Eldritch Horror Theatre

“Professor Lisa is actually quite nice. I’m happy I could help.”

Faced with Fu Qian’s attempt to sow discord, Wen Li didn’t even look surprised. She merely smiled, brushing it off as a matter of personal preference.

“I also saw a lot of interesting things. Once the Preservation Chamber is actually finished, I definitely need to find a chance to visit... so I fully support your suggestion to open it to the entire Academy, Professor Fu.”

She even went on to speak highly of the Apocalypse instructors’ whimsical ideas.

Girl, you really aren’t squeamish.

Fu Qian couldn’t help but shake his head at such relentless optimism.

Considering Wen Li’s abilities, though, she had likely seen more than enough of the mind’s complexities over the years. It made sense she would feel this way.

“Did anyone from Linghui drop by over the last couple of days?”

Not dwelling on the topic, Fu Qian naturally moved on to his next question.

His earlier joke hadn’t been completely baseless. Given Wen Li’s status and strength, she could have washed her hands of Professor Lisa’s affairs at any time.But for her to follow him out so quickly and wait alone on the path back, she clearly had something to tell him.

Even Classmate Liushuang, who had been acting as her guide these past two days, had tactfully stayed behind.

Fu Qian’s immediate guess was that Linghui had made a new move.

On one hand, whatever happened couldn’t be too serious, which was why the two of them had still enjoyed the leisure to drop by Professor Lisa’s place just now.

But on the other hand, it had to be peculiar enough that she felt the need to inform him right away.

“Yes. Just yesterday, Professor Weilong came to see me... He checked on my current condition and confirmed my upcoming itinerary.”

Wen Li nodded, looking completely unsurprised that Fu Qian had figured it out.

“There weren’t many specifics. He just mentioned that Linghui has the situation under control, that they are doing the final cleanup, and that he hopes I can stay here a while longer.”

Just as he suspected, her update sounded perfectly peaceful and mundane on the surface.

Old Man Weilong came to visit in person? How interesting.

“Sounds good. We can go check it out together a little later.”

Fu Qian decided without hesitation.

“Didn’t you mention you had people who could arrange some food?”

...

She hadn’t been exaggerating.

Wen Li had been here for some time, but Fu Qian still hadn’t had many opportunities to host her personally.

After taking her for a stroll around the Academy and casually chatting about her recent mental journey, lunch was soon ready.

Her dedicated entourage lived up to expectations. While there weren’t many dishes, the selection was carefully curated and tasted exceptional.

“I asked them to prepare everything to your tastes as much as possible, but we haven’t been here long, and we’re a bit short-handed.”

Even so, Wen Li made sure to offer a disclaimer.

It sounded like she was keeping this study tour simple and unpretentious.

“This is already great. Not long ago, Chief Yuan was asking about how you were doing here. She was actually quite envious of your progress and said she wanted to rush over for further studies too.”

Fu Qian expressed his satisfaction, casually bringing up his old acquaintance from Shangjing.

“That’s very kind of Chief Yuan... Unfortunately, it will probably be a while before I can see her again.”

With Fu Qian taking the initiative to mention matters back home, Wen Li relaxed even further.

She smiled and shook her head, almost able to picture Yuan Shan’s expression when she said those words.

“So, do you think Professor Weilong made a special trip to see me because something happened at Linghui?”

However, her attention soon shifted back to Fu Qian’s earlier decision.

She had indeed been waiting to intercept him so she could relay this news and let him decide what to do.

And Professor Fu’s reaction clearly brought her a touch of concern.

“Hard to say. While the Old Man showing up in person is a bit grand, there are plenty of plausible reasons for it. Maybe he just wanted a closer look at your condition, or maybe he’s returning the favor since our own lineup was quite extravagant when we visited them last time.”

Fu Qian gestured for her to relax.

“The upside is that Apocalypse won’t exert so much pressure this time around. It’ll just be the two of us going.”

“All right...”

...

He wasn’t just saying things to sound nice. Linghui Courtyard frequently suffered from the flaw of relying on subjective assumptions, which served as a good cautionary tale.

As one of the department’s Demigods, Old Man Weilong personally visiting certainly carried some weight in Fu Qian’s eyes. However, concluding whether Linghui’s situation was good or bad based purely on that would be too presumptive.

The only certainty in all of this was that it was time for him to pay them a visit.

Checking on Wen Li’s condition was naturally a necessary move for Linghui.

But considering his habit of coming and going like a ghost, running into him over at the Laboratory was absolutely a scenario they would have considered before setting out.

Yet Old Man Weilong had still come. His desire to have a chat was painfully obvious.

Unfortunately, the timing had been off; Fu Qian hadn’t yet returned from his field research.

Now that he had returned on the second day and heard about it, it seemed only polite to return the favor, right?

As for whether Linghui was trying to demonstrate their powerful self-correcting capability to save some face, or if their troubles had exceeded their means and they were seeking help, he would just have to wait and see.

“His Excellency Weilong seemed to be in pretty good spirits. At the least, I couldn’t discern any obvious emotional issues with him... He even specifically reminded me to make sure my own state remained stable.”

Wen Li was quite eager to accompany him on the visit to Linghui; she had agreed almost instantly.

Though as an outstanding student of Linghui Courtyard, showing up at their door alongside a famous academic leader from Apocalypse still felt a bit odd.

Fortunately, Professor Fu had explicitly set aside some time to rest after lunch, allowing her to mentally prepare for whatever scene might unfold.

Eventually, moving at an unhurried pace, they arrived at Linghui Courtyard.

Wen Li had even changed into a more formal outfit for the occasion, taking the initiative to share her personal impressions.

“That’s not surprising. You have to believe in the introspective abilities of professionals.”

Fu Qian signaled that this was entirely normal, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the still-magnificent architecture.

For a group of players who spent year after year performing surgery on the mind, their sensitivity to such things was undoubtedly extremely high.

Just look at their last visit—he had only offered a slight hint, and they had immediately dragged out the victim, Silei.

There was even that special title, Impermanence.

Furthermore, as long as he had even a shred of public decency, Professor Weilong wouldn’t go wandering the streets if he realized his own mental afflictions hadn’t been resolved.

Of course, it could also be a case of someone stubbornly walking around to prove they weren’t sick. For instance, right now—

“Professor Fu.”

In a moment that carried a faint sense of déjà vu, Old Man Weilong was already waiting for them the second they stepped through the gates.