Eldritch Horror Theatre

Polite, yet impossible to refuse.

Even though he still couldn't see the man's face, it didn't stop Fu Qian from passing judgment.

Even in those whispered words, the sheer high-spirited confidence was impossible to hide.

By comparison, he genuinely seemed more suited to be the groom than the body currently lying here.

As for the cloak the man had mentioned, it wasn't a transcendent item, just absurdly luxurious and regal.

Just seeing a corner of it draped over this body from this angle was enough to know that even at a grand wedding, it would be a rare treasure.

It made perfect sense that the stranger wanted to borrow it.

Besides, for Fu Qian—who was currently watching this play out like a cutscene—it was impossible to refuse on behalf of this body anyway.

In short, this was a two-way street.

The tone of the person outside sounded exactly like they were waiting for the person inside to finish getting ready to receive guests.

Given his current perspective—dressed in unhideable splendor—it was easy to imagine that she was waiting for the very man slumped over this table.

Yet, just as the person outside grew anxious enough to lose her patience, the man standing behind the body had answered instead.

The crucial point was that after this response, the person outside didn't seem to notice anything wrong, suddenly making the slumped figure feel a bit redundant.

So who exactly was she waiting for? Wait a minute... it seemed to be both of them.

The man standing behind the body was clearly certain that the person he was borrowing clothes from wouldn't refuse.

Silently, the precious, ornate robe was unfastened. At the same time, Fu Qian's shared perspective shifted slightly during the process.

He still couldn't see a face, but the hand reaching over—and even the cuff of the sleeve—looked incredibly familiar.

Compared to this current body, you couldn't say they were exactly identical, but there was almost no difference.

...

A real and a fake groom?

He had heard of stealing someone's fated opportunities, but stealing someone's marriage was rather rare.

Of course, he wouldn't naively jump to some plotline about twins getting married at the same time. In that moment, Fu Qian easily reached a conclusion, sighing internally along the way.

The situation was already obvious. The man slumped over was clearly the legitimate groom; someone with malicious intent had knocked him out to take his place at the altar.

The imposter had even prepared the outfit in advance, lacking only the outermost cloak, which forced him to borrow it on the spot.

In short, the stench of conspiracy was so thick it stung the eyes.

So why scheme like this? Who would do something so wicked?

No need to panic. It was just a Warehouse mission.

Indeed, Fu Qian had guessed the nature of this scene right from the start.

And the moment this trick of replacing a civet cat for a crown prince played out, a certain sense of déjà vu grew even stronger.

More than once, he had imagined how Old Man Ji Feng had gotten involved with the Laria Family.

And considering the status of an Administrator, the simplest and most reasonable guess was an intersection created during a mission.

After all, the Blood Wedding had happened hundreds of years ago. Old Man Ji Feng might have deep seniority, but surely not that deep?

As for the current situation, it felt like he was reliving a senior's old mission recording from an extremely unique perspective.

And his entry point for the mission was most likely replacing the groom.

Of course, these were still just guesses lacking concrete evidence.

Furthermore, since the other man had almost certainly shifted his appearance to match the groom's, even if Fu Qian managed to catch a glimpse, it probably wouldn't be Old Man Ji Feng's true face anyway.

But then again, Fu Qian had done this sort of thing plenty of times himself, so overall, the probability felt quite high.

There was even a tiny detail that seemed to support this theory: where did the imposter get that high-quality counterfeit outfit?

Rather than believing someone went through the massive effort to custom-tailor it in advance, or that the groom had deliberately prepared two identical sets, Fu Qian leaned toward a simpler, more direct possibility: the Warehouse had replicated it.

After all, when he first started doing missions, the Warehouse would occasionally provide work clothes.

By comparison, back when Old Man Ji Feng was running missions, the Warehouse should have been in its prime, right? It made sense that the benefits were a bit better then.

It was just a bit inflexible—missing the outermost piece, forcing him to borrow it from the original owner.

In short, by some twist of fate, there was a high chance he was witnessing Old Man Ji Feng's methods from back in the day.

The only question was: why would this playthrough recording exist in the eyes of the Punished Consort?

"Truly excellent... I'll have to inconvenience you a bit more now."

By this point, the man behind him had clearly donned the cloak and seemed extremely satisfied.

It was obvious he still wanted to maintain some courtesy. Whispering softly once more, the man hadn't forgotten to say his goodbyes after taking what he needed.

At almost the exact same time, Fu Qian realized that this body's five senses were rapidly being suppressed, even fading away entirely.

The world fell silent. His vision quickly narrowed into a cone, degrading all the way down to a newborn's level before finally plunging into total darkness.

The last things he could confirm were, first, that his perspective was actually shifting during this process, as if the head was shrinking along with it.

And second, that the clothes were genuinely getting bigger.

The originally well-tailored luxury garments quickly widened out like a carpet, eventually being pulled up to cover the body entirely.

...

Turned into a Doll? The Old Man's methods were quite sinister after all.

Even though he was swiftly plunged into total darkness and completely lost contact with the outside world, it didn't stop Fu Qian from silently deducing the "groom's" final situation based on what he had last sensed.

It actually made sense. For an imposter, aside from having a high degree of resemblance, another crucial point was ensuring the real person couldn't interfere.

So if he really planned to pull this off, just leaving the original owner lying here definitely wouldn't work.

Quietly dealing with him and hiding him away was a completely standard operation at this point.

It was just that the Old Man's methods seemed far too demonic and unorthodox.

He might not have directly killed the man, but shrinking him, sealing his five senses, and completely severing his connection to the outside world...

It certainly made hiding him convenient, but it was clearly an ordeal an ordinary person could hardly endure.

Especially when the victim was having this done to him on his own wedding day.

Just briefly empathizing with the emotional rollercoaster the groom must be going through was enough to make one sigh.

Of course, an experience like this was nothing to Fu Qian.

In fact, if he weren't in a hurry, he wouldn't have minded taking the time to savor the sensation properly.

Right now, Fu Qian was far more concerned about his spectator seat.

He couldn't just stare at a black screen the whole time, right? Not a single ray of light?

He had finally stumbled upon a lucky chance to glimpse a secret from the past, only to be forced to use his imagination for the whole thing?

If that was truly the case, it would be a bit too much... Wait, there was light.

Just as he mentally complained, the spectator's demands seemed to have been heard. At a certain moment, Fu Qian noticed a sliver of light piercing the darkness.

And before he could even make out anything else, a wisp of fragrance arrived first.

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