Eldritch Horror Theatre

By the time Tan Ying and her companion returned, Fu Qian had already left.

His own testing was complete, and Tan Ying had received her compensation. It was a clean transaction; whatever happened next had nothing to do with him.

He had only offered her an opportunity. Any conclusions she drew and decisions she made were entirely up to her.

It was just basic politeness.

Instead of going straight home, Fu Qian found a hidden corner nearby and activated the Imprint on his wrist.

Relaxing at home was nice, but it was still a bit too noisy.

And since mastery flourishes with diligence and wastes away with play, it was time to tend to his business while it was still broad daylight.

Upon entering the Warehouse, Fu Qian immediately found the Emissary Mask and slipped it on.

The scenery shifted. He sat up in bed on the Bookstore Second Floor and switched on the desk lamp.

Fu Qian paused, looked at his hand, and then glanced out the window.

A bright moon hung high, and the Stars twinkled. What a night, one deeper than darkness itself.

'There sure have been a lot of weird things happening lately!'

'Did the time between the two worlds fall out of sync?'

...

'Or maybe it didn't?'

'Jumping to such a complex, negative-entropy explanation the moment an issue arises—this is a bad habit I need to fix.'

'Rather than finding such exaggerated reasons, there are plenty of much more reasonable explanations!'

Expressionless, Fu Qian got out of bed.

Illusions, dreams, blinders—he had just pulled off similar tricks himself, so how could he be fooled so easily?

Floorboards creaking beneath his feet, Fu Qian strolled downstairs.

The first floor of The Bookstore was naturally empty, with only a few bookshelves standing in the shadows.

Bright moonlight filtered through the doors and windows, casting diagonal beams across the floor.

Yet, even though the moonlight shone like silver, it provided absolutely no sense of brightness.

That almost blindingly harsh light felt instead like an alternative kind of darkness.

Fu Qian didn't seem too surprised by this anomaly.

He sat right down behind the counter and casually pulled out a notebook.

This was the Abyss Notes he had acquired earlier. When he activated the Emissary just now, he had brought it along.

After all, poking into other people's privacy was a nice way to entertain oneself amid a busy schedule.

At this moment, however, Fu Qian didn't read its contents. Instead, he flipped to the newest blank page, grabbed a nearby pen, and wrote a single sentence.

[The current time is night.]

Mere seconds after he wrote the line, it vanished into thin air, fading from the very first word.

'See? Isn't it incredibly convenient to verify things?'

Fu Qian rubbed his chin.

'So here comes the question.'

'It clearly isn't night, yet looking outside, the stars and moon are intertwined. What could be the reason for such an abnormal phenomenon?'

Actually, it was already quite obvious.

Fu Qian couldn't even be bothered to continue writing.

Given his popularity, the probability of a transcendent setting up a venue just to throw him a pajama party was essentially zero. Therefore, there was a ninety-nine percent chance someone was looking for trouble.

'As expected, Many Injustices Bring Self-Destruction—bah, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west!'

And when the dark night and a full moon were paired together, it was easy to think of a certain bizarre species.

Wasn't it said that vampires were especially active on full moon nights?

'It seems Brother Taylor missed me very much during the days I was away! Did he actually set up surveillance right where I live?'

Of course, he couldn't be completely sure it was Brother Taylor's doing just yet. After all, he hadn't sensed the aura of any living being nearby.

But that didn't matter. Given the situation, someone would surely come over soon.

Amid his musings, Fu Qian put the notebook away and stood up.

Considering his recent tests, this notebook's usefulness was absurdly high, so returning it was out of the question.

Walking over to the doorway, he found the floor completely empty—not a single letter in sight.

'Hopefully, those vampires don't have a hobby of invading people's privacy.'

Fu Qian reached out, attempting to push open the door of The Bookstore.

However, the moment the silvery-white moonlight fell upon his hand, his gaze sharpened.

Without him realizing it, a bizarrely shaped, ink-black spot had appeared on the back of his right hand.

'It looks like this isn't just simple surveillance!'

Examining the black spot on his hand, Fu Qian quickly noticed another unusual detail. One edge of the mark formed a perfect right angle.

After a brief thought, Fu Qian realized where that right angle came from—the "Closed" sign on The Bookstore's door.

When his hand swept past it just now, the sign's shadow had actually adhered to his skin.

Right now, as Fu Qian studied the spot, he could feel a strange, chilling sensation radiating from it.

The price, of course, was that the movements of his right hand became slow and sluggish, as if submerged in water.

Crucially, this wasn't the only shadow left on his hand.

Fu Qian soon discovered mottled, leaf-shaped spots on his other hand as well.

'There are trees at the entrance of The Bookstore blocking part of the moonlight. Is it because of that?'

'Something with a very high Rank, huh? It can't even be completely resisted by a Demigod Realm constitution.'

Beneath the silver moon, the blackness of the spots deepened, rapidly accumulating.

Feeling the increasingly heavy sluggishness weighing down his body, Fu Qian wasn't in a hurry to break it by force. Instead, his mind raced as he curiously surveyed his surroundings.

'The probability of a figure with such a high Rank lowering themselves to do a stakeout shouldn't be that great.'

'And from the time I came in until now, I haven't sensed the aura of a single living person.'

Summing it all up, he reached a probable conclusion—the thing causing this bizarre phenomenon was most likely a transcendent item.

A special transcendent item of a very high Rank, rather than a real person.

'As expected of a thousand-year-old noble family. Their accumulated wealth truly is abundant!'

While clicking his tongue in awe, Fu Qian noticed that the black spots on his hands had instantly doubled in number. The various shapes intertwined chaotically, vaguely writhing around as if they were alive.

'So it really is a trap?'

Fu Qian wasn't surprised by this conclusion.

Furthermore, he believed that now that the prey had entered the cage, someone should be rushing over very soon.

But these nocturnal animals were thinking about things far too simply.

'They think a mere cage can trap me?'

'How could a man full of righteous energy fear mere darkness?'

Fu Qian snorted and snapped his fingers, striking a pose as if he were about to transform.

"Let there be light!"

Before his words even faded, a brilliant golden light erupted from his body in response.

Carrying a splendor that dispelled all gloom, the golden light tore apart the black spots entrenched on his body and rapidly spread in all directions.

About two seconds later, the golden light shattered, swallowed up entirely by the moonlight and shadows.

'The forces of darkness are terrifying to this degree!'

It was his first time encountering a situation where the Commandment Residue was shattered in an instant. For a moment, Fu Qian could only click his tongue in amazement.

The instant the Commandment Residue activated just now, he felt his skin burning as if on fire. Two diametrically opposed forces had collided head-on and strangled each other.

And without a doubt, the residue had been beaten into literal dregs.

But that didn't mean he had gained nothing.

Fu Qian raised his head, looking at the moon in the sky.

As the saying goes, peers are natural enemies. Judging from that direct, irreconcilable conflict just now...

'Could the thing trapping me also be some kind of commandment?'

'Furthermore, the source of this commandment might far exceed the Demigod Tier.'

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