Eldritch Horror Theatre

Excellent.

Noticing that the dream realm had become slightly unstable because of Old Joe's answer, Fu Qian felt quite satisfied.

Side effects often had their uses.

Earlier, he had avoided asking too direct a question to keep the dream realm from collapsing.

But right now, Old Joe's struggle to answer indirectly revealed his inner resistance.

Which meant that, for whatever reason, Old Joe really did not want to answer the question.

And that faint trace of instability proved exactly how valuable the answer was.

Combined with the shock and conflict written all over his partner Jimmy's face, Fu Qian figured there was a high probability his earlier guess was correct.

The Abandoned Seminary not far from here? It looked worth checking out.

As for right now...

Fu Qian thought for a moment, let out a long sigh, and asked a third question.

"Gentlemen, what do you think a person guilty of heinous crimes must do to achieve redemption?"

...

This time, it wasn't just Jimmy—even Old Joe was stunned.

Why was this guy sounding more and more like he was giving a deathbed confession?!

And had he just said his own name?

Lu Ming... Was he really that Lu Ming?

And he had called himself guilty of heinous crimes...

Countless chaotic thoughts tangled together in Old Joe's mind.

At the same time, an intense urge made him desperately want to answer this pointless question.

"Never mind."

But before he could come up with an answer, the questioner suddenly shook his head, a look of relief washing over his face.

"This is my burden to bear. If I use it to burden others, my sins will only deepen."

Mocking himself, Fu Qian turned and walked away without a second glance.

Finding himself completely unable to follow the logic, Jimmy watched the scene unfold and felt a vague urge to follow the man.

However, he quickly noticed his senior standing frozen in place, completely unresponsive to his questioning gaze. After a brief hesitation, he decided to stay put.

In truth, Old Joe hadn't completely failed to notice Jimmy.

But dominated by the laws of the dream realm, he was undoubtedly lost in a daze, racking his brain for the answer to the third question and deeply regretting that he hadn't paid more attention in philosophy class.

"Sorry, I don't know either!"

Under the intense mental torture, he finally gave up in agony, shouting toward Fu Qian's retreating back.

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt an unprecedented wave of relief, as if waking from a confounding dream. His earlier inner conflict vanished completely.

That soul-deep comfort made him let out a long breath.

"Are we just letting him leave like that? ...What were you guys even talking about just now?"

Jimmy's deeply bewildered question reached his ears.

His moment of relief cut short, Old Joe realized what had happened. He jerked his head up, only to find that their surveillance target had already vanished into the bustling crowd.

"Just now..."

Turning to see the desperate need for answers in his junior's eyes, the veteran operative pondered for a second, his brain working in overdrive.

"I found an opportunity to make close contact with him."

"He admitted his name is Lu Ming. I can practically confirm he's the guy from the files, although I don't know why he's turned into an ordinary person."

"Anyway, let's head back. Our mission was to figure out his background, so there's no point in tailing him any further."

"So you were trying to get information out of him just now?"

Hearing that they didn't have to continue this boring assignment, Jimmy's eyes lit up.

"...Right."

Old Joe hesitated briefly before convincing himself to believe that deduction.

"It was a bit chaotic, but it seems this guy is in a state of inner repentance because of his past actions. You could hear it from the questions he asked."

"True."

Jimmy nodded in strong agreement.

"It definitely felt like a tormented conscience trying to seek self-redemption. But you mentioned the Divinity Academy earlier—do you think he'd actually go there to cause trouble?"

"Don't worry. With so many people watching the place, what kind of trouble could a wretched old man cause even if he did go?"

...

It seemed the victims really might belong to some sort of enthusiast group.

Under the moonlight, Fu Qian stared at the mottled, ancient building before him.

His perception picked up more than one transcendent guarding the perimeter.

Having the Night Watchers stand guard in the dead of night wasn't the kind of treatment an ordinary cult would receive. Something major had clearly happened here.

Without a doubt, he had to go in and take a look.

Making up his mind, Fu Qian analyzed the Night Watchers' layout, quickly zeroed in on the building's heavily monitored area, and slipped inside unnoticed.

The operatives left behind for this kind of guard duty were Mid Tier at best. With the massive gap in their strength, there was virtually zero risk of him being discovered.

Moving silently through the corridor, Fu Qian soon arrived at a room deep within the building.

A single glance revealed obvious traces of recent human activity.

The place looked like it had been scoured, leaving the room in a state of disarray.

Right now, aside from a few torn manuscripts scattered on the floor of the massive room, the most striking feature was a symbol plastered everywhere across the walls.

It was drawn with crude lines and a grotesque shape. At first glance, it looked like a child's doodle of an animal claw.

A symbol of some Deity's power?

That was Fu Qian's deduction. He had seen quite a few similar things recently, and he knew some of them genuinely carried special effects.

So, was it a group of cult enthusiasts who accidentally stumbled upon a real Deity and then contracted some sort of illness? The beast-transformation disease that even the Night Watchers treated with extreme caution?

In fact, inside this room, Fu Qian could indeed smell one... no, two distinct, unusual scents.

Picking up a manuscript from the floor, Fu Qian slowly turned around and looked toward a corner of the room.

"Hello."

Ariel, with his flowing white-gold hair, sat on a bench and greeted Fu Qian. There was not a trace of impurity in his radiant smile.

"Hello."

Fu Qian sighed. Meeting the man's gaze, he walked over and took a seat opposite him.

"I'm quite curious... could you tell me what you're doing here so late at night?"

"Mr. Camus Greda."

Ariel's smile didn't waver as he glanced at the manuscript in Fu Qian's hand and asked.

"I heard some strange information over at the Opera House, so I came to investigate."

Fu Qian replied completely naturally.

Running into Ariel here at this exact moment was undeniably not a good thing.

In truth, he had already sensed the man's presence as he approached the room.

But Fu Qian hadn't aborted his exploration because of it.

The reason was simple. He was currently Camus Greda, a member of the Origin Council. Sneaking in here in the middle of the night was suspicious, sure.

But immediately fleeing without hesitation after suspecting Ariel's presence would be vastly more suspicious.

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