Eldritch Horror Theatre

”To filter out the people who are truly interested in him?”

”What do you mean?”

Fu Qian’s words clearly took Yuan Shan by surprise. However, her greatest virtue was never being ashamed to ask questions, so she immediately frowned and looked at him.

”First of all, a super expert like him coming to Shangjing definitely wouldn’t be for superficial reasons.”

Fu Qian pointed at the still-dazed Xiao Mingyue.

”If I’m not mistaken, she should be Tier 6?”

”That’s right.”

Yuan Shan nodded.

”Spanning a gap of at least Four Realms, the probability of her seeing through Ariel’s disguise is practically zero.

”Have you thought about why, under these circumstances, he would go out of his way to plant a mental suggestion in her?””What you say makes sense. In fact, if Ariel really is Tier 2, then the probability is absolute zero.”

Yuan Shan said in a deep voice.

”Between High-Tier transcendents, the gap is much larger than you imagine.

”Under normal circumstances, those at Tier 3 and above are considered to possess divinity and can be called demigods. But upon reaching Tier 2, there is an additional designation—Divine Emissary. That is a sublimation of divinity, and the gap between them is absolutely not something that can be summed up by a single tier.

”This is also why I had my doubts. Although the world is vast and full of transcendents, the number of demigods is no longer that high. Any one of them is enough to prop up a powerful conglomerate. And a Divine Emissary... that is an existence capable of sparking a catastrophe.”

She exhaled heavily.

Yuan Shan let out a long breath.

”I really don’t want someone like that showing up on my turf!”

”So that’s how it is.”

Fu Qian nodded. He had actually learned something today.

He had previously tried to look into information regarding transcendents, but once it came to the demigod stage and above, the relevant descriptions were extremely scarce.

Coming directly from the mouth of the dignified chief of the Night Watchers, the credibility of this information was naturally beyond doubt.

”But even so, it’s merely a bit strange, isn’t it?

”Assuming Ariel really does have ulterior motives for coming to Shangjing, after discovering that the Night Watchers had their eyes on him, it makes perfect sense for him to place a mental suggestion on Ming Yue to avoid trouble.

”After all, once we receive Ming Yue’s feedback, we would clear him of suspicion and stop paying attention to him. Wouldn’t that save him a lot of trouble?”

Yuan Shan continued.

”That’s exactly what I wanted to say.”

Fu Qian held up a finger.

”Let’s follow this train of thought. After a resolute investigator returns, who is the person affected?”

Who?

Yuan Shan’s face was initially filled with confusion, but she suddenly realized something, and her gaze turned sharp.

”Exactly. As a Tier 6 personnel, her Rank can be said to be neither high nor low.

”Under normal circumstances, her opinions would be adopted to a considerable degree, not to mention when her attitude is so unyielding.

”If it were just a normal, routine investigation, it would most likely already be over.”

”However, under these exact circumstances, someone still insisted on continuing the investigation. Wouldn’t that be a bit unreasonable? Could it be that they have a guilty conscience for some reason?

”The person Ariel is looking for is this very person.”

Fu Qian looked at Yuan Shan.

”Although I don’t know his specific goal, if he is looking for someone, this behavior that seems like drawing a snake with feet can actually eliminate interference options at the fastest possible speed.

”The one still insisting on investigating him is his true target.”

But it isn’t me!

After he finished speaking, Fu Qian silently added this extra thought.

This was the most brilliant part of the whole affair.

Thanks to Yuan Shan testing him, even though he had confronted this Divine Emissary face-to-face today, he had gone as a representative of the Night Watchers, making him far less conspicuous.

Following normal logic, the Night Watcher chief sitting right in front of him would be the first target Ariel locked onto.

In fact, thinking about it, if Yuan Shan had accepted Xiao Mingyue’s investigation results instead of using them to test him, Ariel would have likely already cleared the Night Watchers of suspicion and zeroed in on him very quickly.

He could only say that Yuan Shan’s suspicions had perfectly provided him with cover.

”Of course, this carries a certain amount of risk. After all, once what he did to Xiao Mingyue is discovered, it would definitely provoke a strong reaction from the Night Watchers.”

”But he is clearly very confident in this regard. To weed out tedious nuisances, he is willing to take this risk.”

”Your opponent this time feels like quite an arrogant guy!”

Fu Qian looked at Yuan Shan with a smiling face.

”I really didn’t think that far ahead just now!”

Yuan Shan was now completely serious, lowering her head as she muttered to herself.

”But your logic makes a lot of sense.

”Thinking about it now, as a Divine Emissary, he has far too many methods to achieve his goals. There was absolutely no need for him to show his face in public like this, let alone leave behind such obvious points of suspicion.”

Are you still not forgetting to test me even at a time like this?

Fu Qian sighed inwardly, knowing that she was deliberately keeping quiet about what those points of suspicion were in order to gauge his reaction.

”Are you referring to him asking about Deng Feizhou? What exactly happened to that guy?”

He asked casually, his expression more natural than nature itself.

Hmm...

Yuan Shan subconsciously stared at Fu Qian. However, unable to find anything wrong with his expression, she finally gave up a few seconds later.

”Though you just said ’your’ opponent... shouldn’t it be ’our’ opponent?”

Yuan Shan calmly changed the subject.

”You aren’t trying to back out on your debt, are you?”

”I am a man with professional ethics.”

Fu Qian’s smile became even more innocent.

”The mission you gave me was to investigate this suspicious individual. Not only have I successfully completed it and discovered the problem, but I also brought your person back intact from the hands of a Divine Emissary. No matter how you look at it, we should be square now, right?

”You wouldn’t be expecting me to help you take out a Divine Emissary directly, would you?”

This...

Yuan Shan was momentarily speechless. What Fu Qian said really did make sense. She had indeed asked him to investigate, and he had indeed brought back valuable information.

And although he made it sound easy, coming face-to-face with a Tier 2 Transcendent who harbored ulterior motives... the danger he was in at the time was entirely imaginable.

To actually trade three files for dealing with a Divine Emissary...

No matter how thick her skin was, she still couldn’t bring herself to make that request. However—

”I’ll add three more files. Help me.”

Yuan Shan stated decisively.

”That is a Divine Emissary.”

Fu Qian gave her a look as if he were staring at an idiot. Are you kidding me?

”At least thirty files!”

”Deal!”

Yuan Shan agreed with resolute finality.

”Selling out the organization’s intelligence... you really don’t have the slightest psychological burden over it, do you!”

Looking at Yuan Shan’s completely unprincipled appearance, Fu Qian let out a long sigh of lament.

As expected of a leader’s demeanor.

Yuan Shan, however, didn’t mind this in the slightest. In fact, she was beaming with a smile.

If a Divine Emissary had truly appeared in Shangjing, it was absolutely a major event. Every single bit of strength had to be utilized.

Exchanging thirty files for the assistance of a demigod was simply far too worth it.

It wasn’t like it cost her any money, anyway!

Right as she was feeling satisfied, Yuan Shan saw Fu Qian stand up.

”You aren’t planning to make a move right now, are you?”

Meeting her confused gaze, Fu Qian spoke.

”I imagine you have things to do next, like confirming the news and communicating with your colleagues. That should take up quite a bit of time.

”So I’ll head back and rest for now. Just look for me when you need me.”

”Alright!”

Seeing that Fu Qian wasn’t trying to back out, Yuan Shan breathed a sigh of relief.

”Should I leave a message for you as usual?”

”No need!”

Fu Qian shook his head.

”I’ll be around these next two days.”

After all, that guy should be coming for me.

He didn’t speak that sentence out loud.