Eldritch Horror Theatre

Very nice. If anyone saw this, it would probably mark a major milestone in the operational history of this shop.

Not only did it boast a shop owner ready to kick people out at a moment's notice to help them return to their normal lives, but it even featured a refreshing tea ceremony.

Then again, it felt like this wasn't the first time he had seen this performance.

Inside the Winter Bookstore, the fragrance of tea filled the air.

As he quietly sipped his drink, Fu Qian didn't miss a single detail of the elegant scene unfolding before him.

It possessed the distinct beauty of an alien forcefully pretending to be human.

As for the similar experience he recalled, it was by no means a baseless association, though quite a bit of time had passed since then—it was during the mission where he first met Su Gao, involving the noblewoman who served as the mother for the evil god progeny.

To Fu Qian, the memory of that woman in her red dress, gracefully sipping tea while surrounded by Maggot-Men, remained vivid.

It was just that the noblewoman's initial physical resilience had been rather ordinary, so much so that ceramic shards had pierced right through her cheeks.

"Drinking it like that—is going to cost you extra."

Dispensing with pleasantries, Fu Qian instantly steered the conversation into vulgar territory.

"It's fine..."

Sitting across from him, Yuan Shan appeared entirely unconcerned with worldly possessions. After processing what Fu Qian had just said, she merely shook her head.

"I like my child."

...

Wasn't this sense of déjà vu a bit too strong?

Calm and unwavering. Even with her expressionless face, it felt impossible to doubt her sincerity.

Yet, this somewhat unexpected answer sounded just as familiar to Fu Qian's ears—hadn't that noblewoman said the exact same thing during their exchange?

He had to admit, the situation was turning bizarre. If he were a more paranoid man, his first thought would be that the Red Moon had been monitoring him all along, not only witnessing that scene but even memorizing the exact lines.

Right, the one speaking definitely wasn't Chief Yuan, and this was hardly the time to take advantage of the situation.

He could only conclude that leaders truly were shrewd calculators; the moment she heard a mention of fees, she immediately logged off and dumped the mess onto the other end of the scales.

Furthermore, the gravity of this issue lay in the timeline. Theoretically, he had dealt with the old god's progeny before he ever used the mask to synchronize to Shangjing.

At that time, the Red Moon shouldn't have found him yet, let alone while he was inside a mission.

Could it be that even the Red Moon's current state was half-true and half-false? Was there some element of misdirection involved?

Unlikely.

Based on the simplest logic: if it had disguised itself so perfectly, why blow its cover now?

Was it afraid of being discovered later, so it simply decided on feigning substance when empty?

Pulling that kind of stunt on a scoundrel like him wouldn't be a smart choice.

Therefore, in Fu Qian's view, while these words proved the scales had tipped to the other side, they could also be interpreted much more simply: I like my child, so paying extra is absolutely no problem.

Although, viewed in that light, it only made him seem all the more steeped in the stench of money.

Was there any way to salvage his image?

"Times have changed. Raising a kid takes a lot out of a person nowadays."

Sighing softly, Fu Qian's first sentence emphasized his own cynical nature, signaling that in this day and age, having children was a losing investment.

"Instead, more people are keeping cats, even though some of them have terrible personalities too."

...

Chief Yuan's condition was far from optimistic.

The improvement she had seemingly shown earlier was, upon further observation, completely illusory.

To describe it using a popular phrase, it was the "shining moment of a humanoid."

The Yuan Shan that felt so familiar to him was entirely stitched together from various fragments of information, much like a painted skin.

To be honest, this was far more brutal than the sparring between left and right he had imagined.

If her will were temporarily suppressed, she might one day turn the tables. But if the Red Moon actually managed to piece together a brand-new Yuan Shan, it would likely result in pollution in the truest sense.

Even though the Red Moon harbored no real malice in doing so.

Just as it had asked "Why is it like this?" at the very beginning, one theme remained constant throughout: the Red Moon was trying to understand the events unfolding before it, trying to comprehend its own state.

For a higher entity, this could practically be considered its most core instinct.

And this was exactly where Chief Yuan's rotten luck lay. Just because she had interacted with him a bit more than usual, she had taken this primal urge straight to the face.

Was he truly the anchor of the apocalypse, the root of the world's calamities?

For a moment, Fu Qian recalled his final experiences in the Ash Sea, as well as his own significance to this world.

"A cat?"

A certain element in his previous words seemed to have finally struck a slight chord with the person across from him.

"Yuan Shan" didn't even continue drinking. She swallowed the tea in her mouth and frowned slightly.

"Yeah, especially the black-and-white ones. I know of one in particular with a terrible personality, yet it remains incredibly popular."

Fu Qian carried the conversation naturally, a certain figure sunbathing under a window surfacing in his mind.

...

The cat he referred to was, of course, Old Man Henry.

To Fu Qian, it felt as though he were trying to awaken a vegetative patient.

He even had to be extremely careful throughout the process, lest he startle her and prompt the entity to secretly stitch together a fake persona like an AI.

It was a thorny situation, but in Fu Qian's eyes, there were ways around it.

If he wanted to prevent her from being counterfeited, his best bet was to link her to some core, highly exclusive elements—such as a genuine Tier 2.

One who even had two higher entities standing behind them.

Yuan Shan's teacher, Henry, was clearly a very special figure to her, someone she trusted immensely.

The secrets they shared and guarded in private served as true spiritual wealth for the current Yuan Shan.

Therefore, targeting this condition, Fu Qian opted to quietly steer the conversation in that direction.

"Hmm... I think I know a cat like that too."

As it turned out, the results seemed rather promising.

The seamless dialogue kept the entire exchange at a relatively mild intensity, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control.

And combining the elements of black-and-white, a terrible personality, and immense popularity seemingly triggered her associations just as smoothly.

After only a slight hesitation, "Yuan Shan" nodded, her speaking pace seemingly quickening a bit.

...

Excellent. Aside from imparting knowledge, a good teacher was meant to help guide a person's path, after all.

Although he was still far from truly resolving the issue, in that moment, Fu Qian noticed the counterfeit aura around Yuan Shan genuinely fading just a little.

If he continued along this line of thought, pulling chestnuts from the fire might not be entirely impossible—ugh!

Yet right at that moment, Yuan Shan neither continued her reminiscence nor took a sip of water to moisten her throat. Instead, she raised her head and stared fixedly at a certain spot.

Following her gaze, Fu Qian spotted a figure in a bright red dress standing by the rather narrow staircase.

Without making a sound, the Red Moon had ceased lingering upstairs and was now walking down the stairs, barefoot, step by step.

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