Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Want to taste Chief Yuan’s handiwork?”

Silently praising Wen Li for her unruffled calm in a crisis, Fu Qian gestured to the empty seat beside him, unhesitatingly giving the leader full credit for the tea.

”Sure, thank you.”

Offering a gentle smile, she wasn’t quite as unrestrained as Fu Qian. She only took her seat after glancing at Yuan Shan to confirm there were no objections.

”Coming to me so suddenly—have you run into some trouble?”

Chief Yuan had never been one for beating around the bush. After watching Fu Qian grab an empty cup and personally pour Wen Li some tea, she turned her gaze directly to Wen Li and cut straight to the chase.

Though terrifying, repeated verification had left no doubt that the strategist’s words were highly credible.

So much so that, even if she didn’t want to believe it, she had no choice but to follow this line of reasoning.

”Yes, but I can’t specifically describe what it is.”

Though familiar with Yuan Shan’s blunt style, this sudden leap in the conversation prompted Wen Li to cast a subconscious glance at Fu Qian before frowning and nodding.”Not long ago today, something highly unusual seemed to affect me.”

”Normally, I wouldn’t bother you with something so vague... but I have a strong premonition. If my terrible feeling is right, the power behind this is likely something I can’t resist at all. By the time it truly erupts, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do a thing—”

”You did the right thing, and your timing couldn’t be better.”

Signaling for Wen Li not to worry, Yuan Shan openly admitted that she had only just returned to her desk.

”So how did you detect it, given such a massive gap in power levels?”

Faced with Wen Li’s rather subjective description, she patiently guided the conversation forward.

”I really couldn’t grasp anything concrete, but I know my own condition well.”

Encouraged, Wen Li didn’t hold back, tapping a finger against her head.

”My state of mind had been perfectly normal today, but at a certain moment, some deeper emotions beneath the surface of my conscious will seemed to suffer disturbance and a sense of oppression...”

”Even my abilities were completely defenseless against this shift. The only thing they did was help me recognize the change itself.”

”Of course, the feeling isn’t nearly as pronounced right now.”

...

Not bad at all. To examine oneself three times a day—it seemed Eldest Miss Wen really had picked up some corporate culture during her recent internship.

He downed his tea in one gulp, pouring and drinking at his own pace.

With a strategist’s unique leisure, Fu Qian listened to the exchange while savoring Chief Yuan’s collection. All he was missing was a fan to wave.

Naturally, he had no doubts about Wen Li’s claims.

As for the fact that they were sitting less than half a meter apart right now and he still couldn’t detect any traces, Fu Qian didn’t think the other party’s stealth was heaven-defying enough to reach that level.

Most likely, under a momentary gaze earlier, Wen Li had reacted overly sensitively by making a move to trigger the bullet, prompting the other party to decide on quietly observing changes first.

Taking advantage of this wait-and-see attitude, Wen Li had smoothly made her way to the Night Watchers Base.

And upon discovering he was here too, Wen Li was undoubtedly certain that her wasteful action had been registered.

Beyond breathing a sigh of relief, she had instantly grasped the unspoken plan, laying everything out on the table for Yuan Shan.

Even the glance she cast at him after Yuan Shan’s sudden question was remarkably clever and obedient.

The overly leaping question and Yuan Shan’s somewhat uncharacteristic demeanor were enough to show that, before she arrived, a conversation about her had likely already taken place in the office.

And the only person who could have brought that relevant news was him.

Deliberately avoiding looking at him at that moment would only have made Yuan Shan suspicious.

As for why he had decided to let the Night Watchers take the lead in handling this matter, even coming straight here to wait for Wen Li, the reason was very simple—

First, Wen Li was guaranteed to come here.

Suddenly facing an incomprehensible threat, trying to signal him while running straight to the Night Watchers for asylum was practically the optimal choice for survival.

Secondly, for her, this was also the safest way to handle it.

Although personal actions shouldn’t be elevated to the Work Unit, was Tan Mingxue’s mysterious superior truly the only one behind this?

The intent was to strike the grass to startle the snake. Since he hadn’t revealed himself, Wen Li wouldn’t be in any immediate life-threatening danger.

So, tracking her down, tracing the threat back to its source, and killing the bastard was certainly one option.

But what if it involved more than just him, leading the rest of them to assume the snake was reacting, which would in turn draw even more intense probes?

With Eldest Miss Wen’s frail little arms and legs, she clearly couldn’t handle that kind of torment.

Even if he wanted to trace it back and kill everyone, he still had to confirm the roster first, didn’t he?

And who was better suited for that job than Yuan Shan?

It might even conveniently help Chief Yuan establish an unparalleled merit in the process.

”Do you think this anomaly was caused by the malicious influence of some High Tier?”

Listening intently now, Yuan Shan had clearly entered work mode.

”Yes... and it was done with extreme subtlety.”

Taking a deep breath, Wen Li no longer bothered to hide her lingering dread.

”If it weren’t for my habit of checking on myself every day, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have noticed this anomaly at all.”

...

Had this left her with a psychological shadow?

It wasn’t surprising. Though she appeared to be a daughter of destiny, this girl’s upbringing actually held quite a few unknown hardships.

Wen Li’s careful caution naturally reminded Fu Qian of Lady Eve from before.

He still remembered how, in a previous dream, he had even used that name to scare her awake.

”Fang Xun... what do you think?”

While he was still reminiscing, Chief Yuan finished her questioning and fully displayed the leadership style of not rushing to state a clear stance, turning her head to seek advice.

Although their previous conversation had been interrupted by Wen Li’s arrival, combining everything with this new information made it easy enough to deduce the general outline of the situation.

However, the more this was the case, the more cautious they had to be. If it truly involved the Night Watchers, the severity might have no bottom line.

Besides, it looked like the strategist beside her knew even more than the person involved.

”I trust Wen Li’s judgment.”

Conveniently refilling Yuan Shan’s cup, Fu Qian finally set the teapot down.

He naturally understood that Yuan Shan didn’t want the possibility of Night Watcher involvement being known by too many people, and he was willing to cooperate slightly, but that didn’t mean he had to be tactful.

”And considering her description, I somewhat doubt whether a mere Demigod could achieve that level... If it’s a character of an even higher Rank, based on the information the Night Watchers hold, it should be very easy to use the process of elimination.”

”We do have some files. But the other party must have a motive for doing this, right?”

She could sense Fu Qian’s tacit understanding in not stating things explicitly just yet, even though Yuan Shan was still faintly reluctant to accept the possibility of an internal problem.

”To strike the grass to startle the snake.”

Unfortunately, Fu Qian’s answer remained as direct as ever.

”I have quite a few enemies. Wen Li was probably implicated because of me.”

Forcing a powerful organization to conduct internal self-correction, letting Chief Yuan perform this kind of dangerous act—honesty was just basic politeness.