Eldritch Horror Theatre

The transition from darkness back to light happened in a single heartbeat.

If the previous time shifts had felt subtle and imperceptible, this one was utterly blatant.

The dead of night, bereft of any hint of dawn, had instantly shifted to broad daylight with the sun blazing overhead.

Gazing up at the pristine sky and feeling the sun’s warmth, Fu Qian had to admit the driving conditions were excellent.

As expected, the staff were unreliable, though this instantly solved the problem of him not having a car at night.

Back when he confirmed that every single patient in the Sanitarium was a walking landmine, Fu Qian had briefly considered the staff.

After all, even the Attending Physician seemed quite unhinged. That uniform alone made him hard to trust.

Fortunately, the first night guard he encountered looked highly professional. His reliability index actually exceeded normal values.

Unfortunately, that metric had quickly taken a nosedive.

After exchanging just a few casual remarks, this thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed guard revealed an unexpected side to himself.On the surface, he was an impartial, cool-headed guard of the Sanitarium.

In reality, he had long been disgusted by the Attending Physician’s evil deeds. He had secretly resolved to bring down the mastermind and was just waiting for the right opportunity.

And now, that opportunity had arrived. He had found his chosen one, someone who could finally expose the truth to the world...

The transition was incredibly smooth. Even as the one directly involved, Fu Qian could almost feel the hot-blooded passion.

Not to mention that the plan to send him away perfectly aligned with his own mission objective.

In comparison, the cost of a mere half-day seemed utterly insignificant.

”Right on time.”

Even the night guard seemed highly satisfied with this.

Glancing up at the sky, he signaled for Fu Qian to pick up the pace. They bypassed a dried-up pond and walked along a rock wall.

It was obvious that the guard didn’t find the sudden shift from night to day abnormal at all. Everything was firmly under his control.

Moreover, considering the night was already over, it no longer felt appropriate to call him a night guard.

Now able to see him clearly in the sunlight, Fu Qian noted that he had a somewhat round face, one that didn’t look particularly resolute.

Clumps of short hair clung to his scalp, and his dull eyes perfectly matched the look of someone who had pulled an all-nighter.

...

”The train will arrive at a quarter to twelve. It stops long enough, so the only thing we need to consider is how to sneak you on board without being spotted.”

Buyiren didn’t seem to realize he was being silently evaluated. He just focused on leading the way while introducing his plan.

He was certainly a professional; the route he had chosen was quite clever.

It didn’t make them look sneaky, yet it obscured them from observation as much as possible.

”Will they be late?”

The situation seemed to be getting more reliable by the second.

So much so that as Fu Qian simply followed along, his posture grew increasingly relaxed.

He wasn’t even in a hurry to hear about the infiltration plan. Instead, he was curious about the traditional pain point of public transportation.

”Don’t worry. They are never late. They will arrive exactly on time.”

Buyiren seemed extremely confident about this, shaking his head instantly.

”If anyone delays things, it’s the Sanitarium. They’re always scrambling and holding things up.”

Oh? The situation was looking better and better.

At first glance, it just sounded like an ordinary complaint, but it felt completely different to Fu Qian.

Based on his previous experience, scrambling around should actually be the norm for this place.

With the dates randomly collapsing and jumping forward, the actual active time was far less than it seemed. It was only natural they couldn’t keep up.

Take this sudden daybreak, for instance. The shift had happened in the blink of an eye. It was hard to imagine how much prep time the Sanitarium had left for the daily supplies they needed to ship out on the train.

And given the precise ”biological clocks” ticking inside the staff, it seemed they should be getting busy right about now.

This also seemed to prove his earlier theory once again: the triggering of the Well of Time wasn’t entirely dependent on intruders.

They were already prone to episodic flare-ups on their own. An intruder’s catfish effect was just stronger, likely triggering a more concentrated outbreak.

This was actually not good news.

It meant that even if he was perfectly accommodating, carefully catering to everyone’s feelings so their inner ”darkness” had no chance to flare up, he would still face the threat of the Well of Time.

At most, the severity would just be a little lower.

”That’s quite impressive. Punctuality is a Virtue.”

Fu Qian glanced back at the still-quiet Sanitarium and offered a casual word of praise.

Aside from those gains, there was actually another easily overlooked point: how could the train outside be so punctual every single time?

This was actually good news, because the answer was simple—the train had never encountered the Well of Time, and the outside world was operating normally.

Yes, there was a difference between the inside and the outside.

Buyiren’s complaint seemed like a simple matter of professional ethics, but it actually reflected the difference between the two worlds.

As for why this was good news?

Because it meant that as long as he boarded that train, his chances of achieving his Containment objective would drastically increase.

”Why do I get the feeling... you aren’t that eager?”

Unfortunately, despite his friendly posture, he still seemed to trigger Buyiren’s alertness.

Faced with Fu Qian looking like he was on a spring outing, he slowed his pace and spoke slowly.

”Why do you say that?”

Fu Qian still didn’t rush him, simply looking at him with curiosity.

”This place has kept you imprisoned for over forty days. You’ve completely lost your freedom and been treated like a mental patient... Normally, you should be dying to escape.”

Fu Qian stared back with eyes full of innocence. For a moment, the other man seemed to feel he was making a fuss over nothing, but he eventually bit the bullet and spoke his mind.

”How could that be? The people here are so interesting, and they sound nice. I absolutely love chatting with everyone.”

Yet Fu Qian was the one who looked shocked first, his expression practically asking how Buyiren could think that, as he highly praised the cultural atmosphere here.

”Once my pace of life suddenly slowed down earlier, I actually felt like I had awakened a new self in the process. Didn’t you notice?”

...

That wasn’t called slowing down. You were tied up and couldn’t move.

Buyiren looked like he couldn’t hold back the urge to retort, but fortunately, he quickly realized what was at stake and took a deep breath.

”I noticed. You are like a completely different person compared to your first day here. I can even smell the rotting scent on you.”

Looking Fu Qian up and down, his evaluation was undeniably sharp.

”But that’s also why I believe you have the ability to deal with Servis... Hatred is the best motivator. You won’t forget the man who made you rot—unless you tell me right now that you don’t want to leave.”

That last sentence was heavy with meaning, seemingly confirming Fu Qian’s resolve to see if his preparations were about to fall short by a single basket of earth.

”How could I? Let’s keep distinct matters separate. Go ahead and do it.”

Fu Qian’s reaction was reassuring. He waved a hand, signaling that his dao heart was like iron.

”Hmm...”

Staring intensely at Fu Qian for ten seconds, Buyiren finally shifted his gaze into the distance.

From this position, they could clearly see the exaggerated incline of the railway tracks.

Even though it looked like it was approaching noon, there was still no sign of movement on them.

”I just remembered—”

As Fu Qian also studied the tracks, Buyiren suddenly smacked his own forehead, as if he had just reacted to something.

”The train only comes once every two days. It only appears on odd-numbered dates!”