The Eldritch Files

”So, it all started back then?”

Reading up to this point, Han Su suddenly came to his senses, his head feeling like it was about to split open.

Countless questions and sudden realizations drilled into his mind all at once.

He remembered the final scene in Bai Shi’s memory: Song Chushi had found him, and they had shared a bowl of small wontons with egg yolk filling. It was also then that Song Chushi had given him the Fishing Song, which led to his encounter with the Ghost Truck and him joining the Disaster Management Bureau.

Of course, in the current timeline, the Fishing Song didn’t exist; it was just a meeting.

But regardless of the timeline, that conversation in the wonton shop was the start of his entry into the Mysterious Circle.

It was his first step out of the warm cradle of reality.

At the time, he hadn’t noticed Bai Shi at all, nor had he noticed anything off about Song Chushi, let alone Miss Ai.

What did all of this mean?

Han Su forced himself to cast aside the oppressive feeling in his heart and think through all the clues.

”Abyssal Studio!”

This was a key point. In Bai Shi’s memories, this was the organization the tall, thin woman belonged to.

She was the one who had tried to activate his Copper Will, and she was also the one who had secretly controlled Bai Shi’s fate.

Who was she, and what was her connection to him?

His memories from before he was ten were fragmented, but they contained traces of her. She didn’t seem as cold as she appeared in Bai Shi’s memories.

Then there was Bai Senmang.

It was thinking of this man that made Han Su understand why Bai Shi harbored such immense, venomous hatred and why he had been so determined to kill Bai Senmang. If Han Su were in his shoes, his own hatred would be no less intense; he might have even acted more crazily...

Bai Senmang clearly knew a lot, including part of the truth behind the kidnapping...

And from what the tall, thin woman said, it seemed he had fought for this knowledge himself.

In that case, could he be the perfect opening to unravel all these mysteries?

...

...

”Two questions...”

Forcing his thoughts to detach, Han Su mused silently, trying to use logic to make sense of the dense web of clues:

”First, the Ancient Castle. It really did seem to be conducting some kind of inheritance ritual...”

”My departure seems to have had a huge impact on the ritual. At the very least, the schedule for the following days was different.”

Originally, inside the Ancient Castle, the first night, the second night, all the way to the seventh night, each had a different theme.

But in Bai Shi’s memories, all of that was gone.

Was it because he had escaped that the Ancient Castle was affected?

But the monsters in the Ancient Castle were so powerful. Why didn’t they try to capture him again?

”Second, the fate of the other kidnapped children...”

He muttered to himself, ”The tall, thin woman seemed to mention that the other Heirs had already ’headed to the battlefield’...”

”Aside from that failure with the side-part hairstyle, does this mean there were many who succeeded?”

”...”

’That seems reasonable,’ he thought.

After all, while he had obtained quite a bit of power from the Ancient Castle, only the copper on the fifth floor had actively given him its code, chasing him all the way from the Ancient Castle into reality.

As for the others, like the Pale Giant or the Ghost Flame, he had merely been exposed to them and thus been tainted by their Mysterious Power, but he had no control over it whatsoever.

Did this mean that the other chosen children had all successfully inherited their powers?

At this point in time, were they also out there somewhere in the world?

And what exactly was the ”battlefield” the tall, thin woman spoke of?

...

...

Endless questions filled Han Su’s mind. He couldn’t answer any of them for the moment, and a baseless resentment festered in his heart. It took him a long while to calm down before he picked up his phone and sent a message to Wei Lan: ”We need to have a meeting.”

”Coming!”

Wei Lan had been waiting. ”Turn on the TV and call me!”

So, as usual, Han Su first turned on the television to find an image of Wei Lan.

The finals of the Qinggang Queen’s Organization beauty pageant were tomorrow, so every channel was flooded with information about the Empress candidates.

He easily found an image of Wei Lan, then softly recited Zero Sequence No. 11, ”My body as sacrifice, my life for divine use.” As he summoned Wei Lan, faint fluctuations of Spiritual Power appeared all around, and the spiritual connection was established.

Wei Lan skillfully emerged from the television and said to Han Su, ”Any new members joining the meeting this time?”

Han Su nodded. ”Yes!”

The new member was Rong Qiyue.

Although he had returned to the Ancient Castle and rescued Skinny this time, Skinny hadn’t been awakened yet.

”You’re certainly not slow when it comes to saving people...”

Wei Lan looked at Han Su with a sigh, her eyes filled with emotion.

Han Su knew she must have discovered another change in the timeline and realized he had saved someone else. But he was in no mood to enjoy the praise from such a pretty girl. He just shook his head lightly and said, ”Right now, I only feel that I’m too slow.”

”Let’s bring the other two over first!”

”...”

As he spoke, he shook hands with Wei Lan, passing Rong Qiyue’s Spiritual Coordinate to her.

Wei Lan then recited a Spell, first pulling Pot Lid Head in, and then using the coordinate to search for Rong Qiyue.

Pot Lid Head sat bolt upright on the sofa, his expression a bit wooden. He didn’t seem to be in high spirits.

Han Su had already adjusted his mood by this point. He had called his companions for a meeting to share information and review their experiences, but he couldn’t let his own oppressive feelings affect them. It was just like during the escape from the Ancient Castle: others could be afraid, but he couldn’t.

Seeing Pot Lid Head’s wooden expression, he smiled with concern. ”What’s wrong?”

”I don’t like the feeling of having my chosen target stolen.”

Pot Lid Head had no bad habit of beating around the bush. He said directly, ”Especially when it’s been stolen twice.”

”Also, I feel a bit unwell after swallowing the Black Lake that Investigator summoned.”

”...”

”Target stolen...”

Han Su quickly understood. Pot Lid Head’s first chosen target was Sparrow, whom Han Su himself had killed.

His second chosen target was Drunkard. Han Su had even taken note and planned to leave him for Pot Lid Head, but in the end, Drunkard was killed by Bai Shi...

Considering Pot Lid Head’s personality, it was no wonder he was upset...

He quickly smiled and said, ”We’ll be more careful in the future to avoid this from happening again.”

”Is there something wrong with your body?”

He was genuinely concerned about this. The Black Lake was the most fundamental Encrypted Spell of the Banshee Sequence. The Mysterious Power it summoned was one of the strongest within that Sequence. Although Pot Lid Head was unique, was this burden too great for him?

Pot Lid Head glanced at Han Su and said, ”I have diarrhea.”

”?”

’Well, that’s a pretty big problem...’ Han Su thought.

While he was talking with Pot Lid Head, Wei Lan had tried several times to pull Rong Qiyue in, but each attempt failed. She couldn’t help but complain, ”This guy is so vigilant. I’m calling him with the Spiritual Coordinate, and he thinks he’s hearing the whispers of the Ancient Gods...”

”I heard him calling for his grandpa...”

Han Su frowned. ”What about now?”

”He’s coming...”

Wei Lan said, ”I used the special code phrase I designed for our companions: ’Jerry calling Big Cousin.’ Only then did he agree to come...”

”...”

Watching Rong Qiyue’s figure begin to appear in his apartment, Han Su shook his head helplessly:

’He’s hardly qualified to be ”Big Cousin.” Next time, I’ll just give him the codename ”Little Yellow Duck”...’

’...’

”Heh, so everyone’s here...”

Just as Han Su was thinking this, Rong Qiyue’s form fully materialized in the room. He swept his gaze coolly over everyone present, gave a reserved nod, and put on the air of a scholarly young nobleman. ”I just didn’t expect the venue for our meeting to be a tiny bit...”

”Crude!”

”However, ’the greatest hermit lives in the city,’ so this isn’t bad. Shall we begin the meeting?”

”...”

The atmosphere was strange.

Rong Qiyue maintained an elegant smile, trying to preserve his image, but when no one else spoke, he started to lose his composure.

When Pot Lid Head suddenly turned to look at him, he finally cracked.

He leaped back. ”What? You guys don’t have a tradition of hazing the new guy, do you?”

”...”

”Sit down!”

Han Su sighed helplessly and waved his hand.

We don’t do bullying here.

Even though they were all projections and wouldn’t get tired from standing, having such a big person just standing there was an eyesore.

Hearing this, Rong Qiyue immediately sat down, placing his hands on his knees like an obedient child.

His eyes, however, betrayed no emotion as he continuously scanned the people in the room. Since returning from the temporary holding center, he had made a point to look into the old kidnapping case. It was hard to imagine that he, too, had once been one of the victims.

What was even more surprising was that in the process of researching the case, he realized it was suddenly different from what he remembered.

Compared to his memory, there was one fewer kidnapped child.

He was almost scared out of his wits, unable to comprehend what level of power could make such a terrifying thing happen without anyone noticing.

To steal a kidnapped child from established history...

’Is that even something a human being can do?’

’The most crucial part is, compared to my own memory, I’m also one of the children he stole from the Ancient Castle...’

’Just how high-level is this Mysterious Organization?’

’Grandpa, I’ve finally made it...’

’The only problem is, my position in the food chain of this Mysterious Organization is a bit low. But, I can work my way up.’

”I’ve called everyone here today mainly to tell you about the Qinggang special Investigator, Bai Shi.”

With so few people, the meeting process was simple, so Han Su got straight to the point. ”He, too, was one of the kidnapped children.”

”But I didn’t rescue him. He was abandoned by the Ancient Castle and only then returned to reality. From his experience, we can tell that the kidnapping was related to the selection of some kind of Heir. At least two factions knew about this selection. One was his father, Bai Senmang.”

”The other is called Abyssal Studio.”