Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Help?"

Fu Qian glanced at the speaker.

He looked to be in his forties or fifties, with thinning hair and a haggard face. His health was clearly far from ideal.

"Please rest assured, I won't ask you to help for nothing."

Seeing Fu Qian look his way, the man introduced himself with utter sincerity.

"My name is Shang Shiming. You can verify my credibility with Rolden."

'So the reward is generous?'

Fu Qian raised an eyebrow.

"With so many people here, why ask a newcomer like me for help?"

Seeming to see through Fu Qian's doubts, Shang Shiming smiled.

"The ritual itself is extremely simple. It doesn't involve anything dangerous, and it certainly won't require you to kill."

"I felt you were suitable because it requires a certain amount of physical strength."

"And as I just said, I won't have you exert yourself for free. Once it's finished, I'll pay you according to your needs. That is the principle of our gathering."

"Is that so?"

Fu Qian glanced at Rolden.

"I can vouch for him."

Rolden's face remained expressionless, but his tone was absolute.

"If he reneges on your payment, I'll cover it myself."

"Then I'm relieved."

Fu Qian looked thoughtful.

"The payment can take any form you want."

Seeing Fu Qian's shift in attitude, Shang Shiming quickly added.

"Whether it's materials, items, help of equal value, or even—"

He looked Fu Qian up and down.

"Money. You just received your gift, so you should still have some use for it."

"That sounds good. I have no reason to refuse."

Fu Qian finally nodded.

"We can discuss the details later."

"That's wonderful!"

Shang Shiming's spirits immediately lifted.

"Excuse me..."

At that moment, a woman's voice spoke up from the side, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Li Min, who had kept a low profile and stayed silent until now, finally spoke up after watching their exchange.

"What kind of help would I need to provide to obtain ritual information related to the Manipulation System?"

"It seems Ms. Li has run into some trouble with her advancement?"

Rolden didn't look particularly surprised by Li Min's words.

"That's right. To tell the truth, it's my main reason for coming here. My abilities..."

Li Min raised her right hand and spread her fingers.

The next moment, a faint crackle of red lightning danced across her palm.

"...are tied to the special release of energy. Through practice and comprehension, my previous advancements went very smoothly."

"Unfortunately, when advancing to the Mid Tier, I lost my direction..."

"If there are any rituals related to this, I'm willing to do everything in my power to trade for them."

As Li Min finished her earnest request, her close friend Rachel looked at everyone expectantly.

'A gift in the category of energy manipulation and release...'

The room fell into a brief silence. The group of transcendents looked at one another until Li Min's expression began to show disappointment. Finally, Rolden spoke.

"It seems we don't currently have the kind of ritual you're looking for."

"But please don't be too disappointed. I'll keep an eye out for information in this area for you. Bear in mind that not all of our members are present today."

"Understood."

Li Min kept her emotions in check and nodded.

"Then I'll leave it to all of you. Also..."

Remembering something else, she looked up at Shang Shiming.

"Mr. Shang, I wonder if I could tag along to observe your ritual?"

"I haven't had much exposure to these concepts before, so I'd like to take this opportunity to learn. If necessary, I'll do my best to help."

'What an ambitious and motivated young person.'

Faced with Li Min's unexpected request, Shang Shiming hesitated slightly, then looked at Fu Qian.

"It's your ritual, do as you please."

Before Shang Shiming could speak, Fu Qian replied directly.

His own goal was to find information related to the Inner Eye. Regardless of Li Min and Rachel's motives, having more participants was all the better for the current situation.

"Alright then."

Shang Shiming was also a decisive and ruthless man. Since he could gain two extra helpers for free and Fu Qian had given his blessing, he agreed without hesitation.

This interlude thus came to a close, and the pleasant academic exchange resumed.

Fu Qian wandered around, finding the conversations truly eye-opening.

The bizarreness of some rituals was so extreme it was hard to imagine the mental states of the discoverers when they first attempted them.

It wasn't until late into the night that the gathering officially ended.

The transcendents took their leave one after another. Most of them approached Fu Qian to welcome him to the gathering.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Fu Qian felt that the looks they gave Shang Shiming contained a trace of envy.

"Now do you see that I wasn't lying to you?"

Rolden stepped forward just then, looking at Fu Qian with a smile.

"Trust me, you will get everything you want from here. This is a world you have never encountered before."

"I'm looking forward to it!"

Fu Qian replied casually.

"Mr. Fu."

Shang Shiming walked over as well, inviting Fu Qian to leave with him.

"Let's discuss the specific details. If possible, I'd like to get started as soon as we can."

"Sure!"

Fu Qian voiced no objections.

"Will Ms. Li and Rachel be joining us as well?"

At Shang Shiming's invitation, the group left the room and got into his car together.

"The details of the ritual are actually very simple."

As the car slowly pulled away, Shang Shiming spoke.

"It doesn't target any human beings. All we need to do is destroy a building."

"Because the ritual requires the destruction of an ancient structure that has existed for more than five hundred years."

'There's a ritual like this? Are you trying to advance to a demolition worker?'

Even Fu Qian found the details of this ritual a bit mind-boggling, while the two women exchanged bewildered looks.

"I've already found the target."

As if having fully anticipated their reactions, Shang Shiming continued, his tone entirely flat.

"The location is quite remote. Not many people usually go there."

"I have a way to destabilize its structure and corrode a few key connection points. But since my own strength is somewhat lacking, I'll need Mr. Fu to help apply a little physical force when the time comes."

"If the plan goes smoothly, the whole process will be extremely fast. I assure you, we absolutely won't attract the attention of the Night Watchers."

"Understood."

Fu Qian nodded. It really did sound like a risk-free activity.

"So when do we make our move?"

"Tomorrow?"

Shang Shiming cast an inquiring look at Li Min and Rachel.

"That works for me."

As an audience member tagging along, Li Min naturally raised no objections.

"Then we'll do it after daybreak."

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