Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Isn’t it pretty good?”

The Knight showed interest in her handiwork, and the Witch praised herself without a trace of humility.

”Unfortunately, it is essentially a part of me and cannot penetrate the barrier.”

She even expressed a bit of regret over not being able to give it to the Knight to take back.

”It’s fine.”

Fu Qian sat there and shook his head, signaling for the Pope not to feel sad.

As soon as he spoke, his body suddenly stiffened.

A lump of flesh and blood slipped smoothly out from a breach in the Armor.

”I can leave this behind.”

It wasn’t a hidden injury flaring up, of course—just him taking off the Armor.The matter here was settled, so entering a non-combat state was perfectly reasonable, right?

Naturally, upon shifting back into human form, Fu Qian didn’t neglect public decency and simultaneously molded a set of leg armor.

”This should be easier than that palm print, right?”

Not only was it riddled with scars, but the blood on the armor was also plentiful. Considering it was much fresher, it should work better than that painting for locating the Extreme Hunger Infection later.

”This is indeed not bad. I will preserve its vitality to the maximum extent.”

Fu Qian’s maneuver undoubtedly exceeded the Witch’s expectations, but as her gaze lingered on it, she quickly expressed her appreciation.

Before his Homecoming, the Templar Knight specifically left his Armor here to stand guard. For a moment, this Dark Moon Sanctuary looked much more proper.

”Thanks. Is it possible for you to help me keep these items as well?”

Clatter. Fu Qian quickly tossed out a few more items.

Having armed himself to the teeth for this operation in The Corridor, this was practically the moment he carried the most items on his person.

...

”Are you sure?”

The Knight wasn’t the least bit polite when troubling others, and the Witch didn’t mind at all.

Looking at the displayed items, three of the four were surprisingly things she had never seen before. The Knight had clearly reaped quite a harvest recently.

The Pale Dragon Statue, the slim, holy Curved Blade, the Concentric Talisman shaped like Blue Eyes... Perhaps the only familiar shape was that heavy Head Cage.

”Some recent discoveries made me feel that the security level of the place I keep them isn’t quite high enough.”

Fu Qian nodded with absolute certainty.

Although making a special trip back to get his equipment hadn’t been of much use, how could he not wring some value out of it?

This connection between the Warehouse and this world was clearly a special situation. It probably wouldn’t be easy to replicate later.

He might as well take this opportunity to leave a few items with the Witch for safekeeping.

As for the reason, what he just said wasn’t nonsense.

Blazing Rainbow, First Generation Dark Moon... The Warehouse was increasingly proving to be as leaky as a sieve.

So much so that, apart from the two he had already discovered, it really made him worry if there were any other higher entities playing little tricks.

Keeping all his belongings in the Warehouse seemed a bit too risky.

And the Witch had already proven earlier that although her own Descent wasn’t easy, passing an item over was simple enough.

Leaving a few temporarily unused items here and having the Witch toss them over when needed might be even more flexible during special moments than keeping them in the Warehouse.

”No problem.”

Giving out one item and unexpectedly receiving four in return—this deal definitely wasn’t a loss.

Even though her own item was extraordinary, these items also had their own respective mystical properties.

After a brief inspection, the Witch didn’t decline; she simply accepted them all.

”The Other Shore will soon be buried again.”

A moment later, she didn’t forget to offer a warm reminder.

”Understood.”

Fu Qian made a gesture and directly took off the Emissary.

...

The Warehouse here was quiet.

Comfortingly, even under the pollution of the Other Shore, the Hearthstone Technique was still usable.

In the next instant, Fu Qian was already sitting in his familiar seat.

And since today’s task had already been completed, the Warehouse was completely silent at the moment.

Even compared to the past, there were far fewer items on the long table in front of him, making the entire scene feel even more desolate.

Of course, none of this affected Fu Qian’s mood in the slightest. He merely whipped up some clothes for himself while quietly waiting for the bloodstains on the Emissary Mask to spread.

Once the area covered by the blood reached a certain limit in his memory, Fu Qian put it right back on his face.

...

What a pity.

The sunlight was bright and the day was tranquil.

When he reappeared, he was in another familiar place.

The space before his eyes was undoubtedly a bit narrow, but whether it was the soft mattress beneath him or the few rays of sunlight shining through the window, it really made one appreciate the beauty of life.

That’s right, he had returned to the Emissary Mask’s original anchor point, the center of Professor Fu’s commercial empire: the Shangjing Bookstore Second Floor.

The time outside clearly wasn’t late yet, but the various sounds already carried a languid feeling. All the weirdness was gone—mostly because he couldn’t sense it.

That’s right, this was why Fu Qian had said it was a pity.

By the time he put the mask back on, the brief release of the Other Shore had already ended, meaning he didn’t have the chance to verify if any old friends were welcoming him back.

But if he hadn’t waited for that moment, the blood on the mask wouldn’t have recovered enough, and he wouldn’t have been able to return to this starting point.

So in the end, he could only experience it in the Warehouse, and as a result, he hadn’t detected any ”gazes.”

Outside working hours, the Warehouse, as an employer, seemed to be fully resting as well, which was very particular.

Even the Imprint on his wrist, representing a true end to his shift, still couldn’t be activated.

Just as the Witch had said, it was still a stopgap measure. Essentially, it was still using the other party’s perception—fortunately, there were clothes to change into here.

Getting up from the bed, Fu Qian went to the wardrobe and dug out a set of clothes that Eldest Miss Wen had helped prepare earlier.

...

”Welcome.”

Half an hour later, Shangjing, a renowned cultural city, gained another point in its cultural index.

The bookstore in the alley opened for business again in the afternoon, and even the staff’s attire looked much more pleasing to the eye.

However, the attitude was just as terrible as ever. That polite welcome was only uttered for the first time an hour after opening.

Even the recipient of this enthusiastic service was a striking lady who would make anyone’s eyes light up. An onlooker might think he was judging by appearances—except for the person involved.

”I thought you were going to disappear for a while.”

Her brows tightly knitted, Chief Yuan Shan had hurried over and was clearly surprised to see Fu Qian today.

”Please sit.”

And when she greeted him, Fu Qian went a step further, directly kicking all the customers out.

”Has it been fairly quiet around here lately?”

She was familiar with the routine. By the time Fu Qian locked the door and returned, Yuan Shan had already taken a seat in his chair.

Fu Qian didn’t mind much and casually verified the current situation.

”Fairly quiet—the sun.”

Yuan Shan nodded, her gaze fixed on his face, and suddenly spat out a word.

”Oh?”

”That Eckhart you asked me to look for... it seems he really did exist before the Long Night. He was an apostle of the sun.”