Eldritch Horror Theatre

The address provided by The Rayson Couple was actually quite close, easily within walking distance.

However, Fu Qian proved entirely true to his word, showing absolutely no desire to drop by and investigate.

With a cold scoff, he tossed the letter aside, got his bearings, and headed straight back the way he came.

It wasn’t that he doubted the address’s authenticity. Fu Qian actually agreed with Resen—comparing different Nightmares could indeed yield some valuable insights.

But they weren’t valuable enough.

Back when Resen was describing the couple’s experiences, Fu Qian had already made his choice: from here on out, he would play the role of someone stubbornly incorrigible.

Simply put, his earlier acceptance of reality during his conversation with Amira had merely been an act—a fake conversion forced by circumstance.

Deep down, he still firmly believed that everything before his eyes was a Nightmare, and he would use every method imaginable to return to ”reality.”

According to Resen, The Order had clearly investigated a substantial number of these sudden Nightmare occurrences, albeit in complete secrecy.

Since the survivors of the Painting World couldn’t provide any more valuable information, provoking a reaction with an extreme stance carried some risk, but it was undoubtedly the most efficient choice.Not to mention, as a fresh case with his observers right nearby, executing this was incredibly convenient.

Therefore, activating Lucid Dream to semi-forcefully extract that information had been a deliberate waste all along.

The Order would inevitably question The Rayson Couple to verify their conversation. Combined with his own actions, the conclusion they would draw was obvious: his efforts to return to a normal life were a sham, merely a smokescreen using The Rayson Couple to deceive The Order.

Now, he just had to wait and see how they planned to grant redemption to this thoroughly lost lamb.

Or, perhaps, purification.

...

Despite her sharp senses, Mrs. Harper clearly disliked socializing.

By the time Fu Qian returned home, the landlady had long since finished dinner and was carefully going through a stack of bills.

Unsurprisingly, she treated Fu Qian to another sweeping, head-to-toe appraisal.

However, having perfectly suppressed his defiant posture and hidden his prejudice against this world, Fu Qian looked genuinely well. He even seemed to have finally worked up enough of an appetite to bring food back with him.

As for where the money came from?

It certainly wasn’t from the pockets of that work uniform, nor was it the new employee Anke’s savings. Despite earning a decent salary, that guy seemed to have spent every penny on himself. Fu Qian had thoroughly tossed the room earlier and found it completely empty.

The money for his dinner had been borrowed from Brother Rafadi back at the Art Gallery.

As a professional task runner, Fu Qian understood the absolute necessity of operational funds, especially in a place that seemed to run on such strict, orderly rules.

And considering Rafadi’s role in maintaining the peace, spending a little cash to prevent a drop in order was something the man surely wouldn’t mind.

”You look much better, Anke.”

True to form, Mrs. Harper, with her eyes like torches, eventually locked her gaze onto his purchases.

”Though it seems even an ordeal like that hasn’t changed your dietary quirks. Honestly, if you want to recover quickly, you’d be better off with some roast meat, rather than...”

She narrowed her eyes, closely inspecting the food in Fu Qian’s hands.

”A bunch of sweets.”

Was that so?

Hearing Mrs. Harper’s comment stirred a realization in Fu Qian’s mind.

He had only imitated Classmate Su Gao’s dietary preferences on a whim, but he had actually hit the mark by pure coincidence?

Rafadi’s briefing on Anke naturally hadn’t been detailed enough to include his favorite foods, so Fu Qian had chosen his dinner completely at random. He never expected it to perfectly align with his persona’s eating habits.

This was undoubtedly good news; it would make his cover even harder to blow moving forward.

Even someone as shrewd as Mrs. Harper had softened her tone slightly.

”Thanks for the advice. I don’t have much of an appetite right now, and I figured the sugar might improve my mood a bit.”

Acknowledging her goodwill, Fu Qian offered a casual excuse to further flesh out his persona.

”You’ll feel even better if you get some rest right after you eat.”

Mrs. Harper gave a slight nod, clearly accepting the explanation.

I feel the exact same way.

Fu Qian thoroughly agreed with her advice.

...

Has it started?

In the darkness, Fu Qian slowly opened his eyes.

The black satin of the night sky outside his window was now dotted with stars, perfectly mirroring the scene he had witnessed at The Order earlier that day.

His little outing had given him a basic understanding of this organization, which, so far, seemed rather orthodox and righteous.

First of all, they lived up to their name. While they were a religious group, they worshipped no concrete Deity; instead, their faith was abstractly directed toward the starry night sky.

According to their doctrines, the supreme truth was hidden within the flickering orbits of the stars. Therefore, their most common practice was simply sitting quietly beneath the sky to meditate and seek enlightenment.

The miraculous part was that they actually received a response.

That shocking display of power Amira had shown earlier was known as Star Law—meaning the Law bestowed by the starry sky.

It couldn’t be taught; it could only be grasped through establishing a personal connection with the cosmos.

Almost every member of The Order possessed it. These abilities were incredibly varied, and they clearly weren’t limited to mere psychological guidance.

After all, from what he had gathered, The Order typically acted as Hunters, purging various wandering abominations, evil spirits, and the like.

And now, they could add Nightmares to that list.

Fu Qian sat up in bed.

It wasn’t even midnight yet. Even without checking, he knew that the downstairs area was now completely empty.

For Mrs. Harper, who spent all day at home, to simply vanish was undeniably abnormal.

But what was even more unnatural was that the outside world was exactly the same.

Beneath the flickering starlight, everything was shrouded in dead silence. Not a single living soul was in sight.

Under normal circumstances, dreaming would be the most logical explanation for this.

But as a dream expert, Fu Qian knew better—even without factoring in the one-minute time limit for dreams he had verified earlier.

The current situation felt much more akin to navigating through a Blood Crusade—stepping into a realm entirely isolated from reality.

The only difference was that the control here was absolute; even his own perception couldn’t extend beyond the boundaries of this dimension.

Precisely because of this, Fu Qian was quite certain about what kind of power was behind it.

The Order’s commandments truly were incredibly varied and exceptionally powerful... and deeply reassuring.

Clearly, once his surveillance report had been submitted, The Order had reacted swiftly.

And their chosen method was ideal.

Looking at the scene before him, it obviously didn’t seem like they intended to simply purify him outright.

It was far more likely that they were manually crafting a Nightmare for someone stubbornly incorrigible, hoping to shatter his worldview.

Since he stubbornly believed he was currently trapped in a Nightmare, they would simply plunge him into a Nightmare within a Nightmare, fighting poison with poison.

Of course, Fu Qian was confident that their ultimate goal went far beyond that.

Because within that dead silence, someone was radiating a bone-chilling killing intent, waiting patiently in the dark.