Eldritch Horror Theatre

The more I look at this, the weirder it gets. Since when was Serana this polite?

Watching the Blood Clan Demigod knock politely on the door with a trace of hesitation on her face, Fu Qian frowned. The bizarre shift in her usual demeanor felt incredibly jarring.

However, as a businessman, he believed that harmony fosters wealth.

Fu Qian didn’t keep his customer waiting. He got up, went downstairs, and opened the door.

”Mister Fang.”

Though she knew Fu Qian was inside, Serana had clearly braced herself to have the door slammed in her face.

Seeing him open the door so readily, she visibly relaxed and offered a slight nod in greeting.

”Welcome.”

Fu Qian answered with an impeccable, commercial smile, striving to make guests feel at home.

Unfortunately, this expression had the exact opposite effect on his customer. Serana grew visibly more tense.Fortunately, she had clearly come with immense resolve. After a brief hesitation, Serana bit the bullet and stepped inside.

”You’ve recovered nicely.”

Luckily, Fu Qian’s enthusiasm only lasted about five seconds. After welcoming his customer inside, he plopped down behind the counter and looked Serana up and down.

He wasn’t just being polite. During their last conflict with Ambor, she had been on the verge of death.

It hadn’t been long, yet she already looked mostly healed.

Truly a race renowned for its survival abilities.

”I’m doing alright. I still need to thank you for your help last time. Otherwise, the situation would have been nearly impossible to salvage.”

Serana wore a very serious expression. It was obvious her gratitude was genuine.

”You’re too kind. Times are turbulent, and as a consultant, I’m simply sharing Chief Yuan’s burdens.”

Fu Qian waved his hand, looking every bit the dutiful employee.

...Consultant? Do the Night Watchers actually have such a position?

Fu Qian’s bizarre tone left Serana momentarily at a loss for words.

She didn’t doubt his close relationship with the Night Watchers, however. Yuan Shan clearly indulged him quite a bit.

”Besides, there’s no need to sell yourself short,” Fu Qian continued. ”You were the one who kept the situation from becoming unsalvageable. Chief Yuan heavily factored that into her subsequent handling of the matter.”

It was the truth. Her act of sending Taylor to his door was fundamentally the key to characterizing the entire incident, as it proved there was internal division within the Gulade.

Otherwise, did anyone really think that shopaholic who skipped work every day was some kind of saint, worried that chopping up a few more giant bats would spill too much blood?

...

Clearly unaccustomed to expressing gratitude, Serana looked like she didn’t know how to respond to Fu Qian’s words.

”I came here this time because I actually need your help with something.”

After a brief hesitation, she acted decisively, gritting her teeth and cutting straight to the chase.

She actually came for help?

And that phrasing...

Fu Qian’s expression turned strange as he struggled to suppress the mountain of soap opera plots flooding his mind.

”What is it?”

”Recently, there has been some news circulating around Shangjing. I wonder if Mister Fang has been paying attention?”

”I’ve heard a bit about it.”

Fu Qian sat up, suddenly energized.

”Rumor has it that two young geniuses—including Taylor from your family—were sequentially defeated by a madman calling himself Dayun Mingwang. The other one, Jiang En, suffered a shattered dao heart from the ordeal, withdrawing from the jianghu and swearing off all transcendent affairs.”

Slapping the counter, Fu Qian spoke with deep lamentation.

”Truly, heroes emerge from the youth. Just hearing about it makes this old man sigh in awe.”

...

”In fact, I specifically went to the Night Watchers today to see Taylor. He’s gotten himself mixed up in some trouble.”

It took Serana even longer to recover her ability to speak this time.

”Because of that, Chief Yuan also spoke with me about some new discoveries.”

She wasn’t actually here about the corpse-looting incident, was she?

Taylor is innocent, I hope Mister Fang can put in a good word for him. As long as you can preserve this bloodline of my Gulade Household, I am willing to pay any price?

Fu Qian bet that if Serana dared to say something like that, he would absolutely shoot an Air Bullet point-blank into her forehead, just to check if the work stress had gotten to her and caused mental corruption.

”He mentioned some details regarding his encounter with that Dayun Mingwang.”

It circled back again... So Taylor isn’t the main point?

Fu Qian nodded.

”That left me with a few questions, which is why I wanted to ask for your help.”

Questions regarding Dayun Mingwang? Then she certainly found the right person.

”I want to borrow the Ancient Reminiscence to verify a few things. Would that be possible?”

Serana finally made up her mind and clearly stated her intentions.

...I knew it. Why would she be bored enough to care about the younger generation?

Fu Qian breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling that the world was back on the correct timeline.

And as expected of a demigod who had lived for over five hundred years, she was much more clear-headed than Taylor. Her request was directly to borrow it, rather than asking for it to be returned.

As for her conflicted demeanor earlier, that was completely understandable. She knew full well that the greatest difficulty of this request was convincing him that she only intended to borrow it.

”What exactly do you want to verify? Could you be a little clearer?”

Fu Qian remained noncommittal.

”It’s related to the Progenitor.”

Serana was extremely straightforward, hiding nothing.

”Do you remember the Red Moon from before Ambor died?”

I remember it all too well.

Fu Qian nodded.

”Referring to the Progenitor like that isn’t very respectful.”

”That was Ambor’s view. I would rather He brought down divine punishment upon me for my disrespect.”

Serana sneered coldly.

”Unfortunately, after all these years, there hasn’t been so much as a negative response. The only time we saw anything was when Ambor was mercilessly abandoned.”

”So?”

”I want to know the origins of the Red Moon, and the secret behind the Progenitor’s fall.”

Serana’s tone was incredibly serious.

”And what does that have to do with Dayun Mingwang?”

Fu Qian nodded to show his understanding.

”When I went to see Taylor, he explicitly mentioned to me that Dayun Mingwang displayed certain abilities of the Blood Clan, and that his condition was highly unusual. I suspect that he might have some connection to the Red Moon. That was what finally helped me make up my mind.”

So that was it... That guy doesn’t just have average brains, his eyesight is mediocre as well. He actually took my casual cosplay seriously?

Furthermore, her calculations are shockingly accurate. I really do have a connection to the Red Moon.

Fu Qian sighed internally, at a loss for how to comment.

”So, is it possible?”

After finishing her explanation, Serana looked at Fu Qian with slight apprehension.

She had suffered far too many losses dealing with this man.

No matter how harmoniously the conversation flowed, she never felt very confident.

Is my reputation really that bad now?

Seeing this, Fu Qian sighed again.

”Or perhaps you require a bit of compensation?”

Seeing him stay silent, Serana’s eyes briefly flickered.

”Name your price. As long as it is within my power.”

It was obvious she was determined to get what she wanted.

Zero sincerity. Brother Taylor already set such a great example; why didn’t she just bring the compensation directly?

Unfortunately, looking at Serana’s grave expression, this lady was clearly projecting her own mindset onto him. She believed that a demigod who ran a bookstore would naturally treat money like dirt, completely dismissing it as a possible option.

Forget it!

Fu Qian let out a long sigh and stood up, making Serana instantly tense.

”Compensation? What kind of person do you take me for? The Ancient Reminiscence was yours to begin with; I’m merely keeping it safe on your behalf.”

”I can even offer a small bit of assistance to your investigation.”

A moment later, he spoke with righteous conviction.

When it came to the origins of the Red Moon, no one cared more than he did.