Eldritch Horror Theatre

A daze slowly surfaced on Yi’an’s shattered face and lingered there.

Neither he nor Weilon, who was sustaining his existence, seemed to know how to react to Fu Qian’s stern, righteous reprimand.

A moment later, Professor Yi’an soundlessly collapsed, crumbling inch by inch into drifting ash.

This destruction triggered immediate waves of repentance that battered madly against Fu Qian’s will.

For a moment, the crushing weight of his sins felt so immense that all the water in the world could never wash them clean.

Faced with this, Fu Qian did not waste a single ounce of effort trying to convince himself his actions were just.

He was undergoing cold quenching. He needed to take it seriously.

...

”What... is your true purpose in infiltrating the Academy?”

Weilon’s voice finally broke the silence.Unfortunately, despite Fu Qian’s display of having a clear conscience, the man’s understanding seemed to have gone awry once again.

”This is not something a normal demigod could achieve. I imagine... you must belong to some special organization?”

”You were elevated to a demigod through special means, then hid your strength to join the Academy?”

Weilon stood and pressed closer, his tone now carrying clear killing intent.

”I originally thought Yi’an stumbled upon your misdeeds, bringing this fatal disaster upon himself.”

”Now it seems it was exactly as they said. Yi’an must have uncovered your secret and was silenced in this manner. Just to be safe, you did it so cleanly you left no trace at all... How ruthless!”

The Old Man just wouldn’t let this go!

This wasn’t just a misunderstanding anymore—it was sheer paranoia!

Faced with Weilon’s latest round of accusations, Fu Qian let out a long, inward sigh.

When it came down to it, the man fundamentally refused to believe Yi’an’s true nature. He insisted on seeing him as the victim.

With that premise locked in, no matter how much contradictory evidence Fu Qian presented, Weilon’s conclusions would only grow more outrageous.

Of course, amidst his recent conclusions, the man had accidentally stumbled upon a tiny sliver of the truth.

But feeling the waves of repentance fading and sensing his cold quenching was nearly complete, Fu Qian decided to end this slightly tedious entanglement.

”This matter ends today. Trust me, you have absolutely no chance of escaping here before then...”

Old Man Weilon’s declarations were still going strong.

”I get it.”

Fu Qian casually snapped his fingers, cutting him off.

He wanted an answer, right? Easy enough.

Following his motion, the Ring on his hand flashed blue. A curtain instantly expanded, enveloping them both.

The upgraded Lucid Dream activated.

Weilon might lack the confidence to hypnotize a Divine Being, but Fu Qian certainly had it.

...

Old Man Weilon’s Void of Causal Origin was formidable indeed. Despite obvious turbulence, it swayed briefly and actually managed to sustain itself within the Lucid Dream.

Of course, this might not have been entirely intentional.

As a mental domain expert, Weilon had clearly sensed the Lucid Dream’s emergence and seemed to have tried canceling the Void of Causal Origin to make a run for it.

Unfortunately, just as he had said earlier, he had expended great effort synchronizing everything to drag Fu Qian into this space where mind and reality mixed. Ending it unilaterally now was not so easy.

Because of this connection, the mental-type demigod fell straight into the trap despite keeping his guard up.

”What did you do?”

Realizing his predicament, Weilon quickly calmed down, and even the mask on his face rapidly re-formed.

”Didn’t you want to know the answer? Since you’re a bit agitated, I found a quiet place for you to think.”

Having completed the Pseudo-God Ritual, advancing his Insight to Deity Level, Fu Qian was now far more proficient at exerting control as a Dream Dominator.

He precisely controlled the range to avoid pulling Naya in downstairs. The next moment, to Weilon’s shock, Fu Qian’s figure slowly faded away, leaving Weilon completely alone.

”Think carefully. Until you find an answer, there’s no escaping...”

Tossing Weilon’s own words back at him, Fu Qian detached his will from the dream, stood, and walked back to the window to admire the scenery—mostly to keep Naya from wondering why he was standing perfectly still.

Meanwhile, Old Man Weilon, still maintaining his Mythical Form, sat silently in his chair.

He occasionally struggled, but under Fu Qian’s control, his resistance was quickly smoothed over. The Lucid Dream remained perfectly stable.

Not being able to escape without an answer—Fu Qian hadn’t just been saying that to scare him.

The core of the current Lucid Dream was naturally its sole participant, Old Man Weilon.

The end condition Fu Qian had set for him was simple: find the true culprit who framed Professor Fu Qian and killed Yi’an.

Since he loved to overthink, Fu Qian would gladly dial up the intensity for him.

Of course, inside the dream, Old Man Weilon was clearly still attempting a brute-force breakout.

But Fu Qian believed he would soon follow his own creed and put his faith in the power of the mind.

...

Hah... Ah...

After quite some time had passed, a long sigh sounding like someone waking from a dream finally came from behind Fu Qian.

Simultaneously, the Lucid Dream shattered like a bubble.

Looking back, the seated Weilon had actually restored his face to its human appearance.

He was at least somewhat polite. Knowing he wasn’t wearing clothes, he had only undone his facial transformation.

Fu Qian silently evaluated as he sized him up.

Gray hair, brown eyes, and a severe, hawkish face. Although he had no beard, he was indeed an Old Man of considerable age.

Right now, however, the Old Man’s eyes were filled with exhaustion and relief.

”So that’s how it is. I understand now... Such meticulous scheming...”

After muttering to himself for a moment, the Old Man took a deep breath and nodded at Fu Qian.

”My intrusion today was offensive... I think, just now, I found a different answer.”

”To think I was actually taken for a muddled old fool.”

”Think nothing of it!”

Fu Qian waved a hand with magnanimous flair.

”The Apocalypse Soul Ash Second Academy are branches of the same root; helping each other out is only right.”

”I hope it was help and not misdirection.”

Unfortunately, Old Man Weilon was getting on in years. Practically immune to such overtly positive rhetoric, he simply gave a cold chuckle and stood up.

”I need to go back and confirm a few things. But if I find anything amiss, I will come calling again.”

”I won’t see you out.”

Faced with these less-than-polite parting words, Fu Qian’s smile did not fade.

The room returned to tranquility. A few seconds later, the demigod Weilon vanished from his seat.

The Old Man truly was old now!

Though his exit had remained flashy, Fu Qian still let out a sigh.

Maintaining his Mythical Form all this time was no easy feat. The Old Man was clearly a spent force.

Never mind confirming the truth when he returned—he would probably have to meditate and regulate his breathing first.

In all likelihood, there wouldn’t be any spectacle to watch for the time being.

In contrast, however, Fu Qian’s anticipation for the afternoon’s events had already skyrocketed.

After all, even he didn’t know who the ”true culprit” the Old Man had found actually was.

’’’html