Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Secretary Xiao might need a bit of treatment.”

Having reached an agreement with Yuan Shan, Fu Qian pointed to Xiao Mingyue beside him.

Finally snapping out of her daze, Xiao Mingyue found his words utterly baffling.

”I know.”

Before Xiao Mingyue could voice an objection, Yuan Shan had already agreed.

The move Fu Qian just used clearly carried mental effects. Given Xiao Mingyue’s level of strength, it was best that she receive some psychological soothing after facing it head-on to avoid any adverse reactions.

Of course, she knew Fu Qian hadn’t mentioned the most important reason.

Aside from his need to prove his own innocence, there was no way to be certain that Xiao Mingyue hadn’t been subjected to other suggestions from Ariel.

To prevent any information from leaking, they needed to restrict her communication with the outside world for now.

”Mingyue, take a few days off and undergo psychological treatment.”Watching Fu Qian leave the office, Yuan Shan immediately turned back to Xiao Mingyue.

”Why?”

Xiao Mingyue was stunned at first, then instantly felt incredibly wronged.

Naturally, she didn’t dare defy Yuan Shan’s orders, but she truly couldn’t understand why the regional director would say such a thing.

Just because of a casual remark from that guy surnamed Fang?

”That’s right. Mister Fang is an experienced operations advisor.”

Yuan Shan seemed to see right through her indignation and spoke with a serious expression.

”If you get the chance, you should seek his guidance more often in the future.”

”...Understood.”

Xiao Mingyue agreed in helpless resignation.

Seeing her expression, Yuan Shan sighed inwardly.

Telling her to learn from him was just empty talk, of course. She only said it because she didn’t want Xiao Mingyue having any more friction with him.

Judging from today’s events, this demigod of mysterious origins was not only incredibly meticulous but also possessed bizarre and unpredictable methods.

If Xiao Mingyue wasn’t vigilant enough, she wouldn’t even know how she fell into a trap.

...

After leaving the Night Watchers Base, Fu Qian wasn’t in a hurry to return to The Bookstore. Instead, he headed straight for Wen Li’s mansion.

Fu Qian wasn’t worried about how Yuan Shan would handle Xiao Mingyue.

An old hand in the jianghu like Yuan Shan was extremely seasoned in her methods.

As for himself, this was nearly the best possible development.

Although he had accidentally stumbled into danger earlier, after that brief confrontation, Ariel would undoubtedly believe that the Night Watchers knew about Deng Feizhou’s situation.

If Ariel was truly here for Deng Feizhou’s death, he would undeniably target the Night Watchers next to test exactly how much they knew.

In contrast, he was just a somewhat suspicious, nasty demigod.

At the same time, it was even more impossible for the Night Watchers to let Ariel off the hook. Therefore, his next step was simply quietly observing changes, only stepping in if Yuan Shan requested it.

Going to see Wen Li now was just to ensure that nothing went wrong on her end.

Discovering his connection to Wen Li wouldn’t be difficult. Even if Ariel didn’t treat him as the main target, running into Wen Li, casually hypnotizing her, and digging up his background would be a perfectly normal move.

...

”Wen Li isn’t home?”

When Fu Qian arrived at Wen Li’s mansion, the butler who came out to greet him delivered some unexpected news.

”That is correct, Mister Fang.”

The butler bowed respectfully.

”I have already contacted the young miss. She asked that you wait for a moment; she will return shortly.”

”Alright.”

Fu Qian didn’t say anything else and followed the butler’s lead into the living room.

Compared to his last visit, the living room’s layout seemed to have changed slightly. The space possessed a subtle sense of harmony, and even the chairs felt more comfortable.

Accepting the tea brewed by the maid, Fu Qian leaned back and waited in silence.

Today’s tea was also rather special; it seemed to taste a bit better than usual.

Taking a sip, Fu Qian felt his mind settle into peace, followed by the blooming of an indescribable thread of joy.

Interesting!

Fu Qian made no movement in response, simply remaining quietly seated.

The next moment, that thread of joy continued to grow and spread, gradually intensifying until it was as mellow and rich as fine wine, making one involuntarily want to sink into it.

Fu Qian closed his eyes, silently feeling out this emotion.

When he opened his eyes a few minutes later, Wen Li, dressed in casual clothes, was already sitting nearby, watching him with a beaming smile.

”Leveled up?”

Fu Qian asked without any surprise.

”Mhm.”

Wen Li nodded earnestly.

”Over the past two days, I’ve felt some changes happening within myself.”

”Right now, it’s much easier for me to project emotions onto others.”

She looked at Fu Qian with a hint of nervousness.

”Just now... could you feel it?”

”I could.”

Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

The moment he stepped into the living room, he had noticed her hiding off to the side.

Driven by curiosity, he played along to see what she was trying to do.

So she had picked up a new skill.

”So earlier, you used Emotional Projection on me first, and then Emotion Amplification?”

”Mhm.”

Upon confirming his guess, Wen Li was noticeably excited.

”I tested it for a long time. Joy is the easiest emotion to project. Even so, it can’t be too intense right off the bat, or else it will still trigger an instinctual rejection.”

”Not a bad idea!”

Fu Qian offered a word of praise, recalling the feeling from just a moment ago.

”If I didn’t already understand your abilities, it would have been very hard to notice.”

”And the effect is quite good. For anyone below a Mid-Tier Transcendent, as long as their Mental Resistance isn’t particularly strong, if they don’t notice it at the start, breaking free later won’t be easy.”

”Mhm.”

Wen Li beamed with delight.

”My original intention was to use this method to achieve a certain level of control over enemies. Do you think it’s viable?”

”It’s viable.”

”That’s great.”

Hearing this, Wen Li jumped for joy.

”This counts as my very first self-created technique. What do you think would be a good name for it?”

”In essence, this is a form of Emotional Projection, but I have an additional suggestion.”

Fu Qian thought for a moment before speaking.

”What suggestion?”

Wen Li stared at Fu Qian, evidently placing great weight on his opinion.

”Just as you mentioned, joy is the emotion people are least likely to resist. So you chose it as an entry point, silently nourishing all things.”

”This line of thought is correct, but you can actually expand on it further.”

”After initially dismantling a target’s resistance, you can try introducing more variations.”

”For example, adding in other emotions, like fear or anger.”

”You could even compose it like a sheet of music, stringing together vastly different emotions in a specific sequence.”

”With a barrage of such contrasting impacts, if the effect is strong enough, it might directly shatter the opponent’s sanity.”

”As for a name, you could call it—Kaleidoscope.”

”Kaleidoscope...”

Wen Li repeated Fu Qian’s words, falling into a momentary daze.

It was obvious that an innocent and pure-hearted child like her could never have come up with such a technique.

But thinking about it carefully now, it was incredibly viable.

The only requirement was further refining her control over emotions, which could absolutely be achieved through practice.

”I understand.”

Wen Li nodded solemnly.

”Thank you for your guidance. From now on, this will be called Kaleidoscope.”