Eldritch Horror Theatre

Fascinating.

Fu Qian noted that when he had jumped out just a moment ago, he could still clearly see the carvings on the window.

Now, however, the place looked completely devoid of any trace of the living.

Even the legendary hellstorms couldn’t be much worse than this, right?

Taking in the scene, he threw one last glance inside. After confirming there was still no sign of the Blood Clan Demigod or her remains, Fu Qian strode directly into the raging storm.

The situation was growing increasingly bizarre. But as the saying went: where things defied common sense, discoveries beyond common sense awaited.

Besides, Fu Qian was already gradually getting used to the new discoveries.

Such as where exactly Serana had gone.

She was a demigod, after all. Vanishing without a sound like this was incredibly rare.

Had she followed his tip to search for traces of the Dominator of Death, only to meet with some kind of accident?The entity involved certainly had the status for it, but he hadn’t forgotten that the ”Dominator of Death” was just a gimmick he had thrown out casually.

There had been zero evidence linking this place to that entity beforehand. Explaining away her disappearance like that felt a bit too irresponsible.

Ultimately, given his limited understanding of Moore, it was genuinely hard to judge what had happened to Serana.

Still, he needed to keep an open mind. Whatever Excellency Serana had encountered, it could all be boiled down to a simple phrase: the mysterious disappearance of a demigod.

And framed like that, didn’t he already have a point of reference?

During their earlier exchange with the Greed Worms, Old Man Laurie had explained the details of their commission.

The very first item on that list had been to closely monitor Solendir’s movements and confirm whether his ship had ”returned” after the storm.

Didn’t that also involve the disappearance of a demigod?

Stripping away all the complicated details, wasn’t that exactly the same kind of situation as Excellency Serana’s?

Once he started viewing the problem from this angle, a possible explanation practically leaped out at him—

Because of what Solendir had been searching for in the storm?

What if he hadn’t needed to go out to sea at all? What if Serana had found it right here on the shore?

...

Whenever the storms suddenly flared up, Solendir would steer his ship out to surf the rough seas around Moore, searching for his opportunity to advance.

It was a somewhat abstract method, but honestly, compared to the various rituals he had learned about so far, it wasn’t even all that strange.

In Fu Qian’s view, whatever it was Solendir was looking for, it likely wasn’t exclusive to him. Other transcendents would be able to sense it, too.

After all, he couldn’t forget Anjing’s plan.

Hiring Laurie and his group might have seemed like a bit of a joke at first glance.

But the excessively detailed arrangements that followed carried a strange underlying implication.

Furthermore, there was no way Anjing would joke around about something like this.

Could it be assumed, then, that they were completely certain these arrangements would actually work?

That seemingly unrelated moves were actually highly targeted?

No matter how he looked at it, this was the more reasonable explanation.

And as everyone knew, moving a thousand catties with four ounces required absolute mastery of the situation.

So, could he take it a step further and assume that Anjing knew exactly what Solendir was looking for?

If they had seen it, why wouldn’t Serana have stumbled across it, too?

Especially since the storms had been so frequent over the last two days.

Fu Qian suddenly stopped in his tracks, feeling as though all the pieces were finally starting to fall into place.

Even the sight right in front of him fit perfectly. Laywoman Tooth-Throat hadn’t been spouting nonsense—the exterior walls of the Cattle Slaughterhouse really were white originally?

...

It genuinely wasn’t far away, and Fu Qian’s destination was crystal clear.

From the moment he left Serana’s temporary residence, he had been immediately curious: what did that Cattle Slaughterhouse, so steeped in sin force, look like in the middle of a hellstorm like this?

His route proved perfectly accurate. In the blink of an eye, the bizarre, stacked-box architecture loomed into view.

Sure enough, just like the window from moments ago, the building was no longer as vibrant and pristine as it had been during the day.

Steeped in an overwhelming aura of withering decay, large swathes of the exterior walls were actively discoloring, turning a sickly yellow mottled with black.

Of course, Fu Qian wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that he was seeing the Cattle Slaughterhouse as it was before its fresh coat of paint based solely on this. He simply felt that, since the building maintained a distinct aesthetic even in this decaying state, the odds that it was originally designed this way were much higher.

...

Ever since he jumped out of that window, the Moore caught in this storm had undeniably changed.

But this wasn’t a simple case of Yesterday Once More. The juice stall he had visited earlier was still sitting just a short distance away.

In fact, that was exactly why Fu Qian had chosen this place as his first stop.

If he wanted to compare the two states and spot the differences, it was best to use a familiar setting.

Sweeping his gaze over the area now, he could even spot the exact seat he had used earlier.

Unfortunately, just like everything else in his field of vision, the seat was thoroughly steeped in that aura of decay.

Only a few hours had passed, yet it looked as though long years had weathered it down.

Most importantly—there was fire.

Despite the raging storm, the exact same fire he had seen on the bats was burning here.

It wasn’t just the table and chair he had used; he had seen many similar patches of flame along the way.

And consistent with his previous observations, everything burning in those strange flames seemed to be decaying at an accelerated rate.

It truly was a fascinating place. He was experiencing a wealth of anomalies without even needing a Burial Scroll.

Furthermore, he was now almost certain of one thing: Excellency Serana had definitely come here before vanishing from the real Moore.

Everything was matching up perfectly. The only question left was whether Solendir had made his way inside, given that even a latecomer like the Blood Clan Demigod had managed to find it.

And since this place could clearly be accessed from land, why Solendir had insisted on pacing back and forth on the sea became quite an interesting question.

”Hello there, young man.”

Just as Fu Qian was sorting through his findings, a gentle greeting drifted out from the darkness behind him, nearly shredded by the howling wind and rain.

...

”Hello there, not-young man.”

Anyone who had seen enough horror movies knew that greetings from behind were usually trouble.

But Fu Qian had been expecting it for a while now.

Turning around smoothly, Fu Qian looked at the figure standing barely an arm’s length away and offered an equally warm greeting, even gesturing in invitation for the man to sit and chat.

His choice of words might have been a bit strange, but it was absolutely accurate.

The newcomer really was an old man.

He was clean-shaven and dressed quite properly, even sporting a top hat.

But the deep ravines carved into his face and his gaunt, withered frame gave him the distinct air of someone who had weathered countless hardships.

”I’ve been watching you for a while now. You seem to be looking for something.”

Unbothered by Fu Qian’s strange greeting, the old man actually accepted the invitation, settling into a rickety chair.

His cloudy eyes remained fixed on Fu Qian’s face the entire time, as if he were genuinely curious.

”I am. I’m looking for someone.”

Fu Qian nodded, speaking frankly about his intentions.

The old man hadn’t been lying. He had been trailing Fu Qian from a distance for a while now, which was exactly why Fu Qian had been expecting him.

”Looking for someone...”

The old man seemed taken aback by the answer. After a long pause, he finally spoke in a slow, drawn-out voice.

”But there’s nothing but dead people here.”