Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 2394: Chapter 2389: Gray Cot

Professor Lisa was anxious, but the situation might be even more serious than she thought.

Although when persuading her not to rush, Fu Qian did not reveal his suspicions to her truthfully.

The reason is simple; regardless of the situation, the reason he gave for staying put was the same—Cass hadn’t explicitly asked for help.

Confidence is a simple word to say, but in practice, it’s a very challenging thing to manage, especially since many people don’t have a clear understanding of themselves.

Fortunately, even though they hadn’t worked together for long, Fu Qian still had great respect for the dean’s leadership and personal abilities.

Sending Lisa to probe this time turned out to be quite fruitful.

Not only did it likely prove that Cass had some problems, but it also tied in with the situation over at the Benevolence Institute.

Now, the only question is how serious his troubles are.

After all, Fu Qian had already seen many situations where everything appeared normal on the surface, but the will was warped or even replaced by something else.

Merely being a High-level Extraordinary wasn’t enough to exempt Cass from this risk.

Even the act of directly telling Lisa she was fine could not be ruled out as a possible call for help.

After all, being critiqued in such a manner, Lisa might find herself unable to make sense of it and come to him, which is not unlikely.

In fact, it almost certainly happens when she senses something "off" about Cass, regardless of the critique.

If Cass’s own will is entangled in some predicament, unable to convey information directly, expressing it in such a subtle way is a reasonable choice—but only just reasonable.

Considering that Cass had already returned to the Academy for a few days and had a serious academic discussion with him, Fu Qian leaned towards Cass being capable of much more, without resorting to such indirect methods.

And the way Cass spoke to Lisa reflected a more confident implication—he could handle it without any additional intervention.

As for why not say it directly? It actually makes no difference.

Once there’s doubt about the mental state, anything said is akin to "I am not sick."

Fu Qian was not in a hurry to go over, considering the same reasons—his current state, as it seems, doesn’t easily discern whether a Cass claiming he’s not ill is actually unwell.

In such circumstances, what else could he do but disturb?

Directly ask Cass what trouble he encountered and what help he needs?

Who can guarantee that the answers provided by Cass haven’t been distorted, and whether or not to follow them?

Why not even ask, and instead, spontaneously issue a Return Edict halo to purify things?

Without knowing the cause, and with something undoubtedly off about Cass himself, how can one ensure it won’t have adverse effects, impeding his self-rescue efforts?

All things considered, Fu Qian chose to place more trust in leadership and await good news.

However, if too much time passes and Cass still hasn’t come to visit, the balance will shift the other way.

"What you’re saying seems reasonable, but..."

It seemed Lisa was finally influenced by this confidence, slowly sitting back down.

Although from her expression, one could still see she was in a sort of restless state.

"But do you know what you can do while staying here for a while?"

Fortunately, Professor Fu, ever understanding, nodded slightly before Lisa finished speaking, and gestured to the side.

"The research assistant is quite busy today. You come here often, so you should know where the drinks are?"

...

It took a bit of effort to realize that Fu Qian was actually asking the guest to make tea.

Though she indeed knew...

She stared directly at Fu Qian, and unfortunately, faced with going back unwillingly, and genuinely eager to find something to do, Lisa ultimately failed to articulate any language to resist, standing up again.

Her skills definitely couldn’t compare to Miss Liushuang, but one shouldn’t demand too much; even Cass might not have received such treatment.

And watching Lisa genuinely get busy, Professor Fu did not demand too much, even helping to look for silver linings.

Though no matter what, her efficiency wasn’t going to be very high.

[Warning, leakage accident]

Glancing at the still gloomy weather, Fu Qian directly removed the mask from his face.

A new week had already begun, as rewards come to those who are diligent under the Heavenly Dao.

Additively, there is a certain proximity principle in warehouse tasks, and if Cass indeed had some colossal trouble, perhaps there could be an alternative way here to help.

...

[Name: Graybed, Code: 1-093]

[Today’s work content has been updated: Enter the 1-093 containment scenario and complete reclosing]

In the blink of an eye, a familiar warehouse scene unfolded before him.

And this first outing of the week seemed a bit intense.

Besides this point, from the containment item’s name and number, Fu Qian even sensed something peculiar.

Including the phantom gray clump that appeared in the middle of the warehouse, although never seen before, there was still a certain deja vu about it.

[Would you like to spend 1 SAN Point to begin?]

[Yes]

Contemplating the reasons therein, Fu Qian responded straightforwardly.

[Entering the 1-093 containment scenario]

[Current SAN Points: 214]

[Due to carrying restrictions, you cannot bring any additional items]

[Due to carrying restrictions, most damage will not be repaired after task completion]

[Select the Skill you want to bring]

All the prompts were quite standard; perhaps there were no surprises, but at least he wasn’t entering blankly.

[...8%...13%...21%...34%...55%...89%...100%, containment scenario loading complete]

[Dark Avatar, deeply human.

Beneath the prosperity lies monotony and numbness; the soul struggles but can never achieve transcendence.

With this reminiscence, you embraced this place once again.

Are old friends still around, and where is fate heading?

Welcome to the Unseen Hillock]

So that’s where the familiarity was coming from.

A not particularly long task introduction, yet something was proven, and Fu Qian couldn’t help but feel emotion rising inside.

The Unseen Hillock... On one hand, this task seemingly didn’t trigger the proximity principle coincidentally this time, and on the other hand, it was a rare return to an old place.

Previously expressing that many places were inconvenient to visit in the current state.

Only to find oneself returning in such a manner to the legendary deepest part of the mind.

Additionally, though he had experienced different tasks in the same place, like in Shangjing.

This time, however, both the number and the containment item name seemed somewhat special.

If he remembers correctly, when he first visited the Unseen Hillock, the containment item was [1-039; Hotbed].

As someone who had just witnessed the power of "zero," Fu Qian couldn’t easily ignore the connection between the numbers.

So, although the warehouse numbering seemed chaotic, there was actually a faint adherence to some rules?

Additionally, while "Hotbed" generally gave off an ordinary impression, this "Graybed" clearly sounded a bit more ominous.