Eldritch Horror Theatre

"An effortless favor."

The Dean was an old hand in the jianghu, after all; he knew to thank people for their trouble the moment they met.

Knowing those words were meant for him, Fu Qian gave a casual, polite reply and gestured to the spot in front of him.

"Care to try Lisa's handiwork?"

Unwilling to steal a guest's credit, Fu Qian explicitly emphasized that Professor Lisa had brewed the tea while inviting Casi to take a seat.

"That is quite a rare treat. I'll have to savor it."

Casi chuckled. Looking in much better spirits than the weather outside, he walked right in and took a seat.

"Ah—"

Only then did Lisa snap out of her daze, blurting out the rest of her exclamation.

As the last person to have visited him, she was clearly taken aback by his healthy complexion. Staring at that face with its extraordinary bone structure, she was momentarily at a loss for how to greet him.

To make matters worse, Casi merely gazed back in silence, seemingly waiting for something.

"Cough, cough..."

The slight standoff lasted about two seconds before Fu Qian finally broke the silence with a dry cough, pushing a cup forward to offer a subtle hint.

'...Pour the tea, right?'

She was an intellectual, after all. Lisa finally realized what was going on, instantly understanding the meaning behind Casi's gaze.

One had invited him for tea, and the other had gladly accepted.

Yet after sitting down, neither of these two men made a single move to pour it. They were both waiting for her to serve them.

"Phew—"

Her roiling emotions were instantly dialed back a notch. Professor Lisa slowly exhaled to suppress the rebellious urge welling up in her chest.

"What took you so long? Professor Fu and I have been waiting here for quite a while."

Still, as she stepped up to pour the tea, she couldn't resist criticizing Casi for taking so long.

"..."

"It has been a while."

Accepting Lisa's complaint, Casi picked up his cup and glanced out the window.

"It was more troublesome than I expected, but I am much better now."

As if fully grasping the torment Professor Lisa had endured while waiting, Casi's tone even carried a hint of apology as he looked away from the sky.

"That's good..."

With the Dean showing such a sincere attitude, Lisa found it hard to hold a grudge.

Even so, she muttered softly to herself and subconsciously shot a glance at Fu Qian.

'Look how scared the poor girl is.'

Fu Qian understood the exact meaning behind that look.

Their earlier discussion about Casi's condition, coupled with half a day of overthinking, had left Professor Lisa a little paranoid.

Even with the man himself standing right in front of her, looking perfectly healthy and claiming to be fully recovered, she still doubted whether this was the truth.

She wondered if he was actually on his deathbed and merely trying to deceive the two of them.

'Not bad. She's grown a little.'

Fu Qian had no intention of mocking her reaction.

She might be a bit sensitive about certain topics, but overall, Professor Lisa's greatest strength was her resilient mindset.

Being endlessly mocked by him and Casi day in and day out would have caused someone with a fragile ego to simply give up and stop thinking altogether.

Yet whenever a critical moment arrived, she still bravely put her brain to work. That courage alone was commendable.

As for Lisa's concerns, Fu Qian felt things were likely fine.

At the very least, the Dean seemed to be telling the truth. He wasn't just "much better"—the Health Bar visible under Fu Qian's Vision Radar had actually grown by a significant margin.

He might not have reached the level of a Divine Emissary just yet, but he was undeniably at the Tier 3 Peak. He gave off the exact same impression that Old Man Logan had back then.

It looked like Dean Casi's ordeal had been a blessing in disguise, allowing him to advance even further.

Of course, he couldn't rule out one possibility: that he was currently experiencing Etched Intellect, and everything he saw was merely a beautiful illusion of what could be.

After all, it had already happened once before.

"The Dean's condition is indeed ideal."

Even with that risk in mind, it didn't stop Fu Qian from enjoying the current positive outcome.

Meeting Professor Lisa's subtly inquiring gaze, he gave a straightforward answer, signaling that there was nothing to worry about.

"He looks even better than before, in fact."

"..."

"Huh?"

Professor Fu's assessment was somewhat unexpected. Having grown familiar with his style, Lisa knew he wouldn't make such a claim lightly, especially on such a sensitive issue.

A mix of shock and joy immediately spread across her face. Lisa stared open-mouthed at Casi; she couldn't have been more excited if she had advanced to the Demigod Realm herself.

"I wouldn't call it a massive improvement, but it has at least eliminated a few hidden dangers."

Casi smiled and nodded, gesturing to himself with the modesty of an elder.

"...The next time something like this happens, please let me know in advance."

Unfortunately, his pleasant attitude was not returned in kind. Now fully reassured by both men, it only took Lisa a few seconds to recover her usual vigor.

Her immediate reaction was to criticize his reckless behavior, making it very clear that he had scared her half to death.

"So, what was happening to me earlier—"

She didn't even give Casi a chance to defend himself before remembering something else.

"Indeed, my condition affected you as well..."

Looking slightly embarrassed, Casi bravely owned up to his mistake and admitted to causing the issue.

"Hmm..."

Lisa remained silent, but the look she shot him could only be translated one way in Fu Qian's mind: 'You owe me a lot of money.'

She maintained that murderous glare for a long, long time... She didn't even twitch in her seat.

"..."

'Did he seriously just petrify his victim to get out of paying his debt?'

'As expected of the head of Apocalypse. Truly decisive and ruthless.'

Professor Lisa's state was actually quite easy to understand. In fact, Fu Qian noted that it had already happened right here in this Laboratory once before—Casi had used the natural suppression of a superior being to instantly knock her out cold.

As for his motive, the last time had been to secretly inform Fu Qian that Professor Lisa was the real source of the problem. But this time—

"The danger level didn't exceed my expectations, but I truly didn't anticipate the fallout radiating outward and affecting Lisa," Casi said.

His smile fading slightly, Casi turned his head. Not only did he admit fault, but he even confessed he had somewhat anticipated the ordeal.

"Although I successfully completed my ritual back in the day, it left behind a few hidden dangers. They didn't affect my ability to fight, but they made the path ahead perilous."

Sighing softly, Casi reminisced on the past and began explaining the cause of the recent incident.

"One of my reasons for venturing out all these years was to find a solution to that exact problem. My recent outing was fairly fruitful, so I decided to give it a try.

"But things started to go awry during the attempt. It wasn't until you sent Lisa to find me that I realized it was giving off a hidden influence."

With Professor Lisa completely checked out, Casi had no choice but to pour his own tea after finishing his tale. He then looked over at Fu Qian, who had been quietly listening.

"What do you think is the possible cause, Professor Fu?"

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