Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was cool, sure, but everyone knows tattoos don't exactly make passing a background check easy...

In a corner of Shangjing at dawn, the Bookstore Owner—who had been busy all night and even lost his pants in the process—was taking stock of his harvest.

Although its overall color wasn't as flashy as the Crimson Frenzy, and the pattern was so abstract its meaning was indiscernible, sporting a look like this was still going to draw stares whether one was a businessman or an intellectual.

Sometimes reaping too rich a harvest just brought its own headaches. This parting gift from the Dragon King was definitely going to cause some inconvenience for his future travels through the jianghu.

For starters, Fu Qian was entirely certain this thing couldn't be washed off.

And while he could hide it under his clothes like he had just done, the Crimson Frenzy was never merely a visual effect.

As a highly renowned transcendent phenomenon, there were likely quite a few people who could recognize it.

Besides, there was a reason he described it as a gift from the Dragon King.

The mark on his hand could hardly be waved away as a simple curse.

Aside from having no way to completely tuck it away, the effects he could achieve by manipulating it were far too numerous. For example—

Fu Qian lowered his head and stared at his wrist. Even without using Transcendent Perception, that ferocious pattern was already rapidly spreading.

Across the back of his hand, over his palm, and even up his arm...

Not only that, the pattern even undulated and crawled across the surface of his skin as if it had morphed into a two-dimensional creature.

Fu Qian was thoroughly convinced that, as long as he wished it, he could let this two-dimensional creature crawl onto someone else during physical contact... or command it to devour any pre-existing pollution on them.

When it came to the Crimson Frenzy curse, it seemed the Dragon King had directly transferred a portion of its authority to him.

He could only say the entity was far too polite. Next time, no matter what, he'd have to bring a proper feast as a return gift.

As for the minor inconvenience this caused, he wasn't entirely without a solution.

No matter how difficult the transcendent aura was to conceal, as long as he brought out the Dazzling Visage—that papal bestowal—it likely wouldn't be an issue anymore... it just felt a little weird.

Fu Qian shook his head. The pattern on his body rapidly receded as he stood up and headed upstairs.

Of course, all the scenarios he just considered were reserved for the most extreme situations.

For simply walking around Shangjing, or even having a face-to-face chat with Chief Yuan, throwing on a jacket would be perfectly fine.

...

"The shop is closed. Thank you for your patronage."

Given his rather excessive rate of wear and tear, there weren't many of the outfits Eldest Miss Wen had prepared for him left.

After changing into what was pretty much his last casual outfit, it didn't take Fu Qian long to successfully drive the small shop to its peak foot traffic.

And under the already faintly scorching sunlight, he wasted no time directly shooing people away.

"You can't do this... what kind of shop closes at this hour!"

Sure enough, a customer with a high courage stat would occasionally spawn, and someone immediately voiced their protest.

This was despite the fact that this particular contestant, with his immaculately slicked-back hair, had already been loitering here for nearly an hour before protesting.

"Of course I can. Didn't you see I've finished my tea?"

Unfortunately, these people always met the exact same fate. Without even lifting his head, Fu Qian tossed him half a glance and gestured toward the counter.

'It does look like he finished it... but what the hell does that have to do with me!'

Prompted by the gesture, the customer still unconsciously glanced over, but he quickly remembered his status as God.

"So you're going to sleep?"

Frowning uncontrollably, he was clearly trying to comprehend the causal relationship between finishing tea and closing the shop.

"No, I'm going to look for more tea leaves... Or are you planning to find some for me?"

It was a pity the owner maintained that exact same expression.

'Help find tea leaves...'

It was clear this fellow possessed at least enough worldly experience to match his neat attire.

The tea Eldest Miss Wen had provided to offset his salary was naturally no ordinary product. After merely taking one extra look at the cup, the customer hesitated, swallowed whatever he was about to say, and walked away.

He probably didn't believe the Bookstore Owner was actually going out to look for tea leaves, but the guy clearly wasn't strapped for cash.

...

In reality, he truly was going to look for tea leaves.

After stamping out the arrogance of the stubborn holdouts, the remaining customers were quickly cleared out.

Not long after that, Fu Qian sat in the exact same posture, but in a completely different place.

The light here wasn't quite as intense, but it was clear the weather was equally fine. Sunlight pierced through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows with almost no obstruction, illuminating the knife scars on the table before him with crystal clarity.

That's right, Madam Hayami Suzune's masterpiece. Back then, she had skewered his hand straight to the table.

And in return, he had treated her to a steaming bowl of creamy brain soup.

He was currently on Ye Island, sitting inside the Otaku Fiend's Residence.

As for how he got here, he had naturally used the Anywhere Door provided by the Red Moon.

As for what exactly he came here to do... hadn't he just mentioned looking for tea leaves?

Businessmen like him operated on honesty and good faith. How could that have just been a random excuse?

Fu Qian remembered it quite clearly. The flavor might differ from the batch Eldest Miss Wen had provided, but the tea here was undoubtedly top-tier. He had even used it to entertain the retired senior leadership of the Academy.

It was just a pity that Excellency Nepheli hadn't been able to sit down and properly enjoy it from start to finish—there were indeed leftovers.

While reminiscing about the past, Fu Qian had already rummaged around according to his memories and successfully found what he was looking for.

Although it had been opened previously, it was preserved rather well, and not too much time had passed.

Instead of rushing to bring it back, and without complaining about the lack of tea-serving maids this time, Fu Qian immediately set to work brewing it himself.

...

It seemed quite peaceful around here.

After three rounds of tea, having idly watched the flowers bloom and wither in the courtyard for a while, Fu Qian nodded slightly and sighed inwardly.

He vividly remembered that the last time he visited with Classmate Su Gao, this place had boasted a true gathering of all worthies and luminaries.

Not only had all sorts of tea-serving maids swarmed in, but even the King of Ye Island had personally come to show his support.

Perhaps this was the real-life version of how when the guests leave, the tea goes cold.

The reason Fu Qian felt so sentimental didn't actually have much to do with the scenery evoking old memories.

One couldn't forget the current climate. Anjing, which controlled Ye Island, was in the midst of a fiery conflict with Siren, and all sorts of insidious tactics were constantly being deployed.

Under these circumstances, if the atmosphere on Ye Island was overly tense, a dangerous element like himself should have long since been subjected to intensified surveillance.

Yet after drinking tea here for so long, surprisingly, no one had come to his door to give him a stab.

From this, one could seemingly sense that the lives of the general public on Ye Island hadn't been greatly affected.

He could only attribute this to the Night Watchers' institutional design—if the rites do not apply to the commoners, then neither should the punishments.

You fight your fights, and it's fine even if you beat each other's brains out, just don't impact everyone else's lives.

That being the case, was a certain Fortune Teller's Cabin—which previously hadn't been doing so well in business—still open right now?

A moment later, Fu Qian stood up and walked out of the place through another door.

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