Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Mister Fang!"

By the time Fu Qian and Su Gao stepped outside one after the other, it was already late into the night.

Outside the Aimbo Residence, however, it was still bustling with activity.

The Night Watchers who had rushed over at the news were undoubtedly startled by the bodies littering the ground. They were currently checking them one by one to ensure there were no further accidents.

Seeing Fu Qian emerge, Yuan Shan's deputy—a stern-faced middle-aged man—immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"The Chief, she..."

Since Fu Qian and Su Gao had only been holding the line, both were perfectly clean, showing absolutely no traces of battle. At this sight, the deputy visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"She should be out soon," Fu Qian said.

Fu Qian offered no further explanation, simply leading Su Gao away.

...

"How do you feel?"

Having left the crowd behind, Fu Qian gazed at the full moon—now only faintly tinged with crimson—and asked casually.

The experience of cutting down a Demigod was a remarkably rare opportunity for the newly advanced Su Gao.

Especially with the intent to kill.

She was likely the one who had gained the most tonight.

Even after holding the line from start to finish, and even after verbally battering Ambor down an entire Rank, Fu Qian hadn't been in a hurry to strike. For one thing, he felt this was an excellent opportunity for Demigod Su to farm some experience.

For another, he was confident in his own judgment: at the same Rank, cutting down a target who only wanted to run away was something she could handle without him needing to lift a finger.

"Great."

Su Gao understood exactly what he was asking and nodded.

"It feels like things have become a bit clearer."

"That's good."

Fu Qian didn't say anything more, giving her time to digest the experience.

Serana was nowhere to be seen when they came out; evidently, the Night Watchers hadn't tried to stop her.

That wasn't surprising. Though gravely injured, she was a dignified member of the Blood Clan, and on the night of a full moon, slipping away unnoticed wouldn't have been too difficult.

Given her state at the time, she clearly wasn't in the mood to chat with anyone.

Perhaps her relationship with Ambor had been poor, leaving her indifferent to his life or death.

However, the cognitive dissonance regarding the Progenitor had clearly dealt her a severe blow.

Moreover, while she scoffed at concepts like familial bloodlines, her earlier veiled warning had indirectly saved the Gulade Family.

Based on what Fu Qian knew of Yuan Shan, she would likely write this off as an internal division within the Gulade Family, meaning she wouldn't resort to extreme measures against them.

Of course, Grantham would inevitably have to suffer a bit.

...

"There's a bed on the second floor. After I changed the sheets, it hasn't been used for more than two minutes."

By the time the two of them arrived at The Bookstore, a significant chunk of the long night had passed. Fu Qian pointed straight at the ceiling.

"I promised room and board earlier. You can go get some rest."

"Okay."

Even though she was a Demigod—someone who might not even yawn after staying awake for a week straight—Su Gao still gladly accepted.

She seemed to genuinely enjoy the ritualistic feeling of resting after a hard day's work.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Fu Qian scoffed, casually flipping the sign on the door to 'Open'.

"Naturally, I'll be dedicating myself to the business. We're open twenty-four hours."

"Okay."

Su Gao clearly had no intention of sharing her boss's burdens. Satisfied with his answer, she headed upstairs with a light step.

It wasn't long before the sound of steady breathing drifted down. She was plainly sleeping soundly, completely unfazed by leaving her boss to take the night shift.

To be fair, he couldn't sleep right now even if he tried.

Fu Qian settled into his Deck Chair, musing to himself.

After everything that had transpired tonight, his boiling exhilaration had subsided considerably, yet it remained at a level several times the lethal dose for an ordinary person.

Under such circumstances, getting a good night's sleep simply wasn't feasible.

Tonight had certainly been a lively one. And his final decision to respond to the Red Moon had admittedly been a bit of a gamble.

But it was a decision made after careful consideration.

Since the entity could locate him so quickly, constantly dodging would likely only lead him blindly into a trap. It was better to use his trump card for a brief confrontation and test its true strength.

The results proved it was well worth the risk. His next step was to see what surprises Yuan Shan might bring him, now that he had leaked the information that the Red Moon was potentially unstable.

As he pondered, Fu Qian reached up to his face and took off the Emissary.

They always said night shifts were the most productive. Why not...

[Identity verification complete. Today's work begins.]

[Warning: Containment Breach.]

Just as the Warehouse materialized before his eyes, the prompt arrived right on cue.

[Name: Virtue, Code: 2-205]

[Entering 2-205 Containment Scenario]

[...5%... 15%... 30%... 55%... 75%... 100%. Loading complete.]

[It is a boisterous summer day. As energetic college students, the five of you have grouped together and traveled to an excellent vacation spot—an old house in a southern Small Town, which happens to be the ancestral property of one of your companions. In this place, far removed from the trajectory of your daily lives, you plan to spend a wild and indulgent vacation.]

No matter how you looked at it, this was practically begging for death!

The moment the mission brief appeared, Fu Qian couldn't hold back the urge to scoff.

It was the dead of summer. Why couldn't they just stay home and party? Instead, they just had to go wander into the middle of nowhere.

Based on his years of watching movies, the youths' beautiful fantasies would never come true. They were bound to run into something bizarre.

Then, in all likelihood, they would split up, ultimately dying off in increasingly creative ways.

...

Wait, something wasn't right. Why was it still pitch black?

Setting aside his complaints, Fu Qian confirmed that his five senses had returned. Yet, staring into the absolute darkness before him, he fell into deep thought.

He quickly reached two conclusions.

First, he was currently trapped inside an enclosed space.

Second, his abilities were completely restricted, leaving his eyesight no better than that of an ordinary person.

So, where exactly was this place?

Listening to his own breathing in the dark, Fu Qian didn't blindly grope around. Instead, he carefully shifted his body just a fraction of an inch.

The next moment, something sharp scraped against his skin, as if to pierce right through.

At the same time, an incredibly complex musty odor rushed straight to his head.

Musty?

Was he already at their vacation destination?

Fu Qian immediately thought back to the mission brief.

It was perfectly normal for a poorly maintained house to develop a musty smell, especially one that sounded like it had a lot of history behind it.

As his mind raced, Fu Qian didn't keep his hands idle. Gradually expanding his range of motion, he soon discovered more spikes, icy cold to the touch.

Wait a minute. A completely enclosed metal construct lined with spikes on the inside...

Fu Qian quickly thought of a specific object—the legendary Iron Maiden?

Even among torture instruments, something like this wasn't common. Just what kind of cursed ancestral house was this?!

And the crucial question was: how did he end up inside it?

Things were already going south before he even had time to figure out the situation?

"Apologies. By unanimous decision of the jury, you are hereby sentenced to—death!"

The next moment, as if in response to Fu Qian's guesses, a sinister voice echoed in from outside.

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