Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 113 - 113 One hundred and thirteen

113: One hundred and thirteen.

The source of everything 113: One hundred and thirteen.

The source of everything “`

Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock—

The sound of droplets blended together.

They were like the world smashing in front of Lu Li, where a spread of light and shadow writhed and shook, causing ripples like those on the surface of water.

“Alright.”

An old, familiar voice suddenly rang in his ear, clashing with the surrounding ethereal sounds.

Lu Li opened his dark eyes, with everything in his mind vanishing like bubbles.

He had just been reminiscing about the first time he met Liu Wenwei.

It was then that they got to know each other.

Both had similar personalities, both indifferently tempered, not good at revealing their emotions—of course, one could also say they both had poker faces.

Perhaps it was precisely this similarity that inexplicably brought them together.

Though their relationship was delicate, such as always together from nine to five, with limited daily interactions, often not speaking a word throughout the day.

It was like the friendship of gentlemen, as indifferent as water.

It’s hard to define their relationship.

To call them friends, they would be together every day, day after day, year after year.

To call them lovers, they had almost no intimate behaviors.

This subtle and tacit understanding continued until five years ago, the day Liu Wenwei disappeared.

Her last seen location was Drum Tower Street, leaving behind a silhouette in the surveillance footage, before she never appeared again.

As if evaporated from the world, she contacted no one, with no bank card transaction records.

No one knew where she went, whether alive or dead.

Lu Li never gave up searching for clues, with everything in the chamber explaining it all.

But the last bit of warmth in his heart had long been worn down by time.

Now, he just wanted to find out the truth.

Lu Li looked towards the bronze basin in front of the cushion.

A shallow layer of water accumulated in the basin, the source of the dripping sound he heard while recalling memories.

But where did the water come from?

The Taoist picked up the bronze basin, returning it to the wooden table, then went back to the bed, pulling out a large cardboard box full of yellow paper from underneath.

The handles of several peach wood swords peeked out from the edge.

The Taoist rummaged through it for a while before finding a translucent white jade Bagua, about the length and width of three fingers.

Having found the item, the Taoist also took a red string and pushed the cardboard box back under the bed.

He immersed the white jade Bagua he had found into the water in the bronze basin, murmuring under his breath.

After about ten seconds, the Taoist stopped chanting and reached out to retrieve the white jade Bagua.

The Taoist threaded the red string through the edge of the Bagua, tying it into a loop before casually tossing it to Lu Li.

“Wear this.”

Lu Li caught it, the piece feeling warm to the touch.

Despite being retrieved from the basin water, there was not a single trace of wetness on it.

The veins of the jade moved like a water streak, defying gravity as it flowed toward one corner.

“What is this?” Lu Li looked towards the Taoist.

“A Spiritual Guide.

It can lead you to the approximate location of your girlfriend.

Making this took a lot of effort, so don’t come to me with such difficult tasks next time,” the Taoist replied.

“Thank you,” Lu Li nodded in thanks, unrolled the red string to put it around his neck, and tucked it away inside his shirt.

“I’ve helped you all I can, time for you to go,” the Taoist issued his farewell command.

“Alright.”

Lu Li turned and walked towards the outside of the bedroom.

“Wait a minute!”

The decisiveness of Lu Li caught the Taoist by surprise, forcing him to call him back for some final words of advice, “Keep what I said in mind.

The evil spirit you’re protecting must not be kept; it will stir up trouble sooner or later.”

“`

“`

“I’ll keep an eye on it,” Lu Li replied.

With the Ghost Envoy Manual in hand, he could turn Kong Nanqing into a pet little ghost at any time.

The only reason he wasn’t doing it now was because he wasn’t sure if Yin Virtue could sustain him to summon this evil spirit after capturing Kong Nanqing.

Even if he could manage it, at that time he would only have to choose to release either Yang Chunxue or Kong Nanqing, but not both at the same time.

The old Taoist sighed, “Why don’t you understand?

You might be able to keep an eye on it for a moment, but can you watch it forever?

It died harboring resentment, and as a ghost, its resentment couldn’t dissipate and kept accumulating inside.

Sooner or later it will explode.

By then not only will it lose consciousness, but you will also die, bringing harm to others and yourself!”

Lu Li remained silent.

Having spent a little time with him, the old Taoist had come to understand Lu Li’s personality to some extent and knew from his silence that his words had probably fallen on deaf ears.

After thinking it over for a while, the old Taoist clenched his teeth and stamped his foot, saying fiercely, “Come on, follow me to a place.”

Under the cover of night, as the Taoists entered their dreams, the old Taoist led Lu Li across the misty and rainy quiet Taoist monastery to a small cabin in the midst of a forest on the back mountain.

He took out a key and unlocked three door locks in succession, then turned off the automatic alarm system.

It’s the twenty-first century, after all.

Technology is advancing.

Creak—

The wooden door was pushed open, and the old Taoist lit a candle next to the door, casting a dim and murky light inside the cabin.

Around three sides of the cabin, wooden shelves were arranged in terraced rows.

Each row neatly held brown liquor jars the size of a human head, sealed with red cloth and further held in place by long talismans crisscrossed over the cloth and the body of the jars.

“I feel the yin energy…

Are there ghosts inside these?”

Lu Li stood by the door, making no rash moves.

In his perception, each jar was filled with yin energy.

Especially in three larger jars, the aura was murkier, brimming with malice.

The presence of a stranger made all the jars restless, shaking continuously, except for those three larger jars, which remained motionless.

For a moment, the small cabin filled with the dense trembling sounds, and chills of yin wind blew through, creating an eerie atmosphere.

“Silence!”

The old Taoist shouted coldly, but it wasn’t very effective.

With his hand forming a magical gesture, his voice turned colder, “If you don’t settle down, don’t blame me for being impolite.”

The jars that seemed to be containing ghosts gradually calmed down under the threat.

He snorted coldly with a wave of his sleeve robe and turned his head, saying, “You can feel it?

Most of the ghosts I caught have been sealed in these pottery jars.”

“You’re brewing them into wine,” Lu Li said.

“I’m dissolving the resentment in their hearts.

Ghosts harboring resentment will be punished in the underworld.”

“Do you need help?

I can release them all.”

As his fingertips hanging by his knife sheath twitched slightly, Lu Li was restraining his own desire.

“With you?

I’ve kept them to—hey, these are all my hard-earned captures, go on, go away.

I wish I hadn’t brought you here,” the old Taoist spat at Lu Li, giving him a sidelong glance, “I showed you this so you would understand that a ghost’s nature is hard to change.

See that oldest and biggest jar over there?

It contains an evil spirit.

Over thirty years ago, my senior and I worked together to capture it, and its yin energy has still not dissolved.”

“I know what to do,” Lu Li said indifferently, as steady as a rock.

Seeing his last attempt had also failed to persuade Lu Li, the old Taoist completely gave up.

“May I ask a question?” Lu Li suddenly said.

“What is it?”

“Besides the forum in half a month, is there any other way to avoid ‘the gate’?” Lu Li’s deep eyes slightly drooped as he briefly described the phone call he received and the giant eye that appeared on the wall.

The old Taoist drew in a breath of cold air; just hearing the description made him feel his hair standing on end, “What on earth are you looking into that you’ve gotten yourself into such a big mess?”

Lu Li’s dark eyes suddenly became profound.

He lowered his gaze, then lifted his head again.

“Find that person.”

“`