Eldritch Horror Theatre

'It really is here.'

Without hesitation, Fu Qian pulled open a hidden door behind the desk. Inside sat an old-fashioned safe embedded directly into the wall.

Facing the heavy, dark steel, Fu Qian held up the Key in his hand and compared it against the lock. The size was a perfect match for the keyhole.

As for how he knew it was the right one so quickly?

It was simple: this Key had the exact same design as the one slipped inside the note.

The Key the Director had given him was indeed meant to open a safe somewhere in the Sanitarium.

The only pity was that he still didn't know exactly which safe it opened—and he couldn't even unlock the one right in front of him.

Though the safe was a bit old, it still used a dual-lock mechanism.

In addition to the keyhole, it had a brass combination dial.

The guests here were all wealthy or aristocratic, often staying for six months to a year at a time.

They naturally needed a secure place to store valuables like jewelry and private letters.

Since it was an amenity provided to high-end clients, heightened security was to be expected.

However, in Fu Qian's experience, people living in such luxurious environments tended to lower their guard, rendering the combination dial practically useless.

Since the safe was already hidden away in a secret compartment that others wouldn't easily find, many residents were likely too lazy to scramble the dial every time. They would just leave the combination set and use the key for convenience.

Yet the Key he had just inserted wouldn't turn, suggesting that Mrs. Tracy's male companion did not belong to that lazy demographic. The man wasn't nearly as frivolous as he appeared on the surface.

Did this also corroborate Madam Dark Room's claims, reflecting his hypocritical nature?

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian felt no annoyance toward the man. Instead, his train of thought only grew clearer.

Thinking about it, the existence of this combination dial was likely one of the reasons Mrs. Tracy's male companion hadn't put up a fierce fight earlier.

It provided him with an extra layer of insurance. Confident that his secrets would remain locked away, he had felt perfectly safe just letting himself get knocked out.

But human nature inherently harbored a desire to pry. He had originally just wanted to verify what the Key was for, yet this very obstacle only made the secrets hidden inside the safe all the more tantalizing.

Especially since, as mentioned, this was an old-fashioned safe. Even if one wasn't a grandmaster lockpicker, cracking it wouldn't be a monumental task—

Click!

The very next moment, Fu Qian shoved the hidden door shut, not even bothering to pull the Key out.

...

If a certain someone was watching his every move, what would they be thinking right now?

This was absolutely not a case of releasing in order to capture. In the next breath, Fu Qian left the residence of Mrs. Tracy's male companion without a shred of hesitation.

His actions just now weren't the result of a sudden attack of morality urging him to respect the man's privacy.

His mind had to remain clear. The real issue right now was how to deal with the newly confirmed, far greater threat: the Director.

His position might have seemed terribly passive, but Fu Qian wasn't entirely without a plan.

If everything unfolding before his eyes was the result of the Director's meticulous orchestration—with every single event falling entirely under his control—it demonstrated an almost flawless grip on the situation.

But this absolute control actually possessed an inherent flaw: forces were always mutual.

If no matter what I do, I cannot escape your arrangements, didn't that mean you had to react to every single move I made?

Under those circumstances, were you really controlling me, or was I remote-controlling you?

That question might be a bit philosophical, but fortunately, the practical application was very simple.

Fu Qian was preparing to drag his opponent into a frantic two-man dance.

...

The Director's true goal might still be unclear. It was even possible this was a multi-layered mind game—where it looked like he was being encouraged to open the safe, while the real intention was to keep him out. But none of that mattered.

What Fu Qian needed to do was simple: the Director could control the board, but the rhythm would follow Fu Qian's lead.

By exponentially increasing the complexity of the situation, he would place an immense strain on the Director's ability to control the stage, forcing him to expose more of his hand.

And the easiest way to ramp up that complexity was simply to be fast.

Through rapid, unpredictable shifts and movements, he would introduce a massive volume of variables to overwhelm the other party.

Of course, Fu Qian didn't expect such tactics to completely derail the situation, let alone cause his opponent's brain to crash.

Normally, when dealing with an unruly outlier like him, the mastermind's reaction would be to escalate their methods—perhaps even resorting to violence—to restrict his room to maneuver.

The game might lose its elegance, but it would remain under their control.

That didn't matter to Fu Qian, however, because what he wanted to probe was exactly that: his "room to maneuver."

As established from the start, the core of every action he took was to probe his opponent's limits.

And aside from speed, there was another factor that could drastically multiply the pressure on the Director's end—acting "abstract."

Deductions and plans were always based on common sense. Once a situation defied logic, it was like a refined scholar trying to reason with a street thug.

Fu Qian knew, of course, that whoever was pulling the strings in the Sanitarium must have vast experience dealing with erratic, unhinged individuals. So, being purely abstract wouldn't necessarily generate enough pressure.

But there was a solution to that, too: he just had to vary his frequency.

Acting perfectly rational one second and utterly incomprehensible the next—that was a rhythm entirely within his own control.

Plus, he held a massive advantage in this regard: being completely abstract was his comfort zone.

In short, even if there was truly something interesting hidden inside that safe, Fu Qian felt no regret over abandoning it.

In his estimation, immediately walking away was far more likely to yield greater returns.

As for what he should explore next now that he had walked away?

The nights in the mountains were never truly quiet. Fu Qian could hear low, mournful cries—indistinguishable as bird or beast—echoing in the dark.

Accompanied by this eerie soundtrack, he oriented himself and headed straight down toward the Main Building.

The Main Building, where Servis's Office was located.

...

The Attending Physician's office had been kept as a backup option for a critical moment since the very beginning. Hadn't that moment arrived?

Besides, it was a mysterious location repeatedly mentioned by all sorts of people. Right now, there was no better place to inject chaos and escalate the complexity of the situation.

"—Who goes there?"

But there was a minor problem. It was one thing for the VIP Area to be secluded and quiet; the Main Building, however, would never be completely deserted.

Just as he approached the entrance Mrs. Tracy had mentioned, Fu Qian ran into an obstacle.

Following that low, vigilant shout, a beam of light swept over and landed right at his feet.

Not bad. They were trained well.

The voice was obviously unfamiliar, but that didn't stop Fu Qian from noticing the uniform the man wore.

A single glance confirmed he was official security, clad in an outfit distinctly different from the female staff members seen during the day.

A guard?

An ordinary sanitarium might not need such a role, but considering the sheer concentration of "talent" in this facility, it was entirely reasonable to have guards on hand.

Moreover, even after catching someone acting suspiciously, the guard kept his flashlight aimed low rather than shining it directly into their face.

Such a minor detail spoke volumes about his professional training.

"An outsider."

Fu Qian nodded slightly, introducing himself.

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