Eldritch Horror Theatre

”By the way, are there any common natural disasters around West Plain?”

Fu Qian asked seemingly casually as he returned the roster to Captain Qiao.

”Of course not!”

Captain Qiao was visibly baffled by the question.

”Although West Plain City isn’t large, it has been around for centuries and has always been renowned as a leisure resort. Forget natural disasters—we rarely even get bad weather.”

”If I had to mention something related to natural disasters, there’s a volcanic crater ten kilometers outside the city, but there’s no record of it ever erupting.”

A dormant volcano erupting again? That would certainly count as a disaster.

However, Fu Qian couldn’t shake the feeling that things wouldn’t be that simple.

As he pondered this, two people walked in from outside—Lu Jun and his colleague had returned.

”How did it go?”Having clearly held the question in for a long time, Captain Qiao hurriedly asked.

”Nothing suspicious so far.”

Lu Jun shook his head.

”The deceased’s husband is named Lu Xing. He’s also a local. He and the victim were childhood sweethearts. They’ve been married for two years, and their relationship has always been excellent. He was at home when the incident occurred.

”Most importantly, the guy is an ordinary person.”

”An excellent relationship?”

Fu Qian gave Lu Jun a weird look.

”That’s right...”

”Then did he know about her lunch plans?”

”...No.”

Fu Qian sighed and suddenly stood up, drawing shocked looks from the others.

”Let’s go take a look.”

”At what?”

Lu Jun clearly didn’t follow his line of thought.

”A husband whose wife just died, yet who leaves you completely convinced he’s not a suspect. I’m suddenly a little interested. Take me to see him.”

...

The outskirts of West Plain City.

”This is the place?”

Fu Qian stared at the uniquely designed little villa in front of him.

”Yes.”

Lu Jun answered in a muffled voice, still not entirely understanding Fu Qian’s insistence on visiting again.

To him, the reasoning Fu Qian had provided was nothing but the logic of a deeply cynical mind.

”Looks like this model couple is doing pretty well financially?”

Fu Qian sized up the surroundings.

”Yes. Lu Xing struck it rich doing business out of town a few years ago and bought this property. That’s also when the two of them got married.”

Mm.

Fu Qian nodded, looking at the tightly shut door.

”Ring the bell.”

Reluctantly, Lu Jun stepped forward and rang the doorbell.

But after he pressed it several times, there was still no response.

Lu Jun’s expression changed.

Before he could do anything else, a blade flashed, and the heavy door burst open.

Seeing Su Gao standing there imposingly with her drawn sword, a chill ran through the Night Watchers. None of them dared to speak.

Lu Jun was the first to rush inside, quickly discovering that the house was completely empty.

Judging by the scattered mess on the floor, the owner had left in a severe rush.

”Is he really involved? But he’s clearly just an ordinary person!”

Lu Jun was visibly starting to doubt his own judgment.

Fu Qian ignored him and strolled around the house, finally stopping in front of a tightly closed door.

Compared to the rest of the house, this door had a distinctly different design and looked much sturdier.

Without him needing to say a word, the blade flashed again, and the metal door burst open.

From this angle, the space behind it resembled a workshop.

These two!

Witnessing the pair’s silent coordination and domineering behavior, the three Night Watchers were left speechless.

Su Gao seemed entirely indifferent to their feelings. After slicing the door open, she walked straight in, rummaged around for a moment, and brought out a handful of items.

It was a pile of various small accessories. Their craftsmanship and shapes varied, but they all shared one common trait: they were covered in bizarre patterns.

”This is...”

Captain Qiao looked shocked, clearly recognizing the goods.

”Talisman Jewelry, some still semi-finished... They’re useless to transcendents, but some wealthy people like to spend money on things like this. They provide minor energy-boosting and constitution-enhancing effects.”

There was absolutely no way an ordinary person could make these!

Hearing their captain’s words, Lu Jun and his colleague exchanged shocked glances.

”If he can make things like this, Lu Xing is an unregistered transcendent! He must have used some method to mask his aura earlier!”

”Give me this man’s file. We’d better verify his recent itinerary.”

Hearing Su Gao’s command, Lu Jun nodded, his face ashen.

”Normally speaking, if a married woman is murdered, her husband is the prime suspect with a pile of motives. That’s what’s normal.”

Fu Qian patted his shoulder, spouting earnest-sounding nonsense.

...

Fu Qian turned to look at Captain Qiao, whose expression had now turned completely serious.

It was entirely understandable. Assisting the Yama Enforcer Squad in catching a fugitive was one thing, but if that fugitive had originated from his own jurisdiction, that was another matter entirely. At worst, it could even warrant a charge of dereliction of duty.

”Captain Qiao, take us to pay a visit to the Huang Clan.”

Captain Qiao froze for a moment.

”Shouldn’t we track down Lu Xing first?”

”It’s better to take a two-pronged approach.”

For some reason, Fu Qian felt no particular interest in this Lu Xing.

According to Lu Jun and his colleague’s report, they hadn’t found any information on the person who stood Geng Yue up.

There wasn’t enough time for a slow investigation.

Unraveling the cocoon thread by thread was all well and good, but time was tight. Striking the grass to startle the snake was the right move here.

And as the local tyrants, the West Plain City Huang Clan was the perfect tool to strike that grass.

Of course, if they happened to be connected to the snake, even better.

Seeing Fu Qian’s insistence, Captain Qiao looked toward Su Gao, only to tragically realize that her gaze was even more resolute.

”Understood!”

Knowing what was good for him, Captain Qiao swiftly agreed.

...

Soon, the estate of the West Plain Huang Clan was visible in the distance.

As a great aristocratic family, their taste was truly extraordinary.

”Is this the dormant volcano you mentioned earlier?”

Looking at the sprawling complex of buildings halfway up the mountain, Fu Qian turned back to Captain Qiao.

”They believe the feng shui here is excellent... They spent a massive amount of effort carving into the mountain to settle here.”

The underlying message was that Fu Qian had better not make any reckless comments later.

”Anything else you want to warn me about?”

”Uh... To ensure the purity of their bloodline and maximize the proportion of transcendents in their descendants, the Huang Clan of West Plain City is like the main branch. They have maintained in-clan marriages for many years, so their facial features are a bit... distinct.”

Understood. Highly recognizable, low resolution.

Actually, it was obvious from how highly Wen Li had been valued earlier. As long as extraordinary power could be passed down through bloodlines, this sort of messed-up tradition was bound to make a comeback.

”...However, thanks to this, the proportion of transcendents in the entire Huang Family is exceptionally high. At least half of their youth have the aptitude for cultivation, and a quarter of those can practice their family’s Human Sovereign Qi.

”The man known as the Blood Lion, Huang Zhixun, hails from the West Plain City Huang Clan. At just forty years old, he is already at Peak Tier 4. He carries high hopes of becoming the youngest High-Tier Transcendent in decades.”

”He won’t make it.”

Hearing this, Su Gao, who had been resting with her eyes closed, flatly interjected.