Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 140 - 140 One hundred and forty

140: One hundred and forty.

Hide and seek 140: One hundred and forty.

Hide and seek After knocking on the door a second time, Lu Li returned to his own room the way he came.

Two dorms, seven Ghost Creatures, Lu Li left two to take the blame, forcibly sending the rest on their way.

Killing people and setting fires certainly earns one a golden belt.

Up to now, Lu Li had taken care of thirteen Ghost Creatures without anyone being the wiser, nearly matching the number previously noted in the catalog.

Although these ghosts were weak—strangely enough, their strength was only between two-star and three-star combatants, and that was halved if they hadn’t fulfilled their lingering desires—their advantage lay in numbers.

It’s a pity that it wouldn’t be easy to take action afterward; too many disappearances might attract attention from the outside world.

Although they would eventually notice, Lu Li’s goal was to delay discovery as long as possible until he could safely leave Jinlongyu Mountain.

That said, even if Lu Li didn’t get in touch with the “Hand” or, shall we say, the “Cleaner,” the catalogs he acquired were enough to make his trip worthwhile.

Lunch break ended exactly one hour after 36 minutes had passed.

A bell, drifting from somewhere, roused all the contestants, whether they were asleep or awake, deaf or hearing.

The dim, silent corridor became lively, as door after door opened, and expressionless students began to emerge one after the other.

Lu Li blended in, unnoticed as he followed the students downstairs, back to the classroom.

The atmosphere in the classroom, as the students arrived, gradually became a bit strange.

Several minutes later, the once packed seats emptied in clusters of two and three.

At a rough glance, most were vacant and upon careful counting, it turned out there were less than twenty silhouettes left.

A few contestants who had previously verified each other exchanged glances, their eyes conveying panic, suppression, and…

confusion.

The alarming part was, counting the elusive Lu Li, only five contestants remained, and more than half the time until the period of 11 p.m.

to 1 a.m.

remained.

In other words, time wasn’t even halfway through, and already 80% of the contestants had been eliminated.

The situation was growing increasingly difficult.

The elders from various sects seemed determined to give all the young ones a memory that would haunt them forever.

But what the contestants didn’t understand was, where were the ghosts…?

Was it an internal conflict?

Or had they not yet awoken?

The Ghost Creatures that appeared in the classroom were only about a dozen, which seemed off no matter how one looked at it…

…

Jinlongyu Taoist temple.

The open space in front of the main hall.

The surviving contestants were pondering the same questions they were.

The Taoist priests of Jinlongyu Taoist temple couldn’t make sense of the scene before them.

Where are the ghosts?

All those ghosts I put in there, where are they?

How come they were just here and now they’re gone?

“Could it be a flaw in the Formation let a bunch of Ghost Creatures escape?”

What seemed like a concern actually came out as a sarcastic jibe, echoing from above the open space.

“Put some effort into it, esteemed temple.

It’s not far from the village down the mountain.

If you let these ghosts go down and harm people…”

The speaker was sly, using Mysterious Gate techniques to make his voice sound distant and near, making it unclear who was speaking.

“A bunch of weak Ghost Creatures, even if they turned into Saiyans, they couldn’t possibly get out of the formation,” a sneer came.

From inside the main hall, a burly middle-aged man with his torso bare and a Taoist Robe tucked at his waist, stepped out.

His upper body was muscular and knotted, his skin bronze-colored and covered with centipede-like scars, his hair cropped short, and his face filled with lines as he roared like a dragon and tiger, “Who’s the motherless cur causing trouble?

Step forward now!”

Whispers filled the space between the tables.

Those contestants who had been eliminated had been led back to the courtyard by the host and were sitting in the corner as observers.

“Junior brother, try not to get angry.” The Taoist priest from Jinlongyu Taoist temple, an elderly Taoist, walked out from the main hall and stood beside the muscular Daoist, bowed with a smile and replied, “Apologies, I had not informed all the Daoist friends before.

Seeing that only four contestants were left and the number of Ghost Creatures remained unchanged, I feared no one would pass the trial.

Thus, I took the liberty of removing half of the Ghost Creatures to ease the pressure.”

“Really?” the deputy asked, tilting his head and speaking in a muffled voice.

“Not really, who knows where that bunch of lost souls and wild ghosts ran off to…” the elderly Daoist continuously bowed to the people in the courtyard, not turning his head as he spoke softly, “But it’s certain they can’t breach the Formation, let’s drop this matter for now and settle accounts with them after the trial is over.

Also, just in case, junior brother, you wait outside the Formation, and I’ll stay here.”

“Then I leave this place to you, elder brother.

If anyone causes trouble, just call me, and I’ll let them experience our Daoist Vajra Arhat Fist.”

With a cold snort, the deputy hugged his arms, which were as thick as his own thighs, and left the courtyard.

…

The school bell rang, footsteps were already approaching, but the mysteriously missing dozen students still hadn’t appeared.

They turned their attention to the footsteps in the depths of the corridor but soon noticed something off about them.

The clear sound of high heels was replaced by the loud noise of leather shoes, coming from afar and appearing at the door.

A corpulent man clad in a tight, oversized suit appeared at the doorway.

The manager who had once met Lu Li.

“Let me introduce myself, I am the manager of this training school, you can call me… Manager.”

The corpulent manager took out a piece of chalk, turned his back to the blackboard, wrote down “Manager,” then threw away the chalk and looked down at the classroom below.

“Your homeroom teacher already told me about this morning, aside from a few students who were somewhat disobedient, disrupting the class order…” He paused, looking sharply at Lu Li, then moved his gaze away, “Most of the students were quite well-behaved and sensible.”

“This morning, you played pass the parcel and soccer.

As the manager, I definitely couldn’t keep you studying on the first day of school.

Now let’s also have a game, the name of the game is—”

Below the lectern, it was quiet, the students emotionless.

The manager, unconcerned by this, the hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his lips as he was about to continue speaking, was suddenly interrupted by a cold shout.

“Heaven and Earth without limit, I borrow the laws of the universe!”

Niu Hu leaned back, his entire foot, along with his shoe, stuffed into his deskmate’s wide-open, gaping mouth.

“Mmmm, mmmm…” His deskmate’s eyes glowed red, chewing and biting down.

Niu Hu, in pain, frowned and groaned quietly.

Having endured enough, he resolutely raised his hand to form a Magic Decision, not stopping his movements, he bit his fingertip and drew a symbol in mid-air.

Heart with the Magic Decision, the Magic Decision moved with the symbol.

A red glow followed Niu Hu’s traces, appearing in mid-air.

The cold shout continued: “Law arises from the heart, endlessly generating.

Great Immortal of Taiyi, hasten like the law—puh ah!”

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to finish, Niu Hu spat out a mouthful of blood, his energy depleted, and in an instant, all vitality fled from his body, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The remaining contestants were stunned.

How had the situation reversed so suddenly?

Niu Hu, who had been gaining the upper hand, suddenly coughed up blood and died…?

“It’s a problem with the Formation; this lad was consuming his own essence blood to attack but was forcibly interrupted by the Formation.

He should now be back to reality.”

An aged voice rang in Martin’s mind at that moment.

Martin was bewildered, “Does the Formation also have this effect?”

“Well, it evolved from practices at the Immortal Gate, how could it be simple… After all, this trial is held to test the disciples from various schools.

Nobody really wants fatalities or injuries…

Oh no, someone has noticed me!”