Eldritch Horror Theatre

"What the hell are you doing?"

She had pointed out the direction readily enough, but the moment she lowered her hand, Yuan Shan jolted and stared fixedly at Fu Qian's head.

Without a sound, he had slipped on a bizarre mask.

Painted in alternating red and white, it looked exactly like a clown. A streak of bloody tears trailed from the corner of one eye, forming an expression caught somewhere between weeping and laughing.

"Nothing much. Do you think people might have a better impression of me if I show up looking like this?"

Looking slightly puzzled by her dramatic reaction, Fu Qian casually tapped the Mask of the Destined God and asked for her opinion.

"I don't know, but if you actually decide to do that, remember to warn me in advance."

Even as she claimed she couldn't judge, her tone had instantly turned ice-cold.

Her meaning was crystal clear: when the time came, he could go by himself and avoid splashing blood all over her.

Always one to gladly accept constructive criticism, Fu Qian sighed softly and pulled the mask off.

Of course, a perfectly straight line still traced itself effortlessly in his vision, pointing in almost the exact same direction Yuan Shan had just indicated.

A major reason he had chosen to take off the mask and return to Shangjing was simply to test if this guiding line was still there.

It proved to not only still be there, but to be as precise as a digital compass. It completely ruined any sense of transcendent mystery—he could practically use it for cross-triangulation at this point.

...

Excellent. That just added another reason to attend the banquet.

Honestly, the moment Fu Qian first saw that line, he had come up with quite a few wild theories.

One was whether its final destination connected to something incredible, something that would force him into an all-out brawl with the Night Watchers.

Now, that theory actually looked like it was coming true.

Pointing in the exact same direction as the Night Watchers' headquarters? It was hard to write that off as a mere coincidence.

And once he accepted that premise, the situation felt even more bizarre.

Was this really the path of the destined to become a god? Why did it feel more like the path of the destined to end up in a coffin?

Back then, he had used the sensations from his Etched Intellect, along with some before-and-after comparisons, to deduce the mask's changes. Theoretically, his estimate hadn't been overly optimistic.

Unfortunately, looking at it now, it seemed this grand destiny had mutated into a cursed fate. He was being guided straight into a trap by something that just wanted to watch the world burn.

As an organization that had almost single-handedly established the rules governing modern society, the Night Watchers were a force to be reckoned with.

Just from his close-range encounters alone, he had already seen their Tier 1 elites, not to mention taboo items of an even higher Rank.

As for the members of the Supreme Council, even the weakest among them hovered around Tier 2.

And his opportunity to ascend to godhood just happened to be sitting right in the middle of their stronghold?

It was hard not to suspect that His Excellency the Fool was just waiting for a chance to exact revenge for Fu Qian's final refusal.

If he refused to bow out gracefully, he would be forced out gracefully.

This wasn't to say his opponents were too powerful or that this Hongmen banquet would be a one-way trip.

He was the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison, after all. If it truly came down to a fight, Fu Qian didn't think he would be the one losing out.

But it was common knowledge that when facing powerful opponents, trying to control the flow of the situation became a lot less flexible.

The simplest example was their home-field advantage. With massive numbers and the backing of their own territory, even if the Night Watchers suspected his true identity—even if they guessed his actual level of strength—they wouldn't hesitate to use force if they felt it was necessary.

Add in their years of high-handed operating methods, and it meant that no matter how ruthlessly he struck back, they weren't likely to just back down when things went poorly and claim it was all a friendship forged through conflict.

In short, blood was bound to be spilled, and once it started, there would be no stopping it.

And if he really ended up bathing their headquarters in blood, wouldn't the outcome be almost exactly the same as if he had made the other choice at the end of that scenario?

After all, regardless of his personal feelings, the Night Watchers were already an indispensable gear in maintaining the surface harmony of this world.

If their core elites were entirely wiped out by his hands, calling the aftermath a chaotic era wouldn't even be an exaggeration.

...

"Why do you sound like you have nothing better to do?"

Yuan Shan clearly didn't believe he was merely concerned about his image. But since Fu Qian had taken her advice so readily, she couldn't exactly keep nagging him about it.

After stealing a few more glances at that bizarre mask, she shifted gears, suddenly curious about Fu Qian's itinerary.

He couldn't exactly deny it, either. If he was bored enough to contemplate waltzing into a Hongmen banquet, he clearly wasn't very busy.

"You could say that. After all, the shop just closed."

Fu Qian jerked his chin toward the door and casually topped off Yuan Shan's tea.

Uh...

It was an argument she couldn't really refute, even though there was no way it was the actual reason. Speechless, Yuan Shan picked up her teacup and drained it in a single gulp.

"That works out, actually. I was worried something might happen around here after I left. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have you holding the fort."

She recovered quickly, however. In the blink of an eye, she had already found a way to squeeze some value out of Fu Qian's free time.

A fair point. It was just a pity that if the person holding the fort happened to be the source of the chaos, the situation wouldn't be nearly as ideal.

Fu Qian merely sighed inwardly.

"So, you're still planning to go check up on the Old Man?"

Honestly, if the disturbance on Henry's end really had been caused by him, Fu Qian felt they might as well go visit him together.

After all, between the Blazing Rainbow, the covenant, and Melia... that man had an awful lot of moving parts attached to him.

There were risks involved, of course—such as a potential stress response from the Blazing Rainbow.

After prying into a secret that It was also interested in, walking straight up to Its Covenanter would definitely make a cautious entity like that suspicious.

If that happened, Old Man Henry's body might just turn into an alternative battleground.

The fact that Yuan Shan hadn't invited him to tag along meant she likely harbored similar concerns.

"I'll only feel at ease after I see him for myself."

Sure enough, she confessed her lingering worries in the next breath, without making a single mention of the cozy prosperity of the Sacred Night Capital.

"If you really have the time to stick around here, didn't you mention last time that you were interested in the Chen Clan's cultivation methods?"

Instead, she was even helping Fu Qian brainstorm hobbies to pass the time.

"Did they reach out to you?"

Yuan Shan was naturally referring to what had happened at the previous charity banquet. Back then, as a minor subject of his bloodline power research, he had expressed some interest in the Chen Clan's ancestral cultivation paths.

Recalling the scene, Fu Qian blinked and asked abruptly.

"Nothing too explicit. They've just been stopping by to report on their work a lot more frequently."

Yuan Shan sighed, looking entirely unsurprised that he had guessed it.

As expected. That was the power of hope.

To Fu Qian, the answer wasn't exactly a surprise.

When a clan was on a downward spiral, any opportunity to boost morale was a precious commodity.

Therefore, after their initial wariness wore off, it made complete sense that the victims would become even more enthusiastic than he was.

It was a beautiful case of mutual interest.

"Understood. If I get the chance, I'll try to pay a visit to some old friends."

Not wanting to seem entirely unapproachable, Fu Qian gazed out at the warm, slanting afternoon sun and noted that he still had quite a few acquaintances in Shangjing.

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