Eldritch Horror Theatre

”I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly.”

After leading Fu Qian into the room, Wen Li waved everyone else away.

And after multiple reminders, she had finally dropped the honorifics.

”It wasn’t actually anything urgent. I just didn’t know when you’d be around, so I left a letter there.”

Despite her words, Wen Li clearly looked delighted.

”Have you not been busy lately?”

”I’ve actually been quite busy.”

Fu Qian accepted the tea Wen Li had personally brewed and took a sip.

After not seeing her for a few days, her life skills had improved quite a bit—as had her combat skills, of course.

He could sense that Wen Li’s aura was calmer and steadier than before. She had clearly made progress.After pushing past the threshold of Tier 6, her advancement evidently hadn’t encountered any further obstacles.

It made sense. When it came to purely grinding proficiency, Wen Li’s ability was simply too convenient.

”No wonder. I feel like your emotions are... a bit chaotic?”

Wen Li looked at Fu Qian thoughtfully.

’How could recovering from a split personality not be chaotic?’

Fu Qian thought to himself. He had worn the Circlet for quite a long time, after all.

But this proved one thing: Wen Li’s sensitivity regarding her ability was truly impressive if she could actually detect the changes in his emotions.

”Is that so?”

”Yes.”

Wen Li tilted her head, weighing her words.

”They feel incredibly jumbled, as if the emotions of many different people are mixed together. Are you sure you’re okay?”

”Of course. We are already much better.”

Fu Qian answered with full confidence.

...

”But your ability has indeed improved quite a bit.”

Seeing Wen Li at a loss for words, Fu Qian took the initiative to change the subject.

”Really?”

Wen Li’s face immediately lit up with joy, instantly forgetting her earlier doubts.

”Just now, I thought something had gone wrong with my ability.”

”Speaking of which, the matter I mentioned in the letter is actually related to this.”

Wen Li finally remembered the main topic.

”What exactly is it?”

”I recently met someone who gives me a very strange feeling.”

”Strange how?”

”Too normal!”

Wen Li furrowed her brows as she explained in detail.

”In stark contrast to your condition just now, his emotions are so normal that it’s unreal.”

”In my experience, everyone has unstable parts in their emotions. I call them the noise within the emotions.”

”And ever since advancing to Tier 6, my perception of this has grown even sharper.”

”But this person is bizarre. There is no noise in his emotions whatsoever. Not a single trace!”

Wen Li frowned, recalling how it felt at the time.

”Yet he isn’t some mindless Doll. Not only are his speech and mannerisms perfectly normal, but his various emotions are genuine, too...”

’Hmm.’

After listening to Wen Li’s description, Fu Qian nodded.

An emotional display so perfect that it felt fake. It was indeed quite interesting.

”Where did you meet this person?”

”At a small banquet. Hearing his self-introduction, it seems he hasn’t been in Shangjing for long.”

”His speech and behavior were incredibly natural; I couldn’t spot anything wrong.”

”But I paid special attention to him afterward and noticed he seemed very interested in the theft incident from a while ago. He was even indirectly asking around for news about Uncle Deng.”

”Do you think he could be connected to Uncle Deng’s disappearance?”

Wen Li stared at Fu Qian with bright, intent eyes after she finished speaking. It seemed this thought had been weighing on her mind for quite some time.

’Deng Feizhou? Actually, the person most related to that is sitting right in front of you.’

Fu Qian thought to himself.

Even though Deng Feizhou had been reduced to ashes, Fu Qian still remembered him clearly.

To actually possess a method that could forcefully elevate a person to the Demigod Realm—it was nothing short of astonishing.

However, Wen Li’s suspicions were perfectly sound.

Deng Feizhou had been around for many years and had a vast social network. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to ask about his whereabouts after his disappearance, but doing so too sneakily was definitely abnormal.

Fu Qian couldn’t help but think of the Origin Council that had been mentioned back then.

Since they were called a council, they had to have at least three people, right? Otherwise, they wouldn’t even be able to cast votes.

And with one of their members dying under unclear circumstances, it was completely natural for them to show some kind of reaction.

This possibility was not small.

If that was truly the case, then as the murderer, he needed to pay an appropriate amount of attention to avoid being caught off guard.

”Actually, after Uncle Deng went missing, Chief Yuan also sought me out to understand the situation. She specifically told me to report any anomalies to her at any time.”

Wen Li furrowed her brows.

”Do you think it’s necessary for me to inform them? Considering this is entirely my personal guess, I’ve actually been hesitating.”

’Yuan Shan came looking for Wen Li?’

That made sense. He remembered Wen Li mentioning that the Night Watchers had once locked down Deng Feizhou’s home.

With Yuan Shan’s capabilities, even though the scene had been a complete mess, it shouldn’t have been hard for her to confirm that Deng Feizhou was dead.

Along with Chen Xing’s mutated corpse, he believed Yuan Shan had long since realized there was a hidden truth behind the theft case.

Reaching out to Wen Li to understand the situation under these circumstances meant there was a low probability she suspected Wen Li, but the same couldn’t be said for him.

He saw Wen Li staring intently at him.

’Did this girl realize that? Did she intentionally tell me first so she could act according to my opinion?’

’She really thought this through.’

In theory, it was naturally better to grasp the general situation and be prepared before informing the Night Watchers.

Just as Fu Qian was about to speak, he suddenly raised an eyebrow, thinking of another issue.

Sneakily asking around for news about Deng Feizhou could, on one hand, certainly be the Origin Council.

On the other hand, it might just be Yuan Shan testing the waters.

Assume this person intentionally exposed himself to Wen Li, and after Wen Li contacted him, she didn’t report it to the Night Watchers...

That would perfectly validate Yuan Shan’s suspicions.

Considering this possibility, it would be better to change approaches, pushing the boat along with the current and beating them at their own game.

Even if Yuan Shan had nothing to do with it, it wouldn’t matter. Borrowing a knife to kill aside, if she actually uncovered something, she might still have to ask him for help.

When that time came, he would not only eliminate the threat but also conveniently use up his promise to assist her once.

It could be called killing multiple birds with one stone.

”Since Yuan Shan specifically told you to do so, you should just let her know.”

Having made up his mind, Fu Qian spoke directly to Wen Li.

”As far as I know, she’s been very free lately. Don’t feel bad about finding some work for her to do.”

...

By the time he left Wen Li’s house, the sky had already turned dark.

Fu Qian didn’t return to The Bookstore. Instead, he simply found a secluded spot and took off the mask.

Even though it would be a bit noisy going back, resting in this world was still too dangerous.

With his current special constitution, he could be targeted by something at any moment.

He had to be on guard.

Returning to the familiar living room, he was thankful that perhaps due to the late hour, the calling voices weren’t as loud as before.

The downside was that they were still loud enough.

After listening to the multi-part chorus for five minutes, Fu Qian’s mood took a sharp turn for the worse.

’Quiet!’

Looking at the ring of flickering orbs of light, a thought flashed through his mind.

...

Snap!

In the dorm room, He Xian looked at Pei Yanqing, who had just slammed her laptop shut, with a face full of surprise.

”What’s wrong? What kind of movie is that scary?”

”It’s not that...”

For a moment, Pei Yanqing also found it difficult to understand her own emotions.

After lowering her head in silence for a while, she lost the mood to continue watching the movie and quietly grabbed her things to go wash up.

At the same time, several people in Lincheng had the exact same reaction as her.

’Is it really this magical?’

Watching the orbs of light dim and vanish one by one, Fu Qian fell deep in thought.

’Through this special connection, it seems my will can be transmitted to these people to a certain extent?’