Eldritch Horror Theatre

So Snow White's real name was Violetta?

If you were named Maria, I could accept it, but this name is totally unrelated like wind, ox, and horse!

Looking into the little girl's clear and innocent eyes, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

"Where were you heading before this?"

He thought for a moment and asked.

"I was going to look for Mom."

Looking for Mom... Without a doubt, this was the target he had been searching for.

Looking at the incredibly childish face before him, Fu Qian felt a faint headache coming on.

This escort mission was getting increasingly ridiculous.

Fu Qian tried to coax it out of her gently.

"Mom is just called Mom."

Violetta gave him a confused look, her face completely matter-of-fact.

...

Before Fu Qian could react, the woman in the front seat was already wearing a wry smile, looking as if she had expected this.

Obviously, the couple had already asked the same question earlier.

"And what is your name?"

Lost in thought, Fu Qian hadn't expected the little girl, Violetta, to stare right back and return the question.

The moment she asked, Fu Qian noticed the middle-aged couple prick up their ears.

Clearly, they were still somewhat wary of their hitchhiker.

"Fu Qian. But you can also call me Doctor."

Fully prepared for this, Fu Qian answered with a smile.

Doctor...

The middle-aged couple was noticeably confused by the title, but Violetta's eyes lit up.

A moment later, she sat up straight and gave Fu Qian a solemn nod.

"Hello, Mister Doctor."

This little girl really was familiar with the story of Snow White!

Fu Qian marveled inwardly.

According to the fairy tale, the kindhearted Snow White fled into the forest to escape her pursuers and received help from the seven dwarfs.

The leader of the dwarfs was generally called Know-It-All or Doctor, which was exactly why Fu Qian had deliberately chosen the nickname for himself.

Adults like the couple in the front seat most likely wouldn't remember such trivial details.

The little girl, however, clearly recognized it, and the distance between them instantly narrowed.

Even so, Violetta didn't say anything more after her greeting. Instead, she continued to sit quietly in the back seat.

She was raised well, knowing better than to talk too much to a creepy stranger.

Looking at the little girl curled up like a cat, Fu Qian silently gave her a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry, we'll reach our destination in an hour at most."

Breaking the silence, the driver in the front seat spoke up.

His tone was perfectly natural, without the slightest hint of anything unusual.

However, Fu Qian instinctively felt that the man didn't want him getting any closer to the little girl.

It wasn't exactly a strange reaction.

Violetta was a child traveling alone, and her mind seemed completely innocent.

Anyone trying to cozy up to such a young girl would easily be suspected of having ulterior motives.

Of course, he did indeed have ulterior motives.

Fu Qian paid it no mind and casually struck up a conversation with the two in front.

From their chat, he confirmed that they were indeed a married couple.

The man was named Torrance, and the woman, naturally, was Mrs. Torrance.

This worthy couple could be considered a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven, playing zither and lute in harmony for years.

The purpose of their trip was a vacation to try and salvage their crumbling marriage.

Perhaps it was exactly this mindset that caused them to subconsciously show more goodwill to those around them.

Fu Qian thought they were quite brave for this. After all, according to his observations, most middle-aged couples at this age wouldn't even entertain the thought of trying to rekindle their passion.

As they chatted along the way, the rain showed absolutely no signs of stopping.

Torrential raindrops battered the car, forming a thick sheet of water across the windows that completely sealed the interior into its own isolated world.

Meanwhile, this narrow road without any forks felt truly endless as they drove, showing absolutely no sign of reaching a destination.

Perhaps sensing something, the atmosphere in the car gradually fell silent. Mrs. Torrance even looked slightly drowsy.

"Strange—"

Right at that moment, Torrance suddenly spoke up, his tone filled with intense confusion.

Just then, a deafening clap of thunder boomed, abruptly cutting him off.

"Ah!"

Beside him, Mrs. Torrance was clearly startled and let out a sharp scream.

"It's fine!"

Torrance consoled her instinctively, though his brows furrowed as he muttered to himself.

"It just looks a bit familiar. I keep feeling like we've been here before..."

Familiar?

Fu Qian turned his head to glance at Violetta beside him.

The little girl, who should have been the most likely to scream, was still sitting there quietly.

With her lips pressed tightly together, she didn't say a word, her eyes staring straight in a certain direction.

Following her gaze, Fu Qian looked over just as another flash of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the surroundings in a blinding white glare.

Right in the middle of the somewhat narrow road stood a tall Scarecrow, blocking their path.

Not only was its placement bizarre, but its appearance was also vastly different from a traditional scarecrow.

First, and most strikingly, this Scarecrow was draped in a bright red cloak, as vivid as blood in the night, showing not the slightest hint of color loss despite the ravaging rainstorm.

Its perfectly round head was massive and lacked a bamboo hat. Even its arms weren't stretched out to the sides; instead, they both pointed uniformly in a single direction.

Seeing that the car was about to crash head-on, Mister Torrance casually spun the steering wheel a second later. He turned ninety degrees in the exact direction the Scarecrow's arms pointed, and another road appeared ahead.

"Shh!"

Seeming to realize something, Violetta looked at Fu Qian and placed her index fingers against her lips to give a silent shush.

So the little girl could see it too!

And she didn't want him to say anything about it.

Fu Qian calmly withdrew his gaze and resumed chatting with the Torrance Couple in front.

In truth, this wasn't the first time.

Over the past half hour, Fu Qian confirmed they had encountered the thing at least three times.

Yet every time, Mister Torrance hadn't noticed anything unusual, merely taking the turn completely naturally in the direction indicated by the Scarecrow.

Something was clearly wrong with this road.

But even so, Fu Qian didn't think pointing it out was a good idea.

First of all, even if he and Violetta warned them simultaneously, the couple might not believe it.

Secondly, that thing gave off an incredibly sinister vibe.

Even if the couple actually believed his "nonsense" and slammed the gas pedal to ram straight through it, the outcome probably wouldn't be very good either.

"The road feels a bit off."

Finally, after weaving through the downpour for yet another hour, Mister Torrance chose to give up.

"Let's find a place to rest for a bit. We'll hit the road again once it's daylight."

Fu Qian glanced forward. Mrs. Torrance was already showing obvious signs of exhaustion, and she voiced no objections to this classic setup.

Beside him, Violetta still said nothing.

"Alright!"

Not long after the four of them reached a consensus, a hotel appeared in the distant Dense Forest.

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