Eldritch Horror Theatre

The moonlight quickly faded. The blazing sun reclaimed the sky, and the rust-colored haze melted away like ice and snow.

True to the Witch's word, her voice did not sound again. That strange connection seemed entirely severed.

All things considered, this seemed like a good thing.

Fu Qian toyed with the mask in his hands.

When he first chose the Blasphemous Embrace as his reward, his only real motivation had been to avoid picking the alternative.

But time had proven the wisdom of that choice. He hadn't expected it to yield follow-up rewards after so long.

Judging by the Witch's implication, this was a gesture of gratitude for what he had done earlier.

It seemed that particular world was still holding together quite well.

Recalling the sensation from moments ago, Fu Qian put the mask back on his face.

Beneath this barrier, his own transcendent aura was completely concealed.

'This is impressive!'

Fu Qian immediately grasped the effect of this new mask—a barrier that hid transcendent power.

The Emissary Mask he currently wore did have some aura-concealing properties, but its limits were obvious. Yuan Shan, for instance, had seen right through it and instantly realized he had advanced to the Demigod Realm.

But this new mask was clearly an upgraded version. From what he could tell, its concealment effects were flawless.

Fu Qian was confident that if he stood before Yuan Shan right now, assuming she didn't already recognize him, she wouldn't even be able to tell he was a transcendent.

It was a bit of a paradox, of course—wearing a mask like this in public was hardly keeping a low profile—but he was still extremely satisfied with the reward.

The Pope clearly understood his preference for staying under the radar. Being a Dark Moon Knight hadn't been in vain.

Just as he was marveling at the gift, a familiar presence brushed against his consciousness.

'That was fast.'

Stowing the mask away, Fu Qian stood and headed straight downstairs.

A short time later, Yuan Shan's resentful face appeared outside his door.

"Brother, could you keep a low profile for just one day?"

Fu Qian opened the door, and the moment the Chief of the Night Watchers stepped inside, she began sighing heavily.

"I only asked you to take a look, and you caused a massive scene. Now the whole of Shangjing is contacting us, demanding to know what just happened in the sky."

"On top of that, someone infiltrated City Hall in disguise and threatened Gan Zuoxun's safety. Don't tell me you had nothing to do with that."

"Why would I? I'm an honest man. I really did do all of that, but I had my reasons."

Seeing Yuan Shan complaining endlessly, Fu Qian generously confessed his crimes.

He then quickly recounted his experience at the hospital, detailing exactly what had happened.

"Since I was entrusted with a task, I intended to see it through. When the person didn't show up, I decided to head over and take a look for myself."

"Based on what you're saying, that does sound suspicious."

Yuan Shan clearly hadn't anticipated such a twist, her brow furrowing tightly.

"Are you certain the Gan Zuoxun you saw later didn't have any issues?"

Issues?

Fu Qian quietly recalled everything he had seen and heard.

In truth, he had been pondering this exact question ever since the incident.

Everything required a motive.

Immediately after firing the arrow to seal the sun, his first reaction had been to observe Gan Zuoxun's response.

The result? Compared to the others present, Fu Qian didn't notice him reacting in any unusual way.

Therefore, in Fu Qian's view, the probability of something being wrong with Gan Zuoxun was extremely low.

But if that were true, the man's earlier words became rather intriguing.

Was he lying?

Why would he lie?

Taking a bold guess—if the man himself was perfectly fine, what motive did he have to deliberately say such things?

Looking at Yuan Shan frowning in front of him, and recalling the various reactions she just mentioned, Fu Qian thought he might have an answer. Was the guy baiting a hook?

Yuan Shan had mentioned earlier that Gan Zuoxun held a highly sensitive position. Certain factions had long been dissatisfied with him, so it wasn't impossible that they were pulling some strings in the shadows.

What if he was faking those abnormalities specifically for the benefit of those with ulterior motives?

After all, if a hostile faction saw signs that his mind was compromised, they would happily spread the rumors even if they weren't the ones who caused it.

He really was dancing on a knife's edge!

Moreover, to remain so calm and spout nonsense so smoothly while trapped in a Lucid Dream—the man was quite a talent.

And if that truly was the case, Fu Qian figured he might as well stick to quietly observing changes and enjoying the show.

"Based on my preliminary observations, aside from some prostate issues, I haven't noticed any other abnormalities yet," Fu Qian finally answered.

"Of course, we did have a rather strange conversation."

He went on to relay Gan Zuoxun's account word for word.

...

Yuan Shan's expression after hearing this was nothing short of spectacular.

It was clear that despite her grievances with his methods, she trusted Fu Qian's judgment.

At the same time, Gan Zuoxun's own words could not be ignored.

She had to consider the very real possibility that something was genuinely wrong with the man.

Fu Qian wasn't surprised by her reaction in the least.

Their standpoints were entirely different.

In this matter, he was practically an outsider, which allowed him to assess the situation with objective detachment.

But given Yuan Shan's position, she couldn't afford to overlook even the slightest risk.

"Look on the bright side. It might have been a messy spectacle, but at least my true intentions weren't exposed, right?" Fu Qian offered a word of comfort.

"That's true. If it had been too obvious, Gan Zuoxun would have had to be abandoned."

"I'll head back for now. Thank you for your efforts."

Yuan Shan abruptly stood up to take her leave.

"I've already made arrangements to investigate the place you asked about. There's no feedback yet, but I'll keep a close eye on it."

"I appreciate the trouble."

Fu Qian had no objections to Yuan Shan delegating the task.

He hadn't expected her to search for it personally anyway.

The Night Watchers had so many trained professionals; it would be a shame not to make use of them.

"Chief Yuan."

Just as she stepped out the door, a car pulled up to the curb.

Wen Li, dressed in a long white dress, stepped out. She looked noticeably surprised to see Yuan Shan, but still greeted her with utmost politeness.

Yuan Shan clearly wasn't in the mood to chat. After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, she hurried away.

Wen Li stood by the road, watching her leave before finally pushing the door open and walking inside.

The moment she saw Fu Qian, she playfully stuck out her tongue.

"I'm not causing any trouble by coming over right now, am I?"

"Chief Yuan is definitely dealing with some trouble, but it has nothing to do with you."

Fu Qian gestured for Wen Li to make herself comfortable and sit down.

He hadn't seen her in a while, but she looked even more radiant than before. It seemed her progress was going quite smoothly.

"Does it have to do with what happened earlier?" Wen Li pointed toward the sky, asking cautiously.

"It does," Fu Qian confirmed.

"You saw it?"

"It was so extreme, half of Shangjing must have seen it."

Wen Li gave a wry smile.

"But I came here this time for something else."

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