Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Actually, I haven’t been here for very long.”

Although she didn’t know what exactly Fu Qian meant by ’things ladies love to do,’ Su Gao clearly had no intention of turning down his suggestion.

Taking her out for a stroll, Fu Qian spouted casual nonsense along the way.

”But if I remember right, there’s actually a local legend about this place, Narrow Path.”

”What story?”

Su Gao asked, playing along.

”It’s about a certain hero. The gist is that a flash flood broke out one day, and to protect the village downstream, the heroic Basho-san leaped into the water. He used his proud muscles to block the flood, saving countless lives and ultimately becoming a widely celebrated legend.”

”You made that up...”

It was rare to see such a deadpan look on Su Gao’s face, even if she was currently wearing a different one.

Witnessing this, Fu Qian suddenly felt a pang of understanding for Mother, that fairy-tale genius.Back when they were trapped in a desperate situation, that woman must have spouted similar nonsense just to enjoy her daughter’s reaction.

”Well, it might not be real, but at least it’s a story with good intentions.”

It seemed Su Gao had made the exact same connection. Before Fu Qian could say another word, she answered her own question, seemingly lost in distant memory.

...

”Is this the place?”

Not long after, Su Gao looked at the Fortune Teller’s Cabin in front of them and turned to Fu Qian to confirm.

”Yeah. Isn’t fortune-telling a classic hobby for ladies?”

Fu Qian gestured for her to head inside.

”Inside is a rather mediocre fortune teller who just happens to be pretty good at reading the room.”

”Mister Dancy, it has been a while.”

Inside the Fortune Teller’s Cabin, the lighting was perpetually dim.

Kisaragi Chie sat there in a dark robe. The moment she got a clear look at the two guests walking in, she greeted Fu Qian.

”Long time no see.”

Fu Qian replied, gesturing for Su Gao to take the seat across from Kisaragi Chie.

”Is this lady here for a reading today? A pleasure to meet you.”

Kisaragi Chie sized Su Gao up with the practiced gaze of a professional charlatan.

”Yes. Violetta.”

Fu Qian introduced her, then turned to Su Gao.

”Kisaragi Chie.”

”A pleasure to meet you,” Su Gao offered a polite greeting.

”The pleasure is mine. What is it that you would like to ask today?”

Kisaragi Chie replied with a smile.

”What I want to know is... whether my vacation will go smoothly.”

Despite only just finding out she was getting her fortune told, Su Gao answered with almost no hesitation, as if voicing a wish she had pondered for a long time.

”Understood.”

Kisaragi Chie nodded and retrieved a deck of cards from behind her.

Following Kisaragi Chie’s instructions, Su Gao quickly shuffled and cut the cards with nimble fingers before finally placing them back in front of her.

However, after drawing a card and looking at Su Gao, Kisaragi Chie fell into a hesitant silence.

”It appears your trip will go smoothly, but you might want to remain mindful of some external dangers. Stay cautious at all times.”

After a long pause, she finally spoke.

’Don’t look at me. Why are you staring at me while reading her fortune?’

’It was supposed to be smooth, so that makes me the hidden danger, does it?’

Fu Qian grumbled silently to himself.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what Kisaragi Chie meant.

During their last encounter, the fortune teller had read the room and firmly convinced herself that he harbored no ill intent toward Kisaragi Kana.

But that only applied to that specific situation. She wasn’t entirely ignorant of his past actions.

Seeing an ”innocent young girl” mixed up with someone like him, she probably couldn’t bring herself to guarantee that everything would go completely smoothly.

This was the drawback of being too good at reading people. If she had just focused on interpreting the cards, she wouldn’t have been so hesitant.

A second-rate fortune teller at best. It seemed Kisaragi Chie really did have a lot of self-knowledge.

”Thank you!”

Accepting Kisaragi Chie’s interpretation, Su Gao didn’t press the matter any further.

Just then, footsteps echoed from behind them. The next moment, light spilled in from outside as two figures walked through the door, one after the other.

”Sorry, I didn’t know there were guests.”

A somewhat familiar voice rang out. The next second, the speaker caught sight of Fu Qian and Su Gao, freezing in her tracks.

She had a beautiful figure, fair skin, and facial features similar to Kisaragi Chie’s, though noticeably more delicate. The newcomer was none other than Kisaragi Kana.

Whether due to the trauma of the Miracle Potion incident or something else, she no longer carried the same radiant energy she had during their last meeting. Her overall demeanor had become far more subdued.

And standing behind her, surprisingly, was another familiar face—Classmate Takagi.

This neighbor, who had been so madly infatuated with her that he created a secret space just for her, was actually standing right by her side. Their posture was rather intimate.

It inexplicably gave off the vibe of lovers finally finding each other and living happily ever after.

Fu Qian mused to himself before speaking up with a smile.

”It’s fine, we were already finished anyway.”

”Mister Dancy, it’s been a while.”

Kisaragi Kana’s expression was slightly conflicted, but she quickly composed herself and offered a polite greeting.

As for Brother Takagi, the man was visibly tense, subconsciously swallowing hard.

It was obvious that he was both familiar with Dancy Crawford and deeply scarred by the memory of him.

”And this is?”

After greeting Fu Qian, Kisaragi Kana kept her gaze locked mostly onto Su Gao’s face.

”Violetta. She’s here on vacation.”

Fu Qian gave a brief introduction.

”Takagi is now Kana’s boyfriend.”

Sitting inside, Kisaragi Chie also introduced them to Fu Qian and Su Gao.

Understood.

By heavily emphasizing the word ’boyfriend,’ Kisaragi Chie clearly wanted to show that her sister had turned over a new leaf after her recent trauma and was now fully committed to a steady relationship.

In fact, given how early in the day it was, seeing the two of them return together strongly suggested they were already living under the same roof.

From that perspective, his Jiali 9527 Plan hadn’t exactly yielded any valuable results.

Although his observation target had successfully made it through the brief safe zone he designed completely unharmed, it looked like she had also completely straightened her life out.

But was that really the case?

...

Kisaragi Kana had only returned to grab a few things. After some idle chatter, she quickly left, and Fu Qian and Su Gao said their own goodbyes soon after.

”You really can’t afford to be blindly optimistic.”

Fu Qian remarked as they stepped out of the Fortune Teller’s Cabin.

”That Kisaragi Kana is somewhat unique. Is she the subject you mentioned earlier?”

Su Gao said from beside him.

”That’s right. She died and came back to life.”

Fu Qian made no effort to hide what had happened to Kisaragi Kana.

”As an ordinary person, she didn’t just die back then—she was gutted, and a portion of her internal organs was removed. Yet, once I put everything back in place, she still came back to life.”

”That is strange.”

Su Gao listened closely, her brows knitting in thought.

”I’ve only ever heard of resurrection in unverified rumors. Up until now, I’ve never met anyone capable of such a thing.”