Eldritch Horror Theatre

Did Madam Dark Room finally have the chance to step out and aggressively demand accountability only because the Attending Physician had gone to check on the Hairpin Woman, Xiao Tong?

Fu Qian’s primary reason for confirming whether she had just arrived was, naturally, to verify the mechanics of the Well of Time once again.

It turned out the entire process was remarkably logical yet subtle.

First of all, several solid days had passed for Madam Dark Room as well.

At the same time, the events of those few days were completely internally consistent to her—

After taking a walk and chatting with him for a bit, Xiao Tong had returned in a highly volatile emotional state. As a result, Madam Dark Room, who was quite close to her, had to stay by her side the entire time to gently talk her through it.

Meanwhile, her dissatisfaction toward the instigator rapidly accumulated during that process.

Unfortunately, because of her worry for Xiao Tong, she couldn’t spare the time to show up at his door and aggressively demand accountability.

It wasn’t until the Attending Physician, Servis, went to examine the younger woman that she got a moment of free time and came straight to his door.

Compared to Mrs. Tracy, who had spent three days straight in a coma, Madam Dark Room’s experience undoubtedly sounded much more eventful.So much so that, at first glance, it made him somewhat doubt his previous conclusion.

Was the influence of the Well of Time really targeting the entire Sanitarium?

Was it possible that everyone’s timeframe was relatively independent, and Madam Dark Room had experienced a normal four days on her end?

Not necessarily.

He shouldn’t be so narrow-minded. Regardless of how drastically different they sounded, if both of their experiences were written down, wouldn’t the actual length be quite similar?

From Mrs. Tracy’s perspective, wasn’t her experience prior to his visit also perfectly normal? Having no mood for anything else, she had quietly waited for a day.

The four days that Madam Dark Room glossed over in a single sentence could be of the exact same nature, similarly exaggerated by her own perception.

In essence, the time she had truly spent accompanying the Hairpin Woman was just the period between when he and the latter parted ways and when he visited Mrs. Tracy.

And because he had been busy rummaging through the library and had chatted a bit longer with the newly awakened Mrs. Tracy, Madam Dark Room had been able to arrive here a step ahead of him.

Didn’t it all fit together perfectly smoothly that way?

It could even be considered a manifestation of the Director’s prowess.

He had spent a full four days over at Mrs. Tracy’s side, and his attitude had remained entirely ambiguous.

Yet, shortly before he prepared to leave, the Director had not only confirmed his next destination but even cleverly arranged for someone to wait for him here.

That’s right. In Fu Qian’s view, the Attending Physician Servis going over to examine Xiao Tong was highly unlikely to be just another coincidence.

And if it wasn’t a coincidence, this Director’s influence was becoming increasingly absurd.

In a Sanitarium like this, Servis clearly looked like the top person in charge, yet he was actually willing to be ordered around by him?

Or was Servis simply the Director?

Considering he was a character who never went to his own office and darted around everywhere like a ghost, engaging in some other surreal behavior seemed understandable too.

Like turning the entire Sanitarium into an amusement park.

Even being able to deploy numerous resources suddenly seemed reasonable.

This ultimately made the ”Director” appear omniscient, as if Fu Qian’s every move, and the every move of everyone else, were all under his control.

His personnel deployment was even more imperceptible, leaving no trace like an antelope hanging by its horns.

Of course, he was still far from proving anything, so he might as well maintain a reserved attitude. Right now, the most important thing was another question: what did the Director want to do?

The intent to target him was already somewhat obvious. Whether it was extreme malice toward an intruder or purely treating him as an object of amusement, his previous worries in this regard seemed entirely grounded.

That person seemed to be mobilizing the entire Sanitarium to trap him completely.

”Does your tooth still hurt?”

Imagining this rather grim situation didn’t delay Fu Qian from seeing his guest out at all.

Facing Madam Dark Room, who was already walking out, not only did he not mind her impoliteness, he even spoke up to show some concern.

One must look on the bright side of things. His purpose for coming here had already been achieved.

And that was to join the Sanitarium’s big family and interact with more elements.

...

It was clear that Madam Dark Room hadn’t expected to be asked to stay.

At the same time, that sudden show of concern seemed quite potent, causing her footsteps to halt instantly.

This was the immense power of a toothache.

Fu Qian wasn’t surprised by this and even found it perfectly normal.

As everyone knew, in various hypothetical challenges where one had to pay a physical price to earn money, something like a toothache was chosen the least.

The saying that a toothache hurt like hell was no joke.

Filled with righteous indignation, Madam Dark Room had finally managed to divert a bit of her attention from it. Now that he had suddenly shown such concern, it was practically guaranteed that the intense pain would instantly come surging back.

”Right now... I don’t need your help.”

Of course, it was obvious she was still very resilient. After hesitating for a moment, Madam Dark Room didn’t turn around, simply refusing him with her back still turned.

”That’s fine. I need to help you.”

Unfortunately, as the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison, Fu Qian had always been good at forcibly providing help. He immediately gave an undeniable reason.

”It’s a pity. Even if you were him... I don’t think you could help me anymore.”

It proved to be very effective. Madam Dark Room’s refusal already carried a tremble, and she still lacked the strength to take a step forward, as if something inside her had collapsed.

”If promises are not kept, then logic loses all meaning.”

...

So it really was pure talk therapy? Just as they said, lust rotted the brain; constantly letting one’s thoughts veer into the gutter easily clouded one’s judgment.

Madam Dark Room’s last sentence was undoubtedly thought-provoking. Unfortunately, Fu Qian felt no guilt from it, only a new takeaway.

She refused to accept further treatment on the grounds that since he himself had broken his promises, she no longer believed the logic he had spoken of.

From this logic alone, he could deduce that Mrs. Tracy’s male companion had likely used a therapy similar to a Mental Pre-Workout. His relationship with Madam Dark Room was still very pure.

But the more this was the case, the more it demonstrated his expertise. Judging by the latter’s emotions, it was obvious she held a level of trust in him that went far beyond the norm.

Yet precisely because of that, even though Fu Qian was just a fake, his actions had inevitably destroyed that trust.

In the end, like white cloth stained black, even if Mrs. Tracy’s actual male companion returned, the effectiveness of his therapy would still suffer a catastrophic collapse.

”Just give it a try. It doesn’t cost money anyway.”

Given the circumstances, Fu Qian took a deep breath, increasingly feeling that calling out to stop her just now had been the right move, all while simultaneously entering his slacker mode.

In any case, he was in no rush to move on to the next task. He enthusiastically suggested she try treating a dead horse as if it were alive.

Hm...

Such nonsensical behavior finally provoked intense bewilderment from the person involved.

Click—

In the gloom, Madam Dark Room’s silhouette could be seen turning around. With a soft sound, the lights were turned on, and everything before his eyes suddenly grew bright.

”What exactly do you want to do... Are you truly planning to completely replace his identity?”