Eldritch Horror Theatre

To be fair, Excellency Serana had returned even faster than expected.

Fu Qian had always been exceptionally good at staring contests, mainly because the term "guilty conscience" simply did not exist in his dictionary.

And Serana, who clearly hadn't come merely to patronize his business, was entirely oblivious to the fact that Fu Qian had been eagerly anticipating her arrival.

Yes, of course Serana would come.

As he had reasoned before, once the situation progressed to that point, she wouldn't linger in Mordo.

If she wasn't staying in Moore, where else would she go?

The answer was obvious: Shangjing was practically her only choice.

After all, there was a core reason for this: she had learned the title "Dominator of Death" right here in Shangjing, and it was the very Bookstore Owner before her who had told her about it.

And now, the connection between the Dominator of Death and the Greed Worms had truly been verified.

Not to mention discovering the moment she returned that her family had lost another Secret Treasure.

True, a certain Bookstore Owner might be difficult to handle, but there was another figure connected to the Dominator of Death who was much easier to deal with: the family junior, Taylor.

And the latter undeniably had a knack for extraordinary feats, forever capable of delivering surprises.

Such as having just had his cloak snatched by Dayun Mingwang and tossed into the Warehouse, rendering it virtually untrackable.

Given Taylor's style, he likely had no desire to broadcast this glorious tale of acting clever only to lose control of the situation.

But how could a matter like that stay hidden? After all, he had previously guessed that Grantham was already in the know.

And now, there was an additional Demigod who had just hurried back.

And the one who had taken that Secret Treasure of the Blood Clan was none other than Dayun Mingwang, who had appeared at the same time as the Greed Worms.

Ultimately, following this chain of deductions, it seemed Dayun Mingwang couldn't escape having ties with the Dominator of Death either.

Under these circumstances, from Serana's perspective, she had only been gone for a few short days, yet Shangjing had nearly become as lively as Moore, and it was similarly shrouded in the shadow of the Dominator of Death.

In the end, her urgent need to seek out the Bookstore Owner for a chat must have been nearly impossible to suppress.

Fortunately, the Bookstore Owner was an exceptionally diligent man, keeping his doors open well into the night.

"Do you still remember the Dominator of Death you mentioned to me?"

It turned out that traveling to study truly did foster growth. After a brief silence, Serana took a seat outside, having actually learned the art of getting straight to the point.

...

Not bad. She had finally figured out how to handle a cunning trickster.

At that moment, Fu Qian nodded inwardly.

During her previous visits, Serana had clearly been at a slight disadvantage in their verbal sparring.

A frequent occurrence was that if one person talked in circles, the other would follow suit, spinning the conversation so far off course it couldn't be salvaged.

"I remember. Did you make any interesting discoveries?"

For a moment, Fu Qian was readily accepting good advice, slipping into the role of an academic researcher as he joined the discussion.

"I did. Recently, following a trail of clues, I went to hunt down that group of troublemakers who once wreaked havoc in Shangjing."

Serana nodded, surprisingly maintaining her candid demeanor.

"In the end, I discovered something very interesting... It seems you were right. That truly is an Emblem belonging to the Dominator of Death."

Her fingers danced through the air as she spoke, tracing out the symbol that belonged to the King of the Abandoned Prison.

And this "truth" was precisely what the man before her had revealed to her last time.

"Oh? Where was this?"

Fu Qian naturally didn't correct her on this point, clearly quite interested in what Serana had experienced.

"A place called Moore. Do you know it?"

Serana didn't disappoint, continuing honestly.

"I know it. The city closest to the Ash Sea."

Fu Qian stroked his chin, seemingly lost in a distant memory.

"Indeed... when most people mention that place, that's their first reaction."

Serana seemed quite pleased by how smoothly today's conversation was flowing, even letting out a soft sigh.

"But it seems Moore's mysteries go far beyond that. It inherently possesses a rather special attribute—for instance, it is alive, and connected to the Dominator of Death."

...

"A living creation with a Death attribute?"

That last statement certainly left room for the imagination. Fu Qian furrowed his brow slightly, offering a summary.

"It might sound a bit strange, but that's the truth."

Having seemingly abandoned her efforts to spot any flaws in Fu Qian's expression, Serana looked completely immersed in the joy of sharing her findings.

"Overlapping with the seaport of Moore is an even more abstract creation. It only exists within the storm, functioning like one end of the balance of life and death alongside the Moore on the outside."

Her description of Moore was intensely vivid. For a moment, Fu Qian recalled the raging wind and rain, along with the distinct taste of pomegranate juice.

"And you found that group inside?"

Not willing to let Serana carry the conversation alone, Fu Qian offered a well-timed prompt, naturally not speaking nonsense.

"Exactly. I even witnessed some of their unbelievable forms—a bird completely hollowed out by bugs, yet still capable of flight under their control."

Encouraged by his response, Serana hit her stride, offering yet another shocking description.

Bugs and birds...

Upon hearing this description, the Bookstore Owner once again fell into deep thought. Reaching for a pen nearby, he began scribbling on the paper.

"Is it like this?"

A moment later, he held up his notebook, revealing a peculiar design drawn upon the page.

...

In response to Serana's candidness, Fu Qian hadn't taken any artistic liberties with the one-winged bird design, even though she hadn't explicitly mentioned that the bird only had a single wing.

"You know..."

That impossibly lifelike sketch clearly dealt Serana no small amount of shock.

"I know. And I might also know what that group is up to."

Fu Qian made no attempt at false modesty; in that moment, he looked as if he had just pieced everything together.

"As His retainers, secretly plotting to call for the Dominator of Death's return?"

Serana looked like she had already given the matter plenty of thought.

"Aren't you overestimating them a bit?"

This time, however, Fu Qian didn't seem to agree. He looked at her with a half-smile.

"Then what is it?"

Having grown accustomed to his condescension, Serana had developed a thick skin. She returned his gaze without a change in expression and asked.

"They're likely far from capable of pulling off something like that. I'm guessing they might be looking for someone, a certain figure who actually has the power to call for the Dominator of Death's return—an Ancient Angel."

Fu Qian answered fluently, dropping the specific title right at the end.

"...Ancient Angel?"

They say the highest art of lying is nine parts truth and one part fiction. Serana, who had been the picture of candid honesty this entire time, revealed an incredibly natural expression of surprise, as if she had never heard the title in her life.

"Yes, Ancient Angel."

Fu Qian merely sighed softly, his gaze drifting toward some infinite distance as he lost himself in memory once more.

"It should have originally appeared in a particular Revelation, where the Dominator of Death granted a boon from His fingertips upon an Angel He favored."

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