Eldritch Horror Theatre

What utter blasphemy!

Old Man Henry’s methods drew a heartfelt sigh from Fu Qian, the one currently bearing the brunt of them.

This wasn’t merely on the level of sweeping the world with a shit-stained mop; it was closer to transforming the entire world into a toilet, to the point where the absence of filth was what felt abnormal.

It was truly a dimensional gap.

Considering the man was a former Night Watcher, the contrast was especially striking.

Fu Qian had no doubt that if anyone stayed trapped in here for even a little while, their very body and mind would devolve to match the standards of public defecation. A complete, chaotic breakdown was only a matter of time.

You couldn’t even choose to leave early; the very thought of resisting would be twisted. Even now, a pervasive laziness was washing over him.

Was this the legendary Salted Fish Shop Halo? The old man really played a mean hand!

What a pity, though. It was still disappointing.

...”Teacher, why not let Mister Fang explain?”

As he mused over this, Yuan Shan’s voice rang out, sounding both relieved and anxious.

Fu Qian completely understood her reaction. She was relieved because he hadn’t yet reached for his Handbell and drawn his gun, meaning the conflict hadn’t spiraled into the worst-case scenario. She was anxious because if this didn’t stop soon, it obviously would.

Furthermore, the fact that she could still express such nuanced emotions showed just how familiar Yuan Shan was with her teacher’s methods.

Instantly bundling herself up into what looked like a massive medicinal pill indeed ensured she had no trouble protecting herself for the time being.

Of course, even so, Chief Yuan had still overlooked one crucial detail—why hadn’t he reached for his Handbell and gun?

Faced with the full might of a Tier 2, he remained remarkably docile.

Was he choosing to respect the aged and honor the wise, or was he just carefully weighing the situation?

Given her understanding of him, she should have known the chances of either being true were virtually zero.

When it involved her teacher, Chief Yuan was simply too anxious.

...

”She’s right, why not let me explain?”

Fu Qian remained completely still as he voiced his support for Yuan Shan’s suggestion.

His voice noticeably wavered erratically, sounding like a broken speaker.

”Alright, explain what you just said.”

Old Man Henry replied quickly, even accepting the proposal, though he didn’t dial back the intensity of the Salted Fish Shop Halo in the slightest.

”Well... I’ve had some rather unpleasant dealings with this higher entity, who hails from the Mythological Era, still exists today, and stands entirely beyond Tier 1.”

At Old Man Henry’s demand, Fu Qian pondered for a moment before answering slowly.

You f*cking... really just explained it!

Having strained her ears to ensure she didn’t miss a single syllable, Chief Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.

What the hell was wrong with this guy’s head? Was this really the time to be a smartass!

Explain the whole story, you bastard! You literally just expanded your previous sentence!

Did he really just take the request completely literally?

Even so, the expanded details he included still made Chief Yuan’s heart pound.

Didn’t this guy know a bit too much?

Yuan Shan could sense that her teacher shared her shock. The most direct proof was that she suddenly had to reinforce her own barriers with multiple extra layers just to withstand the pressure that abruptly surged in the room.

”Stop spouting nonsense, or this situation will spiral completely out of control... Do you even know what’s down here?”

The very moment she secured her defenses, Yuan Shan’s first reaction was to warn Fu Qian of the danger.

”I know, it’s a secret Night Watchers Base. And who said I was spouting nonsense?”

Unfortunately, despite speaking with an increasingly bizarre accent, Fu Qian replied as cheerfully as ever.

...

”Everything I just said was a fact. I have a rather unpleasant history with the Blazing Rainbow, which is exactly why I asked you about that name—I wanted to see if I could use the Night Watchers’ power to track it down and settle the score.”

He already knew what the Blazing Rainbow was? Had he only approached her to gauge the Night Watchers’ reaction to the name?

How was that possible!

Before Fu Qian even finished speaking, Yuan Shan practically wanted to burst out of her Cocoon and strangle him for answers.

Though if that were true, the fact that he had asked her about the Blazing Rainbow despite already knowing about it did make a little bit of logical sense.

But actively seeking out a higher entity to pick a fight? This guy had to be completely insane!

Complaints aside, at least the guy was still talking. Yuan Shan quickly looked toward her teacher, hoping they could return to a verbal exchange.

”Teacher, should we pause for a—”

Unfortunately, she was only halfway through when Henry reached out a hand to stop her.

”Mister Fang truly knows quite a lot. Is there anything else?”

”There is...”

Fu Qian looked down at the fingernails growing like blooming petals in his palms, and a moment later, feigned a look of sudden realization.

”I get it now. When Chief Yuan accused me of spouting nonsense, she was talking about my accent, wasn’t she?”

Under this completely warped interpretation, Fu Qian slapped his thigh.

The next moment, he lowered his pitch, and his voice instantly became perfectly normal.

”Actually, my language skills are quite strong.”

...

In that instant, absolute silence seemed to fall over the entire Great Hall.

Realizing that Fu Qian’s language skills hadn’t been affected in the slightest despite being exposed to such a state, Yuan Shan was visibly beginning to doubt her own reality.

Didn’t that mean he was actually completely unaffected...

Everything before was just an act...

How did he do it...

And what was his goal...

But those chaotic thoughts were abruptly cut short by a bizarre sound.

Glancing up instinctively, Yuan Shan spotted a swirling vortex.

More accurately, it looked like a rainbow connected end to end.

Indescribable colors, thousands of intricate threads all flowing in the same direction, yet giving off an extreme sense of dissonance.

And at that moment, the vortex slowly detached from her teacher’s palm, then seemingly bypassed space itself to crash directly into that deformed body.

...

It was completely silent, yet the vortex acted like a multicolored flame, igniting the pervasive filth across the ground.

Fu Qian’s state of existence instantly became a dazzling array of forms.

Thousands of concepts—like the rule that all five fingers must be perfectly equal in length—surged and boiled violently across his entire body.

This is bad!

Everything happened entirely too fast, catching her completely off guard.

But a moment later, her silhouette shifted. Without a sound, Yuan Shan stood up firmly.

Before she could do anything else, however, a grotesquely twisted hand suddenly clamped onto her shoulder, pressing down to signal her to stay calm.

Cough, cough...

Only then did the sound of coughing come from the hand’s owner.

To Yuan Shan’s utter disbelief, the Handbell still had not been rung.

Not only that, but a steadily normalizing smile actually formed on that face, which had just been ravaged beyond recognition by the vortex.

”They really are... quite strong.”

When he spoke again, his voice had once again completely returned to normal by the last few words.

Only then did Yuan Shan suddenly realize that the hand resting on her shoulder was also stubbornly dispelling its own various deformities, like an inviolable avatar of purity.

(End of Chapter)