Eldritch Horror Theatre

The ride back was entirely silent.

Xiao Mingyue was clearly furious with Fu Qian. She practically floored the gas pedal, racing madly toward the Base, impatient to complain to Yuan Shan.

Fu Qian showed no reaction, keeping his eyes closed as he rested.

This was his first time encountering an enemy of this caliber; the Origin Council's strength was truly formidable.

In that light, it made sense how Deng Feizhou had previously helped Chen Xing achieve a false Demigod Realm.

As for this Ariel, Fu Qian remembered Wen Li's assessment of him with absolute clarity.

And from their initial contact, he had likewise detected a subtle incongruity.

Ariel's aura was indeed dazzling and bright, lacking even a single trace of distortion or shadow.

In theory, even Saints were no better.

Regardless, he would have to be careful with his next moves.

He had to remember he wasn't on a mission right now; he was operating in a fully synchronized state. If he truly fell into a desperate situation, he wouldn't get a chance to restart.

Fortunately, after their mutual display of acting today, Ariel likely still hadn't figured out his true background.

Otherwise, the man most likely wouldn't have played along so obediently until the end—he would have probed further at the very least.

As for what to do next? With a situation this serious, it was naturally time for the professional Night Watchers to step in.

...

"How are you back so soon?"

In the office, Yuan Shan was no longer in her original seat. Instead, she sat by the window with her legs crossed, leisurely looking outside as she sipped her tea.

Seeing the two come in, she asked with a curious expression.

"Mister Fang and I went to make contact with the target."

Seeing that Fu Qian had no intention of speaking, Xiao Mingyue gritted her teeth and spoke stiffly.

"Oh?"

Yuan Shan noticed Xiao Mingyue's foul mood and glanced at Fu Qian.

"I believe Mister Fang's methods were far too crude and violent."

Xiao Mingyue didn't beat around the bush, directly lodging her complaint.

"Against an ordinary person, he directly unleashed an extremely high-intensity mental shock, completely disregarding the severe aftereffects it might cause!"

"And the investigation results?"

Yuan Shan already had a fair estimate of Fu Qian's style, so she wasn't particularly surprised by Xiao Mingyue's description.

"Mister Fang stated there was no problem."

Xiao Mingyue glared at Fu Qian. In her eyes, violently interrogating an innocent person completely smeared the Night Watchers' reputation.

Unfortunately, the man in question maintained his composed, unbothered demeanor without a shred of shame.

No problem...

Yuan Shan pondered for a moment before looking up, staring at Fu Qian with a faint smile.

"Care to explain?"

"Explain?"

Fu Qian scoffed. He stepped forward and sat down in the chair opposite Yuan Shan.

"How many Demigod Realm members do the Night Watchers have around Shangjing?"

Under Xiao Mingyue's murderous glare, he didn't explain at all; instead, he asked a strange question.

How many Demigod Realm members?

Yuan Shan frowned slightly.

"Not many. Why do you ask?"

"You'd best call them all over."

"Oh, and why is that?"

Yuan Shan looked at him in amusement.

"That bunch is incredibly lazy. They won't lift a finger unless it's something important."

Just like you, right? How very honest!

Fu Qian pointed to the side.

"Secretary Xiao will tell you the reason."

"Why would I—"

Xiao Mingyue retorted subconsciously, completely failing to grasp Fu Qian's meaning.

[SAN Value -1]

The next moment, Fu Qian snapped his fingers, activating Commandment Residue.

This skill, which previously only had visual effects, had grown stronger now that Fu Qian himself had advanced to the Demigod Realm.

But considering that everyone in front of him was a transcendent, Fu Qian still spent 1 point of his SAN Value.

"What are you doing?"

Almost at the exact same time, Yuan Shan's pupils constricted. Streaks of black light flickered and clumped around her, neutralizing the dazzling golden radiance.

As someone in the Demigod Realm, she naturally sensed the anomaly coming from Fu Qian and was thoroughly shocked by his actions.

Could it really be just as I suspected?

Yuan Shan could resist the effects of Commandment Residue, but Xiao Mingyue beside her fell far short.

Moreover, she was already glaring indignantly at Fu Qian, so she undoubtedly fell victim in an instant. Her entire consciousness was enveloped by the brilliant light.

However, she was a transcendent after all, inherently stronger than a normal human.

Even caught off guard, she still put up an instinctive resistance after the initial flash. Her expression twisted in bitter struggle.

"You had better explain yourself clearly!"

The smile had vanished from Yuan Shan's face. Black bands converged in her palm, forming an incredibly dense black sphere that looked ready to be hurled at Fu Qian at the slightest disagreement.

"Is there a problem with Ariel?"

Fu Qian ignored her and instead directed his question at Xiao Mingyue.

"There is no problem with Ariel."

In her entranced state, Xiao Mingyue answered subconsciously.

"Why is there no problem?"

"He said he had no problem."

"When did he say that?"

"The first time I investigated him."

"Hm?"

Yuan Shan finally realized something, her expression turning odd as she looked at her secretary.

Xiao Mingyue most likely wouldn't conduct an interrogation like that.

"Thank you!"

Fu Qian deactivated Commandment Residue.

"What is...?"

Xiao Mingyue remained in a daze for a moment, but Yuan Shan's gaze had already sharpened.

"It's obvious. Your secretary was compromised."

Fu Qian waved his hand dismissively.

"It should be some kind of psychological suggestion."

"Ariel is a transcendent?"

Yuan Shan stared at Fu Qian, unable to conceal the shock on her face.

"His Rank is higher than yours. At the very least, I almost failed to see through his disguise."

"So, you had better give those Demigod Realm members a call, don't you think?"

...

"How did you know?"

Yuan Shan frowned in thought for a moment before pointing at Xiao Mingyue.

"Professional intuition. Did you see that trick I just pulled?"

Fu Qian shook his head and sighed.

"When we made contact with the target, Secretary Xiao's aura underwent a strange, subtle change that felt somewhat familiar to me."

Indeed. Earlier at Ariel's place, after noticing that shadow-less brilliance on him, Fu Qian had subconsciously thought of his own Commandment Residue.

In some aspects, they were quite similar.

And starting from this point, Fu Qian ultimately observed a sliver of abnormality in Xiao Mingyue.

Under normal circumstances, things like psychological suggestion couldn't be seen, but when making contact with the perpetrator, there might be specific reactions—just like Pei Yanqing, who had fallen victim previously.

Of course, what exactly the suggestion was could only be tested bit by bit. However, it seemed that Ariel was relatively straightforward and crude, having directly recorded a declaration of innocence.

As for why Yuan Shan would ask this question, Fu Qian also understood perfectly—he wasn't entirely free of suspicion himself.

It was a very simple piece of logic.

The Commandment Residue he just displayed clearly had a brainwashing effect as well.

While it was certainly possible that Xiao Mingyue had been planted with a psychological suggestion by the investigation target, it was equally possible for him to have struck at her from the shadows.

Sure enough, she has her suspicions about me!

"So according to you, Ariel is at least at Tier 2? And to cover his tracks, he planted a psychological suggestion in Ming Yue when she investigated him?"

Yuan Shan remained noncommittal about Fu Qian's explanation, but she still followed his train of thought.

"No."

Fu Qian still shook his head.

"In my opinion, his goal might not even have been concealment, but filtering...

"Filtering out the people who truly suspected him."

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