Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was clear that Eldest Miss Wen and Yuan Shan had built a fairly good personal relationship.

With such a powerful figure backing her, no wonder Wen Li was beaming.

Chief Yuan had certainly put thought into this. Taking time out of her busy schedule to notify Wen Li likely meant she wanted the young woman to keep an eye on him and lower the chances of him doing anything reckless.

Being a leader wasn’t easy!

Fu Qian sighed inwardly as he studied Wen Li, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

Her expression and complexion were excellent. The lingering effects of the Ear Stud were clearly gone, and her condition after promoting to Tier 5 was perfectly stable.

”Has Old Man Wen gone back?”

Following Wen Li through the building, Fu Qian couldn’t help but notice how much emptier the place felt.

”He and my aunt wanted to leave a few days ago. Once I saw that he had fully recovered, I didn’t insist they stay,”

Wen Li murmured.”Also, before my grandfather left, he specifically asked me to apologize on his behalf. He was quite offensive last time.”

”I actually took him over to see you twice before that, but you weren’t around. We only found out from Chief Yuan that you’d gone to Ye Island.”

Old Man Wen certainly knew proper etiquette!

Fu Qian waved a hand, gesturing for her not to worry about it.

He wasn’t sure how much Wen Li had told the old man, but after breaking free from that supernatural influence, he had clearly done some serious soul-searching.

Even though Old Man Wen could have theoretically blamed his behavior entirely on supernatural factors, he still offered a formal apology.

As expected of someone who had navigated the jianghu for years, the old man had a very clear head on his shoulders.

...

”So, are you back this time on business?”

Wen Li also seemed to realize that jumping in based on Yuan Shan’s tip might come across as overly eager.

So, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, she didn’t bother him with her own matters or ask for sparring sessions, opting to ask directly.

”Is there anything I can help with?”

”Chief Yuan has actually already helped quite a bit,”

Fu Qian said matter-of-factly.

”She highly praised your intelligence-gathering capabilities. She suggested I consult you about Shangjing’s famous Northern Jiang En and South Taylor.”

”The young genius of the Jiang Clan and that Blood Clan member?”

She truly lived up to Yuan Shan’s praise; with barely a thought, Wen Li pinpointed exactly who he meant.

”Those two are certainly talked about often here in Shangjing, but this ’Northern’ and ’South’ business... I haven’t actually heard that before...”

Wen Li wore an odd expression.

”First of all, I’ve never seen Jiang En in person myself. He apparently hit a bottleneck and hasn’t gone out much in a long time. He later moved out on his own and no longer lives with the main family.”

She quickly adjusted her expression, however, and shared what she knew.

”His address is pretty easy to track down. If you want it, I can have someone confirm it for you right now.”

”That works.”

Fu Qian didn’t stand on ceremony.

Now he had the address, and the target was living alone, to boot.

”As for Taylor, he can’t be having an easy time right now.”

After briefly instructing someone, Wen Li furrowed her delicate brows.

”Not long ago, the demigod Ambor was summarily executed, which dealt a massive blow to his family. The Night Watchers even tightened their control because of it, causing the family to draw a lot of displaced anger from others.”

”Honestly, I was shocked when I heard the news. It’s hard to imagine what they did to get a nearly thousand-year-old demigod summarily executed without even a chance to defend himself. Chief Yuan is truly decisive and ruthless!”

She sighed with considerable emotion as she spoke.

”The Night Watchers’ official statement was that the Gulade Family was involved in severe violations concerning ordinary people. But as for the specific details, even the major families who might know the truth are keeping their mouths shut for now!”

”Unlicensed sale of aphrodisiacs.”

Before Wen Li even finished speaking, Fu Qian gave her the answer.

Courtesy demanded reciprocity; he couldn’t just take her intelligence for nothing.

...

Wen Li was clearly stunned by this answer. Since she wouldn’t doubt Fu Qian’s words, her gaze simply went a bit vacant for a moment.

”The potion was called Night of Nights.”

Fu Qian nodded and gave a rough overview of Ambor’s advancement plan.

”So that’s how it was. No wonder Chief Yuan came down so hard.”

Wen Li let out a breath, a look of satisfying comprehension washing over her face.

Even though she was a transcendent herself, she fully supported such draconian regulations.

Still, while he made it sound simple, directly executing a demigod must have been a terrifying ordeal.

For the man in front of her to know the details so clearly, he had most likely been directly involved.

Wen Li thought to herself. However, since Fu Qian didn’t bring it up on his own, she politely refrained from pressing the issue and returned to their previous topic instead.

”Speaking of which, Taylor is actually facing another problem right now. It happens to be one of the things giving Chief Yuan a headache as well.”

”What is it?”

To Fu Qian, Wen Li’s expression looked a bit strange when she brought this up.

”Multiple cases of people being picked up while blackout drunk.”

After hesitating for a moment, she indeed gave an incredibly unexpected answer.

”The Night Watchers handle that kind of thing too?”

For a moment, even Fu Qian was surprised.

He obviously knew what picking up drunk victims meant. The confusing part was how a matter like that ended up on Yuan Shan’s desk.

”Because the culprit is suspected to be a transcendent.”

”All the victims woke up in a hotel the next day completely naked, yet there wasn’t a single trace of them being violated...”

”I get it.”

Fu Qian instantly grasped the situation.

”Being stark naked and completely unviolated are considered mutually exclusive? So they suspect supernatural factors are at play?”

”Even so, with so many transcendents out there, why pin it on Taylor of all people?”

”Because some of the victims had bite marks on their necks, like an attempted bloodsucking.”

Wen Li looked helpless.

”Coupled with the fact that this happens at night, the target is clearly very skilled at hiding in the dark, leaving no trace behind whatsoever. Furthermore, vampires have always been interested in ordinary women.”

”In short, without exception, the victims all eventually ran to the Night Watchers, and the most well-known young Blood Clan member in Shangjing is Taylor.”

”I see.”

Fu Qian fell into thought.

While Wen Li found this information rather bizarre, to him, it was actually quite an interesting discovery.

He shouldn’t be too rigid in his thinking. His mission objective this time was to disrupt Jiang En’s advancement ritual.

And as everyone knew, rituals came in all sorts of weird and wonderful forms.

What if the true suspect behind this string of strange actions wasn’t Taylor, but rather the genius who shared his level of fame?

Furthermore, there was another reason Wen Li hadn’t mentioned as to why Taylor had become a public target: apart from the various vampire-like traits, all the major organizations were currently looking for ways to make the Gulade Clan suffer.

With this kind of incident delivered right to their doorstep, regardless of the truth, adding a little fuel to the fire was only natural.

All things considered, Brother Taylor must really be having a hard time right now.

A moment later, Fu Qian considered his next move.

”Are the clothes I ordered last time still here?”

”Of course. Do you want me to bring them over?”

Wen Li’s eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly.

”Sorry for the trouble. Also, I need a mask.”