Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Ready to head back?"

Fu Qian didn't find the change in Su Gao's demeanor strange; in fact, he was quite pleased.

The experiences along this journey, combined with finally revisiting an old haunt, had at last allowed the girl to grasp the concept of a vacation.

As her employer, he felt a solid sense of accomplishment.

Still, her earnest gratitude was a bit too polite, considering all the expenses had been advanced from her own salary.

"Yes, I need to go fulfill my responsibilities."

In response to his question, Su Gao nodded in absolute seriousness.

"I'm sorry for being a bit abrupt."

"Not at all. In life, one should arrive on a whim and leave fully satisfied."

"Thank you... Take care, Mr. Fu."

Su Gao's smile grew even more relaxed.

After a parting bow, she turned and left with light steps, not even asking if Fu Qian wanted to head back together.

Clearly, she could tell that Fu Qian had another purpose for coming here, and she didn't mind in the slightest.

Perhaps this was just an attachment to her homeland?

Watching Su Gao's figure fade into the distance, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Her time living here had definitely been far from wonderful, yet deep down, she still wanted to come back and take a look.

Suggesting a trip here had certainly been a way to repay her for rushing over to help immediately after reporting in, but at the same time, he really did have an ulterior motive.

Fu Qian shifted his gaze back to the distant Small Island. More than a decade had passed; the swamp in his memory had long dried up, and a new structure now sat atop it.

Fortunately, none of that mattered. He merely wanted to take a look inside a certain underground tunnel.

...

Likely because of the Fool Tree, the Small Island was kept under much stricter watch.

Even though Mister Luo had completely absorbed the pollution below, the Night Watchers had still sealed the area off.

There was even a transcendent standing guard not far away.

Standing before the structure, which resembled a Lighthouse on the ground, Fu Qian couldn't help but recall the scene of his first visit.

Stirred by the familiar sight, he repeated his old trick and activated Lucid Dream.

By the time the Night Watcher—who had been monitoring his and Su Gao's movements all along—came over in the dream to investigate, Fu Qian had already opened the door to the Lighthouse and walked inside.

...

It was only right to have someone keeping watch.

Inside the Lighthouse, Fu Qian inspected the long-unseen Fool Tree.

The interior of this unique building had almost no extra structures. It was simply centered around the Fool Tree, conveniently covering the tunnel at the same time.

The building materials were clearly quite special, completely sealing the tree's influence inside.

More than a decade had passed, but the Fool Tree hadn't grown much taller. Its surface still resembled human skin.

At a glance, he could even see the wounds someone had torn open back then, though they had long since stopped oozing sap.

But that was merely the surface.

Compared to back then, its impact on the mind had grown substantially stronger.

It didn't even need to wait for that specific time of day. The entire tree simply radiated a pale white light, silently tearing away at a person's sanity.

So this was the legendary cold white skin?

After looking it up and down a few times, Fu Qian nodded in deep understanding and walked straight down the adjacent tunnel entrance.

...

What a pity. The carved balustrades and marble steps remained, but the Multi-Brain Sister from back then was nowhere to be seen.

In the gloomy Underground, Fu Qian adopted the demeanor of a tourist, wandering down the bizarrely shaped tunnel and taking quite some time to reach the bottom.

Standing in the center of the lowest level, a single glance confirmed that not a trace of the past remained. The area had clearly been meticulously cleaned.

He even pressed on to the end of a certain passageway, only to find the shattered rock wall thoroughly cleared out, leaving behind nothing but a jagged tear.

This was the exact spot where he had found something similar to the Mist of the Abyss, but now, it held absolutely no aura of corruption.

This underground tunnel seemed entirely devoid of value now.

But was that really the case?

Fu Qian closed his eyes, recalling all the passages he had just purposefully walked through.

A moment later, a peculiar pattern took shape in his mind.

It was a pattern that used the largest open space at the bottom as its center, radiating outward in all directions.

It wasn't symmetrical, but through a specific set of intersections and coils, it subtly enclosed the very spot he was standing on.

To think he had overlooked this detail back then.

For a moment, Fu Qian marveled at the realization.

The dozen or so passages in this place hadn't been excavated blindly like a lottery draw; they had been deliberately crafted.

The people who dug this tunnel hadn't failed to find the Mist of the Abyss.

Quite the opposite. Not only had they found it, but they had also specifically designed a method to contain it in this manner, minimizing its leakage as much as possible.

As for why they chose to do this instead of taking it straight away, the answer was likely very simple—the tools hadn't been ready.

Back in Fenghou City, he had discovered identical black stone passages and the mysterious Holy Grail Cult. In Fu Qian's view, there was a high probability that both locations were the work of this same organization.

And this ancient cult clearly possessed deep knowledge of various extraordinary traits.

They even utilized them through Golden Cups engraved with special patterns.

Brother Yul, the mastermind behind the Fenghou City incident, had even inherited their legacy and crafted a Golden Cup himself.

Fu Qian could almost picture it: the Holy Grail Cult had found this place and located their target, but the Golden Cup meant to contain the Mist of the Abyss hadn't been completed yet, so they used this method to temporarily seal it.

Then, some sort of unforeseen event prevented them from ever finishing their work, leaving it untouched until Mister Luo discovered the site.

The only pity was that both of these technical experts had already passed on, leaving him no opportunity to consult them.

Still musing, Fu Qian didn't linger any longer. He reached up and removed his mask.

...

His desire to visit the Rotten Forest was fundamentally rooted in what he had gained from his trip to Ye Island.

According to the mission summary, he had embarked on a nonexistent path to Godhood, to the point where his corresponding Divine Trait didn't even exist yet.

Moving forward, he would need to follow the "connection" to find "it" newly born.

This concept was quite a challenge to the imagination. It was hard to fathom how a Divine Trait could spring forth from absolutely nothing.

But since it was a matter of a mutual pursuit, Fu Qian naturally thought of the Holy Grail Cult; they seemed highly professional in this regard.

His trip to the Rotten Forest had verified exactly that.

For now, he could head back to Shangjing and ask Chief Yuan for more information.

With the Warehouse acting as a transit point, he wouldn't even need to buy a ticket.

The only issue was that he still had to clock in for the day.

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

[Warning: Leak Incident]

The scenery shifted, and the familiar prompts appeared.

[Permission Upgrade: Reassignment]

The next moment, however, an unexpected message interrupted.

[Reassignment: You may choose any time to handle the leak, no later than midnight today.]

Huh?

Staring at the illusory Mist Door—which usually only appeared after multiple attempts—Fu Qian blinked.

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