Eldritch Horror Theatre

”So where does Serana live?”

In barely the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the fate of a Divine Emissary had been decided.

Or rather, the fate of someone who dared to dream of becoming a Divine Emissary.

Fu Qian stood up, and the very first question out of his mouth left Yuan Shan feeling deeply uneasy about the night ahead, sending waves of worry through her on Serana’s behalf.

”You don’t even know where she lives? Then how were you planning to help her in the first place?”

Anything involving an ascent to Tier 2 should have been an earth-shattering conspiracy by any measure.

Yet the guy standing right in front of her didn’t even have a grasp of the most basic details?

”By asking you.”

Fu Qian answered without the slightest hesitation, as if he had planned it all along.

’...Sure enough, he meant to rope me in as unpaid labor from the start.’”Thanks for thinking so highly of me.”

In that moment, Yuan Shan felt the full weight of fate’s helplessness. She downed a bitter gulp of tea and stood up after him.

...

”Here? Are you sure?”

A short while later, Fu Qian stared at the building before them, questioning Yuan Shan’s sense of direction in turn.

On the surface, it was undeniably magnificent—well suited to the wealth of a Demigod Realm expert several hundred years old.

Wrapped in silence, the main structure was pale gray from top to bottom, yet it didn’t feel the least bit monotonous.

Dazzling stained-glass windows and delicate carvings adorned the walls, while sharp vertical lines shot all the way up until they converged into clusters of pointed spires.

Yes, it was a Church.

Fu Qian was even fairly certain it had nothing to do with any faith of the Blood Clan.

The reason was simple: he had seen a Church of this exact style back in the Sacred Night Capital.

According to Yuan Shan, it belonged to one of the popular faiths guided and established by the Night Watchers, serving as little more than psychological comfort.

Even among those popular faiths, it wasn’t one that drew many worshippers.

”Unfortunately, this really is Serana’s foothold in Shangjing. When I first heard she bought the place, I had the exact same reaction as you,” Yuan Shan sighed, finally convinced that Fu Qian genuinely hadn’t known.

”It’s not that strange, really.”

Yet Fu Qian took it in stride. Once the initial surprise passed, he quickly found it understandable.

”It’s not in a prime central location to begin with, and competition in Shangjing’s faith market is fierce. Being forced to sell when they couldn’t keep it running is normal enough.”

’Strictly business, huh... Is money really the fucking point here?’

When Fu Qian spoke up so suddenly, Yuan Shan had expected some profound insight, only to feel nothing rise as she listened except her blood pressure.

”For one of the Blood Clan, something like this is no joke. If a Demigod Realm expert hadn’t been the one behind it, she probably would have faced Chastisement already.”

Now that they were on site, however, her sense of duty as a chief kicked right back in.

Rubbing her face, Yuan Shan forcibly steered the conversation back on track.

”Also, I need to give you fair warning: whether this works out or not, I won’t be able to hide it from the Evaluation Council for you.”

She laid down her terms in advance, making it clear that they had to keep distinct matters separate.

Since this involved a promotion to Tier 2, she still had to file a report with the Supreme Council; the most she could do was act first and report later.

”I completely understand. Don’t put yourself in a tight spot.”

Fu Qian naturally understood, gesturing for her to follow standard procedure rather than go out of her way to cover for him.

”You really aren’t worried about those radicals at all...”

Yuan Shan was running out of things to say.

”What’s there to be afraid of? Aren’t the moderates holding them back?”

Fu Qian shook his head with a smile.

”That’s the beauty of a big organization. The way I see it, they can easily hold out until I’m ready to attend the banquet.”

...

”So that’s what you’ve been doing all along? Not refusing to communicate, but using your actions to tug the Evaluation Council back and forth and buy yourself time?”

While Yuan Shan fell silent, Old Man Henry—who hadn’t uttered a word until now—finally spoke up, sounding as though he had found the answer to an earlier question.

”Yeah. A face-to-face talk is usually the final step anyway, so it only makes sense to get everything in order before then. Though at the core of it, going by my own assessment, I doubt the Night Watchers would ever be too fond of me.”

Fu Qian agreed with Henry’s take. As for why he didn’t actively cozy up to a massive organization like the Night Watchers, personal preference was really only a small part of it.

When a colossus like that demanded you cut open your own belly to prove your innocence, it tended to be utterly ruthless.

As he saw it, no matter what he did, the issue with his household registration made earning their trust an uphill battle.

At the same time, of course, Fu Qian had never imagined he could hide forever just by endlessly spinning up one alternate persona after another.

Against an organization that defied common sense to such a degree, thinking like that would be far too naive.

Just as the Old Man had said, from start to finish his strategy boiled down to a single thing: a time lag.

The Hongmen banquet was coming sooner or later; there was no point indulging in wishful thinking.

What he needed to do was deftly control the pace and stay one step ahead of that execution line at all times.

A massive organization like that certainly had an absurd intelligence network, but its decision-making process tended to drag.

Especially when there were competing voices inside, which left plenty of room to pull them back and forth.

The ultimate goal he was fighting for had never been to truly win their trust.

It was to grow strong enough to earn a seat at the table before that final invitation arrived.

”You certainly have plenty of self-knowledge... So do we just walk right in? Won’t that startle her?”

It was hard to tell whether she meant it as praise or a jab, though having listened the whole way through, Yuan Shan didn’t bother insisting that the Night Watchers were perceptive down to the smallest detail and would never wrong an innocent person.

With a quiet sigh, she simply checked with Fu Qian on how they should proceed.

”Why would it? I’m sure Serana is looking forward to this.”

Fu Qian signaled that they could go straight in; that ambitious Blood Clan Demigod had already prepared herself for this moment.

”Let’s go, then.”

Having nothing left to say, Yuan Shan took the lead.

...

Click—

They didn’t even need to knock. While the three of them were still strolling up from some distance away, a side door of the building swung open, revealing the pale face of the Blood Clan Demigod.

Nocturnal habits really did suit this race well. Even with the grounds around the Church shrouded in gloom and barely a few lights turned on, under that faint glimmer, her crimson eyes and pale face still struck a sharp contrast, like a spirit walking through the dark night.

And while Serana didn’t know Henry, she could clearly sense from his bearing that he was far from ordinary.

As a result, the sheer weight of the trio standing before her brought a heavy dose of pressure.

To say nothing of the guilty conscience she already carried.

Fortunately, though the primly dressed Bookstore Owner had a knack for driving up people’s blood pressure, he had always been reliable when it came to steadying a racing heart.

”Please, come in.”

After her gaze lingered briefly on Fu Qian, Serana inclined her head to the three unannounced visitors and calmly invited them inside.

Everyone here was a seasoned hand; seeing that reaction, Yuan Shan already believed eighty percent of Fu Qian’s claim.

For the moment, she kept her face blank and said nothing more, continuing to lead the way—

”So how’s your progress coming along? I hear from Chief Yuan that you’ve been pretty diligent.”

Yet that carefully maintained poise was shattered the very next second by a single line from Fu Qian. He was the last to step through the door, yet he carried himself with the grandest air of them all.

His tone matched that of an executive inspecting the premises, asking for a project update right out of the gate.

He even went out of his way to drop her name, as if telling Serana that Chief Yuan was at least reasonably satisfied with her work ethic.