Eldritch Horror Theatre

”It really is you...”

Faced with Chief Yuan’s eagerness—practically on par with spitting out food to welcome guests—Fu Qian couldn’t possibly turn her away. He immediately found something to store the Spine Lock and went downstairs to open the door.

Although, upon receiving this welcome, Yuan Shan was both shocked and unable to hide her resentment.

”Couldn’t you have just gone straight to my place? Making such a huge commotion the moment you return.”

”It should be fine. I imagine the citizens of Shangjing are used to it by now.”

Fu Qian merely smiled and invited her inside, not even glancing at the shopping bags in Chief Yuan’s hands.

”Aren’t there still those giant bats? They’re always a bit sensitive to this kind of commotion... Anyway, how did it go? Did everything go smoothly?”

Yuan Shan was only venting casually. With a soft sigh, she hurried inside, sat down, and immediately focused on the core issue.

”Very smoothly. Everyone gained a lot. Logically speaking, you should have received some related reports on your end, right?”

Fu Qian was brimming with confidence, incidentally curious about the internal information sharing of the Night Watchers.A major reason he had specifically run back to Shangjing to disturb the peace was that the local Chief was quite experienced at covering for him.

And she was also quite easy to summon.

”The latest update I have is still stuck on Excellency Stoss hurrying over to assist. It sounds like you and Su Gao discovered something incredible.

”So what is the latest situation? With Stoss involved, those people in the Council will probably demand a much higher level of secrecy.”

Yuan Shan shook her head. Not being on the front lines, the drawbacks of her delayed information were glaringly obvious.

”The latest situation...? I suppose that would be Wen Li advancing to the Demigod Realm.”

It sounded like she didn’t even know Su Gao and Stoss had already returned to the Night Watchers Base. Fu Qian shook his head with a sigh.

”Hmm—huh?”

Fu Qian’s answer was clearly miles away from what she had expected. Yuan Shan froze for a moment, and when she finally processed it, she nearly flung her shopping bags right into his face.

...

”Wen Li? A Demigod? How is that even possible?”

The Three-Stage Questioning spilled from her lips instantly, Yuan Shan looking as though she had bitten her own tongue.

It was hard to blame her. After all, she had personally helped that girl advance to Tier 4, and that hadn’t been long ago at all.

The Academy’s recent records for the youngest Demigod were being updated at a frankly absurd pace.

”I’m not entirely clear on the details. It was achieved under the guidance of the Linghui Courtyard.”

Understanding her shock, Fu Qian didn’t try to steal the credit, directly promoting Linghui’s accomplishment instead.

”Really? That’s way too ridiculous... If it’s really that amazing, even I want to go there for further study.”

Yuan Shan wasn’t so easily convinced, her expression a mix of suspicion and envy.

”Of course it is. Who knows, maybe the Night Watchers will update their records very soon as well.”

To see someone in Chief Yuan’s position still possessing such drive and ambition was truly comforting to hear.

”Though when you say something like that, I feel like Old Man Henry would be heartbroken.”

Still, Fu Qian didn’t forget to remind her to be mindful of her mentor’s feelings.

”He definitely wouldn’t be. He might even want to go with me... But honestly, with something this exaggerated, are you sure there aren’t any hidden dangers?”

At the mention of the man from the Sacred Night Capital, Yuan Shan initially just scoffed, but then something came to mind and her brow furrowed.

It was obvious that during the time Eldest Miss Wen had spent making a living under her jurisdiction, the two had forged a fairly solid friendship.

After her initial wave of envy, Yuan Shan quickly thought of the various dark aspects she had encountered in her career, and worry bled into her tone.

”I’m not entirely sure. She looks fine for now. Besides, I don’t think I’m the one who needs to confirm that.”

Fu Qian waved a hand, gesturing for her not to worry too much for the time being.

”That’s true. A Demigod in her twenties, and with such a unique ability type... those guys probably want to assign someone to watch her twenty-four hours a day—wait a minute, why do I suddenly feel like my workload is about to increase again?”

Feeling slightly relieved and knowing that Fu Qian meant the Night Watchers would naturally keep an eye on things, Yuan Shan completely agreed with his assessment.

However, in the midst of muttering to herself, she suddenly realized something with a start and glared at Fu Qian.

As long as there were no obvious issues, they probably wouldn’t just lock her up or anything.

But if they didn’t lock her up, once she returned from her study tour, wouldn’t dealing with her fall right back into Yuan Shan’s lap?

”It certainly looks that way.”

Fu Qian ruthlessly validated Yuan Shan’s deduction, not even forgetting his tactic of disparaging one to praise another.

”Eldest Miss Wen’s awareness is much higher in this regard. She’s already prepared to face whatever price comes with that power.”

...

”The price of power... she might not fully realize what that means.”

Though Fu Qian’s last comment hadn’t been particularly friendly, Yuan Shan seemed deeply moved by it, surprisingly taking no offense in a display of good temper.

”The pain, the twistedness, the omnipresent Well of madness shadowing every step... The self becomes difficult to define, to the point that you don’t even realize it’s difficult to define, right until every Anchor Point of existence deforms and is lost—”

Not only that, but her tone grew incredibly deep in the next moment, as if she had sunk into memories she wished she didn’t have to face.

”Oh, please, you can experience all of that just by angrily giving birth to three kids. You don’t need to go to all that trouble.”

Unfortunately, this incredibly atmospheric scene was ruthlessly cut short right at its climax.

Fu Qian, having briefly played the role of listener, shot her a look of utter disdain, his gaze even drifting toward the pile of shopping bags next to her.

”Besides, do you really think you’d be able to casually play the shopaholic all day long without the gifts brought by this curse?”

”...I could. What’s so hard about that?”

Yuan Shan, originally shaken by Fu Qian’s example, suddenly had a reaction to his last sentence.

...What the hell kind of world was this?

For a moment, it was Fu Qian’s turn to fall silent.

...

So even Chief Yuan, who looked for all the world like she had a serious habit of retaliatory spending, actually came from a wealthy enough family to just casually buy whatever she wanted?

Out of all the people he knew, was Classmate Su Gao’s family really the only one with somewhat modest financial conditions?

Wait a second. He had previously marveled at Su Gao’s terrifyingly high work efficiency, and those tasks had all come with bonuses.

Even if her daily life was nowhere near as extravagant as the woman sitting in front of him, God only knew how many zeroes she had in her bank account...

Sure enough, everyone being comfortably poor together had only ever been a lie.

If his recent academic and official careers hadn’t both been blooming, he would be on the verge of falling behind his own social circle.

”So I just need to wait for news from the Evaluation Council for now, and I don’t need to do anything else? How are things on Su Gao’s end? She didn’t run into any danger, did she?”

While Fu Qian was busy lamenting life, Yuan Shan, unable to relate, was already trying to steer the conversation back on track.

”She should be perfectly fine. It even looks like she might have gained something out of it.”

This concern for a colleague was heartwarming, but in response to Chief Yuan’s idea of sticking to her established tactical laziness, Fu Qian shook his head.

”It seems like you really don’t need to run around right now, but I do need you to help me look up a name—Eckhart.”