Eldritch Horror Theatre

Under the older woman’s increasingly strange looks, Fu Qian carried her all the way back home and carefully set her down on the sofa.

How should I handle this?

Fu Qian frowned at the unconscious Pei Yanqing on the sofa.

If her mind is truly wiped clean, wouldn’t that make me a murderer on a psychological level?

But as for how to save her, he really didn’t have many methods for this sort of thing yet.

Should he use the Tyrant’s Fist to give her a few lashes, fighting poison with poison? Not only would that likely make things worse, but her fragile frame definitely couldn’t handle it.

Or should he lean into the mistake, bathe her in the Idiot Aura for a few hours to turn her into an absolute fanatic, and then order her to live like a normal person?

That kind of theoretical nesting-doll logic was even less viable. Besides, it was essentially just covering one’s ears to steal a bell. That wasn’t his style.

Fu Qian had always considered himself a reasonable man.

In his own words, everyone was just trying to get by in this world, and everyone had to take responsibility for their own actions.If his mistake had truly broken this girl’s mind, he would definitely find a way to fix it, no matter the difficulty.

After sleeping for two solid hours, Pei Yanqing’s body twitched, and she drew a deep breath.

She was waking up.

Fu Qian remained silent, quietly observing her reaction.

Her eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes in a daze, subconsciously scanning her surroundings, and frowned at the unfamiliar environment.

A reaction!

Seeing a trace of lucidity return to her eyes, Fu Qian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she wasn’t a lost cause, it was fine.

The next moment, he shifted the Ring on his hand.

The Lucid Dream activated once more, enveloping them both.

”Name?”

”Pei Yanqing.”

”Age?”

”Twenty-one.”

”Address?”

”Lin University Student Apartments, Building 9, Room 207... wait, who are you?”

So she really is a student!

Fu Qian looked in gratification at Pei Yanqing, who still possessed the presence of mind to ask a question in return.

It seemed she had successfully recovered.

”You can call me Stars.”

Recalling her earlier chanting, Fu Qian threw out a casual lie.

”Stars...”

Pei Yanqing subconsciously repeated the word, as if trying to recall something.

She stared blankly at him for a few seconds before her gaze began to lose its focus once more.

She still isn’t completely cured!

Startled, Fu Qian realized his offhand joke had nearly dragged her right back in.

It seemed the mental branding hadn’t been fully erased. Certain words couldn’t be brought up casually.

Based on her current state, however, he believed this lingering influence would gradually fade over time.

Fu Qian snapped his fingers to draw Pei Yanqing’s attention, stopping her from slipping away again.

”Where am I? Why am I here?”

Slowly returning to her senses, Pei Yanqing once again remembered her question.

Good question! Everything that had happened over the past few hours would be incredibly difficult to explain.

Fortunately, he had already decided to blame the whole ordeal on a dream.

”Is that a UFO up there?”

Fu Qian shouted suddenly, pointing out the window.

”A UFO...?”

Pei Yanqing subconsciously turned her head to look.

Carefully controlling his strength, Fu Qian delivered another chop to the back of her neck.

Having barely regained her senses, Pei Yanqing fainted cleanly once more.

Having learned his lesson this time, Fu Qian called a cab directly to the building downstairs and helped her inside.

”Girlfriend feeling a bit under the weather, brother?”

The middle-aged driver asked, looking at the unconscious Pei Yanqing.

”She’s just a fan.”

Fu Qian replied calmly.

”A fan...”

To his surprise, the driver shot him an even more meaningful grin upon hearing that.

”Understood, understood. Your fan wasn’t feeling well, so you helped ’treat’ her, right?”

Public morals are declining and human nature is not what it used to be!

Looking at the driver and his overactive imagination, Fu Qian snorted. A bone-chilling aura of murderous intent instantly flooded the car.

The driver shuddered. Finding it suddenly hard to breathe and his legs trembling, he didn’t dare crack another joke and drove straight to their destination in absolute silence.

Truth be told, Pei Yanqing’s current state really wasn’t suited to be seen by others.

After lightly scaring the driver, Fu Qian realized this was a problem.

It was fine while they were out, but arriving at her university while she was still wearing a waitress uniform, brought back by a strange man... even if he claimed she had fainted at work, it would still be difficult to avoid drawing gossip.

Since he was already seeing this through, he might as well go all the way. The car soon arrived at the destination. Fu Qian helped Pei Yanqing out of the cab, pulled out his phone, and called Young Master Qin.

”What do you need?”

Young Master Qin’s voice still sounded a bit unnatural over the line. It seemed the recent Black Dress Incident had left him with quite a psychological shadow.

Adding the girl currently slumped against him to the mix, Fu Qian couldn’t help but wonder. How had he, a perfectly fine young man, inexplicably become the Source of Chaos?

Fu Qian let out a heavy sigh.

”Give me Tan Ying’s number.”

”Tan Ying?”

Qin Mingze paused for a moment before reacting, his voice turning hesitant.

”...That girl might have a bone to pick with you right now. Are you sure you want to call her?”

”Yeah. I need her help with something.”

Fu Qian had thought it over and realized he actually had no one else to ask for this favor.

If he remembered correctly, Lin University’s art academy was also on this campus, making Tan Ying—whom he had only met once—the most suitable person.

”Alright.”

Qin Mingze was clearly busy. Without asking anything else, he sent Tan Ying’s contact info over.

Fu Qian dialed the number. It rang four full times before someone picked up, and Tan Ying’s confused voice came through the speaker.

”Who is this?”

”Fu Qian. We had an in-depth discussion about art not too long ago.”

...

”A girl from your school fainted. Could you help me bring her back to her dorm?”

”Fainted? A girl?”

Tan Ying finally spoke up, her voice laced with horror.

”Did you knock her out?!”

I actually did knock her out, though not in the way you’re imagining, Fu Qian thought to himself.

Naturally, he couldn’t say that out loud. He didn’t care about his own lack of integrity, but the girl’s reputation was another matter.

”What do you take me for? She collapsed from exhaustion while working her part-time job, and I just happened to bump into her.”

”...Fine, stay right there!”

Shortly after he hung up, Tan Ying’s red sports car drove through the campus gates and screeched to a halt right in front of Fu Qian.

Seeing Pei Yanqing beside Fu Qian, Tan Ying’s eyes went wide.

”Do you know who she is?”

”Supposedly her name is Pei Yanqing. Why? Is she famous?”

”There aren’t many people at Lin University who don’t know her.”

Tan Ying snorted, looking him up and down repeatedly with a suspicious expression.

”You didn’t do anything to her, did you?”

”If I did something to a girl, do you really think I’d bring her straight to you?”

Fu Qian countered, rubbing his head.

”Uh...”

Tan Ying thought about it and realized that logic was indeed a bit absurd. Dropping the issue, she immediately helped him guide Pei Yanqing into the car.

As Tan Ying’s car sped off into the distance, this particular trouble had finally come to an end.

By the time Pei Yanqing woke up in her dorm, the narrative in her head would basically be that she had fainted at work and been brought back by a good Samaritan and a schoolmate, all interspersed with some chaotic dreams.

It was finally handled. Just staying at home really was so much simpler!

Fu Qian sighed deeply.