Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 122 - 122 One hundred twenty-two

122: One hundred twenty-two.

Detective Agency increases staff 122: One hundred twenty-two.

Detective Agency increases staff “Ah, so cute~”

Yang Chunxue shrieked, squatting in front of the tree hollow with sparkling bright eyes, her heart nearly melting.

“Meow~”

The ginger cat’s tail, wrapping around its body, wavered slightly as if in response.

It could actually see Yang Chunxue.

Yang Chunxue, squatting in front of the tree hollow, cupped her cheeks and stared for a long while.

Then, she looked up at Lu Li, her eyes blinking suggestively, “It’s a stray cat, and it’s soaked from the heavy rain, how pitiful…”

She had long wanted to adopt a cat, but unfortunately, her landlord wouldn’t allow it, so she never had the chance while alive.

Lu Li shook his head gently, “Yin energy does great harm to people and even more to a cat.”

“Oh…” Yang Chunxue stood up, her disappointment evident.

“…”

After quietly observing the ginger cat for a few seconds, Lu Li suddenly bent down, picked up the unresisting cat, grabbed an umbrella with his other hand, and walked towards the car, holding it.

“Let’s go home.”

The bland voice sounded in her ear.

Yang Chunxue snapped back to reality, suppressing her excitement and following swiftly.

“Let me hold it, let me hold it!”

As soon as she sat in the back seat, Yang Chunxue couldn’t wait to extend her hands for the cat.

The oil painting was instantly neglected, thrown into the trunk and forgotten.

“I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of touching stuff!”

Lu Li placed the ginger cat in the passenger seat, took out two towels from the storage box, and covered the cat with one.

“Meow~”

The ginger cat lay down, stretching its paws out from under the towel.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home.

It’s soaking wet now, and the drenched in yin qi can easily cause trouble.”

Lu Li wiped his own wet and dripping black hair briefly,

“Oh.” The voice came from Yang Chunxue in the back seat, her eyes twinkling brightly in the dark.

After drying his hair, Lu Li tossed the towel onto the dashboard, started the car,

In the late-night downpour, two beams of light pierced through the curtain of rain, as the old Xiali slowly drove away from the abandoned high school.

…

In the deep of night, amid another downpour, the residents of the power plant’s housing complex—predominantly elderly—had already turned off their lights and gone to bed early.

In Building 10, amid the silent darkness, only one window shone brightly.

Lu Li and Yang Chunxue returned to the Detective Agency laden with their find.

Shen Yuqiao came forward with a cup of hot water.

“You haven’t left yet?”

Lu Li said, taking the hot water and draining it in one gulp.

Returning the empty cup, Shen Yuqiao replied, “Minding the shop,” as she went back to the kitchen to wash the cup.

It was clear that, in her understanding, an assistant was supposed to do these sorts of tasks…

not that she was wrong.

Lu Li walked over to the desk with the towel-wrapped ginger cat and removed the towel.

“Meow~”

The ginger cat, seemingly unafraid of its new surroundings, raised its head to call out softly before bending down to lick its wet fur.

“A cat?

Did you pick it up?” Shen Yuqiao popped her head out from the kitchen while washing the cup.

“Mhm.”

Before Shen Yuqiao left work, Lu Li instructed, “Come early tomorrow morning and go to the pet store.

Buy whatever’s needed.”

“Got it, see you tomorrow, Miss Yang, Miss Kong, Lu Lili, goodnight,” Shen Yuqiao said, putting on her coat and waving goodbye to everyone and the ghosts.

Click—

The door closed.

“Is it okay to let her go back so late?” Yang Chunxue asked.

Lu Li raised his eyes and glanced over, “A job that doesn’t pay, requires overtime until midnight, and you have to stay overnight without going home?”

Yang Chunxue fell silent.

The orange cat was filthy, covered in mud stains, but otherwise in good health with no ear mites or skin diseases.

Its shriveled stomach indicated it hadn’t eaten for a long time.

Before bathing, it needed to eat something first.

There were several cans of sheep milk powder in the kitchen cabinet…

Lu Li would eat it for breakfast every now and then.

They were formally named: Middle-aged and Elderly Calcium Supplement Sheep Milk Powder.

Lu Li was always very conscious of his health condition.

Yang Chunxue, unusually for her, didn’t play games but busied herself preparing a cat bowl and hot water to make the milk.

As the orange cat drank its milk, she crouched next to it, curled up and watching without blinking.

After it had eaten, Lu Li carried it to the bathroom for a bath.

The warm water flowed from the showerhead, washing off the dirty mud stains from the orange cat’s body.

“It’s really well-behaved,” Yang Chunxue drifted closer, watching the calm orange cat seated motionless.

She had never seen a cat that wasn’t afraid of water.

“A wild cat that isn’t afraid of humans is often a stray,” Lu Li scrubbed the orange cat’s soft belly without looking up, “In other words, it’s been abandoned.

Its obedience is because most stray cats that have lost a home once don’t want to lose a second one.”

Yang Chunxue’s brow wrinkled in both anger and pity.

She stole a glance at Lu Li’s serious profile and gently tugged at the hem of his clothes, “Lu Lili, can we keep it?”

Lu Li didn’t speak, and he didn’t even look up at her.

Yang Chunxue realized she had spoken foolishly again.

They had already brought the cat back, bathed it, and fed it…

How could they throw it out again?

Relieved, Yang Chunxue watched quietly as Lu Li bathed the orange cat.

After a while, she spoke in a plaintive tone, sighing softly, “Is this all I can do, just watch?”

“For now, yes.”

Whoosh—

The sound of water stopped as Lu Li put the showerhead back in place, wrapped the orange cat in a clean blanket, and carried it back to the living room.

Exiting the steam-filled bathroom, the cool air hit them.

Lu Li settled on the couch and began to dry the orange cat’s body.

“When can I do something then?” Yang Chunxue asked, following him.

“After I’ve finished buying some things.”

When the orange cat was half dry, Lu Li stopped wiping, letting it lick its fur by itself, while he called Old Taoist Lu.

“You little—”

Lu Li got straight to the point, “I want to buy something that can exorcise demons and ward off evil effectively for a long time.”

Seeing business coming his way, Old Taoist Lu’s tone immediately changed, “Plenty!

What sort of thing are you after?

In recognition of our acquaintance, I’ll give you a discount.”

“Something that can be worn to prevent yin energy from invading, and doesn’t get affected when in close contact with ghosts.”

“You…

you’re ready to take that step now?” Old Taoist Lu felt a storm within his heart.

“There are so many beautiful human girls, why can’t you think straight…”

Lu Li didn’t intend to delve deeper into the topic, “If not, I can look for other Taoist temples or monasteries.”

“No no no…

I have it,” Old Taoist Lu sighed and, not bothering to dissuade Lu Li further, said, “Amulets produced by Dragon Tiger Mountain, personally crafted by me, can last for a good seven days and nights without malicious invasion, with brand new, original flavor, and signed versions available.

Usually sold for 998, but for someone as familiar as you, let’s say 1000.”

“Do you have something that can always be effective?”

“What you’re talking about are magic artifacts, I can make those too, but the price…”

“If it doesn’t exceed seven figures, I’ll order one.”

Despite appearing unreliable, Old Taoist Lu was trustworthy.

“…” Old Taoist Lu fell silent for several seconds and after a long while asked, “Kid, what exactly do you do?”

“Detective.”

“Hiss, you guys really rake it in, huh…” Old Taoist Lu inhaled sharply.

“A flat rate of one hundred thousand, what form do you want the magic artifact in?

Beads, jade pendant, or talisman?”

“Bell.”

“Bell?

Although it’s strange, no problem.

But I can’t do it by tomorrow, I’m currently out of town doing a ritual.

I’ll make it for you after I get back to Tiger Head Mountain tomorrow afternoon.”

“That will be fine, just to confirm, it won’t harm either party, right?”

“Guaranteed not to cause any harm, whether you delve deep into the ghost realm or a ghost delves into you.”