Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Professor Weilong."

Just as Wen Li had said, the old man who had come down specifically to welcome them looked to be in good health.

He wore a calm, resolute expression. Perhaps due to the recent series of setbacks, even his innate pride seemed somewhat diminished.

Profoundly moved by the notion that one should never give up on self-improvement regardless of age, Fu Qian offered a cordial greeting.

Beside him, Wen Li appeared much more solemn by comparison, following up with an earnest and proper bow.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't around earlier. I heard from Wen Li after returning that you visited my place yesterday. Is the situation here at Linghui progressing ideally?"

Under the old man's scrutinizing gaze, Fu Qian deliberately avoided keeping him in suspense, stating his intentions directly to show good faith.

After all, as the saying goes, harmony fosters wealth, and his previous reputation around here had been fairly mediocre.

Perhaps Professor Weilong was adept at showing neither joy nor anger on his face, but the others observing their exchange inevitably radiated a sense of vigilance.

Seeing him get straight to business right at the door, the old man nodded slightly and offered his earnest thanks, displaying a rather straightforward and magnanimous demeanor.

"As for Wen Li, I must also thank Your Excellency for taking care of her."

The next moment, Weilong's gaze fell on Wen Li's face. He seemed rather gratified by the current state of this rising star of the Psychic Type.

"You're too polite. It's only what I ought to do."

Before the cared-for Wen Li had time to speak, Fu Qian was already waving his hand, signaling him not to take it to heart.

To be honest, this wasn't the first time he had used such words regarding Eldest Miss Wen. For instance, he had mentioned taking care of an old friend's daughter when speaking with Chief Yuan in Shangjing.

The effect was just as striking this time. Professor Weilong paused meaningfully for a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"Please, follow me. There happens to be something I want Your Excellency to see."

...

It was impossible not to harbor suspicions.

He was advanced in years, after all, and even if he spent most of his time engaged in academic pursuits, he still possessed a keen sense for the ways of the world.

In Fu Qian's view, even though he and Wen Li had displayed superb acting skills recently and executed all their maneuvers logically, it still boiled down to the fact that Linghui's rising star had been kept over at Apocalypse—and was staying there quite comfortably.

Even if there was no evidence regarding their prior relationship, the old man likely had his doubts about whether Wen Li was even willing to return to Linghui Courtyard at this point.

Especially since, logically speaking, no matter what choice Wen Li made, Linghui didn't seem to have any ground to criticize her.

They had seemingly poured resources into helping her reach the sky in a single bound. Yet, given the circumstances that had since come to light, it was hard to say what would have happened to her had she remained at Linghui.

Even though everything appeared normal for now, it remained difficult to judge whether that bizarrely originated Sufferer ritual harbored any hidden dangers.

From that perspective, Wen Li's attitude toward Linghui could already be considered extremely polite.

"Oh? Is it still about Si Lei?"

Unfortunately, the two visitors today were both experts at hiding their emotions, and Professor Weilong failed to glean anything from their reactions.

Fu Qian got into character within a second, showing immense curiosity about whatever the man wanted to show him.

He even remembered the name of the previous victim perfectly clearly.

"Not him. His condition was actually on the milder side, and he's more or less fine now."

Weilong gave up focusing on those minor details. As he led the way, he shook his head and explained Si Lei's recent status.

"After you left last time, we quickly used various methods to check and stabilize his condition. It seemed he wasn't too deeply affected... But we soon discovered a much thornier situation."

...

This was a place they hadn't been to before.

Linghui wasn't just domineering toward outsiders; a strict sense of hierarchy was clearly deeply ingrained in the academy's culture.

With Weilong leading the way during this recent autumn of many troubles, the teachers and students they passed actively made way, avoiding even the slightest eye contact.

However, this also showed that the claim about the situation being under control was no empty talk. Everyone was clearly resuming their normal routines, no longer huddled together for disinfection like before.

And the much thornier situation Weilong had mentioned was clearly not located in the Chandelier Hall from last time.

After passing through an unfamiliar area, they even turned and headed downward.

Judging by the surrounding decor, it held a striking parallel to the starry galaxy design of that hall—different tunes played with equal skill. It appeared to be a project from the same era, a critical restricted zone completely off-limits to everyday access.

The security level here appeared even higher than for the item they had lost to Apocalypse earlier.

"It's just up ahead."

After passing through several doors, Fu Qian noticed a few seemingly familiar mystical restrictions, quite similar to the ones used to bind that watchdog from the Bone Spirit Realm.

But the scale here was far more exaggerated, almost forming a complete matrix that converged in one specific direction.

Unsurprisingly, Weilong gestured toward that exact spot.

They walked right up to a door that looked as though it were made of black wax. Before Fu Qian even had the chance to admire the interlocking ring patterns etched into it, the door was pulled open from the inside.

"Thank you for your hard work, Professor Yang."

Facing this new arrival, Fu Qian immediately offered a greeting.

The person behind the door was highly recognizable and, frankly, exuded the most oppressive aura of anyone they had encountered during this visit. Right now, his complexion was incredibly grim.

This was Linghui Courtyard's other demigod, the highly experienced Professor Yang, whose temper was also known to be quite poor.

Regardless, for a dignified demigod to be acting as a guard was proof enough of just how thorny the situation Weilong had mentioned truly was.

"Professor Fu."

Unfortunately, Professor Yang clearly hadn't mentally prepared as well as Weilong had. In response to Fu Qian's polite greeting, Yang simply replied with a stony face.

"Is that what you were talking about?"

Naturally, Fu Qian didn't mind. Without wasting any time, he gestured behind the door and cut straight to the chase.

Inside the windowless room, interlacing metal rings formed an open-style cage, making it perfectly easy to see the person imprisoned within.

Indeed, a figure sat on a stool with their head lowered, entirely unresponsive to the group's arrival.

Judging by their clothing, there was good reason to suspect this was an instructor from Linghui, though their face was completely unfamiliar—

Rip!

Right as Fu Qian was making his mental assessment, a bloodstained hand suddenly grabbed hold of that slightly abstract face.

The sheer force behind the grip was glaringly obvious. Before anyone could even imagine how much it must hurt, the person decisively tore their own face off, exposing the raw blood and bone beneath.

Truth be told, this new look seemed quite a bit more familiar.

However, Fu Qian's gaze was drawn more toward the floor by the person's feet, where numerous similar Human Skin Masks were already groveling, crawling upward as if they were alive.

"Yes."

Beside him, Weilong gave a timely nod of confirmation.

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