Eldritch Horror Theatre

All according to plan—it actually worked.

Without needing to turn around, Fu Qian knew the sudden Descent of "care" had already quietly faded away.

The importance of clear thinking had been demonstrated once again.

In a situation that fragile, any presumptuous move could have easily triggered a chain reaction, making the complexity skyrocket exponentially and leaving Chief Yuan's condition completely unmanageable.

Only with that twisted source withdrawing of its own accord—even giving up on figuring out exactly what was going on—could this harmonious winter afternoon continue.

Of course, the performance of the two guest stars had also been quite excellent.

He had originally thought it would take a few more groups of victims before the Red Moon sensed the "child's" wonderful life and set its mind at ease.

Marveling inwardly, and seeing that Yuan Shan still hadn't made a sound, Fu Qian stood up, stretched, walked to the door, and flipped the sign to 'Closed'.

Going too far is as bad as falling short. Today's quota of hard work had already been thoroughly met.

Just as he finished, a long exhalation came from behind him. Turning around, he saw Yuan Shan with furrowed brows, examining the teacup in her hands.

"What happened?"

...

As a dignified Demigod who had absorbed plenty of Old Man Henry's teachings, there was no way Chief Yuan would be oblivious to what she had just experienced.

Therefore, Fu Qian wasn't surprised by the bewildered look she shot his way.

"You ran into some trouble, but it's resolved now."

He answered her question completely truthfully.

"It really was considerable trouble..."

This direct response undoubtedly had a strong stabilizing effect on her emotions, and the living presence around Yuan Shan visibly thickened.

At that moment, she covered one side of her face, even showing a lingering trace of fear.

"So you remember what happened?"

Even though he had always been confident in the resilience of Chief Yuan's nerves, such a highly efficient recovery still left Fu Qian amazed, prompting him to ask casually.

"It's precisely because I don't remember that it's troublesome."

Yuan Shan let out another breath and shook her head, offering a somewhat philosophical answer.

"That means something influenced me, and I didn't even have the power to resist—did I bite this?"

As she spoke, her gaze was largely focused on the teacup in front of her, the chip on its rim glaringly obvious.

"Yeah, you chewed it up and swallowed it, too. There's no fixing it."

Fu Qian continued telling the truth. At the same time, taking her feelings into consideration, he wasn't in a hurry to bring up compensation.

"Describe exactly what happened in detail."

Having actually gnawed on a teacup, even someone as thick-nerved as Chief Yuan was visibly a bit ashamed.

However, she wouldn't let that delay business. She directly signaled for Fu Qian to spell it out clearly.

"Seventeen minutes ago, you rushed in here looking like you had some urgent matter. However, after sitting down, you started talking strangely, so I treated you to a cup of tea.

"And while I was attending to customers, you seemed to get a bit better."

Always obliging every request, Fu Qian summarized the events in just a few sentences.

"But there's another teacup here..."

It was obvious that Yuan Shan really didn't remember much; she raised no objections to Fu Qian's account.

However, there was an anomaly sitting right in front of her eyes, one that grew terrifying the more she thought about it.

"Right, I also treated the entity that influenced your mind to a cup of tea."

Fu Qian nodded once again.

...

Too bizarre!

It was evident that at that moment, this exclamation was constantly rippling through Chief Yuan's mind.

For a Demigod's mind to be influenced, it was undoubtedly reasonable for there to be a formidable entity orchestrating it from behind the scenes.

But treating it to tea was another matter entirely. This was practically edging closer to a folk custom; could it be some sort of soul-calling ritual?

Her gaze had already been deeply drawn to it, and following Fu Qian's explanation, Yuan Shan looked as though she wanted to press her eyeballs right against the delicate porcelain cup.

"Did it drink?"

Even the question she asked next was slightly abstract.

"It drank. Otherwise, how would it be willing to leave?"

Fu Qian's tone was not only affirmative, but fully justified.

"Really? But it doesn't look like it..."

Yuan Shan's brows not only failed to smooth out, but knitted even tighter. She pointed at the tea, which was on the verge of overflowing.

Anyone who saw that brimming cup wouldn't think it had been drunk from.

The Red Moon's unique method of drinking tea at the end was likely a dimensional strike to Chief Yuan's common sense.

Coupled with Fu Qian's words, the bizarre index soared to its peak at that moment.

"So do you know what exactly that thing was?"

However, evidently not one to give up so easily, Yuan Shan adjusted her emotions slightly and chose to ask directly what she didn't understand.

What exactly was it...

As the saying goes, children speak without a filter—this question actually threw Fu Qian into deep thought.

Yeah, what exactly was the Red Moon? Those ostentatious limbs and claws had certainly left a deep impression.

Furthermore, it leaned toward the flesh and blood side, just like him, while also casually opening doors and crossing spatial dimensions with ease...

It was both seemingly imprisoned by the concept of the moon and protected by it...

"It's hard to be certain. It seems related to the moon, but it also looks like a mere disguise."

Thinking back to the "true" side of this world that he had seen in the Ash Sea, Fu Qian ultimately shook his head.

"Related to the moon—the Red Moon?"

Yuan Shan was startled, taking only half a second to react and look out at the sky.

"The Red Moon."

Her guess was astonishingly accurate, but Fu Qian didn't show the slightest abnormality in his expression.

...

What was so strange about that?

Theoretically, it had only been a few months since he and Yuan Shan had joined forces to crush Ambor Gulade's wild ambitions.

At the time, they had even expressed confusion over why the Red Moon was so active.

Of course, Yuan Shan had never known the real reason—that the former had simply been searching for someone.

Even this time was no different.

"No wonder..."

Evidently having great confidence in Fu Qian, Yuan Shan didn't seem to doubt the truth of this at all. She merely placed a hand over her chest, bearing a look of lingering fear.

She couldn't remember the details, but the sense of powerlessness had remained?

In Fu Qian's view, this reaction was actually quite normal.

After all, wasn't his previous act of using Lucid Dream to leave psychological shadows on numerous victims pretty much the same?

As for the matter with the Red Moon, he was indeed deliberately glossing over the severity.

Although he was quite curious about the Night Watchers' higher-ups' knowledge of and attitude toward it, during an autumn of many troubles like this, there were plenty of active senior figures jumping around. With no shortage of observation samples, there was absolutely no need to push the Red Moon into the spotlight.

In contrast, he was actually more curious about why Yuan Shan had coincidentally rushed over here.

"Looks like I owe you a favor again."

Facts proved that Chief Yuan was indeed a person of principle. With a soft sigh, she quickly satisfied his curiosity.

"Actually, it's quite a coincidence. What I wanted to talk to you about earlier happened to be related to the sun."

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