, no need for honorifics."

Fu Qian, however, seemed rather particular about titles. He drained the rest of his drink to emphasize the point.

"As for an introduction... have you thought it through?"

Before Sanhao could say another word, he followed up with a bizarre question in an equally bizarre tone.

Surprisingly, he hadn't flatly rejected a request the older man clearly held little hope for.

"Thought what through?"

It was hard to say how much he trusted the man sitting in front of him, but in that moment, he undeniably sensed something extraordinary about him.

Sanhao's slightly clouded eyes flashed with a sharp light as he probed cautiously.

"The consequences. Have you truly made up your mind to face everything that comes after opening the box?"

Reassuringly, excellency Lao Wang didn't speak in riddles. He made his meaning perfectly clear—was he completely prepared to shoulder everything that came with the things he wished to touch?

The consequences of opening the box...

Although the phrasing still carried a whiff of the mystical, it clearly struck a chord deep within Mr. Sanhao, and he couldn't help but look the man up and down once more.

Aside from his bald head, he possessed a classic local appearance. His clothing matched the region too, leaning heavily toward traditional styles...

"I have."

Bizarre as it was, he couldn't pinpoint any glaring issues. Sanhao finally nodded.

"Very well. Bearing the consequences of one's own actions is an essential Virtue for anyone looking to achieve something." Excellency Lao Wang seemed deeply satisfied with this choice, though the longer one looked at his smile, the more unsettling it felt.

"Now, head back over there."

Before Sanhao could say anything, something even more unsettling happened.

Fu Qian pointed in the exact direction the older man had just been kicked out from, gesturing for him to head back.

...

'Are you messing with me?'

Though he didn't voice it aloud, the words were plastered clearly across Old Man Sanhao's face.

He couldn't help it. While he might no longer doubt the man was a genuine local, he sincerely suspected the guy was just playing him for a fool.

Putting on a mystical act just to trick someone into getting tossed out the door a second time—that was a scene far too easy to imagine.

"It seems you still aren't fully prepared to bear everything that comes with your choices."

Faced with Sanhao's silence, Fu Qian didn't even bother to explain. He simply shook his head and offered a smiling critique.

Desire really was a fatal thing.

When you couldn't shake it, even if the malice was glaringly obvious, as long as there was even a sliver of hope...

Sanhao understood perfectly well what the man meant: he wasn't nearly as ready to shoulder the consequences of his actions as he had just claimed.

Otherwise, even knowing he might be getting played, he would still take the risk.

A malicious, cunning trap of a question, forming a perfect logical loop that forced him to roast on the fire of his own words... It certainly fit this mystical persona.

Although, up until now, he still couldn't fathom what the man's actual goal was.

"Understood. Thank you, excellency Lao Wang—"

After a brief internal struggle, clearly unable to break free of the snare, Old Man Sanhao nodded to reaffirm his resolve, even remembering to offer his thanks.

"I told you, drop the honorifics."

Unfortunately, despite his politeness, he was immediately corrected.

"Why?"

His fiercely conflicted mental state nearly snapped. Half-turned away, Sanhao couldn't resist asking one last question.

"Because 'Wang' is already an honorific."

His smile never wavering, Fu Qian pointed a finger upward.

...

As Old Man Sanhao set off once again, his mind was clearly racing, frantically trying to puzzle out the connection between "Wang" and honorifics.

Judging by the way he ultimately couldn't resist glancing back, he had seemingly pieced some of it together.

It wasn't surprising. A certain title that spanned countless civilizations from ancient times to the present was just too easy to deduce.

Not to mention they had just toured a royal estate a mere few hours ago.

'Lao Wang... could it also mean the Aged King?'

Encountering a character claiming such a title in a city like this... When putting the pieces together, the implications felt undeniably eerie.

So much so that, as the man in question, Old Man Sanhao found his embarrassment over returning significantly diminished.

"Didn't I already tell you? Not open to the public."

Unfortunately, not everyone could appreciate his inner turmoil. This time, before he even had the chance to knock, that same face poked out from behind the door to evict him for a third time.

The tone was exceedingly rude, and the person looked entirely ready to call the cops.

...

For Old Man Sanhao, this was clearly a rare level of disrespect.

His raised hand froze in midair. His carefully maintained composure hovered on the brink of collapse, leaving him entirely at a loss for how to respond.

BOOM—

But it didn't matter. A deafening crash answered for him.

Almost simultaneously, a terrifying bolt of lightning tore down from the relatively thin layer of dark clouds overhead, violently striking the historical building right in front of him.

Amid a teeth-jarring crunch, bricks and mortar rained down. The Club, closed off to the public, was violently ripped open, exposing a massive, gaping hole.

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