Eldritch Horror Theatre

As it turned out, the Night Watchers were currently overstaffed to an absurd degree.

Not long after leaving the theater, Fu Qian realized he was being followed—by two people.

One of them was even a Mid Tier.

”Is it really necessary for both of us to watch this guy? Any way you look at it, he’s just a fraud playing mystic!”

Seeing things play out exactly as expected, Fu Qian found himself in an excellent mood. He took the initiative to lead his two monitors on a stroll, seizing the opportunity to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The Night Watchers trailing him were an older man and a youth. Judging by how they addressed each other, it wasn’t a strict superior-subordinate dynamic.

The older of the two was called Old Joe. The stronger of the pair, he leaned toward steady reliability, giving off the distinct vibe of a veteran guiding a rookie.

The one complaining earlier was his junior, Jimmy.

Under Fu Qian’s lead, they were strolling the streets of Dunis at an incredibly leisurely pace, taking in the atmosphere of the approaching festival.

”Just focus on the mission. Don’t overthink it.”Old Joe displayed the full composure of a senior operative, immediately steadying his junior’s morale.

”Given the current situation, we can’t let a single anomaly slip by.”

”I know, but the problem is that he’s just wandering around in a mask. How are we supposed to confirm his identity? How long do we have to follow him?”

”Speaking of which, he’s bundled up tight from head to toe. Could he have contracted the disease himself? Is that why he was warning his acquaintance?”

”Probably not. If that were the case, there’s no way the Chief wouldn’t have noticed. He would’ve detained him immediately.”

Old Joe sounded slightly hesitant in the face of Jimmy’s speculation.

”But your suspicion isn’t completely unfounded. His appearance is a bit strange. If worse comes to worst, we’ll manufacture an opportunity for him to take off his mask and see if anything’s wrong...”

So the demigod from earlier really was the Chief of the Night Watchers?

Listening leisurely to the conversation behind him, Fu Qian silently analyzed the information.

The current situation was remarkably ideal. The Night Watchers’ Chief, Chelfus, had overheard that conversation, found him suspicious, and dispatched these two to investigate his background.

However, assigning two monitors at once for an ordinary person like him—and the Chief personally acting as a scanner earlier—showed that the atmosphere was palpably tense.

It also indirectly suggested that the Night Watchers in Dunis had a surplus of manpower, possibly having called in reinforcements from the surrounding areas.

Furthermore, Jimmy had noticed he was heavily bundled up and specifically mentioned a ”disease.”

Could this be the reason for the Night Watchers’ unusual movements?

Was some special disease spreading through the city, triggering high alert?

Unfortunately, the two hadn’t specified exactly what kind of disease it was.

And it seemed it wouldn’t be long before they forced an opportunity to confront him.

Better not to trouble these two Night Watchers, Fu Qian decided.

...

After walking a few more steps, Fu Qian stopped in front of a street vendor with keen interest and bought a serving of corn cake from an Old Granny.

Almost instantly, he noticed the two Night Watchers perk up.

This made sense. After all, one had to take off their mask to eat.

Fu Qian didn’t keep them waiting long. Holding the corn cake, he found a somewhat dim corner, glanced left and right, and reached up to take off his mask.

Following his action, an exceptionally horrifying sight was revealed.

Beneath the lifted mask was an unmistakably inhuman face. Not only were the features twisted and overgrown with messy fur, the entire face was an eerie grayish-blue.

”Fuck!”

In that instant, Fu Qian heard someone curse under their breath.

He could clearly sense the two Night Watchers staring his way in dumbfounded shock.

Sure enough, they were quite sensitive to this kind of look!

Fu Qian silently drew his conclusion. Before the two could rush over to grab him, he reached up and tore another layer off his face.

The ferocious face from a moment ago was actually another mask.

What finally appeared now was the face of Old Man Lu Ming.

This rollercoaster of a reveal effectively halted the two Night Watchers in their tracks, though it naturally ignited their fury as well.

”Fuck! Does this guy know we’re watching him? Is he messing with us on purpose?”

Having removed the double-layered mask, Fu Qian took a bite of the crispy corn cake, listening to the ensuing conversation.

”Use your brain, would you!”

Faced with a Jimmy who looked ready to punch someone, Old Joe proved far more mature and steady.

”You saw it yourself; this guy is just an old man. Could he really sense us transcendents watching him?”

”But who wears a mask under a mask? And with that kind of look, could he actually know about the beast-transformation disease?”

”Shh! Did you forget we have to keep that an absolute secret?”

”There’s no one else around...”

Old Joe fell silent for a moment.

”I’m still leaning toward him not knowing.”

”Although the ones who caught the disease before were indeed ordinary people, his appearance just now was very different from theirs. The contrast was just too sharp, so it startled us, that’s all.”

”True, but are old men these days really playing around like this?”

”He’s no ordinary old man.”

Old Joe kept shaking his head.

”Although it’s hard to believe, he really does match the appearance in the files.”

”If he really is a transcendent from that Club, and a Mid Tier at that, it’s hard to understand how he turned into an ordinary person.”

”Could it be some method to conceal his aura? To trick our perception?”

Jimmy asked hesitantly.

”Are you stupid? Even if he could trick us, could he trick the Chief?”

Old Joe shot his colleague a glance.

”That’s true...”

The young man looked ashamed, accepting his senior’s disdain.

”Anyway, it’s a bit suspicious. We still need to report this immediately.”

...

Beast-transformation disease? And it infects ordinary people?

While the two Night Watchers discussed their next move, Fu Qian was turning this over in his mind.

These two professionals had undoubtedly provided some highly valuable information.

First, the reason for the Night Watchers’ intense anxiety was basically confirmed: it stemmed from the sudden emergence of this ”beast-transformation disease.”

The fact that this disease was appearing in ordinary people was clearly not simple. At the very least, it had severely triggered the Night Watchers’ vigilance, causing them to investigate with all their might.

And judging from the current situation, they seemed to be focusing their suspicion heavily on various out-of-town transcendents.

This was likely the reason why Old Man Camus had been immediately targeted the moment he arrived here.

Under these circumstances, at this exact time tomorrow, the Origin Council would attempt to slay a God.

No matter how you looked at it, this was not a good time.

When that happened, the Night Watchers’ reaction would predictably be fierce.

It really made one wonder what kind of methods Crow Feather, Wehle, and their group had prepared, daring to force their objective through right under these circumstances.

Or perhaps, this was exactly the situation they wanted?