Eldritch Horror Theatre

This was truly an unexpected situation!

Fu Qian looked at the waitress in front of him.

She had a classic oval face, pearly teeth, and a pert nose. Her long hair was pinned up, and a silk scarf was tied around her slender, fair neck.

Even the standard dark-red uniform couldn't hide her curves or her striking beauty.

However, her eyes, which had been charming and lively just moments ago, were now dazed, as if she were intoxicated or entranced.

Was this caused by the Commandment Residue skill?

He had activated it back in the Warehouse, but since it hadn't shown any effect, he had simply forgotten to turn it off.

But for it to reach this level was a bit ridiculous. Was it an area-of-effect intelligence-lowering halo?

The waitress's condition even resembled that of the people who had stared directly at that tree.

Yet when he took a cab over just now, the driver hadn't reacted at all.

Time!

Fu Qian quickly realized the crucial detail. He had only been in the taxi for a little over ten minutes, but he had been sitting here eating for over an hour.

It seemed this thing needed enough time to take effect. Short-term exposure didn't cause any impact.

"What's your name?"

Fu Qian stared at the waitress's face and asked a different question.

"Pei Yanqing," the waitress answered instinctively.

"Very good, Pei Yanqing. How much was my meal?"

Fu Qian called her by her name and slowly repeated his previous question.

"How much?"

Pei Yanqing repeated in a wooden tone before muttering to herself.

"For you... no charge!"

Sure enough, her mind had been affected.

He didn't have to pay for his meal? It seemed Commandment Residue could be renamed the Freeloader Halo.

Barely perceptible golden patterns flashed across his body as Fu Qian decisively turned off the skill.

He looked up again to observe the waitress's reaction.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yanqing simply froze. Not only did she fail to snap out of it, but a trace of utter bewilderment crept into her dazed gaze.

After holding eye contact with Fu Qian for a few seconds, a flush of excitement spread across her cheeks.

"Hello!"

Pei Yanqing stepped forward, leaning in until she was almost pressed against him. Her body trembled slightly as she bent down, seemingly trying to kiss his hand resting on the table.

"Hold on."

Fu Qian grabbed Pei Yanqing by the arm, holding her back to keep her from getting any closer, then scanned the room.

Surprisingly, Pei Yanqing's words and actions didn't draw any reaction.

The other people in the restaurant were still just looking over with smiles on their faces.

Fortunately, no one else stepped forward, and their expressions had dialed back a little.

The person sitting furthest away was mechanically stuffing food toward his face, repeatedly missing his mouth.

It seemed the others weren't as heavily affected. Sure enough, the closer they were, the greater the impact.

Pei Yanqing had also been paying the most attention to him just now, which might have been another contributing factor.

In short, she was the biggest victim here!

"Hello..."

Pei Yanqing naturally couldn't break free from Fu Qian's grip; she was completely immobilized under his control.

But upon seeing Fu Qian holding her, her smile only grew more radiant. Even though it was futile, she still struggled to lean closer.

This couldn't go on!

"Look here!"

Fu Qian patted Pei Yanqing, prompting her to look at his left hand.

At the same time, he activated the Lucid Dream Ring on his middle finger.

A galaxy of stars swirled as an invisible veil expanded, enveloping the entire restaurant.

This was his second time using it, and the sensation was still quite wondrous.

Catching Pei Yanqing's slumping body, Fu Qian guided her to a nearby seat and sat her down.

No matter what, he needed to let her calm down first.

By now, everyone else in the restaurant was just like her, having instantly fallen into a dream.

And as the initiator of the dream, Fu Qian found himself in a rather unique state.

His consciousness remained in the Real World, but through a simple act of self-hypnosis, he could enter the dream.

Fu Qian leaned back in his seat and hypnotized himself.

In an instant, as if he had pierced through a film of water, the restaurant sprang back into motion.

Pei Yanqing was still standing beside his seat as if nothing had happened, while the others sluggishly resumed eating.

Had he not known beforehand that this was a dream, it would have been truly difficult to tell the difference.

"How much?"

Fu Qian looked at Pei Yanqing standing beside him and tested her with a question.

"Hello!"

Pei Yanqing still had a look of utter intoxication on her face.

"No charge."

This wasn't good. She still hadn't snapped out of it?

Could her mind already be broken?

For some reason, Fu Qian thought of the scene where the people of West Plain City had all been gazing up at the sky.

Unexpectedly, it still wasn't over.

Now free to move, Pei Yanqing spread her arms the very next moment as if trying to embrace the sun, and spoke in an enraptured voice.

"Hello."

"As brilliant as the stars, illuminating my body and soul..."

Her face was filled with a delirious expression, and her features had even taken on a pure, translucent quality.

Even more outrageously, her clothes actually began to turn transparent bit by bit.

To think something like this could happen!

He hadn't expected that her intense emotions could trigger such a transformation inside the dream.

Seeing her uniform rapidly turning into lingerie, Fu Qian delivered a swift, clean chop to the back of Pei Yanqing's neck, knocking her out cold.

The commotion was a bit louder this time, drawing the gazes of the restaurant patrons once again.

"She collapsed from work exhaustion,"

Fu Qian said calmly.

The dazed crowd offered no objections to his explanation, lowering their heads again to continue what they were doing.

Phew!

After confirming again that the influence on the remaining people was slowly fading, Fu Qian quickly exited the dream.

Pei Yanqing was slumped unconscious over the table. Without a word, Fu Qian hauled her up and headed for the door, ending the dream the instant before he stepped outside.

What was he supposed to do now?

He had never expected that simply grabbing a meal would cause such a mess. Was staying home really the only way to stay safe?

Fu Qian frowned as he looked at Pei Yanqing.

Although it wasn't intentional, he was still the cause of all this. He couldn't just abandon an innocent bystander he had accidentally harmed.

He really hadn't expected the Freeloader Halo to be so absurd.

Looking at it now, the description stating its "power was so weak it was practically just a visual effect" was most likely referring to a transcendent.

For ordinary people, it was still a bit of a dimensional strike.

Considering the frail constitution of ordinary humans, there wasn't much he could do at the moment except wait and see if she recovered after resting for a while.

As for resting, this girl was most likely still a student. A strange man taking her to a hotel would probably cause a terrible misunderstanding.

Fu Qian flagged down a cab, opting to take her directly to his own home instead.

Fortunately, it was precisely noon. The vast majority of the elderly folks in his neighborhood had gone home for lunch, so bringing her back wouldn't cause a scene.

Even so, when Fu Qian helped her out of the car, they still drew quite a few wary glances.

Especially since, out of consideration for Pei Yanqing's privacy, Fu Qian had taken off his jacket and draped it over her head.

"Little Qian!"

One of the elderly women watching them finally couldn't hold back.

"Who is this girl? Is she feeling unwell?"

"A fan of mine,"

Fu Qian replied with a look of pure innocence.

"She got too excited when she saw me and fainted."

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